tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48613500355879309092024-03-13T08:45:42.276+00:00 THE GREAT GAMEStuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.comBlogger492125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-72338338114670456722024-03-01T11:56:00.002+00:002024-03-01T11:56:42.218+00:00Black Powder play test with the Battle of Bunker Hill<p><b>I finally managed to dust off <i>Black Powder </i>from Warlord Games for a run through of the rules, using the Battle of Bunker Hill as a test scenario. I've been keen to try the game for some time. I chose Bunker Hill partly because it seems ideal for a solo scenario.</b></p><p>The battle sees the British - under siege in Boston in the summer of 1775 - moving to secure Breed's Hill because of its commanding presence overlooking Boston harbour. The American rebels - mainly New England militia units at this early stage in the war - are in the process of emplacing guns on the top of the hill.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUd4Okf8JiklgHSrnexVFLwENNr5_iU-c6BhnKGCvHsxXeeRKOr8mpuUONVEb4nINiPcMFIUvCk0M5XxoQ97oJeDI9DXmFgjTx65pyGJdqB_j5RRm5Iuf_J-U_f5OSBn5pgv3edh0dq2JinBJwktXKPdQKVrPvfAY5nzprv1gMtK_ZbGTfn8Q2yWj-oqCs/s1448/Bunker%20Hill%201775.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1448" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUd4Okf8JiklgHSrnexVFLwENNr5_iU-c6BhnKGCvHsxXeeRKOr8mpuUONVEb4nINiPcMFIUvCk0M5XxoQ97oJeDI9DXmFgjTx65pyGJdqB_j5RRm5Iuf_J-U_f5OSBn5pgv3edh0dq2JinBJwktXKPdQKVrPvfAY5nzprv1gMtK_ZbGTfn8Q2yWj-oqCs/w502-h252/Bunker%20Hill%201775.png" width="502" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Bunker Hill <i>sucks as a two player game</i>, as the American player has very little to do, except shoot at the advancing enemy. For the British there aren't a whole lot of tactical options either. This is what makes it ideal for learning the ropes with a new rules system.</p><p>So far there has been little to report. I've advanced both my two initial British brigades, under Howe and Pigot, slowly up the hill. My artillery has come up on the flank, but I had some initial trouble getting my 12 pounder cannon set up with a clear field of fire, as some of Pigot's infantry were in the way.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4KG0KYKS6xyBmpRcARbGOCvQtFsQXDGxTklLcsVauK70D0U-s0ekI-OvbXJoOl4QR2UPfOkuAoO-VWA6xrDePNLa-b5LU_F7Lb5zJojiOFdArLX1awG6T-VVb2NXPhVuDFQfd-NFjMLFmff-llDqkGjignugN_k32HTKRMbg_aXsx53ZSrRVUKqgN9VH/s2048/kriegspiel%20bkh%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4KG0KYKS6xyBmpRcARbGOCvQtFsQXDGxTklLcsVauK70D0U-s0ekI-OvbXJoOl4QR2UPfOkuAoO-VWA6xrDePNLa-b5LU_F7Lb5zJojiOFdArLX1awG6T-VVb2NXPhVuDFQfd-NFjMLFmff-llDqkGjignugN_k32HTKRMbg_aXsx53ZSrRVUKqgN9VH/w400-h300/kriegspiel%20bkh%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Breed's Hill from the perspective of Howe's brigade: Howe is the red meeple. Pigot's brigade in attack column can be seen on the right. The three regiments in front of Howe are, from L to R, Light Infantry and Grenadiers (pink) and the 52nd Foot (red).</i></p><p>Note that I have detached the artillery from Howe's brigade, which is advancing on the left, and given them to Pigot. I want to use the guns to start shelling the rebel redoubt as soon as possible. I do have a howitzer battery, which has begun shelling Breed's Hill already, as it can lob shells over the intervening valley.</p><p>On the left flank, Howe has ordered the 5th Foot to tackle the rebel militia in the smouldering ruins of Charles Town. This village has already been shelled by the Royal Navy but enemy (tiny) militia units have moved into it. I don't think they will make a big difference to the general advance, but the 5th have gone into the attack here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9nS74mE-JBKwoZKaQSPEw26yttcrmUgeTI1nSeAOb6y1aENHFpGQnVkrVok_aKSBeMgcQtHzhSLyD4gWAAfM6AKxEEKmbOK3-E2P-oQHV1oOcIfl8vtwH5dj-oKdN5WV2KglR-BZHFLP6X2Dbgj35b1mjumSAJ8jKntqhQMOknvm1FFo_Fmyc7m4H9jP/s2048/kriegspiel%20bkh%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9nS74mE-JBKwoZKaQSPEw26yttcrmUgeTI1nSeAOb6y1aENHFpGQnVkrVok_aKSBeMgcQtHzhSLyD4gWAAfM6AKxEEKmbOK3-E2P-oQHV1oOcIfl8vtwH5dj-oKdN5WV2KglR-BZHFLP6X2Dbgj35b1mjumSAJ8jKntqhQMOknvm1FFo_Fmyc7m4H9jP/w400-h300/kriegspiel%20bkh%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Aerial shot of the militia on the summit of Breed's Hill. I used the plan of the fortifications from a contemporary survey made by a British engineer after the battle. The Massachusetts militia are dark blue, New Hampshire in brown, and the Connecticut boys are in light blue. The blue Risk counter marks the battery of 6 pounders. The red counter tracks some disruption from British shelling on the Massachusetts position. Pink meeple in the redoubt is Colonel William Prescott.</i></p><p>Also note I have Clinton's brigade in reserve ready to land on the beach. The Americans have potential reinforcements of further companies of Massachusetts militia which could approach from the north, but they are dependent on dice rolls for this. Nothing in the the first two turns for them. I guess this depends on runners sent to summon help.</p><p>I'm now on turn three, about to resolve the attack of the 5th into Charles Town. The rebels there have done some damage with their closing fire. I still have the American turn to go through. Some tempting targets are emerging for them on the slope, especially for their six pounder guns.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XdsIMV4SQR5zFjWfKZ4DTA2-KbGFPIJn5mYPZewOrtxDWwuXj3VOHnxuTuo8-2_ZWD25mQpGz-cqT4GZQA5a9UHBYosXg9MELqiuhR4_r6VTqQTTdw3HzCetfKHbfY4DGY1R9SIMlFPLvZaquupLWCwSiapy5jyFG9muvgdgXy-QjRsXrGGagx8T0Apx/s400/American%20militia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XdsIMV4SQR5zFjWfKZ4DTA2-KbGFPIJn5mYPZewOrtxDWwuXj3VOHnxuTuo8-2_ZWD25mQpGz-cqT4GZQA5a9UHBYosXg9MELqiuhR4_r6VTqQTTdw3HzCetfKHbfY4DGY1R9SIMlFPLvZaquupLWCwSiapy5jyFG9muvgdgXy-QjRsXrGGagx8T0Apx/w400-h268/American%20militia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">First impressions of the rules</h3><p>So far so good. An initial steep learning curve, but that is the point of this exercise. I'm going to try out as many of the rules systems as possible. It is hard to make a final decision on Black Powder until I have had the opportunity of playing through a few more turns.</p><p>I like <i>Bloody Big Battles </i>as my go to system for larger battles in this period. It seems to play very well, but I wanted an alternative system for smaller engagements of under 20,000 troops in the 1700-1900 period. </p><p>I am looking for a good system to play colonial battles with too, as I'd like to get my 19th century Africa collection out on the table this summer. I'm hoping that Black Powder will fit the bill. It needs to ideally resolve a battle with around three brigades per side of 3-5 units each in about four hours. Can it do that, I wonder?</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-33178223630638941812024-02-21T18:34:00.001+00:002024-02-21T18:34:00.199+00:00Crisis in Ylaruam: US forces land in the Asanda Delta<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81dcsfy4gcSBb7NJfnYqNAXMOVAUnz_4-PoGonDNc0sXAFOHjcutMAb1YXFY6cF3lqXdmB0aYamMbArqT1A_cSaW5YyIkdME9cNpscuFr8YaZfQMxlmjL2BlIEl7qrZFnEDqhfZCvrhog3HFu8Y0Y6Vph4HvI2cyosTuqbWBGLH8mNdVVkRafXOnXlRrm/s556/operation%20shark%20marines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="556" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81dcsfy4gcSBb7NJfnYqNAXMOVAUnz_4-PoGonDNc0sXAFOHjcutMAb1YXFY6cF3lqXdmB0aYamMbArqT1A_cSaW5YyIkdME9cNpscuFr8YaZfQMxlmjL2BlIEl7qrZFnEDqhfZCvrhog3HFu8Y0Y6Vph4HvI2cyosTuqbWBGLH8mNdVVkRafXOnXlRrm/w400-h288/operation%20shark%20marines.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In my last post on this topic, I created the fictional emirate of Ylaruam on the Red Sea coast, sandwiched somewhere between Sudan and Egypt. I am currently using <i>Not Just A Brush War</i> from Nordic Weasel Games to create a campaign setting for modern miniatures gaming. Last time we ended by discovering that Ylaruam was facing the strong possibility of US military action.</p><p>In this, the first turn of the campaign, Ylaruam must choose one of a number of national level actions. The government decides to go with Diplomacy, reaching out to neighbour Sudan for assistance. </p><p>This is a good choice, as Sudan has a common enemy (does not get on with the Clinton administration), common religion (Sunni Islam) and a compatible government type. This gives Ylaruam a hefty +13 bonus to the roll. We roll an 84 including the bonus, which brings Ylaruam a treaty of friendship with Sudan. This gives Ylaruam a +3 relationship bonus with Sudan. It's a start.</p><p>Ylaruam has a base Military Force rating of 4, calculated off its moderate population size, plus strong showing in heavy industry and its modern air force.</p><p>We establish four hot spots as the US invasion begins. I'm using the map of Ylaruam from Mystara, but presuming the east coast sits on the Red Sea. The capital therefore is located deep in the interior, and I'm assuming US forces will be starting their attack on the coast. </p><p>There are five small coastal settlements on the main coast, plus three more possible targets in the neighbouring emirate of Jaibul, which is a dominion of Ylaruam's. This has the important container port at Jaibul and the neighbouring fishing port at Jahore. There is also the village of Vidhaya in the Asanda River delta. All look set to be part of the US amphibious operation, but we need to find out where the main focus of the US invasion will be.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EAjZtyaMF40bnuObAqhUWUgcPRyI-rQGepVaiy3e5HCQkco-x-tMdoxVny_RZQyebLphS9RmL1ytEIubAbIFug7Kce89i5eQGGRnlJd4H9EBlqXSZZtREppm0VipP3YIxQhiK9Drg-adGjdHoWtv4FhMRymSoZ0iDyhYGnDMAfUFIFzrZwqApcloTcwB/s528/operation%20shark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="528" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EAjZtyaMF40bnuObAqhUWUgcPRyI-rQGepVaiy3e5HCQkco-x-tMdoxVny_RZQyebLphS9RmL1ytEIubAbIFug7Kce89i5eQGGRnlJd4H9EBlqXSZZtREppm0VipP3YIxQhiK9Drg-adGjdHoWtv4FhMRymSoZ0iDyhYGnDMAfUFIFzrZwqApcloTcwB/w400-h258/operation%20shark.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>A quick snapshot of the province of Putnabad showing Jahore and Vidhaya, the latter the location of Operation Shark. Vidhaya will be the site of the first battle of the campaign, as divisional HQ in Jahore needs to respond to the US landing here. Ylaruam forces in Jahore will need to move against the US forces in the delta area.</i></p><p>Looking at the highway system in Ylaruam, the Americans will want to secure the best beachheads that provide them with access to that road system. Jaibul is likely too heavily defended, so the best points of attack are Jahore and Vidhaya in the north, and Cubia and Tameronikas in the far south. I have four hotspots to determine, so will roll for each of these. </p><p>In Tameronikas and Cubia we have reports of US patrols, which could just be initial scouting landings by SEALs and nothing to worry about. Or maybe they are something more. There is also a patrol report near Jahore. </p><p>The big problem could be in Vidhaya, where there is an enemy incursion (Operation Shark). So far this just looks like probing operations, but Ylaruam has to respond with its military points. I decide that Operation Shark constitutes the main threat, and put three points towards that, with the fourth allocated to the situation in Jahore. This is more of a low grade threat.</p><p>From Vidhaya the Americans can potentially move south to threaten the port at Jahore. This looks like it will be the main thrust this turn. The battle in Vidhaya - aka Operation Shark - will be the game for the first turn of the campaign. More on that later.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-90385110848093828682024-02-19T13:17:00.001+00:002024-02-19T13:17:00.147+00:00Not Just A Brush War: Building the Emirate of Ylaruam<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqETv_4bLSJc5pyXefPSTT1sHYFxq49xD9le5qpE8HhiY-K2nXF_pZjJPM_Zxn1QU2HygU9SsHA3pSg71t9hG-y7GeRrBD-7iDfkdULRdp32SJrZz2lw68fkO4gkf4H8uJV3KrXGyIpl8gJjht0xeeOnD2KjOn3PXervFihyphenhyphenifQY3SCddA38eNrNyj_cm/s950/ylaruam%20army%20private.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqETv_4bLSJc5pyXefPSTT1sHYFxq49xD9le5qpE8HhiY-K2nXF_pZjJPM_Zxn1QU2HygU9SsHA3pSg71t9hG-y7GeRrBD-7iDfkdULRdp32SJrZz2lw68fkO4gkf4H8uJV3KrXGyIpl8gJjht0xeeOnD2KjOn3PXervFihyphenhyphenifQY3SCddA38eNrNyj_cm/s320/ylaruam%20army%20private.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>I recently got hold of a copy of<i> Not Just A Brush War</i> from Nordic Weasel Games. I quite like the idea of a wargames supplement that helps you to create a fictitious Third World country from scratch by rolling dice. <p></p><p>As someone who grew up in some decidedly tumultuous parts of the world during the latter phases of the Cold War, this got my attention. I wanted to use Not Just A Brush War to help me to create the fictional Middle Eastern realm of Ylaruam from scratch.</p><p>My plan is to potentially set some 1990s era wargames in Ylaruam. Fans of the old D&D campaign setting Mystara will recognise the name as the pseudo-Arabic realm in that world. This version of Ylaruam is a little bit different. I will track my progress in creating Ylaruam as the basis for a Cold War wargames campaign, and then maybe use it to try to run some tabletop games there.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Welcome to Ylaruam</h4><p>I'm working on the basis that Ylaruam is either in the Middle East or in East Africa, somewhere adjacent to the Red Sea. It may have borders with Ethiopia and Sudan. Ylaruam has a moderate population size of between 5-20m people. Its resources are its strategic position, which reinforces my idea of its location on the important Red Sea shipping lane, and its knowledge base. I'm not sure what the latter represents yet.</p><p>The population is largely urban (urbanisation score of 9), pointing to one or two big cities, potentially one on the coast. The rural population will be small, scattered, and I suspect largely under-represented in government. I'm nominally setting the campaign in 1993, and Ylaruam is not that far behind Europe in terms of overall development (-7 years or so); it represents a relatively advanced country technologically, probably similar to Lebanon or Jordan.</p><p>Ylaruam has some heavy industry (7), which comes as no surprise. Its political system is a tribal confederation. The government of the country is, however, rated as 'somewhat illegitimate' and does not command the loyalty of the majority of the population (only about 40%, possibly the members of the majority tribe or tribes). The realm creation system distinguishes, however, between legitimacy and popularity. This latter is a measure of how well liked the government is at the start of the campaign, as opposed to, say, the way it came to power. In Ylaruam's case, popularity is also 40%.</p><p>Religion is that of the predominant religion in the region, so I'm going with Sunni Islam in this case. Sadly corruption is commonplace (4). Culturally, Ylaruam is moderately coherent, predominantly Arab, but with some minorities, although only about 20% or so of the population is non-Arab, with potentially a non-Muslim minority as well. The country has a strong allegiance to a former colonial power, in this case I'm going with France. This could mean that French is widely spoken by the country's urban elite and by one or more of the tribal groupings. France may still have strategic interests here.</p><p>Ylaruam has a number of pressing issues in 1993. These are - fuel shortages (this is obviously not a country with big oil and gas resources), social inequality (potentially caused by systemic inequalities between tribes), and the informal economy, which also supports the relatively high levels of corruption. The banking system is likely a basket case.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The military in Ylaruam</h4><p>Ylaruam's military has historically adopted a tactical doctrine that emphasises close quarter fighting. The air force has been developed to ensure air superiority. It is still in relatively good nick (grade 9, or moderate). In terms of technology level, the air force is frankly pretty good, with aircraft of late 1980s vintage. But emphasis has been on buying front line interceptors.</p><p>Armoured formations in Ylaruam are focused on infantry support in the main, which is not surprising given the close combat tactical doctrine. However, availability is very limited. It feels like Ylaruam has a heavily infantry-biased army with some light armoured support attached to the infantry brigades. Unlike the air force, investment in armour has been more limited, with nothing later than 1974.</p><p>Despite all this, the pride of the army is the popular militia. The country buys most of its military kit from the US these days. Ground forces are somewhat limited in terms of their access to support weapons (level 3). Training could be better, but the levels of corruption mean that it is rated a 4, limited, hasty or outdated. We are effectively looking at an early 1970s military with little heavy armour, but with a decent late 1980s air force.</p><p>Morale in the military is impacted by the legitimacy, popularity and coherence scores. A base roll of 12 is reduced to 10 because of the government's lack of popularity, and a further -1 due to the government's legitimacy issues. We arrive at a 9 for morale. Cultural coherence is not a factor at this level.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Why is Ylaruam at war?</h4><p>We roll a 95: outside regime change. Someone, possibly the US, is trying to remove the legitimate government. Given the poor legitimacy score for Ylaruam, that does not come as a major surprise. </p><p>It is possible that the ruling tribe has fallen foul of the US in 1993, persecuting a minority group, seizing US corporate assets, grabbing energy supplies from another US ally in the region or even flirting with the Russians, or indeed all of the above. </p><p>Then there's that old chestnut of working on a WMD program without the blessing of Washington DC. This goes back to the knowledge resource level mentioned previously. Perhaps Ylaruam has decided to upgrade its civilian quest for nuclear power into a nuclear weapons program?</p><p>Next time: we look at the US invasion of Ylaruam and try to build a bit more background on the Emirate and its leadership.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-32889311010367378072024-02-17T13:02:00.001+00:002024-02-17T13:05:19.649+00:00Gary Graber's Siege of Leningrad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnn-YLS5GQhxFoWEOEwyPeqEHX7G4tT6SDOKwSJoJxEgmhwE0UnFxuBltXtECASQxD0Koh4BdGFgYi5UFYjwWQUQTApOBrJUOXwiF11GTV4_k_yNC-zb7jCCsrfhGYFzPPjK1Bi9dlJj7r4o-MqWyE_Rh-ebhpPrtGzKm0qFNsyJV6ZHchLOnR1QuRo6o/s1360/siege%20of%20leningrad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1360" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnn-YLS5GQhxFoWEOEwyPeqEHX7G4tT6SDOKwSJoJxEgmhwE0UnFxuBltXtECASQxD0Koh4BdGFgYi5UFYjwWQUQTApOBrJUOXwiF11GTV4_k_yNC-zb7jCCsrfhGYFzPPjK1Bi9dlJj7r4o-MqWyE_Rh-ebhpPrtGzKm0qFNsyJV6ZHchLOnR1QuRo6o/w400-h225/siege%20of%20leningrad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Siege of Leningrad</i> is a very simple solo wargame about the German siege of Leningrad in WW2, between 1941 and 1944. It is an abstract, logistical simulation, with the player reduced to a subtle balancing act between four key indexes measuring food, health, morale and the state of the city's defences.</p><p>I played most of this in the odd idle moment while on holiday in Croatia last year, and went back to it recently in a doomed effort to try to finish it. Siege of Leningrad is eminently portable and in this respect could be taken on holiday quite easily.</p><p>Each month is split into roughly 10 three day phases. The player rolls on a table with 1d6 constantly, to determine events in the siege, and can react in a limited way. In some respects, you feel a little bit like a spectator as much of the course of the siege is out of your hands.</p><p>The two main aspects of player agency are as follows:</p><p>Activity markers, of which you start with six, are your key tools in managing the siege. They are an in game currency which can be changed for logistic markers, to reduce the social fabric gauge, and to appeal to Stalin when the chips are really down.</p><p>The logistics markers are a big help, as they allow you to influence some critical dice rolls in your favour. Social fabric is usually at zero, but when it goes up to 4, or 3 in bad weather, bad things can happen to Leningrad. What you don't want is for things to get so bad that people start thinking about surrendering. It is pretty obvious that once you lose all your activity markers, things can go downhill fairly quickly. The trick is playing logistics tokens whenever it looks like social fabric is about to start causing issues.</p><p>This is really your main area of player agency, and consequently most of the action is just a process of sitting there, rolling your die, and watching how things progress, until there is a need to intervene. It is akin to watching something cooking on the stove and then stepping in to stir the pot now and again.</p><p>The only other area of player agency is when you are given a choice of which of the four key indexes to advance: this is usually going to be the defence index, largely because you can take more of a pounding here before things start to go wrong.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">How did it play?</h4><p>Between the start of the siege and January 1943 I had what could be best described as a pretty smooth ride of it. The dice were probably kind and I ended up with a surfeit of activity markers. These I almost always changed into logistics markers and spent them as and when social fabric was looking challenging. While it was the defences of Leningrad that took most of the punishment in 1941-42, there was little danger of the city being moved from its A-grade status.</p><p>The Germans really only have a chance of capturing the city once the status of Leningrad drops to C or below, and even then German victory is pretty remote until you get to L or below. As of January 1943 I was still rated an A, although my activity markers were dropping slowly. There were some moments in 1942 when the situation caused me to stop and ponder for a bit, largely to decide between advancing an index or just burning some more activity, but overall the choices were not really choices in my view.</p><p>Towards the end of the game, I finally ran out of activity markers and saw the defence of the city downgraded to a B and then a C, but by the late summer of 1943, I was within six months of the city being relieved by the Red Army. It would take a major fluke of the die for the Germans to capture Leningrad at this point.