Maurice - First Impressions

Crikey O'Riley - another set of rules for the 18th century. Here I am with my own set to use as well as Black Powder, which I still enjoy playing and am perfectly happy with. But Maurice has a secret weapon - a free to download 'Lite' version.

I love Sam Mustafa

As you will probably know, this is the chap who gave us Lasalle and Might and Reason. Sam is to be heartily congratulated for going along the path of bringing out a Lite version of the rules which those interested can download for free (along with the necessary cards and a fast-play sheet).

This has the unusual virtue of being good for both seller and buyer. The same thing helped Blitzkrieg Commander become popular a few years back, and provides an excellent chance of creating a good vibe for a set of rules. And with rule sets being £20 or £30 a pop these days, and there being so many of them, you can't just buy a set on the off-chance that you'll love them. So, nice one Sam. A pity more authors and publishers are not so enlightened.

I hate Sam Mustafa

I nearly didn't bother looking into the rules at all when I saw the sub-title. 'War in the Age of Gentleman and Philosophers'. Hmm. One thing that irritates me occasionally about SYW gaming is the idea that this was some sort of 'Golden Age of Warfare' - in fact I think the phrase is actually used in the intro to the original Koenig Krieg rules. Charles Grant senior has much to answer for here. The quaint and whimsical world he created in The War Game seems to have led some gamers to believe that war in the eighteenth century was all about gentlemen on opposing sides inviting each other's regiments to fire first, following which everyone would march off to the nearest town for lunch. I'm sure I don't need to belabour the fact that this was not the case. The battles and campaigns featured the most appalling slaughter and suffering (to men and animals), and the civilian population had their share as well - Frederick's occupation of Saxony being a case in point. It is generally argued that things were better than during the horrors of the Thirty Years War. Quite true, but this doesn't mean that the wars of the eighteenth century were either particularly civilised or honourable.

Even ignoring the warfare entirely, the period could just as easily (and probably more accurately) be called 'The Age of Injustice and Inequality', or some such. I have a great interest in, and admiration for, the Enlightenment and all it encompassed, but one has to be realistic about what life in the era could mean for ordinary people. As you can see, this is definitely a soap box issue for me.

Anyway, setting subtitles to one side, there is also the issue of pricing. Black Powder was expensive, but when you had the book in your hand you had to admit that £30 was probably reasonable for the physical object itself. Now the introductory deals are over, the Maurice rulebook is £25. Encountering a friend's copy, I was struck by its relatively slim nature, flimsy card covers and thin paper. These are all good attributes if they result in a book costing £15, maybe £18. But Maurice just doesn't have the heft or quality for a £25 rulebook, in my personal opinion. The cards are an additional £12, which is also not cheap, although the cards themselves are of good quality. The two together can be had for £35. Definitely not convinced here.

The Rules

Ah yes, to get to the point. Most reviews of the rules have been positive. On the basis of one game with the Lite version and another with the full rules, I would generally agree. I have no experience of card games, so the gameplay made a refreshing change. Good fun was generally had. Things move along quite smartly and the rules for the basics are simple and easy to grasp. The advanced rules look worthwhile and the inclusion of a campaign system is also to be applauded. 

The main problem so far has been the tendency to have games where half your troops don't do anything at all for the whole game. Being used to Warmaster style rules, I have no objection to some of my troops being able to little or nothing for some of the time. But Maurice can take this to another level. However, I can see that with more experience with the rules and how to use them to best advantage, this may well change. At the very least, it seems to me that historical deployments and tactics are encouraged - indeed, they seem to be vital.

I am fortunate in having some opponents who have the rules, but no figures. Having the figures, I can provide these and get away with having no rules for the time being. Should the games improve, and I get the knack of bringing all or most of my forces to bear, I may well swallow my pride and invest in a set. Maybe they'll appear on Amazon at a discount.

For a good overview of the rules as our little group has encountered them so far, see my old mate Steve's blog here. If you want a change from the various complimentary reviews, Angus Konstam is far from impressed on his Edinburgh Wargames site (see the fourth battle report down), although I think his comments are misguided.

Definitely one to watch.

Memory Lane (2) - WW2 20mm

I recently stumbled upon some photos of 20mm WW2 games I played in the 1990s, so I thought it would make a 'part 2' post for my earlier trip down memory lane. There are shots of 3 games below, using my good old TSS tiles as the basis for the scenery, tiles which have lasted me now for nearly 20 years.

