Sgt Steiner chez le Duc

Sgt Steiner of the Blog-o-sphere journeyed the short hop to le Duc's bunker for a game of the favoured Maurice.

An excellent Nine Years War 100 point clash (with even some attempt to use the scouting rules beforehand) this time.

English/Dutch attackers, with the odd Danish mercenary battalion, vs French and Irish defenders (who also managed to pick up a few Danes due to miscalculation of numbers), with the town square as an objective

A fraught battle, with reverses and tense moments.


Highlights included:

• Maurice's frustratingly devastating ability to place marshes where you don't want them, thereby effectively making a flank redundant (or securing it, depending upon your viewpoint).
• The devastating effect of the 'lethal vollies' national advantage (it's lethal !!), brought about by virtue of re-roll allowance. A la Baionette makes a similar difference, though not so readily useful when the defender, on hindsight.
• We managed to firm up on the melee rules, where doubling up in terms of melee totals made significant, and bloody, difference.
• Again - wonderful opportunities for resource management, while the rest of the battlefield looks on, and you frustratingly can't do what you want to!!!
• Pikes make a big difference vs cavalry (uhhh as designed to I guess). We actually forgot them at one stage, recalculated, and replaced the troops that had been removed, simply because the +2 from pike defence made such a difference to the overall total. This is as period of course, and provides a nice reshaping of how the cavalry (brittle as it can be) is used.

 'Right lads. This is what I want you to do. Hey! Where are you going?'

 The centre, as French regulars await the attack.

 The Allied centre, as the Dutch Garde de Voet go in. Elite troop status made these guys incredibly resilient.

The Allied left, where someone has stuck a marsh in a most inopportune position.

'Lethal Vollies' unleash hell on the attacking French cavalry.

The centre holds as the French force a Dutch charge, which created our clarification re. melee.

Pikes make a big difference vs cavalry charge of course.

 In the end, a constant wearing down via musketry made the difference and morale ebbed away. As with most Maurice battles, the objective is rarely seized before one side or another leaves the field. Though of course, that seems to make sense.

Next up? Black Powder, then perhaps Beneath the Lily Banners.

Game 29 - Dave the DoomLich and the Assault on Chizzlewit's Tomb...or something.

Ok, there's a lot of stuff made up on spec here, so be warned!

With less time for prep than usual, we decided that it was high time we tried out 'Song of Blades and Heroes'. Now it's because we like the idea of the dice roll and initiative mechanisms and not because we want to tell some Lord of the Rings style story...honest. ;)

So, despite the allusions to comedic disparagement(!), we did take this seriously ...no really.

And so, presenting the characters today, we have:

The Forces of GOOD:
Bonan the Barbarian and his two girlfriends (lucky bast**d), Sylvia the Sorceress (who wants to be a fashion model rather than a magic user), the brave Lord Burnham and Fartleck the Dwarf and his mate uhhh...Simon?

The Forces of BAD (booo, hisss): Led by Dave the DoomLich of Soapinme Bath, with Kul the Minotaur and Hugh, Pew, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert and Dibble...the orcs (Grub was on holiday).


Joking aside, there are some nice touches to these rules, with activation based on one to three rolls of d6 per character, with successes dictating whether you get your actions, or if initiative moves to your next character, or even the other player.

(Our feeling of course was centred upon how this would feature for asymmetric engagements between PMCs and insurgents on the modern battlefield, if tweaked for firefights - and I know there is a modern version available, which we'll try ('flying lead' I think)).

 The forces approach each other, with Lord Burnham sprinting toward the lost 'Tomb of Chuzzlewit' - the objective for the scenario.

Dave the DoomLich looks on, then takes matters into his own hands.
'I will deal with them, myself."

 Oooh, but a bit of a rumble develops. That damned minotaur is pretty tough.

 Bow Cam...though the Orc archer didn't make a lot of difference (until later).

In the fracas that follows at the tomb, Kul the Minotaur goes down under a hail of blades from one of Bonan's girlfriends. The death is a gory one, which inflicts a morale check. They all run like hell (even Dave!).

...as Sylvia the Sorceress takes a moment to pose for the camera in front of a suitably imposing backdrop, with a view to giving up Magic School and getting that dream modelling job.

The evil ones start to move back for a second attack, but they have neither the numbers nor the tank Minotaur...

The orc archer finally gets a decent shot in.

Lord Burnham makes his fear check and engages Dave the DoomLich at close quarters...

 ...as Dave disappears in a 'poof' of smoke, and goes back to ...some demi-plane or something.

The orc archer slays one of Bonan's wimmen...he will NOT be pleased.

Sylvia poses in front of a rock. 'That's it luv, it's the Vogue cover.'

The good guys gang up on the last orc, and pulverise 'im.

 The forces of good...triumphant! (Sylvia poses for another shot..and who's that behind the rock?)

 'The Ruins of Chuzzlewit's Tomb'...double nicely as a dice box.

