A couple of useful items ground at a craft shop

As my wife was going to a craft store I tagged along as usual to have look to see if there were any items I could make use of on the tabletop. I found a couple of items, some wood craft sticks which I thought could make some useful markers and some grey felt which was not a flat colour, but mottled or speckled grey.

woodcraft sticks and felt from a trip to the craft shop.

In my English Civil War games I need to track which units are out of ammunition and also when they have been rallied. I figured the wood craft slicks, which are approximately 2.5 inches long, could be painted green and written on for markers. When completed they look reasonably discrete positioned behind the unit bases. They are much easier to pick up to move compared to cardboard markers.

The markers are added behind the units.

A couple of weekends ago I made some pavements out of MDF board which I painted (see here). This time I used the mottled grey felt which I just cut out the shapes. While I prefer the painted MDF board, the felt is a much easier option to make.

The grey mottled field cut out and positioned under the buildings.

Just before we were leaving to visit the kids in Wellington, New Zealand, some Hinchliffe ECW Models from Lancashire Games arrived in the post. I am adding a few more units and commanders to my collection.

Recent ECW arrivals

Adding to the English Civil War solo wargaming decision cards

This week I have added two decision cards, a deployment card and shooting priority card, for playing solo English Civil War solo games. These decision cards provide guidelines to assist the solo wargamer in playing a battle against an opposing English Civil War army on a tabletop. The decision cards can also be adapted for collaborative gameplay with multiple players facing off against a card-driven opponent or for solo observation, where both armies are controlled by the cards. The cards serve the following purposes:

• To determine the deployment of each army
• To establish each army's stance (retire, hold, and attack) and associated tactical actions at the start of each turn
• To prioritise unit movement and charges for the army’s stance
• To determine target priority when shooting

The flow of decisions. The deployment card is only used once when setting up the game. The army stance is checked at the start of each game turn to determine the tactical action card to be used to guide movement. Finally the shooting priority card determines the targets when units shoot.

While all the guidelines can fit onto a few sheets of papers. I prefer to use cards when playing the game, having the tactical action cards to hand when moving the units means no flicking through pages.

The cards printed up and stuck to cardboard.

I have tried to make the decision cards to be rules agnostic, but there will be some activation mechanisms that are not suited, particularly where movement in a game turn switches between the armies during a game turn. 

Rather than take photographs of the cards here is the write up.

Army Deployment

When determining an army’s deployment of troops follow these steps:

1. Divide the army’s deployment area on the tabletop into three zones: right flank, centre, and left flank. The troops will deploy in these zones in one, two, or three lines depending upon the units involved and their numbers.
2. When there are two or more infantry units, they are split the units into two equal groups and placed in the centre and centre reserve. Where there is an odd number of units, the additional unit goes in the first line centre.
3. Cavalry are split into two equal groups, one for the right flank and one for the left flank. and placed in the centre and centre reserve. Where there is an odd number of units, the additional unit goes in the right flank. When there are two or more infantry units on a flank, they are split the units into two equal groups and placed in the flank and flank reserve. Where there is an odd number of units, the smaller group is positioned in the flank reserve.
4. Dragoons and commanded shot units are split into two equal groups, one for the front line of right flank and front line of left flank. Where there is an odd number of units, roll a D6 and on a 4-6 place the larger group on the right flank. Where possible dragoons and commanded shot will take advantage of terrain for cover.
5. Artillery are placed in front of the centre.
6. Commanders are placed between the right flank reserve and centre reserve.

The flank and centre zones

While deciding the deployment of an army also decide upon the characteristics of the commander. Use a D6 to determine:

1-2 Cautious

3-4 Steady

5-6 Impetuous

The commanders characteristics will influence the stance an army will take during the battle.

Here is an example of an army waiting to be deployed…

Before deployment - there are 5 x cavalry, 2 x artillery, 1 x dragoons, 1 x commanded shot, and 5 x infantry.

The army deployed…

The army deployed.

• The odd numbered cavalry were split into a group of 2 and group of 3. The larger group was positioned on the right flank and because it had more than two units was split into two and and small group placed in reserve.
• As with the cavalry, the infantry had 5 units split into groups of 2 and 3. The larger group positioned in the centre and the smaller in centre reserve.
• Artillery were placed in front of the centre. 
• The dragoon and commanded shot units were placed in front of the flanks. I diced to see which flank the commanded shot were to be position and the dragoon unit was placed on the other flank.

Just a final note. If using a commander in the rules, then they are positioned to the right of the centre reserve.