Game 1

Game 1

At the time these 3 games were played I was using Peter Pig's Abteilung rules, which are surprisingly still on sale. I can't imagine they sell many - even when I was using them I got the impression that I was the only wargamer in the country so inclined. But that was in the days before the interweb when it was much harder to get information about what people were doing. I liked Abteilung a lot, although their production values were low and the proof reading left something to be desired. I was waiting for a second edition which never happened, and then along came Blitzkrieg Commander...

Game 1 again - good old Airfix Shermans.

Game 2

Game 2

Game 2

All this lot got sold off for about £1000 (nice!), which paved the way for buying my Polish collection painted. The North West Europe campaign had got a bit stale after pursuing it for around 20 years. To be honest, I've never really missed the stuff, though I had owned some of it for a long time. I certainly couldn't face painting all the infantry for my new period, so the 20mm had to go if I was to afford professional painting for my new project. I did the vehicles myself though.

Game 3 - my old buddy Paul advancing the Germans

Game 3

The trees (home made) and hedges are still going, as are the village bases cut out from model railway scenic material. Some of those home made trees must be 25 years old now, maybe more. The Bellona bridges you can see in game 2 are also still going - see here (about halfway down the post).

Hope this may stir some nostalgia amongst readers. Funnily enough, Paul has recently gathered a couple of 20mm WW2 Eastern Front armies, so once again the Airfix Tigers and Panthers are back in my life!

A Couple Of Thoughts...

...prompted by the new issue of Battlegames magazine.

First Thought

Salute 2012 saw a terrific 'game' put on by a pair called The Essex Gamesters. It was called Corunna 1809, and it won a prize, as it well deserved to. See the photos here. 

But why do I put 'game' in quotation marks? Well, according to Battlegames, this was something called a Diorama Game. I was struck by the phrase as I had never heard it before, but I immediately knew what it meant. Playing a demo game at Colours a couple of years ago I found myself next to such a game. This is where a purpose-built model railway style terrain is set up, then painstakingly festooned with beautifully painted figures, ships, vehicles etc. In addition there may be one or more information boards to erect as well. This will probably take at least a couple of hours. Following which sturdy effort, the 'gamers' collapse with exhaustion into their chairs and stare at their creation for a few more hours, before proceeding with the equally taxing task of packing it up. 

That's right - a Diorama Game is a game where nothing happens. I wasn't at Salute, and didn't see what went on in 'Corunna 1809', but the description by Battlegames strongly implies that this was what was going on in this particular presentation. If I'm wrong in this case, I apologise - but the concept is clearly firmly with us. Now, bottom line, what hobbyists do with their toy soldiers is up to them. And I would agree that such displays can be very inspiring, refreshing one's outlook on the hobby. I can indeed feel a bland conclusion coming on, something along the lines of the usual 'each to his own' cliche. But  I have a nagging feeling in my head that the hobby is actually called war gaming. There's supposed to be a game going on. It's not, after all, called war diorama making. 

I guess this all seems rather mean spirited, not to say inspired by envy. I'll admit mean spirited, but I don't have any envy. I want to wargame. My inspiration is intellectual - animate those toy soldiers by giving them a purpose, by developing a story (or 'scenario' as it is generally called). Then see how things work out when players with different ideas play the story out. See how the story is influenced by the rules, for good or bad. And see how table top events relate to the historical picture.

Dah! I don't know. What do you think?

Second Thought

One of the areas in which Battlegames really scores is the review section. A wide range of sensible and balanced thoughts on a goodly number of new products. In the latest issue, however, one comment did rather set me back on my heels. Neil Shuck was reviewing a supplement to the Saga rules, called Northern Fury. Early in the piece he had this to say,

"Gripping Beast are committed to supporting this new game, and Northern Fury is the first of two supplements that are planned for this year."

I was so happy. Oh those wonderful, selfless boys at Gripping Beast. Despite all the odds, they're committed to supporting Saga. Bless their hearts... Come on Neil, they're a commercial company. Saga isn't a charity expedition to the Himalayas in support of disabled people, it's a wargames product. Gripping Beast's 'commitment'  is to making some more money out of this product. That in itself is fair enough. But the style of the comment seems to me to be an example of the disconcerting idea that companies are doing us gamers a favour by selling us their stuff, and we should therefore be suitably grateful. Wargamers in general seem to be happy with an increasingly commercial wargames industry, and this is also fair enough. But at least see things as they are. 

Now, (for example), one could quite rightly say that Pete Jones was 'committed' to supporting Blitzkrieg Commander (he is, BTW, the author). He set up a well designed and well tended website where users could communicate via a forum (one of the best on the web IMHO), where battle reports can be viewed in their multitudes, where he is usually available to rapidly answer rule queries (a definite rarity amongst rule writers), and where he encourages players to become involved in new ideas for rule amendments. And there's a gallery and a free battlegroup creator (providing you bought the rules). OK, you could say this is just promotion for his product, but all this is done on his own, for free and in a spirit of participation and open comment. And all that is for sale is the rules. 