</p><p>There is a hint in the text that the game could be incorporated into a wider operational game, maybe a hex and counter simulation, of the fighting in the area of Leningrad, but I'm not really sure how this would work in practice, and indeed if it would really be worth the effort.</p><p>Overall I found it overly complex for what it was trying to achieve. There was also relatively little decision making for the player in terms of strategy. Siege games are, in my view, an excellent source of scenarios for the solo player, and Leningrad could provide the context for one, but I felt there was just too little player agency here.</p><p>The Siege of Leningrad is published by Minden Games and is available for purchase on Amazon at time of writing.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-41926482663692675222024-01-31T18:05:00.001+00:002024-01-31T18:05:43.262+00:00Land on Fire 1796: General Actions and the combat system<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkWJa6DEkH_4WCNjBCvtv9lOzduNlMyqg1JS_L7nSV8uskKYWwjcqsiFOwx1Ebspd-UkJ7Xj0vVZyqUCmRCkcU5kyC5NZ0tbl-Y2fJCRYtx3W9jhGiSD-gURrlw8_Mfx5fItq9ENFY-TLbSNOsFjga9Mk1OOWObXUv0VvA1_nuXRAUpo8Gki3sUG7vVAn/s736/irish%20rebellion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="736" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkWJa6DEkH_4WCNjBCvtv9lOzduNlMyqg1JS_L7nSV8uskKYWwjcqsiFOwx1Ebspd-UkJ7Xj0vVZyqUCmRCkcU5kyC5NZ0tbl-Y2fJCRYtx3W9jhGiSD-gURrlw8_Mfx5fItq9ENFY-TLbSNOsFjga9Mk1OOWObXUv0VvA1_nuXRAUpo8Gki3sUG7vVAn/w400-h225/irish%20rebellion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Land on Fire, my prototype game of the Irish rebellion period of 1796-98 (not strictly historical, as it assumes some serious 'what ifs' on the part of the French First Directorate), is progressing slowly. As ever with these exercises, I'm doing some reading around the topic, and it is proving to be very interesting indeed.</b></p><p>This post deals in more detail with what British generals do in the game. Generals and the troops under their command represent the primary tools of player agency in Land on Fire. Each turn they roll 2D6 to determine how many action points they have for that turn. This MAY be too much, but we will only find out through play testing.</p><p>Each general may carry out the following actions:</p><p><b>Movement</b> - costs 1 AP for each town the army travels through. Note: may not move through towns with rebels or French armies without fighting them first.</p><p><b>Sea movement</b> - costs 4 AP to move an army from one port to another. Note: cannot be used when there is a naval mutiny or bad weather event card in play.</p><p><b>Perform special ability</b> - usually can be used without an action point unless the general's description says otherwise.</p><p><b>Play an asset card</b> - 1 AP per card played.</p><p><b>Reinforcements</b> - can only be played at a port. Draw two asset cards for each AP spent in a port.</p><p><b>Recruit</b> - may recruit more troops: raise troops in any CITY (e.g. Belfast or Cork) for 2 APs per regiment. Troops can be recruited for free in Dublin. Can only be used if that army has taken losses. Cannot recruit in a town where rebels or French troops are present.</p><p><b>Attack rebels</b> - costs 1 AP per rebel unit attacked, the general rolls 1D for each rebel counter in an area. Note that asset cards played now - e.g. Firing Squad, Whiff of Grapeshot - cost extra APs. The general must spend enough APs to engage all the rebel forces in a town. A town with four rebel counters would need 4 APs to attack, although the general could roll more dice than this if he was to play asset cards - e.g. Whiff of Grapeshot brings an extra 3D to the party. When fighting rebels, the British attack strength is based off 1D per rebel unit plus any asset cards played. This is different from fighting regular French troops.</p><p><b>Attack French army</b> - costs 2 AP, see rules below for major battles and for putting down revolts. Note: if a general is already in a town into which a French army moves, he does not need to pay 2 APs as the French attack him automatically. French armies will not seek to detour around a blocking British force - they will follow the fastest route to Dublin, but will prioritise an attack against a British army in the way, rather than seek to detour around one.</p><p><b>Pacification</b> - costs 1 AP and allows the removal of a Pillaged marker at that general's location. Note that Pillaged markers in this simulation are not just a measure of the damage done to the locality, but also track the overall state of chaos and unrest in the country. Once there are 12 on the board, anarchy descends and the British lose.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfa6HnrLD5Cf09vK6DaTqmXCf5WFRt0RlcMchXILpFdDenh6-L-Ox5szg3r0phyfpIjn_gOo6q3hkKRMsjw2xBNH0fbPZnT0-IzlcDXhWkLOJNNMBxgQ_C3N13c4BF9ks3k4bJE50Qzi8a23urWWskKJkXCHxiGZt0IaRsVJmbUg0aciwC0Jr3e53UWjwm/s644/irish%20rebels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfa6HnrLD5Cf09vK6DaTqmXCf5WFRt0RlcMchXILpFdDenh6-L-Ox5szg3r0phyfpIjn_gOo6q3hkKRMsjw2xBNH0fbPZnT0-IzlcDXhWkLOJNNMBxgQ_C3N13c4BF9ks3k4bJE50Qzi8a23urWWskKJkXCHxiGZt0IaRsVJmbUg0aciwC0Jr3e53UWjwm/s320/irish%20rebels.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Combat rules</h2><p>There are two different types of combat in Land on Fire, vs rebels and vs French field armies.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fighting rebels</h3><p>Rebel combat is relatively easy. An army that is present in a town rolls 1D6 per rebel unit present, Depending on the level of discipline of that faction, the result needed to disperse the rebels will vary. Asset cards must be played before the roll. Note that multiple generals can attack the same rebel town, but one general has to pay his AP and carry out his operations first. If there are still any rebels left, the second general may attack.</p><p>IF there are still rebel forces present, they may be attacked again using more APs. Note, however, that if an army ends its turn in a town with rebel forces, it will lose one regiment per rebel unit still active. These losses can be shared between armies if there are more than two British armies in that town.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fighting the French</h3><p>To attack a French army, one or more British armies need to be in the same space when the combat phase begins. They may engage any rebel units in the area first. If these are not dealt with, then again, the British will sustain losses equal to the number of rebel bands still active when the battle starts.</p><p>The general must spend the APs required to attack the French army, and play any asset cards they wish to use in the battle. This will be 2 AP per general launching the attack. The British roll dice according to the number of British regiments plus any additional assets in the battle. Each French army will have a target number the British need to hit it. Apply hits to the French army accordingly.</p><p>If the French army is still in the field after a round of combat, the British take losses according to the consequences listed with each French general. They then have the option of continuing the battle with another round of combat. No further APs for initiating the battle need to be spent. If all the regiments under French command are eliminated, then the French army has been defeated. An eliminated British general is out of the game.</p><p>The British <i>may</i> choose to disengage rather than fight another round of combat, in which case they may retreat their armies to adjacent towns with no rebel presence. IF there are no other options than to retreat into a rebel-held area, the army in question takes an automatic one unit loss. If there is only one unit left under command (ignore assets), then the army has been defeated by the rebels. French armies do not retreat.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Revised victory conditions</h3><p><i>Note: I am slightly changing one of the Irish victory conditions. Originally I said the British would lose automatically if one region in Ireland had four rebel bands in every town. I've decided to revise that to an upper limit of 25 rebel bands per faction - i.e. if any of the four rebel factions has all its counters on the table, the British lose the game automatically once a 26th is needed. They have lost control of Ireland.</i></p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-2447558333354584142024-01-17T17:53:00.001+00:002024-01-17T17:53:24.469+00:00Land on Fire: French and British commanders<p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7EavIjpbwV3eb7f-GzkyQcqwi9BMVsvxOf42cuxfvYFvfHNSO15gHmFxl0V40XPxd7LAjwDQk9nWQrpG64vozZh72JNHiYbf8hwtGRFcwctl7kf3Uy0erxec62djD_c0jMS8V_-urYXbRc9JP6TH0oQZCO3bx31UPKz2c-bceBJbNfGR21CvL76AuIjV/s800/ralph%20abercromby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="677" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7EavIjpbwV3eb7f-GzkyQcqwi9BMVsvxOf42cuxfvYFvfHNSO15gHmFxl0V40XPxd7LAjwDQk9nWQrpG64vozZh72JNHiYbf8hwtGRFcwctl7kf3Uy0erxec62djD_c0jMS8V_-urYXbRc9JP6TH0oQZCO3bx31UPKz2c-bceBJbNfGR21CvL76AuIjV/s320/ralph%20abercromby.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Ralph Abercromby</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></b></p><p><b>In this post we look at the profiles for the different French and British commanders in the game. The British can be led by 1-4 players acting as a team. If three players, I suggest trying it out with only three British generals.</b></p><p>Below are the profiles for each commander. British generals all have a strength number equivalent to the number of infantry regiments under their command. They can never have more than these unless playing an asset card. A general who loses all his troops is dead/captured. As you will see, the commander profiles contain quite a lot of the additional crunch in the system.</p><p>French commanders have strengths measured in the number of units they command, plus other characteristics which are part of the AI of the game, and govern their ability to advance on Dublin, fight the British and raise rebellion. I have added a fourth 'French' army which actually landed in Wales historically but was earmarked for possible use in Ireland.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The British</h2><p><b>Sir Ralph Abercromb</b>y</p><p>Highly experienced Scottish general who as an officer earlier in his career sympathised with the American rebels during the American Revolution, and avoided serving in North America. Campaigned under the Duke of York in the Netherlands in 1794 and then led an expedition to the West Indies the following year. Had experience of fighting French irregulars and natives in Saint Vincent, but failed to take Puerto Rico from the Spanish. Was arguably the most diplomatic of the British leaders in Ireland. There is a pub in Manchester named after him which was purchased by English footballer Gary Neville in 2017, to avoid it being knocked down.</p><p><i>Regiments: 5. Special: Draws a free extra asset card when in a port. Does not lose a unit when in a town with rebels at the end of a turn.</i></p><p><b>Lord Cornwallis</b></p><p>Well known for his career in the Americas, where he served as a lieutenant general under Sir Henry Clinton. He played an important role in some of the British victories over the American rebels, including at Brandywine and Germantown, although was often at loggerheads with senior British commanders in America. He was the lead British commander in the southern colonies post-1779, especially in South Carolina and Virginia. He surrendered Yorktown to the French and Americans in 1781. He subsequently was appointed Governor General in India (1784) where he renewed the war against Tipu Sultan in Mysore and captured Seringapatam (the first time - Wellesley had another crack at it in 1799). Was suspected of being sympathetic to the Irish cause. There is a very nice pub named after him in <a href="https://www.themarquiscornwalliswc1.co.uk/#/" target="_blank">Marchmont Street in London</a>.</p><p><i>Regiments: 6. Special: Can spend APs before a battle to add +1 to a roll for each AP spent. </i><i>Always ignores first loss to his army in a battle against either rebels or French.</i></p><p><b>Viscount Gerard Lake</b></p><p>Served under Cornwallis in South Carolina (see above) and was with the 80th Foot (Royal Edinburgh) at Yorktown. He was made commander in chief of British forces in Ulster in 1796 where he has been blamed for the 'Dragooning of Ulster' in which British troops were forcibly billeted on Irish households with predictable results. Lake quickly built up a reputation for atrocities in Ireland. After Ireland he was sent out to India to be commander in chief of the East India Company forces from 1801. There are no pubs named after Lake. It speaks volumes.</p><p><i>Regiments: 6. Special: </i><i>If two or more rebel units are defeated with his first attack in a town, remove one rebel counter from each adjacent town as well. Receives +1 to attack rolls against any rebels in Ulster.</i></p><p><b>Sir John Moore</b></p><p>Served with the 82nd Foot in Canada and Maine during the American War of Independence, including playing a role in the defeat of the Penobscot Expedition, which was a disaster for the rebels. When war with France broke out he was involved in the fighting in Corsica and then served under Abercromby (above) in the West Indies. Moore was credited with the storming of Fort Charlotte in Saint Lucia by troops under his command. Was known to have a problem with authority and to be a rival of Lake (above). Moore later became commander of British forces in Spain in 1808 and died at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 fighting the French. There is a Wetherspoon 'super pub' named after him in Glasgow.</p><p><i>Regiments: 4. Special: Can force march two spaces with 1 AP once per turn. Can re-roll all dice once per turn when in combat against either rebels or French.</i></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">The French</h1><p>French commanders have a number of key stats in Land on Fire. They include different consequences for the British if they are not defeated in an opening battle. French generals are measured by units under command, their ability to generate local rebellions, and their ability to move their army forwards. Each turn players check each French army active in Ireland to see if they move closer to Dublin. Core stats are Regiments, Combat (roll needed by British to damage the army), Charisma (rabble rousing), and Energy (how actively they proceed towards Dublin).</p><p><b>Jean Joseph Humbert</b></p><p>Humbert served under Lazare Hoche (below) having been promoted to brigadier general in 1794. He was previously a sergeant in the National Guard. Prior to the Irish expedition, he was part of the command of the Army of the Rhine and Moselle. He commanded the original Bantry Bay expedition to Ireland in 1796 as well as commanding a separate force in Ireland in 1798, where he was captured at the Battle of Ballinamuck. Humbert was subsequently returned to France as part of a prisoner swap (the Irish officers saw the end of a rope). Ironically Humbert later took part in the French expedition to Haiti to try to put down the slave revolt there, before becoming an associate of notorious New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte. <a href="https://www.generalhumbert.com/en/" target="_blank">There is a pub named after him in La Rochelle</a>, France. It is an Irish pub, naturally. There is Guinness on tap.</p><p>Regiments: 6; 3+ to hit; Energy: 8+; Charisma: 9+</p><p><i>Special: If Humbert wins, the British lose two units plus must discard two military assets randomly. Humbert blocks any attacks for each 1 rolled.</i></p><p><b>Lazare Hoche</b></p><p>Starting life as a royal stable boy, the revolution in France led to an accelerated military career with promotions to lieutenant and then captain in a matter of months. He saw action in the major early battles to defend the revolution, and played a key role in rallying the troops after General Dumouriez defected. In 1793 he was made commander of the Army of the Moselle, defending France's eastern borders. He was imprisoned on treason charges and later romantically linked to Josephine de Beauharnais, later wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, <i>while still in prison</i>. His success in helping to crush the royalist revolt in the Vendee led to his nomination to command the expedition to Ireland in 1796. There is no pub named after Hoche sadly, although there is a cafe in Cannes named after him, which sounds far more civilized to be honest.</p><p>Regiments: 5; 4+ to hit; Energy 9+; Charisma 8+</p><p><i>If Hoche wins a battle, losing army takes D6 losses and must discard D6 assets. No re-rolls or special abilities may be used against Hoche. </i></p><p><b>Wolfe Tone</b></p><p>One of the key architects of the Irish rebellion in 1797, Theobald Wolfe Tone founded the Society of United Irishmen in 1791 and was an active promoter of Irish independence. Tone acted as a key conduit between the Irish rebels and the revolutionary regime in Paris. He led the third and final invasion attempt in October 1798, but was heavily involved in the planning and execution of the previous efforts. He killed himself in prison while facing the death sentence in Dublin. There is a pub named after Tone in Ontario, Canada and a bar in Letterkenny, Donegal.</p><p>Regiments: 4; 5+ to hit; Energy: 7+; Charisma 7+</p><p><i>Special: If Tone wins a battle, British lose 3 regiments and discard ALL asset cards. Tone's army returns to full strength if he is not beaten in a single battle. Tone raises two rebel units on a successful Cha check, rather than the usual one.</i></p><p><b>Legion Noire</b></p><p>This army only appears on an event card. Hoche originally proposed to launch two diversionary attacks against England and Wales while the main French force landed in Ireland. As things turned out, this army landed near Fishguard in Wales where it was promptly defeated by local militia. Its commander William Tate was an American renegade who had fled the US to avoid a treason trial and found a home with the French. Many of the troops were ex-convicts and other undesirables. While there is no pub named after the Legion, it comes as no surprise that they have a controversial right wing heavy metal band in Argentina.</p><p>Regiments: 4; 3+ to hit; Energy: 9+; Charisma 10+</p><p><i>Special: If the Legion Noire rolls a double on its Energy check, Pillage the town it is in. If the Legion wins a battle, lose D3 units and D3 asset cards.</i></p><p>Still to come - when I get the time and the chance to do some more research and get my felt pens out:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Military Assets deck</li><li>The Events deck</li><li>The Combat rules</li><li>The all-important Insurrection Table</li><li>The game map</li></ul><p></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-23476953458983278482024-01-15T12:55:00.001+00:002024-01-15T12:55:44.335+00:00Land on Fire: Draft rebellion wargame rules<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWTxhkC5GC3fR_rsuVuLVFZkxJ2WhlnDr1kyQnghTQuKoAidxG1ooLsVwWWADHoElk4BukuXkobF15-lGudYQl0G8GYvjQFFmfOi2uzskYulaskjI_37jqPRZ820hjeh-IzCGBTrvS53kfrESioTpYMMMmWCa_CRyBDYtwiI5i9gDicoe7FxjwbdxuWHI/s800/land%20on%20fire%20post%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWTxhkC5GC3fR_rsuVuLVFZkxJ2WhlnDr1kyQnghTQuKoAidxG1ooLsVwWWADHoElk4BukuXkobF15-lGudYQl0G8GYvjQFFmfOi2uzskYulaskjI_37jqPRZ820hjeh-IzCGBTrvS53kfrESioTpYMMMmWCa_CRyBDYtwiI5i9gDicoe7FxjwbdxuWHI/w400-h225/land%20on%20fire%20post%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>This is part of a draft set of rules I am working on for a solo / co-op game where the player represents a government that is trying to put down the fires of rebellion. </b></p><p>The first iteration covers the rebellions in Ireland in 1796-98. I've chosen this because I'm currently reading <i>The Napoleon Options</i>, edited by Jonathan North. The first chapter of that, by wargames designer Paddy Griffiths, deals with the attempted French invasion of Ireland in 1796.</p><p>The player in <i>Land on Fire </i>(LoF) takes on the role of the British commanders, and the AI manages the Irish rebels and various French invasion forces. Rules are subject to change as the game is play-tested, and I'll be keeping track of this on the blog. Bear in mind this is currently quite an abstract game, and I'm using the topic of the restive Irish nation and French efforts to use it as a back door to defeat Britain as the sample topic to test the system with.</p><p>My plan is to evolve a 'system' which can be applied to varying counter-rebellion situations across history, where the player is facing a mixture of strategic threat (the French in this case) coupled with a rebellion by irregular forces.</p><p><b>Winning and losing</b></p><p>The British win if all the three attempted French invasions are defeated. The British lose if any of the following occur:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Any French army reaches Dublin</li><li>Five rebel bands are present in Dublin at any time</li><li>12 towns in Ireland are Pillaged</li><li>One region has four rebel bands in each town (Ireland is divided into four regions - Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and Munster).</li></ul><div><b>Starting the game</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The British start in Dublin with four generals - Sir Richard Abercromby (Brown), Viscount Gerard Lake (Purple), Lord Charles Cornwallis (Yellow) and Sir John Moore (Blue). </div><div><br /></div><div>Irish rebels are diced for at the start of the game. Rebel bands break down into four different groups. These can only be engaged if a British army is present in that town.</div><div><br /></div><div>The four types of rebel group, plus dice roll needed to break up one band are as follows:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>United Irishmen (Green) 5+</li><li>Whiteboys (Blue) 3+</li><li>Defenders of Ireland (Pink) 4+</li><li>Jacobins (Black) 4+</li></ul><div>There are three French fleets which can land troops in Ireland which immediately manifest as armies, namely Lazare Hoche (Black), Jean Humbert (Pink) and Wolfe Tone (Green). Each French/Irish commander has different characteristics, of which more later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whenever a French fleet lands an army in Ireland, three rebel bands immediately rise at that location: Jacobins for Hoche and Humbert and United Irish for Tone.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the start of the game, dice for initial uprisings. Roll % dice six times, and place two rebel bands of the same colour on each town. Then roll % again six times - one rebel band rises in each town. Note that this means some towns could have three bands active, from two different factions. Roll on the Rebel Ideology chart to determine the type of rebel there. There should now be 18 rebel bands active.