Medieval Diversion

One evening last week I had a spare hour after a game and decide to sort though some boxes with my Minifig  25mm Hundred Years War figures. I originally bought and painted these miniatures when I was 15 or 16 years old. Some of the colours used are a bit suspect, so I intend to strip back these models back and repaint them.

100 Years War miniatures unpacked

The question will be what rules to use. I'm very tempted to go for the Loin Rampant Rules as I read many complementary reviews. Ideally I like to have a grid-based game, which will mean modifying any rule set I get. 

Having pulled out all the models to sort and count them, I thought why not have a battle?

A quick grid based Medieval Game

 I used a grid for the game and some rules based on One-Hour Wargames, so the game played quickly. I will have to at some point decide upon a set of rules for the basing of the troops. There is no hurray yet as I'm still finishing off my WW2 units, and have a few more weeks before finishing is my guess.

Game in progress.

Mini SciFi Campaign - Second Battle of the Invasion

The Tyranid invasion force made a second attempt to establish a foothold on the planet Vyran, After their first attempt to cross the lava flow had been thrown back by Imperial forces, their scouts had found an unguarded crossing at a long forgotten road which had once been used to transport mining ore before the area had been mined out.

This is the second battle of the invasion phase of my mini campaign based on ideas from Old Trousers WW2 rules which incorporates scenarios from One Hour Wargame (OHW). A quick dice roll between the two remaining scenarios revealed scenario 5 "Bridgehead" to be the setting for the game battle.

The forces involve in the game used the selection process described in an earlier blog.

Imperial Defending Forces

• Commissioner (3 character points)
• 2 infantry squads
• 1 infantry squad and Chimera
• Basilisk
• Space Marine Devastator squad
• Space Marine Tactical squad

The Commissioner only had 3 character points in this game due to being eliminated in the last game. All characters losing 1 point each time they are eliminated in a game to encourage careful use of these valuable units.

Tyranid Invasion Forces

• Hive Tyrant
• Ravener's
• Carnifex and Hormagaunt Brood
• 2 Gaunt Broods
• Gargoyles
• Hormagaunt Brood

The lists from which I select the units (their play list so to speak) have a variety of units which are not all equal. For example, a mobile infantry guard squad comes with a Chimera which is a unit in its own right. To balance this to a certain extent I have Tyranid Carnifex supported by Hormagaunts.

The Beachhead scenario has units arriving from reserves during the first 5 turns. Because my unit numbers are different to those in the scenario, I have eight rather than six units, the additional two units for both sides come on during turns 1 and 3. For those without access to OHW the Imperial forces arrive in three groups at random points on the table and Tyranids arrive in a steady steam each turn down the road. Any units with deep-striking abilities can arrive anywhere on the table.

Start of turn 1 with imperial reserves arriving on the road. Imperial reserves could arrive on the road, hill or to the left of the woods. Tyranid reserves arrive on the road.

Imperial units arrive and rush down the road to block the advancing Tyranids. The Chimera was to prove it's worth by quickly dispatching the Carnifex with a roll of three 6's. This distraction had allowed the Hormagaunt Brood to move and hideout in the hills. (Hills as a terrain feature in the rules limit observation to within the square unless counterattacking an attack.)

Chimera meets Carnifex head on

The next available Imperial forces split off the Devastator squad to hunt down the Hormagaunts hiding in the hills. They quickly became isolated with the surprise appearance of the deep-striking Ravener Brood.

A Devastator squad becomes isolated in the hills

Meanwhile blocking the advance of Tyranids down the road had become a vicious fire-fight with support from a Space Marine squad and Basilisk ordinance fire. The Tyranids were channelling all arriving units into the attack.

Imperial units for a defence line across the road in the face of the advancing Tyranids

Finally additional reserves were available to the Imperial defenders in the form of two Planetary Defence Force squads. The random selection of where reinforcements arrive was unfortunately not in the Imperial's favour, and they arrived on the left flank well away from the action.

PDF reserves rush to join the defence - time is of the essence

The isolated Devastator squad gave a good account of itself, but was eventually overwhelmed wth the deep-striking Gargoyles adding the attacks.

A Devastator squad puts up a valiant but doomed defence

The loss of the Chimera, a focus of Tyranid attacks, was a blow to the Imperial defence of the road as they waited for the arrival of PDF support. Excellent dice rolling was also playing a part as the Tyranid attacks whittled away the remaining forces.