Army Stance Card

Decision table for determining an army’s stance is checked at the start of each player’s turn. Work through them in the order they are written. Then select the tactical action card which is first met.

1) The army will retire if any of the following apply:

• It is has lost more than 50% of its units AND rolls a 4+. The score is modified by a commander’s characteristic: -1 if impetuous or +1 if cautious or the commander has been forced from the field of battle.

2) The army will take a hold its position if any of the following apply:

• It is the opening turn of the battle and the army has artillery.
• If it holds the objective it was tasked with taking.
• It is outnumbered AND rolls a 4+. The score is modified by their commander’s characteristic: -1 if impetuous or +1 if cautious or the commander has been forced from the field of battle.

3) The army will attack by default if the above checks do not apply.

Hold Tactical Actions

During the movement phase apply these actions in the order they are written until no more than half an army's units, ignoring artillery, have moved or the end of the list is reached.

1. Any unit can pivot to face an the closest imminent threat.
2. Dragoons and commanded shot units, if not holding an objective or within 12” distance of an enemy unit, even an engaged one, will advance to harass enemy unit taking cover where possible.
3. Cavalry units will charge other enemy units within charge range. Target cavalry first, then the closest unit.
4. Infantry out of ammunition will advance if being shot at, unless they have a terrain advantage or hold an objective.
5. Infantry will hold their position, only moving their reserve to protect the army flank, fill gaps in the line, or help hold an objective.

Attack Tactical Actions

During the movement phase apply these actions in the order they are written until no more than half an army's units, ignoring artillery, have moved or the end of the list is reached.

1. Any unit can pivot to face the closest imminent threat.
2. Dragoons and commanded shot units, if not holding an objective or within 12” distance of an enemy unit, even an engaged one, will advance to harass enemy unit taking cover where possible.
3. Cavalry units will charge other enemy units within charge range. Target cavalry first, then the closest unit.
4. First line cavalry units starting with the strongest flank, or the right flank if of equal strength, will advance to engage the opposing enemy flank units, targeting enemy cavalry first. If not all can move, always start with the rightmost unit.
5. Cavalry units move to position themselves to charge enemy units, preferably in the flank or rear.
6. Infantry in the centre will advance until they can engage the enemy. If not all units can advance this turn, start with the right most infantry unit unless there is a unit trailing behind, then advance that unit to maintain a consistent line.
7. Infantry units out of ammunition will advance to engage enemy.
8. Reserve units, first cavalry and then infantry, will advance to fill gaps or position themselves half a move behind the first line. Start on the right hand side.

Retire Tactical Actions

During the movement phase apply these actions in the order they are written until no more than half an army's units, ignoring artillery, have moved or the end of the list is reached.

1. Any unit can pivot to face the closest imminent threat.
2. Cavalry units will charge other enemy units within charge range. Target enemy cavalry or the closest enemy unit.
3. Artillery units retire or remove from play, depending upon rules.
4. Cavalry will retire.
5. Infantry will retire.
6. Dragoons and commanded shot will retire.

Shooting Priority

During the shooting phase apply these rules to determine shooting priority.

Infantry - Always target infantry units first, then the closest unit. If distances similar similar distances, then shoot the unit which is most directly in front.

Dragoons and Commanded Shot - Always target cavalry units first, then the closest unit. If distances similar similar distances, then shoot the unit which is most directly in front.

Artillery - Always target infantry units first followed by cavalry units, then the closest unit. If distances similar similar distances, then shoot the unit which is most directly in front.

Final Notes

Most of the games I have played with the decision cards have used a variation of One-Hour Wargames with an IGO-UGO activation approach, or an approach used from the book “With Pike and Musket” where you dice to determine which army moves first, then after both have moved shooting and melee are simultaneous.

A good fifty percent of the games had both armies controlled by the cards. This proved to be quite entertaining as both army had the same constraints applied to them. The exception being the commander’s characteristics.

I will no doubt find some errors in the decision cards and will update them. Thank you to those who have flagged my typos and made suggestions in the comments. They are much appreciated.

What is next? I will be running a few more games using scenarios which are not a traditional set battle to see how the decision cards cater for those situations.

 

Terrain additions - pavements/sidewalks and a church

In addition to playing English Civil War games recently, I've dabbled in a few tabletop games set in WW2. When setting up a small village in these games, I typically use 3 to 4 buildings to create the scene. However, I recently had the idea to enhance the village's appearance by incorporating pavements or sidewalks.

A few buildings representing a small village.

Adding some pavements/sidewalks help to improve the look and impression of a village.