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each general rolls twice on the Military assets chart at the start of the game to see how many additional assets he has under his command. Note that generals can transfer these assets between each other if in the same town, but not their core infantry strength. <i>I may go with a deck of cards rather than a table, using playing cards to determine both assets and events.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Core British line regiments can only be reinforced in a loyal port. Generals in Dublin at the start of the game may exchange assets before they leave the city, but not the infantry regiments under their respective commands.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The game turn</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is what the game turn currently looks like.</div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Roll for weather: check to see if weather is good enough for French to land. Only roll if there are no French armies in Ireland. Stop rolling while there is an active French army in Ireland. IF weather is good, roll to see which port the French land at. The first French army to land is always Hoche, followed by Humbert.</li><li>Roll action points for each general on 2D6. Reduce this by number of losses their command has taken. <i>Note: I may vary the number of dice rolled here to reflect superior military commanders, although historically Lake and Cornwallis were decent, despite Cornwallis' surrender of Yorktown to the American rebels in 1781.</i></li><li>Spend action points on various actions available, including one point per roll made to suppress rebel bands and one point for engaging the French. All combat initiated by the British occurs here.</li><li>If in Dublin or a major loyal port, roll 2D on the military assets table (<i>or pull an asset card, depending on which system I go with</i>). No British commander may have more than 10 assets attached to his command. British armies in ports of any kind can also roll to see if they receive new infantry regiments. Garrison units may be added to an army now.</li><li>Roll for rebellions to see if new rebels are added at any town. Check to see if the rebellion spreads. Place any Pillaged markers as a result.</li><li>If there is a French army in Ireland, roll to see if it moves closer to Dublin. This is based on the ability of the French commander. If this means the French arrive in an area with a British army, do not resolve the battle now, as the British may choose to retreat in the next turn. If the French have just landed this turn, they may still advance.</li><li>Check to see if the presence of the French army causes more insurrection at the town it is currently present at. <i>Note: I am going with one new rebel band per successful Charisma check from the French commander, with Wolfe Tone being the most likely to raise rebels, and Humbert the least. I may give Tone the ability to raise more rebels than the French - i.e. two rather than one, as he is a native Irishman. It may also be that he only raises United Irishmen).</i></li><li>Place any further Pillaged markers caused by the French army. Pillaged markers are not placed if British troops are present in that town.</li><li>Check for victory conditions. Note that once the British defeat Wolfe Tone they have won automatically. Also, if the French enter Dublin on step 6, the British lose automatically.</li></ol><div><b>Spreading the rebellion</b></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Any time new rebels are placed, if there are already four rebels in that town, new rebels are placed in all neighbouring towns. The rebels will be from the same faction as that placed. <i>Note: rebellions cannot occur if there is a British garrison, nor can they spread to towns with British garrisons. More on these later, but these are likely going to be driven by event cards and represent a garrison holed up in a fort, potentially supplied by sea by the Royal Navy. There are no garrisons on the map at the start of the game. British garrisons may be placed inland, but risk being cut off if all surrounding towns are occupied by rebels.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>If there is a Pillaged marker on a town, then the rebellion automatically spreads to a neighbouring town. A town can also contain more than one Pillaged marker. No pillaging allowed if there is either a British army or garrison present.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Designer note on rebel bands and British garrisons</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to go with different rebel factions to both reflect the different competing ideologies within Ireland among the rebels in the 1790s, and because it allows the game designer to provide a more complex map to the rebellion. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Jacobins, for example, were more closely aligned with the ideology of the French Revolution and could be described as internationalists and more likely to emerge from the educated, urban middle class in Ireland. But they were fewer in number. The Whiteboys represent agrarian rebels motivated more by highly localised issues, and less keen on marching anywhere else. Both the Defenders of Ireland and United Irishmen have regional and religious motivations which will be reflected in the insurrection tables. The Defenders are more likely to rise in Ulster, for example.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Note that the Catholic church and the French Revolution were <u>not</u> on good terms in 1796, with the church in France <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dechristianization_of_France_during_the_French_Revolution" target="_blank">having been suppressed energetically</a> (and the Pope being stripped of his temporal power by Berthier in 1798 did not improve the situation); this undoubtedly caused issues for the United Irishmen among pious locals.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>British garrisons will probably come off the military assets deck and can be held in a commander's hand and placed accordingly. They can be placed anywhere there is a British army, or in a loyal port. They are always counted as supplied if on the coast. If they are surrounded - i.e. all neighbouring towns are rebel held, then supplies and the possible surrender of the garrison becomes an issue.</div><div><br /></div><div>British players might be tempted to protect Dublin by simply garrisoning all the areas around it (e.g. Kildare and Wicklow). Garrisons cannot be left in Dublin itself. Obviously this could be a tactic for the British, but they would need to be able to draw enough garrison cards first, and the game designer could always not leave them with enough for such a 'ring of steel' strategy. Bear in mind that losing Dublin is not the only way to lose this wargame. Hunkering down in Dublin should not be the solution, nor was it in 1798.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Still to come</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Characteristics of the British and French leaders</li><li>British military assets deck</li><li>The rebellion table</li><li>Pacifying rebel areas</li><li>Combat</li><li>Events deck</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-71018444441502309402024-01-05T15:46:00.001+00:002024-01-05T15:46:35.940+00:00Miniatures gaming projects for 2024<p><b>The festive period is behind us, and I've returned from a short trip to Asia, which was both refreshing and informative. I have not been blogging very much in 2023, largely due to being so busy professionally, a state of affairs I do not expect will change much this year. </b></p><p>But, that said, I'm pondering some ideas for miniatures gaming in the months ahead. Here are some of my ideas, which I've broken down into table top miniatures games projects and campaign design thoughts.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqhgfYLgbKmjJ561p1ajiLikDToSV2hWmwCDDaQZpGuMjTDKnM6PPT8SVye5jY9CisS7e6OryiAQXqPdKC9rRiBrEJwQ3u_8rP_Ed2sKfDo-4M_MeBpzCuTtqjhGEP9YXEgGMA-wQJ883tqymqXzANVUU4j706sf0DK7VZpEOZLj2OLD2ds6FVAf_9XpO/s610/valls%201809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="610" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqhgfYLgbKmjJ561p1ajiLikDToSV2hWmwCDDaQZpGuMjTDKnM6PPT8SVye5jY9CisS7e6OryiAQXqPdKC9rRiBrEJwQ3u_8rP_Ed2sKfDo-4M_MeBpzCuTtqjhGEP9YXEgGMA-wQJ883tqymqXzANVUU4j706sf0DK7VZpEOZLj2OLD2ds6FVAf_9XpO/w400-h355/valls%201809.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Battle of Valls - 1809</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Miniatures games</h2><p>I have really enjoyed playing <i>Frostgrave</i> and <i>Stargrave</i>, with the pandemic in 2020 drawing the curtain on the Frostgrave antics, while Stargrave has sputtered along since the pandemic ended. Both are fun games, and I'm keen to see if I can get Stargrave back on the table in 2024. At some stage, I'd like to also examine the co-op possibilities of Joseph McCullough's other designs, especially <i>Rangers of Shadowdeep</i>, which seems to have a devoted following at the moment.</p><p>Following on from my successful re-fight of the Battle of Froeschwiller using <i>Bloody Big Battles</i>, I'm planning a second effort in this direction. The likely candidate is <a href="https://pushingtinwargames.blogspot.com/2020/03/battle-of-kurudere-1853-part-one-or.html" target="_blank">Kurekdere</a>, a battle between the Russians and the Ottoman Turks in 1854, the opening chapter in the Crimean War (strangely also called Kurudere, depending on the source). I will again be resorting to my Kriegspiel wooden block system for this game.</p><p>I've also written a solo scenario for the <i>Black Powder</i> rules which I may be posting about here, covering the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. I wanted a scenario I could use to learn the rules myself. This is a good solo topic, as the active player is taking the role of the British, and the American rebels are defending a static position on Bunker Hill, overlooking Boston harbour. Victory should be determined by how long it takes the British to overrun the rebel position, and how many soldiers they lose doing it.</p><p>Taking the Bunker Hill project as my inspiration, I also wanted to try out <i>Absolute Emperor</i> from Osprey Games, which covers larger scale Napoleonic battles. This time I'm using the Battle of Valls (1809) which sees the French attacking across a river valley to try to drive a Spanish army under Theodor von Reding off some heights between Barcelona and Zaragoza. Again, look to this blog for a report on this battle re-fight.</p><p>Going back in time, I'm tinkering with a Marathon scenario, the epic battle between the Persians and the Greeks - the Athenians really as the Spartans chickened out, in 490 BC. I was originally going to use <i>Men of Bronze</i> for this, then <i>Hail Caesar</i>, but am currently reading <i>Lost Battles</i>. More on this when I can actually make my mind up on rules. But suffice to say it will be a two player game. If all goes well, I may well use Men of Bronze for Thermopylae instead, if there is time.</p><p>I also enjoyed playing <i>Warmaster</i> in 2023, and will be aiming to progress the Grudge of Drong campaign, while also beginning to paint an army of Dwarves and a Vampire Counts army. I've given Tomb Kings and High Elves a test drive in 2023, winning with the undead but being thumped at Grudge Pass while playing the elves. More on a Warmaster campaign idea I had, below.</p><p>Beyond all the above, I'd like to test drive <i>Bolt Action</i> in the course of the year, having considerably augmented my WW2 collection in 2023, and also some <i>Rogue Trader</i> (40K 1.0). I seem to be accumulating Genestealer cultists and some Imperial Guard at a steady rate of knots. The obstacle has been getting a scenario together, but hopefully that can be achieved soon.</p><p>Finally, I'm also working on another Lovecraft Country scenario, but this time I won't be using <i>The Hills Rise Wild</i>. More on this when I have it in hand.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP_zsXPYWM1cRsq-evTaHKpHPc3xE-di73Yx42G5rBHe1FOWOW-bVDrKM-r1nNRqegOE1HvwoGgTlLWQlEIf-KFNglEoHzPQQ27snEUvLGRk_wp51TXJeOZ-Ha_aVZxfc7C9h3U-1CDOzZTKPhArMP9Qp6yMfCTsPDfW14zFNmSQL-sfMUVvNZiSuh4gv/s1080/bunker%20hill%201775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1080" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP_zsXPYWM1cRsq-evTaHKpHPc3xE-di73Yx42G5rBHe1FOWOW-bVDrKM-r1nNRqegOE1HvwoGgTlLWQlEIf-KFNglEoHzPQQ27snEUvLGRk_wp51TXJeOZ-Ha_aVZxfc7C9h3U-1CDOzZTKPhArMP9Qp6yMfCTsPDfW14zFNmSQL-sfMUVvNZiSuh4gv/w400-h265/bunker%20hill%201775.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The British assault Bunker Hill - 1775</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Campaign games</h2><p>I am toying with ideas for a couple of miniatures campaign games. One is <i>Greyhawk Wars</i>, adapting the old AD&D 2nd ed wargame as an engine to power miniatures games. The idea would be to create scope for Warmaster battles in Greyhawk. Further ruminations on this will be forthcoming as I work my way through this concept. Some of the key issues to be resolved will be:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Should one unit / counter in Greyhawk Wars equate to a single unit in Warmaster, or should armies simply run on a raw points system, with players determining composition only when they hit the battlefield?</li><li>If battles are too small for Warmaster, should they be played on the tabletop using <i>AD&D Battlesystem</i>, or even <i>Warhammer</i>? Or simply use the existing combat system in Greyhawk Wars, which many have complained about as simplistic and unwieldy?</li><li>How to determine what terrain exists on the battlefield? </li></ul><div>The other campaign project on the drawing board is a Napoleonic one. At the moment, it looks like an adaptation of the 1805 scenario from Avalon Hill's <i>War & Peace</i>, with the Scharnhorst campaign system from <i>Blucher</i> used once the armies are closer together. But this is subject to change. I may test this out as an academic exercise, just to see how it works. But it could simply be too complicated.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would like to see if a double-blind campaign system would work with multiple players eventually, forcing them to use scouts and intelligence to try to work out where the opposition is, before bringing them to battle. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm considering a third Zulu War or Matabele campaign at some point for my 28mm armies. The first campaign is more of a straightforward invasion scenario, while the latter is an insurrection model, with a rebellion spreading across a region, and one team/player managing the response, while the AI drives the rebel forces. The model is based off one I was toying with for a game called Middle East Peace, which seems more pertinent than ever as we move into 2024...</div><p></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-33898856029423130542024-01-02T11:48:00.008+00:002024-01-02T15:32:05.823+00:00The Hills Rose Wild on Halloween 2023<p><b>Back in October I celebrated Halloween with a game of The Hills Rise Wild. Originally published by Pagan Publishing in 2000, it started life as a board game, but with strong miniatures play characteristics. Players take on the roles of one of four factions from the backwoods New England of H.P. Lovecraft's 1920s horror tales.</b></p><p>The objective of the game is to take your team of six miscreants and find the old Whateley Seal, which in turn grants access to the Whateley manor, resting place of the fabled Necronomicon. Having found the book - no mean feat in the twisting halls of the manor - your faction needs to get it back to a summoning circle and summon a Great Old One, thereby winning the game, and probably ending the world in the process.</p><p>I decided to translate the game into a miniatures game. I tweaked some of the creature profiles slightly to match my collection, but I had most of the protagonists covered, which was gratifying. On the day we went with the Marsh Clan (Deep Ones from Innsmouth), the Whateley Clan (hill billies out of Dunwich), and the Cult of Ezekiel. I generated the playing surface using the tiles provided with the game, but used my own terrain collection.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EM1pak1kRa7GmOEVI57GGOI9AybVYCEWu9XcVsVZVCXzN6NWOe2b3ubLr4GiCvsnwAL6O4Fh8dNeQ-NtmAFAcgr2CmtcE_613JkpbwaOd-NyNvDVYBAiQNOPIq-0jtyVkKhu_ZgRbb6bVbE7u8sg-Fcrze4yP4ygVVU3yTOjbwVEuOZqpRtqzhctDZhf/s1600/THRW%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EM1pak1kRa7GmOEVI57GGOI9AybVYCEWu9XcVsVZVCXzN6NWOe2b3ubLr4GiCvsnwAL6O4Fh8dNeQ-NtmAFAcgr2CmtcE_613JkpbwaOd-NyNvDVYBAiQNOPIq-0jtyVkKhu_ZgRbb6bVbE7u8sg-Fcrze4yP4ygVVU3yTOjbwVEuOZqpRtqzhctDZhf/w400-h300/THRW%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: The layout was randomly determined using the process for creating the board in the game. Faction summoning circles are in the corners. The Whateley manor always sets up near the middle.</i></p><p>All the houses used in the game had cards allocated, which provided encounters, equipment or special features as per the rules.</p><p>I lost arguably my toughest character - Wilbur Whateley - early on to a spell from the Sea Witch of the Marsh clan, and was playing catch up for the rest of the game, as my Whateley cultists were picked off one by one. The Cult of Ezekiel hung back, sensibly letting the Whateleys and the Deep Ones battle it out in the early stages. The Marsh clan spread across the board. I THINK they were the ones to find the Whateley seal which then led to a dash for the manor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuIz7_GplGMXrqm5ee5NplNIlSUSGFKfPbwmyTmklANVO6jkLcjgUQh-yTp880CtzsJJFPatU9JmaIVDWo4JBP7HRnvcoeKU9tLe2yXt_-DjLv34HYxrosGGIzLX7yjtErR2hSx-iVm1LeeF3F4cfxeD7XkruEt1iGdzzjlg9I-el9cgSeMjGVm3vACPz/s2048/THRW%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuIz7_GplGMXrqm5ee5NplNIlSUSGFKfPbwmyTmklANVO6jkLcjgUQh-yTp880CtzsJJFPatU9JmaIVDWo4JBP7HRnvcoeKU9tLe2yXt_-DjLv34HYxrosGGIzLX7yjtErR2hSx-iVm1LeeF3F4cfxeD7XkruEt1iGdzzjlg9I-el9cgSeMjGVm3vACPz/w400-h300/THRW%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Wilbur Whateley (with tentacles) and Lavinia Whateley investigate an abandoned hut as they search for the Whateley Seal.</i></p><p>By this point I still had two characters in the game, although both were wounded. I entered the manor in an effort to see if I could get to the Necronomicon before the Marsh clan could, but sadly failed. The Cult of Ezekiel had also decided to contest the manor. I had managed to dispatch one Ezekiel cultist with TNT, but they still had five on the board, although Father Dark was wounded badly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLZLD5B4JjGUrUPt-z4l9UHAAZOhRa__QRtMXYitFHnIL7pGvu6aOxYYx27afWb7mot3pT_vz3XnDsZ6_jFrzNibLr3o8pUudZspt4EnQI6wFVBrP4bm4SGWrCjCHxP2-ejjBllGN79rkxnlnc20gfeCPxZ6N2sJ2OLQ80PkRP96o9les0ouv1gV2Uqt0/s2048/THRW%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLZLD5B4JjGUrUPt-z4l9UHAAZOhRa__QRtMXYitFHnIL7pGvu6aOxYYx27afWb7mot3pT_vz3XnDsZ6_jFrzNibLr3o8pUudZspt4EnQI6wFVBrP4bm4SGWrCjCHxP2-ejjBllGN79rkxnlnc20gfeCPxZ6N2sJ2OLQ80PkRP96o9les0ouv1gV2Uqt0/w400-h300/THRW%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Members of the Whateley clan approach what turned out to be the Murder House, eventually claimed by the dreaded Marsh clan. In the distance, my hound sniffs at the fence. What's inside?</i></p><p>As the battle raged inside the manor itself, the Marsh clan was down to about three effectives (Captain Obed Marsh was already slain), and with the Cult in a good position around the manor, we conceded the game to them.</p><p>I thought the game ran well as a miniatures game. Everyone seemed to have fun. It did run longer than four hours, however, which was a bit longer than required. I was looking for it to run inside that time frame. With a fourth player it would take even longer.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtmrQFqL0qFyylK-Kd5Fc8eBK9HA9hOYRzmAqr8fmNVdJIRGVC7hsFS0lOQYvqovRTXEWemhEeBpYfZmx3GCTCUELsuFDmwvk_hzTPPd3nFFJLmJRUeqab3ibJCaoVZk-O-LPAYnovhWakXpD9AJfkVGPJhBHt88cW3qgRc3HDlOlky7FxDnAjw9KyLrX/s2048/THRW%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtmrQFqL0qFyylK-Kd5Fc8eBK9HA9hOYRzmAqr8fmNVdJIRGVC7hsFS0lOQYvqovRTXEWemhEeBpYfZmx3GCTCUELsuFDmwvk_hzTPPd3nFFJLmJRUeqab3ibJCaoVZk-O-LPAYnovhWakXpD9AJfkVGPJhBHt88cW3qgRc3HDlOlky7FxDnAjw9KyLrX/w400-h300/THRW%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The Marsh Clan moving into action. The cards are randomly distributed in the huts and one of them will be the Whateley seal. This is needed to access the mansion, seen in the distance.</i></p><p>The game also suffers a bit in my view from 1990s games design, with quite a few modifiers involved. Pre-2000 game designers seem to have loved modifiers, and tabletop wargames from this era are full of them. Personally I feel they are not needed in modern games design. The Hills Rise Wild is, however, more than 20 years old and shows its age.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Mcly1duVHXZOU0BYEFRFZ0KUWdRRCOUyuLmyro_FosJdBVL0MolN53Kqxz7un7Sga4kY4sMv21uqjru9EHYseWsSCrV6lfYyuemt5Z098tO0WT05-4u2bIeADcGNy6ENaM_LQcDJpB6VWwaqh7jTy5_APIKBsWFOFb_f7DdPgbBWekSBJ_cIkiXpq5m0/s2048/THRW%205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Mcly1duVHXZOU0BYEFRFZ0KUWdRRCOUyuLmyro_FosJdBVL0MolN53Kqxz7un7Sga4kY4sMv21uqjru9EHYseWsSCrV6lfYyuemt5Z098tO0WT05-4u2bIeADcGNy6ENaM_LQcDJpB6VWwaqh7jTy5_APIKBsWFOFb_f7DdPgbBWekSBJ_cIkiXpq5m0/w400-h300/THRW%205.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The Cult of Ezekiel, led by Father Dark in the black robe. Here they are tangling with the Marsh clan. We used the markers of the game to keep track of the bodies, although I was not sure of their exact utility.</i></p><p>My other big issue is with what is required to win the game: I think it is too fatal for any one player to actually get to the point where they successfully summon the Great Old One. Before you even reach that point, there should only be one faction left capable of achieving the summoning. Thus, there is a strong argument for simply focusing on killing off all the opposition, and winning by default.</p><p>The seal only turned up on the last card flip of the exploration phase; in most games it will be found sooner. I feel the length of the game - and the level of attrition - can partly be attributed to that, and if the seal had been discovered in one of the first few huts explored, it would have been a very different game. Something to bear in mind for the future.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfB1G23GRgE1SQz6J3ioWN1pkxYuMVNuOhtEoI2jn7NxJ-iFU51afpYMlay0Jdx_DXnVLnVkSgTQH5eRSQfRj8Cndw-W7AySAelm14V5gvm83NKBayF5WqITA83yb31DhfvciLimH9jz4BcUcY6eCTE3qYXWybedRdhQOZWG0NShtvatobcKZF5YzOvqO/s1024/THRW%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfB1G23GRgE1SQz6J3ioWN1pkxYuMVNuOhtEoI2jn7NxJ-iFU51afpYMlay0Jdx_DXnVLnVkSgTQH5eRSQfRj8Cndw-W7AySAelm14V5gvm83NKBayF5WqITA83yb31DhfvciLimH9jz4BcUcY6eCTE3qYXWybedRdhQOZWG0NShtvatobcKZF5YzOvqO/w400-h300/THRW%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The closing scene of the game: the Marsh clan grabbed the Necronomicon in the manor, but surrounded by the Cult of Ezekiel, were forced to concede.