Beware of Ambushes of the Mind!

Things were starting to firm up, scenario, rules, figure requirements, etc., etc., then, I came to the ground cloth.  I double checked the table size I'd be using and realised that the only base cloth I had that would fit, was the old, now gridded, cloth that I have often used at Huzzah since 2009 and many times at home. 

That wasn't a problem in itself BUT, once laid out, I couldn't help myself. I started thinking about how easy a grid is to use, no fuss about having enough rulers and tapes and fiddling about, "Is it in?" etc,etc. My existing units actually fit the grid nicely, but I'd have to diddle with the rules, and..........well, by the end of the week I had a simple gridded game put together, followed shortly by the realization that it was particularly bland, unHollywood-ish, and not at all like what I had wanted. 

Luckily, the grid is faint enough that I often use the cloth but ignoring the grid. Conversions, painting and so on, have resumed, the rules have been made less convoluted and the scenario shortened since once I allow for set up, rules explanations, and cleanup at the end, I've learned to shoot for a game that can be finished to a clear resolution in 3 hours or a bit more, rather than having to stop the game and make a judgement call on who was the winner. 

We have work to do!

Now I can get back to converting, painting, touching up, shading, basing, etc. etc the 2nd hand and never painted kits, and so on. Then, I'll be ready for the first solo run of the first scenario.

Huzzah! For Prince Micheal and the Days of King Arthur

Plans come and they go. Its always good to have back up plans. For various reasons, I was looking at skipping the Huzzah! convention in Maine this spring, in favour of a fall convention in Vermont which some of my old Montreal friends attend, with a stop at my old alma mata, Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. However, the Vermont con is now on the last weekend of November, at a ski resort in the mountains. I was already questioning wanting to drive that far earlier in the fall, but having grown up not far from there, the risk of snow in the mountains in November was enough to tip the balance in favour of closer and thus cheaper and less tiring. So...I've just registered two Prince Valiant games for Huzzah! in Maine in May   Maine is lovely in May (if you don't mind a bit of snow in the mountains in some years), why not check it out? 

One scenario is an old reliable chestnut:  CS Grant's Wagon Train scenario: Plans come and they go. Its always good to have back up plans. For various reasons, I was looking at skipping the Huzzah! convention in Maine this spring, in favour of a fall convention in Vermont which some of my old Montreal friends attend, with a stop at my old alma mata,  Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. However, the Vermont con is now on the last weekend of November, at a ski resort in the mountains. I was already questioning wanting to drive that far earlier in the fall, but having grown up not far from there, the risk of snow in the mountains in November was enough to tip the balance in favour of closer and thus cheaper and less tiring. So...I've just registered two Prince Valiant games. 

One scenario is an old reliable chestnut:  CS Grant's Wagon Train scenario:

  

The other will be my attack on the wall scenario: 

Best get the lads buffed up and ready to go public!   

(hmmm, might need to add a few more figures too..... sighh a miniature wargamer's work is never done.)

Back From The War(game)s

 Spoiler!! : It was a great long weekend on all fronts! ....  And an apology for not taking more, and better pictures!

Friday Afternoon's Game.
Frogs and Lobsters.....and Owls??

We headed out on Thursday and stayed with some of my not quite conventional family. Getting to bed before midnight might have been smarter but the talking and laughing kept going on. 

My first game was scheduled for Friday afternoon and all 6 slots were full. As our time was starting to run out, the Emigre commander made  a bold dash to get the supply train at least, into the hands of the Chouans  but the cards gave the Republicans the initiative and their cavalry over ran the convoy while their infantry broke the Debrouiller  Regiment of Emigres. In one of the playtests, the French  had managed to attempt something similar, but lost the fight by a hair so the convoy got through.

In the evening, I played in the H.A.W.K.S, Bastogne game. They are a Maryland gaming club who adopted me late last century after I started cohosting convention games with Rob Dean. Covid put a temporary stop to that but not a permanent one.  

https://derresinkavalier.blogspot.com/

On  Saturday morning, I got a chance to play a few turns of a 54mm Napoleonic game run by Alan of the Der Resin Cavalier Blog using the About Napoleon rules by Dirk Donvil. There had been some bumps in the scheduling and registration system, and like myself, Alan, and his game temporarily vanished from the website, so I was the only registered player. However, once we caught up a bit after a 4 year break, we conscripted another player and got a few turns in. The rules seem simple and effective enough to be worth checking out.

