Taking a tangent (sort of).....

I worked out the basic set of skirmish rules over the weekend, and they seem pretty decent (trials with friends went well). However, I still had to resolve how to be able to play my skirmish game and my Vini Vidi Vici miniatures game with the same figures. The skirmish game requires individual figures, the Vini Vidi Vici units of figures grouped together.

Foresight (e.g. plain dumb luck) led me to mount all my figures on individual metal bases, colored to that side (Romans = red, Carthaginians tan, etc).

By happenstance (e.g. plain dumb luck) nature provided an answer to my problem: Strong Magnets. I found some strong magnetic rolls (not the simple ones you find in the craft store- these are .06 inches thick and are very strong). The idea is to group the figures on the magnetic stands when I play Vini Vidi Vici and use them individually for the skirmish game (as a bonus instead of using casualty rings in the Vini Vidi Vici game, I could actually remove the figures).

As you can see, I decided to flock the magnets with the finest grain turf I could find (Woodland Scenics). One side is a yellow grass color, the other a soil color. This also allowed me to flock the individual figures with a blended grass color- which I think looks better than the colored bases I was using before. That is also the reason you have to get the strongest magnets you can find ! That extra layer between the metal and the magnet reduces the binding by a lot.

The bases are used for movement in the Vini Vidi Vici game. The magnets are strong enough to keep the figures from falling off and the color makes it easy to differentiate which side a unit is (especially when both sides close into a general melee). I also mounted the magnets on some thick-ish cardboard (the rolls I bought where sticky on one side) so that they could be picked up by the bases.

Another bonus to doing this is that I can use my markers (I used small washers to indicate hits, morale status, etc that I would lay on the figures). Now the washer can lay on the base without having to place it on the figure. I can also make small markers (cheap craft magnet counters) to indicate what a unit is for novices who may not have a handle on all the troop types etc.


All in all, I'm pleased with the results. It provides a terrific flexability in use of figures and rule sets. I've created different size bases depending on the unit and its current size. It also allows me to use troops that would normally be on one side only (e.g. Roman) and use the same troops on the other side (perfect for that Roman Civil War stuff).

Velitatio Proelium

My latest idea my fevered mind has come up with is to be able to do skirmish wargaming using the same figures as I use for my tactical game. I've decided to call the rule set DSR Velitatio Proelium (roughly "Skirmish Battle" in Latin) or DSRVP for short.

I need to rebase my figures on smaller, one on one metal bases (5/8 inch long and 3/8). Using the magnetic movement bases, I can still compose the larger tactical units or debase them for my skirmish ruleset.

I'll still use the 3" hexes for the skirmish game, with combat occurring in the hex itself instead of with adjacent hexes. I can even make smaller "unit" bases for the Romans and other trained troops so that they can fight with an advantage, until that formation is broken.

Cavalry will be individually mounted as well, as will leaders/banners/musicians. I'll try to give it a try this weekend with a few of the rebased troops and possibly post any pictures sometime thereafter if the idea seems to work.

Why can't a Roman Civil War be civil ?

So I've now got the rules for tactical battles written up as well as a system for campaigns (Vini Vidi Vici). I need a way to integrate the boardgame with the miniatures game.

As the picture of the 9 width hex at the left shows, the terrain on the Vini Vidi Vici map is pretty simple- Clear and woods. Rivers and rough terrain are handled on the hex edges instead of the hex itself. How hilly a piece of terrain is determined by how many hexsides have a ridgeline or mountain next to it.

For example, if you look at hex E0608 (the hex with the "Thes" in Thessaly), you will see that the hex is clear terrain with 2 ridgelines. This would equate level 2 rough hex, which effects the density of the hills that can be generated on the tactical map, just as woods terrain would effect the density of woods on the tactical map.

The next step is to figure out how this all equates with the tactical board. I settled on a board that was 17 hexes wide (which gives 9 hexes at each of the 6 edges). This fits almost totally on my 4x4 board space I currently have (there is a little overhang on 1.5 hexes, but that is not too much of a problem).

The hex configuration allows me to randomly determine the set up halves of the board once all the terrain is generated. There are 3 possible axes that result, allowing me to actually use that terrain more than once if desired without having to take the time to regenerate it.

