wargaming is everything from gaming on the table top with dice, painting figures, reading history, collecting figures, scenery and rules through to geography, politics, art, crafts and imaginative writing……..
I have had a spate of journals recently including two fine editions. The first, the Hobilar by the the Lance & Longbow Society. Some excellent reads here. Then there is the Arquebusier, journal of the Pike and Shot Society. Again some wonderful looking articles.
But I stopped myself – I am on an Anglo Saxon spree, yes even my current Pictish figure painting is to provide enemy forces for the Anglo Saxons. 2020 has been a fruitful year for my Anglo Saxons and probably the most concerted period project for years.
The BUT arrives…………
And then I received my “E copy” of Lone Warrior published in the USA by the Solo Wargamers Association.
I had a quick look through that and well here were some more interesting articles – not least Rob Morgans one about chessboards and wargames so to speak.
And for some reason I started to read Brian Cameron’s part 2 article on playing solo battles. It was about horse musket warfare (1750-1850 -ish as he says). Well my end period up to 1725 – Great Northern Wars just allows for my interest in the horse and musket era. So this might be interesting I thought. Just an aside of course.
For some reason Brian’s article led me to thinking about the Franco-Prussian War. And specifically page 146 in Donald Featherstones book Advanced Wargames!
I enjoyed Brians article, which being about his imaginations further stoked my thinking. Suddenly I wanted a similar game.
Oh dear – where does this support my “anglo saxons project”or much delayed “normans in the south” for that matter?
In Advanced Wargames, page 146 introduced me to the Franco Prussian war and I was captivated at the time. This was a history I just did not know about back then (1970’s), although when you think about it, it was about 100 years after the events. I better remember the American War of Independence washing through the hobby with more impact back then. Well I never did get into the period. I did mimic the ideas though, with my Airfix Naploeonics and my first metal figures from Warrior and Tradition. Many have been sold along the way yet I have kept some for nostalgic reasons and now use them in my own imaginations games right next to my tricorne wearing Great Northern War Russians and Swedes.
So what to do?
Well obviously start rereading that chapter in Advanced Wargames. You always have to go with the flow. And anyway some reading like this is like “a change is as good as a rest”.
Worringly I am already perusing some possible kepi’s and stove pipe hats on Plastic Soldier Review.
Ok so the Russians are from 1877 which is hardly 1870, 1859 or 1854 let alone 1848 which was another date I had my eye on. And in the midst of all this muskets are out and rifles are in.
I am not looking for 4KTV realism here (you can drench yourself in it and on wikipedia alone – don’t forget to donate – nothing is ever free thats worth keeping). No, I want to get back to the simple ideas in various wargames books of the 1970’s. I want some 1970’s gaming.
So it looks like I have broken my rule of nothing after 1725 nor starting another wargames project before the anglo saxons are complete.
In episode 1 I set the scene for starting a campaign using Dux Britanniarum.
Two evenly matched small forces are all that are necessary to get started – about 40 figures per side – all infantry. Although in my case that equates to just 7 impetus elements for my Romans and 6 for my Saxons.
Then its character creation with simple Role-Playing Game style giving the forces some particular definition. And if you’re going to campaign rather than play one off battles then a narrative becomes a real benefit. Creating a story from your gaming is one very good reason to wargame campaigns.
I used these rules unaltered except for terrain set up where Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles were preferred.
Next is the campaign start rules. Career paths are provided to signpost your characters development. Quite simply they remind me of the original Levels in 1970’s D&D – each status in the path opens up more benefits and choices – for a price. And that’s where the filthy lucre comes in. You need some bright metal to progress.
The aim of the campaign is that the Saxon player ends up with their own kingdom carved out of the Roman Provinces. Meanwhile the British/Roman player simply needs to retain his kingdom and aspire to either rule it or become the great military power of the whole island itself.
The campaign is not map based. The campaign last 8 months in each year from March to October. Losses are not easily replaced so some months no conflicts may occur.
At the start of the game both sides are minor players so the battle rules can be ignored.
The book of battles does though have the crucial Raiding tables which set out what you need to do to run a raid.
You determine the forces morale based on results of the previous encounter and a random element. So, each game will be slightly different.
For my start the Saxons were on 5 + 2 = 7 while the Romans were on 5 + 3 = 8.