At last it was Saturday evening and time for my Syrian game. 

During my solo test games, the British and Turks always managed to hold the well despite some desperate fighting. I was afraid the game was unbalanced but that day they put my fears to rest and were awarded the victory after a long, tough fight.

Last Photo of the game.

Sunday morning I hung around chatting with friends I haven't seen in 4 years then Brent and I hit the road for home.

Normal life will resume soon.

Allllllmost There!

I've struggled a bit transforming a semi-skirmish scenario using With MacDuff To The Frontier and small units of single figures, to a slightly larger Hearts of Tin game with battalions of figures glued to bases but I think its there. It'll be different but hopefully, it'll still be good, and be "finish-able" in the time allotted.       

Just got to finish the test game and start packing for a Thursday departure. Well, once I finish one more  unit of Mamlukes.......

and another stand of Turkish regulars and......

D-7

Yikes! A week since the last post! Not much hobby time this past week, partly to do with spring chores, partly community volunteering and so on, but, I now have a start on the last minute recruiting.

Cuirassiers, Cowboys, Hussars and Uhlans, all joining the Mamlukes.

A week from today, I need to be packed and ready to go!  I could just pack up now and fudge standings for the not yet painted miniatures,  but I'll be much happier if I can finish another dozen Mamelukes (to replace stand-ins ) and 10 more French infantry....and a few more buildings, and......

One Hump or Two?

Oh! Two please, but could you put them on different camels?

The newly expanded camel corps. Not having time to order more camels I demoted the mysterious Turkish camel artillery to a normal mountain battery using mules. 

When I decided that a multiplayer, constantly growing, game using single figures and my current 'quickplay' version of MacDuff, would never get finished in the time available, I switched back to a set of 'fast play', Morschauser inspired' rules where each 'stand' is essentially a 'unit'.  Worked fine for a game that lasted about an hour, and a  game would probably have lasted longer if I'd painted up enough figures to double the number of stands. That wasn't going to happen.

A series of failed experiments of various sorts followed until finally, while trying yet another approach, it occurred to me to that I was basically writing yet another variation of my Hearts of Tin rules. (duuuhh). They were designed for this sort of thing so I typed up a One Page version using units of 3 stands for infantry battalions, 2 stands for cavalry, camel corps (relax, I only have one), local militia, and light infantry, 1 stand per battery (I don't have time now to cast up and paint double the number of guns and crews.) 

So far the test game is finally achieving my goals. Players generally can act the commander and have control over their units, but not complete control. Combat is quick but units are not so brittle as to disappear on one good or bad die roll. Hits will be tracked by unit rather than stands which reduces the hit tracking dice requirement by more than 1/2.  The players in these scenarios should have enough of a force to keep them in the game unless they are determinedly suicidal, but not so many that a decision can't be reached within the time limits.........I hope.........

The current version can be read or downloaded here: A Whiff of Dice.  

Right, I still need to finish another units of  Mamlukes, and...... 2 weeks and a bit to go!

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

Time is getting short and the days are busy with extra diversions (like the Porcupine high up in the old Willow in our dog yard, munching on new, crisp, green Spring Willow tips, as is his wont in Spring), but things are coming together. 

Much time was lost on the weekend when I saw the grid on the cloth I'll be using and I got nostalgic for the days when there was no fiddling with tapes required.... The first solo test was too quick, the next boring and so on. I was tempted to say screw it, rip the guys off their  bases and call MacDuff back into service until I remembered the near impossibility of setting up and playing to a conclusion a multi-player MacDuff scenario in 4 hours.  So, the fourth? fifth? abandoned playtest was reset and it all began again.

So I persevered and the current version, on grid, inspired by Morschauser's rules but based on Hearts of Tin (nee Morschuser Meets MacDuff). seems to be working. The aim is to have players making decisions, with nothing guaranteed but with player decisions usually outweighing die rolls  not so quick that its all over in an hour, not so slow that it's unlikely to reach a conclusion in the allotted time. 