Tyranid units launch themselves into the attack along the road

The defence of the road collapsed before any meaningful reserves arrived to bolster their defence. The elimination of the Devastator Squad freed up additional Tyranid units who descended from the hills and into the flank of the gallant Imperial defenders. Commissioner Vardeck was severely wounded (eliminated) and was carried from the field of battle. A few Space Marines held firm, but to no avail.

Imperial forces just before they are swamped by Tyranid hordes

The Hive Tyrant and remaining units mop up of remaining Imperial units. A Tyranid victory allows them to push ahead with the invasion. The Planetary Governor said it was a "dark day for Vyran" and quickly replaced the Commissioner with Space Marine Bariel and charged him with immediately counterattacking the invading forces, stopping them from consolidating and expanding their bridgehead.

The Hive Tyrant looks on at the final stages of the battle

Unit of the game was the Gargoyle unit for general contributions. These include: eliminating the Devastator squad, combined attacks on Imperial forces defending the road, and putting the final nail in the Imperial coffin by finishing off the Basilisk with a double 6 roll. The leader of this brood is a conversion using a warrior body, gargoyle wings and tail, and spare bits to create a shark like fin on its carapace armour.

Gargoyles take rest after being named unit of the game

AWI Freeman's Farm

I though I'd have a quick American War of Independence game before getting back to my SciFi campaign. After a quick read of Donald Featherstone's "Warmers Handbook of the American War of Independence" the battle of Freeman's Farm, 19th September 1777, was selected. Some additional reading and maps was sourced from  the sites britishbattles.com and revolutionary-war.net.

American forces begin their advance on Freeman's Farm

This was an interesting battle with the British holding the field of battle, but viewed as an American victory because the British could ill afford the casualties suffered on the day. Both sides each had about 3000 men involved in the battle.

The battle was fought in a clearing around Freeman's Farm. The British forces were split into three:

• On the right wing commanded by Brigadier Fraser were the light infantry and grenadiers (for the game I used 2 x light infantry units and 1 x grenadier Unit)
• The centre was commanded by Brigadier Hamilton around Freeman's Farm (for the game 2 x artillery units and 3 x infantry units were used), and 
• The left wing commanded by Baron Riedesel would arrive later in the day (for the game I had 3 x infantry units arriving on turn 7).

The American forces are all on the board at the start of the game and split into two:

• Facing the British right wing were Dearborn's light infantry and Morgan's riflemen (for the game I used 2 x skirmish units and 2 x infantry units all militia and armed with rifles).
• In the centre readying to exploit the gap between the British right wing and centre were the remaining American forces available to General Arnold (for the game I had 6 x infantry).

Game setup

Special rules applied to my grid-based house rules based on the one-hour wargaming rules:

• As most of the artillery were 3 pounders the artillery range is reduced to 3 squares
• Freeman's farm just blocks line of sight and +1 to moral dice rolls
• The creek is all fordable and +1 to moral if defending
• American units cannot retire until turn 7 when the British left wing arrives.

The side with the fewest eliminated units wins.

Another view at the start of the game

The first couple of turns began with a general advance across the board by American forces with first contact made with the British right wing.

Contact with the British right wing of light infantry and grenadiers

 The Gap between the British forces meant the British command unit had to keep switching between the two groups of units which delays some responses to the advancing Americans. Although British attack dice rolls were consistently good and took their toll on the advancing American infantry.

Forces engaged around Freeman's Farm

First blood was to go to the Americans with the elimination of the British grenadier unit. Taking advantage of the gap between British units, and the American militia riflemen where able to flank the grenadiers and rolled 4 dice (+2 extra dice for a flank attack).  There on after not much happened on the British right wing as both sides light infantry exchanged attacks.

British support first loss on their right wing as the grenadiers are eliminated.

Around Freeman's Farm British shooting and artillery had caused a couple of losses for the advancing Americans. For the most part the British units had held the line with only one unit retiring due to a moral check, which was been in the British favour because a second volley was likely to eliminate it.

British units holding firm (mostly) around the farm.

Soon the pressure of the American attack, supported by additional units moving across from their left flank, was finally starting to grind down the defence around Freeman's Farm.

British forces very much under pressure at Freeman's Farm

The British left wing arrived on turn 7 and advanced as quickly as possible on American right flank. Both side exchange attacks and a couple more units were eliminated on both sides before the American's retired.