To test the whole tactical battle board out, I created some random charts to create forces of somewhat similiar size and composition, with a little randomness thrown in. The forces that fight will be about the average to small size that would fight in the real game.

Force A (the defender which we'll call the rebels) is composed of 3 regular cohorts, 2 archer auxilia, 3 javelin Auxilia, 1 trained auxilia, 2 levy auxilia, 1 heavy cavalry unit and of course the grizzled army general. The cohorts and the heavy cavalry are the best heavy units, of course, followed by the trained auxilia and the unenthusiastic levy auxilia. All the Roman regulars and the cavalry are treated as drilled (this allows them a little more maneuverability on the battlefield). The trained auxilia is decent, but the levy auxilia will be prone to run away if things get tough.


Force B (we'll call them the "loyalists") is the attacker. It is composed of 2 Veteran cohorts, 2 Levy cohorts, 2 Levy auxilia, 4 Light auxilia, 2 archer auxilia and the loyalist general.






Here is the terrain I generated on the tactical board (I assumed open terrain with no modifiers for hills). The Rebels set up on the left, Loyalists on the right. This is the picture after the 1st move for both sides.

The loyalists had to break the rebel army in about 12 turns (the end is randomized, it could be 12 turns, it could be up to 20 to keep both sides guessing) or they would be the loser and have to retreat from the strategic mapboard.

The Rebels had the advantage of a heavy cavalry unit, while the Loyalists had nothing to counter it with than their more veteran legionaries. The best bet for the Loyalists was to pepper the Rebels with missile fire, waiting for some part of the line to waiver before sending in the heavier troops. The Rebels, however were not going to play that game, being inferior in missile troops and in general quality level. They were going to take the offensive.

The Rebel heavy cavalry (in the lower left corner) charged out and attacked the Loyalist Veteran cohort nearest it, Taking casualities from missile fire but keeping on coming. The veterans broke, and the heavy cavalry looked poised to run over some lighter troops and take the rest of the Roman line in the flank while it was engaging the main Rebel force.



But the stalwart archers kept inflicting losses upon the cavalry, halting their charge and driving them back. In the process they became heroized (a fate condition that allowed them to re-roll 1 failed morale check). The threat was averted !





This is the poor cavalry unit that almost caused so much havoc. I use magnetic movement bases (I base my figures on metal) so that I can lay the my marker washers on the base, instead of on the figure (it helps prevent some wear and tear). It also serves as an easy way to organize and move the figures around the board. As a side bonus, the magnetic bases are color coded (hard to see from this angle, but readily apparent to the players) red and green, so that it is easy to tell which side is which when things get jammed up in melee.


But back to the battle ! At the time of the cavalry charge, the Rebel's main line contacted the Loyalist's main line and a fierce melee ensued. On the Loyalist's right flank (upper left of the picture) the levy infantry chased the Rebel light infantry into the woods and became entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse.




Against all odds, the Royalist center broke and, despite the setback on the flank (a victory there would've probably won the day for the Rebels), they still seemed poised to win the day.

But again, luck was not with them. The under-appreciated light and archer auxilia held the main thrust up at the cost of blood until the Royalist center could recover. The battle started to turn against them...



The beginning of the end came when 2 Rebel cohorts rolled morale checks of "12" (fate in a bad way in my rules), which meant that they had enough and fled the field. This left 1 cohort with the army general surrounded in the middle of the field. The rebel army was broken- Long live the Royalists !




The game took about 1.5 hours to play and 10 min to set up. It lasted exactly 12 turns before the surrender.

Now to take the result and apply it to the campaign game.

The Loyalists lost about half of a veteran cohort and a levy cohort, as well as 2 light infantry. The archers were beaten up, but survived in a reduced state. Since they won the battle, they could recover some of those losses. I'd flip and remove the appropriate counters from the strategic board and place this army in the hex it has won.

The Rebels lost 2 cohorts, all their levy and most of their light infantry. The cavalry unit survived in reduced form. I'd flip and remove the appropriate counters on the strategic board. Since they lost the battle, they could not recover any of their losses and would have to retreat to an adjacent hex. This will be a much reduced army that would need reinforcements during the next campaign turn.

