Simple Zama

I had the chance to have a couple of friends come over for a game the other night and in line with recent musings about accessible rules I decided to try out a 'derivative ancients' scenario.

Units and combat were based on Commands and Colors: Ancients, but without the heavy/medium/light distinctions.

Four figures per base meant four attack dice, three figures three attack dice and so on.  All movement was by hex, as per CCA, and shooting was as javelin-armed shooting in CCA.  Unit casualties were removed in bases so it would be easy to see how strong/weak the units were.

Most of my CCA boardgame gear is back in New Zealand, so we used normal dice for fighting and although I have some cards here we used die-roll activation rather than activation by card play.

Activation pips were d4+1.  It cost one pip to activate a single unit, two pips to activate a line fighting or all moving at the speed of the slowest unit and three pips to activate a line moving or fighting at their own speeds.  Leaders gave a one pip discount to line moves, but lines could not extend across left/centre/right boundaries and nor could they exceed five units.

The activation rules were simple but they gave plenty of scope for players to do what they wanted to do while also giving them some tough decisions to make.  It also avoided adding the extra layer of complexity that using a card system for activation would have entailed.

The scenario was going to be important. I went for a famous battle that had both sides fairly evenly matched and that did not have much in the way of terrain to worry about.  Given the armies I have painted at the moment, Zama was the obvious choice.

I would umpire to give rules advice and help keep things going if the guys got bogged down with options.

To win the game would require nine victory points, with VPs to be scored by destroying enemy units.

The first picture (below) shows the game after the opening move, in which M (as Rome) advanced his light infantry to pepper the elephants and the left wing to threaten the Carthaginian right.

B (as Carthage) responded by shielding the elephants with his own lights and advancing cavalry on both flanks.

Rome took a points victory in the tentative tussles on her right but Carthage got a clear advantage on the other flank (seen below) by virtue of some bold cavalry attacks.

B opened up a 6-1 advantage in unit kills over the Romans and it seemed that Hannibal might have an easy win.

But things were not quite as one-sided as it would appear from the score alone: the Carthaginians had six units reduced to just one remaining base, so if the Romans could get in close enough they would be able to even things up reasonably quickly.

But this was the time when Rome went through a low-pip period, and her attempts to polish off enemy units with missile fire from the Numidians did not go to plan.  Still, the Roman advance got underway in the centre, which caused B to worry for his elephants again.

As M's missile volleys drew closer, B advanced troops out of the line in an attempt to drive off the offending velites. In the confusion the Romans began to score some successes against those already reduced Carthaginian units, bringing the victory count to a more respectable 6-4, and opening up the possibility of picking off some more (if only the javelin men would shoot straight!).

With the pressure building in the centre B sent forward a unit of elephants to hit the Roman heavy infantry, but he could not quite finish them off.

In the counter-attack the elephants were destroyed and two other units with them.  It was now 7-6 to Rome as her remarkable comeback gained pace.

Carthage committed a second elephant which attacked a unit of hastati and while it died in the attempt it took a Roman commander with it.  Still needing one more kill to win the game, M could not quite manage it this turn as he failed to kill off the auxiliaries.  With the score 8-7 to Rome, B and his Carthaginians took up the pip die once more.

With two unit kills needed to claim the victory for Carthage, B threw in everything he could - elephants, Spanish auxiliaries and Gallic warriors.  If they did not win they would be killed in battle back, giving Rome the victory. It was to be knife-edge stuff...

And knife-edged it proved to be: with his last two throws of the dice B managed to kill off the stragglers and claim the last victory points he needed to leapfrog his great mate M and win 9-8.

It was an exhilarating game that had a bit of everything and I was very pleased with how it all went. I think it vindicated the simple rules approach and the 'give-the-players-the-options' command rules.

Both players had a great time and are very keen to play again at some stage, so a good result all round!

Quick (and extremely derivative) Ancients rules

As I try to work myself back into gaming mode again I've been going back to an idea I had a couple of months ago for a kid-friendly, language independent miniatures game.

The plan was to base the rules on Commands & Colors and to have the table layout give the players most of the information they need to be able to play.

Infantry units would be represented by four bases and have four strength points, cavalry would be represented by three bases and have three strength points, elephants and war engines by two bases and have two strength points.

Four-figure bases would roll four attack die, two-figure bases two attack die, and so on. Missile fire would be restricted to troops armed with javelins, slings or bows, with one attack die lost if units moved before shooting.  For each strength point lost, units would have to roll a die pre-combat.  If a one was rolled they would lose one attack die.

Non-missile units would hit on fives or sixes and missile units would hit on sixes, whether using close or distance combat.  Leaders would either add an extra die or allow hits on fours.  Ones could, in some cases, cause a retreat.