Pre game set up, champions and speeches are skipped as they relate to battles.
The fate cards, which drive yet more variability, are designed to give each force specific benefits. Some cards mutually benefit both sides.
The two forces are dealt a hand of five cards for the raid where two are specified and three are random. Poor shuffling meant that some awful hands were dealt at the start.
I will just show the early “hands”
Ebroin is Saxon Leader One in the small sequence deck – he might go first or sixth or even seventh behind his own missilemen. Garrison Vikings from the 1970’s dwarf the strelets impetus based figures – but somehow feel rights as they convey the “BIG man” idea within Dux Britanniarum.Saxon Poor shuffling or what! Ebroin will not get much help from this hand in his moveTiberius is Roman Leader One – its 472AD after all – still 4 years to the end of the Empire. Tiberius is actually played by a Lamming 1970’s Saxon – confused? most dark age battles were fought under dark skies with no LED lighting and everyone wore variations of grey/brown clothing anyway.Tiberius the Decurion is doing better but needs to ditch the saxon carpe diem card.
In Episode 1 I described the terrain set up. For my “Raiding a Farm or Village” the location was determined using the raiding rules in TDux.
Again fortune smiled on the Saxons.
The Saxons then threw to find out how much surprise they had. The Saxons gained two free moves before the game proper started.
I moved the Saxons and then determined the Roman arrival point. This turned out to be a congested corner of the table which impeded their progress from the start.
The Saxons would win the raid if they left the table with their loot. The scale of their win would be helped by how many men escaped as well plus how many Romans they killed.
The Romans had to stop them taking the loot to win.
I suppose I should say that I have tended to use Romans in this post rather than British or Romano British. Maybe as the campaign builds, they will morph into “Britons”.
Randomly generated terrain using Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles terrain generator meant the Saxons had easy access compared to the Romans. At least there was South ford……… upriver of the marsh. The hills punished any movement while other features impeded movement and/or inflicted “shock” on a group
Rules Digressions
Before I return to the action I have set down some of the rules which I think are notable.
A small set of cards determine the sequence for each turn. Another randomisation. For gamers who like control this is probably getting far too much. For solo play its ideal as “loss of control” is essential to make the game come alive.
A key aspect of the sequence is that controlled forces all activate before the uncontrolled. Using your leaders and their supporting nobles, command range is important. It follows that their position can improve or hinder things.
Each side has three commanders, and the leader has an initiative of 3 while his nobles have 2. That represents their ability to activate. The leader can do three discrete activations while his nobles on their turn get to do up to 2. In one full turn of the card deck the three commanders share 7 activations.
There are various constraints on these leader attributes such as when they are in the heat of the battle or how they have organised their forces. The fate hand cards allow additional activation.
Yet another variable is movement – when activated a group will throw dice to determine their movement. With 3d6 the range is 3” to a staggering 18”. There are quite a few reductions and as you have to move the full amount this can work against your force as its leader loses range control.
Forming shieldwall rightly slows you down and makes you less manoeuvrable. There are the usual terrain penalties for movement. There are some rules for the missile troops and cavalry as well as interpenetration of groups being restricted or having consequences.
Finally, units end up facing the direction they travelled and can only see the 180 degrees to their front. This informs the 4” Zone of influence which a group imposes to its front restricting any enemy entering or leaving that zone. I forgot this rule quite a few times during the heat of battle………..
Firing is straight forward with range limitations and usual “to hit” throws required.
Now we come to impact. “Shock” is what results from missile fire or hand to hand combat. Accumulated shock drives a group back and eventually breaks them. Leaders can rally groups by removing shock through activation.
In Combat once two forces contact each other dice are thrown to hit and for allocation – multiple groups fighting need to know who hit who. Effect is determined as with missile fire consulting a table where the quality of troops being hit affects the random dice outcome.
Leaders are not immune! You can lose a hero.
Shieldwalls stop initial hits and initial shocks so it is a valuable capability for the Romano British.
Unless there is a difference in shock results, the draw means the fight goes on and on for every drawn round of fighting. Only two combat rounds occur before other forces move again. So, more forces might join a combat to shake things up!