The side with more cavalry would be able to gain some pursuit bonus (if it won) or possibly recover some of its losses (if it lost). If supply status of the army had to be taken into account, that would affect the general morale levels of the army. A campaign has so many things to take into account, but the meaning of each battle is much richer taken in the context of a well-laid out campaign game.

Here is the one page of charts for my rules, written up as I spoke of in the previous post. The rules are 8 pages long. The Vini Vidi Vici rules are about as long and have a few tables as well.

In conclusion, I think I have the basis for a very easy to control, dynamic campaign game. Now I have to find the players with the time and the desire to give it a try....

A quick word about rule writing

I thought I'd like to write a few things about rule writing that I've learned over the years through painful experience. I've never found a set of rules for any period that I liked all the way through. So, like a mad Dr Frankenstein, I'd take the parts I liked and made up the rest myself (sometimes also taken from other rule sets).

Although it is nice to bring to life a period you have an interest in, sometimes the creation can be a bit of a monster- especially when you have to get back to a set of home-brew rules after a period of time away from them. So I've developed a system (of sorts) to aid me. The key is to be organized.

First, you need to be able to type the rules up so you can print them out. I use Microsoft Word. I have a directory off my documents directory that is called "rulesets" which I also subdivide into eras (e.g. Ancients, Napoleonic, WW 2) then the directory that is the name of the ruleset. In each directory for that ruleset, there will be a Word Document (the rules), a PowerPoint Document (the charts), and an Excel Document (where I create the charts) as well as any other sundry things (pictures, etc).

I do my rules using the bullets and numbering set to outline mode. This way each section has a number and any rules under that the corresponding numbers.

My intro is usually an overview of what the ruleset is, as well as its scale.

My 1st section is always the turn sequence, in as much detail as is necessary for me to follow down it during a game (usually it becomes second nature again after a turn or two, depending on how long I've been away from that particular game).

The 2nd section contains a section that contains definitions. This is an important part of the document, that you will be adding/subtracting from as you refine your ruleset. Standard terminology is a great boon to good rule writing. For example, if I use the term "Good Order Unit" in my rules, I know that it means "A unit that is not marked as fatigued, disordered, or routed". In the long run it tends to create more concise rules that are more consistent.

The 3rd section is used to point out any special procedures needed to play the game (e.g. For a particular ruleset I use wooden blocks set next to units in order to keep track of actions that a unit has done for that turn. If the unit has attacked, the block is placed standing up. If the unit is finished, the block is placed lying down.)

From the 4th section on, tend to follow the turn sequence, each new numbered section detailing a new part of the turn sequence.

The last section(s) are special rules, "chrome" and anything not already covered above.

Do not forget to create the header/footer for the document. I use the name of the ruleset as the header, and for the footer I use "Page # of #" along with a date. This is very important when you wind up with several versions of rules and the pages get all mixed up.

For charts, I use Excel to create the tables I need, then cut and paste them to PowerPoint (giving them a nifty shadow under them) for printing. I try to keep the tables to one sheet of paper, although sometimes its not possible. Clarity is the key !

After you print the rules and tables out, playtest, playtest, playtest. Keep notes of what works and any inconsistencies that crop up. Note potential solutions. The key is to follow the text you've written- if it doesn't work- rewrite it so that it does.

Eventually you will tire of that period and ruleset and move on to another- don't worry ! When you decide to come back to that set again, you will have all the material needed to get it up and running again with a minimal of head-scratching. Enjoy !

Parlay ?

The Romans decided to confront the barbarians at the stream side in order to bloody them as much as possible before falling back to the hill to hopefully finish the job. The Barbarians were going to just try to get across the stream as fast as possible with as much as possible in order to hopefully not get entangled in the stream.


The Romans were a bit slow getting to the stream, and could not keep all the barbarian troops from crossing. A wild melee at the stream occurred, which the Romans got the worst of thanks to good Barbarian rolls and atrocious Roman morale rolls. The Barbarians flooded across. On the verge of being overwhelmed, Claudius yells "ALAMO ! ALAMO ! ALAMO !" (yeah, I know its from the wrong age, but what the hell) and started the fighting withdrawal to the hill. One Roman cohort was almost surrounded and cut off, and things looked bleak for the guys speaking the dead language.