Once I take myself hostage and staple gun to my head, force myself to sit down and finish the required book work for my wife's business, and then finally, file our taxes, (One more broken promise that THIS YEAR I would not leave it till the last minute...)   I'll have to do another test of the Frogs & Lobsters game, this time using these rules instead of MacDuff. 

Dress Rehearsal

My scheduled Saturday night game at Huzzah was inspired by my first little spontaneous French vs Turks game last year. The Con is a couple of  weeks away and I hadn't got past the vague idea. I'd been too busy painting, and working on the other game and didn't have a large enough table for even a smaller version, nor did I have a firm idea of the larger scenario.

I certainly didn't expect myself falling back to my good old gridded battlefields and rules, but they are quick and easy and there is a narrow window to set up, play, and packup.

Got most of that sorted and my temporarily expanded table is very close to the playing surface on the day. (There'll be bare table room on either end, enough for QRS's, coffee cups, etc. )

A Syrian village, somewhere on the edge of the high ground, not too far from Acre which is under siege. 

I'm afraid I can't really show the whole table in case a future player is dropping by....... 

Hopefully politeness and the shinyness of the toy soldiers will deter onlookers and players from commenting on the presence of Heavy cavalry as well as Dragoons, and of the Hussars being from the wrong unit.

Should be able to have a solo playtest on Friday and then go from there.  

Just A Quick Update

Another busy week, part hobby and brain workout with an even larger non-hobby part, but I managed another playtest of a slightly modified scenario. 

The rules have, I think, come together in a completely different old fashioned  style than when I started. They are back to a version of Hearts of Tin, having more echos of Joe Morschauser, than Featherstone, Grant, Lawford and Young etc. The scenario has been adjusted for 6 players though playable with fewer. 

Should have known my old white coated Orleans Cavalry would earn their keep if updated. Last turn of the game, a brilliant charge and die roll turned the game result on its head as they over ran the convoy capturing the Royalist convoy of arms and money on the last turn!

There's a dozen or so figures left to paint up for this scenario, then I need to get back to painting Turks and Mamlukes as there's only something like 10 weeks left to prepare!

The Next Step

After spending too much time worrying (like a terrier) at my rules, I decided it was time to test one of the scenarios I plan to run, a slightly bigger version than I ran last summer.  

Starting to lay out terrain and take note of what needs to be repaired, replaced, or added.

The tables at Huzzah! will be 5'x8'. My 5'x4' table at home just isn't really "doing it" for me in general and doesn't quite capture the full feel of the scenario. With one side needing to be up against the wall and me needing to reach the middle from somewhere I decided to just add a foot on one end, something that I had had an argument with myself about when I replaced the table top last year. I'd seriously considered a 5'x5' table then, but wanted the extra space. A few things have changed and I'm now testing a 5'x5' tabletop. A foot or so of ocean on one end of the larger table will nicely fill the table while leaving room  off the gaming cloth for coffee cups, tape measures, dice etc, 

By the time another minor snow event hits us on Friday, I should have sufficiently finished refurbishing, repairing and laying out terrain, and be ready to playtest again.

The Usual Planning Committee Has Voted.

Well, on this snowy afternoon, me, myself and I have been discussing what work needs to be done for each of the three proposed games for Huzzah, reviewing resources and existing figure availability, figuring out how many players could be handled. (between 1 and 6 with 4 being most desirable and 8 possible at a pinch in the unlikely situation where more than 6 want to play which has happened a couple of times as well as at least one "nobody" game), reviewing the test games, which rules were used in each playtest and live game, and finally how each game worked.  (pheww!...run on sentence or what?) 

The result of all that is that I've decided to make a couple of small but important changes to my plan. 

The first go at the Frogs and Lobsters and Owls scenario,

My first conclusion was that the two amphibious raid games are too close in nature despite the different locales. The second was that with 3 months in which to prepare, right now, I'd rather work on building up my Turks who have many potential uses, are very colourful and need a lot of conversion (an old favourite part of my hobby), than to add a few more Caribbean guerillas and jungle terrain for a variation of another "British landing party hooks up with rebels" scenario. 

The original, small, Caribbean scenario.