“Misplacing ones Amphora” means a group has taken twice as many shocks as there are men in the group and is broken. After uncontrolled groups have moved these broken groups move 3d6 towards any friendly table edge searching for their missing amphora………
So now we come to the force morale mentioned at the start of this post. Each group lost reduces the morale of the force, again randomly influenced by the lost groups type. Losing better quality groups does more harm as you would expect. This variable ensures that you can play the same raid over and over again even on the same terrain and the result will be different.
All this variability means the ruleset presents a vast range of different games to play before any similarity might get seen.
At the end of the game, you count various losses on another table to get a total score. Compared to the enemy score the difference gives a winner/loser combination of outcomes depending on how large the difference is.
Rules then follow for gaining reinforcements and when the next raid will happen. If the Saxon has grown on their success, then the next big step is to contest the province.
There are some tricky annual events to tackle for the Saxon leader, so it is not all one-way traffic to the top!
At 92 pages even allowing for some resource pages plus big FONT, there are lots of rules here compared to the rules I have previously tested the shieldwalls for.
I think it was worth explaining these aspects of the rules up front.
Let battle continue
Now back to the battle where Coenwulf was facing up to some fighting before he could escape with his filthy lucre. Coenwulf wished Gudwal would hurry up and find some coin to make the day worthwhile.
We left the two forces here, except the saxons had done a neat swop with Ebroin taking over the groups holding the bridge while Coenwulf led the saxon group against the sole Roman group approaching the village led by Decurion Silvanus. The green dice show the “initiative” or activiations available. Crude but effective as the action jumps around it is easy to forget who is next! The Romano British throw in a hero of the age fate card doubling the quantity of dice thrown. In the background the saxons finally turn up a hoard or rather “the only hoard”…….The Hero of the Age Silvanus was roundly beaten by Coenwulf who promptly retreats to handover the group to Gudwal who is already leaving the village with the filthy lucre. Coenwulf then recrosses the bridge to join the fight on the east bankThe terrain has taken its toll on the Romans arrival, and being strung out they have broken up into single groups. Silvanus leaves the field after being severely mauled by Coenwulf. The saxons have the advantage nowOn the Roman right flank those tricky 3d6 movements mean the saxon missile men are caught and driven from the field by Decurion TiberiusIn the centre the first round of fighting at the bridge has driven the romans back and more saxon support is arriving with the very active CoenwulfThe roman group led by Tiberius having destroyed the saxon missile men crash into the saxon left flank group of warriors led by Coenwulf.Coenwulf is with them and they hold despite Tiberius hurling missiles (no doubt picked up from those fleeing saxons) – the righthand “strong arm card yields 6 extra dice for some loss in movement.The saxons look in control as they carry off the loot in the distance, the saxons by the bridge just need to execute a fighting withdrawl……ha!
Silvanus has managed to return to the field having been carried off by his fleeing group. He now needs to extract a reluctant group of Numeri from the marsh and go to the aid of VitalinusEbroin is more than holding his own against Vitalinus who curses the mix up at the ford where his Comanipulares are paired with some reluctant Numeri. The romans are getting roughed up and attempt to rallyEbroin is still looking for a famous killBut Coenwulf is struggling to finish off TiberiusCoenwulf gets some more action thoughand promptly disengages as his loot leaves the table “literally” under the care of Gudwal – oops thats the character who lusts for his own power………….Meanwhile Ebroin is in a tricky position apparently abandoned by his leader only to find him yet again joining the frayMore moves for the Saxons – the red counter reminded me it was move 8 Coenwulf and Ebroin continue to drive back the Roman lineeventually the Romans get to move but not before the Roman levy have fled the lineNow Tiberius joins in and attacks yet another saxon group – Ebroin’s warriors – third time lucky? The orange dice denote the number of men still effective for rule purposes.no luck for the romans as they fail miserably. In the background Coenwulf and Vitalinus are toe to toe.And Vitalinus is thrown back again – his comanipularies are destroyed in the endThe saxons now actually want to be awayhaving fled to the south ford Vitalinus brings a Numeri group in a wide arc round the wood to return to the fightCoenwulf (yellow dice) having been attacked again turns to face the late arriving Silvanus (red dice) while the exhausted but victorious Ebroin (bottom left) sees an escape south open up unexpectedly. Tiberius (bottom right) hesitates.East bank saxons escapeWith Ebroin retiring south Coenwulf delivers one more mighty blow on the romans still fighting him. Tiberius looks on confused as Vitalinus appears from behind the wood. The ineffective Roman missilemen head towards the village to check out what damage has been done or rather escape the field of battleand then Coenwulf disengagesWith some sharp dice throwing the saxons head south and escape as VItalinus realises his mistake in circling the wood.