In order to make the pavements/sidewalks, I used rectangular pieces of 3mm MDF board. I applied a coat of grey paint and then added a black wash. After allowing it to dry, I dabbed on various shades of grey to create the appearance of paving stones. The buildings are simply placed in the centre of the rectangles when required or not if an individual farm building.

After being painted grey and having a black wash applied the paving stones are applied as dabs of paint.

Various shades of grey are used with the dabs of paint.

As I was making terrain I thought I would also add a church to my collection as it is one building I lacked with my existing collection of wooden block buildings. A couple of previous posts show the process for making these wooden buildings here and here. These buildings are very much wargaming models and get thrown into the terrain plastic tub when not in use.

A village church is added to the collection.

Another view.

The village with pavements/sidewalks.

Solo ECW Decision Cards

An English Civil War game underway. Recent games have doubled the number of units in the games.

Last week I reworked my solo English Civil War (ECW) decision cards so they are all of the same size and stuck them to cardboard. The cards are still structured with the Army Stance card that determines at the start of each player’s turn whether an army is attacking, holding a position, or retiring. The tactical cards cover combat tactics depending upon the Army Stance chosen and prioritise unit movement.

The updated cards have been stuck onto card. A closer look shows a few scribbles as I continue to refine the cards.

So far, the decision cards seem to be working well when both armies are directed using the cards, decision tables versus decision tables so to speak. This approach helped to speed up the testing of the decision cards. The next stage involves playing a few more games in which I, as the solo wargamer, will be playing against an army directed by the decision tables.

A game in progress where movement for both sides is being determined by the decision cards. 

Initially, I when began experimenting with using decision cards it was with smaller armies consisting of 6 to 8 units, where the number of units allowed to move was based on a D3 dice score. My aim is to be able to use decision cards with armies of any size, an ideal size for me being 12-15 units. To achieve this, I have used an approach that permits up to half of the army to move, ignoring artillery units and rounding down any fractions, rather than relying on a variable number determined by the dice.

The Army Stance decision card now includes some variables based upon the commanders characteristics.

After reading through the suggestions and ideas in the comments from my last post on decision cards, another modification was made. This involved the inclusion of variables in the "army stance" decision table to represent the commander's nature, whether it be aggressive, passive, or balanced. If someone can come up with a better term that “average” or “balanced” in the comments that would be most useful.

The Attack tactical card has the most instructions.

A added a few pictures of the period to the cards to help jazz them a bit.

There are still a few adjustments to most cards.

As I play a few more games using these cards my focus will be to try and make the instructions as clear and simple as possible. I also plan to make another couple of additional cards. The first will be one covering the decisions on the prioritisation of targets for shooting and melee. This will allow me to do priority by unit type and remove the target prioritisation from the rules. The other card, Deployment, will be used at the start of the game and will determine the deployment of troops to the centre and flanks.

This sketch shows how the deployment and shooting/melee priority cards will fit in.

Finally another photo of the game towards the end.

Some quick fields and sprucing up some roads

Lately, my painting and modelling activity has been quite slow. Therefore, in order to get back into the swing of thing's, I focused on finishing a couple of tasks which have been on my list for a while now. Specifically, finishing a couple of fields made from corduroy material, and adding a dirty/dusty to some felt roads.

The material in the left is dry brushed with a sandy coloured paint.

After the sand colour dry brushing dabs of green are added around the edge and dabbed on some of the ridges to indicate some plants are growing to add variety.

On the left another option is to dab on larger dots of green.

The felt roads get a dry brushing too to give them some texture.

The roads and fields in use on the tabletop.

20 minutes of work improves their overall look and stops them looks as stark on the tabletop.

A remote WW1 Palestine campaign game report

The tabletop was briefly cleared of English Civil War figures and green tabletop mat and replaced with an arid looking setting for another WW1 Palestine campaign remote game with Jon (Palouse Wargaming Journal). As usual Jon commanded the Turkish forces.

The early stages of the game played on a grid-based tabletop.

Having a blog titled "Grid-based wargaming - but not always" it is always good to feature a game that is played on grid, in this case a 6-inch gridded tabletop. The grid is very helpful for remote games. I added rocks and bushes to indicate the corners of the squares, normally I rely on discrete crosses marked on the gaming mat, but these cannot be picked up on the camera.

Campaign map

The scenario selected from the campaign rules, which can be found here, is scenario 18, counterattack, from One-Hours Wargames. In the campaign this is the tenth battle and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) has been stuck at stage 4 trying to win a battle to continue their advance on Damascus.