The Barbarians were pressing hard on the struggling Romans, when one of the leaders leading the main thrust took an arrow in the eye. The units around him fell back in shock, allowing the Romans to extricate themselves as the pressure lessened as the Barbarians regrouped.



The fighting withdrawal to the hill took longer than expected, as some units kept failing to disengage. However, the constant drain of losses inflicted on the Barbarians was thinning them out for the final engagement on the hill. There were constant pin-pricks from the Barbarian slingers and archers weakening the cohorts, but not enough to create gaps that were exploitable. On the other hand, Barbarian units started rolling bad MCs, weakening their attacks.



When the Romans got to the hill, the Barbarians had enough troops left for one concerted push. The last Babarian leader (they started with 2) lead an assault that cost him his life when he was struck down. The Barbarian hordes broke and ran, leaving the Romans with the field !


Below are the pictures of the battle at certain points:

Shall we gather at the River.. er I mean stream....










The Romans give way, allowing the Barbarian hordes to get across , fortunately for the Barbarians the stream wasn't choked with their dead. Cladius starts thinking maybe he should've called for "Parlay".










The fighting withdrawal to the hill.










The Romans finally get to the hill, after bloodying the Barbarians.










The final stand. The Barbarian attack runs out of steam (and manpower) against the thinned Roman line.

Famous last words of a Roman Centurian.....

"Look Claudius ! They've come to wish us well."

I've taken my ancients miniature rules (written for 6mm and 1.5" hexes) and re-written them for 15mm and 3" hexes. This scale of figure allows me some interesting tactical options I could not do with the smaller 6mm figures and I can actually see the figures for what they are (not a minor consideration for those of us aging wargamers these days !).


In general, Units are composed of from 4-12 figures and can be in one of 4 training states (Irregular, Horde, Formed and Drilled). The better training, the more options that unit has such as disengaging from combat, more movement options etc). Unit face the vertex of the hex, giving a pleasing front/flank/rear (when using the flat of the hex it looks wrong).

Combat is simple- roll dice for the attacker, add mods (like defending uphill) and for each roll greater than or equal >= the target's defensive value, a hit is scored. Depending on a unit's training and other sundry events, the hit unit may have to take a Morale Check, which can result in it running away or standing. Occasionally, a special event will occur, and that unit will become heroic or possibly completely disintigrate entirely.

The turn is a standard IgoUgo, with some reactions allowed by the non-moving side. If a unit is unengaged (not in a unit's Zone of Control) it can also move after it attacks (if engaged it will have to attempt to disengage in order to move, something the better trained troops can pull off). Cavalry that is not engaged and not fatigued can attempt a charge move (which allows it to move and attack until it fails to rout an opponent or runs out of movement).

The winner is of course the one who holds the field at the end, with an army breaking and running when it reaches a certain point.

There are a number of extra chrome rules I've added (like Frenzy- which allows certain infantry units to have a charge move like cavalry) which I can use to spice up the forces in a particular game.

The real reason to re-do these rules was to be able to use them to fight battles generated in my Vini Vidi Vici campaign game (see below). It should be a blast !



The field is set, Romans of course at the bottom and the unfriendlies at the top, getting ready to cross the stream.








Side view of the weak Roman Legion ("We shouldn't have left the cavalry back in the barracks....")







The Roman's neighborhood association coming to greet them.

Back from Nashcon !

I enjoyed Nashcon immensely despite the 8 hour drive.

I played some well-done games and met some very nice folks.

I'm sorry I haven't contacted all of you who have shown an interest, but I'll get to all of you over the week.

Off for some rest now.....

Off to Nashcon !

I am heading out to Nashcon today. I've never been there, but I'll also take a look at the Civil War battlefields there as well. It should be interesting....

1776 DSR Style !

Watching the HBO series "John Adams" re-directed my interests to the American Revolution. I had several books on the topic in my "to be read" pile, so I started to go through them.

The first one was Winter Soldiers by Richard M. Ketchum, a pretty good run through of Washington's 1st year when he was chased out of New York until the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

I am working my way through Battles of the American Revolution 1775-1781 by Henry A. Carrington, a book written in the 1870s. He goes off on tangents once and awhile, but it is a pretty good read (the campaign to take Canada would make a good tragi-comic movie all by itself).