A separate solo meeting was held on which rules to use. My instinct was to go with the updated MacDuff rules, which were written for this sort of games, however, between test games, both solo and with players, and past convention games, they just take too long for a convention game if the scenario  has any depth or complexity at all. 

When I did a solo game to blood my Turks, I ended up resorting to a cross between the then current draft of 'Whiff of Dice' and my old 'Hearts of Tin' rules. The resulting updated "Whiff of Dice" has worked well every time I've played them and play fast enough and decisively enough to fit the convention schedule. So that is now officially "Selected"!

The first, small, outing for my Turks,

Now to review what Turks are needed, review my choice of moulds for conversion fodder, pick a warmish day (calf deep snow today but big melt fore cast for a few days), fire up my melting pot, cast away, convert, convert, paint, paint, paint, make some fortifications, try to recruit some friends to playtest the scenario and then "Let the convention commence!".

Huzzah! For The Marines!

After 3 years of missed gaming conventions due to COVID and border restrictions, this May, the (not yet Royal) Marines and I are going to Britanny, the West Indies and....... to Portland, Maine, for Huzzah! 

At last, 2x8 companies of 1790's Marines ready to go.

I plan to register 2 games when it opens. Both will be set during the French Revolution, using the current two sides of a page version of  "A Whiff of Dice"   (was going to be "With MacDuff to the Frontier" but if often takes too long to play to a finish in a multi-player game at a convention).

One will be the twice tested raid on the coast of Brittany:

A play test last August with real live, in person, friends: (see blogpost) 

The other will be a slightly larger, more complicated, multi-player, version of the solo West Indies game I played in July.

July's Solo game

Well, I have WORK to do! 

HUZZAH!!!

Recycle, Reuse, Again!

This is just one of those weeks when I can't seem to get charged up to work or to game so, I decided to paint. I love these Scuby ACW cavalry, and especially so when they formed my 2 Dragoon units for the Aroostock War Whatif game which appeared at Huzzah 2012.  

A shot from my blog battle report of a test game of my 2012 Huzzah! convention scenario.
In the foreground are the stars of this post in their 1840's glory days.

And a shot of the redesigned game as played from my Huzzah 2012 blog post.
 (Blue Dragoons being off camera somewhere)

Another view of the Huzzah game, stolen from Normans's Junkyard Planet blog which also has some pics of our joint Ango-French 16thC game.
(and yes that hermit with the involuntary tonsure is me.)

However, all things must end and the what-if Arroostock and Oregon Wars faded away and the Dragoons kept trying to keep up with the times as the games slipped into the 1870's and then to 1914. I was contemplating reviving their 1840's look but while they mulled around the back of my desk, it suddenly occured to me that with a headswap to a Tarleton helmet, and a repaint, they were perfect for the French Revolution. Out came razor saw, drill, glue and paints......

Scruby ACW cavalry in their 3rd role (apart from the trumpeter who is a new Merten plastic recruit). 

A squadron of the 11th Light Dragoons should be ready for Flanders in 1793-5  by the weekend. 

All Things Must End

Well, another Huzzah convention has come and gone and while it was a virtual one which didn't require travel, I'm as tired and happy as I usually am after three weeks of intense planning, preparation,  playing, shopping and socializing  and driving a 2,000 km round trip! Of course during the last three weeks,  I designed and solo tested a scenario, hosted 4 remote wargames, and played in one, all without slacking on spring yardwork! Not too bad for an old guy.

Now on to the last game: Frogs and Lobsters:

Here's a few mid game screen captures from two different players each a few thousand kilometres away, one in New Jersey, the other in Alberta followed by an overview photo that I took here in Nova Scotia after the game was over.

Early in the game, the right hand Republican column pushes ahead.

A broader view mid game, the Yellow Hussars were repulsed by the small convoy guard but the Black Hussars have just seized it. The Royal Navy landing party didn't do quite so well this game.  

Royalist Riflemen launched a counter attack before the Hussars could reform and against the odds took back the convoy. The armies were now engaged across the whole table.

