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Testing the Rules

How do you compare rulesets? empathy or process – which factors give you a good ruleset?

My recent challenge has been to find a preferred ruleset for mid 19th century European warfare. And that provides the first criterion – what exactly is mid 19th century warfare? Maybe we should be saying post Napoleonic Warfare or Pre Franco Prussian Warfare? Or should we classify with technology – percussion cap, needle gun, sabre, rifling, telegraph, ironclad…..

The thing is that between 1815 and 1865 not a lot seemed to happen. Apparently things regressed as West Point Officers tried to emulate Napoleon in the early years of the Amercian Civil War despite their Mexican war experiences.

1865 to 1915 is the same timespan – would the ACW soldier have recognised the trenches of Europe – well sort of but not the aeroplanes surely.

In fact between 1815 and 1850 warfare was still largely smoothbore in weaponry and equipment and uniforms remained similar. Changes were afoot as more accurate muskets made their mark with percussion caps and more rifling. Uniforms saw frockcoats, trousers and kepis appear.

And between 1850 and 1870 breechloading rifling transformed infantry and artillery capabilities.

Quite a bit going on which means your chosen ruleset is either narrowly period, even campaign, specific or has to be clever and flexible.

My recent simple testing of a series of rulesets has caused me to reflect on what those Criteria for my gaming preferences might be.

I have ended up with 4 areas on interest. First of all I am assuming the choice of ruleset is not limited to an examination of mechanisms.

Production
Philosophy
Game Mechanics
Action Mechanisms

Production includes everything about the printed or e delivered publication. So images and print clarity matter as do the range of wargaming aspects covered.

Philosophy I suppose could be called game design and includes period choice, scale and game size as well as chosen outcomes.

Game Mechanics covers things like army lists, pre battle activity, player numbers and figures.

Finally Action Mechanisms are aimed squarely at movement, combat resolution, control and turn structure.

When I had finished my long list of criteria a massive 43 items had been generated. I did consider some rationalisation when I looked and saw a lot of similarities. And then I decided to leave my longlist intact for now.

I used it to score my rulesets and accepted the potential weighting due to duplicated criteria. Otherwise there is no other weighting in terms of importance of one criterion over another. Action mechanisms are not prioritised over Production Values for example.

In each case a criterion gets a single mark.

That mark is relative to my perceived ideal. The scores can be +1, 0, -1. positive values are favorable.

Lets look at Production first:

	NT19e	BwMS	GW	F&F	FoB	TTB	PW
Relevant Images	0	0	+1	+1	+1	-1	0
Fair Wear & Tear	0	0	+1*	-1	-1	+1	+1
Logical clear layout	+1	0	+1	+1	-1	+1	+1
Plain text	0	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
Lots of Design Thinking	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	-1	+1
Simple Rules	+1	+1	0	0	-1	+1	+1
Scenarios included	+1	0	+1	+1	+1	-1	+1
Campaigns included	0	0	0	+1	+1	+1	-1
Totals	+4	+3	+6	+5	+2	+2	+5

Table 1: Production Criteria

So GW comes out top followed by F&F and PW. Before I list the rulesets in question the scoring is “relative” and not absolute. It is best thought of as indication of preferencing.

In my case these rules have all been through some sort of preselection in my decision to buy them in the first place. So they all score positively. It is how much more I value them against each other that is measured here.

When it comes to historical wargames rulesets today – in a 60 year old industry, we are talking about marginal gains. I think with fantasy/scifi etc. it is still possible to deliver up a “game changer”!

I have used the following abbreviations.

NT19e – Neil Thomas’s European Warfare in the Nineteenth Century – hardback edition published by Pen & Sword Military 2012

BwMS – Battles with Model Soldiers – hardback edition by Donald Featherstone published by David & Charles 1972

GW – Gentlemans War – “e” publication by Howard Whitehouse and Daniel Foley and published by Pulp Action Library 2018

Fire & Fury – 1st Edition in softback by Richard W Hasenauer 1990 published by Fire & Fury (2nd editions under Brigade and Regimental titles available)

Field of Battle – Piquet 1700-1900 by Brent Oman 2nd Edition published by Piquet Inc 2011

Table Top Battles – by Mike & Joyce Smith 1st Edition published by Mike Smith 2007 (2nd Edition 2018 available)

Practical Wargaming – hardback edition by Charles Wesencraft published by Elmfield Press/Shire Publications 1974

Is it fair to compare rulesets which are published decades apart written for vastly different audiences? I believe so. Despite visually apparent differences, there are some common threads in wargames.