</i></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-53274077774328725862023-12-04T19:03:00.001+00:002023-12-04T19:30:33.334+00:00Warmaster Revolution: The Battle of Grudge Pass<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInPnaWZGb8ya0YPj028WO-tcx_NN6g6ZHUKPuTcAvUdqEqH_A8WJ_Sis2H327kv0i27hcvvhz9rimREf1gda1ekOsqxqwhqsuOERQFreu2TLv9aMk90Jg9i69SrtwLEj4l9F2kEASKzYZW34OcFh9ESY9OvPy7SDsGmhiqCk4zn9HyF8MSTg0uCMshvW9/s1038/Grudge%20Pass%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="769" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInPnaWZGb8ya0YPj028WO-tcx_NN6g6ZHUKPuTcAvUdqEqH_A8WJ_Sis2H327kv0i27hcvvhz9rimREf1gda1ekOsqxqwhqsuOERQFreu2TLv9aMk90Jg9i69SrtwLEj4l9F2kEASKzYZW34OcFh9ESY9OvPy7SDsGmhiqCk4zn9HyF8MSTg0uCMshvW9/s320/Grudge%20Pass%202.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>We had another go at <i>Warmaster Revolution</i>, this time using the old Warhammer campaign, <i>Grudge of Drong</i>, converted to Warmaster. The epic Grudge of Drong follows the classic Warhammer narrative campaign model, with three smaller battles feeding through into a major contest of arms. Each earlier engagement has an impact on who - or what - turns up for the grand finale.<p></p><p>Those familiar with this blog will recall we have previously had a go at <i>Bloodbath At Orc's Drift</i>, which went well, but lost momentum just before the final battle. I've still got the results from the earlier engagements to hand, so once we have enough ready and eager players, we may resolve that particular campaign.</p><p>Grudge of Drong features the internal politics of a dwarf realm called Krag Bryn, which has some elvish immigrants camped on its doorstep at Tol Eldroth, on the coast. The elves could be described as economic migrants, and have successfully curried favour with the local ruler, Queen Helgar, providing Krag Bryn with a useful trading outlet to the empire of the high elves.</p><p>A reactionary faction within the dwarf realm, led by Drong the Hard of Kazad Thrund, is challenging Helgar for power and has mobilised the mining unions of Clan Thrund. Krudd Mad-Mattock, a kinsman to Drong, has been stirring up trouble among the miners of Grudge Pass. Helgar has sent an army of her elven allies under Prince Fendar to secure the valuable mines in the pass.</p><p>The battle starts with the dwarves - who are all drunk - being presented with an ultimatum by Fendar, which includes not crossing a line in the sand. I was commanding the elvish host. I had little to zero knowledge about dwarves in Warmaster. I was about to find out. Fendar's riot control measures were about to go phat.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBciaP_zQwx8M3bSdRZYmYiigqZwuqaX2goHypn5s0I8cEekJHfriG5p_SFlorYB5ntOIAhyphenhyphencBikWN-fZl6WGRbEBFIhZxj2S-_WdtoYgZSqwbfZeCN9wKNjCdFHRiCuhg6pGslDumnEDi5bw93sk8TiPQ_Hc4dnDsfc5jw5EVQdRTn7ILiFezk6szT1EY/s2048/Grudge%20Pass%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBciaP_zQwx8M3bSdRZYmYiigqZwuqaX2goHypn5s0I8cEekJHfriG5p_SFlorYB5ntOIAhyphenhyphencBikWN-fZl6WGRbEBFIhZxj2S-_WdtoYgZSqwbfZeCN9wKNjCdFHRiCuhg6pGslDumnEDi5bw93sk8TiPQ_Hc4dnDsfc5jw5EVQdRTn7ILiFezk6szT1EY/w400-h300/Grudge%20Pass%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: The battle lines at the start, viewed from the dwarf side. The Troll Slayers are in orange, naturally and the red blocks are units of muskets. The dark units are all dwarf warriors. Across the field are elf spears in yellow, flanked by pink blocks of archers. The Silver Helms are in white on the elven left flank, with Reavers behind them. The brown buildings are dwarf open pit mines.</i></p><p>The observant will note that we are reverting to our old coloured blocks system which we use for play testing games, and because we don't have time for painting. I went for a classic formation, with my chariots on my right flank, and most of my cavalry - Silver Helms and horse archers - on my left. We had no wizards or monsters in this one.</p><p>The dwarves went with a frontal attack worthy of a drunken mob. This was spearheaded by a couple of units of Troll Slayers who turned out to be pretty devastating. I had all my archers and infantry holding the centre, but this was ripped apart by the Troll Slayers. I killed most of them, but the cost was enormous. Toe to toe, dwarves are much tougher than orcs, I learned to my cost, and tackling them in melee, dangerous. And there still seemed to be a lot of them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdSU_v67j61znYRWpZmbtpmI9M3H-r2H9z8qW_YARHDg8X461EpRufQVswvMRiuGG72UxuJ5p9l0D6okJPvLnPk4Pq4iuwoIeuHCKYvT5t414Q3PoyRhkeRFrOMo1YoZ2XYyoSIQ2CHM4nDcUT0KM0PLMlw1Tdq8pmZzsgL9nNWReMkNDzv5HBOHoV_UA/s2048/Grudge%20Pass%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdSU_v67j61znYRWpZmbtpmI9M3H-r2H9z8qW_YARHDg8X461EpRufQVswvMRiuGG72UxuJ5p9l0D6okJPvLnPk4Pq4iuwoIeuHCKYvT5t414Q3PoyRhkeRFrOMo1YoZ2XYyoSIQ2CHM4nDcUT0KM0PLMlw1Tdq8pmZzsgL9nNWReMkNDzv5HBOHoV_UA/w400-h300/Grudge%20Pass%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: A bloody scrum in front of the elf lines between the Troll Slayers in orange and the elven horse archers in green. The latter were a severe disappoint for me in this battle. An elf hero in blue looks on from afar - possibly sensibly. Fendar is the dark blue cone behind the yellow elf spear line in the background. "Light cavalry should really never be engaging dwarf religious fanatics in close combat," I hear you say. You would be right.</i></p><p>Cunningly, most of the miners were held back, so I ended up having to ride into the face of lines of dwarves with muskets. Those familiar with the Japanese battle of Nagashino will know how that turned out. My Reavers (horse archers) were fairly disappointing to be honest. My refused right flank, where my chariots sat, was never seriously challenged, and the elf commander there proved unusually hesitant (fluffed command rolls).</p><p>The muskets were really deadly for the cavalry, even the elite Silver Helms, so I will need some kind of solution to that for the next battle. The elvish chariots were pretty deadly, but I was again slow to get them into battle. I love my chariots, but seem to park them too far behind the line.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0SOX39pzhFOqLh_RtyhNz4i5DpgFtuytkGk6u0oLZ2wZAvHZM2zL5SZ9x5iGgTOri3QvUgYVY1uO6hyyzkU7kCLDRtlFoku4myg0fF80h54Ap1lpS0kYBMjtMskAYbg2ETJ7H_N_-mw4lxvwNL1MJEdsHUD-_4PHNSbWQvNL3fpTTinBtQCNK6qrm2Y3/s2048/Grudge%20Pass%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0SOX39pzhFOqLh_RtyhNz4i5DpgFtuytkGk6u0oLZ2wZAvHZM2zL5SZ9x5iGgTOri3QvUgYVY1uO6hyyzkU7kCLDRtlFoku4myg0fF80h54Ap1lpS0kYBMjtMskAYbg2ETJ7H_N_-mw4lxvwNL1MJEdsHUD-_4PHNSbWQvNL3fpTTinBtQCNK6qrm2Y3/s320/Grudge%20Pass%204.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: The award for blood bath of the day, as Troll Slayers duke it out with the elf infantry in the centre - a single block of yellow spears is about to go down in the morass, singing sad songs as they do.</i></p><p>Special mention must also be made of the dwarf ranger regiments, of which I think there were two, who had the ability to pop up behind my line and create havoc. They are hard to defend against.</p><p>Strategically, I think my big mistake here - and yes, the elves were defeated, and soundly, at Grudge Pass - was not bringing enough rank and file to the party. I was too distracted by shiny cavalry and chariots, and when my centre was carved up, the elven army eventually broke. Yes, the Troll Slayers were wiped out almost to the last dwarf, but that's what they are there for. The victory means, I believe, that the dwarves will have war engines available for the last battle.</p><p>I am hoping we will be able to get the next chapter of the campaign played in the not too distant future.</p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-1432102813374464922023-11-08T15:56:00.005+00:002023-11-08T15:56:38.539+00:00Solo Afghanistan campaign: the wind down to Perestroika<p><b>And so we come to the final phase of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which I've been running using the rules in <i>Small Wars</i>, a most interesting book that I hope to make more use of in the future - when I have the time. We resume our game in early 1986.</b></p><p>At this stage in the proceedings, overall international opinion on the USSR was becoming more negative. I had been lucky on some of my dice rolls on the diplomacy campaign, but this was now coming unstuck for the Soviets, as more western press began taking an interest in human rights abuses, etc.</p><p>Active support by the Americans for the rebel forces has also made life more difficult for the Soviets and their Afghan allies, with heavier losses among the helicopter squadrons a direct result of distribution of Stinger missiles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa2qCAcA1eJy3Se5f-uR5reEYqTsT7EbD0-jNTmJCj-YZs1YQZS_IzgEDS-F0tjE50hp416z-TdE7xSctsiLJwCXh27pbQHAO4VHiOLGJD_Nf5y_AkU3znaL-wV2hV2NC7O2H6daVv4g366DgQKdV2GuOhtBZSPkKeHbjjyNiTpe-YHaEcU9jCKgu3o6U/s1920/russia%20su%2025%20afghanistan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa2qCAcA1eJy3Se5f-uR5reEYqTsT7EbD0-jNTmJCj-YZs1YQZS_IzgEDS-F0tjE50hp416z-TdE7xSctsiLJwCXh27pbQHAO4VHiOLGJD_Nf5y_AkU3znaL-wV2hV2NC7O2H6daVv4g366DgQKdV2GuOhtBZSPkKeHbjjyNiTpe-YHaEcU9jCKgu3o6U/w400-h225/russia%20su%2025%20afghanistan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>A Soviet Su 25 bomber on operations in Afghanistan in 1986 - missile trail in background. I forgot to apply the modifier to force bombers to fly at higher altitudes once the rebels were armed with Stinger missiles. I don't think it would have had a major impact, as the Stingers only arrived in 1985 in my timeframe.</i></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">1986: Talks start with Pakistan</h4><p>The fighting continued around Kandahar. We backed the formation of a pro-communist 'loyal jirga' to found a National Fatherland Front. But we were seeing more desertions from the ranks of the government Afghan brigades, both from the rank and file AND the elite commandoes, which did not look good. The USSR also reached out to Pakistan to start talks with an effort to curb the flow of men and materiel across the border into the mujahideen.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">1987: Russians go home!</h4><p>Fighting broke out in the Herat region, which to date had been quite peaceful. We sent the Spetznaz brigade into the Kandahar area as I was running out of patience with the ongoing rebellion there. The rebels also had another crack at my convoys supplying Soviet troops in the Panjsheer Valley. Later in the year, fighting continued in Kandahar, although Soviet and Afghan forces managed to put down the rebellion in Herat before the end of the year.</p><p>By this stage the World Opinion index had reached seven, with 10 leading to the forced withdrawal of Soviet troops. Further negative news coverage of the refugee camps led to a final hike up to 10 and the inevitable withdrawal order came from Moscow.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Xay8Wqt_qN0qgaL3cJVgBzT7Qcfv1HaiB7qA-diB2ib9ndzMbiJ2yDwRwdwdpF1EhgsH0qHmlBTgO88-9lEP_N4MfXtFXl7uqnJ9WhU4fMhbgU1vv9IcBMlPgjOd3Drhc8KGqfDYqbiZnlFtA2ZgaoUSRFnePyFp_3ATWyiKf3Z6Nc-Wq081MMfpDQvk/s1024/soviet%20ambush%20kandahar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Xay8Wqt_qN0qgaL3cJVgBzT7Qcfv1HaiB7qA-diB2ib9ndzMbiJ2yDwRwdwdpF1EhgsH0qHmlBTgO88-9lEP_N4MfXtFXl7uqnJ9WhU4fMhbgU1vv9IcBMlPgjOd3Drhc8KGqfDYqbiZnlFtA2ZgaoUSRFnePyFp_3ATWyiKf3Z6Nc-Wq081MMfpDQvk/w400-h300/soviet%20ambush%20kandahar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Another ambush in the high passes, this time with Soviet motorised infantry moving to the Panjsheer Valley in mid-1987. Three mujahideen warbands on the attack. Soviet Hinds flying in support out of Kabul, although I also had them frequently flying routine escort routes for troops on the ground.</i></p><p>The fighting in Kandahar had stopped by this stage, so Afghanistan looked relatively peaceful as Soviet troops pulled out in January-February 1988.</p><p>At the end of the campaign, a points table evaluates the relative success of the Soviet occupation. Anything over 20 is not good. I shaved under it with 18, which means it can be regarded as a largely successful outcome for the Russians.</p><p>Key to the campaign was keeping at least one Red Army division in Kabul, as this helped to prevent the local Afghan forces from disintegrating. Other forces were deployed according to the level of opposition in a particular region. I tried to avoid over-committing troops to any one battle area, as you can get caught on the hop with unforeseen uprisings elsewhere.</p><p>The campaign dynamic is very similar to the earlier French Foreign Legion campaign, but with more bells and whistles. I think it is hard, if not impossible for the rebels to win in terms of forcing the Russians out of Afghanistan militarily. The Soviets are vastly superior in terms of firepower. But they can 'lose' through losing one or two battles, and that is all it would take really. Keeping Kabul was paramount, so I really had to make sure there was no scope for the enemy to 'rush' the capital, as we have seen more recently.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEn-8fBKUdbFr0leP-l_xy6c7kpKQ_h4Tsdi6Jm5_3REwXQWtY2n2wzD5Yujlfj34_9GE9vk77ldERNWK9pi-a_X-t7WgBLCgeGoJ1m0cnOPpb4AhQNU1yp9643HDQ6htBMfb4zEvarSeF6Xwl8xOKVl_MSTuVP8EujrZXXUEJulUm32X4tvat5gIeS-9/s766/ussr%20withdrawal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEn-8fBKUdbFr0leP-l_xy6c7kpKQ_h4Tsdi6Jm5_3REwXQWtY2n2wzD5Yujlfj34_9GE9vk77ldERNWK9pi-a_X-t7WgBLCgeGoJ1m0cnOPpb4AhQNU1yp9643HDQ6htBMfb4zEvarSeF6Xwl8xOKVl_MSTuVP8EujrZXXUEJulUm32X4tvat5gIeS-9/s320/ussr%20withdrawal.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-15327680253681839062023-10-12T16:18:00.001+01:002023-10-12T16:18:00.168+01:00Solo Afghanistan campaign: it all kicks off in Kabul!<p><b>As promised, my next post on my solo Afghanistan COIN (counter-insurgency) campaign, where I'm running the Soviet side in a strategic level simulation of the USSR involvement in the country in the 1980s. </b></p><p>Up to this point in the game, everything had been going relatively smoothly. Indeed, a negotiated ceasefire with the mujahideen in the Panjsheer Valley had left much of the country looking relatively quiet and peaceful as we moved into the end of 1982.</p><p>All that was about to change however...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGSKsv3ERGQ4JxBrXdyFifK3EEjSB6H4EELl8-bam6ugnyH2UAArP32_kHXLua5Y1tbWGuZ7O3CJL3VeCo8AhzwXzw_2z2ngvaDsGj2Tbo5ssgtVCEwl6pTM3nY6f48LWIxgFQmKTXPjBHbq2kiAeRmKOXk0FqGgk5N5qqFgMcKgl-iWgjbjV34OI4GW5/s1600/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Convoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGSKsv3ERGQ4JxBrXdyFifK3EEjSB6H4EELl8-bam6ugnyH2UAArP32_kHXLua5Y1tbWGuZ7O3CJL3VeCo8AhzwXzw_2z2ngvaDsGj2Tbo5ssgtVCEwl6pTM3nY6f48LWIxgFQmKTXPjBHbq2kiAeRmKOXk0FqGgk5N5qqFgMcKgl-iWgjbjV34OI4GW5/w400-h225/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Convoy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">1983: The rebels attack Kabul</h3><p>Going into this year there was little rebel activity although some civil unrest in the Kandahar area. This was because rebel forces were secretly massing for a big attack on Kabul. I had to dice to see if local Afghan regime forces would remain loyal in Kabul. Luckily they did, and the attack was driven off. Soviet troops were also pulled out of the Panjsheer Valley as I did not want to tie down too many escorts keeping them supplied up there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn6UW3uhCvXVg9o1DrCMo2H0T5-QNd4kHuUpfKmkjGLhX6vlsDQw4xWb1rDnow1DxR9lfcXwf9bjMrVKxKJXM2wgTP6azdX1AqcW4vX540rRZ_PBmqLFIB5-8ShICqwVFCwukPH_u5yZbe-5lQyYYjU7_LH2XgB8YuYW055j9NaCd0n9XOHIrSSErooCd/s1024/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Kabul%20Attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn6UW3uhCvXVg9o1DrCMo2H0T5-QNd4kHuUpfKmkjGLhX6vlsDQw4xWb1rDnow1DxR9lfcXwf9bjMrVKxKJXM2wgTP6azdX1AqcW4vX540rRZ_PBmqLFIB5-8ShICqwVFCwukPH_u5yZbe-5lQyYYjU7_LH2XgB8YuYW055j9NaCd0n9XOHIrSSErooCd/w400-h300/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Kabul%20Attack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above we see mujahideen units attacking Kabul. Green and black pieces are rebel units - yellow are heavy artillery - e.g. 122mm rockets. Red pieces are Soviet forces in Kabul. The square red hammer & sickle counters are the elite Spetznaz brigade. Blue counters are DRA troops, in this case the Afghan commando brigade. Aircraft squadrons take no role in tactical battles and are generally used for pacification operations. The 2 of Spades is tracking the level of morale in local Afghan forces.</i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1984: Panjsheer Valley in flames again</h3><p>The attack on Kabul, although unsuccessful, kicked off a massive amount of rebel activity elsewhere in Afghanistan. We saw a major revolt in the Panjsheer Valley as Masud scrapped his ceasefire deal. There was also a big uprising in Kandahar. Having driven off the attack on Kabul, troops and choppers were immediately dispatched to deal with the trouble.</p><p>We ran into an ambush immediately in the high passes, and took losses among both my motorised infantry units and even the Spetznaz, who got called in to help clear the way into the Panjsheer. Fighting was intense. In retrospect this turned into the bloodiest battle of the campaign. Most of the Soviet losses - among ground forces - occurred in the second half of 1984 in the high passes and in Kandahar.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdG2wFSfmHHAQA_EhU_2AHpn5eC59MDVPbhE3Z1Y0uTfGhpFMnyLuFiVTOXYuy3FUtujWnV-lK500B3HKJSyCWa0t8AqpTTs74DiddqMn-0pZOhsyfQr1KStqyMrdhEm4zuduuclAjTSOczTr_enFrH7E4mm9SwQJBlH-3kVNQUIxfn6O0B0cPL-9BY-VZ/s1024/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Hindu%20Kush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdG2wFSfmHHAQA_EhU_2AHpn5eC59MDVPbhE3Z1Y0uTfGhpFMnyLuFiVTOXYuy3FUtujWnV-lK500B3HKJSyCWa0t8AqpTTs74DiddqMn-0pZOhsyfQr1KStqyMrdhEm4zuduuclAjTSOczTr_enFrH7E4mm9SwQJBlH-3kVNQUIxfn6O0B0cPL-9BY-VZ/w400-h300/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Hindu%20Kush.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Here we have mujahideen forces attacking a Soviet motorised infantry force that is escorting supplies through the mountains. This is the road to the Panjsheer Valley, which can be seen top right where more Soviet forces are operating. The pink counter is the truck convoy. The 7 of Diamonds is specifically tracking the level of local resistance in the Panjsheer Valley.</i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1985: Here some the Stingers</h3><p>Inevitably the CIA made its move, and began to provide rebel forces with Stinger missiles. This makes helicopters more vulnerable in tactical operations. With the levels of heavy fighting in-country, Moscow decided to send in a new armoured division to help out, which was welcome. Soviet forces began losing helicopters in both the Panjsheer Valley and indeed in Kandahar where the fighting raged on throughout 1985. I lost more ground troops here too, including Afghan commandos.</p><p>Western media began covering the effects of the war more intensely, which began to swing the sentiment of world opinion against the USSR. With foreign reporters roving freely in refugee camps in Pakistan, Moscow began to lose control over the narrative. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkn7IGgSf5mwV4MeFmu0n-XxMuJyC7bNRXHHVai7AeXIVNz9nQYtKPjq2KCE__55cYTRjKeKPniMeavt4pfah0FpYaG1CnMQgSub5V86xw-9ORMc5U01rK5GR0ypX-dSP5Iz1x5e7_bS3jkECiSidzXU8wTaONeh-FPZjvuiqwf3vjE2Q34qzM66J194_/s1024/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Herat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkn7IGgSf5mwV4MeFmu0n-XxMuJyC7bNRXHHVai7AeXIVNz9nQYtKPjq2KCE__55cYTRjKeKPniMeavt4pfah0FpYaG1CnMQgSub5V86xw-9ORMc5U01rK5GR0ypX-dSP5Iz1x5e7_bS3jkECiSidzXU8wTaONeh-FPZjvuiqwf3vjE2Q34qzM66J194_/w400-h300/Afghanistan%20USSR%20Herat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>A routine operation in the Hindu Kush. Soviet tanks with helicopter escort testing for ambush en route to Herat. An Afghan motorised infantry division can be seen already in Herat, engaging local rebel forces. Soviet Hinds are flying overwatch for the armour. This local Afghan unit remained in Herat for most of the game, suffering little loss, and indeed Herat ended up being the quietest part of the country...</i></p><p>Next time: the finale. Can the Soviets hang on until 1988?</p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-54740316368452835902023-10-05T22:41:00.000+01:002023-10-05T22:41:04.720+01:00Soviet war in Afghanistan solo campaign<p>This month I'm playing a solo campaign game taken from the excellent <i>Small Wars</i> book of tabletop games about counter-insurgency operations. </p><p>Previous posts on this blog have covered a similar game about the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. The current campaign uses many of the same ideas, with a bit more rules crunch, and instead of a small company of legionnaires in the desert, I am running the Soviet war effort in Afghanistan from 1980-88.</p><p>I'm going to cover the first three years - 1980 to 1982 in this post, and will write about the rest of the campaign in subsequent posts. I found the system again quite fun and had to change my tactics as the campaign progressed, as we shall see.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopjSOwT3TsmP-KWzD7gBvALDUsGZTeds4gHmVBY9g_OA2cQYqwcBfduF5wiYQ8YrYgu6Qt6LyPLYhGmmkGGTRB0V6j7EFNl9CUSCPuB9J9U10Y5mkt7cXGvKEyjkeXsZIHFFG8D8TUv34VepxrvIPZFmwve7x4x06fGvx0Ei0QrlaQOwQqt7azHDrca3P/s1200/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopjSOwT3TsmP-KWzD7gBvALDUsGZTeds4gHmVBY9g_OA2cQYqwcBfduF5wiYQ8YrYgu6Qt6LyPLYhGmmkGGTRB0V6j7EFNl9CUSCPuB9J9U10Y5mkt7cXGvKEyjkeXsZIHFFG8D8TUv34VepxrvIPZFmwve7x4x06fGvx0Ei0QrlaQOwQqt7azHDrca3P/w400-h266/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1980: ground sweeps harm world opinion</h3><p>Early in the year there was some dissent in Herat and Kandahar. There was no mujahideen activity, but I took the precautionary measure of moving troops out to the provinces, with two motor rifle divisions being sent to Herat with helicopter support, and an allied Afghan DRA (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan) infantry division going to Kandahar. I carried out sweeps with ground troops against anti-government population areas, which drove world opinion against the war and the USSR.</p><p>The world opinion mechanic reacts to pacification operations. I started off with sweeps using ground troops but this activity is deeply unpopular on the world stage. If the world opinion score gets to 10 in the game, an entire USSR division gets pulled out by Moscow. While I had plenty of military muscle on the ground, the loss of a division would hurt my efforts considerably.