American forces retire with the arrival of the British left wing.

Summary

The American units were able to exploit the gap between the British centre and right wing effectively and switched units to support the attack on the farm. Units eliminated for both sides was even at 6 a piece. Technically the game was a draw (although one British units was one hit away from being eliminated).

The British artillery proved very useful in the farm's defence, while American riflemen with their addition range were able to inflict casualties forcing the British to advance.

Mini SciFi Campaign - First Battle of the Tyranid Invasion

Having sorted out my army lists and selected the forces for each side - Tyranids vs. Planetary Defence Force (Imperial Guard) and Space Marines. I was ready for my first battle with the invasion phase of the solo campaign. The first game would see mainly Planetary Defence Forces (PDF) with some Space Marine support trying to hold back the hordes of Tyranids. I'm taking the PDF and Space Marine side in this solo game as Tyranid tactics are generally charge in and get up close, making them a good solo opponent.

Selection of the PDF army for this battle had had 8 PDF units and 5 Space Marine units to draw from. Three confirmed units were:

• Commissioner (Warlord)
• Mobile infantry with Chimera (counted as one unit)
• Basilisk

The remaining units were selected based upon a card draw from the remaining cards (see the previous blog for rules on selection.) The Assault Marines with their Deep-Strike ability provided a nice counterattack capability to the force.

Planetary Defence supported by two Space Marine units

The Tyranid selection had two deep-striking units Gargoyles and Raveners, and Genestealers with a stealth ability allowing them to appear on any table edge.

Tyranid Force

The invasion scenario was then rolled for and scenario 3 "control the river" was selected from One Hour Wargames (Neil Thomas). Each phase has 3 scenarios for each of the four phases in this campaign, the scenario being randomly selected with dice. An approach I really like and taken from "Plan B" WW2 rules by Old Trousers.

The terrain was stretched out to fit a 6'x4' table rather than a 3'x3' table digram in OHW. I also randomly added some additional broken ground due to the increase in table size. The river became a lava flow and impossible to cross for ground units.

The winner needs to control both gaps in the lava flow or eliminate opposition forces.

Battle Report

The PDF forces laid out their forces first followed by Tyranid forces. A maximum of 6 could start the game on the table and the remainder were in reserves and could arrive at a rate of one unit per turn.

The opening moves saw both side split their forces fairly evenly to contest both gaps in the lava flow. The Tyranids moving up as quickly as possible to get to grips with the PDF, and their Genestealers appeared threateningly on the PDFs left flank.

Opening moves

Genestealers arrive on PDF left flank using their stealth ability

The Genestealers proved to be a nuisance to the PDF at best, mainly due to the hail of bolder fire from the Space Marine units which pinned the Genestealers continually for a number of turns.

Assault Marines get to grips with the Tyranid forces

The PDF left flank became pretty much a stalemate situation with exchanges of ranged attacks by each side. The right flank on the other hand had some fierce fighting as both sides closed quickly and casualties mounted. The PDF lost their Chimera in a series of concentrated ranged attacks from a Warrior Brood and Carnifex. The Remaining PDF forces supported by Basilisk ordinance attacks sought revenge for the loss of the Chimera by eliminating the Hormagaunt Brood. As the Tyranid's attack wavered Assault Marines attacked them in the rear, forcing them to respond with using the Raveners in defence.

The few remaining PDF units on the left flank are about to be eliminated

The momentum on the PDF's left flank swung to the attacking Tyranids briefly before support from the Basilisk shored up the defence and both sides were exhausted. Attacks on other flank also were few as PDF forces weakened and Tyranid units were eliminated.

Exhausted PDF forces clean up the remaining Tyranid forces

The Tyranid Hive Tyrant has seen the writing on the wall and departs the field of battle with plans for the next battle.

Summary

The combined Chimera and infantry unit allowed the PDF to essentially have 9 units to the Tyranid's eight. I need to review the Tyranid lists and my thinking at present is to have the Carnifex supported with its own Hormagaut Brood. Still it proved a close and exciting game, but the PDF always having the slight edge.

The commissioner was eliminated during the game so will lose one character point in future games. He does though continue to command the PDF forces with this victory. The Planetary Governor likes to stick with a winner and the Space Marines remain on the sidelines in a supporting role.

My unit of the game goes to the Basilisk which provided that extra punch to all PDF attacks.