'Where the Iron Crosses Grow...' - gaming with Sgt. Steiner

Now the history to this one is pretty straightforward. Realising that the venerable Sgt. Steiner lived within 30 minutes of my house, a game was in the offing...and who could pass up the chance of playing something new.

Piquet Field of Battle has all the traits of more modern appreciations of the difficulties of managing troops on the eighteenth century battlefield, where those damned subalterns don't always do as they're bloody well told. Being card driven however, there is a real tension in the air too, where luck plays a part, but what you do with that luck is what counts. Brent Oman's famous take on these aspects with the Piquet rules are a real joy to behold (and Sgt. Steiner's excellent grasp of the concepts meant that the game rolled along with real ease).

There's also a WWII version which I've now got. That Bastogne campaign that I've always wanted to do could be on!

I really like these rules. Main highlights were:

• A nice 'pre-game' where deployment, reconnaissance and relative strength can be determined. The 'prologue' to the battle if you like.
• Limited maneuverability, where you watch troops move forward, but find them unable to perform any more complex maneuvers (as you gnash your teeth in consternation). If only Potokovski had listened to my damned order!!!
• Nailbiting melees, which because of the dice spread, have outlying results which can make your position fold with very little provocation from the enemy, if your troops are having a 'bad day'. We had a few of these 'less than average' rolls, but it works.
• If everything goes to plan, you can perhaps make the battle follow your aims, but you encounter the same issues as in Maurice, where management of crisis points becomes your focus, and being card driven, you have to make your card match what you need to do as closely as possible.

You get a real sense for wanting to ride over to the brigade commander who ain't doing what he's told, grabbing him by the lapels, and giving him a damned good shake!

 The battle was Seven Years War...a little Russian vs Prussian clash...

The Russian right, where I'm sure these two cavalry brigades will just sit and watch each other ...uhhh, perhaps not.

The Russian drive in the centre. Everything seemed to go right for them here.

Clearly, the Russian brigade commander on the left flank was convinced of the wisdom of staying in column...*sigh*

Early Prussian moves in the centre...

 ...as the situation develops on the left flank. The Russian left became a real meatgrinder, with cavalry charge and countercharge. (I don't think I have any fingernails left!)

 Though the centre stays reasonably manageable.

Nope...the right flank disintegrates into mayhem too. He who controls the flanks, controls the battle. There was carnage on the right.

Some real tension in the centre and left too in the latter stages. 

Some shots of the table at game end. Just look at the scope and number of units here, and that excellent terrain, and all completed within 2-3 hours. 

I've also been convinced of the wisdom of 15mm scale with those excellent figures and painting.

And finally, thanks to Milord Steiner, for hospitality and great gaming. Next time, he's coming chez Le Duc.

'Hex' and Violence

We have looked at GDW's excellent 'Team Yankee' and the First Battle system before, but Steve's recent replay over at Sound Officers' Call (between bouts of Muskets & Mayhem) gave us the urge try some hex&chit boardgames again.

There are several rules mechanisms in typical boardgames which really lend themselves to miniatures and the table; no accident of course, since one feeds the other, both historically and in the minds of the designers of these classics.

The obligatory 'damaged' box that appears to be the staple of all 2nd hand copies of 'Team Yankee'

Hold the town, Soviet hordes and M1s to the rescue. It's got all the tropes.

 Oops. Wrecks are mounting up. We need M1A1s. Damn that 105 !!!

 'Troops in the Open!". It's all over for the Soviet side.

That said, Team Yankee has the added advantages of :

• An excellent turn sequence incorporating unique (for the time) fire and movement, that allows use of units to fulfill missions without being really tied to a rigid turn sequence as we see in some other games.
• A nice scale of one counter=one tank/squad

We replayed scenario one from the game, with a predictable US win - but we need to look at this gem some more (and the First Battle Desert series that I have tucked away somewhere).

***

 
We then proceeded to set up and play 'Red Tide West' (well, the first turn or so), from a recent Modern War magazine. Still owned by the Strategy and Tactics people/company, these mags are great - with game rules, game, commentary and excellent articles in each issue. We even discussed a potential game/project that we'll talk to the publisher about on this one.

The game itself is very large and time intensive, and we quickly realised that it was a game for a free weekend, rather than a few hours - its focus being that West Germany would be the 'centre of gravity' for the entire hypothetical war. That said, it does bring in almost every conceivable point of interest that I'd ever wanted to see in a WWIII game, including:

• Initial force dipositions (for when we do a campaign)
• Effect of nuclear release on overall victory condition (i.e. how quickly armageddon comes and ends the game)
• Good (and complex) approximation of airpower and its use
• Excellent terrain breakdown for the north German plain, for use in campaign and mini-campaign games.

A wonderful (if epic) game. (I won't say we'll go back to this in case we never get time to. But we really should...)

 The setup with a large chunk of Northern Europe. Ouch!

 These force dispositions are sparks for many..many...mini campaigns.

Closer analysis of the zone and the British sector say, really give us the context and organisation for a mini game. very useful.