</p><p>At this stage in the campaign my agitprop activity was also doing a good job of discrediting the reputation of the tribal opposition in the eyes of the world media.</p><p>Towards the end of the year, revolts inevitably started in the provinces, forcing me to send tanks into Herat. Motorised infantry went into the Panjsheer Valley with my Hind gunships in support. There were successful pacification operations in Herat and the Panjsheer region. Global media attention was distracted by events in the Middle East, specifically the Iran hostage crisis.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNGAms0921go8KcD23gvam32SAg11xCEnXWoalNNJ-JUtYBvgIUQVMq98uYccOgxDly58Zv_-H3v9L7F7im_cRv9Qogdn5TOpzxd5RB33f23WiozOUVDJaYAylpYZ5myqNrRCpHTXh8UeLR6Qwa3_EC_NAW9pYnP7InxlOwSK329Isx4-9d8dIjjN_8U_/s900/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNGAms0921go8KcD23gvam32SAg11xCEnXWoalNNJ-JUtYBvgIUQVMq98uYccOgxDly58Zv_-H3v9L7F7im_cRv9Qogdn5TOpzxd5RB33f23WiozOUVDJaYAylpYZ5myqNrRCpHTXh8UeLR6Qwa3_EC_NAW9pYnP7InxlOwSK329Isx4-9d8dIjjN_8U_/w400-h266/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20B.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1981: arrival of the Spetznaz</h3><p>I reinforced the troops already operating in the Panjsheer Valley with an Afghan commando brigade. There was some disaffection in the ranks of my Afghan allies, but nothing to lose sleep over. The countryside was generally quiet. I did run some pacification operations early in the year, and this time switched to carpet bombing rebel areas, which has less of an impact on world opinion than sending in troops to burn villages.</p><p>I'm not sure I entirely agree with this design element. The simulation provides the player with enough Soviet airpower to cover most of the country, and there is less chance of world opinion reacting to this than ground sweeps. From this point on I abandoned ground sweeps entirely, and focused just on using air power for pacification.</p><p>Towards the end of the year Mikhail Zaitsev of Southern Theatre Command took over in Kabul and changed tactics: it means fewer tanks, but we received the Spetznaz mountain brigade instead. I pulled the Afghan commandoes out of the Panjsheer Valley. The mujahideen rebels were now tooled up with Chinese rockets which gave them more firepower on the battlefield. We continued winning the propaganda war, highlighting rebel atrocities.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL8D3irkB-zbcpqvPJuTZTkL872uGNRUf89gUbhYhBN6JBIBVAdPwCe4RdZSoDgP1e7eu9C91LzOBsYlVeBqaoOdR8_wABjJMSYDgHnJ9oiEARqAty9qt4lK6ZE8JWj3ytsN80xzy0n9sqBloynPobdtl815KtC58LR9cNMxFrstn76uEqkzFVwNko_rC/s275/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL8D3irkB-zbcpqvPJuTZTkL872uGNRUf89gUbhYhBN6JBIBVAdPwCe4RdZSoDgP1e7eu9C91LzOBsYlVeBqaoOdR8_wABjJMSYDgHnJ9oiEARqAty9qt4lK6ZE8JWj3ytsN80xzy0n9sqBloynPobdtl815KtC58LR9cNMxFrstn76uEqkzFVwNko_rC/w400-h266/Soviets%20Afghanistan%20C.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1982: ceasefire with the Lion of the Panjsheer</h3><p>The DRA commando brigade was relegated to palace guard duty and was not available for offensive operations due to suspect loyalty. I was forced to detail some troops to try to keep the supply route open to the Panjsheer Valley, as I decided to keep an offensive force on station there permanently. The rebels decided to attack my convoys. I kept a Soviet airborne brigade in Kabul as a sort of strategic reserve that could react quickly to ambushes on the highways.</p><p>The deputy defence minister of the USSR Dmitry Ustinov flew in on a VIP visit to Kabul. He authorised deployment of an extra motor rifle division to Afghanistan. We also managed to negotiate a ceasefire with Ahmad Shah Masud, the Lion of the Panjsheer. In fact no pacification operations were required at all in late 1982. We ran a positive PR campaign highlighting the progressive nature of the Kabul regime.</p><p>There seems to be a point in any of these counter-insurgency (COIN) simulations where the player sits back and thinks "I've got this under control. This game is too easy." Surveying Afghanistan at Christmas 1982 this is what I was thinking. World opinion looked good. The Americans were focused on the Middle East. All was quiet.</p><p>Oh how wrong I was. Next time I'll share some photos from the campaign, and cover off the period 1983-85.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-5900688100417503192023-08-16T18:21:00.006+01:002023-08-16T18:21:58.303+01:00The Quiet Year: keeping your community alive in the apocalypse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mTGwfBrnAQUSwDQ1CKWQhe6qy78qk8W6q1SklghfpruzY9idAtINRGzNwNhL6Xv7m9Fe6dQqpMZLbeJfD3n5RwiJNXWVZ8Gx5YIWHtIFjuriGswC3w8pjtQbh-GLBC0bbVPIoTDKuQqA8Q1qY_6PqpVWTRtZMDhNPc4qxmLlaQls2H0beQCX87dWbp35/s850/post%20apoc%20settlement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="850" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mTGwfBrnAQUSwDQ1CKWQhe6qy78qk8W6q1SklghfpruzY9idAtINRGzNwNhL6Xv7m9Fe6dQqpMZLbeJfD3n5RwiJNXWVZ8Gx5YIWHtIFjuriGswC3w8pjtQbh-GLBC0bbVPIoTDKuQqA8Q1qY_6PqpVWTRtZMDhNPc4qxmLlaQls2H0beQCX87dWbp35/w400-h217/post%20apoc%20settlement.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I'm breaking this post up into two parts: first, some explanation on what <i>The Quiet Year</i> is, followed by a brief summing up of our first experience of the game, and some ideas on where to take it next.<p></p><p>The Quiet Year, published by <a href="https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year" target="_blank">Buried Without Ceremony</a> and created by Avery Alder, is an unusual beast which sits somewhere between a co-op board game and an RPG. Up to four players take it in turns to tell the story of a post-apocalypse community struggling to survive over 52 weeks. This is done with the use of a map, a deck of cards, and some dice.</p><p>There is no GM in the game, and each player takes it in turns to narrate what is happening to the community, using the cards as prompts. This includes the creation of new characters, and the discovery of new resources and locations in the vicinity of the settlement. Dice are used to keep track of 'projects' which can last from one to six weeks. Players agree between themselves how long a project lasts. These need not be infrastructure projects - although one of our early projects was to build a bridge - but can include diplomatic missions or the hunt for missing people, for example.</p><p>The game is played over four seasons. We only managed the spring and summer seasons in our first session, but we completed the whole thing after a second sitting.</p><p>You start by defining some of the characteristics of the settlement. The community is assumed to be somewhere in the region of 60-80 people. In our case we went with a group of survivors who had recently arrived in a ruined city which was once home to over 200,000 people. A river ran through the city. The apocalypse was decided on as a lethal virus, now passed, which meant there had not been much damage to infrastructure, although there was a level of deterioration. There was a maximum security prison on the outskirts of the city.</p><p>This was a bit of an eye opener for me: I'd been curious about these games for some time, and took the opportunity to play one. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. None of us had played The Quiet Year before. There were three of us playing, with a spectator in the second session.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">An abundance of tools: defining the setting</h3><p>We started the spring phase with an abundance of tools, having found an abandoned superstore which was still relatively well-stocked. Each draw of the card is considered to be one week of time. The spring season is really set up to help the players to outline the environment before getting on with the narrative.</p><p>The prison was found to be still occupied by the convicts, who were led by a former serial killer called Red Bob. We had shortages in livestock and tinned food. During the game shortages and abundances in key commodities and/or resources will change. It does not have a huge mechanical effect, but provides another dimension for players to interact with. For example, we did create an animal husbandry project which in turn spawned the character of a half-trained vet who became the settlement's medic.</p><p>A buried suitcase was found by one of our kids, a boy called Colin, which turned out to be full of books, many of them self help guides which looked like they had been selected by a survivalist. There was, however, some porn, and Colin and one of his friends fought over that!</p><p>The community was led by Big Dave, assisted by Sue the mediator. They were not a couple, but most of the power was centralised in their hands. There was pressure within the community for a more democratic decision making process, of which more later.</p><p>One of the teens, a girl called Harriet, started a death cult among the younger people, which worshipped the virus as a tool of God to punish mankind. This was suppressed by Sue and Dave. Harriet subsequently ran away, and had to be hunted for. She was found living in a secret hermitage, which someone had created behind a large statue of the Grim Reaper. This massive statue has been carved into a cliff overlooking the city. We were not sure which mad artist was responsible for it, but it was over 50 feet high.</p><p>Not all plot elements get resolved in a game of A Quiet Year, hence my thoughts on its possibility as a tool for helping to create an RPG setting.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The summer phase: the mysterious Father Patrick</h3><p>The big themes once the settlement had been defined in the spring phase, emerged in the summer months. The community managed to engage with the prison inmates, who were largely keeping to themselves. A flood led to our main food supply, a supermarket, being isolated in a lake. We managed to get a tower block wired up with a generator, moving the bulk of the population in there, from the tool store where they had been living previously.</p><p>A blind priest wandered into the settlement, called Father Patrick. He had been blinded and was also delirious. Before he could say much more about where he had come from, he was murdered, his body found with a screw driver in his back. This set the theme for a couple of other unsolved killings, with the elderly engineer, Old Steve, who had restored the generator needed to power the tower block, also being killed. But who by?</p><p>We also became aware of other human settlements in the region - by this stage we had decided that the settlement was in fact Lewes in Sussex. A group of explorers reached us from Haywards Heath led by Sue's long-lost son, who helped us to establish commercial links with that town. We also found Eastbourne was under the control of a cult of religious fanatics who were in the mood for militant expansionism. The Father Patrick plotline was quickly tied to them.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YMYwBIJmx-3vVEku0puemDk3_baQK19XK1f1rDuAwmkOsJy2Jp_b6n9tMcTydNa1kz0OCUTwi5cC_lsjx2rPxRSH5mXG34JY9fFR2pzEgGTKw-Qq9AIY1EoMRd5hijHBJpKONdpzyi65rfmSKZLifMRTfU2r-t_wVstgzlNxah4UcK7Ic96Xy7EJGuXE/s1600/post%20apoc%20survivor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YMYwBIJmx-3vVEku0puemDk3_baQK19XK1f1rDuAwmkOsJy2Jp_b6n9tMcTydNa1kz0OCUTwi5cC_lsjx2rPxRSH5mXG34JY9fFR2pzEgGTKw-Qq9AIY1EoMRd5hijHBJpKONdpzyi65rfmSKZLifMRTfU2r-t_wVstgzlNxah4UcK7Ic96Xy7EJGuXE/w400-h225/post%20apoc%20survivor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Autumn arrives and trouble for Big Dave</h3><p>As we moved through autumn we began to resolve one of the big themes, which was the challenge to the leadership of Sue and Big Dave. There was a strong lobby among the survivors to establish a council which could better represent the desires of the people. Big Dave resisted this and it eventually evolved into an attempted coup by Vlad. This failed, Dave tried to have Vlad executed, but was talked out of it by Sue. Vlad was placed under house arrest, only to eventually die by 'falling' off his balcony in the tower block. We never got to the bottom of who was responsible for this.</p><p>The other big plotline, the threat from Eastbourne, was resolved near the end, with the settlement being fortified as a project, and the prisoners being persuaded to reinforce the local militia. Sadly Red Bob died of a fatal disease before the Eastbourne attack came in. </p><p>A game of A Quiet Year typically ends with an attack of this kind by a group called the Shepherds: it is meant to conclude the game and there is no requirement for a 'result' per se, although I can see it being an entertaining wargames scenario of some description. In our case the Shepherds fitted nearly into the cult-like structure of our Eastbourne neighbours.</p><p>The other thing A Quiet Year could be used for is as the basis for the creation of an RPG campaign. Two sessions would probably need to be set aside for this, but it could end with the players establishing their characters, either as individuals who were already determined during the game, or as new characters from among the population. It provides the players with a well-defined setting which they are intimately familiar with and have played an active role in developing. Somehow we found ourselves much more engaged with these characters and their fates than from reading a third party published setting.</p><p>Beyond the post-apocalyptic setting postulated here, I can easily see this system being adapted for building a fantasy city or barony. The GM would need to potentially edit some of the cards, especially if he/she wanted to include some setting specific elements - e.g. you want the settlement to exist within a specific campaign world. As mentioned above, it could also be used to set up a wargames scenario as well, which ends the initial world building phase. Players and GM pick up the narrative after the battle is ended. It is a project I may work on this winter.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-34448092842474154792023-06-29T17:57:00.002+01:002023-06-29T17:57:43.057+01:00Warmaster Tomb Kings vs Orcs: post-battle ruminations<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMtePOlcyfPa1sv4-YECTflq-vj0M_c_2XsSQqkqnKZXDkUobpMaSFxH4xwM06eNVSh1g2yluKQOBqosI9yW4Dl-aAR4ZQvwSvEG8JloXO9HCOup4uNQZiIWql3nlp3JZxfAdk43KSs_sOQkTWfEmO0vyUAamozJMbjbEyHqv_6OclMnhRpHrd2LkxfbQ/s1920/tomb%20kings%20redux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMtePOlcyfPa1sv4-YECTflq-vj0M_c_2XsSQqkqnKZXDkUobpMaSFxH4xwM06eNVSh1g2yluKQOBqosI9yW4Dl-aAR4ZQvwSvEG8JloXO9HCOup4uNQZiIWql3nlp3JZxfAdk43KSs_sOQkTWfEmO0vyUAamozJMbjbEyHqv_6OclMnhRpHrd2LkxfbQ/w496-h279/tomb%20kings%20redux.jpg" width="496" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Our second crack at <i>Warmaster </i>ended with a relatively comfortable victory for my Tomb Kings. Following our earlier game, the historical battle of Pharsalus, which saw two Roman armies duking it out on an arid plain in northern Greece, this time we tested out a pair of fantasy armies, plus the magic rules.</p><p>I went with 1500 points of Tomb Kings, including three units of skeleton cavalry, three units of chariots, a bone thrower battery, a death giant, and a sphinx. I also spent a lot of points on rank and file skeleton warriors and archers. I didn't opt for any carrion flyers, and only had two lich priests, along with my required tomb king general.</p><p>I probably should have added at least one more lich priest, as undead armies can't carry out initiative moves in Warmaster, which can be a problem. I began to realise this as I was deploying my army, having lost the scouting roll, again.</p><p>The orcs had two goblin heroes, an orc general, a goblin shaman in a chariot and an orc shaman on a wyvern, plus at least one orc hero. They also had a giant, two regiments of wolf riders, a regiment of trolls, a troop of boar riders and some black orcs, plus the rank and file hordes of goblins and orcs.</p><p>We played the objectives scenario in the core Warmaster Revolution rules. I had two brigades of skeletons in my centre, with the death giant, and my bone throwers on my right. These were all under the control of the lich priests. The tomb king led the chariots on the left, with the skeleton cavalry out in front. The sphinx took up position with the chariots.</p><p>The orcs probably bungled early in the game by not having enough troops to take the objective hill on my left. I managed to occupy it with my undead cavalry, scoring some important points, before goblin arrows drove my cavalry off the hill. However, I was able to dispute the objective in the later stages of the game.</p><p>On my right I got lucky by keeping two objectives just behind my infantry line. I was facing a lot of orcs here, including the boar riders, but the orcs were just not in the mood for it, and a number of critical command rolls were failed here. I put my death giant out in front of my line, and none of the green skins seemed keen to take him on there.</p><p>I had trouble getting the chariots and the sphinx into action, but the real issue came in the centre where the trolls and the hill giant busted through my line and did great damage. Most of my losses in the battle occurred here. Some black orcs were also moving through woods and brush to my front and could have done further damage. I lost a lich priest here too.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What went wrong?</h3><p>I had carefully kept the lich priest back from the line, as I wanted to avoid the same thing as happened in the Pharsalus battle. There, Mark Anthony, in command of a raw legion, had been overrun and killed by enemy cavalry, and this largely caved in my left wing. This time, the trolls drove my skeletons back so that the lich priest got caught up in the fighting against his wishes, and down he went like a sack of dry bones, stomped all over by trolls.</p><p>This created a major issue in my centre, as my troops there could not act on their own initiative, and the whole brigade was out of the command radius of the other lich priest. I needed my tomb king's orders to get my chariots into the fray. The trolls and the giant wreaked further merry havoc here. Luckily there were no objectives behind my centre, as it caved in like a rotten apple.</p><p>I finally managed to stop the surviving trolls by throwing my death giant at them. By this stage the living giant on the orc side had been wounded and wandered off to fight my skeleton cavalry, and towards the end of the battle was facing my chariots, which finally got moving. Luckily I managed to win on points at this point, although I had 6-7 units destroyed with a break point of nine.</p><p>It was interesting that quite a few units never got into the battle. Not one orc unit was engaged, with the goblin foot and the trolls doing most of the fighting. Similarly, the sphinx and the chariots never engaged, and the death giant only fought a couple of rounds with the trolls. The big vulnerability with the tomb kings are the lich priests, and if I'm to use this army again, it really needs at least one more of these.</p><p>Another fun fact: the lich priests <i>failed every single spell roll in the battle</i>. I think the magic rules play well and magic does not dominate the game at this level, which feels right.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRz5j8umd1EedFbzx5PhwCs82UIMriQn0EtX_0lTMD4Te62EczSdXaA2TQvSZbOke-1dwjLnl1f-awgyBH6v41PTjPqBtWHzK0Fm9IrVxYEqmMlMHM9T4DP7UdA2b4pFgHUxKw5wVHdkCGL3C00RBNQamx6CbZo0Ww6103_kEQFd7AfFqAgOwmZzKFsGh/s620/hill-giant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="620" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRz5j8umd1EedFbzx5PhwCs82UIMriQn0EtX_0lTMD4Te62EczSdXaA2TQvSZbOke-1dwjLnl1f-awgyBH6v41PTjPqBtWHzK0Fm9IrVxYEqmMlMHM9T4DP7UdA2b4pFgHUxKw5wVHdkCGL3C00RBNQamx6CbZo0Ww6103_kEQFd7AfFqAgOwmZzKFsGh/w488-h329/hill-giant.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-89282776561816973132023-06-15T15:13:00.004+01:002023-06-15T15:35:01.564+01:00Pharsalus (48 BC) with Warmaster Revolution: Caesar vs Pompey<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIk3oGlWDEWt4c9QKcCr3-4qNDfh_gAYWSovw-R85gghpidF5bQHqREQb7TkcQHnL7iywBHiSUF_V76Zc4I2s6MaNqoKQ4VExSNqxfsxDRps8Ia4iNM3kiMguiGQLsaKoH1RvGr-kJDJbC5FhUUxgxOFreyjLgYHeLv7JvP1ssUlldWK4t_8Q-cvz72w/s1200/battle%20of%20pharsalus.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="905" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIk3oGlWDEWt4c9QKcCr3-4qNDfh_gAYWSovw-R85gghpidF5bQHqREQb7TkcQHnL7iywBHiSUF_V76Zc4I2s6MaNqoKQ4VExSNqxfsxDRps8Ia4iNM3kiMguiGQLsaKoH1RvGr-kJDJbC5FhUUxgxOFreyjLgYHeLv7JvP1ssUlldWK4t_8Q-cvz72w/s320/battle%20of%20pharsalus.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>I'm not posting very much on the blog at the moment, largely because I've been incredibly busy with work. June always seems to be a very busy time of year for me. <p></p><p>This post looks both at the fan-made <i>Warmaster Revolution</i> game, plus a play test using a battle of Pharsalus scenario of my own concoction, plus concurrent thoughts on both.</p><p>For Warmaster, it is a game I've been wanting to try out for some time, and it was good to see that in fact the latest fan-based iteration <a href="https://www.wm-revolution.com/">is currently free online</a>, and Games Workshop seems to have largely lost interest in it. Warmaster Revolution should be, I hope, a newer version of the rules that has had the creases ironed out via thousands of hours of playing.</p><p>I was really after some rules that could allow me to play a full, epic battle in an evening, in about four hours. These are the sorts of slots available to me at the moment in what has become an anarchically busy schedule. As a rule of thumb, 1500 point armies seem to be about right, until we get more familiar with the rules.</p><p>Secondly, I wanted to either have a system that could cover both historical (up to 1500AD) and fantasy battles. Warmaster, with its Ancients expansion, seemed able to do this. Some of the other ancients rules I have either don't have the capability to cover fantasy battles, or if they have a magic system, it feels less than satisfactory. Having said that, we've yet to try out the Warmaster magic system, so we'll see how we get on there.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Battle of Pharsalus</h3><p>Moving onto the scenario, rather than go with something generic, I chose Pharsalus, a battle I'm not that familiar with, but which features as a scenario of sorts in the Donald Featherstone book, <i>Battle Notes For Wargamers</i>, which I recently picked up. The scenario as it stood needed a bit of work to make it Warmaster ready (Featherstone is fairly light on OOBs in his scenarios, requiring further research). In the end, I gave Pompey a bit of a points advantage to reflect his numerical superiority on the day, and hoped Caesar's command 'edge' might be reflected in the Dictator special ability (in the end I never used the latter, as Caesar hardly missed a command roll). </p><p>In retrospect, the best way to do this would have been to reduce Pompey's overall Command ability to 8, or to just make it an even points game, but provide Caesar with more veteran legions (I only used one in the game, Legio X).