6x6 challenge update for October

In the last couple of days of October I have been able to play out my last two 6x6 challenge games using Galleys and Galleons rules. The first game (fifth in the series) was an ambush game with a Spanish ship chasing an English privateer into a trap.

The chase is on as and second ship lays in wait to spring the trap 

Unaware of a trap the Spanish Galleon closes the gap 

A change in wind direction went against the ambushers and favoured the Spanish 

The Spanish catches up and delivers a devastating broadside

All ships close and exchange shots 

With one Privateers having sustained heavy damage and both decide to break off the engagement

The second game has a Spanish galleon bottled up in port and an English ship waiting for it to make a run for the other corner and escape.

An English ship waits for the Spanish ship to make a break.

The Spanish finally make a break for it 

The English ship closes and engages.

Both ships tack across the board firing when possible

The Spanish ship slips free

Two Spanish wins.

With those two games my 6x6 challenge is complete. A most enjoyable challenge set at the start of this year by Kaptain Kobold and got me playing some rulesets purchased but never played. My favourite challenge games was the Hundred Years War series which ended up running for 10 games as part of a mini-campaign.

The completed list...

• Tank-on-Tank (Lock 'n' Load Publishing) SciFi Variant - 6 games completed in February
• Dark Ages with Dux Bellorum (Osprey) - 6 games completed in January using paper armies
• WW2 Naval (Pz8 rules) - 6 games now completed in July.
• 19th Century European Imagi-Nations OHW Variant - 6 played. The final games were played in August.
• Galleys and Galleons (Ganesha Games) - 6 games completed in October.
• Hundred Years War using Lion Rampant (Osprey) - 6 games completed as part of a series of campaign games.

6x6 Game and monthly progress update

With the blue cloth already spread out on the tabletop there was time for a second Galleys and Galleons game. This time we have a privateer galleon trying to sink a merchant ship which is being escorted by a Spanish galleon.

The Spanish start at anchor and cannot move until the Privateer comes into sight. Then they must first spend one move to weigh anchor before moving.

The privateer (still unseen) moves towards the Spanish.

Spanish lookout spot the privateer as the ship comes around the headland.

Spanish weigh anchor.

The privateer gets a damaging broadside off against the escorting galleon.

As a result of the damage to the galleon there were some garbled orders and the resulting confusion meant the galleon  takes a wrong heading. Meanwhile the merchant is quickly under sail.

With the merchant ship on the run and isolated - the privateer gives chase.

The merchant crew is experienced and is giving the privateer a run for their money. Meanwhile the Spanish escort galleon is in hot pursuit. 

Finally some damage is done to the merchantman.

The merchant ship tries to break free from the pursuit as the galleon threatens the privateer.

The pursuit continues as the merchant ship seeks escape (through getting off the table in the corner)

More damage is inflicted

The merchant ship is finally sunk when so close to escaping.

As it is very unlikely I will play another 6x6 challenge game this month. Here is my 6x6 progress as at the end of September:

• Tank-on-Tank (Lock 'n' Load Publishing) SciFi Variant - 6 games completed in February
• Dark Ages with Dux Bellorum (Osprey) - 6 games completed in January using paper armies
• WW2 Naval (Pz8 rules) - 6 games now completed in July.
• 19th Century European Imagi-Nations OHW Variant - 6 played. The final games were played in August.
• Galleys and Galleons (Ganesha Games) - 4 games have been played so far.
• Hundred Years War using Lion Rampant (Osprey) - 6 games completed as part of a series of campaign games.

Back to some 6x6 games on the high seas

After a couple of weeks messing around with some WW2 games, it was time to play some games from the 6x6 challenge list. So far I have not played any 6x6 games this month.

From my 6x6 list I have completed playing through five of the six rulesets, and only have outstanding the ruleset Galleons and Galleys by Ganesha Games. I played two games using these rules way back in April. Since then I have somewhat forgotten the rules, and so to remind my self of the rules my third game would be a simple affair with a privateer ambushing a Spanish Galleon.

Privateer (Q3 C4)

• Chaser guns
• Galleon rigged
• Razee
• Trained gun crew

Spanish Galleon (Q3 C3)

• Chaser guns
• Galleon rigged
• High castles

A Spanish Galleon in the foreground is surprised by a Privateer.

A couple of islands and small reefs make up the terrain

The Privateer quickly closes and just manages to get a broadside off 

Both ships manoeuvred to gain an advantage  

broadsides are exchanged with both ships suffering hits 

The Spanish Galleon managed to skip free from the fight after suffering a couple of hits

Paper ships for next 6x6 gaming challenge - games 1 and 2

With a few paper ships made it was time to play a couple of games using the Galleys and Galleons by Ganesha games, which is my next 6x6 gaming challenge. I played two games, the first one with my daughter who was visiting over Easter and was kind enough to offer to play,  and the second was a solo game.

Spanish Galleons

English Galleons

The first game was a bit of a hoot as both players tried getting to grips with the sailing rule mechanics of the game. Some missed activations saw one of Spanish galleons merrily sailing off the board.  The remaining Galleons fought  it out with the English who suffered badly after a successful boarding action and some excellent broadsides by the remaining Spanish galleon. A win to the Spanish and my daughter who was delighted to have won.

Game 1 - only one photo was taken of the game itself

Looking up and remembering the multiple special rules was quite frustrating in the first game. So for the second game I converted these various special rules into some galleon statistics. So rather than just quality and combat, I had quality, shooting value, boarding value, and defence value. This helped speed up the combat quite significantly in the second game.

Start of the second game

Spanish galleons split by the reef.

A successful boarding action by the Spanish

A second Spanish win

By the end of the second game, a second Spanish victory, I had certainly come to grips with the basic rules. I liked the activation approach which works very effectively as the galleons manoeuvre to try and gain the advantage over their opposite number. The effects of combat also get factored into the activation process and the level of risk you want to take when rolling for successful actions.