TRYING THEM ON FOR SIZE

 

After over a years' time of playing I felt there were a number of things missing from the rules used for the Dog Wars Campaigns. The primary goal was to get more turns in and to have a more dynamic, cascading effect on army collapse to provide a more definitive resolution. Things I felt were slowing things down was close combat not being as decisive as I wanted it, maneuvers taking too long and morale lacking a serious effect. Rules have been altered, played a number of times and things seem to be improving on overall game play. 

This was the first play test battle after the changes.

The Armies Approach. Both Sides had Little Terrain to Interfere with Their Movement to Come to Grips With Each other.  

First Clash of Cavalry. 

The Opposite Flanks Cavalry Eyeing Each Other Up.

With the Empire's Cavalry having Driven off Their Opposite Number They Prepare to Assault the UPCs Flank. 

In the Center it was the Clash of the Titans. Both Sides Guards and Grenadiers Went at it. While Heavily Battered the Empire's Guard Held Like a Rock. 

On the Southern Flank Both Sides Cavalry are Fully Engaged, Both Battered and Reforming for a Further Clash. In the Central Background the UPS Infantry Begins to Open a Hole and Start Turning the Exposed Empire Flank.

In the end the game was very close with the UPC having a slight edge with fewer units lost. The additional Victory Points being tested for captured artillery. captured flags and loss of Generals made the swing a bit more pronounced. Further battles will continue to test the value of the changes. 

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. 

Bits, Bobs and Future Projects

 I have been working on a lot of projects simultaneously, so thought I would share what is coming in the future. First off, if the map is not a giveaway, there are the campaigns. WWII Toy Soldiers, see previous post, 19th Century Unification Wars, Dog Wars, and another project are all being given maps. The first two will be sharing the same map, or at least s similar one. The rest will have their own as their setting are quite different. 

Painting, painting and more painting. My never-ending chore that is self-inflicted. Like most gamers I have enough figures already to keep me at this for two lifetimes. OK, more like three or four lifetimes. I will never be done, as there is always a next project. I don't really finish any project, I just need to add a few more figures. Honest! Everything just needs that extra unit, or two, or three, or dozen, or ... To that end I added the new Army Painter SpeedPaint 2.0 to my collection. It's just a few colors. OK, OK, it's 89 colors, including 10 metals, and as SpeedPaint that means no deep shades, highlights, just each one doing a single full shade coat. Will I use all of these? Oh sure. 

Organized and Ready to Go. 

WWII Toy Soldiers painting continues. I have completed all the basic forces and am now on to the filling out stage, things like more First Line Infantry, Mortars, Anti-tank Rifles, trucks, tanks and so on. I have multiple sets of rules to tryout, Arriba Espana, Xenos Rampant, and Chain of Command. Each of these has their own feel and complexity and I need to decide which works the best for the games I want to run. 

Republican MGs

Royalist MGs

Royalist SMG Unit

Royalist Mortar and Anti-tank Rifle

High Command of Both Sides and Kaboom Markers

Bob and I got in a few play test games of Arriba Espana and Xenoes Rampant. I need to create a crib sheet for Arriba to help track all the things you do in the game. Xenoes turns out to be a bust. We played two games in under twenty minutes, and both were disasters. Xenoes looks like it would be fine to play alternative rules for 40K, but not very good at WWII. 

First Turn of Game One. 

Start of Game Two. We Both Have Learned a Few Things from Our Earlier Playthrough. 

End of Game Two. Bob Nearly Won This as His Forces are About to Breakthrough When His Army Becomes Exhausted. My Own Army was on the Brink of Exhaustion Too. 

ONE HOUR WARGAME SCENARIOS - PART 2

The Board Setup. The Town on the far Left is the Objective of the Game. The Hill in the Center Background is Impassable. 

Bob and I played the second game in our 19th Century ImagiNation battles. This time it was One Hour Wargames (OHW) 10: Late Arrivals. For this battle Bob chose to be the attackers, so I was on the defense. The scenario has the defenders holding the town and attempting to delay the attackers as their reinforcements slowly trickle in. In this battle we were trying out some optional rules, the first being Reinforced Line where small arms fire only effects the front unit if there are two units in a hex. The second is Assault Column where if two infantry units are in the same hex there is a +1 to hit in close assault for the attacker. If there are multiple units in the same hex, then both suffer hits and retreats results in close combat and from artillery fire. 

Opening Turn with the Defenders Setup in the Woods and Across the Road with Their Left Flank Anchored by the Hill. The Attackers Force of Infantry and Cavalry are all Entering by the Road.
 

Attackers Launch Their Assault in an Attempt to Open the Road for the Remainder of Their Forces to Exploit. 