The net result of all losses on both sides was a difference of simply 1 on the raid results table – meagre pickings for Coenwulf and with heavy losses it will be 3 months before the Saxon can raid again. With moderate losses Vitalinus will take 2 months to replace his losses. He will be ready and waiting.
“Recon” in New Pudsey is run by the Wakefield & District wargamers and usually happens today – the first Saturday in December.
It is not the largest show on the circuit yet it has become a regular visit for me. There is always a decent selection of traders and a variety of games.
Pudsey Civic Hall is a relaxed venue with sufficient refreshments and plenty of seating plus parking (I travel by car) on site.
I have dropped by the Lance and Longbow Society (LLBS) stand for the last two years. I think they did the battle of Lewes in 2018 and last year they did the battle of Clifton Moor 1475. Its a participation game I always join in. The team are always very welcoming and really are there to throw the dice and get some pieces moving with any interested visitor.
snapshot of LLBS Clifton Moor battle thanks to storm of steel wargaming
I have no other photos except the headline one which shows tumbling dice 1/72 metallic command sets. I like the Saxon and Norman ones in particular.
ok a poor photo but you get the idea – these are nicely crafted 1/72 metals
On youtube “storm of steel wargaming” have posted a short video of the 2019 event. so you could do a quick “recon of recon” using it.
Storm of steel posted a 6 minute mini tour of Recon 2019
Shieldwalls – Dux Bellorum, AMW, OHW and Table Top Battles Rules reviewed
Over quite a few posts I have reported on my use of rulesets to play battles between shieldwalls. In most cases the two opposing forces were mirror images. This meant the mechanisms in the rules might be more transparent and then the rules could be better contrasted in my mind.
Having said all that “one swallow a summer does not make” so everything I write here is caveated – only multiple playing’s will help you like or dislike a ruleset fully in my view.
My consideration of the rules is of course subjective, and my criteria may not be to everybody’s liking. So, my criteria are
Reading the rules (understanding/comprehension) – both at the start and when referencing
Ease of Play – how the game played
Outcomes – the outcomes during the game and overall at the end
AMW
Let’s start with AMW. First I should say that from nowhere these rules have come to represent a modern take on what “I remember” I enjoyed about rules from the 1970’s: Above all simplicity. I used the Dark Age ruleset straight from the book.
The rules take up a couple of pages and are in clear large print and easy to understand. I printed the relevant pages as the paperback is a “tome” and short of breaking the spine it is not easy to “use” in a game.
The rules gave a simple mix of troops and are explained in a chapter on why the troop mix was chosen and what they could and could not do. The Shieldwall concept was well covered.
Saxon Cavalry were permitted, and I think Neil is more on the “they were everywhere in life so why not some on the battlefield”. He restricted their presence and impact.
Selection of the 8-unit force was straight forward. I added some variety in the choice of light troops. I used my 80mm frontage IMPETUS bases showing 1/72 plastics. Each base equates almost to 4 x 15mm scale 40x20mm DBA bases as referenced in the rules. Mine are 60mm deep “for the look” as IMPETUS suggests.
The dice to hit and dice to save has some interest for live opponents although for solo play arguably it simply prolongs the playing time. AMW uses the two-step process to provide the layered differentiation between such a small number of unit types to cover several hundred years of warfare and army types.
It did help to keep the stronger type of unit – nobles in the field longer than the peasants.
The first losses also triggered more (domino effect) as AMW uses morale effects to pile on misery when dice are thrown low.
The battle lines were deliberately aligned and close together as the intention was to show two equally sized shieldwalls simply coming together. And the erosion of the 16 hits or 4 bases in DBA speak resulted in some quick breakthroughs. With no need to put the units in base to base contact visually it did not look quite like two shieldwalls: More like roman maniples!
The use of some cavalry may have speeded up the result although I think the outcome was not in doubt.
