Well we are at the end of a year that will become notorious.
A year when humanity staggered from the blows of a simple virus. It is perhaps a reminder that nature always has the upper hand no matter how sophisticated our societies have become.
I guess there are plenty of historical parallels to this type of massive societal correction. Not in the same vein but I read recently about how the particularly bad 9th century weather or should I say mini climate change dealt the Carolingians numerous bad harvests damaging their always vunerable Empire. Except even if it were decisive, the roaring vikings is a much more exciting concept of Empire destruction.
Yet right now the Dark Ages have become just that – the Dark Ages as in a box with a lid on it! Right now it is the 19th Century that dominates Wargames in the mind of Norber the Wargaming Erratic.
Before we go and embark on another year there is just enough time to reflect on the fact that 2020 has proven to be rather a good year for my wargaming.
The year got going with a trip to Vapnartak, notable for the fact that it proved to be my one and only show of 2020.
Lithuanian Knights gather to charge the Teutons – figures by WillWarWeb I believe
Playing (LIVE) the Lance and Longbow Society game of Tannenberg 1410 made it all the more important as it turned out. It was my last face to face gaming of 2020.
I was into Carolingians at the time of Vapnartak.
The scary plastic soldier review horses of Carolingia!
so which soldiers marched across my painting table in 2020?
well in 2018 I had managed zero painting while in 2019 I painted and based 32 “normans in the south infantry” and 11 “normans in the south” archers.
in 2020 I managed
12 Carolingians including the man himself – comprising the much maligned (by plastic soldier review) horses which actually give my bases some nice dynamics – in my humble view
10 Anglo Norman archers
24 Normans in the South (NITS – I can’t resist an abbreviation) Cavalry
21 Ottonian foot which look very much like anglo danes or could pass for NITS foot soldiers
43 Anglo Danes were my biggest effort
A fine array of some Anglo Saxons, Anglo Danes and Ottonians
I finished the year with 4 slavs posing as Picts in my “to be” great army of Danes, Scots, Northumbrians and Norsemen which would fight Athelstan again at Brunanburh
And then the proverbial wheels came off the Dark Ages cart.
Right now the painting table has plastic Union Infantry posing as Piedmont Line Infantry along with some venerable Warrior Miniatures French Dragoons posing as – well French Dragoons. And they are metal!!!
Piedmontese in frock coats – shame about the squished stove pipe hats
I must say I had a good year with basing – finally getting a look for my mediterranean NITS – ok Normans in the South project.
Vikings aka Ottonians aka Anglo Danes aka NITS – the beauty of dark ages
In fact I have decided it will work for pretty much everything dark ages.
On the gaming front I started solo gaming with an unexpected purchase. Neil Shuck had recommended War & Conquest shortly before jumping ship with another ancients ruleset.
One of the many offspring writers/thinkers that Games Workshop brought to our wargames world.Sea peoples and desert tribes close in on Libyian bowmen
I gave it a go with my bronze age one hour wargame figures based using my hybrid impetus basing of 80mm x 60mm for 1/72 plastics. Ever awkward – probably just as well I don’t need to satisfy a live opponent. I rather liked the feel of the rules even though the play through was so limited.
And then with Covid19 lock down in full swing and some fine weather I had other distractions including lots of gardening .
I really like simple flowers with a few petalsThe colours are just fantastic
INTERMISSION
Intermission even surprised me – that was not in the plan
INTERMISSION
And of course there is always some track laying to do……………..
Eventually the dark ages gaming started in late August with numerous shieldwall rule tests – I did really enjoy them all. The biggest surprise was playing gridded wargames using Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles.
My lst shieldwall battle took place in late October and many games and rulesets later was swiftly followed by a thoroughly enjoyable game of Dux Britanniarum by Too Fat Lardies.
My vintage Garrison Vikings got a run out.
I fleshed out some campaign plans as per the rules advice and then…………nothing. I was just starting some Pictish Warriors when I read the wrong article.
On the way the renaissance troll introduced me to Faux Napoleonics for fantasy – here is my own 1970’s era Faux Fantasy Orc veering towards napoleonics?
Next minute it is baggy pants Zoaves, Spikey helms and far too much rifling. OK so it is still rather pedestrian Piedmontese – these proto Italians are quite conservative chaps – very un Napoleonic.
Will they really look like Piedmontese or just Union men on the wrong continent?
And since then two battles have been fought – one with Practical Wargaming by Charles Wesencraft and the other using 19th Century Wargames by Neil Thomas.
Whats in the container? – rescued from a dim corner of the erratic’s tardis store………Warrior Miniatures – yes they are metal and yes the brown paint was administered back around 1975!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats a long time on the paint table – 45 years ish. But probably not a record.
And so I wish you all a graceful end to the year 2020 and hope that 2021 brings you all that you hope for.
My year of 2020 wargaming has been dominated by anglo saxons and latterly playing some test games using shieldwalls. These fairly static affairs have allowed me to consider a small selection of rules and compare them.
A few posts ago I mentioned I had bought some new rulesets along with a book on modelling scenery. In this latest game rules test the newly acquired Dux Britanniarum gets a solo run out.
At the start of the first lockdown I tried to buy both Duxes, one by Mr Mersey and one by Mr Clarke. I expected to be comparing them. One arrived yet the other just did not come. In the end, having determined that no money was handed over by me, I concluded I had abysmally failed to complete the purchase. And that was that.
Having enjoyed playing Dux Bellorum and for that matter Table Top Battles by Mike Smith, plus AMW and one hour wargames, both by Neil Thomas, I returned to the fray and bought TFL’s Dux Brittaniarum. If nothing else it was Neil Shuck’s summary recommendation, back in 2012, that TDux gives you an excellent campaign tool as well as an excellent set of table top rules. It was the linked series of battles approach that made me buy the ruleset.
So here is my first TDux outing – again solo – complete with mistakes. I made quite a few but decided not to correct them.
I started at the beginning in another way. Interestingly the game handles the various parts of Britain with good geographic logic. In doing so it reveals the rather haphazard progress of the saxons across the land. Maybe Richard Clarke intended this to make the point that the saxon takeover of Britain was not some well orchestrated invasion.
So it took me a while to order all the “Book of Kingdoms” in chronological order. I was looking for a starting point.
And unless I am wrong, which is quite possible, the TDux fighting proper starts really in 472AD in Linnius – Lincolnshire if you like the modern take.
Nice try – oi! – this is the 5th Century – no modern take Lincolnshire thank you, and this is not a recently built Roman Road bridge either……..although it is the humber estuary. The river looks a bit wide here and I don’t like those mudflats, they look shifty to me.
I reckon I have 12 discrete campaigns to go at covering the period 472AD to 590AD.
In my first campaign I am raiding Caer Lind Colun and if captured its three other connected lands become the next target. But I am getting well ahead of myself. Right now Caer Lind Colun basks in the evensun of being a Roman Legion city while my rabble of adventurers occupy some small ships battling the running tide of the Humber……..
So a raid was the order of the day. Those mudflats still look dodgey but plenty of hideaway creeks methinks. Thank my pagan god for my having a trained spotting crow complete with full colour camera!