Lastly, an overview of the end of the game here in Nova Scotia: 

My thanks to the organizers for organizing this virtual con and getting me off my lazy butt, and to all of the players who played in my games included the vital learning games as well as the actual convention ones. There is now talk of more remote games amongst our informal wargaming group here but once I get some updated gear and learn some alternate platforms like Discord,  I will probably post periodic calls for volunteers for some international remote games.  

Time for a change of subject now. I think a bit of painting is in order before I play another game.

Virtual Huzzah: Two Down, One to Go

 So far I have been enjoying my virtual convention.

Friday Night I was a player not a GM and as a wild Balkan warrior chief of low degree, came " this"  close to over running an Austrian convoy after which our Lord and Commander was about to over run the Austrian fort when a deluge of shells from a gunboat, a battery and the fort's artillery blew the attackers to smithereens. At least they died gallantly. It was an enjoyable game with good company. The game was played with computerized rules that Arofan, our GM, had programmed.  I kinda missed the feel of rolling  dice but the system worked well and the game was both interesting and fun.

Picture courtesy of Arofan who hosted the game. 

Today I ran the first of my scenarios. Unfortunately one of the players did not respond to any of the emails and didn't join the call, I'm not sure if the contact information was wrong or if something came up. However, there were still three players to carry on. I didn't think to take any screen shots in the midst of the action, but did take a few quick snaps before  resetting the table. For the first time, the attacking French took both crossing points and won the game. 

Luckily, if any one would like to read a good report of my 4 player practice game, they can pop over to the Palouse Wargaming Journal and read a good illustrated battle report of the first virtual, train-the GM, game. (click to see)

Sample screenshot from the Palouse Wargaming Journal blog.

One game to go but already plans are being laid for more virtual games.

 

As Ready As I'll Ever Be

On Saturday night just past, four brave and patient volunteers played another multiplayer Skype test game. It was a very enjoyable evening with different  tech issues, some more virtual moderating lessons learned, and a successful game to boot. 

The view from Maryland at the point where the site owner made an impromptu tour of the battlefield.
 (Another issue for the planning committee.)
40mm figures on a 4'x5' tabletop.

The biggest issue at this point, one which I doubt I will be able to resolve, is that Skype seems to disable the zoom on my cell phone video camera which means I have to physically move the  tripod to get a wide or close up view with subsequent visual distortion and off table shots while while changing focus as well as time lost. Not game stopping  but disappointing and annoying. Still have a few days to work on it.

There are still 3 spots open for the Saturday game: Hold the Line virtual Huzzah: Affair of Outposts 

and 2 spots on Sunday: Hold the Line virtual Huzzah: Frogs and Lobsters

Well that's enough on this topic until the games are played. 

Next Hurdle Passed

The first game has now been planned and solo play tested.  

I had a few worrisome minutes trying to figure out how the game would work with 1/2 the number of units per side that I would usually plan for a convention but then I remembered that it will also be played on a table half the size of the planned in person gametable and with fewer players in a remote setting.

A snapshot of a moment in time, midgame. I'm afraid the rest are "Classified".

The rules are now available here: with MacDuff To the Frontier 2021.(link)

Now there is the second scenario to plan and test before I schedule the live test games. Hopefully I'll also have time to paint two dozen figures so I can replace some SYW stand ins.

----------

One more request: I've been advised that Discord would be a better platform the Skype for this situation and hope to get a chance to see for myself but if anyone out there wants to share their experience with either or both apps please either leave a comment or email me at rmacfa@gmail.com.  

A Call to Arms: Game of the Month Needs YOU!

 Upon finding out that the Maine Wargamers are planning a sort of on line version of Huzzah! since the usual convention can not be held again this years, I decided to volunteer to run one or two. 

I've played and hosted remote games but haven't GM'd a virtual multiplayer one before. Time is short and I need to decide what to run. This week I'll be busy upgrading lighting etc in my room and planning the games.  Here's where the call to arms comes in, a call for guinea volunteers to play in some pre-convention test/learning games and opinions on which games to run. 

At this point, the first game is set, having started French Rev armies in 40mm for a co-hosted Huzzah 2019 game, I am determined to run a smaller one in its place. Just need to paint a few more units and borrow some troops from the SYW, and design a scenario and a set of simple rules. Hmm I've just figured out that I don't have the time and energy to prepare two periods for this so I will do one or two French Rev scenarios using a simplified Hearts of Tin.

