Napoleon's Rules of War First Game of the 2nd Half

Well, it didn't take long to get the first game of the official 2nd half of the season in the record books. Played a game of Napoleon's Rules of War at a club game night the other night.

Great game put on by the rules designer - Charlie.  The scenario was the battle of Bailen.  I was one of the Spanish players commanding a division on the southern flank.  In this battle, the Spanish had seized the town of Bailen with one force while two other forces moved in to help reinforce them.  The two moving forces were also slowly encircling the French forces.  While the Spaniards held the town, the French were trying to retake the town whlile preventing the Spanish from encircling them.

The forces were pretty equal in that the Spanish had superior numbers while the French had a slight advantage in quality.

Here are some photos of the game:

My division deployed along the river just south of the French attempting to attack into Bailen.

My Spanish light and militia troops attack from the West into the flank of the southern French attack.  It ended up being a pretty successful spoiling attack.  It was never going to stop the French outright, but it did slow them down enough to hold out until night fall.  

The French in the south had to face south in reaction to my division at the river as well as north to attack into Bailen.  It was not an easy tactical situation.

The French move on Bailen from the south.  A small Spanish brigade attacks from the west.

Our valiant French foes! (l to r) Kevin and Byron were commanders attacking from the North. Charlie, the GM.  Ralph, commander here on the southern sector.

Overall, I had a really good time playing the game.  Charlie is making some changes to his rules to help make them a bit easier to play.  I think he is getting very close to finishing all of the edits for Version 2 of the rules.

Gaming for the 2nd Half of 2019

As I was looking at my Hobby Activities for the Year (See Below), I noticed that so far in 2019 I have played the largest number of different rule sets than any other year I've been in the hobby - by far.

It just seems that I have been willing to go out on a limb and try new things (such as Star Wars ver 2, Warlords of Erehwon, and GW Kill Team).  More so, it seems, then ever.  I'm not really sure why this is, it just seems to all be piling up this year.

And I don't think that the trend will be slowing down either.  Right now I am planning to play in a game of 'Fistful of Lead' later this month (I'm painting up some US Cavalry and Plains Infantry, complete with Gatling Gun for that game!).  I also have planned to try a game of Black Ops from Osprey War-games sometimes later this summer.  And right now I am reading another set of rules from Osprey, Rebels and Patriots, that I want to try out for that all elusive 'great' rules set for my War of 1812 skirmishes.

So many games, so little time!  I really want to settle on a rules that I enjoy playing and that I have enough painted minis to do effective games and/or campaigns.  There will always be one off games like the Fistful of Lead at my local hobby store, but I am talking about rules that I play enough to get comfortable with, or that I 'work harder' at so I can become somewhat proficient.  I don't ever want to 'work' on game system to be a competitive player, but I would like to develop a feel for some game systems so I can game master a game or campaign and be do a pretty good job.

Right now I think that is the following games in the indicated period:

Napoleonics
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale
Napoleon's Rules of War

War of 1812
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale (Ed's Edits) - For battles
Rebels and Patriots - For skirmishes

WWII
Cruel Seas - Naval
Blood Red Skies - Air
Bolt Action - Skirmishes

Modern
???

Sci Fi and Fantasy
X-Wing ver 2
GW Kill Team
Warlords of Erehwon

Ten sets of rules plus at least one for modern gaming!  Too many, I think.  But these are all rules that I have tried out and I really have enjoyed each one of them for their own reasons.  I think that I will have to consider them one-by-one and pair out the ones that I really don't want to play on a regular basis.

I have figures for most, if not all, of them so painting isn't really an issue - just have to finish off lead that I already have as I go along and then get stuff out to the table.  Terrain is also not an issue as I have all types of terrain already made for all of the scales of figures that I have and for all of the time periods and settings (Europe, N. America, etc.).

I will update the blog as I play through these.

Post Napoleonic Wing Scale Volley & Bayonet

Had a really good time at Ed's house yesterday playing a game of Volley & Bayonet in Wing Scale.  They rules have been used in our club for many years and they really have passed the test of time.  We tweak them, but in many cases we return to the base rules when something different does not work out.

