Old & New Games - Day 1 of 2

I've spent the last two days gaming with three friends who came round to my cabin for some miniature action.  

On the first day, three of us refought the Battle of Barnet Chit game, described in an earlier post (13-Oct).  This was followed by a quick gunfight using the Too Fat Lardies' (TFL) 'What a Cowboy' rules after which we set up for the following day's game and adjourned to the pub - Hic!

Battle of Barnet, 1471 - DBM

The Barnet game, using DBM rules modified to work on a hex grid, started with the Yorkists (nearest the camera), groping their way through the fog.

When they bumped into the Lancastrians, they found their right wing (Gloucester) was overlapped while their left wing (Hastings) returned the compliment to the Lancastrian right.  The photo below shows how Hastings' troops had gained a free pass to outflank the Oxford's command on the Lancastrian - indicated by the yellow arrows. 

Before the Lancastrian's could respond - courtesy of the randomised turn sequence - Edward IV's battle, which he led in person, slammed into Montague's command in the centre of the Lancastrian line and started to wreak havoc over several turns.  

 

Warwick, the Lancastrian commander, faced further setbacks as Gloucester, throwing some excellent dice, inflicted several unexpected losses on Exeter's command largely negating the Lancastrian advantage on that wing.  Warwick valiantly tried to shore up both wings by feeding forward troops from his reserve but was thwarted by a lack of PIPs and a capricious random turn sequence.  The inevitable sequel to all this was the collapse of both Lancastrian wings and the subsequent flight of the Nevilles in the centre.  So, this time the Yorkists managed reverse the result from the last time we played this game.  

A Fistful of Dice - What a Cowboy

After packing away the Barnet troops and terrain, we moved on to play our first game of What a Cowboy using some old Foundry figures and my nearly completed Wild West town.  Unfortunately, I don't have a decent mat to place on this so we made do with a sand-coloured length of cloth.

The scenario was based on 'A Fistful of Dollars' with two gangs trying to run the town while a mysterious stranger tries to play off both sides against each other.  As my first game with these rules, I got well and truly sucked into the game and forgot to take photos.  The game started well for my gang and our opposition was soon pretty much down and out and the 'Clint' character kept in check.  Unfortunately, Steve, playing Clint, made his move but was embarrassed by a steak of poor dice.  My mirth was short-lived when some bystanders (non-player characters) who the scenario allowed to back him up had no such problem and my gunmen came to a sad end...

Day 2 to follow later...

Chain of Command CoC-ups

My friend John came round for a practise campaign using the Maltot campaign from the TooFatLardies (TFL) 'At the Sharp End' campaign rules.  We'd had a couple of learning (for him) and refresher (for me) games but now we wanted to get into a campaign which produces very different games where husbanding your troops can be as important as winning a game.

I took on the British (12 platoon, B company, 5th Wiltshires), who have to win their way across five different maps / scenarios in no more than eight games to win the campaign.  John took on the Germans who had to stop the British i.e., win 4 games before I could win five.

Game 1: a balanced patrol scenario (same number of support points each) across open fields with little cover apart from a hedge or two.  The picture below shows the first British troops deploying onto the table, advancing from left to right.  The German jump off points (JOPs) can be seen in towards the lower right. The outer boundary of hedges delineates the edge of the map.  

I immediately showed how rusty I was by deploying my 'Tactical' movement markers facing the wrong direction, Doh!

The German deployment in response was cursed by a command dice roll of 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 1 which delivered our first rules blunder of the day; the deployment of a single team from a section (using the '1') which is not allowed in the rules.  I said it was a learning campaign.

This action had always looked likely to revolve around who could get to the hedge line first to catch their opponents exposed out in the open.  So, seeing the Germans in disarray, I doubled one section forward to try and get to the hedge first; the accompanying junior and senior leaders using their command initiatives to remove the resulting shock (disorder) caused by this.  As can be seen in the following photo they got close but didn't quite make it (the other section did not double forward). 