Defenders Begin Their Slow Withdrawal Towards the Town Firing as They Go. 

The Attackers Launch a Heavier Assault as the Rest of Their Forces Press on to Town. 

The Defenders Having Weathered the Storm of Assault Continue to Slowly Pull Back.

Having Split the Defender's Line the Attackers Swarm the Individual Defenders.

The Defenders Reinforcements Start to Arrive in the Form of an Artillery Battery with a Brigade of Infantry and Begin the Close Defense of the Town. 

Attackers Finally Get Around the Front Defenders Flank. The Round Token Indicates the Defenders Beginning to Fortify Their Position in Town. 

The Attackers First Assault on the Town. Their Cavalry has Driven Back the Defending Artillery as Their Combined Infantry and Cavalry Battle in the Town. 

The Defenders Reinforce Their Positions in Town as the Pressure Mounts. 

A Decisive Moment Arrives as the Attackers Reach Their Exhaustion Point. They Still have Time to Recover and have Both Their Rally Cards Remaining. 

The Attackers Managed to Temporarily Recover, but it was Too Little to Late and are Forced to Retreat from the Battle. 

The High-Water Mark of the Attack with the Attackers Controlling Nealy Half the Town and Plenty of Supporting Troops on the Way. Timely Reinforcements and Some Decidedly One-Sided Combat Results is What Saved the Day for the Defense.  

Another fun, close game. We both liked the tactical challenge the Optional Rules provided and will continue to use them. There are a few more slight refinements we plan to make to speed up the outcomes some. More on those in the next battle post, which will come in a few weeks, as my work schedule goes into overdrive. 

BACK TO GAMING

 It has been a month filled with work and little else. I did get a trip to the Seatle area out of it, so there are upsides to it. I finally got back to the gaming table and kicked off what I hope will become my next campaign. This will be a mid-19th century conflict between my friend Bob and my ImagiNations using my revised rules of Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame, with hexes and Warlords Epic ACW figures, and maybe a few of their Napoleonic ones to add some panache to the cavalry.  

We chose to play a scenario from the One-Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas, which I highly recommend for the 30 scenarios it provides alone. The rest of the book is really great too. The scenario is number 8 Melee, a slimmed down version of the Battle of Lundy's Lane from the War of 1812. Bob chose to defend the dominate hill which is the objective of my attack. The red jacket with blue trousers Danish looking troops is my attacking force, while Bob's troops are in salmon coats and grey hats and pants. As both nations currently lack names and flags I will be referring to them as attackers and defenders. 

As can be seen in the open image Bob is defending on the hill while my forces approach from the left side road. 

Opening Moves as an Artillery Duel Commences and the Attackers Capture the Woods. Both side Reinforcements are Advancing Along the Road.

Details of the Woods Fight as the Attackers Inflict a Few Casualties on the Hill Defenders. 

More Attackers Begin to Arrive as the Artillery Duel Heats up. The Defenders have Lost a Battery While Inflicting a Hit on the Attackers in Return.

Defenders have Pushed Back the Attackers in the Woods and Strengthen Their Hill Defense. 

Attackers Massing for Their Assaults on the Hill as Their Artillery Drives Off the Defenders Guns. 

Attackers Successful Skirmishing Has Opened a Hole in the Hill Defenses that They Quickly Exploit. 

Key to the Hill Defense is the Angle. It is Under Continues Artillery Fire and Assaults from the Woods.  

The Attackers Breakthrough on a Broad Front. The Final Outcome will be Decided by Cold Steel. 

Shot and Shell Hammer the Defenders Reserves as the Attackers Reinforce Their Success. 

The Defenders Rally Forward to Attempt to Repulse the Attackers Once More. 

The Desperate Struggle for Control of the Hill. Reinforcements Stand Ready on Both Sides. 

As Casualties Mount the Defenders Give Ground. 

Having Been Battered by Artillery and Small Arms Fire along with near Continuous Close Combat the Defenders Reach Their Exhaustion Level and Begin to Withdraw.  

The Day Lost, the Defenders Retreat from the Field to Fight Another Day. 

 Bob's failure to contest the woods gave me an advantage in the initial firefight. The timing of Special Action Cards favored me, especially at the early part of the fight where my artillery got the better of the defender's guns. I managed to bring my veterans forward unmolested and into close combat where they greatly helped. 

This was our first game with these rules in over a year and while I have kept them simple, we still needed to reference modifiers often. The game took about two hours to finish, but I expect that to shorten as we become more familiar with them. It was a hard-fought game and we both had fun, so a victory to both of us. Maps have been handed out and forces are being assembled now for a test run on campaign mechanics. Expect to see more on this period shortly.