Ready to Rumble

All the troops are laid out, they're ready to go. 

(Annoyed aside:  What the $#$@$##$# is blogger playing at? The old version was soooo easy to use. The new one is ok if you work in compose and never want to change more than spelling, but the html editor is about the worst I've ever worked with. I tried to move ONE picture so I could post then go to bed then spent 45 minutes trying to fix the post to make it legible while blogger covertly added 2 to 6 lines of code for every line I took out or added. I finally deleted 2/3rd of the post so I could get to bed and not put a hammer through the screen. Luckily, none of it was really worth reading anyway. )

Please don't copy this out of print, copyrighted, map of the scenario I'm playing, taken from from CS Grant's Scenarios for Wargames ....
(The map shows a 5'x7' table, mine is now down to 4'x4.5')

After playing about with map, table and measuring devices, I finally managed to work out that about 2cm on the map was roughly equivalent to 12" on my reduced table with just a little bit being cropped on the ends.  I made no effort to match unit footprints but I think the 8 man organization ends up with a close enough foot print that I can use the scenario orders of battle without having to tweak the number of units used. Its been a while since I could do that so its 2 feathers in the cap for the 8/4 figure units that the figures were painted for. That'll make my life easier. 

I didn't even have to tweak the ranges. Once the game was scaled out and the troops deployed, I realized that even though the frontlines begin within extreme rifle range in places, the addition of cover means an exchange of fire could last all day without decisive effect unless someone moves forward. 

In the meantime, a battlefield truce has been declared so that I can get on with some overdue errands and chores after having taken advantage of the "Atlantic Bubble" to spent a few days visiting family in New Brunswick. 

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Choices and Compromises

"You pays your money and takes your choice".

I had a very wise and well informed prof who made good use of that expression when young officer cadets used to press him for the definite "right" answer to various historical questions such as "which side was in the right?".  

Well, if you are going to play with big figures on a small table, and abide by a choice that every collection provide a different sort of game, you have to get used to making choices, choices that sometimes  go against the expectations formed by decades of miniature historical wargaming.  

Testing the fit for Bridgehead Breakout on a small table with small units of 54's.  

This is the sort of scenario where I tend to picture the units as battalions or even brigades of troops  but my 54mm games are supposed to fighting small battles such as those fought during the Fenian Raids where a whole "army" is only as strong as a paper strength battalion or maybe two. Theoretically this should mean longer ranges but since I've chosen to play on a small table, I am going to have to shorten the ranges again, even if it the unit frontage vs range makes units feel more like battalions  or else like musket armed troops.  If not the sides will be able to fight it out without and need to manouver. 

A variation on the scenario played a few years ago with 18 figure, 1/72nd regiments, the way my mind sees a "real" wargame.  
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My inner "realist" is protesting but my "practical" hat  is on, allowing me to override objections despite the danger of edging the whole thing closer to "just a game".

Now to add the rest of the  terrain and the Red army.

Staging a Marathon

The first wargame Battle report on this blog came early. In January 2010 I made a short series of posts about the Battle of Marathon.

Post 1: Inspiration

Post: First Game (scenario and rules as published in Battlegames 1)

Post : Second Game (WHAB)

  

Here are links to the whole series of post in reverse order (beginning with the final post)  (Click for whole seried of Marathon posts.)