The Germans then suffered another dreadful command roll and were limited to a couple of team actions.  This saw them double a rifle team forward to the hedge and the section's MG42 team putting down some covering fire on the hedge to try and reduce the effectiveness of any British firing next phase (the section of hedge under covering fire being indicated by the two red 'pin' markers below).    

The Brits responded by opening fire with closest section on the rifle team at the hedge.  The British firing dice were embarrassingly good and the German rifle team at the hedge was shredded and broke, routing back all the way to their JOP.  The other Brit section doubled up to the hedge taking advantage of some well-placed smoke from their 2" mortar deployed back at their JOP as can be seen in the photo below the situation 

At this point, with the writing on the wall in bright red letters ten feet tall, Germans decided to cut their losses and withdraw, conceding the field to 12 platoon which was completely unscathed.

Game 2: on to the second map, a probe scenario, with the British having to get a team to the German base edge to win the game.  The cover favours the Germans who used their support points for a minefield, an adjutant and off-table Tiger tank support. For the Brits I decided to forgo the obvious armour support and instead opted for a pre-game barrage and a forward observer (FO) with an off-table 3" mortar battery.  The photo below shows the table from the British end after the patrol phase and deployment of the minefield.

This was the first time my new minefield markers had been used and I'm pretty pleased with how they look - much better than an old bit of string!

The game started with the Brits rolling an immediate double phase.  No doubt still a little euphoric over my quick win in the first game I deployed a section and a senior leader from my furthest forward JOP with a view to rushing the enemy base edge before they could deploy through the barrage.  My FO also deployed further back and established contact with his mortar battery.

The Germans validated my optimism by dutifully failing to deploy any troops in their turn thanks to the pre-game barrage.  Now supremely confident that my plan (is a mad dash a plan?) was the right thing to do I pressed on past the minefield; but my command dice (no '1's) prevented my either requesting a mortar barrage or deploying a 2" mortar to provide some smoke cover.

Then the wheels came off; the Germans got a double phase and in the first phase successfully deployed a section (MG42 in the farmhouse and rifle team in the garden) as seen below (clearly the photo was taken a little later as they have a casualty in the photo).

Caught in the open at close range (courtesy of having to go round the minefield) the consequences for my lead section were horrific, with three dead and three shock - see below.

The next phase of shooting was just as bad but as I forgot to take a photo we can draw a veil over the horrific scene.  I decided to persist for another phase hoping my mortars (2" firing smoke and 3" with h.e.) might retrieve the situation; but again my command dice prevented either from playing their part.  One more round of German fire saw the platoon sergeant wounded and out of action, and without his influence to steady the survivors, pressing on was futile and the tattered remnants of my platoon withdrew from the field.

Game 3: which, following the British failure was a repeat of the probe scenario with the Germans adding a second minefield to the one still in place from the previous game.  I was planning to change my approach and make use of the armour support I had spurned in the last game but... I only received 3 support points this time around.  These were spent on another pre-game barrage, which had worked reasonably well before, and an adjutant to cover the absence of my wounded platoon sergeant who would not return to duty until the next game.

This time the plan was to eschew the open fields and quickly get stuck into the farmhouse, hopefully while German deployment was hindered by the pre-game barrage.  I also intended to maximise my use of smoke from my reinforced 2" mortar team[1] to protect me from any Germans that did turn up. 

In my first phase, speed being key, I deployed both sections[2], albeit they had to skirt John's latest minefield as he had easily identified the obvious line of advance and mined it - see below.   

The pre-game barrage now proved its worth and prevented any German deployment and as the British pressed forward and deployed the Germans repeatedly failed to deploy any troops.  The situation, as shown below, was starting to look too good to be true.

It was.  At this point the game hotted up and I got so sucked in I forgot to take any more photos, and so I'll keep it pretty brief from here on.