Or look at the boys who produce Warning Order. A great, high quality online magazine produced entirely for the love of it and available to anyone to download for free. It's been going for 32 issues now. Yes, that's commitment. 

Readers of this blog may be aware that I am grimly opposed to supplements simply for being what they are, i.e. a bare faced con to stretch the profitability of a set of rules. But others are welcome to disagree. Neil evidently thought (in an otherwise well written and informative review) that this supplement was a good offering. But I'm afraid that phrase just grated. Another, more appropriate, choice of words was required. Something between sinking to your knees in gratitude and unconditionally reviling the whole concept. Something a bit more detached and neutral, perhaps. But then, perhaps, I'm just over reacting. 

Something with pictures for my next post, I think!

. 

A Scenario For All Ages? (part two)

Thinking it might be interesting to try the same scenario in two very different periods, and having completed a very enjoyable game in the SYW period, it was time to have a go at WW2. Readers of the previous post will recall that this was scenario 37 from the Grant/Asquith book Scenarios For All Ages, entitled 'Night Attack 2'. I kept the terrain the same as for the first game, except for substituting built up areas of a more modern appearance and smaller scale for the second battle, which would be fought out in 15mm between Polish and German forces of 1939. Rules used would be Blitzkrieg Commander. 

The advice from the scenario book is,

'For the modern period, [...] take units as troops or platoons, or for 1/300th scale, companies and squadrons'. 

It was quickly apparent that converting a Horse and Musket 'unit' into a company would be the best approach for a BKC game, cavalry of course becoming tanks. A company would typically be 3 infantry stands or 3 tanks in BKC, with one stand or vehicle representing a platoon. The units from part one therefore became the following:

Poles (defending the ridge)

5 units of foot: becomes 3 infantry companies, 1 support company, 1 anti-tank gun company.

2 units of cavalry: becomes 1 independent 7TP company, 1 independent TKS company.

1 unit of artillery: becomes 1 on-table 75mm artillery battery.

In detail, the Poles therefore were:  CO (CV8)

Infantry Battalion (+) HQ (CV7) (may be dug in for 'hasty defence')

9 infantry units with ATR upgrade

3 mg units

1 mortar unit

2 37mm ATG units with truck tows

1 75mm artillery support unit with horse tow

Independent Tank Company HQ (CV8)

2 7TP (37mm)

1 7TP (mg)

Independent Scout Tank Company HQ (CV8)

2 TKS (mg)

1 TKS (20mm)

Points 1425, Breakpoint 11.

Germans (attacking)

Northern Force (B1 in the scenario)

3 units of foot: becomes 2 infantry companies, 1 support company

2 units of horse: becomes 2 panzer companies

1 unit of artillery: becomes 1 off-table artillery battery 

Southern Force (B2)

4 units of foot: becomes 3 infantry companies, 1 support company

1 unit of horse: becomes 1 panzer company

1 unit of artillery: becomes 1 off-table artillery battery

In detail, this became:  CO (CV9)

Northern Battlegroup

Motorised Infantry Battalion HQ (CV8)

6 infantry units with ATR upgrade (trucks)

2 mg units (trucks)

1 mortar unit (truck)

Panzer Detachment HQ (CV9)

1 PzIV, 1 PzIII, 2 PzII, 2 PzI

Southern Battlegroup

Infantry Battalion HQ (CV8)

9 infantry units with ATR upgrade

3 mg units

1 mortar unit

Panzer Detachment HQ (CV9)

2 PzII, 2 PzI

Off Table Artillery FAO (CV8)

2 105mm artillery batteries
4 assets

Points 2390, Breakpoint 16

The Germans therefore had a bit more than the 50% advantage in points recommended in BKC for an Assault or Deliberate Attack scenario. However, I decided to keep to a fairly strict interpretation of the book scenario to make it an honest test. I also guessed from the first run through that things might not be as straightforward for the attackers as the forces and deployment might suggest. The map below will serve to confirm the limited nature of my artistic talents:

The Game

Once again I was lucky enough to play a daytime game at the weekend (with wargames buddy and all round good egg Paul). Often more relaxing than an evening game, I find.

 So here's the set up. Once again those nasty Germans are attacking.

 A quick close up of the Polish 75mm artillery support unit behind the ridge.

 As dawn breaks, the thunder of an approaching armoured battlegroup greets the Poles.