</p><p>Pharsalus represents the epic clash at the height of the Third Civil War, with Julius Caesar and Pompey manouvring in the Balkans. Caesar had abandoned the siege of Dyrrachium - now Durres in modern Albania - and retreated into Greece to receive reinforcements. Pompey followed up from the coast, also with reinforcements catching up with him. Pompey was reluctant to engage Caesar, but was persuaded to do so by optimistic sub-commanders (including Titus Labienus, one of Caesar's most successful and trusted lieutenants in his Gallic wars, who had defected to Pompey).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUAByRKTNJrD2ikRDREA8mI8mKwXdj8-wV9BP8F4waMj2os1s4mopRVIlVqjxRDoUBqX42qyjjGGh6vceuJPWCmswNnM3goazeFrjPY0EXUgJh7WphU9Dr81beaE7JXrNfb-8EmXS1H9MWO8X-Q99YlgQElQP-8TdrVLIRCtZZmYRIBIKO-78WBOn8A/s2048/caesar%20%20pharsalus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUAByRKTNJrD2ikRDREA8mI8mKwXdj8-wV9BP8F4waMj2os1s4mopRVIlVqjxRDoUBqX42qyjjGGh6vceuJPWCmswNnM3goazeFrjPY0EXUgJh7WphU9Dr81beaE7JXrNfb-8EmXS1H9MWO8X-Q99YlgQElQP-8TdrVLIRCtZZmYRIBIKO-78WBOn8A/w405-h304/caesar%20%20pharsalus.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: Julius Caesar himself, with Legio X (red). Ahead of him are seasoned legions (pink) then skirmishers (light blue). Greek auxiliaries to the rear (orange). The classic three line Roman deployment, which both sides used at Pharsalus in the real battle.</i></p><p>I suspect Pharsalus does not get played that often because few miniature wargamers collect enough Roman troops for it. Most wargamed battles of the first century BC period feature Romans against Gauls, for instance. Here we have the bulk of Rome's military manpower being pitted against itself in a single bloody day in 48 BC. Many empires would not have survived this. Rome's nearly didn't.</p><p>We used our coloured blocks system with some additional pieces from GMT's <i>Commands and Colors Ancients</i> to help to identify units. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How the game played</h3><p>By my estimation it took roughly five hours all in, including set up. We omitted the command penalty for close proximity to enemy troops by mistake!</p><p>I also felt the Roman skirmishers - both mounted and infantry - were horrendously deadly for what they were - playing as Caesar, my armoured legionaries had some difficulty charging skirmishers directly, although if they came to grips with them, the enemy did suffer heavy losses. Skirmish horse also seemed extremely effective. </p><p>I'd like to know what the rationale was for this, as the losses amongst exposed skirmish troops mounted up quickly and contributed to break levels.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXTbRBR4AhT7T85YSkHV16uMt1bMZtsBN0VtF3IjnOjXiOvuJ6j9CnL3jJKpP_z3YTaP5aAijRPiw_CxtmtoMXNIEWr-T8udbdRtmdxYgqrY7lB-w7_DO1ezpY9zfH40MZZG8bmnhS7MNMMxcT7rvq1QzbFaaQoTt6jQ0DQ-y3k54C8XRWa9z2-jOFQ/s2048/roman%20army%20pharsalus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXTbRBR4AhT7T85YSkHV16uMt1bMZtsBN0VtF3IjnOjXiOvuJ6j9CnL3jJKpP_z3YTaP5aAijRPiw_CxtmtoMXNIEWr-T8udbdRtmdxYgqrY7lB-w7_DO1ezpY9zfH40MZZG8bmnhS7MNMMxcT7rvq1QzbFaaQoTt6jQ0DQ-y3k54C8XRWa9z2-jOFQ/w453-h339/roman%20army%20pharsalus.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: a better picture of Caesar's army early in the battle; on the right Sulla and Caesar's cavalry can be seen charging forwards. Pompey's skirmishers in yellow. </i></p><p>It IS possible that the intention is for skirmishers to do damage fairly early on: I found once they were countered, skirmishers took losses quickly and I pulled them back behind my legionary line to avoid losing the units entirely. With a break point of 9 units for Caesar (11 for Pompey), losing all the skirmishers early on would not have given my legions much of a chance to get into the battle. So perhaps one is meant to use them early on, then protect the survivors, which would encourage historical tactics.</p><p>Other than that, I think the scenario played rather well. I made the tactical error of only posting a raw legion with some auxiliaries on my left under Mark Anthony. All my cavalry was deployed on the right under Sulla and did some fair damage there. But Pompey, who won the initial scouting roll, came at me heavy on the left with his cavalry, under Labienus. Mark Anthony went down fighting and I was forced to redeploy my Greek auxiliaries to defend against Labienus. I was also saved by some poor command rolling on the other side.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWvhak0nP8XNa0BNzMLNlE9qlHai3ypqJwHCPuTr8d8DHDUd99A8bnEVs5Vf7EVdm8bqCzZf2c3JHoij6TG98YXgkUvCYLX8pK5gepa-jESe-qLdAcEo4ndrNb0aF-CpZsC6ppYyvTzEswDyDItxRNsTD2OIhK3Sp1R_EBFISV_Wig0j4zTLIZlYGXA/s2048/legio%20x%20pharsalus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWvhak0nP8XNa0BNzMLNlE9qlHai3ypqJwHCPuTr8d8DHDUd99A8bnEVs5Vf7EVdm8bqCzZf2c3JHoij6TG98YXgkUvCYLX8pK5gepa-jESe-qLdAcEo4ndrNb0aF-CpZsC6ppYyvTzEswDyDItxRNsTD2OIhK3Sp1R_EBFISV_Wig0j4zTLIZlYGXA/w458-h344/legio%20x%20pharsalus.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Above: later in the battle, Caesar's legions have advanced to contact but are taking losses from the enemy skirmish line (in yellow). Legio X (red) is engaged and flanked by a legion loyal to Pompey (green). Several depleted units visible on both sides.</i></p><p>I pushed my skirmish infantry forward in the centre, took some losses there, then dropped them behind the legionary line, as mentioned. Then I tried pushing forward into Pompey's centre with seasoned legions. By this time however, losses were mounting on both sides and there were a lot of fragile units on the field looking for a reason to leave the carnage. I probably should have attacked in the centre earlier. My advancing legions took some heavy losses from skirmishers, but then got in among Pompey's troops.</p><p>However at that point I hit my break point. It was well past midnight and into the sixth hour of the battle. It was a good learning process. We did not pause to tot up the points losses, but I'm fairly confident this would have been a victory for Pompey regardless.</p><p>We are currently planning an outing with the magic rules with a 1500 point battle between the Tomb Kings and the Orcs. More on that when it happens.</p><p><i>Below: Caesar's legions in pink crash into Pompey's skirmish line (yellow). I believe the dark green units in the rear were <u>four</u> more enemy legions, which says all you need to know.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-N0WOor4g-WD2G7Cf3uZgsjbGngE8GQmkccdoyNCf-ka8_etnkBvGRhNVY4L7kq_Qt_EICNl-xpL_sqx5YXdHrFT0yB0AFDMZm3k-G46HPFjLfdkBX-AQ4VApGF_0rlwnIr9mIJ0cxZgQ9fTsporSk9Cef63YJU-y2gaLsVj_MBZrKjph5W8l6u_Rg/s2048/crisis%20pharsalus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="2048" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-N0WOor4g-WD2G7Cf3uZgsjbGngE8GQmkccdoyNCf-ka8_etnkBvGRhNVY4L7kq_Qt_EICNl-xpL_sqx5YXdHrFT0yB0AFDMZm3k-G46HPFjLfdkBX-AQ4VApGF_0rlwnIr9mIJ0cxZgQ9fTsporSk9Cef63YJU-y2gaLsVj_MBZrKjph5W8l6u_Rg/w468-h210/crisis%20pharsalus.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-65303823156234807752023-05-22T18:12:00.000+01:002023-05-22T18:12:21.972+01:00Froeschwiller 1870 with Bloody Big Battles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaMxeZjSlw-djJXprKxuZ0QMfu8d-MIKqn80aeXox2mfNffMYDgEqN7CgPsXlf9Uns6oYiGhBB4pYywwpPDjvzrDkeUrDD_kcp_ILQvTwNO565YYWY41KMbNQlik6SFcVTQT4BzeYUZSYSu3I-Twp5S1CJ6Sf_1yPRxeSs0Du1jZ0KyB5CIOBWl14Dg/s800/battle%20of%20worth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="800" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaMxeZjSlw-djJXprKxuZ0QMfu8d-MIKqn80aeXox2mfNffMYDgEqN7CgPsXlf9Uns6oYiGhBB4pYywwpPDjvzrDkeUrDD_kcp_ILQvTwNO565YYWY41KMbNQlik6SFcVTQT4BzeYUZSYSu3I-Twp5S1CJ6Sf_1yPRxeSs0Du1jZ0KyB5CIOBWl14Dg/w434-h206/battle%20of%20worth.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><p>I've always had a bit of a hankering to play some really big battles from the annals of history. It's always looked out of reach when it comes to staging these epic and bloody contests using 28mm miniatures, both in terms of time and money. <i>Bloody Big Battles</i> has been getting some good write ups online and I thought I'd take the plunge and give them a go.</p><p>The core rules are written to cover the period of roughly 1864-1900 in Europe, although various people have been expanding them into the earlier American Civil War and Napoleonic Wars at one end of the period, and the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 at the other. I've even seen some 18th century wargaming going on with these.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Age7JiR5PP0_XyUXwNvQKjVBAwbl8h3yG6tJCMRlVfluajFwqrVHDI0tFCMA0PPjkqkZgS3aYtU9hSLRujL5hd4yiF-NF-XRWbglkBQAtD1M18fUyx6hrbAMIGpoE3Fz6CJUiWPRQdOXVnSlzVt6WOjPUiLO5deITat0dcYCfAyX1xmSlOovTbcO8Q/s1920/battle%20of%20worth%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Age7JiR5PP0_XyUXwNvQKjVBAwbl8h3yG6tJCMRlVfluajFwqrVHDI0tFCMA0PPjkqkZgS3aYtU9hSLRujL5hd4yiF-NF-XRWbglkBQAtD1M18fUyx6hrbAMIGpoE3Fz6CJUiWPRQdOXVnSlzVt6WOjPUiLO5deITat0dcYCfAyX1xmSlOovTbcO8Q/w409-h308/battle%20of%20worth%202.jpg" width="409" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The above photo shows the French divisions (black and green) holding the Prussians west of Woerth. The red unit is a division of Zouaves under General Ducrot I believe. The latter's command post is the turquoise piece in the foreground. The x-shaped Risk pieces are a rifled artillery battery (green) and a battery of the famed mitrailleuse machine guns (black). Both eventually got overrun by the Prussians. The pink unit is a Prussian division in march column moving through Woerth.</i></p><p>The rules are meant to let you play through a battle with up to 100,000 combatants a side on a 6'x4' table in an evening. In the case of Froeschwiller there were about 40,000 French troops on the battlefield against close to 70,000 Germans.</p><p>The battles covered in the main book are all from the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, which is not something I knew a lot about going into this exercise, but I'm learning quite a bit as I go along. I think I would still prefer to give Battles for Empire a go for the asymmetric colonial battles of the period, but Bloody Big Battles certainly look to fit the task for mid to late 19th century Europe.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzLqpMpWCkx236MArDlbEmElAWJ5tiNKSj8cS0Y1S9rMYlXM-Q4m84t2PRFbHtkF2uHyd_bGHpFqAFqtlXqs_hHVziy2JYA1OeRBNMGp23CZS74rahw5hR01mAHR61UlwrRHW8siW1G6gnANvXBaYfjz1RHnvu9OgAG9-1nLe2W0ilELahby53HRxfQ/s1920/battle%20of%20worth%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzLqpMpWCkx236MArDlbEmElAWJ5tiNKSj8cS0Y1S9rMYlXM-Q4m84t2PRFbHtkF2uHyd_bGHpFqAFqtlXqs_hHVziy2JYA1OeRBNMGp23CZS74rahw5hR01mAHR61UlwrRHW8siW1G6gnANvXBaYfjz1RHnvu9OgAG9-1nLe2W0ilELahby53HRxfQ/w433-h325/battle%20of%20worth%203.jpg" width="433" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Later in the battle: Prussians are in the process of pushing the French turcos off the hill at top left (Prussians in orange). The green French division in the foreground is fading back to cover the French communications at Reichshoffen. The red Risk piece bottom left is a French gun battery unlimbered to cover the road into Reichshoffen which was being threatened by the Bavarian corps at this stage in the battle. The purple and pink divisions top right are Algerian troops in the Eberbach valley under Pelle.</i></p><p>Before painting up a big army of French and Prussians, I devised a Kriegspiel lite project by drawing the field for the first engagement, Froeschwiller, and using coloured dominoes for the various divisions involved. Risk pieces were co-opted for artillery and cavalry, and some old Diplomacy pieces served as command groups. This makes for a very cheap entry point into the period and you can get playing right away.</p><p>It took us three evenings to get through the battle of Froeschwiller. It sees the French under MacMahon defending high ground west of the town of Woerth - currently in the Bas-Rhin department in France - with more and more German forces arriving as the day goes on. The French need to prioritise where they want to defend while ideally keeping their troops out of the direct firing line of the Prussian Krupp artillery.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DlQfp3fykx8LlASpEdlP3JTwOzVmWMHixtRAwHH7_PT0NryNhEZhgw-eoUgNnXloByabmL2gtKUDblWIiq7NaXeYKMB44C9DG6azPmhyMSEkBfXaqEtsLOgSEnQgbMTh4re-5WRHtZ6Nu_ttohdm0dfAa77aD8lO8Z5ap56BYdGeyoR1f3yMF2EP6w/s255/zouaves.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="197" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DlQfp3fykx8LlASpEdlP3JTwOzVmWMHixtRAwHH7_PT0NryNhEZhgw-eoUgNnXloByabmL2gtKUDblWIiq7NaXeYKMB44C9DG6azPmhyMSEkBfXaqEtsLOgSEnQgbMTh4re-5WRHtZ6Nu_ttohdm0dfAa77aD8lO8Z5ap56BYdGeyoR1f3yMF2EP6w/s1600/zouaves.jpeg" width="197" /></a></div>Cavalry, while present on the field, does not seem to be a decisive arm by this point in history, with the heavy guns beginning to show they are the real kings of the battlefield in the 1870s. The French veteran and zouave regiments (see picture left) proved their worth, digging in and at one stage seeing of a Bavarian bid to outflank the French left and cut them off at Reichshoffen.<p></p><p>The Germans eventually won on almost the last roll of the dice. </p><p>We got some rules wrong on the way through, including missing the whole Spent mechanic which makes divisions much harder to use in further offence once they have taken substantial losses. There comes a point where it is best to leave them holding the ground they are on, and bring in fresh reserves - if you have them (the French had little to deploy in this area).</p><p>We're also still a bit sketchy on how generals work, beyond providing a movement bonus, especially if they are forced to exit the game. </p><p>BUT having said that, I'd be keen to play again. I've bought the Indian scenario book (Bloody Big Battles in India) and may give the Battle of Delhi (1803) a try!</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-30542563591649794752023-05-02T18:07:00.004+01:002023-05-02T18:12:00.004+01:00Stargrave: Better run through the jungle<div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: left;"><blockquote>"Whoa thought it was a nightmare/ Lord it was so true/ They told me don't go walking slow/ The devil's on the loose/ Better run through the jungle/ Better run through the jungle..." </blockquote></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: left;">[Credence Clearwater Revival, 1970]</div><p>Every year I resolve to beat my previous personal best in terms of number of blog posts in a year, but who am I kidding? I'm catching up on past table-top gaming activity with this post, and the next one, which will detail my adventures with <i>Bloody Big Battles</i> and my domino Kriegspiel proposition (aka the Domino Principle). Also on the cards hopefully, my 1980s Soviets in Afghanistan strategic game, courtesy of Small Wars.</p><p>We managed to get another game in of our sporadic <i>Stargrave</i> battle, detailed below. It was an opportunity to make use of my new jungle mat and my incomplete Necron monolith. I need to finish this!</p><p>For this homebrew mission, the crews were able to recover an <u>additional </u>two loot tokens (instead of the central token) from the dormant monolith per the rules for unlocking a physical loot token. All loot recovered from the monolith could be generated using the alien artefact table. Data loot would always be a Secret and worth 200cr.</p><p>The act of even <u>trying</u> to access the loot activates the monolith, which immediately begins spawning Necron warriors. XP awards for unlocking the monolith were +25, and +5 per warrior destroyed. The warriors were rated as robots and were also immune to robot control.</p><p>Here are some pictures illustrative of the general course of the mission.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIgPTBd7a9wZtFqyQ8MOSwKm42PTb5NjQnSNKTDfk5FacgewLxE11O3nDX6MZ92blhOjU8X0ytQT49wq7WWfrBAee2GxhSoWBpwRfQ1QYRBReGtlriRDziAyU2rmrbuNqeJsxbRaa7Bxost12NfeiIDJuaOX2Cqnamiy5-QgQeBEkILs0sCpCx01WqQ/s1052/Necron%20scenario%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIgPTBd7a9wZtFqyQ8MOSwKm42PTb5NjQnSNKTDfk5FacgewLxE11O3nDX6MZ92blhOjU8X0ytQT49wq7WWfrBAee2GxhSoWBpwRfQ1QYRBReGtlriRDziAyU2rmrbuNqeJsxbRaa7Bxost12NfeiIDJuaOX2Cqnamiy5-QgQeBEkILs0sCpCx01WqQ/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Eldar with grenade launcher covers the Eldar captain as he leads his men forwards into the clearing. Nothing is moving other than the tropical wildlife at this stage in the proceedings.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9QO6MP2LfCc88vCu1bCsTMf52j3rAEGEUuKOa3K63j5eUwxMS5ZuiOeWagekxr9vL1KwLI6ldEAAM46lLZosM_CrGZFpJpRCTEY3RRP-uf_FA2_CQnjhNZYRxYq4hwtoRvMGhOxm-YxYerH4uytOBTOFL-moRO2nTSGEpQJ6YuUiP_dZDDV5gsKdMw/s1052/Necron%20scenario%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9QO6MP2LfCc88vCu1bCsTMf52j3rAEGEUuKOa3K63j5eUwxMS5ZuiOeWagekxr9vL1KwLI6ldEAAM46lLZosM_CrGZFpJpRCTEY3RRP-uf_FA2_CQnjhNZYRxYq4hwtoRvMGhOxm-YxYerH4uytOBTOFL-moRO2nTSGEpQJ6YuUiP_dZDDV5gsKdMw/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Apart from the Necrons themselves, we also included wandering critters as per the usual rules. In this case the planet was home to ryakans (see Stargrave p.149), although they were less of a threat than the Necrons.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Y4Kf59vl637bE9oVydY57JGmQdiMP0lFUnW4BdDjzY7OIjsr8GjLMjeAoR9tC37YeC6KiKCCD7_iqJTHReriu2dJJltIeEAPkdl2IEpGDuzQ6SVeAkCv73g0xvVZ87g4Pa4yXtHqci2v08cug3YI4l-S0Tp320ukcilNH31EioY1md0ArplRGD-n4w/s1052/Necron%20scenario%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Y4Kf59vl637bE9oVydY57JGmQdiMP0lFUnW4BdDjzY7OIjsr8GjLMjeAoR9tC37YeC6KiKCCD7_iqJTHReriu2dJJltIeEAPkdl2IEpGDuzQ6SVeAkCv73g0xvVZ87g4Pa4yXtHqci2v08cug3YI4l-S0Tp320ukcilNH31EioY1md0ArplRGD-n4w/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Captain Dread made it to the monolith first and also managed to awaken the Necrons. We rolled randomly to see which side of the monolith they came out of. Luckily the monolith's primary weapons array was not active.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzXxe__9y-r5pvWsZUEgzn_6PS1mNoreWNZ2VVi3lWksm1nHBEoXL3J9_UmBQwb3MEYsV05345wUZwYK7q3UAMOx71Mm7GN_SofGMemXQUQW9ofwEO-T5XkvcpmGtaBrSTsM8FhJ7xCPtIvgbr9XzHAFsg98RDaIZCaiymSZyZRQ1jYoFb3bwSY2Y4g/s1052/Necron%20scenario%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzXxe__9y-r5pvWsZUEgzn_6PS1mNoreWNZ2VVi3lWksm1nHBEoXL3J9_UmBQwb3MEYsV05345wUZwYK7q3UAMOx71Mm7GN_SofGMemXQUQW9ofwEO-T5XkvcpmGtaBrSTsM8FhJ7xCPtIvgbr9XzHAFsg98RDaIZCaiymSZyZRQ1jYoFb3bwSY2Y4g/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>One of my giant mutant hold rats and a drone play hide and seek with an Eldar robot. They are on the edge of some jungle quicksand!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-HZrzSAfU-xipchHmuFJsrEOjuEV5pCHUrqEy3xUn8eUzIO6LPnQ2OIx1HBn2HJoyx-BOn8DVr-6tsnngIW7nZ3e2TRNNjgbuQM47RTq82EWZdl_BwQuL2yIsnIbO9wuei04ShT73_ePd6HNlEXzqezSVhjBkriqpnpXCC_NFZE5oKOgJ26V4y36nQ/s1052/Necron%20scenario%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-HZrzSAfU-xipchHmuFJsrEOjuEV5pCHUrqEy3xUn8eUzIO6LPnQ2OIx1HBn2HJoyx-BOn8DVr-6tsnngIW7nZ3e2TRNNjgbuQM47RTq82EWZdl_BwQuL2yIsnIbO9wuei04ShT73_ePd6HNlEXzqezSVhjBkriqpnpXCC_NFZE5oKOgJ26V4y36nQ/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>A ryakan pounces on an Eldar guardsman.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwDjlLE6HBhIE6R01VRXMVLePzq5YiyJKykIF5hGFmN9L5PTQJ1LGxtM-_HtuGtkTLDL6TBoAAwcsbkGl_znu5qvub_LsebDuPA9SGchik7J1f4Zyz7ZkL-KtPVA-e0OLQgME3ll09XUVETGrXMQVW1bx7Xdnl9c1xx9tF2bkckhkXctfGucwhI4Fig/s1052/Necron%20scenario%205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwDjlLE6HBhIE6R01VRXMVLePzq5YiyJKykIF5hGFmN9L5PTQJ1LGxtM-_HtuGtkTLDL6TBoAAwcsbkGl_znu5qvub_LsebDuPA9SGchik7J1f4Zyz7ZkL-KtPVA-e0OLQgME3ll09XUVETGrXMQVW1bx7Xdnl9c1xx9tF2bkckhkXctfGucwhI4Fig/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%205.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Two of my crew make a break for it with alien goodies from the monolith. My pilot is dodging incessant Eldar fire in the foreground. Another crewmember - Angel - can be seen hiding in a bush on the right, where he spent pretty much the entire game trading fire with the Eldar.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzH6FSNiMZuPG3B7fkMSbENt_c940AKyrk2S8fjSduPfNOldSvmbb3vK23jI4hIrD5jQTC0SY1ydKPYZe3hcgNvrabnTqFgfIZW-926xsQlOM3kCf29EGzdK_uI2gHBoAzQysKEdeOj-Htdjxrg3hBoyJCgqLbMyJ14dqU_qYf5j4peA9Bq337gjVjw/s1052/Necron%20scenario%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1052" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzH6FSNiMZuPG3B7fkMSbENt_c940AKyrk2S8fjSduPfNOldSvmbb3vK23jI4hIrD5jQTC0SY1ydKPYZe3hcgNvrabnTqFgfIZW-926xsQlOM3kCf29EGzdK_uI2gHBoAzQysKEdeOj-Htdjxrg3hBoyJCgqLbMyJ14dqU_qYf5j4peA9Bq337gjVjw/w400-h300/Necron%20scenario%207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The problem with the Necrons is that they just kept coming - they spawned more every turn. Although we were both mowing them down, it was inevitable that any crew who stuck around for too long, would get taken out. This picture, taken near the end of the skirmish, shows the Necrons fanning out into the jungle. Most crew were either down or running for their respective vessels by this stage.</p><p>A very enjoyable game with a home brew scenario. We must get Stargrave back on the table again in the near future! I may even cook up a scenario myself...highly enjoyable and you can use any science fiction miniatures you like!</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-32351443542224894122023-03-02T17:26:00.000+00:002023-03-02T17:26:02.716+00:00Combat Commander Europe: first impressions<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikdw33QCwrF007ZcEtSzzg06t_t80TiJDLqHD3SZQTdFHPPq4gO_R-qtXzgQWccD8-AXdwgYB7kUXoUsfS-BMS3qYFjNjUN_Il2nGaz1eMwflXjEiK6jDxHheRHcOeVH8Qcwpynq8KFSwoTh0XuNxAZ63RJ1GzEIUeTVgv_DzH1-QDr17ZXOTpwOAzuA/s400/combat%20commander%20europe%20box%20art.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikdw33QCwrF007ZcEtSzzg06t_t80TiJDLqHD3SZQTdFHPPq4gO_R-qtXzgQWccD8-AXdwgYB7kUXoUsfS-BMS3qYFjNjUN_Il2nGaz1eMwflXjEiK6jDxHheRHcOeVH8Qcwpynq8KFSwoTh0XuNxAZ63RJ1GzEIUeTVgv_DzH1-QDr17ZXOTpwOAzuA/s320/combat%20commander%20europe%20box%20art.png" width="232" /></a></div>So we've had some opportunity now to get familiar with Chad Jensen's <i>Combat Commander Europe</i>, and what a nice beast it is. We're not surprised it is still getting re-printed 14 years after it was first released. For those not familiar with it, CCE is the first iteration of the Combat Commander system, and simulates platoon to company level combat in Europe, with German, Soviet and US forces comprehensively covered off in this boxed game.