I started at the bottom of the heap as recommended in the book – a lowly saxon with a few followers landing somewhere on the coast of england, in my case near the mouth of the great humber estuary.
We will meet Coenwulf shortly
Coenwulf desparately needed some food, animals and coin. Coenwulf was “skint” like most over wintering saxons.
The Forces involved were defined in the rules.
The Saxon Force comprised
3 duguth groups
2 elite gedridht groups
1 missile group
Each comprised 6 figures while the missile troops numbered 4.
Note the game is set up for skirmishing in single figures group together. It is designed to permit your choice of figure or figures representation. Most recent rulesets have designed in flexibility of playing pieces in terms numbers and/or base size. The days of ground/figure scale and actual base size being critical are long gone and I like this level of abstraction.
The Saxons were led by Coenwulf aged 23 of average build with the constitution of an Ox. The son of a peasant Coenwulf had a thiefs hoard of wealth hidden in his ship.
Ebroin at 30 was his elderly Noble yet tall, strong and dutiful. He is ABLE and being wodenborn an aristocrat and LOYAL.
Gudwal 27 was short and wiry, lusting of power another son of a peasant trying to make good.
In these posts have woven the narrative into the actual game play. The game gave me the ideas for the narrative. I am already warming to the campaign side of TDux.
In March 472AD Coenwulf led his small force inland having hidden their small ships in the dryish wooded end of a shallow muddy creek on the south coast of the Humber estuary.
After finding some abandoned hamlets, if they could be called that, Coenwulf discovered a small village and managed to capture a lone ploughman (his lone furrow work can be observed along the battlefield centreline!!!). He quickly confirmed that the village was well occupied and that the local chief had a base there: Filthy Lucre time for Coenwulf…….
North is at the top of the photo – squint to see the humber……… A river runs straight across the flat lands near the estuary. Some higher ground surrounds the village which sits on the west side of the small river. To the south access is limited by a hill below which is some marshy ground either side of the river and beyond a narrow piece of hard ground, a wood to the east. South of this difficult ground is a good fording place. Near the village a simple bridge has been built.
To the north more marsh and some higher ground further ring the village.
Coenwulf swiftly advanced on the village. This phase of the game is covered in the scenario with the Saxons moving twice without any response. The village was on the wrong side of a small and narrow but deep river so Coenwulf found a ford point north of the village and sent one warrior group into the village. Meanwhile he took the rest of his force south on the east side of the river. He was convinced it could not be this easy to raid a village. The place did not feel undefended.
Coenwulf marches rapidly south while Gudwal makes for the village. The Saxon missile men with Ebroin skirt the low hills checking for any Romans.
Now I will explain the terrain selection. I used the generator in Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles. I divided the board (6′ x 4′) into 24 squares.
In TTB rivers go straight across the board between two sides. I picked the short edges so the river ran 6 feet down the board and a third in, so occupying one row of the notional 12″ squares.
The rest of the terrain was generated by throwing a series of dice to first select the type and then location. Mikes generator also dictates the number of terrain items.
I then applied the TDux terrain rules to each generated piece.
The net result was the Saxons entered from the north passing across fairly empty land to reach the village and discover a passable bridge over the river by the village. Ceonwulf thought things could not get any better. His divided forces were now easily connected again.
The villagers had fled so once the various farm animals had quietened an erie silence descended.
Across the land from the south came the unmistakable sound of armed men on the move, yet uncaring for the noise they made. They were in a hurry: They no doubt intended to spread fear by their noisy presence.
How long does it really take to ransack a few buildings? Ceonwulf was beginning to wonder just this issue when to the south west a mass of soldiers appeared, moving fast. And suddenly they were over the river and on the east side making straight for Ceonwulf.
Of course there must be a ford down there as well.
What were clearly unhappy Romans, rushed along both banks of the river. Coenwulf could not now retreat to the village without risking his escape north to the ships. After all, this river was only going grow deeper and wider as it neared the great humber estuary.
He ordered his men forward and hoped Adelig Gudwal had enough strength to hold the village and loot it at the same time! In TDux the various leaders get descriptions like Tribune or in this case Adelig for a minor Saxon noble.
Now the Romans (because here they still celebrated their military forefathers)
Tribune Vitalinus – a busy man – too busy to pose for the camera is hazily seen here pushing his Comanipulares forward alongside some Numeri who would rather be elsewhere than in rough ground slowing things up!
Tribune Vitalinus at 32 had years of hard fighting experience behind him. Son of an Honestiere he possessed merely a beggars bowl of wealth. Yet he was tall, strong and a devout christian.
His Decurion Tiberius at 22 was of average build also devout and son of an honestiere as well.
His other Decurion Silvanus also 22 was short, wiry and honourable. He was an exile with an unexplained background. Yet he had proven himself in battle quickly and was now to be trusted.
The hilltop lookout warnings on these clear late winter days had meant that Vitalinus knew raiders were on the move. And he had almost guessed their destination. Just not in time to be the welcoming party.
His scratch force comprised.
3 groups of Numeri
2 groups of Milites
1 group of Comanipulares
1 group of missile troops
As with the saxons each group consisted of 6 men, 4 for the missile troops.
At this point I should say my “groups” were actually 80 x 60mm IMPETUS bases of infantry in mail with shields and axes and looking suspiciously like late anglo saxons, danes and normans!
The headcounts used in TDux I represented with small coloured dice.
Adelig Gudwal was already ransacking the village and getting frustrated. Nothing except farm tools and threadbare cloth, not even some decent food or drink. It was a bad time to raid – the end of the winter sees everyone “short”. These people were just like Ceonwulfs people, half starved from a long hard winter.
Gudwal has to get a base in contact with each possible location of coin or wealth to test for its presence. Also in the picture is Coenwulf’s Champion (looks suspiciously like an eigth century viking with a long handled danish axe to me) although they (the Champions) don’t feature in these early encounters.
Vitalinus raced towards the enemy and then stopped his men. These raiders were no rag bag bunch of thieves – they were well armed and organised and their shieldwall was already in the making. Vitalinus ordered his men into a better line before restarting towards the raiders at a more controlled pace.
Coenwulf formed his shieldwall to protect the bridge
Now both sides built their men into a battle frenzy – controlled but willing to close with the enemy and risk death and injury. As the two shield walls closed small axes appeared overhead along with small javelins and a few arrows. Soon the shieldwalls would collide and mayhem begin.
And now it became clear to Vitalinus that this would not be a mornings quick work.
In the next episode Vitalinus closes in on the raiding Saxons.
the royalists finally get a really good round of hits in
My latest Shieldwall foray is with Neil Thomas again. His One Hour Wargames (OHW) have become a mainstay of my gaming. The rules come in what I would call large paperback size. And the book is a paperback as if to emphasise its everyday style.
For this latest shieldwall face off I used one hour wargames (OHW) by Neil Thomas. I skipped the rules on random army mixes to be used with the scenarios. I used scenario 1 and ignored the time limit of 15 turns. The royalists on the left have a mounted leader unit for show purposes only. The rebels leader is shown on foot to the right.