A scheduled bombardment hits the empty north village, whilst the northern German group starts to penetrate behind the ridge. They soon start to chew up the less concentrated Polish forces attempting to react to their unexpected appearance.

Overview around mid-game. The Poles are re-positioning gradually. In the background the CO has moved to the western village to get the infantry and anti-tank gun on their way. The infantry battalion HQ concentrates on moving troops into the east village, where the German southern battlegroup is closing in. 

 The east village was a registered target for the German artillery (having been the subject of scheduled fire on move 1). Thus German units could approach the outskirts of the village confident that their supporting fire would be accurate. The red dice indicate the reassuring effects of the auto-suppress rule. But with everything set up for a close assault, the final command roll failed!

 Behind the ridge, the German tanks are heavily engaged: tanks from the southern battlegroup have moved round to reinforce their comrades. Meanwhile the motorised infantry try to extend the outflanking manouevre firmly into the Polish rear. The TKS tankettes deploy gallantly and their machine guns put a temporary halt to the German advance. For non-BKC players, those red mini-dice indicate suppressed units.

 Overview as the game was ending. The Germans did finally manage a close assault on the village, but they were flung back after desperate fighting. The slogging match behind the ridge finally ended in the Germans' favour, as it always seemed likely to. After 8 moves the Poles had exceeded their breakpoint, losing 12 units. They therefore had to make a command roll of 7 to continue, but a roll of 9 meant victory for the Germans, who only lost about 7 units.

Last move. After receiving many turns of fire, it takes a close assault to finally eliminate the Polish artillery position. There was no question of the Poles retaining a reserve. The speed and ferocity of the German attack meant the Poles had to throw in everything (including the kitchen sink) to stem the tide. At least that's my excuse.

Points to Ponder
The second edition of BKC improved on an already excellent set of rules, but this game highlighted 2 aspects that can be a little frustrating. Units dug-in or occupying built up areas are really hard to shift. The Poles in the east village could only be hit on a 6, and still had a 5 or 6 save on any hits received. Then it still needed a further 6 to suppress (unless using artillery and the auto-suppress rule). Perhaps a little too much in game terms.
Secondly, close assaults can be a little complex if you aren't fully familiar with the rules. Still, correct tactics of suppressing your opponent then assaulting with superior numbers will usually work, if you can make the command rolls.

As for the scenario, once again it produced an excellent game. In the WW2 period it did feel a little weighted towards the Germans, but a single game is only a limited test. Certainly the Germans (Paul) won fairly easily in the end, despite a succession of unlucky command blunders and the refusal of the German dice to produce the required number of 6s!
8 moves were played in about 3.5 hours of gaming.

What's Your Favourite?
I've noticed on a number of blogs recently the preference of the owners to illustrate their battle reports mainly with close up photos of the action, which show off the miniatures nicely but make it hard to get an overview of the game. This is often compounded by the lack of a map, or photo of the overall set-up, to give the reader his or her bearings. As any reader of military history will know, trying to describe a battle without an accompanying map is like... well, ... it's like doing something rather silly. Choose your own metaphor. This blog will continue to champion the cause of giving viewers the whole picture!

A 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was in use throughout to help things along. Despite the trade name of 'Rusty Goat', this New South Wales wine proved to be an excellent accompaniment to wargaming.


And so farewell 'til next time. 

Dayton Painting Consortium - you've gotta love those guys

My order cancelled post seemed to strike a chord with some readers, so I just wanted to highlight the pleasure of dealing with Richard Masse at the Dayton Painting Consortium, who currently produce and market the RSM range of figures which I use for my SYW games.

Determined to add at least a few new figures to my collection, I ordered half a dozen artillerymen and a quartet of mounted buglers. These were received in a couple of weeks from the US. Nice, clean, elegant figures as usual. And the cost? Artillerymen 57p each at current exchange rates, mounted figures £1.42p. And the postage charged was just $3 (that's £1.90p).

You can buy a painted unit of 36 foot figures, with flags, officers etc, for $108, which is about £68. Less than £2 a figure! Judging by what I have received in the past, the painting quality is what I would call a good solid wargames standard. I think I will be investing soon, what with my aversion to painting.

Why doesn't everyone buy their SYW stuff from these people?

A Scenario For All Ages? (part one)

I know what you're thinking. Here we go, another battle report to add to all the other battle reports you've read (or more likely just skimmed through). The problem with battle reports is that they often have little meaning to anyone outside the players actually involved. One way to avoid this is to give some background to the reports to add interest, or offer an angle that might give the report some relevance to the hobby as a whole. 

