Quite apart from our well's needs, a nice rainy day for guilt free gaming would be nice.
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| The advancing armies clashed at the bridge over the Little Bluephoam River. The rebel cavalry rapidly seized the bridge and dismounted but were forced back by heavy Dominion fire. They held long enough for their infantry to come up though. |
However, things are what they are. The rules have been rolled back to simpler, happier times (games wise) and a couple of turns played.
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| As the cavalry redeploys to the open ground on the Eastern flank, the infantry and guns take up the fight. |
The updated rules can be viewed here: The Square Brigadier.
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Right, now, where's my whipper snipper, clippers and chain saw.....
I always like your terrain set ups.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I would have liked one of those model railroad like diorama game tanles full of 15's but now this is my happy spot.
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ReplyDeleteTable, terrain, pics all look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks. It was worth the work.
DeleteThe game looks fantastic - it's good to find a happy spot!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Hope it lasts.
DeleteSplendid Ross...
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your toy soldier games...
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly
DeleteMe too! Your photos are always inspirational in a Toy Soldier way.
DeleteThanks, its deliberately so these days. "Not to be taken seriously".
DeleteHi Ross,
ReplyDeleteI have been following your excellent blog for some time in awe but only silently. I am however a bit confused about your mention of an orders die in the rules. Could you clarify how this works.
Regards
James
Hi James, thanks for your comment, always glad to be able to get evidence that some of the stats are real and dropping by intentionally.
DeleteYour question is quite valid but even more so since I have once again dropped the system so it no longer appears in the rules. In short its a way of acknowledging the current ..trend.. in wargaming to limit a player's ability to be an all powerful general whose every wish is carried out perfectly. I used to be a big proponent of such controls which come in various forms but have been increasingly changing my mind and backing off over the last 5 years.
More particularly the system I referred to is one that I have been puttering with off and on for a few years involving rolling a die at the start of each turn to see how many units or groups of unit can be moved that turn. An idea inspired by DBA. For example, if Red rolled a '3' he could move 3 units or groups of units with a group being a Commander and several units lined up together.
I've dropped it again for two main reasons. In purely practical terms it works better if the number of units and commanders in a game is fixed whereas I use the same rules for small games and large. Secondly, its really hard to relate it to any historical battles, or incidents there in, or to find any solid none-game justification. So I have once again dropped it in favour of an older system where units close to a Commander may be moved as the player wishes while those who are on their own need to pass an initiative roll to move.
Let me know if you want to hear more on the topic or have any other questions.
Many thanks Ross,
ReplyDeleteI think that you are right to move away from the rather gamey allocation of orders based on a die roll. Admittedly this is a game but we should not throw all attempts to simulate some of the realities of command namely the difficulty of ordering distant units. Of course there is always the possibility that an isolated unit may follow the commander's plan of operations or at least march to the sound of the guns. Perhaps that could be fed into any rules without overly complicating what is after all meant to be a fun game with toy soldiers. One last point is that on your current draft of your rules you mention in the paragraph relating to chance cards that additions or subtractions could be made to the orders die - is that still relevant?
Regards
James
James, actually the diced for orders were intended to encourage generals to keep their armies in hand with units formed up into battle lines under their troops formed up under their Brigadiers and Colonels. I had a rule for armies with a staff to hoard a number of unused orders to keep things going when there were a few bad rolls but once things got hot, they could run out fast. The biggest problem I had was trying to figure out how to handle forces of different sizes without having too many or never enough orders and it became a pain.
DeleteAt present, units not within range of a Commander must dice to move.
The chance cards are still there but need adjusting. I'm about ready to do so. They include things like a free rally roll or allowing the 2nd side to activate 1 unit first. Nothing extreme but it can be fun/annoying or add to the narrative or tension.
It is interesting the way that some command rules have an unpredictable effect on the perception of a game during the playing. Objectively I like that during games using Piquet rules that the limit on Initiative means I have to concentrate on where the crucial action is occurring. At the time it can however feel frustrating that half my army is standing around apparently doing nothing!
DeleteMy problem with most "command" rules is that I have trouble reconciling them with actual battles and most seem to treat many explainable, logical even, historical events as random or as player choices. Nothing like a multiplayer game with no face to face chats between players unless their figures are together to reproduce chaos based on what seem like good choices at the time.
Delete