OHW comprises 9 rulesets from ancients to world war 2. The rules are a “light touch” and the focus is on “scenarios”. His random force selector gives you 6 different unit mixes for armies of 6 units. Coupled with the 30 scenarios thats almost 180 combinations. I say almost, some scenarios limit the forces to 3 or 4 units. Even so its over 100 scenarios to play out. Excellent value in my book.
I used the Dark Age ruleset where you get infantry, warband, skirmishers and cavalry.
My two forces were 5 infantry units plus a skirmisher unit. In this battle the skirmishers faced each other at the royalist left flank and rebels right flank.
The rules cover just 2 sides or about one page of A4 and basically comprise simple movement, shooting and combat. Elimination of units involves chipping away at 15 points of value which covers all defensive strength, morale, leadership variables etc. Power to inflict damage remains constant as well. So it is the eliminiation of a unit that gives a player advantage. This in some way masks weakness and adds to the uncertainty and fog of war.
Before we do the battle report there is a small matter of the narrative.
Narrative
The Kings or Royal forces led by Earl Mathedoi had finally won a significant victory over Thegn Pyrlig while the rebel leader Earl Toki was away raising more of the land in rebellion – or rather recruiting disaffected Mercians to the cause.
The Kings Earl pursued the defeated Thegn, his now weakened but battle hardened infantry ready to fight. His cavalry had evaporated in previous battles and failed to find him. He believed another battle would finish the Thegn off.
And then his force suddenly collided with the returning Rebel Leader Earl Toki. Earl Toki had had little success with the Mercians concerning a mass rebellion although his force now boasted some Mercian reinforcements. Crucially he had not found his Thegn Pyrlig or the bulk of his army.
The two forces drew up and comprising infantry formed two shield walls on some open ground. The few skirmishers would fight each other on one flank as the shieldwalls slowly moved towards each other everyone jostling and making ready to receive or inflict blows.
Game Report
The photos show rebels at the bottom of the picture and royalists at the top.
The royalist skirmishers failed to inflict any damage in the opening moves as they stood back to fire (you either shoot or move in these rules)Next turn the rebel forces engage the royalist line while their own skirmishers also fail to hit the markBattle is joined with yellow dice showing the attacking rebels hits inflicted. The white dice against the royalists show accumulated hitsThe turn now moves to the royalists – the peter pig pink die denoting the player turn in a ruleset that is simply IgoUgo and given all the troops look the same it can get confusing.The royalist skirmishers inflict some serious damage (a six -2) on their opponentsThe royalists begin to wear down the rebel shieldwall. Each unit has a value of 15 – the number of hits that can be received before a unit is destroyed – small yellow dice show rebel lossesIn their turn the rebel skirmishers score a SIX as well which reduced to 4 is a good start for themIn their turn the royalist skirmishers score 5 which is reduced to 3 The royalists turn sees them inflict more damage – the large yellow dice show the “halved” infantry hits because shieldwalls are in play. The losses per unit would be rapid without the shieldwall benefit. the white dice show the rebels hits on the royalist shieldwall infantry so farNow the rebels can hit back – already some rebel units have suffered 5 hits earning a yellow ringThe rebels score well in this round although all these scores have to be halved for the benefit of the royalist shieldwall – fractions are rounded up.it is the royalists turn – they to are seeing losses increase.the skirmishers are fighting their own battle and it is evenly matchedin the centre the rebels are accumulating hitsthe rebels score well again and pile on the pressure on their right flanktwo royalist units have now acquired red rings denoting ten hits or in the case of the left most unit in the royalist line – elevenThe royalists now inflict some heavy damage on the rebels shieldwall. All units are the same quality etc so it is all about dice throws……..the first rebel unit to get ten hits is in its centreagain the rebels hammer the royalist left flankthe royalists finally get a really good round of hits inThe last round of fighting saw the royalists drive all the rebel units into the red. And now the rebels dice throws go low!Yet the rebels have the advantage as not only have the royalist skirmishers lost their fight, so to has that weakened left flank shieldwall unit – exceeding 15 hits and therefore being destroyedso at this crucial point the royalists have lost units but the rebels are weak everywhereas the royalist skirmishers creep away in the top right of the picture, the rebel right wing hit the royalist flank while the rebel left flnk unit has been destoryedthe weak left flank units of the royalist line collapse as their flank has been turned. Typically most rulesets would call it a day at this point with the royalists down 50% to just 3 units while the rebels have 5 units in play. now the royalists wake up and throw their dice high – although not literally! Both left flank rebel units melt away The rebel skirmishers wander round the battle field to little effecthaving destroyed each others left flanks the victorious right flanks wheel onto each other and resume the fight with the royalists on the left and the rebels on the right.The new royalist left flank unit is destroyedthings are spinning – literally, as the right flanks remain in the ascendancy again!the rebels have the attack thoughthe rebels attack again with their skirmishers still wandering aimlessly aroundbut the royalists hold on – just. The advantage is now with the royalists and they throw wellthe rebel centre unit is destoryedfinally the skirmishers join the fray and help destroy a royalist shieldwalltipped over the edge by the skirmishers another royalist infantry unit fallsthe dance is complete as the remaining royalist shieldwall drives into the unfortunate skirmisher unit. with no shieldwall all 4 hits land pushing the skirmishers to 15 and their final demise.the final battle between the remaining shieldwalls beginsThe royalists nearest to us now, inflict maximum damage but the rebels holdthe rebel response is too weak thoughthe royalists throw high again and this time its the end for the rebels as they all stream from the field.The rebels flee while the exhausted royalists simply hold what they have with no appetite for pursuit
Earl Mathedoi had defeated two rebel armies in quick succession. Importantly he had defeated Earl Toki whose first taste of defeat almost certainly meant the end of his rebellious actions.
Earl Mathedoi returned to the King to report the good news.
Earl Toki now met Thegn Pyrlig and discovered his main forces had already been defeated in his absence. The Mercians had departed having no desire to be associated with a defeated rebel and especially one lacking plunder.
Most of the rebels just drifted away and this included Thegn Pyrlig.
Earl Toki considered his options. It looked like he would have to go to the King and grovel for forgiveness. After all the King knew Earl Toki was always a useful warrior to have on his side, surely?
I have recently bought another rule set and unusually for me, a book on terrain and scenery modelling. I have a lot of scenery articles saved from discarded magazines. So why do I really need any more advice. It is not like I am overflowing with home-made items.
Well it just caught my eye. It being “Battlefields in Miniature” by Paul Davies and published by Pen & Sword. Dating to 2015, I have the paperback version printed in 2018. I think the original was in hardback.
A quick flick through has made me pleased I bought it. It looks a comprehensive view of this part of the hobby. Also, I have noticed a preoccupation with “high density foam”. This appears in a lot of my saved articles as well.
Somehow it is not a material I like and in fact generally I have avoided plastics when it comes to scenery and terrain. Maybe that’s because when I was far too young to be left alone with polystyrene ceiling tiles I cut them up with nice sharp knife to make contour hills. I then glued them together with polystyrene cement with exciting melting results and interesting vapours. That was the 1970’s – safety was basic common sense then, which children often lacked!
It put me off, except for retaining a continuing interest in plastic figures.