The 2nd game (if any) is up in the air. Since I am unlikely to haul the fragile Elastolins to Huzzah (though I might), a virtual Prince Valiant game is a top option but 20mm ACW is also attractive though I hesitate as a foreigner to take an ACW game to Maine :) (just kidding). The War of 1812 or SYW in America (F&IW to many) are also options. 

SO: 

1) If you are interested in playing in a test game, please leave a comment or email me at rmacfa@gmail.com .  Dates and times to be settled but tentatively 1 on the weekend of May 8/9 and 1 on the weekend of May 15/16. I would like to get 4 for each game but will settle for 2. I do have 1 volunteer already  and a few more local friends that I am waiting hear from, to but that leaves lots of room for more.

2) If you have a preference/opinion over choice of 2nd game, whether as possible participant of the real thing or just an opinion please let me know as I will consider opinions as well as my own consideration of period/scenario vs time and simplicity of unknown rules and what has attracted gamers in the past and might work over the net.

3) I know Zoom and Skype are popular along with other systems but Google Hangouts/ Google Meet is what I am used to my first choice. Opinions? 

Never a dull moment.

Huzzah2019 Another AGW Game ( and Booty)

Nothing like a casual game to wind down after a good but busy convention.

Since Rob already had an actual   copy of A Gentleman's Wargame and   Vicky volunteered to play,  Rob was able to GM which was a big help in learning on the go.

Ready to Roll.

There is a long series of sharp photographs detailing the action which no one took so this is it.

We both fielded  4 infantry, a gun and a cavalry unit but this time we used the distinctions. I went with a fire bonus for my battery and my unit which was actually aiming, plus something for the grenadiers.  I can't remember the enemy's distinctions with any certainty.

My plan was to stick my gun on the hill supported by my cavalry and a line of infantry then await attack while I carried out a long range bombardment. The resulting firefight was prolonged but the opposing lines were not initially parallel and my artillery was closer so I had a distinct numerical advantage at the start.

The result was that Vicky's units slowly started to collapse despite displaying the highest steadiness when checking morale. A sweeping flank charge by my cavalry settled it.

 With Rob acting as GM we picked up on a few nuances that we had got wrong on Friday and the game flowed well. The cards and dice played their role but in the end being a veteran historical gamer familiar  with both period tactics and similar rules made the difference. The more I play the rules, the more I like them.

And that's a wrap!

All that was left was lunch with friends then I bundled into the passenger seat and we were off.

However.... I did actually find something to buy this year!

Wee Wolf (https://weewolfminiatures.com/) has some excellent miniatures but they are the wrong scale/period for me these days. However, they also had some other ranges with them including  a Footsore 25mmish armoured dark age warrior labelled "Guinevere" (obviously not the traditional medieval court damsel version)    so I brought her home to join the Westfolk under the Lion Queen.

I also found some inexpensive 3d printed vehicles in what looks like 1/48th, or maybe 1/56th scale including a Rolls-Royce armoured car and a staff car. As suspected they are noticeably  smaller than  my 1/43rd   Matchbox vehicles. 

It got me thinking again about resurrecting my old 30mm Marx toys for a post WW1 Colonial or Rebellion game but to me they look as big with the antique 30's as they look small with my OS 40's.

Since they'll be in a fictional setting I may be able to use the new AC as an extra light armoured car or just keep the vehicles well separated.  A decision for another day, might even be possible for it to do double duty if I proove foolish enough to buy some of the recast 30mm Marx arabs or US cavalry or..........

Well, now I'm home and infected with the plague, I have time to ponder the question of "What do I want to do now?". Straight into French Revolution? Get Prince Valiant out? Or....... Stay tuned.

Huzzah 2019 Sittingbad - Game 3

Saturday afternoon was what I thought of as our main game though it wasn't much bigger than the previous game once I'd scaled down the unit sizes and table size so we could finish in the time available. I figured 4-6 players would be optimum but was prepared for as few as 1 (or none) with GM's playing or as large as 8. Happily we had 4 players once I succeeded in pressing  Don into service (with the permission of his wife of course).