Movement would be regulated by a hex grid such as a I normally use for true C&C games.

Activation would be by d4 roll, with one pip allowing a single unit to activate and two pips allowing a line of connected units to do so.

Players would be represented on table by leader figures and might be able to fight hand to hand against enemy leaders if they wanted to, a la Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

To win the game you'd need to kill a certain number of enemy units.

If used with my students I might allow a few extra rules: if they were able to remember to use certain sentences, for example, they might be able to roll an extra attack die, or move one hex farther than usual.

The main thing though is to have something fun and accessible for the cousins / kids' friends to play when they come to visit.

Quiet on the Eastern Front

There has not been much activity here of late.  I was away on a ten day jaunt to attend my brother's wedding and catch up with some friends in various places and I haven't exactly hit the ground running since I've been back.

While I was away I was lucky enough to be able to strap on a guitar and get up with some musicians again and a significant part of me is pining for the jam room rather more than for the gaming table.  Add to this some concerns about future career direction and wargaming is suddenly not seeming to be quite as essential as it was three weeks ago.

Here's no great matter indeed...

Ensuring there is balance will be the key!

Rules Archive

Following Trebian's post from last Friday, and Dave Knight's as well, I thought I would do a similar compilation list of owned rules.

The trick is that they must be a hard copy and purchased by me, but I'm also going to include gifts.

I actually thought I had more rules than this, but I suppose that's because I buy too many boardgames as well!

Ancient and Medieval Wargaming - Neil Thomas rules. Simple set with lots of army lists. Open to interpretation so house rules need to be sorted out. Makes for a fun game. Jumbos are overpowered, but that's good if you're playing with your kids because you just give them the elephant army!

Ancient Warfare - A gift from a friend. Uses exotic basing, so probably won't play these.

Armati and Advanced Armati - Ancients rules from Arty Conliffe. Have no local opponent so have only played once and then solo. Would like to try them some more.

Broadsword - Ebay buy. Diceless medieval miniatures.

Classical Hack - Ancients rules from Phil Viverito. First set of rules I bought, but there are some things about them I didn't much like, so eventually moved on.

Command Decision 2nd Edition - WWII set from GDW. Not yet played.

Commands and Colors: Ancients - Very popular game from Richard Borg that uses hexes to regulate movement and cards to activate units. Produced as a board game but designed with miniatures in mind.

Corvus - Ancient naval miniatures rules from the Society of Ancients. Not played yet.

Crossfire - Remarkable set of WW2 rules. I'm not yet experienced enough to rate them properly from play, but I love the ideas behind them.

DBA - The classic 12-element set. I don't mind it the big battle version, but doesn't really appeal to me enough to learn all the ins and outs of the rules.

DBM - Wanted to like these, but the gaminess of some of the tactics put me off a bit.  Might get back into it for some solo games at some stage.  The army lists are a fantastic resource.

Field of Glory - Played one game but didn't really grab us and haven't played again since.

Hail Caesar - Development of Warmaster Ancients. Rules that seem to suit a casual club scene with big battles involving beer and lots of players. Not very appealing to me for solo play for some reason, even though they should work OK.

Johnny Reb II - Classic American Civil War rules. Order chits, strict sequence of play, really enjoyable. Sad to say I've still only had one game.

Kampfgruppe Commander II - WW2 rules. Not yet played, but there are things about them I like.

Legion - Early set from Phil Sabin.  Detailed look at ancient warfare. I need to get an appropriate hex mat sorted out to give these a try.

Might of Arms - A recent purchase. Keen to look at these a bit more.

Modern Spearhead - Modern adaption of the Spearhead rules. Gripping games at the outset, but they can become a bit of a grind as you end up rolling, rolling, rolling and rolling again for rockets, artillery, mortars and air strikes. Games are often decided by who can get their flank march to arrive at the right moment. My opponent generally outplays me tactically and yet we end up at around 50/50 in results, which goes to show that luck and playing the Americans is important!

Napoleon's Battles - Classic Napoleonics set. Probably too long in the tooth to make the time investment needed to learn these now. If I'd got them when I was a teenager I'd have been all over them.

Shako - More Arty Conliffe rules.This time Napoleonic.

Shattered Lances - Interesting Crusades set. Not sure why we haven't played these yet. Have been meaning to for years!

Shipwreck - Modern naval. Looking forward to trying these out.

Spearhead - Good rules for WW2 with 1/300 scale miniatures. Less arty-reliant than the Modern version, but I've only played twice, so it may depend on the scenario.

Strategos II / Lost Battles - Innovative rules from Phil Sabin. Best ancients rules I've played. Makes for great stories and historical outcomes.  Hard to beat.

