tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post4075298700566765304..comments2024-03-28T01:22:13.683-03:00Comments on Battle Game of the Month: Boxes, Little BoxesRoss Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-55854690403850222392015-11-15T17:06:14.321-04:002015-11-15T17:06:14.321-04:00Close Jerry, I picked up a pack of red faux pipe ...Close Jerry, I picked up a pack of red faux pipe cleaners last month, chopped a few up and used them in the last 2 of the One Hour scenarios. They work well for the 40s, less so with the 20s since there is no room. Im not going to eorry about them right away though.<br /><br />The system I've been using for the last few years differentiates between slow erosion of capability or cohesion (hits) and current state caused by intense close range fighting.(normal/disordered/routed) so one could drop to strength 0 (25-50%) casualties and removal from battle without getting disordered or could lose a round of disorder 1 vs 0 and be forced to retire temporarily with only 1 hit.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-12441414654610850252015-11-15T11:53:38.959-04:002015-11-15T11:53:38.959-04:00Dear Ross,
You mentioned that you were thinking o...Dear Ross,<br /><br />You mentioned that you were thinking of four hits where, I assume, two hits would disorder the unit, three cause a recoil, and four a rout. Why not use pipe cleaner pieces on each base? A white pipe cleaner would indicate a hit, yellow a disorder, blue a recoil and red a route. Two hits from any single cause would cause the unit to be bumped up another level possibly because of the shock of having a large chunk of your unit knocked out at one time. The other would be a "bump up" if the hits came from a unit which had not been observed either to the flank or rear. The single volley brought by the twelve US Sharpshooters and the lone company on the flank of the 20th Maine on Little Round Top apparently significantly led to the route of the attacking Alabamians. Pipe cleaners are cheap, easy to cut up with sprue snips, and come in a variety of colors. Other alternatives are results printed on card stock or blank die cut counters and for small games with limited numbers of units the roster sheet. With the latter, you can make up a blank sheet with a space for a unit's ID and next to it four boxes representing the number of hits it could take.<br />The interesting thing about this system is that by filling in the first box prior to a game, you can represent units that start with shaky morale. Units with extraordinary morale can have an additional box which would represent their stubborness in the face of damage.<br />All the best,<br />JerryCelticCurmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17687177512999052331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-36496373043217716052015-11-15T11:53:30.745-04:002015-11-15T11:53:30.745-04:00Dear Ross,
You mentioned that you were thinking o...Dear Ross,<br /><br />You mentioned that you were thinking of four hits where, I assume, two hits would disorder the unit, three cause a recoil, and four a rout. Why not use pipe cleaner pieces on each base? A white pipe cleaner would indicate a hit, yellow a disorder, blue a recoil and red a route. Two hits from any single cause would cause the unit to be bumped up another level possibly because of the shock of having a large chunk of your unit knocked out at one time. The other would be a "bump up" if the hits came from a unit which had not been observed either to the flank or rear. The single volley brought by the twelve US Sharpshooters and the lone company on the flank of the 20th Maine on Little Round Top apparently significantly led to the route of the attacking Alabamians. Pipe cleaners are cheap, easy to cut up with sprue snips, and come in a variety of colors. Other alternatives are results printed on card stock or blank die cut counters and for small games with limited numbers of units the roster sheet. With the latter, you can make up a blank sheet with a space for a unit's ID and next to it four boxes representing the number of hits it could take.<br />The interesting thing about this system is that by filling in the first box prior to a game, you can represent units that start with shaky morale. Units with extraordinary morale can have an additional box which would represent their stubborness in the face of damage.<br />All the best,<br />JerryCelticCurmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17687177512999052331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-16560050577265561002015-11-14T14:07:09.707-04:002015-11-14T14:07:09.707-04:00Steve I agree about the rules limiting effect, of ...Steve I agree about the rules limiting effect, of course, feeling compelled to 60mm bases might have saved me 6 years of exploration but I'm sure it was good for me. I am fairly certain that figure retailers would rather I had bought new armies instead of rebasing. <br /><br />It is certainly going to be a challenge to attempt to codify what I do by instinct. We'll see.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-3052761934063643022015-11-14T14:01:53.963-04:002015-11-14T14:01:53.963-04:00Good idea. I want units to be fairly persistent th...Good idea. I want units to be fairly persistent though. I was considering of a 2nd roll for reaction or morale though. Still thinking!Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-44856587674050852902015-11-14T03:16:14.007-04:002015-11-14T03:16:14.007-04:00I'm following this all with great interest, no...I'm following this all with great interest, not least because my own semi-permanent table is almost the same size. <br /><br />I can see what you mean about tracking hits on so many stands. As to rebasing, I've decided controversially that it's creative and actually a good thing, because otherwise existing basing puts rules development in a straitjacket; OK, I accept the theory needs more work to sound plausible... :-)<br /><br />I realise that when playing solo over the years, I've almost always been fiddling a non-solo set and it's actually quite rare to have a set of rules explicitly designed for solo play, so the initiative you mention towards the end of the post is quite revolutionary, and certainly worthwhile I think.Steve Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00784652695519954845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-22238531343911105542015-11-13T22:02:36.604-04:002015-11-13T22:02:36.604-04:00Well, I'm not exactly known for patience.....Well, I'm not exactly known for patience.....Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-67373501682585650712015-11-13T21:45:43.076-04:002015-11-13T21:45:43.076-04:00Re-re-re-basing is a bit of a labour of love and a...Re-re-re-basing is a bit of a labour of love and a sign either of patience or insanity. You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.<br />Love the buildings! Very promising.Mad Padrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00410143683610813671noreply@blogger.com