<p></p><p>CCE takes the old formula of a hex and counter game, where counters represents fire teams, leaders and weapons teams and adds the trademark GMT Games card-driven mechanic, where the player is limited by a hand of up to six cards and a restricted order choice mechanic (you also see it in <i>Command & Colors</i> of course). </p><p>The cards are also used to cover offer extra actions - e.g. your men decide to toss smoke grenades - and random events - e.g. reinforcements, obstacles, morale.</p><p>There are some very nice aspects about CCE. It has a lot of moving parts under the hood, but can seamlessly reflect everything from a bunch of demoralised Russian militia in 1941 to crack American troops fighting their way through the hedgerows of Normandy. Note: there are NO TANKS in this game. It focuses on just infantry battles with some limited artillery support, which I guess is realistic as tanks are not meant to be platoon level assets.</p><p>The game captures some of the themes which seem pretty consistent in historically accurate WW2 platoon level combat games. Leaders are a big bonus when it comes to moving formations. Squads can get isolated and pinned down and increasingly left behind in the flow of battle. Individual casualties seem less important, it is more a question of keeping your men moving and not leaving them to contemplate their own mortality for too long.</p><p>I can really only comment on the first three scenarios in the game so far. We played Bonfire of the NKVD last night. It has taken us three games to really get a proper grip on the system, but I feel we are there now. I'm 0-3 so far having played the Germans in all three battles. What follows are my thoughts on the first three games.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y9XhQkQVnvfgNrhiuHsTbPG1RPQgQ-4H2k9FR2Mvd3a2YEBWvJo69sBzMn0D2H9TcscUMS4ypbRrXEPDtvBpRb-Rv1mnnOlajaCI5S2wnznaTHkkX2ed4wLSjdGmhnWfhgcwm89JwNGx7DdGxk1_GMG1V5QiDQUFAnLRHl78OPBz0dN7dxh0voSULg/s2048/bonfire%20nkvd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y9XhQkQVnvfgNrhiuHsTbPG1RPQgQ-4H2k9FR2Mvd3a2YEBWvJo69sBzMn0D2H9TcscUMS4ypbRrXEPDtvBpRb-Rv1mnnOlajaCI5S2wnznaTHkkX2ed4wLSjdGmhnWfhgcwm89JwNGx7DdGxk1_GMG1V5QiDQUFAnLRHl78OPBz0dN7dxh0voSULg/w400-h300/bonfire%20nkvd.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German rifles advance in Poland, summer 1941</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fat Lipski: Germans vs USSR 1941</h3><p>Bear in mind we got a lot of rules wrong in this one. My big error here was not keeping an eye on the time mechanic in the game. There are no dice in Combat Commander: the dice are on the cards, so you are always pulling cards off your deck to generate results. These also tell you when an event happens, or a sniper attacks for example. When you run out of cards, you reshuffle the deck, but the time marker also advances at the same time. In this one I suddenly realised that the Germans had a distinct combat advantage over the Russians, and I needed to hustle to fulfil my objectives. Sadly by the time this realisation sank in the game ended and the Russians won.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Hedgerows & Hand Grenades: Germans vs US 1944</h3><p>I was the defender in this game against the Americans. The US platoon was very, very efficient and backed up by artillery. My Germans were largely unmotivated conscripts, and it showed. I had to sit tight and defend a number of French farmhouses but got pounded by mortar fire relentlessly. This was not helped by an all-American hero (the result of an event) who managed to pick up one of my abandoned light machine guns and go on a rampage worthy of Johnny Rambo in his prime. We misread the morale rules here, so my troops cracked sooner than perhaps they should have.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bonfire of the NKVD: Germans vs USSR 1941</h3><p>I was back on the offensive in Poland in 1941. The Germans at this stage of the war, in Operation Barbarossa, are in excellent shape with some awesome line units. We had the rules sorted by this stage. Again I made a major error by over-estimating the quality of the Russian militia I was facing. I should have hustled to the Soviet command post and assaulted it as soon as possible with everything I had. </p><p>My problems were compounded by a lack of move cards near the start of the game. I had to keep discarding my deck - the Germans can discard their entire hand, unlike the Russians who can only discard three cards in a turn - until I got the cards I needed. This is just one of those things with Combat Commander but it can really mess with your plans. I then got into a major firefight with some militia in a collective farm which I spent the majority of the game trying to take as a staging post to attack the company command post. </p><p>My troops proved unenthusiastic about storming the building, and by this point I realised I was running out of time - AGAIN. I was nowhere near taking the command post (surrounded by barbed wire and with an MG emplacement), which was worth enough VPs to win the game. The defender in these battles receives VPs the longer the attack takes. I could see the game gradually getting away from me. Once again I totally over-estimated the capabilities of the Russians, probably because I was still scarred from my Normandy experience. Russian militia are NOT US Army Rangers.</p><p>This is a really nice game and I love many of the innovative mechanics that lie within it. As an intellectual exercise I will import many of these into the WW2 company level miniatures rules system that is currently cooking in my head.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-51650314343601315072023-01-29T12:30:00.000+00:002023-01-29T12:30:56.004+00:00Six Months in the Sahara: the final 10 weeks<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hscCBlb7HYk4nbUe9FssT09soPc956npjIWigImHL4edGf42dYmdWEwhVnX_sbi2SfAQudX2lXoq0Y95T4qz4mEwBd-ljhU0OmoIQOMit4PtEo1xX5jLHeQTnswTatuhMtea95WdXTEZnA8_z1wYGEqhUYQ7psEu31UKTrtXP-ebJ1JUlIVm22tMFg/s1024/bedoiun.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1024" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hscCBlb7HYk4nbUe9FssT09soPc956npjIWigImHL4edGf42dYmdWEwhVnX_sbi2SfAQudX2lXoq0Y95T4qz4mEwBd-ljhU0OmoIQOMit4PtEo1xX5jLHeQTnswTatuhMtea95WdXTEZnA8_z1wYGEqhUYQ7psEu31UKTrtXP-ebJ1JUlIVm22tMFg/w400-h304/bedoiun.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Here we are with the final 10 weeks of the Six Months in the Sahara French Foreign Legion campaign. I'm playing this using graph paper, Risk pieces and the superb <i>Small Wars</i> book from David Thomas and the <a href="http://www.wargaming.co/" target="_blank">History of Wargaming</a> project. It has been written so that it can actually be played out solo. I don't have enough FFL figures for the game and anyway, it's freezing in my gaming hut, so I'm reverting to Risk pieces. Sue me.</b></p><p>Let's get onto the action: the Legion finally put down the long-running revolt in the oasis, which was a relief. The Kasbah riot was also over, so the gun was recalled to the fort. Captain Macron's platoon has been decimated, however, forcing me to merge his survivors into Verte's platoon. Macron assumes command of the new platoon, with Verte as his XO.</p><p>Regimental HQ in Algiers then recalled one of the platoons for service elsewhere. This was a major problem since it meant I was no longer able to keep one platoon in the fort as a tactical reserve in case anything gets out of control. I'd just merged two platoons, and now LeJaune marched off into the sunset with his men, leaving me with just TWO platoons.</p><p>At this point the Kasbah chose to riot again and there was more trouble in the oasis. Macron took one platoon and the machine gun team into the Kasbah to deal with that problem, successfully this time. He is ably assisted by young Verte who is looking more likely to get a promotion when he gets back to HQ. As soon as the Kasbah looked quiet, I withdrew the men back to the fort.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A change of tactics</h2><p>I'd changed my tactics now, as I had only two platoons. This meant I did not have the luxury of keeping one platoon on call in the fort. I attached the MG to Macron's unit and sent the valiant captain back to the Kasbah. He again finished off the rioters, took some losses in the process, and withdrew to the safety of the fort. I was sending units in to fight the fires of rebellion when they broke out, then quickly pulling them back to respond elsewhere. Thus, Rose was sent to deal with the problems in the oasis, and when another revolt broke out in the village, Macron was dispatched again.</p><p>This time Macron was ambushed by the Bedouin in the hills on the way to the village, but dealt with that attack. Once the village was quiet, I pulled the platoon back to the fort, then sent them back into the Kasbah again. Rose's platoon was left in the oasis as the situation there was not back under control.</p><p>Both platoons were now taking losses and indeed Rose's platoon had taken numerous casualties (he was down to about 35% strength). Because I was no longer able to rest troops at the fort, morale was beginning to slip as well. This eventually led to some desertions from Verte's platoon, which were my first desertions of the tour.</p><p>I continued to try to react to building unrest in the village by sending troops in before things turned violent. In this simulation you have mixed success: leave it too long and you're pretty much guaranteed to face hostiles when you get there anyway. The trick is responding while the hostility level is still low, pacify the situation, and get out.</p><p>We were into the last few weeks of the tour now and things were looking a little stretched. My tactics had changed as I really only had half the men to play with than previously. Luckily things were quiet for the last couple of weeks and the relief column arrived on time! Thus ended the game. This area of the desert becomes someone else's problem!</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A few observations:</h2><p><i>Six Months in the Sahara</i> is a delightfully simple little simulation at company level in North Africa circa 1900. The legion commander pursues a delicate balancing act, deploying platoons to different district areas in an effort to prevent a more widespread revolt, which I could see could easily have got out of control. Luckily it didn't!</p><p>I was also lucky to receive Rose and his platoon early on in the tour, and lose a platoon to HQ with less than two months to go. The timing for this could have been a lot worse.</p><p>The attack on the fort by the sheikh, when it came, was easily coped with and not as widely supported in the district as it could have been. If it had come late in the game, with more hostiles, it could have got interesting.</p><p>I crucially managed morale well and kept desertions to a minimum. They only became a big issue when I ended up under-strength. And that was near the end.</p><p>There is a balancing act to be achieved between keeping troops out on patrol and keeping them in the fort. This becomes harder as you lose men. I tried to pre-empt some of the revolts, but it was hard to get men into an area before things got out of hand, usually because they were busy mopping up elsewhere.</p><p>Taking the locals on 1:1 is <u>not</u> advisable; the Legion still has an intrinsic combat advantage in these situations, but it is not a large one, and the Bedouin vastly outnumber the Legion strategically. This is something I learned after the first couple of battles. It is far better to take two platoons into a battle, or indeed ensure that they bring some heavy weaponry. The MG team was invaluable.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tune in next time for:</h2><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>More counter-insurgency <i>Small Wars</i>, this time with the Soviets in Afghanistan. Adding more complexity to the above simulation, including tanks and air power!</li><li>Captain Dread meets the Necrons in<i> Stargrave</i>!</li><li>We give <i>Combat Commander Europe</i> its first outing, on the Eastern Front in 1941!</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-87342497800480623212023-01-19T20:54:00.005+00:002023-01-19T20:55:57.520+00:00Midnight at the Oasis: Captain Macron gets mauled<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhkexdTngxQJx0fubymmWE5k9xTlEUAZa3AGEcJqzAhwEObqsIex8QT10mvJlPhCALjKEUF5tnn6PDIjlwNAtl1zxT6pleHXlDOBW4eVN71yuFCcbH_aWFcDcoE0mvaueL-6H6ApOgAB-hRb7i_4vSnT3uykDTD0wsKCBEE7w8eLu8TJBY05FDYaVgw/s500/foreign%20legion.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="500" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhkexdTngxQJx0fubymmWE5k9xTlEUAZa3AGEcJqzAhwEObqsIex8QT10mvJlPhCALjKEUF5tnn6PDIjlwNAtl1zxT6pleHXlDOBW4eVN71yuFCcbH_aWFcDcoE0mvaueL-6H6ApOgAB-hRb7i_4vSnT3uykDTD0wsKCBEE7w8eLu8TJBY05FDYaVgw/w400-h316/foreign%20legion.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I am continuing with my French Foreign Legion solo mini-campaign, which comes straight out of the pages of Dave Thomas' excellent <i>Small Wars</i>. <p></p><p>Thus far, the little French garrison has been largely able to contain localised unrest, but things are about to get a bit hotter, especially at the oasis. Under the command of the redoubtable Major Moselle, the company of hardened legionnaires has been dispersed across a number of sites in the immediate vicinity of the fort as part of their tour of duty. They recently put down a riot in the kasbah with the aid of a fresh platoon of troops arrived from headquarters.</p><p>In my second session the local sheikh decided now was the time to attack the fort itself. Sadly for him, he did not muster a large enough warband to achieve the task. In addition, Major Moselle managed to get a runner to the kasbah, where the English officer Lieutenant Rose was finishing off local resistance. He returned in time to join in the battle at the fort and seeing him coming, the Arabs decided to melt away into the dunes.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuX6-mUlObdZj6uNDJn13qbxG2GYV_aXbJXyC5ElRmpswXY4Dj5H4rWlziAIl9E03dGfrraDB9yw5bOQcA6JuUKdlnLMufyc-qGQJGnD9Vk4FLKPNs_ovkpwWhgMfc_IzICWufKzHkD5Tt5fnmqU0InKMWnJj90sKIu2bIsFn5m25dXo9XixxvSaDNPQ/s640/attack%20on%20the%20fort.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuX6-mUlObdZj6uNDJn13qbxG2GYV_aXbJXyC5ElRmpswXY4Dj5H4rWlziAIl9E03dGfrraDB9yw5bOQcA6JuUKdlnLMufyc-qGQJGnD9Vk4FLKPNs_ovkpwWhgMfc_IzICWufKzHkD5Tt5fnmqU0InKMWnJj90sKIu2bIsFn5m25dXo9XixxvSaDNPQ/w400-h300/attack%20on%20the%20fort.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lieutenant Rose arrives at the fort, two Bedouin clans attack<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>Morale at the fort was beginning to decline, but Moselle managed to keep at least one platoon resting up between missions. We are still at this stage of the game only about six weeks into a six month tour. Nerves are starting to fray. It is an additional issue for the commander to contend with.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">La bataille de l'oasis <br /></h4><p>The big news in month three was the revolt at the oasis. We had had problems there before. Captain Macron was dispatched with the MG crew and the situation went south from there. The legionnaires lost one of the MG crew in the first battle. This was the point when the villagers chose to revolt as well, forcing Moselle to send Rose's platoon to sort them out. Rose also failed to contend with the situation there. Moselle had made a strategic error, as the gun and LeJaune were still at the kasbah which was quiet as a Sunday afternoon in Lent.</p><p>The situation at both the oasis and the village was looking increasingly out of control. More Arabs were arriving to join the fighting at the village. Lieutenant Verte was still resting his men at the fort, so Moselle decided to send him to reinforce Rose, as the village security situation looked the most parlous. LeJaune was summoned back from the kasbah. Moving through the parched desert hills, Verte was ambushed again, in the same pass as before. He managed to fight his way through to the village and reinforce Rose. Moselle decides to mention him in dispatches.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1AOoCleWh3jPRlpg_LSyfIjeT6RzarpO50jLlPYsCVoAgvDpvhan8RV9f_T0dFiL7RGgfxfDJlGD4etx1BqShSZLTiNinXhRJBP7CLPeF5c-6KnenkHhsrid1TnAPGNkkNOuBLyGpsSrY0BlNtnHEeCNtOVlKJvCIv5LtaUgGbg2xbD03uWSvVjs1Q/s640/battle%20at%20the%20oasis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1AOoCleWh3jPRlpg_LSyfIjeT6RzarpO50jLlPYsCVoAgvDpvhan8RV9f_T0dFiL7RGgfxfDJlGD4etx1BqShSZLTiNinXhRJBP7CLPeF5c-6KnenkHhsrid1TnAPGNkkNOuBLyGpsSrY0BlNtnHEeCNtOVlKJvCIv5LtaUgGbg2xbD03uWSvVjs1Q/w400-h300/battle%20at%20the%20oasis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oasis battle - later stages (gun crews are blue)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>In the oasis, Macron's men were taking more losses, with more Bedouin warriors joining the battle in a bid to wipe out the legionnaires. This was not looking good. But the two platoons back in the village also had their hands full. Moselle pondered sending his last platoon into the fray.</p><p>Luckily, at this stage Rose and Verte managed to get a handle on the situation in the village. The oasis revolt grew, so Moselle sent in LeJaune - reluctantly. Rose was recalled to the fort. Just in time as it turned out, as the kasbah rioted again. By this stage, the oasis rebellion was quelled.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I4XmXy1DehgypT48_SVcS3Q2CQaJZqgg3Zt8PrYNJ6_i0IRNdk3_0h7csPrMioMp7daBdrjgAtYGhZKvZNWgjjYAJusx4TvaykKO_tF7qv83WzcJROKB--Y6lYnaISlk1KD0DtmJntETgEDzbahT1HfPT_86awIKkqjWGdE1bsR3itgY2wvQVMbPag/s750/march%20or%20die.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="750" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I4XmXy1DehgypT48_SVcS3Q2CQaJZqgg3Zt8PrYNJ6_i0IRNdk3_0h7csPrMioMp7daBdrjgAtYGhZKvZNWgjjYAJusx4TvaykKO_tF7qv83WzcJROKB--Y6lYnaISlk1KD0DtmJntETgEDzbahT1HfPT_86awIKkqjWGdE1bsR3itgY2wvQVMbPag/w400-h239/march%20or%20die.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Macron's platoon wishing they were somewhere else...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>These events are fairly abstract, as we are now over three months into the tour at end of session two. Keeping at least one platoon resting in the fort means that morale has been largely under control. There have been no deserters. One error was to leave a platoon AND the gun in the kasbah, <u>and</u> assume one platoon could sort out the oasis problem. This was not the case: and, on top of that, more tribesmen joined the fighting there than had been anticipated. In both the village and the oasis, it took TWO platoons to really bring things under control. Macron had the tripod machine gun with him, but this did not seem to help against the numbers he was facing.</p><p>My big worry at this stage is the gradual attrition of my troops. Macron's platoon in particular has been decimated by the oasis battle. It may be at some point I'm forced to merge his platoon with one of the others. I'm still really only into month four. Morale is holding up, but that can change too.</p><p>I may have to watch <i>Beau Geste </i>this weekend...</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-43722984374392704272023-01-16T17:23:00.002+00:002023-01-16T17:38:00.026+00:00Six months in the Sahara<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS4fr-JOFO3MULrv9kPt9wfEAQS8sRz9dT13NoKsNsH5le-IRoLpWwpgZErI5rbCJKlbxnL97V4n9qZhml5BC8C-sUM7Qly4aHl89qKzsTP3i9G88mY--e25pFft4xHMX68Q4sP7M2MhJexjxh1AKC2sKQYHz6KTimAH5jDK9kfFfOe1c06PD5LVmUg/s512/foreign%20legion%201900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="512" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS4fr-JOFO3MULrv9kPt9wfEAQS8sRz9dT13NoKsNsH5le-IRoLpWwpgZErI5rbCJKlbxnL97V4n9qZhml5BC8C-sUM7Qly4aHl89qKzsTP3i9G88mY--e25pFft4xHMX68Q4sP7M2MhJexjxh1AKC2sKQYHz6KTimAH5jDK9kfFfOe1c06PD5LVmUg/w320-h223/foreign%20legion%201900.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I'm currently playing a solo counter-insurgency operational game from David Thomas' excellent <i>Small Wars</i> (History of Wargaming, 2018). <p></p><p>This simulates the activity of a company of the French Foreign Legion in North Africa sometime in the early 1900s. I have taken the role of Major Moselle, who is the commander in chief of the detachment, as it takes up its garrison duty for six months, in the depths of the Sahara desert.</p><p>Moselle has three platoons of infantry, one of which is commanded by Captain Macron, his executive officer. He also has an artillery section, with one gun and an MMG, ably led by Captain LaSalle. Two lieutenants make up the full complement.</p><p>On reaching our post, we quickly found that the local Bedouin were already up in arms. There was a big gathering of Arabs at the oasis, and some further unrest in the local village. Lieutenant Verte and his platoon set off for the village, with the gun, while LaSalle and Macron took second platoon and the MG team and made for the oasis.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJm_PWhhQ1y2GxuLIzYdS0CJwLl7WiB7meUkAbzZ3P2MbDvKTAExZfJ06R4I-ItTh2UGSOxaC-zlnMc4kuF6YH5gDHXw1dbah4Qn95KAB-G4qSkMO9EP3MBah1l0cL4GLXzD3rWuenAW0pShgG8F_WvZCo68L3143tTj-UdqiXeX0gBVHbHlrPINHunQ/s4032/IMG_1794%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJm_PWhhQ1y2GxuLIzYdS0CJwLl7WiB7meUkAbzZ3P2MbDvKTAExZfJ06R4I-ItTh2UGSOxaC-zlnMc4kuF6YH5gDHXw1dbah4Qn95KAB-G4qSkMO9EP3MBah1l0cL4GLXzD3rWuenAW0pShgG8F_WvZCo68L3143tTj-UdqiXeX0gBVHbHlrPINHunQ/w400-h300/IMG_1794%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Legion company assembles at the fort</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Both units had to move through the mountains to reach their locations. There was a big battle in the oasis, which saw dozens of enraged locals rush a Legion square, but the MG team saved the day here, and broke the back of the enemy. A further mopping up operation at the oasis was also successful.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1XsNuzJ06CPWEx5bRu3VkhY--DDJ46TxYvBr6sgMLkSOt_Y8HCLhHBIMgkjkuy8Ba3qf8rUGFHKUiup1YhnrVFiso450zfzWr2-TY8HfPjTChXzKQZJ9i4ZKV7pXLa7ITy12rYethfvGXgN_drSQpLJM10XxsBrSeAoeaNwWtpTVgfipwukfuc80vQ/s4032/IMG_1798%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1XsNuzJ06CPWEx5bRu3VkhY--DDJ46TxYvBr6sgMLkSOt_Y8HCLhHBIMgkjkuy8Ba3qf8rUGFHKUiup1YhnrVFiso450zfzWr2-TY8HfPjTChXzKQZJ9i4ZKV7pXLa7ITy12rYethfvGXgN_drSQpLJM10XxsBrSeAoeaNwWtpTVgfipwukfuc80vQ/w400-h300/IMG_1798%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legion (red) attack the oasis with one MG and two officers</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The real trouble emerged as the Arabs from the village attacked Verte and his platoon in a narrow pass (see below). Again the Legion stood its ground successfully, but there were some casualties on our side.</p><p>With both the village and the oasis now looking peaceful, it was time to regroup at the fort. Rumours were however reaching us that there was trouble in the Kasbah. It had not turned nasty yet, but the locals were looking restless. Lieutenant LeJaune's platoon was sent out, with the artillery as back up. Once they arrived in the Kasbah - which they could reach without going through any of those pesky mountain passes - it turned out that the Kasbah was indeed in full and open revolt.