The game begins!

The scenario was a slight adaptation of Sittingbad, the sample battle from the venerable Charge! rules but played using the FINAL (Stop sniggering in the back!) version of my With MacDuff to the Frontier rules which were originally published in The Courier in 1997. The game uses a card activation system which allows 1 unit or group of units to act on each card with one side being assigned 1 colour or sometimes 1 suite in multi faction games.

The scenario is a delaying action which requires one side to hold up waves of attacking enemy units until vital supplies can be evacuated over a bridge along with as many troops as possible, then blow the bridge to delay pursuit. This scenario seems to always end with a bang  (sorry) with the advantage teetering back and forth to the last moment.

Dawn and the Shoeffen-Busch-Hagen army and train begins to stir.

Shoeffen-Busch-Hagen played the role of the defending or Imperial forces, Rosmark, that of the attacking or Elector's forces. 

Naturally, with all the work that had gone into preparing and testing the game and the excitement of the fluid manoeuvres and combat as cunning plan met cunning counterplan, well, I barely took any pictures. A frequent problem for me when the rules are fluid and interactive with no clear break between turns.
I also need to learn how to get the most out of my low end phone when its in a dark place.

Rosmark rolls on. This is 2 waves, there are 2 more to come.

The Rosish commanders decided to send their cavalry wide and rely on artillery and skirmisher fire to drive the enemy from the advanced town. Well, the rules have provisions that prohibit ignore enemy if you're within 6" of their front (which is all around if its a defended village) and that soon became a problem for the advancing Rosish forces.  This might have been just a loss of time if the defenders had sat back and watched but the defending cavalry was aggressive but disciplined throughout the game and several times were able to even the odds by hitting at the right moment.

A closer look at the convoy and the bridge whose preparation regular blog readers had to suffer through. The driver for the General's coach seemed to have deserted his post. He'll probably be found in the Inn's taproom when the town falls.

 The attacking cavalry, supported by long range artillery fire, did its best to quickly blow a hole through the line of defending cavalry and infantry but it was a hard slog with heavy casualties on both sides and the forlorn hope in the advanced post clung to their position with surprising determination. (The original rules used a sort of saving throw system which has been replaced by a morale check and a random card that allows you the possibility to recover a few figures. SB was lucky in this respect with several cards drawn at the right time in both games.)

Finally the advanced post was forced to retreat and the way was open to push the attacking infantry up the road at nearly double the speed of cross country lines.
(I thought the new "unit has fired" markers did their job well.)

Shortly after this we were interrupted by some very generous, hardworking members of the club that makes it possible for us to have such a great time with friends and explore parts of the hobby we may not see at home.

It was a welcome interruption though. 

Rob and I have both received various awards over the last 20 years of co-hosting games including a Best in Show at Cold Wars 2005 but still each one is special and appreciated. Each time, I look around at all the great games many with better terrain or really creative ideas, throngs of excited players and so on and can't help thinking "Why me when there are so many worthy others to choose from?" .
 
Then I find myself wanting to think up something even better to work on for next year! 

By now, time was short! There was some hard fighting helped by the cards seeming to favour the defenders at times but there was just time to play through to a conclusion, a tense conclusion.

The Crown Prince Pandours led the way and stormed into the town, putting the garrison of the Stone House to the sword. They were within musket or bayonet charge  range of the engineers on the bridge if they got 1st card. If the engineers got 1st card next turn they could try to blow the bridge but they only had 3 charges (1d6@ needing a total of 12 to succeed) planted so it would have to a slightly better than average roll. The defenders decided to gamble and laid a 4th charge. Before the attackers could move, a joker ended the turn. The next turn began with another black card!!  The General rode over the bridge and gave the order, The fuses were lit, the 4 dice rolled, 13!! ....BOOOM!

Mission accomplished though very few combat troops managed to retreat over the bridge. Could be a few years before Shoeffen-Busch-Hagen  is ready to take the field against Rosmark again.
(OK so plans for something different were already underway but its my blog....)

As co-GM this game was a great deal of fun to run which mostly down to the great friends and gamers who took part and to my friend and co-host Rob Dean (Sharp End of the Brush blog).

2 small games left to go!