On to Philosophy

	NT19e	BwMS	GW	F&F	FoB	TTB	PW
Period – technology emphasis	+1	+1	+1	0	0	-1	+1
abstraction in scaling	+1	0	+1	0	+1	+1	-1
no figure/base removal	+1	0	-1	0	+1	+1	-1
cavalry ineffective	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1
irritant skirmishers	+1	0	+1	0	+1	+1	+1
vunerable yet destructive artillery	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1
column and line infantry formations	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	-1	+1
attack defense objectives	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1
morale dominant	+1	+1	-1	+1	+1	0	+1
battle narrative	0	0	+1	0	0	0	-1
Totals	9	6	6	5	8	1	4

Table 2: Design Philosophy

So NT19e along with FoB seem to have edged it on philosophy for me. I should say that by having a lot of scores to make, it may reduce my own unintentional bias (of course on the other hand wargames magazines are all about bias – “Buy me” bias).

Talking about bias – my requirement concerns European Warfare so I am effectively biased against other “continents” warfare considerations that are different.

Ok next up is Game Mechanics:

	NT19e	BwMS	GW	F&F	FoB	TTB	PW
option to solo game	0	+1	0	+1	+1	+1	-1
measure not grid distance	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	-1	+1
army selection/lists available	+1	0	+1	+1	+1	0	-1
pre battle actions available	+1	+1	+1	-1	+1	-1	-1
game time required (<2hrs)	+1	+1	0	-1	-1	+1	+1
units per side (6-12)	+1	+1	+1	-1	-1	+1	+1
unit ratings (varied)	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1
table size (5’x4′)	+1	+1	+1	-1	-1	+1	+1
concealment/ambush/surprise	+1	+1	+1	-1	-1	0	-1
chance (situations/ cards etc.)	0	+1	+1	0	+1	0	0
figures per basic unit (12-20)	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	-1
support functions (engrs/ sappers) rules	0	0	+1	0	0	+1	-1
Totals	9	10	10	0	3	4	-1

Table 3: Game Mechanics

Earlier I asked is it fair to compare rulesets from different decades? Now the question might be should you compare battle rulesets with skirmish rulesets or measured games versus grid games. The answer is of course. Just be consistent in the criteria used for the scoring and try to avoid criteria that directly preference one solution. In my case grids games are not a requirement so do score badly on the requirement for a measured game that I chose to include – some personal bias there.

Battles with Model Soldiers and Gentlemans War seem preferable when it comes to Game Mechanics.

Finally we turn to Action Mechanisms:

	NT19e	BwMS	GW	F&F	FoB	TTB	PW
alternate moves with opportunity	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
initiative	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
simple manoeuvre rules	+1	+1	0	0	+1	+1	+1
measure ranges	+1	-1	0	+1	+1	+1	+1
move and fire in a move	+1	0	+1	-1	+1	-1	+1
road movement restricted	+1	0	0	-1	+1	-1	-1
simple interpenetration	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
saving throws	+1	+1	+1	-1	-1	-1	-1
leadership/pips/orders	0	+1	-1	+1	+1	+1	+1
written orders	0	+1	-1	-1	-1	-1	+1
cards for actions	0	0	+1	0	+1	0	-1
turn structure is fluid	0	0	+1	0	+1	0	0
simple combat resolution	0	-1	-1	+1	-1	+1	0
simple firing resolution	0	-1	-1	+1	-1	+1	0
	8	4	3	3	6	4	5

Table 4: Action Mechanisms

Neil Thomas 19th century European rules come out preferred for Action Mechanisms along with Field of Battle.

