Remote Napoleonic Naval Wargame

Since returning from holiday a coupe of days ago, my wargaming has been limited to a remote Napoleonic Naval game session with Jon from the Palouse Wargaming Journal blog which I hosted. We were testing a set of home-brew rules that uses a hex grid and playing cards (see here). The system plays quickly and we were able to play three games in about ninety minutes.

The first game involved two patrolling ships crossing paths, a straightforward engagement to familiarise ourselves with the rules. 

A photo of the first game as the patrolling ships exchange broadsides.

The second game was a three-to-one situation, with a lone ship attempting to breakthrough a blockade. This game proved to be rather one-sided, with the blockade runner quickly being contained and forced to strike its colours.

The blockade runner is contained and forced to strike its colours. All the ships are made from MDF and card, and any detail painted on.

The final game saw Jon and I each commanding a squadron of three ships, both seeking battle. This game proved to be quite a tussle with Jon eventually delivering a British victory.

The British squadron in line opens fire.

First blood to the British, but the French are about to even things up.

The British squadron maintains their formation and prepare to reengage.

The British gunnery eventually wins. 

Well done to Jon who was the overall winner with two out of three victories. Afterward, we chatted about the rules, particularly the “in irons” mechanic, which had previously required drawing a red suit to be able to turn, and also the wind-direction rule, where spades or clubs would alter the wind one point counter-clockwise or clockwise respectively. This made the wind far too changeable. 

This has resulted in the revision of both rules:

• Ships “in irons” can now always turn.
• Wind direction: If a spade is drawn, the wind shifts one point. Then draw a second card to determine direction:
• Spades or Clubs: wind shifts one point clockwise
• Hearts or Diamonds: wind shifts one point counter-clockwise

The next day, Jon emailed some suggestions for changes to the initiative that would better reflect the advantage of a player securing the "weather gauge" and positioning their fleet upwind of the enemy. I have not incorporated this change into the rules yet, but I intend to test the initiative mechanism in the coming days. 

The proposed rule change would have a card drawn to determine initiative. If the card's suit matches a player’s chosen colour (red or black), that player becomes Player A, and the other Player B. Movement then proceeds in this order:

1. Player A moves any ships “in irons”
2. Player B moves any ships “in irons”
3. Player A moves any “close-hauled” ships
4. Player B moves any “close-hauled” ships
5. Player A moves ships “running with the wind”
6. Player B moves ships “running with the wind”

Note - with simultaneous shooting the advantage generally favours the player moving second (Player B).

All ships must make one action in their movement phase unless they are “in irons”, where they can choose to remain stationary.

More information on the making of the ships can be found here.

A Morocco Trip

Not much to report on the wargaming front this week, or next, as we are currently on holiday touring Morocco. The closest thing to a wargaming-related photograph I have so far is of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ait Ben Haddou, a walled Ksar (fortified village) used as a back-drop to a number of movies including Gladiator.

Fortified Village

I will definitely be inspired to scratch build some more buildings for my Ancients when I get home.

If I find myself craving a bit of wargaming during the trip, I have brought along Solitaire Waterloo by Worthington Games, a pencil-and-book game.

In case some gaming is required. 

That is all for this post, as it is being typed on my iPhone.

Trying larger units and a Punic War game report

With an upcoming holiday later this week, I have not done any modelling or painting. Instead, I decided to get my 1/72 scale plastic Carthaginian and Roman armies on to the tabletop. I usually play variations of the One-Hour Wargames Ancient rules, often fielding 10–12 units per side rather than the six typically suggested in the book’s scenarios.

My units typically consist of two 4" x 3" bases with up to 12 figures per base for heavy infantry, around 9 for light infantry, and 4 to 6 figures for cavalry.

My usual ancient game setup on a 6 by 4 foot tabletop.

Not wanting a large battle, I decided to play a couple of One-Hour Wargames scenarios with the usual six-unit limit. As I was setting up for the game, I thought I would try doubling the number of bases per unit. This worked very well for the heavy infantry, forming a solid block of some 48 figures that look quite impressive and gave the unit a real sense of depth. However, doubling the bases did not work out so well for the light infantry, not only did the four-base blocks seem to look wrong, but the extra depth made it difficult to position them in front of the heavy infantry. In the end, I opted to keep them as two-base units and treated them as half-units, eliminated after taking half the hits of a standard unit but still retaining their full attack value.