I will use some of the ideas in the book and Paul Davies writing style is engaging: Very much just have a go. My only criticism so far is that the book is rich in finished items in use and yet some of those picture slots would have been better showing some more intermediate steps of construction for greater clarity.
Now how about that ruleset?
Well I looked at the Too Fat Lardies Dux Britanniarum several years ago just before I bought Maurice (another card driven ruleset as it happened). That was at Fiasco in Leeds, just one of many shows I have missed this year.
Here is one of those cards that drive the game. Love or Hate them they have an impact you cannot quite control. The figures are Greenwood & Ball (Garrison) Vikings from circa 1978. Yes they are posing as 5th century saxons……..
The figures are painted in Humbrol matt oils finished with gloss varnish while the basing in those days was dried tea – uncoloured. looking good at around 40 years of age.
I took a punt and bought the full rules including the follow up “raiders” supplement and all those cards.
I like dice and card driven games and I like the “big man” idea that threads through Too Fat Lardies publications.
I have since played a single game solo that took an age to complete. That will be reported in another post. Suffice to say I will play these rules again.
I will eventually report and conclude my wargames ruleset testing using two anglo saxon shieldwalls. Setting up two identical shieldwalls to fight each other is a recipe for a tedious game surely?
Well I have to say that has not been the case. And I admit there have been some deviations from the rule of exactly matching forces. On the face of it in those cases they were thought to be marginal. Well with one exception.
Of more interest to me are the rulesets themselves. They are all typically at the abstracted end of the technique.
To make my point I will draw on a totally different subject – art. And specifically the painting. Like table top wargames paintings have limits and are normally framed in some way. That is another story though………….
Art and abstraction go together. As far as I know my first inkling of abstraction was to do with art and how painting techniques changed over time – well a few centuries. And abstraction was what artists started doing in the late 19th century.
So this is my take on abstracted rulesets – here are 9 to choose from!
These are all images of some fantastic art on show at the Ferens Art Gallery in Kingston Upon Hull or Hull as it is commonly known. If you get the chance pay a visit. For that matter visit any art gallery you can right now. Like all art and music industries, COVID19 will change everything at least in the short term and possibly for a long time to come.
So the images contain some classical or traditional views of the painted picture. In there is a Constable and a Canaletto – both detailed. Yet perhaps not as detailed as the portrait in the bottom right. Apparently it took the artist several months just to paint the head of the life study. Someone else stood in for the rest!
And in there is some cubist style work and “abstract images”
So what we have here is 9 images of different types of wargames rules.
And my anglo saxon shieldwall ruleset tests are definitely in the following vein.
Ancient and Medieval Wargames by Neil Thomas with apologies to Paul NashTable Top Battles by Mike and Joyce Smith with apologies to Percy Wyndham Lewis – vorticists in action!Dan Mersey and Dux Bellorum with apologies to Peter KnightOne Hour Wargames with apologies to the unknown artist as I forgot to snap their resume!Just for fun and tongue in cheek, I reckon this painting might be the equivalent wargames ruleset legend – “the Newbury Rules” apparently very closely typed text with no pictures requiring a wargames lawyer to assist in its application. Beautiful very Beautiful but a very scary prospect to paint (or in the case of the newbury rules, wargame).
Did you notice the Lady Butler painting – return from Inkerman. If you can, do visit the Ferens Art Gallery in the centre of Kingston Upon Hull – entry is free and there is a coffee shop to sustain you.
If you do go – the portrait of the Lady is by Gerald Brockhurst and is titled “by the hills” and was painted in 1939. When you stand in front of it the feeling is that it has to be a photograph.
Paintings posing as wargames rules might be stretching your mind and you might think I am mad. However this has turned out quite theraputic.
To that I can add “if a year ago you said I would be writing about wargames and artforms in a blog post – I would have said your crazy”. In the year of COVID19 it seems even the craziest thing is possible.
Above all enjoy life while you can, keep playing wargames with the rulesets that make you happy and seek out your way to a healthy life!
In my last post I explained my rediscovery of the ruleset published by Partizan Press and authored by Mike and Joyce Smith.
The Table Top Battles (TTB) ruleset uses a grid. Now I have dabbled in grid based wargaming and played lots of board games which are gridded games of some sort – not a tape measure in sight!
This post is a marathon and I hope you will see that this ruleset although “gamey” has a coherence to it. So the battle flowed and compared to AMW by Neil Thomas and more so with Daniel Mersey’s Dux Bellorum rules, I had little need to keep rereading the rules.
The usual sections follow – set up, then narrative and finally a picture based step by step report.
The rules require you have a base that will fight for each discrete unit. The term used is a “stand”. The General is another base who the way I read the rules is not a stand so does not fight.
I decided to use my leader bases and gave them stand status. The “tinkerman” at work already.
Essentially the line up was a shieldwall with some skirmishers at both ends of the kings battleline. At one end the single rebels skirmisher bow faced up to the kings skirmisher bowmen. At the other the Kings men had a foot bow skirmish stand plus a mounted javelin light cavalry stand facing a shieldwall of rebel spearmen stand.
The diagram below shows the set up. The playing area was kept to a minimum.
Narrative
Earl Toki now felt confident enough to split his forces which had grown due to his successes. He left Thegn Pyrlig with his main forces while he rode to meet some Mercians who promised to come over to his side.
While Earl Toki was away Thegn Pyrlig kept a good lookout and soon enough another force appeared who were yet another collection of the Kings men ready to fight the rebels. Thegn Pyrlig soon confirmed that these were western men but not any they knew or who could be “turned”. And Earl Mathedoi was at their head again, eager to avenge his recent defeat.
The battleground was simple – a flat plain. I used 80 mm squares here as my chosen unit type for 1/72 figures is the Impetus Rules with the 15mm suggested base width! Te grid is some cotton sheeting with penciled lines.On the Earl’s left flank his mounted skirmishers rode forward confidently while his bow skirmishers looked with concern that they faced a solid rebel shieldwall.In the game pictures you will see a peter pig pink die – this denotes the aggressor. Each turn dice are thrown and the winner has the advantage or the aggression in that turn.
TTB in effect uses the “pip” idea from DBA. It is simplified to give a +1 on ALL dice throws made by the aggressor.
The pink die reminds me that my wargame story has included gridded games in the past. My hex gaming with Kallistra never quite got going even though I thought the concept excellent. My problem was the geometrical look of hexes and the fact there is a “weave” for very linear types of warfare. Maybe I was just too focused on DBA at the time. Peter Pig rules for WW2 used square grids and his Poor Bloody Infantry (PBI) rules I really enjoyed before leaving that period altogether. There the grid worked – it did not impose itself in the way hexes did.
Clearly this is a very subjective matter. It is a case of each to their own.
This is my first return to the grid technique.
The orange 12 sided dice is used to decide who is the aggressor and therefore gets the valuable pink +1 diceThe right wing bow skirmishers got into action first. A game turn comprises phases – move, fire and combat with the aggressor going first in the move and fire phases. Crucially the aggressor inflicts firing losses before the passive opponent replies: Another advantage of having the pink jersey – woops – too much giro d’italia. Did I tell you my scenery ideas have benefited to my mind from watching hours of cycling tours riding across Spain, France and now Italy!