Further, on deck is the book Redcoat by Richard Holmes, recommended by a friend who had read his World War I book Tommy.

I had the old AH game 1776 and some figures, I decided to use 1776 as the strategic game and create my own tactical game to fight the battles it generated.

I had some painted 15mm Revolutionary War figures I bought a few years ago, so I decided I should put them to use, rebasing them at 3 per stand, leaders at 1 per stand, and flags at 2 per stand (flag and drummer).

I used my 3" hexes to make a board that resembled a hex with 15 hexes flat to flat at its widest. On this board all the tactical battles would take place. A basic "regiment" would be two of the 3 stand bases, which could be either in movement column or line, as seen in the pictures.

Since I didn't have enough flags and leaders for each unit, I use them as "buffs" to existing units. Leaders add 1 to their morale and fire/melee classes. Flags add 1 to that unit's morale class. Since the British are assumed to have a flag integral to their unit, their morale is one higher than Continentals and they receive no flags. They also recieve fewer leaders, having already an improved melee/fire ratio than the Continentals. The Continentals recieve leaders/flags to help improve their units. The disadvantage of a non-integral leader/flag is that it can be killed, yeilding VPs to the other side and causing extra morale checks to units nearby.

The battlefield has a road network on it, with a road starting at every vertex hex. After determining terrain (with some modifiers based on what terrain is in the hex fought), I randomly determine the start side of the board for each side.

The tactical game is 12 turns. I am experimenting with a variable ending game (e.g. could end at 10 or up to 14 turns), but I haven't played through enough repetitions to see if it is a good idea or not. The side that garners the most VPs at the end of the game is the winner and causes the other side to retreat on the Strategic Board. I total up all casualties, and the losing side takes attrition rolls for additional casualties.

Each Strength Point (SP) on the strategic board is 1 "regiment" on the tactical board. Guns/Leaders/Flags are assigned by how many SPs are in that battle for that side. Guns that are destroyed also remove 1 SP from that side as well as counting for VPs. Leaders/Flags count for VP totals. There is also a VP per enemy road node you control at the end of the turn (and each road node controled by the enemy reduces your morale class by one as well).

I've played a couple of battles myself and with a few friends and they appear satisfied that its a decent (and quick) game. I've played a few battles as related to the strategic game as well, and it appears to work well.

And in the end, that's what really counts- can you play the game quickly and have enjoyable events to discuss afterwards, such as a bungled attack through the woods that routed a flank of the British Army, or a leader and a unit stands up to all attackers, holding off 4:1 odds. And you always say to yourself, "next time I can do better...."

Vini Vidi Vici

Recently I went back to an older rule set I used to use in conjunction with my ancients ruleset to generate a campaign. It is based on a Roman/Carthage kind of war, although it can accomidate as many players as there is space.



It consists of a sea map sheet (blue hexes) that isomorphic "continents" are place. As seen from the pictures, I have several "continents" and 2 major power continents. I place one of the random non-major power continents in the middle of the map. Each player randomly chooses one of the unpicked non-major power continents and lays it down so that it matches at least 3 hexes of another continent. It continues until only the major power continents are left, which each player takes one and places it as far away from the other major power as possible.

The end result is a wandering continent with minor powers to conquer in order for the two major powers to come to grips. Next, I have to generate the cities. On each continent (and each region in that continent (e.g Corinth), a number of cities are randomly place by die roll (the circled numbers)- in the case of Corinth, it gets 1 city. For the major powers, I give them 5 cities, they randomly place then by die roll, then can adjust up to 3 of them.



I also created counters to represent the two major powers and any minors they may fight along the way- btw they print better than they look in the exported powerpoint slide (I make most of my counters in Powerpoint and double side them all).

The rules handle all the production and maintenence of the major powers, wars with minor powers. supply, naval units etc etc. Turns are monthly, with weather generated (which pricipally effects supply). The real beauty of the system is that it can be used to generate meaningful ancient battles (that fit my own ancient rule system of course), both land and naval in a unified framework. I can also fight the battle in boardgame form instead of setting up miniature terrain, troops etc. Its the best of both worlds (miniature and boardgame).

