A NEW YEAR AND SOME CHANGES TO THE OLD RULES

 It has been a long Holiday season and I have spent plenty of time working on games, but none of it talking about them. 

So, what happened in the Fall '23 Campaign? As the UPC began its advances after the Battle of Janesville, the weather took a major turn for the worse. Heavy snow, driving winds, freezing ice storms from the Great Lake all forced the respective forces into early winter quarters. All thoughts of continuing the campaign were abandoned. Old Man Winter had won this round. 

On the tabletop front what this meant was I felt games were taking too long to arrive at a conclusion. I had a new set of modification ready to go and it seemed to me a better use of time to get them working than to continue an indecisive campaign. So begins the play test sessions. Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures of the first game back in December. 

The goal of the new rules was to get speedier results so that games would be fought to a conclusion in their allotted time of four hours. I felt it would also address an issue of players leaving early if the games looked like they would be concluding soon. The changes are to speed up formation changes, increase the decisiveness of melee, and have routs be more influential on units nearby. Both games have shown these changes are speeding up action with no perceptible changes to players abilities to play the game. 

Now on to the game. 

Massed Cavalry on the Southern Flank. A key test of the Support rules. 

The Battle Opens with the UPC Advancing Across the Entire Line. Empire Skirmishers Move Forward to Delay Them. In the North Empire Infantry Prepare a Flanking Position, while in the South the Cavalry Await Developments. 

The Cavalry Clash in all its Glory. The UPC's use of the Beginning Bombardment Against the Empires Cuirassiers has Given Them an Advantage. Both Side Have Lost Units, but the UPC is Slightly Ahead. 

The Cavalry Melee Continues. The UPC's Infantry Advance is Slowed by the Spread of the Fight Up the Valley. 

On the Northern Flank the Empire is Doing a Fine Job of Holding One of the Key Roads. The Butchers Bill is High and Not One Sided. 

The UPC's Cavalry have Claimed the Southern Flank. Only a Few of Their Dragoons Remain Battle Fit, but it is Enough to Pressure the Flank. The Rest of the Cavalry Arm is in a Perfect Position to Withdraw and Recover for a Further Assault on the Empires Flank. 

In the Central Part of the Field the Empire and UPC Forces Begin to Clash. The Empire Hold a Dominate Position, but the Massed Cavalry on Their Flank Leaves Them Vulnerable. 

Game End as Can be Seen by the Missing Road Sections. A Better View from Behind the Empire's Northern Flank. The Hill Top is Open, but the Grenadiers Behind will be able to be In Place by the Time the UPC Forces Arrive. The unit in the Right Corner are Casualties.  The Damage Disks Have Already Been Removed, but the UPC's Line is All in Need of Reorganization. 

While there was no decisive conclusion, but things were on the brink. We had lost time due to the need to explain fully the rules and changes, especially as we had a new player. All the changes seem to be moving the games in the right direction. More play testing will be needed, but I will now move this to a lower player base.