A 4 base unit of Roman heavy infantry and a 2 base unit of light infantry.

Game Report...

One of the One-Hour Wargames scenarios I played using the larger units was Scenario #25: Infiltration, set up on a 4' x 4' table. In this game, a smaller Carthaginian force is attempting to break through a Roman army blocking their escape route. A portion of the Roman army holds a hill overlooking the road, while additional reserves are expected to arrive along the road from both the north (left) and south (right). The Carthaginians arrive from the north-west corner with the objective of getting at least two units off the northern end of the road to secure their escape.

The battle started with a Roman heavy infantry unit occupying the hill overlooking the road. Their orders were to hold until reinforcements could arrive from the north and south.

The Carthaginian cavalry vanguard advanced swiftly, pressing ahead while light infantry began  skirmishing fire upon the Roman position. Roman reserves were sighted approaching from the north.

Harassed by the enemy light troops, the Romans upon the hill advanced to drive them off, only to find themselves confronted by the Carthaginian war elephants. At the same time, additional Carthaginian formations moved forward to engage the arriving Roman reinforcements.

With little room for manoeuvre, the opposing cavalry found themselves committed against formed heavy infantry, both suffering casualties accordingly.

The Carthaginian cavalry are ultimately routed. Roman reserves were being slow to arrive and move into position.

The war elephants continued their destructive work, scattering Roman light troops and throwing the southern Roman reserves into confusion. To the north, the momentum swings with the Carthaginians as they rout the Roman cavalry.

The road north remained blocked, but the Roman infantry holding it were weary and attacked by persistent fire from Carthaginian light troops.

At length, the Roman blocking infantry broke, opening a path of escape, but Roman reinforcements press forward, seeking to restore the situation.

A unit of Carthaginian heavy infantry and light infantry seized the opportunity to break through and escape up the road.

Two units succeeded in escaping the Romans, though one was a 2 base unit of light infantry.

Two units succeeded in passing the Roman line, though one was a 2 base unit of light infantry. As to whether they should count toward the victory conditions I am uncertain. So I will call the game a draw.

The game was most enjoyable. The larger units certainly added to the look of the game, and who does not like pushing large blocks of troops around the tabletop?

Here are the rules used...

This ruleset is a variant on Neil Thomas’ One-Hour Wargames Ancient rules. They include additional unit types, movement activation, and differently sized units.

Units Types

The game is geared towards the 2nd Punic Wars and uses the following units types:

• Heavy Infantry (4 bases)

• Gaul Warband (4 bases)

• Light Infantry (2 bases)

• Cavalry (4 or 2 bases)

• Elephants (2 bases)

• Catapults (2 bases)

• Generals can be assigned to either a Heavy Infantry or Cavalry unit for the entire game.

The units need to be consistently based. A full unit is 4 bases and a half unit is 2 bases. Light infantry, elephants, and catapults are always half units. Cavalry can be either a full unit or a half unit..

Sequence of play

Each player takes a turn to move, shoot & melee with their units in the following sequence:

1. Movement

2. Shooting

3. Combat

4. Eliminating units (& berserk elephants)

After both players have had their turn, check the Army’s Fortune.

The game ends after 15 turns.

Movement

During the movement phase a player can attempt to move their units. The procedure is:

• The first unit moved each turn is free.

• After that, roll 1D6 each time you wish to move another unit. A 2+ is success, a 1 is a failure and no more units can be moved this turn.

• Each unit can only be moved once per turn.

A unit may move up to the distances listed below:

• Heavy Infantry - 6”

• Light Infantry, Veteran Heavy Infantry, Warbands & Elephants - 9”

• Cavalry  - 12”

• Catapults - cannot move, only pivot.

Turning - Units turn by pivoting on their central point. They may pivot at the start or the end of their move.

Interpenetration - Only light infantry may pass through other friendly units (and vice versa).