The feeling and reality of individual units meant that flank attacks were inevitable, and these were the main mechanism of destruction. And the lines once met were static – which cuts both ways – that’s what happened – short of logging loss of points there is not much game movement.
The cavalry interventions were easy to achieve as there is no restriction on command and control.
Finally, the structure of the ruleset with core rules and some simple extra rules simply cries out for more house rules.
In my battle report I suggested a way to deal with anglo saxon cavalry in battle that might more reflect their power as pursuers and opportunists.
Because of the apparent strength of shieldwalls in AMW I then play tested cavalry against a shieldwall. The result was a defeat for the cavalry army. It showed you need to put the whole force jointly in together as the attrition is such that late comers – in my case the token infantry shieldwall were simply outnumbered and picked off in turn.
Coordination is in the hands of the gamer through movement of units and their proximity. This second game also confirmed that archery is quite potent.
Overall, I felt that AMW is better suited to combined arms battles as opposed to a slogging match. Given the breadth of periods covered by the rules these two battles were enjoyable enough for a further outing at some point.
Dux Bellorum
These rules are more modern in concept with command and control central to their use.
Again, the units were 1/72 plastics on 80mm x 60mm IMPETUS bases. Losses would be recorded use dice and tokens.
The points-based game with stat lines for each unit type were easy to understand yet not so memorable as AMW was to me.
I could not resist a slight difference between the forces with one side having mounted skirmish troops equating to a 1-point advantage – 31 v 32 points. Near enough.
The ineffective skirmishers and straightforward meeting of the two-battle lines using the leadership influence made this all feel realistic to my mind.
As in DBA pushbacks showed visually where units were losing the fight. The battle line was still retained as the movement was small.
Distribution of the leadership points can make or break units, although centrally controlled by the gamer I felt this reflected the fact that a line would comprise areas of strong men and areas of weaker maybe reluctant fighters.
The dice head-to-head felt more interesting than the hit versus saving throw of AMW. In a face-to-face game this might also make the exchanges more exciting.
Again, flanking forces including cavalry provided local advantage as the game moved into its later stages.
Dan Mersey talks about the swirl of battle and this was true although the battle line was still discernible late in the game.
Both armies approached their own demise and it was just a few points either way so although the king’s men lost it could easily have been the rebels.
This felt like two battle lines slogging it out and even though there was some “flanking” it was not significant. The forces to a units front mainly did the damage first.
Table Top Battles
The previous two games used “measure and move” rules. Table Top Battles was “gridded” removing any need to get the tape measure out. I have used gridded wargames before with Peter Pigs WW2 rules being memorable.
While many people will know and have played either AMW or Dux Bellorum I reckon TTB by Mike and Joyce Smith will be new to most people.
Published by Partizan Press the ruleset has a feel of looking backwards in the same manner as AMW. The grid though makes for a different feel altogether.
For two shieldwalls the square grid was perfect.
The rules are covered in a couple of sides of A4. Initiative is gained each turn so you can get the effect of a “push” by one side as they win the aggression dice throws successively.
And that aggression is simply a +1 on all dice throws. Getting the initiative also means losses are inflicted before the opposition replies – extending the benefit of being the aggressor.
TTB starts with some simple rules and like AMW adds a few mechanisms to layer the differentiation. The difference is more about advantage in play rather than troop type.
I used the less brutal rules option of push back rather than straight destruction. I don’t think this affected the outcome too much. And it was more appropriate for the slogging match here.
Again, the differences in forces were out on the flanks with one unit of light cavalry in play.
The head to head style of resolving conflicts felt like Dux Bellorum and flowed well. Combat can be grouped so you can really speed up results of several units being joined up for a particular combat round.
While firing is alternate and affected by the aggression advantage, combat is simultaneous. This seems to work ok.
The mass combat meant that push back saw a whole line move back – a bit mechanical – less attractive than Dux Bellorum. In the later stages the erosion of flank units meant push backs became messier and trickier for some units – no room to retreat leads to destruction. And with grids there is a bit of space management to be done and in the right order – shepherd your resources – quite board gamey or chess like. This will not be pleasing to some.
In close combat the mounted and foot skirmishers die easily – I like that.