Of course, some reports are worth looking through because of the outstanding scenery, wonderful figures, or the grand scale of the action. Or maybe they're played by some wargames personality with a new ruleset to market. Being unable to offer any of these attractions, I find it worthwhile to use my battle reports to point up some aspect of the hobby, to try and make the reader think about how the hobby works, although usually in a small way.

So what's the angle here? Well, the game to be played uses a scenario from the Asquith/Grant scenario book Scenarios For All Ages. One meaning of the title is that the scenarios within can be fought out in a wide range of periods. The scenario that took my fancy recently was number 37, 'Night Attack 2'. 'Suitable for any period', it says in the opening paragraph. So I thought I would give the claim a try, and fight the scenario in the SYW and WW2 periods. This post is about the SYW battle.

The first problem with multi-period play is that the forces used are clearly based around a Horse and Musket setting - they are detailed as units of infantry, cavalry and artillery. The authors realise this and offer some advice on translation to other periods in the introduction. For my SYW battle, however, it would be easy to use the units exactly as specified. The author's choice of a 7' x 5' table as a 'standard' is another minor problem - this is hardly the most common size of gaming table. However, conversion to a 6' x 4' table presented no difficulty.

The scenario itself could more accurately be entitled 'Dawn Attack', as it involves an attacking force that has used a night march to outflank a defending force. The attackers have lost their way a bit overnight and have split into 2 forces, one of which has mistaken a more distant village for the actual target of the manoeuvre. Anyway, the set up is as shown below, identical (as far as I could manage) to the map in the book. You can see I have had some fun with the coloured pens:

The Austrians ('red' force in the scenario) are deployed on the ridge facing south. They have 5 infantry units, an artillery battery and 2 cavalry units. One infantry unit is in each of the 'villages' which anchors each end of their line. The Prussians ('blue') deploy on the east side of the table: their units are as shown. The Prussians must attack and destroy the Austrians; the Austrians must try to re-align and see off the attacking Prussians. 

The Game

My good friend Steve came around to play out the scenario and give me some feedback on my rules, which we would be using to play out the game. Looking at the set up, the Prussians seemed to have it made, and we wondered if the scenario was really properly balanced. We should have had more faith in Mssrs. Asquith and Grant!

The left of the Austrian line is held by Loudon's 'Grenadiers' defending the east village.

Brigades from each side move alternately in my rules. Here the left hand Prussian infantry brigade has got off to a good start with a double move. Steve begins to wheel his infantry brigade off the ridge in reply.

The Prussians make steady progress. The left flank Austrian cavalry haven't yet got the message about the approaching threat, having failed a command roll.

View from the Prussian lines as the infantry approach the village.

Following some preparatory artillery fire, Prussian grenadiers launch a desperate assault.

By a miracle of unequal dice rolling, the Prussian grenadiers succeed and take the east village. This overview shows the Prussians pushing the Austrians back along the ridge. In the foreground the cavalry have clashed, with one unit on each side lost.

Last move fever grips both sides as the game comes to an end. Units move forward into close range for some climactic volley combat and the cavalry charge each other. Looking good for the Prussians (I thought foolishly), but it was not to be.

Prussian disaster. Four units are broken and destroyed ('Done For' as my rules put it) and the Prussian force as a whole has lost 7 out of 12 units. Goodnight Vienna! The Austrians lost 2 units out of 8.

Just to rub salt into the wounds, Steve had managed to keep one infantry unit in reserve in the western village throughout the game.

And in conclusion...

...avoid final move fever. If you want to win, of course. But final move fever can be rather fun, throwing caution to the wind with everything hanging on the roll of the dice. I had only lost 3 out of 12 units until the last move, and could probably have managed a draw at least. But never mind. It was interesting to see that the scenario was in fact very well balanced - that village placed north of the ridge hampers the attacking player's deployment, and having to fight along the table prevents the attackers bringing all their units to bear at once.

Steve was good enough to compliment my rules and we didn't have any real snags. A few minor clarifications have been made, so if you want to check out the most up to date version of the rules, v.5 is here. And while I'm at it have a playsheet as well (the playsheet is just one page - ignore the blank page 2). Don't pay any attention to the previews of both items - the preview function doesn't seem to cope with my tables! The downloads seem to be fine.

Hope to have a report of the same scenario set in WW2 in a week or two.

Peace. I'm out.

My Seven Years War Rules - download the latest version.

Following some recent games my rules have, of course, evolved again. However, I think for the moment they have reached a point where I am reasonably satisfied with them, so I thought I would give readers another chance to download the latest iteration.

The only thing I would mention is that the 'Hit Tables' are meant to take into account morale as well as pure firing factors, so that there is no morale section in the rules anymore. Reaction to fire is automatic.

Anyway, find them here. Hope they may be of some use.