One British section doubled, through yet more smoke, up to the farmhouse and shut down the German JOP inside.  Then, John broke his relentless run of bad luck and managed to deploy most of his troops.  As a result, one British section was shredded in the farmyard but the other managed to occupy the house.  At this point the game looked over for the Brits; but, surrounded and trapped inside the farmhouse, withdrawal was not an option.  So, with the Brits forced to fight on and the Germans unwilling to close it turned into an attritional firefight and then into a bloody grenade throwing contest.  At this point the Germans realised this was a fight they could not afford as the British could replace their platoon but the German platoon would have to fight on through the rest of the campaign.  So, settling for having ruined one British platoon the Germans withdrew to their main defensive line (the next map / scenario).

For the ongoing campaign, John and I have already fixed a date for more games, the status of the two platoons at this stage is as follows:

British strength: 2 Senior Leaders, 3 Junior Leaders, and, 16 men to operate the PIAT, 2" mortar, 3 Bren LMGs and provide any rifle teams.  

British casualties: 14 permanently lost and 1 wounded man due to return after the next game.

German strength: 1 Senior Leader; 3 Junior Leaders; and, 16 men to operate the Panzerschreck; and, 3 MG42s and provide any rifle teams.  

German casualties: 9 permanently lost and 4 wounded men due to return after the next game.

The losses are skewed in the Germans favour as, in this campaign, they recover casualties at three times the British rate.  However, the British do have a fresh platoon in the wings. 

Hopefully next time I'll take a few more photos.

Notes:

1. The British platoon was now reduced to just two sections.  The surviving junior leader and private from the decimated section being used to from a large 2" mortar team. 

2. Another error we made at this point was to assume that if LMG teams were wiped out the weapon was lost so with only 2 Bren guns I opted to go with just two sections and to reinforce my 2" mortar team.

 WiP Crack Away...

So, after the Tolkien interlude it's back to some more traditional wargame figures and a work in progress (WiP) shot.

Yes, it's back to some vintage 20mil Naps, with a few interlopers in the shape of some 28mm Napoleonic Norwegian Ski Troops, who just need the milliput covering the arm joints filed down before undercoating.

The 20mil Naps are a mix of Hinton Hunt, recasts of the same, and some S-range Minifigs, one of whom is destined to become King Joseph.  These were mostly bare castings but a couple did go through the bleach bath to strip off old layers of paint.  The cleaning up for these was straight forward but while doing so I noticed two of the three Young Guard Voltigeurs advancing with musket at the trail were missing most, or all, of their musket butts.  So, out with the soldering iron and then a lengthy grinding process with my Dremel.  Normally I file solder additions with my mini hand-files as it's gentler, but the butts were in too awkward a location to allow easy file access.  I'm fairly pleased with the end result.

A few more figures are still resting in the bleach bath which has turned a fairly revolting shade of green.  

Hopefully, this means the paint is coming off, as a couple of the figures (to be revealed at a later date?) are having a second bath after their paint jobs proved pretty impenetrable first time around. 

Can't see the Orcs for the Trees

Well, my revamped 'Breaking of the Fellowship' game got run out at the club and seemed to go down very well; I've already had a request to run it again.  The only thing that did go amiss was that I forgot to take my camera with me so had to scrounge some images from others and rely on my memory for what actually happened.  What follows probably gets much wrong but hopefully captures the gist of what happened.

Things started poorly for the men in the Fellowship with Aragorn, fleeing a Troll (random event) and Boromir wandering through the wood and blowing his horn but failing attract any attention, good or bad.  

Legolas and Gimli got off to a great start finding Frodo who should be safe with those two redoubtable fighters to protect him.  This is the situation in the photo below.  

Things then started to go downhill when a large (c.20) band of goblins hove into view and Frodo promptly slipped on The Ring and departed to safer parts leaving Legolas and Gimli to face the music.  However, it was the elf and dwarf who called the tune, ripping into the goblins with such effect that after just two rounds of combat the remaining goblins fled.

Now it was Aragorn's turn to stumble across Frodo and convince him that they should stick together.  Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin still searching at random for Frodo started calling out his name (random event) only to call down on themselves a large band of goblin (goblins and Uruk Hai throw for their strength on each new encounter with Fellowship figures).  Pippin struck down one goblin but was quickly subdued while Merry fought on surviving two rounds before being taken captive.    