Moving and shooting - Units that have moved or turned may not shoot.

Terrain

Terrain has an impact on a unit’s movement and combat.

Woods - Only light infantry & warbands can enter

Towns - No effect on movement & treat as broken ground for combat

Marshland & lakes - Impassable to units

Rivers - Can only be crossed at bridges & fords

Broken Terran (e.g. Rocky, Fields & Streams) - Only infantry may enter. Provide cover to Light Infantry and Warbands in melee, but no cover against shooting.

Roads - Units moving all their move on roads add 3” to their move distance, but cannot charge.

Hills - Units defending hills are treated as being in cover.

Charges

Charges are resolved by moving the attacking unit into contact with its target. They are subject to the following restrictions:

• Elephants. Cavalry may not charge elephant units as they become spooked.

• Turning. A charging unit may turn once, at the start of its move. This evolution may not exceed 45 degrees.

• Limited Engagement. Only one attacking unit may contact each face of the target (these being Front, Left Flank, Right Flank, and Rear).

• Fighting. Combat is resolved during the Combat phase.

Shooting

Only light infantry and catapults can shoot. The procedure for shooting is as follows:

• Units may only shoot at a target within their frontal facing.

• Light infantry have a range of 12” & assess the number of hits by rolling a D3.  Half the number of hits (rounding up fractions) when the target unit is: in cover, heavy infantry, or elephants.

• Catapults have a range of 24” & assess the number of hits by rolling a D3. (There are no modifiers.)

Combat

Units only inflict hits during their own player turn. To assess the number of hits:

• Heavy Infantry - D6

• Warband (Gauls) - D6+D3

• Light Infantry - D3

• Cavalry - D6

• Catapults - cannot attack in combat situations

• Elephants - D6

Modification to the number of hits:

• All units, except elephants, halve hits when attacking heavy infantry

• Halve hits when attacking units in woods or defending a river.

• Roll 2 D6 and select the highest score if a general is assigned to the units.

• Double the hits for flank or rear attacks.

Catapults - Are automatically eliminated in combat.

Turning Within Combat - Units may turn to face an attack upon their flank or rear if they are not simultaneously being frontally engaged. 

Eliminating Units

Full units are eliminated once they have taken 17 or more hits, and half units after 9 or more hits. 

When an elephant unit is eliminated, check to see if it goes berserk. Roll a D3 and:

• On a score of 1 the elephant immediately charges the nearest friendly unit with 12” & inflicts D6 hits. After which the elephant unit is removed from play.

• On a score of 2 the elephant immediately charges the nearest enemy unit with 12” & inflicts D6 hits. After which the elephant unit is removed from play.

• On a score of 3 nothing happens & the elephant unit is removed from play as any other unit would be.

Making some Sci-Fi Terrain

This week’s modelling has focused on scratch-building and kit-bashing additions for my Star Wars collection. Earlier in the week I kit-bashed a dinosaur from the discount shop with a mounted figure from my spare parts box (see previous post).  While I had been rummaging through my spares collection, I came across a collection of old seedpods I had collected years ago on one of my walks. I am always on the lookout for items that could be used as terrain. So it seemed timely to add to my Sci-Fi terrain collection.

Additional terrain made from seedpods.

At first, I planned to simply trim the bases so they would sit flat on the tabletop, but they looked a bit dull and boring. To give them more character, and to better match my retro-style sci-fi terrain, I decided to apply some washes and use some dry brushing to highlight their shapes.

The seedpod brown colour was uninspiring and boring.

I cut the bases off the seedpods to make them sit flat.

For the washes, I used watered-down craft acrylics applied liberally with a brush. Once dry, I then dry brushed them with my regular model paints. There were two types of seedpods to work with. One set was washed in blue, dry brushed in light blue, and finished with touches of dark red around the openings to give them a look of a carnivorous plant. The second set was washed in red and dry brushed with yellow, producing a spiky cactus look.

The blue carnivorous plant life.

The red looking cactus.

These new pieces will add some more colour to the tabletop and can double as dangerous terrain when a scenario calls for it. I will most likely be using the blue, carnivorous-looking plants for that particular role.