I can start at "year Zero" and play until exhausted or one major power triumphs. It's also open-ended- I can have more than 2 major powers by adding a new counterset for that major power and a continent for them.

I came. I saw. I conquered. Indeed........

Creating the Master and doing some molding

To make the master mold, you mix a two part casting compound (this particular type by the company Smoothon(tm)). It comes in two liquids, and is mixed at a ratio of 1:10 (10 ounces of Part A for each ounce of part B). However, you first have to box your creation in somehow to hold the compound until it cures. I used Legos, as they are very flexible and easy to customize to whatever "box area" I need. You need to ensure you have a sufficient seal between the board (my ceramic tile) and the walling in material, otherwise it will leak badly when the compound is poured in. I used white glue. This is what the final boxing in looked like after I'd poured the mold-making compound in. I also mounted and did a few "experimental" castings as well (hence the 2 other molds on the tile).

It takes about 6 hours to harden sufficiently, and for the 1st minute or so I gently shook the tile so that air bubbles would come to the surface. I didn't get back to this for a week so these molds had a full week of curing time. Overkill, but since this was my first time doing this, I didn't want to rush things.




The legos came off easily, exposing the mold in all its glory. There was a little residue on the bottom, which was no problem, but I felt that the detail did not come out- in fact I thought they looked lousy ! Also, for the gun pits I used thin wood for the supports I had to dig these out of the mold, as they refused to stay embedded in the clay when I removed the mold from the tile. I had my mold for casting, and I thought I'd screwed up, but decided I needed to go on anyway and see how these babies cast up.

I used an acrylic casting compound (also sold by the same company) that would harden in 2-3 minutes (it is a 1:1 ratio so 1 ounce Part A and 1 ounce Part B). It starts out clear as you can see, then gets milky after a few minutes. At that point its close to being able to be removed from the mold.




I was surpised that the detail came out as well as it did. I popped them out when they were a little soft, which allowed me to easily "trim" some of the edge off them quite easily where the compound went over the edge of the mold. One of these I used wood for the posts, the other rectangles made from clay.

The detail came out extremely well (as far as my very bad attempts at texturing could be), and I was very pleased with the results. I can now cast up a boatload of gun pits for my 10mm Civil War combined Ironclad/Land operations game. After I get a bunch ready, I'll paint them up and post what the final result.

Anatomy of a Rifle Pit

Earlier this on the way to Historicon 2007, I visited some of the wonderful battlefields up around that area (Petersburg, Spotslvania, Fredricksburg, Bull Run). Among the pictures I took were of some of the fortifications there, in anticipation that sometime soon I would want to model some of these for my 10mm Civil Wargame.



The biggest question I had was "How do I do that ?". The answer is to mold and cast my own, of course ! I figured I'd try something easy- like an open-backed rifle pit.


A good friend of mine showed me how to make molds and castings and I am indebted to him for his advice- so its all his fault if this fails miserably and not mine due to lack of artistic talent ! :D


Step one is to get some modeling clay (the type that does not harden completely and can be re-worked again and again) and a surface to work it. I am using a cyramic tile, with a hex image (3" hexes that I use) drawn on for reference.


First you work the clay into the rough image of a breastwork. that fits inside the hex properly. I also made it so that my cannon fit properly and my infantry can fire over the top. For tools, I use a 3/4" piece of thin sheet metal that is 5" long for smoothing and flattening, and a sharp razor blade for detail work.


After roughly squaring the sides of the earthwork with the piece of metal, I scoured in the "logs" with the razorblade. Then I worked the posts out of a separate piece of clay, using the razor blade to make them more or less squared off. I inserted the posts at the ends and where the sides meet. After about 20 min, this is what I had.


I am not sure how much this shows up in the picture. but I textured the outside using an old toothbrush. I also pressed a square wooden-floor like plate (actually from one of my 10mm cannons) into the bottom of the breastwork. This actually will give the opposite effect when I create the mold, but since the scale is so small, it should not be too noticible that the boards actually go "into" the ground instead of resting on top of it. I just liked the texture effect. I will see how it looks on the final product (you really need to over-detail things so that the mold will pick up the details).


Step two is casting a mold of this "master". It is from the mold I will be able to cast up copies of this original piece of "work". More on this later........