In the aggressors fire phase shown above both units have a value of one. This value is a combination of any fighting ability and morale. It is used in all firing and combat. To this fixed value you add the result of a single D6 throw. In this firing phase the aggressor has thrown a six and their opponent just 3. So no need for the +1 here.
The result is the loser score was “slightly lower” in the dice off so the stand is moved back. Not playing the +1 pinkie is an error because it applies in every throw. And in this case had it been properly used the losing score or “Target Player” score is now half. not just slightly less than that of the “Firing Player”. In this case the stand should be removed.
The Kings bowmen are happy to retire a square relieved they were not “removed” or were they?
TTB gives options throughout and I chose the harsher results approach. Stands either move back a square or are removed from the game.
On the kings left flank the mounted light cavalry (orange value 2) beat the shieldwall (purple value 3) 7v5 (yellow dice being the random addition). The kings bowmen managed a lowly 4 which being less than the shieldwall 6 proved ineffective. The net result is the shieldwall are discouraged and retire a square. Firing is between individual bases. Combat is additive.The error is corrected and the Kings bowmen leave the field early losing to the aggressors fire turn 8v4.The Kings men throw themselves against the rebel shieldwall. Even the kings reluctant bowmen, not doubt emboldened by the kings light cavalry, have joined the fray.The General adds the value of any 1 friendly stand in an adjacent square to the combat phase. Combat is simultaneous unlike the firing. Here a shieldwall spearman stand adds +3 to both leaders. Later on the eagle eyed will see I missed a few +3 yellow dice although because the leaders never moved and were always head to head they simply raised the value of both the group scores making it harder to get a decisive result in the grouped combat.The combat allows “grouping”. This speeds up the combat process. Because I had a simple shieldwall with all units the same I could use the grouping. The kings group shieldwall score was 7×3 (21 orange) +1 aggression (pink) and a measly +1 random throw (yellow) = 25 when you add the generals bonus of +3 (yellow)
Remember those brave kings bowmen? Well they were not so brave as the rules allow some stands to engage to fire and then retire if a 4 or more on a D6 is acheived. The kings bowmen threw a 4 and with the pink dice acheived a healthy 5 to retire
The Rebels amassed 7 stands at 3 value (base score of 21) to which they added support values of +1 (yellow)from each flank unit because they faced a different unit type or had no opponent. To that you added the generals bonus of +3 (yellow) and a random +5 (yellow). total score 31. I decided that as the rebel bow were a different unit they could not get the +2 flank attack and were just allowed the +1 supporting value.The whole kings line recoiled to join the already retired bowmen in the bottom of the picture.The Kings men retained the upper hand though and attacked again next turn winning the aggression dice throw with an 8 on their D12The skirmishers attacked again the rebel right flank.By chance the rebel bowmen offered a flank to the recently retired right flank kings shieldwall and they “slid” right as you do in gridded wargames TTB style.
In TTB movement is in any direction with only a few restrictions. No penalties apply for direction change or rather they are absorbed into the move allowance. Generally units face up to their nearest opponent without restriction. The exception is when a unit is pinned on one face – then flank and rear attacks can also be made.
The rebel left flank is driven back againalmost stalemate again but now the rebels have numbers in the group combat as well (7 purple dice v 6 orange dice)yet again the kings men aggressively return to the fray (winning the D12 dice off with a 9 to get the prized +1 pink dice) having lost the last group combatThe rebel bowmen were isolated by the right flank kings spearmen and put to flight with better dice throwing and that useful +1 in pinkNext up the rebel left flank spearmen stand determined to remove the kings own flank spearmen Its that pink dice again – the kings men win this round by just 1 and drive the rebels back. The small gaming space is relevant as if the rebels get pushed off the table (or out of the ring!) they lose those stands.The rebels throw a 12 on their D12 to resume their own aggression and take the fight to the kings men.The weary shieldwall resume their struggle with the kings left flank skirmishers. Yet taking no fire damage they see off the bowmen again while the light cavalry stay too close! (failed to get 4 on a D6)7v7 is a draw in this combat so the aggressor (rebel shieldwall) gets the nod and drives back the light cavalry. The pink dice has lots of ways of rewarding the owner!Close again as the kings men win the central group combat 25 v 24 despite the rebel having that pink +1. The rebels are driven back again.The Kingsmen are feeling good and secure the pink +1 dice with 11 on a D12Out of picture the kings yellow dice of 5 is forcing the rebels back into the group combat off to the left so destroying them instead. With a 90 degree retreat arc I could have had this stand retire towards its enemy baseline. I decided this would not happen and the shieldwall just melted away having been cornered.The kings men again triumph in the pink dice competition and drive forward but it remains a stalemateon the rebel flank the skirmishers cling to the shieldwall but remain ineffectiveIn the centre the rebels hold a small advantage while on both flanks the kings advantage in numbers is clearbottom right is the A4 rule book – to hand – actually despite 42 pages in length only about 2 sides of A4 text are relevant in the heat of battle. And here the rebels again aggressively attack the kings line. In the distance the left flank rebel spearmen drift out to engage the kings spearmen on that far flank.In their movement phase the kings skirmishers again crowd around the rebel right flank scenting bloodDespite driving back the kings spearmen on their left flank, the rebel right flank has collapsed although all units forced to retire have managed to stay in the game (that is “stayed on the gaming board”).A rare aggression victory for the rebels allows them to create some space as they renew their attack. The left handside of their line though, is crumpled.on the far flank the battle remains one of two evenly matched shieldwallsThe kings men begin to turn the rebel linethe javelins of mounted skirmishers still have no impact on the resilient rebel spearmen and neither do the bowmen.On the opposite flank the rebel spearmen get the better of the fight driving back the kings spearmenalthough their flank has been turned the rebel spearmen give the light cavalry short shrift when they fail to evade after another ranging attck with their javelins. The light cavalry fly from the field. Elsewhere the rebels lose the central group combat again and are driven perilously back towards their baseline.Even so with renewed vigour the rebels defend their line defeating the careless bowmen who retireagain the kings men win the centre combat driving the rebels back further. BUT……………..And then the rule of 12 lands! The game ends after 12 turns representing the part of the day the battle was fought. The rebels were still in the field but with more stands lost victory went to the Kings men.
Thegn Pyrlig led his men from the field. Already his camp alerted to the returning stream of wounded and fleeing men had begun to get ready to move.
Fortunately Earl Mathedoi and his soldiers simply remained on the field too exhausted to pursue the defeated rebels. Earl Mathedoi cursed has lack of a reserve and especially a mounted reserve. Come to think of it where had his light cavalry gone?
So I was looking for my copies of “Twilight” the Pike & Shot Society rulesets, as I had just acquired some more of them. This was prompted by my renewing my P&SS membership. The Arquebusier journal is worth the membership alone and at the moment of course is a lifeline.
Well I stumbled across “Table Top Battles” (TTB). This ruleset I have had many years and is in pristine condition which means unused. Authored by Mike and Joyce Smith my edition dates from 2007 although the bulk of the ruleset dates from its first publication in 2000. That was the heyday? of DBx rules and for that matter Warhammer Ancient Battles was in the wings and by 2007 everywhere.