Unit of the game goes to the Basilisk and a victory wave from its commander

Mini SciFi Campaign using One Hour Wargaming

With the grid-based house rules settled I will be over the next few weeks embarking on a W40K themed mini-campaign based upon the ideas by Old Trousers in his WW2 "Plan B" rules. I have started looking at the background to align to the ladder campaign approach described in his rules.

The campaign has four phases: Invasion, Counterattack, Consolidate and Overrun. The campaign progresses through these phases in sequence. The Tyranids trying to progress to the Overrun Phase while the Imperium (PDF and Space Marines) are trying to stop them at every turn.

Winning the Campaign

The Tyranid force can only lose 6 battles before its biomass is consumed and has lost the campaign. 

The Tyranid force loses if it cannot progress pass one of the phases (losing all 3 battles in the phase).

The Imperium loses if the Tyranids win a battle in the Overrun Phase.

Campaign Background

A small breakaway Tyranid sub-fleet from the Architeuthis Hive Fleet has landed on the planet Vyran. While the Vyran has its own Planetary Defence Force (PDF) an advance contingent of Space Marines were quickly sent to support the defence, while a larger force was mobilised to help with the eventual eradication of the Tyranids should the defenders survive. The Planetary Governor is poorly equiped to deal with the situation. He has already had the PDF Commander (his Nephew) executed for the slow mobilisation of the PDF, and has appointed Commissioner Vardeck in overall command of all Imperial forces.

Space Marine Commander Amreil (the command squad indicate the characters strength)

The Tyranids are a small sub-fleet and have a limited amount of biomass (supplies) to support their invasion. Vera being mainly an old mining colony with most of the planet's minerals having been mined out has little to supplement the biomass. If they do not get to the main mining colony quickly they will start to die off and be unable to replenish losses.

Chaplin Tolecius (and body guard to indicate a 5 point character)

Invasion Phase

The first phase of the campaign has the Tyranid invasion forces attacking the hastily assembled PDF  and advance guard of Space Marines under Commissioner Vardeck's command. There are three scenarios from One Hour Wargames (OHW) to randomly select:

• Control of the river (scenario 3)
• Bridgehead (scenario 5)
• Fortified defence (scenario 15)

If the Tyranids win they move on to the next campaign phase. If they don't, then randomly select from the remaining two scenarios and so on. If the Tyranids suffer 3 losses in a phase the defenders have been successful and win the campaign.

There are some rules around the selection of forces later in the blog.

Counterattack Phase

Many military doctrines demand that following an enemy assault there should be a counterattack. So the second phase has the Imperial forces mounting a counterattack. As with the Invasion Phase, until the Tyranids win they cannot progress to the next phase. Suffering 3 losses again results in the Imperium winning the day.

The three scenarios to randomly select are:

• Flank Attack (scenario 6)
• Late Arrivals (scenario 10)
• Counterattack (scenario 18)

Consolidate Phase

The Tyranids have overcome the counterattacks and are now trying to consolidate their presence on Vyran before moving to a final assault to overrun all the planet defences. The Tyranids must win one of these battle to progress.

The three scenarios to randomly select are:

• Pitched Battle (scenario 2)
• Escape (scenario 13)
• Static Defence (scenario 14)

Overrun Phase

The Tyranid horde has pushed the Imperium forces back to their final defence lines. One more win and its all over and they conquer the planet.

The three scenarios to randomly select are:

• Take the High Ground (scenario 4)
• Triple Line (scenario 26)
• Disordered Defence (scenario 27)

Campaign Rules

The campaign rules apply only to the selection of forces and not the game rules used on the table.

Librarian Cashrel (and body guard to indicate character points)

The Imperium forces are commanded by either the Commissioner or Space Marine Commander. The first battle command is with the PDF. Should the Imperium lose a battle, the Planetary Governor in his infinite wisdom will hand over command to the other allied force. So should the Imperium lose the first battle, the Space Marine Commander takes command of the next battle and remains in command until a battle is lost. Who ever has command influences the make up of the forces available.

Each force (Tyranid, Space Marine and Planetary Defence) has 13 units on it's listing. These are made up on characters, troop units and non-troop units as described in my house rules (see top right of page for a link to them). Each unit is assigned to a playing card to aid with force selection.