I couldn’t resist getting these new additions on to the tabletop and play a few solo Star Wars games using the Squad Hammer Core rules from Nordic Weasel Games.

Kit-bashing a couple of Star Wars Legion models

This week I was rummaging through my Star Wars Legion spares box, filled with all those leftover and unused bits from past kits, to see if I could find enough pieces to kit-bash a couple of new models. I managed to come up with two, the first model was a Mandalorian riding a dinosaur. The model began with a child’s plastic dinosaur that I had picked up from a local discount shop. The rider uses the spare body of a seated Clone Trooper combined with an unused Mandalorian head and jet-pack. The figure fitted neatly on the dinosaur, and I sculpted a saddle and straps using Green Stuff epoxy putty, while the reins were made from thin wire.

A kit-bashed model for my Star Wars Legion collection.

The hardest part of this model turned out to be painting the dinosaur. In my first attempt I used a grey base with a blue wash. It did not look right at all. So, after a bit of research into dinosaur colours and patterns, I tried again with a clay tone and yellow shading. This gave the creature a far more natural and interesting appearance, well suited to a desert environment.

The unpainted model with the plastic toy dinosaur.

The dinosaur colour and. patterning took a while to get right.

 The Mandalorian rider will be able to serve with either Imperial or Rebel forces. 

The reason I decided to make the rider a Mandalorian, was so the model could serve with either Imperial or Rebel forces. The idea of using a dinosaur came from my existing Imperial Dewback Rider, and the scale of the model fits perfectly alongside it.

A comparison to the "Official" Dewback Rider.

The second kit-bashed model I put together was a repair droid. Its body comes from the centre console of another model. I always paint in the windows so I can skip building the interiors. The head and tracks were taken from an unused variant of a different droid kit, while the spare arms came from a more humanoid-style of droid. With all these mismatched parts combined, the finished model definitely has a bit of a Frankenstein vibe to it.

The kit-bashed droid.

he droid seems to be waving his arms around saying "Danger! Danger!"

I plan to use the droid to undertake repairs to any damaged vehicles in my Star Wars games.

Napoleonic Naval Game Report and Rules

Last week my daughter visited for the day. When she is over we will often play a couple of One-Hour Skirmish Wargames using my Games Workshop Necromunda figures. It is a fast card-driven game that delivers plenty of fun moments.

A naval action underway using some ships scratch built from MDF and card.

This time, however, I decided to try something different, a Napoleonic naval wargame. I started with a simple set of rules from the Junior General website, but modified them to use a deck of playing cards instead of dice. I also introduced changes to the activation and movement rules, and the model ships are moved on  a hex grid rather than free movement. The full set of rules can be found under the “Napoleonic Naval Rules” tab at the top of the blog (or you can click here). The idea to play a naval came was prompted by week marking the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October, 1805.

Over the course of the day, in between a few other tasks, we managed to fit in three games. The first couple of games were small engagements with just a few ships as we familiarised ourselves with the rules. The opening scenario was a simple patrol, with opposing ships unexpectedly crossing paths. The second scenario saw a blockade runner attempting to slip past three enemy ships.

A patrol game.

A blockade game underway.

For the third and deciding game had both the French and British fielding a squadron four ships, with the objective simply to engage and destroy the opposing force.

The French squadron, deployed in two lines running with the wind, closes in on the small British squadron sailing in line ahead. 

The French ships move into gunnery range, opening fire as they bear down on the British who return fire.

One French ship becomes entangled in the British line while others swing around to cut off the lead British ship.

The battle lines quickly become confused amid the smoke and cannon fire. One French ship has already struck its colours.

The fighting devolves into a series of fierce, ship-to-ship duels as the formations breakup.

Both fleets have suffered heavy damage, with several ships sunk or with colours struck. The remaining vessels manoeuvre to re-engage any enemy still afloat.

In the end, two battered ships remain locked in combat, neither able to gain the upper hand. The battle ends in a hard-fought draw.

A fun day of wargaming, with the final battle ending in a draw and honours shared. After the games I thought about adding a few more ships to the fleets, but with the space I have available, anything more than four ships per side would start to limit the ability of ships to manoeuvre.