I think some of the rules ideas reflect that era well. Yet they are niche in the sense that they are “gridded”. Now gridded wargames are not new and by some parts of the hobby be simply considered as extensions of chess or board games.
Given TTB pitches its main objective at around 6′ x 4′ playing areas and 2.5 hour long games, these are not board game rules.
My current testing of Neil Thomas’s Ancient and Medieval Wargaming (AMW) and Daniel Mersey’s Dux Bellorum (DuB) using Anglo Saxon shield walls, with the odd mounted troops thrown in, has now got a new dimension.
So next up will be a report on how two shieldwalls fared under Table Top Battles.
Nobles (Heavy Cavalry, heavy armour, Elite) 3-6 units
Retainers (Light Cavalry (javelin), light armour, Average) 1-3 units
Spearmen (Dark Age Infantry, light armour, Average) 1-4 units
Archers (Light Infantry (bow), light armour, Levy) 0-2 units
Special Rules
Spearmen can be equipped with medium armour
Norman Nobles get one extra dice per base in first round of combat
Crossbowmen permitted 1000AD onwards
Retainers shown as light cavalry can be equipped as Heavy Cavalry.
I only used the medium spearmen not permitting the Norman Cavalry ferocity of charge benefit, nor crossbowmen or retainers becoming heavy cavalry
About the 1/72 plastic Figures
Although the shieldwall are trusty Strelets normans and anglo saxons the cavalry include both Norman and closest to the camera some Carolingians whose horses look more like their in the Grand National! however I do like the mixed poses Strelets boxed sets give you. The Earl Beorthelm though is a pair of Hat El Cid cavalry, one being given a new head and lance. Earl Toki is from Strelets very big Stamford Bridge Battle set which is great value.
Narrative Story
I decided to link the three battles with a narrative.
Having defeated the Kings men sent against him Earl Toki, a Dane by origin, continued his march through Wessex. So The King now sent Earl Beorthelm to deal with the annoying Rebel. By chance he had with him some horseman from Flanders, good Frankish Cavalry.
With just these men and a few spearmen and archers he rode to intercept Earl Toki.
Earl Beorthelm had the following force
5 units of Elite Nobles heavily armoured
1 unit of Average Retainers in light armour armed with javelins
1 unit of Average Spearmen in medium armour
1 unit of Levy Archers in light armour armed with bows
The two armies meet on a small plain and aligned their roughly equal frontages. Again the two leaders fought their adjacent neighbours. Earl Beorthelm led his horsemen in a swift charge against the Shield wall Rebels. In the process he left behind his Archers and Spearmen (his reserve) while his Retainers peeled away to take care of some archers on the rebel left wing
It became apparent that the spearmen left the horse slightly outnumbered on the Kings Right wing where the Retainers had already incurred casualities from some rather effective rebel archers
The right hand cavalry unit did not charge in for fear of being outflanked by the shield wallThe spearmen were a reserve yet just too far behind the action……….The Retainers crash into the archersbut lose the fight due to archery losses then combat loses and finally morale collapsing – this double damage in AMW triggers rapid breakdown of the line. Visually unrealistic? maybe but good for a quick gameWith the Kings men Retainers crumbling the spearmen begin to advance in that direction to bolster the remaining heavy cavalry who remain on that flankmeanwhile the Kings Nobles make little impact on the solid shieldwall And the first Noble Cavalry decide to retireOminously the spearmen continue to march towards the empty Kings right wing while in the centre the shield wall breaks out to envelope the now static Kings horsemenThese Nobles soon retire On the kings right flank the isolated Nobles are being overun by a unit of rebel spearmen and those very effective archers. In the centre the spearmen hesitate while the Earl Beorthelm struggles to keep his nobles in the fray. On the Earls left flank another noble cavalry unit retires Having defeated the archers the right flank Noble Cavalry bravely fight the rebel spearmenOn the left flank the Kings archers belatedly inflict some casualities on the spermen opposite them. The right flank Kings spearmen attempt to retire in the face of overwhelming oddsEarl Beorthelm is swept away by his nobles as they decide this is not to be their day. Even now there is some small success as the Kings Archers defeat their opponents on Earl Beorthelms left flank Earl Beorthelms spearmen are caught by the rebel spearmen who have had little to doThe remnants of Earl Beorthelms force continue to hold onQuickly the Earl Beorthelm’s spearmen are worn down
However the last Noble cavalry on the Earl Beorthelm’s right flank fight on despite the defeat of the Kings spearmen that ends the battle. They had done well to almost defeat these spearmen although had they done so Earl Toki was on hand with men to spare.
Commentary on the Rules
These are one off games so do not remove the effect of bad or good dice throwing. The use of simple forces shows that for AMW a well set up shieldwall attacked by noble cavalry could win.
The piecemeal cavalry led attack resulted in local losses on the flanks which dictated the reserve would not support the centre.
You could say the rules demand that your forces – only 8 units need to work as a group as once isolated and outnumbered the relative strength of a unit becomes less important.
The archer units seem to have some power and at the very least dilute some unit strength which can make all the difference in subsequent combats.
The next battle is now fought with a different set of rules!
Earl Toki now puts his faith in Dux Bellorum by Daniel Mersey
Nobles – Dark Age Infantry – medium armour, Elite between 1-3 units
Peasants – Dark Age Infantry – light armour, Average between 4-6 units
Archers – Light Infantry (bow) – light armour, Levy between 0-1 units
Special rules
Shieldwall can be adopted by both Nobles and Peasants. This formation imposes movement limits while providing enhanced saving rolls equivalent to the best you can get.
Integral Archers gives extra firepower to a unit just in the first turn of combat
Cavalry – one unit of nobles can be reclassed as
Cavalry – Heavy Cavalry – light armour, Elite
The warband option only applies to armies before 600AD and is mandatory before that date. I was interested in the shieldwall so my armies were post 600AD and in fact more like 900AD, what’s a few hundred years in dark age time………..
The Gloom of morning catches the scene – Rebels in the foreground with the Kings men approaching in the distance
I opted for two identical armies conveniently named Wessex 1 (Kings Earl) and Wessex 2 (Rebel Earl). Nothing like some internal dissention.
The 8-unit armies were both the same.
2 units of Nobles
4 units of Peasants
Shieldwall capability applied to the above 6 units
1 unit of Archers
1 unit of Cavalry
I had intended to give the rebels the integral archery option but forgot to do that in the actual game. So much for testing!
The core of each army were peasants and noble units forming shieldwall
The six infantry units squared up against each other while the light infantry supported the right wing in each case with the Cavalry withdrawn on the left.
The Rebel Earl stood with his men in the ShieldwallThese Kings men look like interlopers both mounted and on foot, hmmmmm
The nobles were in the centre of each line and both lines matched each other so as the battle got underway it was noble against noble and peasant against peasant. I did not pitch each leader’s unit against each other though. Remember that the leader confers no extra benefit or disadvantage if lost.
At the centre of both lines the leaders fought adjacent to each other, something which would affect the battle outcome in an unexpected way.
The Kings men expected to make short work of these insolent rebels.