The scenario we played was the Hungarian Uprising against the Austrians in 1848.  Ed has become quite the expert on the time period.  He has researched and painted an extensive set of forces for both sides and the armies are a sight to behold!  The scenario we played was challenging for both sides and ended up being well balanced.

I played one of the Hungarian divisional commanders.  My forces consisted of three balanced brigades of two infantry battalions, a light infantry battalion and a squadron of cavalry.  My mission was to defend two ridge lines in front of a town that we had to defend.  If the Austrians could take our town under fire, we would lose the game.  Large numbers of Austrians under George and Ralph attacked my positions and eventually wore my units down.  I had to give ground but I was reinforced by another division similar to mine under Charlie and we ended up holding the line.  Meanwhile, Byron entered the table on our right flank and crashed into Mike C. scattering his units and making for the Austrian town which were tasked with taking under fire.  Due to Byron's ferocious attack, we ended up squeaking out a victory.  Here are some photos of the game with Ed's great terrain and even better Hungarian and Austrian armies of 1848.

The first attacks from George come in.  Note that I established a reverse slope defense in the hopes of staying away from Austrian artillery fire and a coordinated charge.

My initial dispositions with Charlie as the last line of defense.

Heavy pressure on my center number one.  George and Mike had a well coordinated attack 

Heavy pressure on my center number two.

The Austrian juggernaut pushes us back.

The Austrian are forced to react to Byron's attack from our right and Ralph and George pull back to save their town.  The Hungarians are victorious!

Overall, I had a great time and being with good people over the fields of friendly strife is always a great way to spend the day.  Thanks to Ed for an excellent game!

Bood Red Skies Premiere at the New Aldernest Gaming Cafe Location

Our friend Gordon and his lovely bride, Denise, have moved their super hobby store from Western Manchester, NH to a new location in the great town of Merrimack, NH.  The new diggs are a 1000% improvement over the Manchester location.  Store size and location as well as parking, location, etc. are all vastly superior to the former store.

I stopped by the store this afternoon and got to host a game and play a game of Blood Red Skies.  It was an excellent time!

Here are some photos of the action in the game that I played in.

Hurricanes engage a Do-17Z.

German close escort take on the attackers!

The German bombers on their way to the target!

The jig is up as Top Cover descends on the attackers!

It was a great game with one German bomber shot down for the loss of one Hurricane.  The British were driven off, but a second German bomber was a 'probable' with an engine shot out and several crew down.  The target would not get a bad pasting!  So, as the British player I claim a moral victory even though I lost in game terms!

Initiation to X-Wings Edition 2

Yesterday I had an opportunity to play my first two games of W-Wing Second Edition thanks to an invite from my friend, Ralph.  In both games I played a 105 point Rebel Alliance Squad consisting of two Z-95 Headhunters and one Y-Wing fighter/bomber.

I learned quite a bit about flying my ships around (and into) asteroids and space junk.  Overall I believe I did a fair job of keeping my ships out of harms way and working on getting opponents' ships in my sights for a fleeting shot.  It is a fast paced and fun game system to play.

In the first game, I paired up with AJ and his list of an Rz-1 A-Wing, and Wedge Antilles and his X-Wing.  This gave us five small ships.  We faced two players (Rob and Mike).  Rob's list was simple - a Resistance Bomber fully tricked out and Mike flew a Scum and Villainy list of a YV-666 light freighter and a Kihraxz Fighter.  We played a full 75-minutes in game time.  The game was very close and came down to us losing two shields on one of our Z-95's which meant we lost 1/2 of a ship.  We didn't cause a half-ship worth of damage to any of their ships so they won the game in a Technical decision.

Here are a couple of photos I took during my first game:

Ralph prepares his 200 point list for a face-off with Bob O.

Mike and Rob plot their next rebellious scumy next move!

And the scrum begins!  If only AJ and I could roll some hits!

In the second game, I paired up with Rob O. He ran a list of a Fenn Rau Fang Fighter and Black Sun Soldier Z-95.  We were fighting that YV-666 light freighter/Kihraxz Fighter list along with a 3 x Tie Fighter list with Howlrunner as their leader.

