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. 

HISTORY - IN THE BEGINING

 When Suddenly…

Having no access to this other blog anymore, I decided to repost parts here in a kind of history lesson. 

About a decade ago I decided that rather than build numerous armies for the Horse & Musket period I would simply build a pair of armies that would be used for all the rules I wanted to game. Having chosen this radical approach I knew that gamers being gamers, I would encounter those that could not wrap their head around the idea of Seven Years War figures being used for Franco Prussian Wars, or Napoleonic’s being used for the Glorious Revolution. That drove me to my second radical step. I would build armies from Eureka’s Toy Town line. When asked, “What are you playing?” I would simple answer, “Toy Soldiers.” I knew this would not be to everybody taste, but if you have read this far then you must be one of those that this appeals to.

 The idea was liberating. I could paint figures in any uniforms I could dream up. I could pick flags I liked and even create new ones. No one could ever come to my game and say, “Sorry, but that is the wrong color for the 43rds turnbacks, and they had seven buttons on their gaiters not five. How can you play with them knowing that?” When asked, what are they painted to be? I simple say, “They are cool uniforms.”

One of the Earliest Games 
The Armies of Otherwhen (Foreground) and Nodd on the Fields of Mars

 Since I was not using historical forces I needed to create ImagiNations. For my inspiration I first chose an army from one of my favorite stories/movies, The Wizard of Oz. I have always had a soft spot for the Wicked Witch and so was born Otherwhen. I based my second army on the idea that as a youth the prince of the neighboring kingdom, Nodd had been betrothed to the princess of Otherwhen, but had fallen in love with another beautiful fair-haired maid and married her instead. This insult would put the two nations at war for all eternity. Thus was born the Toy Soldier wars of Nodd and Otherwhen.

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. 

FROM TINY ACORNS...

 Projects grow into giant oaks, and so it goes with my Toy Soldiers army. Back around 2009, on a whim, I decided to pick up some of the Eurika Toy Town figures with the idea of putting on a Christmas game. This was a small project as I was only getting about 130 total figures to represent both sides. I painted them up, dug out some simple rules, I think it was Sword and the Flame, and played a few games using a rug, books, and as I recall even a small Christmas tree. That simple project turned into something a bit bigger. I added a few more figures, about double, wrote some simple rules, and put on some more games and to my surprise people really liked this. I had also discovered I really enjoyed putting together these armies, especially coming up with a little background story for each army and why they fought, and oddly, I really liked painting them. I find I keep adding more, continue to tweak the rules, and run games...OK you get it. I am obsessive about these figures. Every time I decide enough is enough and go onto other projects, inevitably during the Christmas season I pull them out for an annual game, then my mind drifts into the dangerous spot of thinking, "You know what would be cool?", and below you can see this year's results.   

The Newest Additions Since Christmas.

The 1st Udderwhere Battalion: The Winter Guard.

The 1st Oberhere Hussars. An Important Addition, as This Gives Both Sides an Independent Light Cavalry Brigade. 

Who the Heck are These Guys?

CONTEMPLATING MY NAVEL

With the Holidays finally past I have gotten back to gaming. This year I have already played a couple of games, a WWII Bulge fight and a pair of playtests of the Portable Ironclads Wargame by David Cook, and Bob Cordery. 

The Bulge Battle saw the Germans withdrawing in front of a serious US counter-offensive. My part was the German infantry garrison force of a town, so I mostly sat back and waited for the Americans to come to me. It took to the very end when the US Shermans seeking cover from massed German AT guns and Panthers pulled in behind a set of building for shelter. That was what I had been waiting for. I sprung my ambush and in a hail of panzerfaust and panzerschreck fire destroyed the entire Sherman platoon. It was my moment of glory and the end of the game. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. 