The sun began to shine although the glare did not seem to affect the rebels on the left flank
In the early stages, it was the rebels who made rapid gains on both flanks racking up hits before everything hit a stalemate or rather a slower rate of hits, now being equally inflicted.
The Kings men of the left flank take an early barrage of hits omniously.On the rebel left the Kings men were just taking a bit more punishment than they handed out. Maybe these rebels were no pushover after all
Finally, the left flank peasant unit of the Kings army fled the field after some hard fighting. And even the Cavalry behind them were no support to keep them in line.
The left flank peasant shieldwall dark age infantry reduced to a yellow ring indicating two bases left had already incurred 3 of the 4 available hits left to them on this ring. Three hits (yellow dice) were incurred while no saving throws made the cut (orange, 3,1,2 versus required 6) so with one base lost a nasty twist in AMW rules is triggered – throw for morale due to a base loss. Here the Kings men needed 4-6 and threw a measly 2. Already down to one base that went as well. The left wing of the Kings men leave the field in full view of the cavalry reserveThe Kings men cavalry reserve approaches the shieldwall which was now reforming. As they came up to the line the levy archers poured a few arrows into the hapless cavalry
These Kings horsemen rode into the fray. They crashed into the victorious rebel peasant unit who held them. The battle now continued until the rebels centre crumpled and a noble unit turned tail. The triumphant Kings Army Leader drove forward into the gap and turned onto the Rebel Leaders flank to deliver the killer blow. However, the rebel cavalry charged into the centre and took the Kings Noble Leader unit in the rear.
A rebel nobles unit on a yellow ring and with 2 hits remaining repeats the same trick of losing a base to combat (yellow 4,6 versus orange saving throws of 1,2) and then their remaining base to morale (green 2 when a 3-6 would have done the job)The rebel nobles unit retires leaving the Kings men with the opportunity to exploit the collapse of the rebel centre.The rebel leader and the right flank are dangerously weak with 2 red rings and one yellowthe kings men leader attacks the rebel leader while the rebel cavalry reserve come to the rescue of their leaderNow the tables are turned as the Kingsmen leader unit is caught in the rear by the Rebel cavalry
Meanwhile the Kings own cavalry unit gave up its fight with the rebel peasants and left the field. And in the centre the Kings Leading Nobles also succumbed, failing to destroy the Rebel nobles and unable to deal with the Rebel Cavalry attacking their rear.
On the Kings men left flank their own cavalry have had enough and retireThe kingsmen leader unit routs and the adjacent peasant shieldwall joins them.
A Kings Army peasant unit also abandoned the fight at this point.
Th Kings Army had now been reduced to just 1 noble unit, 1 peasant unit and 1 unit of archers. All three of these units were quickly attacked by the Rebels. The result was no longer in doubt. And the first to flee were the nobles!
The remaining Kings men shieldwall is now outflanked while the archers on the right flank can do little but watch their army disperse and look to their own survival.The end of resistance by the Kings men as the last noble unit abandons the field
With just two Kings Army units remaining the Rebels had the field and could celebrate a great victory.
The Kings Army had melted away and now the Rebels could enjoy their freedom for a while.
in this game I used rings and dice. You could use coloured dice to achieve the same result although I think the combination is quite neat.The battle turned on situations where the combat losses forced a morale test which when you fail it can be devastating – here a unit goes from blue (4 bases) through green (3 bases) and onto yellow (2 bases). Yes I know its really pale blue in the photo but the middle ring looks green in real life – ok thats sea green!
The casualty method I adopted here was to show nothing where a unit had all 4 bases intact with no losses. When the first hits were incurred the unit acquired a dark blue ring and a die showing hits received. A pale blue/green ring showed a unit was now on three bases. No die meant all 4 hits were intact. More casualties took units through yellow rings for just two bases remaining before the last remaining base was indicated by a red ring. You could use coloured dice of course.
The game uses saving throws which is something of a regression for some rule writers. In a way you get no more dice rounds than DBA – one for one against. What you do get more of is the number of die thrown for a unit in a fight. That’s the buckets of dice syndrome. That means you throw 4 dice at full strength instead of always just one in DBA per base/unit. On the upside even DBA has the dreaded list of “plus or minus factors” and AMW only uses this approach in the optional rules per army which add some flavour.
With no push backs the line remains static or rather you don’t see the push and shove and gradual break down of the line: It is not played out physically by the gamer, so you have to imagine it happening. This is a greater abstraction than DBA where the push back is required to be seen and of course gives combat benefits being integral to the next or adjacent base combat. DBA push back also alerts both players to outcomes allowing helicopter management: Appropriate for tournament play maybe. Of course, “transparency” is a competition issue and “imagination” has no place in tournament play.
During the slogging match the rebels were losing and at times it looked like the king’s men would make the decisive shieldwall breakthroughs. In fact, it was the Cavalry that made the difference. The king’s cavalry filled a gap in the line but were then quickly seen off by the shield wall peasants. The rebel cavalry was far more useful when the kings leading nobles exposed their rear in attacking the rebel leaders.
The moves I made were all logical – in the heat of battle why would you not descend on your enemy leader’s rear to finish him off and Leaders wheeling to expose a flank or rear – so what – those cavalry in the distance might not move our way……but they did.
For both armies I sent in the cavalry in response to an adverse situation that would be seen by the cavalry sat patiently to the nearby.
The combats were close such that on another day it might be the rebels fleeing from the field.
History Note: If you accept that Anglo-Saxons rode to war, which I do, then the army list is fine. The two situations in the battle (allowed under the rules) suggest why their use may have been more restricted and why the rules could be amended.
The Kings Cavalry charged a Shieldwall that had just defeated another Shieldwall. If we allow for the defeated men to drift away the cavalry will have been faced with a tired but formed body of men experiencing euphoria and relief. It is possible to conceive that the cavalry leader believed they were so tired that he could drive them off. In the event the Shieldwall reformed and defeated the cavalry. That seems reasonable as well.
In the other situation the cavalry reserve could see their own centre begin to collapse and after they own men had streamed away, they could see the “backs” of enemy troops. That assumes they could tell the difference at a distance. It seems reasonable to make that assumption because their own men had just left a gap in the Shieldwall line. With the backs of the enemy in sight why not charge into the fray.
In both cases it is about the morale and the decision to move rather than the outcome of the subsequent fight. And AMW allows you freedom to move. No pips, no movement decisions testing and no morale tests prior to moving.
AMW Rules note
On the face of just one playtest the temptation is to put in some control. AMW is attractive because it lacks the rule quantity of other sets. Restricting decisions to move or rather introducing wide ranging controls feels wrong here. Can we solve this problem another way? I think so and the answer lies in AMW having optional rules.
The Anglo-Saxon cavalry was an optional rule itself.
AMW House Rule No1
Anglo-Saxon Cavalry are permitted in battle and may advance into combat areas. They may charge into contact. After one turn of fighting they withdraw one full move unless they have at least one more base advantage than the unit they attacked.
So, the thinking here is that unless they make some rapid impact, turning the fight in their favour, they will use their mobility to withdraw before being destroyed.