In summary we have table 5

	NT19e	BwMS	GW	F&F	FoB	TTB	PW
Production	4	3	6	5	2	2	5
Design Philosophy	9	6	6	5	8	1	4
Game Mechanics	9	10	10	0	3	4	-1
Action Mechanisms	8	4	3	3	6	4	5
Totals	30	23	25	13	19	11	13

Table 5: Summary

So there you go Neil Thomas rules are to be preferred in meeting my perceived gaming requirements. But……

I really like the liveliness of Fire & Fury while sometimes the grid games using Table Top Battles are just so easy and convenient. And then Gentlemans War offers a sense of detail which drives narrative – an essential requriement for the solo wargamer I would suggest.

Field of Battle uses the house theme of the card driven randomised turn structure of Piquet. I like it a lot but you need to invest your concentration in that ruleset even with the simpler FoB version. Like GW it offers narrative benefits.

My least liked set was actually BwMS even though Donald Featherstone has been the mainstay of my house rules over the years. This is because much of what he wrote was about design philosphy rather than pushing a particular ruleset. You could say nearly all his books were design handbooks for wargames rules writers.

So which ruleset will I go with?

At the moment it must surely be Neil Thomas.

Whatever ruleset you use – happy wargaming.

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Ruletest E: A Gentlemans War 1848-1861

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 25th Jul 2022
No Comments on Ruletest E: A Gentlemans War 1848-1861

A Gentlemans War or “Glossy Coats and Tin Bayonets” is a bit different to the previous rules tested. It is much more towards a skirmishing style and is definitely for enjoyment of the game. These rules are aimed at the period 1875 to 1914 so are a bit later than my interest.

The losses are per figure so the units were

12 man infantry brigades
4 man field artillery batteries
6 man light cavalry brigades

I used their 1850-1875 shooting modifications to the rules

Essentially it shortens all the ranges giving you just rifled muskets or smoothbore cannon.

I ran out some new playing cards for this game.

With a normal playing card deck red cards work for one force, black for the other.

numbered cards allow singular activitions
court cards allow brigaded activations ( I did not use these) or singular activations
ace allows double move and cannot be held in the hand
cards in the hand are used as hold cards to be used as above
cycle ends when every unit on one side has activated
first joker end all cycles – with all disorder markers removed
both sides start new cycles
second joker – cycles end plus all held cards are discarded and packs reshuffled for a restart

The set up was identical to previous tests and the Orchard was inaccessible to all arms, while the road offered some benefit.

The Empire Forces were

left flank – Erzherzog Albrecht Infantry
centre left – No 1 field artillery battery
centre right – Ritter Von Benedek Infantry
right flank – Graf Radetzky Hussars

The Republican Forces were

left flank – Milan Brigade
centre left – “A” battery field artillery
centre right – Bersaglieri di Vignola
right flank – 3rd & 6th Line Lancers (combined)

The action was swift with the rebel lancers charging first……

As they charge in the Austrian Infantry fire scoring on 5 or 6 on 1d6

Rebel saving throws on a 5 or 6 mean only 2 hits make a mark. Yet this meant 1/3 losses 2 out of 6 men killed so a morale check was required which said the Lancers were “bothered” but continued their charge albeit “lukewarm”.

In the melee the “advantage factors” were with the Austrians meaning the Lancers needed a 6 to hit against 3-6 for the infantry. 6 hits on the cavalry halved meant the remnants of the cavalry ran away (1 cavalryman!) while the infantry were reduced by 1 man to 11.

The Bersaglieri attempted to rush the Austrian artillery but became “bothered” and had to retreat. while a fierce firefight took place between the Von Benedek Infantry and the Milan Brigade.

Eventually the Von Benedek Infantry became “disconcerted” – morale test on 50% losses, and ran away.

With just one infantryman left in the Erzherzog Albrecht Infantry the game is up for the Austrians as the Milan Brigade still numbers 10 men and the Bersaglieri have 8 although they keep running away!

So General Radeztky decides to quit the field. General Durando celebrates a great victory largely down to his Milan Infantry brigade which destroyed the Hussars, routed the Von Benedek Infantry and drove off the Austrian Artillery almost single handedly.

Yes this is Ruletest E so where is Ruletest D?

It will be along in due course.