The next game was a play test of the new ACW Portable Ironclads Wargame. It pitted four Union vessels against four Confederates. In the first game the Confederates had two ships sunk and two others heavily damaged. The Union lost two ships sunk and the two others moving off into the Gulf which was the objective. The second game saw all the Confederates out of action and the Union having suffered the loss of two ships, with the remaining two seriously damaged. 

Things we learned were that the overall systems worked out, giving a quick game play of about an hour. We felt changes to angles of firing arcs, blocking fire, and the way turning was done needed addressing. Most of this will be done by having ships occupy only a single hexagonal. 

There was no attempt to balance the scenario as only results were desired. In future a wide range of ship layouts will be used to increase the challenge of the games. 

The First Games Final Moments. USS Monitor, USS Benton, CSS Tennesse all in a Sinking State. CSS Virginia has Already Gone Under. The US Monitors Milwaukee with Twin Turrets and Ozark are Headed for the Open Gulf. 

The Second Games Opening Moments. Union Fast Monitors Lead the Way, While This Time the Confederates Steam Forward with the Spar Torpedo Armed Richmond in Front. 

Second Game with the Richmond Beached. Shortly After This the Monitor, Benton and all the Rest of the Confederate Fleet will be on the Bottom. The Milwaukee will be Heavily Damage, with Only the Ozark Being in Fighting Trim. Ramming and Gunfire was the Way of This Battle 

THE RELIEF OF FOX RIVER GROVE - Spring Campaign Battle 5

The Relief of Fox River Grove Commences. 

The Union of Pacts Commonwealth has taken a slight lead in the Spring Campain. This last battle will see if they can turn this into a decisive victory, or will the Empire be able to continue its goals of reduction of UPC gains?

With the Union of Pacts Commonwealths destruction of the Empires Field Army at Ridgeville it freed up troops to rush to the relief of the besieged town of Fox River Grove. This key point along the Fox River if taken would provide the Empire a strong position to continue campaigns into the Northern Territory of the UPC, while its relief would secure this area for the Commonwealth for years to come.

This would be an attack Vs defense battle, with the attackers holding a fort under siege able to launch a supporting attack into the defenders rear if the opportunity arose. 

The Field of Battle as Seen from the West. UPC Forces will be Approaching from the top area.  

Battlefield as Seen from the East. The Town of Fox River Grove on the Lower Right. 

Empire Reserves Await a Breach to be Made for Their Opportunity to Launch an Assault. 

Fort Springtail Under Siege Outside Fox River Grove. 

The Empire's Northern Hill Defenders Await the UPC Onslaught. 

The Southern Hill Defenders. 

Ranks of UPC Infantry Advance on the Hill Position, while on both Flanks Their Cavalry Moves to Envelope the Empire. The Town of Fox River Grove is Under Heavy Pressure. 

With the Town Taken the full Weight of the UPC Hammers at the Empire Forces on the Hills. Behind can be Seen the Empire Reinforcements Beginning to Come Up. The Siege Lines Remain Manned Keeping the Forts Occupants from Joining the Attack.   

Empire Forces Surge Forward to Reinforce the Center and Hold the UPC on the Flanks. 

UPC's Massed Grenadiers Take the Hill, While the Light Infantry in the Woods Drive Back the Empire's Cavalry. The Second Line of Empire Infantry Prepares to Meet the Advance. 

On the Right Flank the UPC Drives the Empires Light Infantry from the Woods and Continues Forward in the Center. Undaunted the Empire Continues to Bring Forward more Reserves to Contest the Next Line of Defenses. 

Despite their wave like advance taking one defensive line after the other the UPC was running out of daylight. As darkness fell the Empire still tenaciously held on to their last line of defense coving the trench lines. The relief was halted short of its goal and rumor of addition approaching Empire forces forced the breakoff from the battle.  

Empire Forces Still Manning the Siege Line. 

The Spring Campaign was over. The UPC had won a minor victory over the Empire. Both sides would go home and lick their wounds while preparing for the next coming Campaign Season.