For the Imperium select 8 cards from the commanding force and the rest for the other secondary force. For example, if the PDF is in command the force is made up of 8 PDF units and 5 Space Marine units. The secondary force can contain no characters, only troop and non-troop units. The Tyranid selection already set and does not go through this process.

The number of units fielded is 5 plus the score of an average dice (2,3,3,4,4,5). So the minimum units fielded will be 7 and the maximum 10. From their 13 cards the commanders select 3 units, one of which must be their commander, and set those cards aside. Remember each unit is assigned a playing card and any cards not used are discarded. With their remaining cards shuffle and select one at a time the cards until the force size is met. Units with cards not selected are not used in the battle.

This selection process is used for all battles. Where there are special force rules with the OHW scenarios, I will be using percentages to adjust force arrivals and makeup.

Except in the Counterattack Phase the Tyranids will take the attacking position in all the scenarios.

Master Scout Sergeant (and team representing character 4 character points)

Character casualties - where a character is eliminated in a battle, they lose a character point for all future battles.

Battle reports will be posted as and when the battles are fought.

Phew - this must be the longest blog I've written.

More grid-based SciFi Wargame

After another test game with my house SciFi (grid-based) rules which are based on the one-hour war-game format. I feel confident enough that most of the rough edges have now been knocked off, and they are ready to be used in a mini campaign. Final modifications included: clarifying the terrain  effects on movement and attacks, and adjusting a few of the abilities. The rules still fit on one page, but are getting very close to spilling over to a second page. I'm already using an 8pt font size, so my options to add to them is very limited if I want to keep them to one page.

Yesterday's test game used Scenario 30 - Last Stand - from One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas. I had to adjust the map to fit on a 6' x 4' table marked into a 12" grid. Other changes where to the special rules: rather than having the attacking force with unlimited numbers they had double the defending units numbers, and the defenders were treated as veterans and allowed to re-roll a dice throw for an unsatisfactory attack outcome.

Start of the game with Tyranid forces entering opposite gaps in the lava flow

The game helped confirm the terrain rules and during the game some of the abilities got refined. The one ability still in question for me is the Berserk (feeding frenzy) ability for the Tyranids where a 6 attack roll counts as two hits. I may allow them to re-roll like a veteran ability instead when assaulting.

The Tyranid left flank quickly advance to the waiting Space Marines

The right flank advance was immediately embroiled in a fire-fight and charged ahead

The Chaplin character threw three 6's to slay a rampaging Carnifex

After dispatching the first wave of attacks the defenders are beset by deep-striking Gargoyles and the second wave. However support is in hand with the commander moving to provide support

The first line of defences are overrun by the Tyranid left flank. Opening the way to the redoubt.

A surprise attack by Genestealers and some high scoring dice rolls destroys the redoubt. They then moved on to the remaining defenders (yum).

A Dreadnought makes a final last stand only to succumb to the few remaining Tyranid units

This turned out to be quite a fun game which could have gone either way. I'm now ready to take my notes (or scribbles) for a mini-campaign put them in some semblance of order and write up the rules and objectives.

Slow progress on WW2 units

A bit busy this week with other things on the go. So a quiet week for my wargaming and no progress on planning the SciFi mini campaign. I've also been a bit slow with my WW2 modelling and painting for an one-hour wargame mash-up with PanzerBlitz game. I only managed to finish a few units this week, this is partly due to the Airfix models I'm making with have lots of fiddly parts, but come with great memories for the kits (25pdr and Quad, 6pdr and Bren Carrier to name a couple).

Armoured Infantry Units

The bases are representative of a unit type. The unit types I am going to be using are: tank, anti-tank guns, artillery/mortars, armoured infantry, motorised infantry, infantry, heavy machine gun, reconnaissance, armoured artillery and self-propelled anti-tank. There may be more later, e.g. an engineering unit.

Reconnaissance Unit

I have already decided the house rules will not be using a grid as I want variable movement in a similar fashion to the approach I used with my WW1 house rules. Where units move a set number of inches plus the score of an average dice (2,3,3,4,4,5).

Armoured Artillery - A converted Airfix Sherman

I am building these models for wargaming and easy painting, so I fill in any interior details with pottery paster and paint the space a dark grey. I am also trying to keep the costs down with this period, so all the figures and vehicles are plastic, the best value models are purchased, and I'm only getting models I can get at local model shops here in Melbourne (supporting my local outlets). I chose 20mm due availability and for a trip down memory lane. My first wargaming was with Airfix models using rules from "Introduction to Battle Gaming" by Terrance Wise.