Tags a gentlemans war, austrians, gaming aids, mid 19th century wargames, playing cards, solo wargaming, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargame rules, wargames, wargames rules, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Table Queue Jumper

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 12th Jul 2022
4 Comments on The Painting Table Queue Jumper

Every now and then I get a bee in the bonnet and have to paint a figure or unit not in the plan.

In this case my sizeable paint queue from last summer has reduced, yet there are still units now 12 months on the table, and counting.

So of course it’s madness to start a new set of figures. Undeterred I have managed to get these six completed in a day with the help of high temperatures drying the paint rapidly.

This is my take on the fusiliers of Brigata Fanteria 1852, reflecting the Duke of Parma’s decision to go Prussian in his reorganisation of the army after the Austrians victory of 1849 at Novara.

Next up should be some more rule tests.

Tags 1/72, 1/72 plastics, 20-25mm, mid 19th century wargames, miniatures painting, osprey MAA 520, painting figures, painting miniatures, the painting pedestal, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargames, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal: 22e 1859 french artillery

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 6th Jul 2022
4 Comments on The Painting Pedestal: 22e 1859 french artillery

My current preoccupation is mid nineteenth century warfare. You can’t travel far without meeting the resurgent French Empire. Here is my offering on french artillery around the time of the Franco Austrian War of 1859. Being a few years before the American Civil War it can be argued that conflict obscures the war which inflated French self belief and probably contributed to their Prussian undoing by 1870.

I opted for individual basing plus I went with my pale grasses again.

This second shot shows some back figures in focus including two riflemen complete with blanket rolls

The men all carry moustaches – whiskers were a trademark of the period.

Here are the 14 figures which allows me four per gun plus the two riflemen.

The figures are from the Strelets Russo Turkish War of 1877 range. They have some great animation as long as you like the chunky style.

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Ruletest C: Neil Thomas & the Roman Republic 1849

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 27th Jun 2022
6 Comments on Ruletest C: Neil Thomas & the Roman Republic 1849

This is one of a series of ruletests for mid 19th century warfare. Neil Thomas published a book specifically looking at the wars between 1815 and 1877. With a European focus these should be the go to ruleset for my Italian Wars of Unification which either run from 1815 to 1870 or 1848 and 1861 depending on your preferences.

The usual set up has been followed. But this time the Austrians have made way for the French. The Piedmontese have been displaced by the Italian Nationalists of the Roman Republic. It is 1849 somewhere near Rome……..

The Battle of Symmetry Ridge

French Forces

Left Flank – 36th Regiment of the Line – Infantry Brigade
Left Flank – 13th Battery 3rd Field Artillery Regiment
Centre Right – 66th Regiment of the Line – Infantry Brigade
Right Flank – Some Austrian Hussars (I decided the French Expedition was short handed in 1849)

Neil Thomas 19th century European Warfare rules (NT19e) are based on 1d6 dice throws to hit with saving throws for both firing and melee. Generally you don’t save on melee hits though. That means close combat can be very damaging.

Morale tests are a simple 1d6 throw against a quality rating – a roll of 4-6 being required by all the “average” units fighting. For this test all units had this common rating.

The 66th Regt formed in column of march while the Austrian Hussars formed up in the only formation they were permitted – in two ranks. Because I use deep bases the formations used by Neil Thomas show as very elongated. This has no real affect on the game mechanics although visually it is probably a bit jarring. Note I also have some 50mm base width units alongside 40mm base width units. Ho Hum…….

Garibaldi leads his soon to be famous red and blue shirts!

The Parma National Guard Lancers provide the right flank of the Republican Army joining the Blue shirts

Alternate movement was in operation and as with previous tests all units and leaders were the same quality/common value.

Opposed 1xd6 rolls determined who moved first each turn. This rule is I think is essential for this ruleset. It did have an impact and altered the game. This “initiative” roll has become a common theme in rulesets.

1xd6 roll determined command effect for that turn. This rule is optional and in the test did have a material impact.

roll on 1xd6=5,6 – allows 4 units to activate
roll on 1xd6=2,3,4 – allows 3 units to activate
roll on 1xd6=1 – allows 2 units to activate

In NT19e each unit comprises 4 bases (artillery have 1 base) and each base can absorb 4 hits. So after 16 hits on Infantry or Cavalry or 4 on Artillery the unit ceases to exist.