Finally, the king’s men turned a flank, and this crumpled the rebel line although none had the ignominy of being pushed off the table edge itself. I had not considered that when choosing a very small battlefield of just 2 foot 6 inches deep.
The king’s men were about to really destroy their enemy when the 12th move was completed, and the game ended. A day is 12 moves in TTB. Victory was based on various criteria including base loss. The Kings men won on this measure alone.
TTB comes in a slim 42 page black and white softback A4 booklet. It’s 2-page battle rules are really aimed at supporting campaigns and scenarios. The design is oriented in that direction.
Overall, this was a quick game and the lack of measuring not missed at all. The bulk combats removed some subtlety. The rules are so simple like AMW that house rules can fix most objections.
Overall, I liked this set of rules and with some tinkering they might become popular with me.
One Hour Wargames
With just 12 bases (six a side) on the table this game should be quick.
One-hour wargames built on the reputation of AMW for a reliable set of basic quick play rules. Here the pursuit was an even simpler ruleset that gave a game in under an hour. The rules are really scenario based. I set up scenario 1 – the straight encounter of two equal armies. I ignored the force generator to retain two matched shieldwalls.
The rules in about one side of A4 are very simple. 15 points of value represents the “abstraction” of everything unique about a unit. Random losses tell their story – those losing least – obviously were the strong units!
The skirmishers were ineffectual and fought their own flanking battle.
The alternating slugging match by the shieldwall saw the two lines stand toe to toe with no movement, just points erosion to indicate the fluctuation of battle.
Eventually most of the units reached breaking point and some rapidly departed. However, the first to go were from the side that eventually won so it was not the case that once you gained a local advantage this would give overall success.
In this battle we started with only six units, so I allowed it to run to the last unit standing.
As a result, later on the flanking successes of each right hand meant the whole battle line swirled 90 degrees. And then it happened again. A visual demonstration of Daniel Mersey’s “swirling” battle description perhaps. After all there would be no dressing of lines with the leaders all to the front pushing at enemy weakness.
Overall these rules did feel similar to AMW and felt generic. They seemed to give the same outcome as AMW without the saving throw step. Sacrificing differences, or “layering” if you like, for speed of the game is one of those compromises faced by all rule’s writers and gamers. It is what you want out of a game that matters.
Table of Ruleset Criteria
Ruleset
Reading the rules
Ease of Play
Outcomes
AMW
Straight forward
Straight forward
All logical yet Lacked feeling for the period
Dux Bellorum
I often reread the small print! And a bit wordy at times
Once memorised easy to play
Logical and a good feel for shieldwalls
One Hour Wargames
Short and simple
Straight forward
Logical and yet lacked feeling for the period
Table Top Battles
straightforward
Straight forward or so I thought*
A whole battle line eventually got turned twice while the shieldwall fight itself felt ok.
*I made mistakes in all these games but more of them in the TTB – simple errors forgetting to do something here and there. I took more care with Dux Bellorum.
Overall score – brutally simple – rank 1 to 4 (4 is highest) direct preferencing with no ties and no weighting!
Ruleset
Reading the rules
Ease of Play
Outcomes
TOTAL
AMW
3
1
2
6
Dux Bellorum
1
2
4
7
One Hour Wargames
4
4
1
9
Table Top Battles
2
3
3
8
Surprisingly I am saying OHW is the best for two straight shieldwalls. That probably is true though, diverse forces with more movement would probably show up the limitations of OHW even against its stable mate AMW.
If you ignore the rules reading as being less relevant after many games, it’s a tie between Dux Bellorum and Table Top Battles.
And in the final analysis I have to say that it is Dux Bellorum that gets my vote as the most “shieldwall feeling” rule set.
The others all betray their origin as generic rule sets while Dux Bellorum shows its depth of consideration by the author for a very specific period.
So next time I put up a shieldwall or two for a battle it will be Dux Bellorum unless I am in a real hurry. Then I will have 2 or 3 worthy substitutes.
Finally, some aspects of each ruleset that might be important.
AMW
Pros – well thought out design that gives you a simple yet good range of armies with sufficient variation and interest. The core rules plus some supplementary ones do work
Cons – no command and control explicitly and if you don’t like saving throws then this is not for you.