This is not such a punishing rule as it seems. The withdrawn cavalry remains a threat and effectively may pin the opposition or at least make them think twice about their next moves. And they remain one of the three units required by the whole army to stay in the fight.
I think this rule reflects the likelihood of Anglo-Saxon cavalry being opportunists and pursuers in battles where the victory tide has turned one way or another.
Summary
The game was enjoyable and the result fine. I must admit allowing either army to fight with 3 units always looks a bit odd. Yet if you think in terms of abstraction – there are other men on the field all retiring or surrendering and not modelled. The few units left on the field show where the remaining core of resistance still exists. I can live with that.
One final thought is that shieldwalls are strong. How strong are they against a concerted cavalry attack though?
In my next post I will explore the classic dark ages infantry versus cavalry conflict.
So having had a good start to the year painting wise, by August I had enough units to do some gaming. My wargaming has always been predominantly “solo”, so road testing rules on my own is natural for me.
Impetus elements of Anglo Saxons, Carolingians and Normans ready to do battle
I should also say that from my earliest wargaming days I have tinkered with rules.
It is a quirk of fate that the first wargames book I read on rules came from my local public library (remember them?). So being a child you take what you can or rather see. So what did my local library have in the adult section? Well a single Donald Featherstone book. And his book was called “Advanced Wargames”. It was a book about wargames and the advanced bit meant nothing to me.
years after my public library discovery I bought my own copy of this book. It actually contains material that has been “invented and popularised” decades later such as grid gaming
So armed with Advanced Wargames I started rule based wargaming and of course met a big problem. Advanced Wargames is a set of chapters dealing with “aspects” of wargaming. Drawing on multiple sources and authors the book covers most areas of rulesets yet they are not joined up to provide a single useable ruleset.
The assumption was that you had a wargames ruleset/s already and some prior knowledge of the whole idea of rules based wargaming. Then you would cherry pick additions and improvements from the book.
I think this is the origin of my “tinkering” with wargames rules. Give me a set of rules and I will invariably add in some “house rules”.
So back to my road test of the rulesets of Neil Thomas and Daniel Mersey.
I have posted previously about my reluctance to move from seriously thought out but quick DBA into the very simple world of AMW. Yet this ruleset is very enjoyable and is more subtle than you might think.
In Ancient & Medieval Wargaming (AMW) by Neil Thomas there are four period rulesets
Biblical Wargaming 3000BC – 500BC
Classical Wargaming 500BC – 300AD
Dark Age Wargaming 300AD -1100AD
Medieval Wargaming 1100AD – 1485AD
My choice here was obvious – Dark Age Wargaming.
I used his rules without house rule changes on this occasion. Well with one exception.
I use Impetus sized elements having abandoned DBA with its restrictions on depth. And I had settled on 1/72 20-25mm figures on 80 mm wide bases which Impetus assumed would be for 15mm although the rules clearly gave you the option for 1/72 basing.
In fact Impetus rules whole approach to basing was so refreshing when I encountered them. And for me they have set the tone for most of the last decade.
I think they were in the vanguard of “BW” measurement or base width’s. This simple decision meant the end of the need to “rebase” figures when switching between rulesets. Of course if you only have one ruleset it is never an issue.
I have almost as many rulesets as guides to painting figures if not more……..dozens.
AMW assumes you have DBA based figures so uses 4 40mmx20mm bases giving you an 80mm x 40mm element and 8 of these make an AMW army.
In effect you need 32 dba bases which is not so good if you have 12 unit dba armies: And most of my thinking had been on these compact DBA army lines.
table size and figure basing all go together for me. I fixed my maximum table size at 6’x4′ imperial and 1.8m x 1.2m metric. 3 collapsible picnic tables from lidl are the foundationsurface finish is 3 x 20mm thick mdf 4’x2′ (1.2m x 0.6m) boards to minimise warping covered with felt in this case
Then I read an article in the Lone Warrior magazine of the Solo Wargamers Association. There the writer suggested a cheap way to build armies was just use the 40mm x 20mm bases as single elements and/or reduce figure count to just say 1 for light troops, 2 for medium and 3 for heavy troops. Well it was something like that because it was the principle that made the difference to me. It broke me fully away from DBA “figures per base rules” and Impetus gave me the solution of 1/72 figures which I prefer – yet now on a smaller 15mm scale base size I also prefer.
The net result is I use 80mm wide bases and actually a generous 60mm depth for all units. This allows the impetus suggested “diorama” approach, better showing individual figures you have carefully painted rather than their being very squashed together under DBA.
You sacrifice ground scale though. I guess in this I have followed favourably the increased “abstraction” approach on ruleset design. Abandoning figure removal for losses in the 1990’s? was the start of this “abstraction” and for some the descent fully into gaming and away from any simulation. I love history yet I love gaming so the compromise matters.
Neither AMW nor Dux Bellorum require explicit command bases but I like them so here is one – from my much delayed “Normans in the South” project – none other than Tancred d’Hauteville looking at the shield design.
Using single base elements meant that required base removal in AMW rules was not now possible. The fix here was simply to use two dice. The first was used to show the 4 “virtual” bases while the second showed the 4 points value each virtual base could sustain before being knocked out and removed from play. I have also used three dice in other games (18 so showing 6+6+4 at the start). But the rules in AMW use base counts to indicate available attack dice. Unless you like mental arithmetic, showing the two aspects gives a simple visual indicator.
A few years later Neil Thomas used this “one number” technique to good effect in his fastplay “One Hour Wargames” (OHW) rules where units are a single base elements with a value of 16 which equates to all the elements morale/resistance/casualty value and overall strength in one number.
With AMW you need not fear flank issues so the shieldwall has gaps between each element/unit ! you can of course place units in base to base contact – i was reflecting the AMW book diagrams!
So I played two games with AMW. The first was essentially two shield walls crashing together and the second was a cavalry led force attacking a shieldwall.
The mighty Norman/Carolingian or Franks in AMW speak start their assault on the Anglo Saxons shieldwall. AMW give suggested army set ups although you still have plenty of choice in the small army lists in the text
The third ruleset test game was another shieldwall versus shieldwall this time using Dux Bellorum.
atmospheric artwork throughout the Osprey book makes its use feel positively different to the text heavy AMW where a central batch of irrelevant but professional model armies fails to add any real value. The AMW font is bigger so the text is much easier to refer to in the heat of battle though!
These rules are aimed at a narrower period AD367-793 and with a nod to fantasy gaming called “Arthurian Wargaming Rules”. These rules use the “BW” concept, being published in 2012, 5 long years after AMW.
a solid pair of shieldwalls square up for Dux Bellorum. The dice are colour coded for the unit grades such as “nobles”.
Again there were no tweaks for once. Indeed in both cases as I fought shieldwall battles a side benefit was to better understand the design of these two rulesets. Because shieldwalls in both rulesets result in quite a static and very balanced game you can see the effect of a limited number of the author’s variables in action.
Here is an Anglo Saxon Command with to its front my version of a shieldwall in 1/72 Strelets plastics on an Impetus 15mm scale 80mm wide element base.
In my next blog I will consider what happened in each game.
the ring and dice combination solved my AMW rule problem when using only base instead of 4.
The Wargaming Erratic 