Scenario map

Background

As the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) pushes through the Judean mountains in their bid to capture Jerusalem, the Turks are fiercely resisting, and their defensive lines remain unbroken. EEF faces another challenge in their plan as they attempt to seize control of a vital bridge over Wadi Al-Hamra. Supplies are being bought up and the attack is planned to begin in early June 1918. The Turks have detected their the build up of forces and are now preparing to launch their own counterattack.

Order of Battle

Turkish Forces:

• 5 infantry units (2 with attached machine guns)
• 1 artillery unit
• 1 mountain artillery unit

Egyptian Expeditionary Forces:

• 4 infantry units
• 1 Mounted infantry unit
• 1 artillery unit
• 1 tank unit
• 1 Aircraft support

Deployment

The Turks have 1 unit positioned at the start of the game in zone 1 north of the river. Their remaining units will arrive on turn 3 from the northern table edge.

The EEF will deploy all their units (excluding aircraft) along the southern table edge.

Special Rules

The EEF are unaware of the fords and may not use them.

Victory Conditions

Victory is achieved by control of the bridge and occupation of the town on or before turn 15.

Game Report

The early stage of the game. Jon had placed an artillery unit at the bridge and the advancing EEF units came under fire as they moved across the open and towards the bridge.

The Turkish reserve arrives to help defend the bridge and also swing round on the EEF’s right flank crossing at one of the fords.

The tank slowly advances on the bridge to support the attack.

Air support arrived, but was not that effective.

The tank attack fizzles out with a break down. A very frustrating moment for the EEF which was hoping to get the upper hand in the game. A roll of 2+ was required, but not achieved.

The EEF are still battling to take control of the bridge and now have to contend with a Turkish flank attack.

The EEF make a last ditch attempt to storm the bridge. This was repulsed and the Turks just held on.

By turn 15 the bridge remains contested and the town in EEF’s hands. A drawn game.

Thoughts on the game

• Despite ending in a draw, the game had its ups and downs and kept the players on the edge until the end, especially when the EEF made a final effort to control the bridge. 
• Previous games in the campaign allowed free movement, but this was the first one that utilized a square grid, which worked out well.
• The tank failed again with a breakdown just like it did in an earlier game, very disappointing for myself as the EEF player.
• Capturing the town was a hard ask for the Turks in this scenario.

The Campaign

In this campaign, a draw is as good as a win for the Turks, and it is now impossible for the EEF to meet their victory conditions of reaching Damascus by October 1918. When designing the campaign, the possibility of drawn games had not been considered, and approximately a quarter of the games played so far have ended in draws. Nonetheless, the players will continue with more games involving the Arab Rebellion armies.

Solo rules for ECW wargaming continues

Following my previous post, I have been further developing the decision tables for solo wargaming with my old Hinchliffe English Civil War (ECW) miniatures. In order to test them, I have been engaging in a series of games where both sides use these decision tables. It has been interesting to observe the course of the games and the various manoeuvres of each army. The latest version of the decision tables can be found later in this post, along with some photographs from a game where both armies are being directed by decision tables (yes, its a long post).

A game about to start

There have been a number tweaks to the decision tables after each game and also to the rules. Some of those larger changes are listed below along with reasons.

Decision table structure and creating decision cards

Decision structure where the Army’s Stance determines the Tactical decision table to use.

The decision structure remains the same, with an overall army level decision table to determine the army's stance and the corresponding tactical decision tables to be used. I have introduced the terms "Army Stance" and "Tactical Cards". A quick thank you to the Jolly Broom Man for suggesting the term "Stance" in his comment - I was struggling to find a suitable term. To simplify matters during gameplay, I have cut and pasted the decision tables onto cardboard so a player can select the card and just focus on the tactics of the current stance without flicking through pages. I will redesign these cards once I am satisfied I am done with amendments.

The decision tables have been cut out and pasted to cardboard from various cereal and biscuit boxes recovered from our recycle bin.

The aggressiveness of an army’s attack stance, or its defensive activity when in a hold stance, is determined by the score of a D3 dice with limits the number of units which can be moved as you work down the priority list of actions on the decision table. Once the number of moves has been met or you have worked through all the priority list items, then the army’s movement phase is over.

Note: I am currently using armies made up of 6-8 units. If using armies were to have a larger number of units I would use a D3+n, added 1 for each additional two units over 8. For example, a 12 units army would roll D3+2.

Change the rules to better align with decision tables

I had originally thought an IGO-UGO approach in the rules would work best, but what I have found is this creates a few other decisions which then have to be addressed in the decision cards. The sequence of events I now use in the rules aims to simplify the decision making the cards have to consider: