Hundred Years War Campaign - Game 1

The first game of the Hundred Years War campaign has Prince Riddick's forces (including the army's baggage) attempting to seize a bridge to open up another avenue for his beleaguered army to escape back to the ships. A quick reminder of the campaign map.

Campaign position with English forces trying to escape to their fleet located in the top right-hand corner of the map.

I am using rules which are best described as a mash-up of Lion Rampant rule mechanisms and One-Hour Wargame combat mechanisms, then adjusted to play on a 6 inch gridded table.

The game had both forces facing off across the river with three crossing points. A stone bridge in the centre and a ford and wooden bridge on either flank. I only have a few photos from this game due to a combination of low battery and a couple of blurred photos.

The game started with the English centre moving up and exchanging volleys of arrows with the French centre across the river. Once the French flanking move by their knights had been seen off. The English centre attempting to force their way across the bridge. Their attempts failed ultimately saw the loss of their commander (who left the field of battle hurt). The French quickly followed the English failures with a counterattack across the bridge, but were too weakened to really capitalised and in doing so overstretched themselves and in the process lost the battle. An English flanking force arriving in the nick of time to finally swing the game their way.

English knights move to counter the flanking French knights as they cross at the ford 

No attempt was made to cross at the wooden bridge. Bowmen on either side just exchanged volleys of arrows

English knights just manage to see of their flanking French counterparts

English ready to move across the bridge while also moving to cross a unit of  foot sergeants and knights across at the ford.

Prince Riddick charges across the bridge covered by his archers. This gallant charge was to see him unhorsed and the attack fail.

Emboldened by the sight of seeing Prince Riddick fail and retire hurt Baron Chastain charges across the bridge. The remaining bowmen defenders were just enough to gain revenge and it was the Baron's turn to leave the battlefield. 

Both sides were just handing on without their leaders when flanking English units were just enough to tip the game in their favour.

By winning this battle, even by the skin of his teeth, Prince Riddick secured an important crossing. Other than injured pride for being unhorsed - the Prince lives on to fight another day. Baron Chastain retired with his men still blocking an English advance.

Campaign map after the initial engagement

Hundred Years War Campaign - 6x6 Challenge

All being well I should be starting my Hundred Years War campaign games this weekend. Tonight I played out a few campaign map moves and set up the tabletop for the first game. Details of the campaign can be found here.

The campaign begins with all the English forces under three commands in the start square. The English move on a 3+ dice roll. The French have five commands, three of which start the campaign on the map and are positioned in their castle keeps. The remaining two commanders are following the English and can only enter the map once the English have vacated the start square (something they must try to do). Unlike the English the French move on a 4+. No diagonal moves are allowed.

After a couple of turns all the English commanders and their forces are marching along together away from the starting square and the chasing French are yet to enter. The French only move one unit to cover a ford.

The French chasing forces arrive as the English column is starting to fragment as their commanders let their men go foraging.

French Forces are yet to chase up - missing an opportunity as the English column gets spread out.

A few moves further down the track and an English force under the command of Prince Riddick attack a French force guarding a bridge crossing

The map defines the number of terrain features placed on the tabletop. The square where both forces occupy is plain except for the river and castle keep. So along with a river and keep two areas of rough terrain and two wood will be added.

Because I wargame on a gridded table top (6 inch square) I find I can easily use dice to determine the position of terrain features applying a few rules to get a reasonable spread of terrain.

Tabletop ready for troop deployment

6x6 Challenge SciFi Game Number 4 of 6

Over the last few days I have been playing a couple of science fiction games using the modified Tank on Tank rules as part of the 6x6 challenge. As an alternative to One Hour Wargames scenarios I used a scenario from Battle Missions (by Games Workshop) which has been sitting in the cupboard for a long time. I selected the Reconnaissance in Force scenario which has defenders in the centre of the board and a Necron incursion force deploying rapidly and attacking.

The Space Marines are holding a defence position with three objectives to hold. A Necron force will arrive on one of the tabletop sides and is decided by a dice roll.

Defence preparations are complete

The first Necrons arrive and size up the situation

A defending Dreadnought is destroyed by the combined firepower of the Necron destroyers and heavy destroyer. More attackers arrive under cover of a rock outcrop

The fort was the next target and after a couple of turns that too was in flames, the defending scouts exiting in a shaken state.

More defenders moved around to provide support

The scouts in the open were swiftly dealt with by the destroyers.

A squad of Terminators charged around the rock outcrop and caught a Necron command unit unprepared and made short work of them. Although they themselves would not survive another turn.

The final wave of the Necron attack materialises on the Space Marine flank as the rush up their remaining defenders to counter the move.

Necron warriors and command units move up to engage the defenders

The game was to carry on for another couple of turns as the Necrons successfully eliminated more Space Marine units, and moved into occupy squares with objectives.

In the game I was allowing up to three units to be located in a square. This did allow more units to be tabled, but I probably lost some of the games appeal by over crowding the units. In the next and final two games of the 6x6 challenge will be using smaller forces.

I am very keen to get to starting my Hundred Years War campaign which is all prepared and ready to go.

AWI Campaign Game Report - Battle of Fairfield Bridge

The latest battle game of my America War of Independence campaign occurred at a place called Fairfield Bridge, November 16th. 1776.

British forces (representing 3200 infantry, 200 cavalry and 4 guns)
1 x Artillery
2 x Light Infantry
1 x Cavalry
6 x Infantry

Note - in my previous post I have put down 11 units. A mistake on my part as there are only 10 units.

American Forces (respresenting 4000 infantry, 200 cavalry and 8 guns)
2 x Artillery
2 x Frontiersmen
1 x Skirmishers
6 x Continental Infantry
1 x Militia Infantry

The British had won the D6 roll for choice of side and went for the side with the defendable river. From the starting positions both sides occupied some buildings and consequently both increased their commander resolve by plus 1.

American command resolve started at 4 (by dividing number of units by 3 and discarding any remainder) plus 1 gave a starting resolve of 5. British resolve was 4 (10 units divided by 3 and plus 1).

Turns 1 and 2
American forces quickly moved forward to occupy the hills either side of the road. Hills are key features which when occupied give a plus 1 to resolve. American resolve by the end of turn 2 stood at 7.

The British did little other than position infantry near the bridge and have their artillery open up on the advancing american left flank inflicting a couple of casualties.

American advance

Turns 3 and 4
The British continued with their artillery fire while pushing one infantry unit across the bridge. Meanwhile American forces continued to move up and used their artillery to open up on the British left flank to good effect.

Both side prepare for the closing up and swapping volley fire

Turns 5 and 6
Somewhat surprisingly the British took the initiative and pushed a second unit across the bridge while light infantry emerged from the wood to ford the river and provide some additional support. Their cavalry and one infantry unit in reserve were moved to support the attack.

The American forces quickly responded moving a couple of units across from their right flank. Unfortunately their skirmisher and frontiersmen units were entangled in the ever ensuing assault across the bridge. Not ideal as they had no cover and were facing line infantry.

American artillery fire had been very effective and the British left flank had retired just out of range.

American resolve = 7 (no change) and British resolve = 6 (up 1 for holding the bridge).

Battle ensues on and around the bridge

Turns 7 and 8
The battle around the bridge was now the focus of the battle. The American plans to use their numerical superior numbers to advance on the British left flank were stalled, as their commander was bringing more units into the line around the bridge.

Meanwhile, the British were trying to organise their reserves and get them across the bridge as swiftly as possible.

Both commanders lost a unit a piece and reducing their resolve. (American commander resolve = 6 and British = 5.)

British artillery contributing to the attack across the bridge

Turns 9 and 10
Both commanders were rallying their units and trying shore up their lines. The British did successfully rout an American skirmish unit, but their lines were looking pretty precarious. However, the British commander did manage to bring another infantry unit across the bridge leaving their cavalry on the far side.

Commander resolve American = 5 and British = 5.

British forces continue to hold on to their bridge head

Turns 11 and 12
The battle around the bridge was at its fiercest with both sides losing units. The British lost 2 units and the Americans 1 along with some heavy casualties. The British had thrown in all their available reserves except their cavalry. Things were starting to look pretty grim for the British commander as the American second line and flank units started to join the battle.

Commander resolve American = 4 and British = 3.

The British attack was starting to lose momentum with only their cavalry in reserve

Turns 13 and 14
Both sides continued to slog it out exchanging volleys. The Americans were to lose 2 units and the British 1 unit. The British cavalry positioned itself for a charge of the guns positioned on the hilltop.

Commander resolve American = 2 and British = 2.

Turn 15 - Cavalry take the guns

Turns 15, 16 and 17
The climax of the battle saw the British cavalry in a last bid attempt try and steal victory from the American forces who were closing in on the depleted British units defending the bridge. They charged up and took the guns, giving British resolve an important boost (Commander resolve American = 1 and British = 3). Then they charged along the hill towards the American commander and a unit of continental infantry and in the process rolled very effectively in combat over two turns to clear the hill of American units. American commander resolve hit zero and the game was over.

British cavalry clear the hill of defenders

Summary
If it had not been for the final cavalry charge victory would have gone to American forces. It was a close run thing, the British had done better concentrating their forces where the spread out American line took some time (due to rallying) to move on the attack across the bridge. That said, the  British cavalry snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Both sides had gambled: the American's in the lead up to the battle with stacking most of their strength to enter with a numerical advantage; and the British making the first assault and holding their cavalry in reserve until the last moment.

I was rather hoping for an American victory to even up the campaign battle victories, but it was not to be. The score now stands at: British = 6 and American = 3.

AWI Campaign - Battle of Fairfield Bridge, November 16th 1776

It has been a while since I have had a game from the American War of Independence campaign. So far the British forces have won 5 of the 8 battles and recently secured Philadelphia. After a brief respite they are now marching again towards Newcastle. Leading to the ninth battle game of the campaign.

Campaign moves and battles

The American commander took a bit of a gamble with his three columns by making two of the columns very strong and one quite weak. The way I have been determining the available forces for a game is to have them divided into three columns and roll a D6 for each one. The lowest scoring column does not appear on the table and is considered too far away to march to the sound of guns. Where D6 rolls are equal the commander choses the column.

Rolling for American column available for the battle

The gamble paid off! Giving American forces 13 units and British 11 (they were more conventional with an even split across their columns. Both forces were already depleted due to persistent rain and as a consequence could not include one artillery and two other units of their commanders choice.

The battle of Fairfield Bridge was to take place November, 16th, 1776. The tabletop terrain was all randomly generated as I have done so throughout this campaign. This time a river was introduced, which was fordable by all except artillery who could cross at the bridge. The table layout provided a interesting decision. The most defendable side had the river closest to the edge, but only two terrain (building and bridge) squares to boost a commanders resolve. While the least defendable side furthest from the river had three square which if occupied would boost command resolve (two hills and buildings).

The British won the D6 roll and opted to defend along the river.

The numerically stronger American forces line up 

British forces prepare their defence of the river

Light infantry in the woods defend the centre

American forces ready to go

I will post the battle report soon. The game has been played. I am trying to keep my posts shortish as I find long posts consume too much time and can become a bit of a chore.

Third SciFi games as part of 6x6 challenge

I played a third SciFi games a couple of weeks back. Somehow I had annoyingly only taken one photo of the game which does not really make for a good game report. So I threw some terrain onto the table and placed four objectives onto the table. Two objectives were placed in the centre ruins and the remaining two in opposing corners. The winner of the game would be the side with the most objective with draws allowed.

For this game I was allowing multiple units to occupy a square with a maximum of 3 units in a square, but this could be less if they didn't fit.

Necron Force

I am using the Tank on Tank rule variant with some modifications for the SciFi games on a square gridded table. The units are described with (move-armour-range) and special rules.

1 x Monolith (1-12-3) heavy weapon
3 x Immortals (1-9/10-3) with a leader
4 x Warriors (1-8/10-2) with a leader
3 x Destroyers (3-10-2) with blast weapons
1 x Heavy Destroyer (2-10-3) with power weapon
1 x Destroyer Lord (3-10-2) is a Leader
1 x C'tan (1-12-3) Psychic and veteran

The Space Marine force was made up of:

1 x Scouts (1-7/10-2) sniper
2 x Tactical marine sections (1-8/10-2) flamers
2 x Tactical marine sections (1-8/10-2) with leaders
1 x Tactical marine sections (1-8/10-2) blast weapons
1 x Tactical marine sections (1-8/10-3)
1 x Landspeeder (3-11-3) blast weapons
1 x Assault sections (3-8/10-1) with leader
2 x Assault sections (3-8/10-1) flamers
1 x Assault sections (3-8/10-1) power weapon
1 x Whirlwind (2-11-6) heavy weapon
1 x Razorback (2-11-3)
1 x Dreadnoughts (1-11-1) assault and power weapon
1 x Dreadnought (1-11-3) power weapon

Space Marine Force

Both sides deployed in opposite corners and quickly moved on the centre ruins while pushed around on opposing flanks with their fast units. The Necrons had the early successes, but over the course of the game the marines got the upper hand and eventually held 3 out of the 4 objective squares. Photos of the game progress below.

Space Marines rush forward while keeping some units in reserve

First blood going to the destroyers who brought their combined firepower to destroy razorback

Fast attacking units move up on the flank. 

Necrons prepare to counter the flanking move

More Necrons converge on the ruins

Casualties mount on both sides

Marine reserves move on the flank objective defended by a lone destroyer 

More marines join the battle for the ruins

A flank objective is captured by marines 

The remaining Necron defence is slowly being eliminated

The game played quickly and the stacking of multiple units in a square proved very successful. I reduced the troop units models to between 3-4 which helped when they were grouped together in a square. The trick with the rules seems to be about getting a balance between moving up units into positions while maintaining a level of attacks on enemy units.