Back to some WARGAMING !

After a short hiatus/detour I have finally gotten back to doing some wargaming (as always, click on the picture for a bigger view- sorry for some blurriness, still can't seem to get a full measure of the camera I'm using).



I dusted off my American Civil War rules (DSRACW) which I wrote for 10mm scale using 3" hexes. I hadn't used them since back in 2000. Although I'd typed them up nicely, I'd forgotten a few things I had added which I scrawled on the back of the last sheet (and reading my writing is always a chore- Case in point, read this blog).



The rules are pretty straightforward, Brigades broken down into Regiments, each base about 80-120 men, each gun casting 2-3 guns, each hex about 100-120 yards. The one thing I did with this game was make CASUALTIES ! They definitely add to the battle (when a base is lost, I place a casualty figure down).


I used some cardboard hexes I'd gotten from somewhere. I also have some nifty 3" hexes of flocked plywood but my road pieces are minimal, as are stream parts. So I cheated and used the pre-printed stuff for the board base. The disadvantage (as you can see from the pictures) is that keeping them aligned can be a bit problematic, unlike the plywood hexes, which are easy to shove back into alignment. Of course a box of those suckers ways like 50 pounds, so as with all things, it has definite advantages and disadvantages, if I were to haul it to a convention.




The situation is mid 1863, somewhere in Virginia. There is a railroad station that the yankees want captured, and of course the rebels do not (it is in the top left of the picture which would be SouthEast). The Union has a brigade of 4 x 5 base regiments, with orders to quickly proceed to the station and destroy it. The Confederates have a cavalry regiment (4 bases + 1 holder), one 4 gun battery of rifled artillery on board at start. They also have a small brigade of 2 x 4 base regiments coming from the road at the south by the station on a reinforcement roll of 56 on d6 per turn.

The rebels chose to place their artillery in the walled field to the upper right, which had a good Line of Sight to the road. The cavalry dismounted at the woods on the hill just to the right of the walled farm. Their object was to delay until the reinforcements arrived (the infantry "riding" to the rescue as it were....)



The Union troops had to come up the road, and did so in column, choosing speed to close and overwhelm the defenders. The above picture is the situation after turn 2. The lead column was taken under long range artillery fire, which caused some casualties and forced it to rout. In a quick re-evaluation of the plan, the Union brigidier decided that caution was the better part of valor, so changed to line formation.



A word of note- in my rules, things that can stop your forward momentum(firing, changing into line from column, moving a line through woods) causes a unit to be marked with what I call a pause marker. In order to move again, it must either do nothing for a turn or announce its intended move and roll to be able to move (if it fails it can still fire, but suffers moving fire penalties). This tends to make battles that start out with wheeling brigades around the battlefield to wind down and get "stuck". Getting them moving again can be problematic, and even then they tend to move forward again in fits and starts. It can be frustrating but it does make for some very interesting battles.



This caused the whole rush down the road to stall, and a good reinforcement roll for the CSA allowed the reinforcement brigade to come on board. To top it off, the guns and dismounted cavalry continued to pester the advancing units, not allowing them to get "on line" quick enough. The USA brigadier started side-stepping to the left, aiming to take the farm and thus outflank the cavalry and bull his way to the station (as well as getting out of the line of sight of the rebel guns).

Unfortunately, the getting those regiments through the woods and to the farm took too long, as the dismounted cavalry and long range artillery continued to gall the Union troops (notice the body markers along the road). The CSA brigade, unhindered beat the USA troops to the farm.



The rebel artillery, with their targets getting out of their Line of Sight, limbered up and started to head to the right of the Union advance. Meanwhile, a fierce firefight occurred around the farmhouse, where the weight of Union numbers began to take a toll.



The CSA brigade must have been tired from its quick advance to the farm, because it could not hold on (they took casualties and rolled BAD on morale checks). To boot, the Brigade commanded was injured, causing the brigade to be shaken. The rebel artillery managed to unlimber and double fire into the advancing union troops behind the wall, but ran out of ammunition doing so, and despite causing signifigant casualties, the Union troops passed all their morale checks.