Dux Bellorum
Pros – command and control plus the head to head fighting. Also, the ability to put pressure into the game yet not everywhere all the time. Detailed for the period of Arthur so no need to compromise on design
Cons – somehow the rules are simple yet don’t read so well or indeed stick in my mind. I was constantly referencing the book which then suffered for its small print and layout with some key parts at the foot of a page and easily missed in the heat of battle. This is a minor point as after 10 games most of the rules will be memorable.
One Hour Wargames
Pros – it is such a simple concept and with the random forces selector and scenario choices is a gem. Speed of play!
Cons – it is generic
Table Top Battles
Pros – I had a brief spell with Kallistra, Strategos and then Peter Pig. Grid gaming has generally passed me by though. I like TTB and they feel like a set I could tweak or tamper with. And I think that gridded wargames may come back into favour.
Cons – sliding towards a board game with figures. We are at the far end of wargames abstraction. Your required to do a lot of imagining.
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.
Well I missed the Wargames Illustrated Magazine free rules giveaway this Autumn. The rules were “never mind the billhooks”. Written for Wars of the Roses. They are just one of many or should I say one of the “plethora of rules” that wargamers can access these days.
So what fuss would there be, given their free, should be more bargain basement than of any original value surely?
Well Andy Callan is the author and for me he has history and if he has authored the rules they will be worth a look. I first encountered Andy Callan as a writer in the 1980’s when I recall his ideas about rules were running against the grain: Something to stir up trouble in wargaming circles most of the time. After all we can be a fussy lot.
Over the years I have kept articles from magazines. Yes I know I have probably destroyed some valuable copies in the process. Still I have what I need. And more to the point I have articles that are still useful reading even decades on.
So back in Spring 1987 when I think Stuart Asquith was at the helm, Practical Wargamer published an article by Andy Callan entitled Leaders and Generals.
He covered three periods in the short article that was really about rules design. The medieval and dark ages era leaders should worry about unit formation – a measure of order, unit aggression – a measure of fighting spirit and unit strength. The latter being an amalgam of numerical strength, armanent and relative fatigue.
The Leaders would be allocated command points.
His main objective for this period was that the “big man” (he coined that term) should be focused on being a “leader” and not be a “general” standing at the back directing operations with so many staff officers.
Move forward a couple of years and we are back with Stuart Asquith who via Publisher Argus Books offered the “wargaming in history” series of A5 booklets.
Simon MacDowell authored Goths, Huns and Romans.
My Dark Ages – “as the lights go out” late roman end of the period has never got beyond a 15mm DBA army acquired at Triples about 20 years ago. Well I do also have a 15mm late byzantine DBA army. Neither have had much of a runout despite my love of DBA. A case of right period wrong ruleset maybe?
He offered a set of rules within a booklet that also gave some background history; explained the forces and troops involved; set out a variety of game options from skirmishes, through encounter battles to campaigns.
Simon required his leaders to personally intervene to motivate troops to act. Control Points were allocated to each Leader along with inspiration points.
Both these writers were contemporary with the first trials of what became DBA. DBA was conceived in 1988 and was first published in 1990.
And so I thought that all this was disconnected from today. Yet I happened then to rediscover an article by Daniel Mersey in Battlegames shortly after publication of his successful Osprey publication Dux Bellorum around 2012.
And nestled there is Daniels’ homage to that 1980’s wargames era and specifically Andy Callan.
I remember Andy Callan promoting what I consider to be important considerations when trying to replicate the feel of a period through command and control. And I think the other key theme is that you make your rules period specific.
I hope his latest rules “never mind the billhooks” carry on that theme of challenging the status quo and promoting enjoyable and satisfying wargames.
And one final point, Angus McBride bestrides the world of illustrated warriors. His work has become synominous with Osprey. Yet Rick Scollins had a way to engage you in the 1980’s and as you can see he even influenced the young Daniel Mersey (see above). And perhaps appropriately it is his West Saxon Thegn who illustrates that 1988 article in Practical Wargamer.
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 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!
Not content with adding Table Top Battles to the test mix I have now decided to test my shieldwalls under the very quick ruleset written by Neil Thomas. “One Hour Wargames” (OHW or 1HW) does what it says – gives you a game in under an hour.
So my next posting will cover what happened when Earl Mathedoi caught up with Thegn Pyrlig.
The Wargaming Erratic 