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimz-i5aVIbIUjAJRMB6zzpW4wauYAxkcsr7LGglTGY67L_qbmBSH_K1EZywNETYk1nm_Q2973rQGgYOKnCVPZ2Tj0dsRlbHrceeRMEuKiKOEet09qo-hJUhmk_4KWpYEq5tV-u5Dg-dPSJ7zGUDGrNw2sty-zVQrQ9v7LKF7FP0O7Ym-u6bgFxUFjkhg/s4032/IMG_1797%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimz-i5aVIbIUjAJRMB6zzpW4wauYAxkcsr7LGglTGY67L_qbmBSH_K1EZywNETYk1nm_Q2973rQGgYOKnCVPZ2Tj0dsRlbHrceeRMEuKiKOEet09qo-hJUhmk_4KWpYEq5tV-u5Dg-dPSJ7zGUDGrNw2sty-zVQrQ9v7LKF7FP0O7Ym-u6bgFxUFjkhg/w400-h300/IMG_1797%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lieutenant Verte is ambushed in the hills</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Luckily, at this time HQ in Algiers had seen fit to send Moselle a fourth platoon, this time under the command of the English officer Lieutenant Rose. He and Verte took their platoons to assist at the Kasbah (see below). It turned into a fine old battle, but the Legion looks like it is containing the situation, although with some losses.</p><p>I'm getting the hang of this game so far. It is really a solo, operational level game. We are still early in our tour, and I'm sure local resistance to French rule will pile on the pressure. It is posited as the easiest of the counter-insurgency simulations in the book: they get bigger and more ambitious in both scale and complexity as you proceed.</p><p>I like the way cards are used to track levels of local unrest, and control when Arabs take up arms. They can throw up surprising situations. The key is getting enough troops to a location within the constraints of the game, so that you stand a good chance of winning. </p><p>I think I got lucky early on with the ambush in the mountains, as the enemy rolled poorly, letting young Verte off the hook. I am starting to take some casualties, however, and there is also an interesting mechanic tracking morale back at the fort. </p><p>I am not sure whether it is better to send troops to an area which is starting to look restless, and run the risk of that provoking a riot, or wait until jihad has been declared, and then send the Legion into an already violent situation.</p><p>I've not fully explored the entire system. Hopefully more to come later in the week.</p><p><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkCZrjsndZSBHFg551lbSkEO0sQyFMW6hztFJe5NiHgmaHap2JrTOTVV6dcpOakBTFCMAHx9Rxu7iArPGyjj3jDH1X6m-C_p_2dxcyyD2EbmBXrM4t01o4-Tkcp-7oACMTLOCxnOy48y1wR5kXd5zyNz5q0KXnM68oqUF-jTdymlfeF0gNxwoxaZwJMQ/s4032/IMG_1800%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkCZrjsndZSBHFg551lbSkEO0sQyFMW6hztFJe5NiHgmaHap2JrTOTVV6dcpOakBTFCMAHx9Rxu7iArPGyjj3jDH1X6m-C_p_2dxcyyD2EbmBXrM4t01o4-Tkcp-7oACMTLOCxnOy48y1wR5kXd5zyNz5q0KXnM68oqUF-jTdymlfeF0gNxwoxaZwJMQ/w300-h400/IMG_1800%5B1%5D.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rock the Kasbah!</td></tr></tbody></table></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-15254862834562790112023-01-13T14:59:00.002+00:002023-01-13T14:59:40.810+00:00Blood & Steel: my army lists for Zulu War battle<p>Long term readers of this blog will know my penchant for gaming the Zulu War on the tabletop. They will know I also like to post my army lists ahead of a game. I recently picked up a copy of Blood & Steel, following a recommendation on the Shot & Shield podcast. This comes from the same stable as the successful Blood & Plunder rules from Firelock Games, which have seemingly sold well and cover the Golden Age of Piracy.</p><p>I'm currently looking for a 'go to' set of colonial rules. This could be interesting, so in the interests of getting my African miniatures out on the table for an outing in 2023, I'm putting together a couple of 200 points forces for the game, ahead of actually playing it. More on this once we've had an opportunity to wage some war with it. Ake siqale, as they say in Zululand.</p><p>You'll need the rule book to make sense of these. Note that there are only a limited number of army lists in the book, starting with rather obscure (for a Brit) Second Seminole War in 1835, and ending with the Spanish American War of 1898. There is a strong bias towards conflicts the Americans fought in the 19th century. </p><p>I'd like to try some Darkest Africa gaming with this, but much will depend on how our first foray goes. I'm also twiddling with Jim Webster's Hell & Uncivil Disorder to create a possible German landing party game with that system which I'll be testing out at some point soon.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGrYVzrN74MJXoSVqY-kAQNqnuLxGQOEr-kw509F5PgFK6ejtdA9vNnGT7WW4_0VPj20gaTor8wPb9rFuZqYXhvBn7wIXdWYFos3fvifl1qaS6O9UTKTGZ7MUEYKHp9EoxPytuVsAz-bVbqYvLxmFAGPjZD_NPb_J0pn0WLeF9MkwF0AB7WvTYUQHbw/s800/zulu%20warriors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="800" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGrYVzrN74MJXoSVqY-kAQNqnuLxGQOEr-kw509F5PgFK6ejtdA9vNnGT7WW4_0VPj20gaTor8wPb9rFuZqYXhvBn7wIXdWYFos3fvifl1qaS6O9UTKTGZ7MUEYKHp9EoxPytuVsAz-bVbqYvLxmFAGPjZD_NPb_J0pn0WLeF9MkwF0AB7WvTYUQHbw/w526-h364/zulu%20warriors.jpg" width="526" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>ZULU FORCE - 198 points</b></p><p><u>Leadership</u></p><p>Zulu Induna (nil points - free) - force commander</p><p>Second free Induna (<u>Horns of the Buffalo</u> rule) = 0pts</p><p><u>Core units</u></p><p>Married Zulu Warriors (10 models @ 4pts = 40pts)</p><p>Unmarried Zulu Warriors (7 models @ 4pts = 28pts)</p><p>Unmarried Zulu Warriors (7 models @ 4pts = 28pts)</p><p><u>Support units (maximum one each)</u></p><p>Royal Guard Warriors (10 models @ 7pts = 70pts) </p><p>Zulu Warriors with Rifles (8 models @ 4pts = 32pts) </p><p>This gives us a pretty broad range of the available Zulu units. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfIhPxHasTjglqs5APR1haTykL39-7RzWKr_s8oCe3ieWK6jVILqV3jzOg4FvJEcbViqplTEAHvDnofUFYulvSpM7vzwWRKuF2nFihc7RByJj8fCh_KF2rAG5xrj22QBSNomWw0BHrGZBgQSncjOm5ueTjeHwut1NuBD6HALKlWoVQLwEZVCHf64ivA/s800/british%20infantry%201879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="800" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfIhPxHasTjglqs5APR1haTykL39-7RzWKr_s8oCe3ieWK6jVILqV3jzOg4FvJEcbViqplTEAHvDnofUFYulvSpM7vzwWRKuF2nFihc7RByJj8fCh_KF2rAG5xrj22QBSNomWw0BHrGZBgQSncjOm5ueTjeHwut1NuBD6HALKlWoVQLwEZVCHf64ivA/w536-h370/british%20infantry%201879.jpg" width="536" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>BRITISH FORCE - 198 points</b></p><p><u>Leadership</u></p><p>Captain Aubrey James (15pts) - force commander</p><p><u>Core units</u></p><p>British Regulars (4 models @ 7pts each = 28pts)</p><p>British Regulars (4 models @ 7pts each = 28pts)</p><p>British Regulars (4 models @7pts each = 28pts)</p><p>NCO upgrade to one unit above +5pts</p><p><u>Support units</u></p><p>Natal Native Contingent (8 models @ 4pts each = 32pts)</p><p>Gatling Gun (1 model @ 20pts)</p><p>British Mounted Infantry (6 models @ 7pts = 42pts)</p><p>I've gone a little crazy with this list as I wanted to feature quite a diverse range of support units for the British. Consequently, because you can't have more core units than support, I've had to split the British infantry into three. The NCO upgrade to one of these means the unit is slightly bigger with five models. But I get to squeeze the Gatling in, some native scouts, and some cavalry so I can test those out too. It's a diverse force, the question is how these smaller infantry units will fare against the big Zulu formations.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-1156463405698583392023-01-06T18:23:00.000+00:002023-01-06T18:23:02.039+00:00A return to megagaming with Everybody Dies<p><b>First off a quick admission that I have only watched the first one and a half series of Game of Thrones and read the first two books so far. I hope to rectify this with any luck. But I was familiar enough with the setting to sign myself up for <i>Everybody Dies</i>, a megagame put on in Reading in November. It uses as its setting Westeros, but at a time prior to the books, when Aerys Targaryen was on the Iron Throne.</b></p><p>This marked a return on my part to megagaming, having played in several of these in south London around 1999-2002. They have managed to recruit a much bigger player base now following the success of a now famous video on Watch The Skies by Shut Up And Sit Down - link below. This probably provides a much better perspective than I can.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="362" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hN71v9H_gg8" width="435" youtube-src-id="hN71v9H_gg8"></iframe></div><br /><p>I'll attempt a very short definition however. A megagame in this context usually takes place over the course of an entire day. It posits a scenario which is best achieved by a large number of players in a range of roles. These are often team-based and include a mix of role playing, LARPing and more traditional war gaming. Some players like to dress up, many don't. The fun is that you can take part in a much bigger game with loads of people which feels more like a big political simulation. This is harder to achieve with a smaller group.</p><p>For example, the first ever game I played in was a simulation of the Arab-Israeli War of 1973, staged in London in 2000 IIRC. I was playing the commander of the Egyptian air force with responsibility for all air assets and also air defence in Egypt along the Suez Canal. I was part of an Egyptian team that sat on its own in a room (call it Cairo), but which included a head of state, a diplomat, and ground commanders for forces fighting in the Sinai desert. Although we only had the Egyptian perspective, we did also have the benefit of regular briefings from the press team which kept players informed of what was happening elsewhere in the region and on the international stage.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnABRDyYyaI58MMUCvd_Je_Z514JZwysyPi0PXb3VvtcFI6-swAon9eknbSXKvxwHDBQJAy_WC014PhnTFv_a_Wn3h0PpmxbvNW-1b1w2iB-Xo34wMA2ez90PD_HNIT8drtluxavY0P_icgkX6ygiURsi2BvFf44SI4Dv_TMo8gkAb2zFiOQs84-srg/s736/doran%20martell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="736" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnABRDyYyaI58MMUCvd_Je_Z514JZwysyPi0PXb3VvtcFI6-swAon9eknbSXKvxwHDBQJAy_WC014PhnTFv_a_Wn3h0PpmxbvNW-1b1w2iB-Xo34wMA2ez90PD_HNIT8drtluxavY0P_icgkX6ygiURsi2BvFf44SI4Dv_TMo8gkAb2zFiOQs84-srg/w438-h322/doran%20martell.jpg" width="438" /></a></div><br />In Everybody Dies I was promoted at short notice to leader of the Dornish team, Prince Doran Martell (above, played by the excellent Alexander Siddiq in the series), controlling lands in the south of Westeros. My biggest challenge early in the game were the missionaries of the Lord of Light (led by Jhalo the Red Priest), who were keen to build a church and proselytise. I did not want to crack down on them too hard, because at least one of the other Dornish nobles was sympathetic to them. <p></p><p>I also had to fend off an early revolt by disaffected nobles led by Ormund Yronwood, which I had not been expecting, and which could easily have unseated me. I later learned this actually happened to the top Lannister lord and led to a civil war which devastated the Lannister holdings.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Vn3OiPJJ6ZCwzNuaGAJRSPla0xhb-OATh1f4d5LEqxKOkholjLs_Gk0t9KObhCAmwTwjZh0I4THEEDvdjqI8zufal_0c1QMt2PKTgA5i0s-hv3aTMfHTFNpgdI0bAfrSte1ujZxbeXtoNk-hkqhK2SkuNpoDnyI1HrpNmX5P-jdgRfKprXaQPta_eA/s2048/everybody%20dies%20board.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Vn3OiPJJ6ZCwzNuaGAJRSPla0xhb-OATh1f4d5LEqxKOkholjLs_Gk0t9KObhCAmwTwjZh0I4THEEDvdjqI8zufal_0c1QMt2PKTgA5i0s-hv3aTMfHTFNpgdI0bAfrSte1ujZxbeXtoNk-hkqhK2SkuNpoDnyI1HrpNmX5P-jdgRfKprXaQPta_eA/w456-h341/everybody%20dies%20board.jpeg" width="456" /></a></div><br />I decided to delegate a lot of tasks to other members of my immediate family on the Dornish table. I felt that keeping them busy would stop any further thoughts of insurrection against my authority, which worked pretty well. For example, I sent my younger brother Oberyn Martell to take part in a grand tournament at King's Landing, in which he won the top honours and covered himself in glory. He also attracted a few female admirers, which created problems for us later in the day!<p></p><p>In the early stages of the game, the Martells and Dorne generally had little dealings with the King and his council, who were hidden in another room. We were happy with this. As ever, a mad king is often a recipe for disaster. We received increasingly irrational instructions via emissaries from King's Landing, which we largely ignored. Dorne itself is far away from where the main action is in Westeros, hard to access and hard to campaign in if your troops are not local.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXOJQr2TdyNpqTv_XM7YMC4rezoiv2A__AzWLxKSKMKlaIKLU-C8tH9TUFpdFD_FOgtGuw4FWm8-rZwhhyRCYfrws9XG9DHX3cPXLKWFo0SR2JO4Awn6yq-686PfZ1SpjUSXXNUbi2NCfJoEhTFcOaoozhtyvhoY_i8UZf-GWdN6_HWb_NlwExMiOPg/s2048/everybody%20dies%20close%20up.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXOJQr2TdyNpqTv_XM7YMC4rezoiv2A__AzWLxKSKMKlaIKLU-C8tH9TUFpdFD_FOgtGuw4FWm8-rZwhhyRCYfrws9XG9DHX3cPXLKWFo0SR2JO4Awn6yq-686PfZ1SpjUSXXNUbi2NCfJoEhTFcOaoozhtyvhoY_i8UZf-GWdN6_HWb_NlwExMiOPg/w437-h328/everybody%20dies%20close%20up.jpeg" width="437" /></a></div><br /><p>The middle game descended into an effort to secure my sister Elia Martell and her children from Prince Rhaegar Tagaryen's household. It seemed as if the prince himself was wandering aimlessly around Westeros looking for support against his father, King Aerys. As central control from King's Landing became increasingly weak, most of the big lords began to withhold taxes, and it quickly became apparent that the king's writ was very limited. While I was attending the wedding of one of my bannermen to one of the Tyrells at Highgarden, Elia's children were kidnapped in a plot instigated by the Maesters and abetted by the damned Greyjoys. While nothing could be proved, investigating this was a distraction and also damaged my prestige in the eyes of the wider nobility and earned me the moniker Doran the Careless.</p><p>Added to that, Oberyn Martell had kidnapped a Stark princess whom he had fallen in love with at the tournament. She was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. This led to an unauthorised expedition into Baratheon lands to capture one of their keeps, led by Oberyn but abetted I suspect by that cur Yronwood. This is just one of the many sub-plots that were raging around me as I tried to keep Dorne on an even keel.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHw_Yfbt1a7_xWvmzt1IGKLHqdZoj2V0woJg3Upy7aOx4a4IyJrw-aI6ePcRdMi6AQ3_964ssW1y6Vmqf_DWv6Add35N64m6jMrKrdJ4XeFTq1vsDBaa4iYZyHx0YAbOp3I7B9IHWURjukC_H9LvC_FpLqzWvEwDtg4P7j4Lsc8YKRt6lC_TrjJpFfg/s2048/everybody%20dies%20badge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHw_Yfbt1a7_xWvmzt1IGKLHqdZoj2V0woJg3Upy7aOx4a4IyJrw-aI6ePcRdMi6AQ3_964ssW1y6Vmqf_DWv6Add35N64m6jMrKrdJ4XeFTq1vsDBaa4iYZyHx0YAbOp3I7B9IHWURjukC_H9LvC_FpLqzWvEwDtg4P7j4Lsc8YKRt6lC_TrjJpFfg/w417-h313/everybody%20dies%20badge.jpeg" width="417" /></a></div><br /><p>Luckily by this time Jon Arryn had declared himself the new king and had allied with the Baratheons to siege King's Landing. Robert Baratheon fortunately died in the siege - one less complication for Dorne. House Dorne was now in communication with the Tyrells and the Starks and were duly allied to the Starks via the wedding of the reckless Oberyn. We attended the coronation of Jon Arryn at King's Landing, but were not provided with any of the new seats on the council. </p><p>Into the last 45 minutes and it became obvious that the Arryns and Baratheons were going to be facing a civil war against a Dorne-Tyrell-Stark axis, which could have been very interesting indeed. However, we had to close it there as, among other things, England was going to be kicking off against New Zealand at Twickenham within an hour.</p><p>This was a really enjoyable return to megagaming for me after a long hiatus, and it was good to see so many younger (under 35) people getting involved in these. I'm hoping it will breathe new life into megagaming in the UK. Hats off also to the organisers, <a href="https://www.readingmegagames.com/" target="_blank">Reading Megagames</a>, headed up by <a href="https://www.beckybeckyblogs.com/life/ukge-talk-everybody-dies-megagame/" target="_blank">Becky</a> and her team.</p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861350035587930909.post-4317240670412691632023-01-04T13:01:00.000+00:002023-01-04T13:01:11.548+00:00Stargrave: Captain Dread and the Adventure of the Abandoned Factory<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglykAIKKC1tkWtrCbqA-voJZMnTLZfZqUo03AXUyTF_hSv3C-jag8d0XMY5ibIu3-xxrMCe8FZ5bFg0JomdNVfUxOm6YI8sKvc9_KgKizJuQ2GUoqyvqaavaYLnUSbDMy346-pJZbGcxLUZmmMHKB7VZ6iidB5V060n-f0TUNbExneXGMWbUhVbdsMvg/s3465/Factory%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3127" data-original-width="3465" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglykAIKKC1tkWtrCbqA-voJZMnTLZfZqUo03AXUyTF_hSv3C-jag8d0XMY5ibIu3-xxrMCe8FZ5bFg0JomdNVfUxOm6YI8sKvc9_KgKizJuQ2GUoqyvqaavaYLnUSbDMy346-pJZbGcxLUZmmMHKB7VZ6iidB5V060n-f0TUNbExneXGMWbUhVbdsMvg/s320/Factory%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Happy New Year to all! Having just switched the look and feel of this blog up to something a little more modern, I'm also resolving to make it more of a regular thing. <p></p><p>Apologies for the sheer infrequency of posts on this blog - I hope to make it more of a habit in 2023 if I can. Below is the summary of our third game of Stargrave, The Abandoned Factory.</p><p>In this scenario the crews are trying to loot an abandoned factory on a frontier world. The situation is complicated by the presence of a large war droid in the factory, which has some fairly serious firepower for the crews to attend with.</p><p>Captain Dread had added a second Chiseller to his crew called Bryce. Dread seems to have been taking most of his losses among the Genestealer hybrids, largely because I've been using them to advance in a bunch of trouble ahead of the crew, and they have attracted most of the enemy fire. The other Chiseller, Sedgewick, has the pistol belt recovered in the last mission. We have a nice vintage 1980s Rogue Trader vibe going with this campaign, with all the late 1980s and early 1990s figures on the table.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwB81_ZrQ1CNqWxAtIAyiI4SSXoye9ZjzBKji-V3ZHbgNF1omdacZkesFuIQIA93CxXQjO6uUcb7hiComIEUfZmd0UfSbFoR0DZydoI-HHKs1tD0nnoK7EQnhoyegawRBiquRGM6VMu4v1vjjdQxjqL3RFJ80thRUHnrT7LlXcsAWrUSyP1DylDMEDlw/s4115/Factory%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4115" data-original-width="3465" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwB81_ZrQ1CNqWxAtIAyiI4SSXoye9ZjzBKji-V3ZHbgNF1omdacZkesFuIQIA93CxXQjO6uUcb7hiComIEUfZmd0UfSbFoR0DZydoI-HHKs1tD0nnoK7EQnhoyegawRBiquRGM6VMu4v1vjjdQxjqL3RFJ80thRUHnrT7LlXcsAWrUSyP1DylDMEDlw/s320/Factory%202.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><br /><p>Overhead gantries again featured in this mission (see above), which made the use of my drone quite important. A useful tactic seems to be getting it airborne early on in the proceedings and then using it to get in among the opposition. Captain Dread also invested in another hold rat. They are cheap and fast and can wreak havoc among the Eldar crew. And they are no big loss if they get killed as they are vermin. The mutants like to farm them in the depths of Dread's ship for food.</p><p>I pushed forward aggressively in this mission, and took quite a few losses as a consequence. Again we ran out of time and failed to finish the game which was a pain. <a href="http://kelvingreen.blogspot.com/2022/11/turn-limit-break.html" target="_blank">Kelvin on his blog</a> has suggested a way to credit crews with loot appropriately when time runs out before all counters are off the table.</p><p>The war droid was a pain to contend with, as it was taking THREE shots per turn and largely just standing there blasting away. Luckily it did not do much in the way of moving. We also received another visit from the blasted Strontium Dogs. There were rumours of primitive alien tribes in the area, but the shoot out was well over before they turned up with their Stone Age weapons.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nchFP_KZiuMouPpQJ6gcaMqYG4lhXVVQPR68984UYas35QueVezBQvIF2SL4zaMsZrGhVUGdZ6d9azR9LfupweVCOh72QFXqkgWlaAzhy7_2AAfR48cFOJn8KzyF0zKjVK47kP9eYmsWqW-sfchb9r16Q3_SBVMChSxtCpaleu-r6QwcvL7ClzRa3g/s4623/Factory%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3143" data-original-width="4623" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nchFP_KZiuMouPpQJ6gcaMqYG4lhXVVQPR68984UYas35QueVezBQvIF2SL4zaMsZrGhVUGdZ6d9azR9LfupweVCOh72QFXqkgWlaAzhy7_2AAfR48cFOJn8KzyF0zKjVK47kP9eYmsWqW-sfchb9r16Q3_SBVMChSxtCpaleu-r6QwcvL7ClzRa3g/s320/Factory%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnny Alpha is down!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sadly the game ended before Dread's first mate Kolioth Yang grabbed another data counter from the top of a tower by climbing up behind the droid while it was focused on blasting away at the Eldar. I think he would have escaped with it in a couple of turns, but it was not to be...</p><p>Captain Dread was wounded but patched up by my medic once the crew escaped off-planet. Medics have their additional uses. Beckett and Carla Zane the aforesaid medic were both badly wounded and will be nursing their injuries in the next game. Yang levelled up and has acquired a new power, Control Robot, which given Kelvin's fondness for robots in his crew could be interesting.</p><p>The loot from the factory turned out to be entirely comprised of pistols. We obviously raided a pistol factory.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvOvEeURp7Czd1EiwVgm1tSLOWYFhs0mI2ZfZtR73sEZAQMMUe1xOkeae43j8wdfL83hu7h9FArlVDvXq3_v2XT6A7i5XxvGBs6X2D3KRE-jFSl0CZmz3qymTWSqtYb3vzUEvRcLte5LmZr4F8sf2a0xU3BpcjPLQbhkaqApq2_9Kt6NUVagbBzk5XKw/s4624/Factory%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvOvEeURp7Czd1EiwVgm1tSLOWYFhs0mI2ZfZtR73sEZAQMMUe1xOkeae43j8wdfL83hu7h9FArlVDvXq3_v2XT6A7i5XxvGBs6X2D3KRE-jFSl0CZmz3qymTWSqtYb3vzUEvRcLte5LmZr4F8sf2a0xU3BpcjPLQbhkaqApq2_9Kt6NUVagbBzk5XKw/s320/Factory%204.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Rumours on the net indicate the presence of a dormant Necron monolith on a jungle moon in an adjacent system. It will be an opportunity to finish my Necron monolith model and crack out my new jungle mat. Who knows? Maybe some Necrons will feature too? Ancient Necron tech is always to be prized!</p><p>I also picked up an excellent book of sci fi skirmish scenarios in December, which I'll be looking to adapt for yet more Stargrave missions in 2023, so stay tuned for that!</p><p><br /></p>Stuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01863160473105489597noreply@blogger.com6