Warhammer Ancients Battles - Well known GW set for 28mm figures. Not really suited for 15mm figures, but you can play it.

Warhammer English Civil War - A gift from a friend. Familiar Warhammer mechanics.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle, battle for Skull Pass set - 3rd edition was my introduction to miniatures gaming, and bought this out of nostalgia. Not the same game however, and not yet played in this form.

Warmaster Ancients - Designed for 10mm figures. Idiosyncratic basing for pike and shock cavalry, but an interesting set of rules. Played one game solo.

Games in the classroom

It's coming up to the end of the school year here in Japan and a few of our long-term kids students are leaving.  They tell us it's because they can no longer fit English classes into their increasingly busy schedules, but maybe it's just that I stink as a teacher!

Whatever the reason, the incontrovertible fact is that some of them are going, so as a wee last-class treat I brought out my copy of DungeonQuest today and spent the last ten minutes of each lesson letting them play.

They would all simultaneously draw a tile and move, and if a tile looked a touch dangerous I would 'oooh' and 'aaaah' a bit and get the student affected to roll a die. If they rolled lowish I would bring out a creature (World of Warcraft board game: I've never played you, but your figures make good monsters!) for them to fight, and they'd have to beat its score on opposed dice before they could continue moving.

If they came to a locked door they would need to roll to get through it; a trap and they'd need to roll to jump over it; a spider web roll to escape it, etc.

To continue the illusion of it being an English lesson I had them each make sentences describing their action each turn:  "I go here!"; "I fight the monster!"; "I jump the infernal pit!"; "I swing my trusty blade and disembowel the goblin chief, spilling his entrails all over my textbook!", etc.

When they got to the treasure trove in the centre of the dungeon they had to fight the boss monster, a large green Balrog lookalike (thank you again, World of Warcraft!).  After the monster was slain (and of course it always was), they would roll dice to collect treasure, and whoever got the most gold would be hailed most triumphant.

They loved it, and it reminded me again how much fun games can be, especially when you make up the rules as you go along.  And you know what, it works: they chatter away using English, hardly even realising they are doing it, and end the lesson wanting more.

Sometimes - only sometimes, mind! - teaching can seem like the best job in the world.

Online interaction best practice

There's a song by a band named Lynyrd Skynyrd called 'Simple Man' in which the Southern rockers relate some advice their mother(s) gave them.  "Don't live too fast"; "Don't forget there's someone up above"; "Be a simple kind of man"; "Forget your lust for the rich man's gold", etc.

It occurs to me that wargame-centric bloggers need their own version of this, but rather than present it in musical form, I've decided to be equally imperative but more prosaic, as this is in keeping with our style.

So here we go.  You can hum it if you prefer.

1) Always comment on the posts of popular and respected wargaming bloggers.  Be aggressive.  For example: "You may think the article you've just posted demonstrates a good way to make nice cheap trees for 6mm ACW games, but I have a far better method."

This implies that you must be someone who has a lot to offer the community.

2) Be friendly.  Post links to your blogposts everywhere you can.  If the posts you link to have nothing to do with the topic at hand then so much the better: people need to expand their horizons at times.  Crossposting at TMP is a good idea, as is flooding your friends' facebook pages.

3) Don't be positive just for the sake of it.  When you are reviewing figures, complain about the service you got from the retailer, the poor quality of the castings and the lack of variety in the poses.  You never know if the retailers/manufacturers you dealt with ever see your post they may say to themselves "Gosh, I must send this dashing young opinion-shaper free stuff to placate him."

4) Be helpful.  If someone somewhere is asking a question, always answer it.  If you don't know the answer, use an especially authoritative tone.  For example, "Take it from me, you CAN use the Essex 25mm late Roman range to expand your Warhammer Empire army."

4) Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.

5) Be gentle with newcomers.  Don't rip them to shreds for disagreeing with you or for not knowing something that you already know. Just point out to them firmly but forcefully that they are wrong, and that since they clearly don't have much of a clue maybe they should shut up.

Or if you are really independently-minded you could just listen to the song and come up with your own adaption.

Shots of Sentinum

I was looking through the camera today and found some shots from a solo game of Sentinum I played in January.  It's a slow news day, so why not post some?

Game was, naturally, Lost Battles.

15mm Minifigs here, with command stands from Magister Militum.

Mix of Lancashire, Magister Militum, Old Glory, Tin Soldier and Xyston for the Samnite and Gallic foot

Miniatures Wars (from Strategia Nova) Romans, Miniatures Wars and Old Glory Samnites.

Old Glory Chariots, Xyston Gallic horse, Magister Militum Romans. 

I think we can see who won this!

Some notes on the whiteboard...