The CSA brigade routed, and the rebel artillery was out of ammo. The cavalry unit had not choice but to fall back as well as it was taking more fire than it could dish out from the Union troops in and around the farm. Fortunately for the CSA, the Union troops were exhausted and bloodied and where in no condition to immediately exploit the battelfield. The final result: A Union Tactical win (they drove back the covering CSA units), but a Confederate strategic win (the USA did not get to the station).



Final toll: USA lost 6 bases equivalent, CSA 3 bases equivalent (including 1/2 base of dismounted cavalry). The game took about 1.5 hours for 10 game turns.

All in all, a fun battle- easy to set up and play. I now know I have to do even more ACW stuff now......

Heading to Fall-In

I am heading to Fall-In ! in Gettysburgh next week. It should be some good miniature gaming going on. I won't be putting on a game this time, as there are space considerations for the trip. Still, I hope to see some of you folks who've emailed me there.......

I've been reading a lot of Russian-Turkish stuff lately....

I've been reading "Caucasian Battlefields 1828-1921" by Allen and Murtoff. Great stuff on Russo-Turkish conflicts.

So I decided to make a map of an area that was fought over by the Turkish 3rd Army versus the Russians in 1916. It is 40" x 40" with 3/4" hexes. Each hex is about 2 miles. This would be good for a battalion-unit size game. Very hilly, wooded and rough country.

For those who desire a reference, Trebizond is about a 3/4 map to the North, while Ezerum is about 1/2 map to the East.

Staying with the WW I Theme....

While I was at it, I also re-did another map from an old Avalon Hill favorite of mine "Guns of August". It uses inch sized hexes, as the original hexes were too small and fiddly. It also has some terrain additions, sea box additions, as well as having some added points of interest. All in all a fun map to recreate.

After a hiatus, a NEW MAP !

Here's a map I created to handle The Canadian Wargamer's Group's World War I variant of World in Flames called Fatal Alliances.

Full size is 56" x 40" with .75" hexes. It also encorporates my "Days of Decision" World War I proto-variant (variant of a variant ?) stuff as well.

Currently its missing the country labels, factories, resources, and minor political entities (e.g. "Macedonia") used in the "Days of Decision" variant).

Skulpturny Park

I've roughed out the map that attaches to the left of the Schnellhefter Block. I'm using a lot of placeholders for many of the buildings and the gulley is unfinished, as are the heights and slopes. I've got to re-work the Park terrain- it looks fine onscreen but prints funny for some reason.

Tentatively, next up when I finish this one is Silicate Plant No 3 (To the North of this map).

How I handle rubble

I've recieved a few requests on how I handle rubble on my maps, as I create them "undestroyed". I use a rubble pattern printed on a transparent sheet of hexes of that same size which can then be cut to size. They generally stick to the maps by their own static electricity, but I can use other various substances if required.

Schnellhefter Block ver 1

I've completed Schnellhefter Block (version 1). My next map is to the left of this one (Skulpturny Park- where the bulk of that park is located).



Let me know what you think !

For reference, this is a 40"x40" map with 1.5 inch hexes. The road grid had to be modified a little (Skulpturnaya street should be a straight line, but due to the angle and the hex grid had to be modified a little). The stairwells (for ASL) are at best a guess. I didn't detect any walls on any of my maps/photos, and the area was pretty much very open (24th Panzer Division fought there and had a good mix up with some remnants of Soviet armored units) and this was a launch point for the attack on the Red Barricades Factory).

Schnellhefter Block update and an apology

I've updated my Schnellhefter Block map. I've added Skulpturny Park (the left hand side) and re-structured the bottom of the map with some new info I've recieved. Also, you can see some of the scratch work off to the right (trees, buildings, etc)- its like a CAD scratch pad :D



I'm sorry for no pics from historicon- they somehow got corrupted :( Still, I'd like to thank everyone who particpated in Sea Sick Sailors:

Romans:Troy Turner, Conner Turner*, William Miller, Daniel Catapano

Carthaginians:Joseph ,Schmidt, Allen Hughes, Sam Nitsch, John Castillo*

* denotes fleet admiral


Also I'd like to thank the folks who particpated in my WWI game Stahlengewittern:

The Germans: Scott Cramer, Mathew Downey,Harry Morris,Kevin Cocking

I'll try to do better next time with AARs etc.

I hope to see some of you guys next year for both games !