My battered copy Terry Wise's Introduction to Battle Gaming purchased when I was 13 years old

AWI Battle of Monmouth

This weekend I managed to squeeze in a AWI game. I decided to refight a historical battle and selected the Battle of Monmouth from "Warmers Handbook of the American War of Independence 1775-1783" by Donald Featherstone.

The Battle of Monmouth was fought on 28th June 1778. The Americans (11,000 man) were commanded by General Washington and were attacking the rear of the British Column heading for Philadelphia under the command of Lieutenant General Clinton.

Confusion with the Continental Advance Guard lead by Major General Lee ended in a retreat. The British Rearguard (9,500 men) commanded by Lieutenant General Cornwallis saw this as an opportunity to seize the initiative. However, Washington arrived on the battlefield and was able rally the retreating American forces along a hilltop hedgerow and prepare a defence. Cornwallis pressed his attack and it is at this point the tabletop battle begins.

For information and maps I also sourced information from the following sites:

• www.campaign1776.org
• www.britishbattles.com
• www.mountvernon.org

A 4' x 4' playing area seemed best for the battle with the following forces all deployed on the tabletop. Forgive the sketch, but I really didn't feel like using a presentation tool.

Sketch of the layout on a 4' x 4' table

British

2 Grenadier units (British and Hessian)

2 Skirmisher units (Light Infantry and Dragoons)

4 British Infantry units

2 Gun units

American

2 Skirmisher units

4 Militia units

4 Continental units

3 Guns

The objective for each side is to get a unit to exit the road on their opponents side of the table.

The Americans must have 2 gun and 1 Militia unit on Coombs hill, and 3 Militia units with the Commander defending the hedge. I chose Militia units to reflect the fragile nature of the units after a confused retreat. The remaining forces are in their 2nd line.

The British deploy all their forces within the first 2 rows of their side of the table. They may never cross the Middle Ravine to attack American forces on Coombs Hill.

Start of the game with both sides lined up

Special Rules

The following special rules were applied to my house rules based on One Hour Wargames (see top right of page for link).

• American units behind the hedge get a +1 on their moral rolls.
• America artillery on Coombs Hill do not get extra dice for enfilade fire.
• Commanders on both sides can only issue orders to adjacent squares (rather than 2 squares away due to the smaller playing area).

Greene's Guns on Coombs Hill

On to the Game...

The opening couple of moves saw the British advice upon the 1st line of American defenders behind the hedge. The American defenders opened fire and the guns on Coombs Hill provided enfilade fire on the left wing of the advancing British.

From behind British lines as they prepare to advance

The American commander had to leave the 1st line defenders to organise advancing the 2nd line and preparing their defence. Meanwhile the British pushed up on the American left flank with a skirmisher, line and gun units. (Similar to the real battle with the British Light Infantry and 42nd Regiment.)

The assault on the hedge with American guns providing enfilade fire

The American line was for the most part holding firm, while the American guns on Coombs Hill helped in the elimination of the British Grenadiers. The American 2nd line of Continental units moved into position with a supporting gun.

American 1st line is wavering and Grenadiers soon to be eliminated.

The American defence of the hedge was over, but not without inflicting casualties upon the British 1st line of attack. On the American left flank American reserves were holding up the British forces, but taking casualties.

British ready to advance on the 2nd American defensive line

The British advanced on the American 2nd line. While they had more units many were in a state of exhaustion and the American guns continued to take casualties here and there.

The British assault the American 2nd line

On the left flank the American skirmishers retire after a few rounds of very effective shooting from the British Light Infantry. The American 2nd line shooting and supporting gun fire from Coombs Hill was forcing back the British units. The British assault was over due to exhaustion and casualties. (Many in the real battle succumbed to heat stroke.)

The American left flank falls back to nearby woods

In Summary...

This battle was drawn as it was in history (although both sides claimed victory). The British right flank advance was more successful than in history, but didn't do enough in this game to sway the battle.

The British attack evaporates and a draw in inevitable - end of game

The special rules worked out. Especially the hedge rule of +1 for moral. It proved useful on at least two occasions when the British rolled a number of sixes causing moral to be rolled for. I will be including this "hedge rule" into my house rules.

All in all a very enjoyable game and I'll soon be picking another battle from the many listed in Donald Featherstone's book to refight.