Then, just like a Hollywood script, Legolas and Gimli arrived to save the Hobbits.  Hopes for another goblin cull were promptly quashed by the cards turning cruelly against the two heroes and compounded by the appearance of a Warg pack behind them (random event).  Gimli was torn apart by the Wargs and Legolas, badly wounded and near death, broke free and fled.  The goblins then made off with the captive Hobbits successfully exiting the map without further hold-ups.

While this was going on Aragorn and Frodo encountered the band of Uruk Hai and once again Frodo slipped on the ring and fled but this time at Aragorn's insistence while he fought to hold back the enemy.  While Aragorn indulged in some Uruk whittling Frodo came across the troll and kept ring on for longer than anticipated until clear of all threats.  As Frodo had now worn the ring for longer than one turn there was a small chance of a Nazgûl turning up.  So, with the advice to throw anything but a one, Boromir rolled a d6 and got... a one!

Boromir redeemed himself by arriving in time to finish of the Uruks freeing Aragorn to seek out and protect Frodo from the Nazgûl.  The first to encounter the Ringwraith was Sam who was unfortunately quickly slain before Aragorn arrived and slew the Ringwraith's steed.  Aragorn and Frodo then reached the boats and with the Nazgûl slowly limping towards them launched one and set out for Mordor to complete to destroy The Ring leaving the others to follow on later.  

This essentially wrapped up a fairly bad day for the Fellowship with Sam and Gimli slain and Merry and Pippin taken captive.  Can Aragorn get Frodo safely to Mount Doom?  And if so, with no-one to save Rohan and Gondor, what will be left to come home to?

 Quick-Tip: Pinning Down Hexon Hexes

Grids, square or hexagonal, are it seems are a 'Marmite' option amongst wargamers.  Personally, I like them as doing away with measuring and subsequent debates, they speed up games.  However, having bought some hexagonal terrain tiles (Hexon by Kallistra) I found fitting the clips that hold them together both fiddly and time consuming.  

Inspiration came to me in a ‘Pound-store’ of all places!  There before me was a rubber pin mat – the penny dropped!  I bought one, took it home, and cut out a 4x4 array of the rubber pins and it was a perfect fit for the tiles – see photo showing half the pin may connector projecting from a tile.  Now, an adjoining tile firmly placed down next to the one with the pin-mat connector is firmly held in place – what could be easier!  

To show more clearly how it works, see the photo below with the tiles turned upside down with a connector in place joining them together.

I quickly cut up the rest of the mat which provided me with enough connectors for the perimeter of any layout I might require.  I admit I may have been lucky getting the right size by chance but you could either take measurements or a hex-tile with you when you go shopping.

 A Wizard Pair of Figures

With the imminent debut of the Fellowship game (see previous LotR posts) at my local club firing up my enthusiasm for the genre, I dug Saruman and Wormtongue out of my painting pile for a quick paint job.  So, fresh from my painting desk...

I'm fairly pleased with these, but as ever close-up a photograph shows how grainy the finish can be when using enamels if you have to rework the paint too much.  These figures also suffered from an accidental coat of spray gloss varnish (I picked up the wrong can!) but luckily a good coat of matt varnish over the top seems to have saved my blushes.

Not that there's anything wrong with gloss varnish - I am rather partial to it on vintage figures like my earlier Saruman from the Minifigs Mythical Earth range (see below); now supplanted by the Games Workshop figure.

Old Toys - New Rules

A quick post on my latest game, mainly because I haven't yet posted anything on my ECW collection and they are, IMO, my prettiest army.  The troops are mostly old figures (mainly Hinchliffe) but the rules have been around for a few years, and they are, Liber Militum Tercios:

I have played these rules quite a bit, but always with a Martin's 15mm Thirty Years War collection.  This time, I used my 25mm ECW armies as a vehicle to allow Simon, who had never played them, to try them out.  As a learning game the armies were set up facing each other across a fairly open table, Parliament on the left and Royalists on the right.