This second fight went well but I was so into preparing my movement dial and trying to decide who to shot next, I forgot to take any pictures!  Oh well, maybe next time.

As always when playing with the guys in the club, it was a wonderful evening of leaving my worries behind, laughing and enjoying a great new game system!  What a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening - if I'm not going to be with my lovely bride.  I look forward to many more adventures in the X-Wing galaxies!

Cruel Seas Playtest

I had an opportunity to run a play test of my Cruel Seas scenario for an upcoming local gaming convention in May.  The scenario that I am running at the convention is based on the D-Day convoy crossing the English Channel on June 5, 1944.

Allied forces are American and British and include PT Boats, Fairmile D's, US Submarine Chasers, and a Corvette escorting some landing craft, a trawler and a tanker.  The Allied objective is to move their convoy across the long table edge without being sunk.

German forces are based around 6 S-Boats (2 x S38 and 4 S100), a Minesweeper and a Flakship.  The German objective is simply to sink as many Allied ships as possible.

Highest number of points is the winner - nice and simple for a convention game.

Here are some photos of the play test that I did at our local gaming store:

The Germans begin to chase the Convoy which is just out of the photo to the  right.  Allied escorts move out to engage the German torpedo boats.

The rest of the picture above showing the relative position of the Allied convoy.  Sort of dangerous for the Corvette to be heading out towards the torpedo boats as they would be launching their fish in an all-out effort to sink as many of the convoy ships as possible (of course)!

Shots being traded in a very high number!  Many of the boats were down to ten or less hull points by the end of the game.

Torpedos about to strike home on the LCT (G).  The results would be devastating and the LCT was quickly on the bottom of the English Channel.  At the bottom of the picture is the remains (flames and smoke) of a US Submarine Chaser which had been sent to the bottom by gunfire from a couple of S-Boats.

The melee continues.  At the top of the page two S-boats collide.  This would result in one of them sinking.  Above them, a US PT-Boat collides with the German Flakship which resulted in the PT Boat sinking!

We learned several lessons to incorporate into my game next month.  I will change the deployment of both sides in a couple of ways in an effort to speed up the first two turns of the game.  The convoy also has to start the game a ways down the table edge if they expect to exit any boats off the table by the end of the game.  Time will be limited in the convention setting.

Overall I think we should be able to get a good game in for participants.  I will keep you posted on how the game goes!

Warlords of Erehwon

Here are some pics of recent battles I have participated in from the new (for me at least) Warlords of Erehwon.  I have an Elven Army that I have fought through 7 battles now and I have both won and lost with it.  I really enjoy the game system - even if my sucky dice make it more than a challenge sometimes.  One example is that I have, while attempting to cast spells with my Mage, changed myself into a frog a total of four times in seven games.  Ask anyone who plays - that is a pretty high percentage!

My Elves are a pretty strong army and I have enjoyed putting the force together and have also enjoyed getting them on the table a fair number of times.

Now for the pics with some explanation of the force in the captions:

My Elves are at the top of this photo.  I have a small bolt thrower at the far right, what's left of my Guard in front of my Mounted Elven Lord, in front of my Mage (who miscast yet another spell), then continuing left to my Mounted Hero, an Elven Warrior Unit in front of a small unit of Archers.  My Giant Eagle in on the right of the photo taking the battle to my opponent's Gnoll force.

From bottom to top - Giant Eagle, Small Bolt Thrower, Guard with Long Spear, Mounted Lord with two Bodyguards, Mounted Hero, Archers, Mage with Bound Daemons, Warrior Unit

Giant Eagle (on the right) on the attack!  Besides my Allied Griffon the Eagle has been my singularly most effective battle unit.

My Mage stinks!  He has been since been replaced by another figure who has proven to be just as ineffective in providing support to my Army!  Looking for a third figure to take over the position!

As you might be able to discern from these photos, my force is made up almost exclusively of pre-painted Mage Knight and D&D figures.  I love the fact that I have spent about $200 on this game system (with Rules!) and I have two complete armies ready to put on the table. Can't ask for more than that.  I will get a few photos of my Undead Army on the blog in a future post.