Taking hits has added risk in that for every base lost a morale test is required and if failed a further base is lost. Artillery can only lose firing hits as they get automatically eliminated if they lose a melee.

The decisive moment as the red and blue shirts aided by the remnants of the Parma Lancers attack both the 33rd and 66th Infantry Regts.

It is a characteristic of Neil Thomas rules that units are visibly destroyed yet even at the end still have some effect.

General Oudinot quits the field.

Garibaldi has triumphed for now – but he could ill afford such heavy losses in this victory.

Neil Thomas provides victory conditions within his scenarios. His book offers a separate set of game rules as well as numerous scenarios to use them in.

Tags 19th century wargame rules, garibaldi, garibaldi wargaming, Garibaldi's Defence of the Roman Republic, garibaldini, General Oudinot, mid 19th century wargames, Neil Thomas, risorgimento, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargame rules, wargames, wargames rules, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

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The Painting Pedestal: 22d – 1848 Tuscan Infantry

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 17th Jun 2022
1 Comment on The Painting Pedestal: 22d – 1848 Tuscan Infantry

In 1848 the Tuscan Army headed north with other contingents to join Piedmont in expelling Austria from the Italian Peninsula.

Their uniform was really a throwback to Napoleonic times. Unlike some other troops the soldiers wore a Shako – bell shaped. With white tunics and blue trousers there was a nod to Austrian influence.

Like the Danish Infantry in Painting Pedestal 22c, these figures are 20mm metals from Irregular Miniatures. They are sold under their Colonial range as Regular British Infantry serving in India.

This unit is part of an occasional series that aims to paint many of the units described in Osprey Men At Arms No. 520 Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-1870 (2).

The flag is homemade using dried out lens wipe paper and permanent marker pens – very quick. Well the Tuscan rebels like most had to rustle up their armies in quick time.

Tags basing miniatures, Irregular miniatures, mid 19th century wargames, miniature figures, miniatures painting, osprey MAA 520, painting figures, painting miniatures, Tuscany 1848, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

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Ruletest B: The Battle of Symmetry Ridge: Piquet Field of Battle 1848-1861

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 9th Jun 2022
2 Comments on Ruletest B: The Battle of Symmetry Ridge: Piquet Field of Battle 1848-1861

The Battle of Symmetry Ridge

Following on from three simple battles using Fire & Fury, Piquet Field of Battle is the next ruleset for consideration. Published in 2011 – 20 years after Fire and Fury and card driven the ruleset should give a different feel.

The battle comprised the same forces that were used in the Fire and Fury ruletest A3 covered in a previous post.

The objective was to secure the ridge and drive off the opposing force.

The Forces this time were……….

Austria

Left Flank – Brigade Von Baden (Orange Facings)
Centre Left – No1 Field Artillery Battery
Centre Right – Erzherzog Albrecht Brigade (Red Facings)
Right Flank – 5th Graf Radetzky & 8th Ferdinand, Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha Cavalry Brigade

Piedmont

Left Flank – National Guard Milan Brigade
Centre Left – “A” Battery Field Artillery
Centre Right – Bersaglieri di Vignola Brigade
Right Flank – 3rd & 6th Piedmont (Lancers) Cavalry Brigade

The Battlefield itself is slightly altered from that used in the Fire & Fury battles.

The road bisects the battle field on the diagonal but notionally there is a ridge which it crosses and where an enclosed Orchard is located.

The Orchard is inpenetrable to all arms for all the remaining rules to be tested. So in effect it is a flank and divides the action into two areas.

The fence supplier is unknown but the orchard dates from the early 1970’s – by german model railway company Noch, not bad for 50 years of play.

In Field of Battle (FoB) terrain is classed for its impact on the game.

This means the orchard is a Class II line of sight blockage and a Class IV movement restriction.

Unit integrity is the key variable for each unit in the game. It reflects status/morale/strength as a variable.

Combat Capability is defined as a Dn (where n=an even value in the range 4-20) so thats D4,D6,D8,D10,D12,D20.

Opposed rolls is the way results are determined.