Parliament was commanded by Earl of Essex (Simon).

The Royalists were commanded by His Majesty King Charles (me).

Tercios requires the players to place an order card face down next to each unit at the start of every game turn.  Then after dicing for initiative (who goes first), take it in turns to activate a unit to carry out its order; this is automatic when the unit is fresh (has taken no hits or 'wear' in Tercios terminology) but otherwise has to be diced for against the unit's discipline rating.  The orders restrict what a unit may do, provide bonuses or penalties for some actions, and how it may respond if attacked - these bonuses and reaction options are indicated on the cards.

Turn 1: the larger cavalry wings in the more open terrain (Royalist right and Parliament left), both advanced rapidly ('Run' orders).  They stopped 3" apart (the closest that enemy can be approached without 'Assault' orders) ...

... with Rupert's Horse leading the advance for the Royalist right wing.

The rest of the troops on both sides advanced more cautiously, presumably awaiting the outcome of the cavalry engagement before committing themselves.

 

Turn 2: the cavalry clash went dramatically wrong for Parliament, with Simon rolling some abysmal dice to see the first line of units swept away in rout and fleeing off the table.

Leaving the Royalist cavalry ready to repeat the performance, in the next turn, against the second line of Parliament horse that were now in poor shape (red markers indicate hits, and green disorder). 

Elsewhere, Parliament's infantry edged towards the stationary Royalist foot and the fight between the smaller cavalry wings also played out in favour of the King.

And beyond all this amongst the hedged enclosures, the two opposing dragoon units advanced towards each other.

Turn 3: the fickle dice turned on the Royalists (or depending on your perspective made amends to Parliament) and much of the triumphant Royalist horse was sent packing.

The infantry on both sides advanced cautiously exchanging shots at long range as did the artillery which had been steadily firing away to take the edge of a unit or two.

While the dragoons just eyeing each other with intent, the smaller cavalry wings continued to battle it out.  Some of the Royalist horse finding itself now caught between the two lines of advancing infantry decided to charge the Parliament foot rather than be shot down in place.

This bold (foolhardy?) move almost paid off, as with their seven combat dice I rolled five 6's, a 5 and a 3 (needing 5+ to hit)!  But the Simon rolled very well on his saving throws and the foot were only forced to disengage.

Turn 4: the Royalist cavalry's luck didn't carry through to this turn and a crashing volley from the Parliamentarian foot convinced them to flee the field not to return.

Meanwhile the larger Royalist cavalry wing had managed to sort itself out and drive off the last the opposing horse; in response to which Essex's Foot regiment was deployed to protect the now open flank.

The Royalist cavalry had more success when Gentlemen Pensioners managed to catch the London Trained Bands Blue Regiment by surprise but failed to break it, only forcing a retreat.  Elsewhere the infantry continued exchange volleys to little effect as did the dragoons.

Turn 5: saw the last of both sides weaker cavalry depart the field while in the distance the Royalist dragoons charged their opponents only to be rebuffed.

The Gentlemen Pensioners now paid the price for their foray into the centre of the Parliament army as fired on from several sides the survivors fled the field.

But at the end of the turn, Essex, with his beleaguered infantry bereft of any cavalry support, concluded the day was lost and withdrew his army to fight another day.  

In Tercios, games only last 8 turns at most and victory is only assessed after the 5th and subsequent turns.  The advantage (in lost units and commanders) required to win reduces each turn after the 5th, and in this game the Royalists just managed to get far enough ahead to call a decisive victory in the 5th turn (a decisive victory is the only victory allowed in turn 5).

Simon seemed to enjoy the game despite not knowing what he was doing in the first turn or two.  And, as he was talking about buying the rules, I guess the game met its objectives.

If you are interested in these rules the 'lite' version, that pretty much covers everything except some terrain and commanders, is available as a free pdf at:

268954336-brevis-editio-tercios-english.pdf

Good Luck!