Command radius determines the limit of a leaders influence on the battlefield and is a variable (Dn x 10 = command radius in inches)

Initiative is determined by opposed rolls of the two Leaders respective dice. The difference equals the total initiative each side can use in this part of a turn. Turns get complicated but the game does not!

The winner of the opposed roll decides order of play.

The game is card driven and a deck for each side needs to be determined. In this case both sides used the exact same variables so ended up with identical card decks. In most games the playing decks would be asymmetrical.

Piquet is essentially an asymmetrical game. Therefore winning has to be defined to ensure the asymmetry does not simply distort the game one way each time.

On Turn 1 Step 1 the Austrians scored 9 on d10 against Piedmont just 4. This gave the Austrians 5 initiative points as the ACTIVE player.

In the event the Austrians drew 5 cards none of which were for movement. Essentially the army just stood transfixed.

Piedmont (REACTIVE player) now promptly drew some excellent cards for move and melee.

Piedmont right wing crash into the Austrians strung out on the road, a now regretted ploy.

The opposed roll dice off in Piquet is usually with different dice as factors peculiar to that melee move the players dice up or down the scale of d4/d6/d8/d10/d12/d20.

The Lancers went from d12 to d12+3 scoring 3 on the dice and adding 3 = 6

The Von Baden Brigade went from d10 down to d6 mitigating some negative factors through a discard of a tactical advantage card drawn in the ill fated Austrian Initiative as the ACTIVE player. Von Baden scored 3 on the dice.

The difference = 3 hits on the Austrians. This equated to 1 unit of integrity which is the value of 1 UI for all arms.

Each Army started with an Army Morale Rating of 4 – determined by the make up of the Army x a variable 1xd12. The range being 3 to 50.

The No1 Austrian Field Battery made short work of the impulsive Bersaglieri.

The Bersaglieri threw their defensive dice in the opportunity fire step. A 1 on the die!

The Austrians had their eye in, with a D10 moving to D12+1 and with a die roll of 4 scored 5. So 4 hits on the Bersagleri meant 1 unit of integrity lost plus a spare hit.

The Bersagleri retired 4″.

Piedmont also now saw their Army Morale drop from 4 to 3.

Piedmont still had initiative and the next cards drawn were Artillery Firepower and Infantry Firepower. Firing is permitted at any time a unit is ready to fire, these cards tell you a unit has reloaded. Hence the puffs denote units who have fired and cannot fire again until they get a firepower card from the deck.

It means you don’t know if that unit will be able to fire when charged…………the sort of randomness that many “face to face” gamers quite simply will find too constraining.

For the Solo Wargamer such an approach offsets the lack of the live opponent uncertainty and simply adds to the narrative.

“A” battery went up 2 from d10 to d12+1 threw 6 = 7

In response to this fire the Erzherzog Albrecht Brigade threw 4 on their d6. with 3 hits they lost 1 unit of integrity and another army morale point and went out of command.

The first round of initiative ended. And we are still in game turn 1!

The Austrians won the dice off again and gained 5 initiative.

The Austrians drew another 5 cards which included a lot of LULL’s – basically nothing happens.

They did managed some movement cards to get their troops into line.

On the Austrian Left Flank things were heating up

The Piedmont initiative started badly with an Army Morale card which meant testing for the army morale. failing the d12 throw meant all units went out of command (OOC).

“A” battery opened up again OOC but had no effect.

No other cards were of use and some more LULL put paid to the Piedmont initiative.

The next initiative die roll saw Piedmont win 8 to 2 giving 6 initiative points to them.

Artillery fire caused more damage to Brigade Erzherzog Albrecht
another round had no effect though
no other cards could be played

The Austrians had a mixed hand and did manage to inflict some more unit integrity loss as well as army morale reduction.

The next dice off saw the Piedmont grab the initiative again with 5 points advantage.

firepower was at first ineffective from the Bersaglieri and Milan Brigades
Bersaglieri then managed to attack the Austrian artillery again causing 1UI damage along with 1 army morale reduction
The Milan brigade then blasted the Piedmont Cavalry Brigade inflicting 1UI loss and a further army morale point deduction.
LULL and ARMY MORALE and MANOEUVRE cards followed

The Austrian response was

their artillery again damaged the Bersaglieri who lost 1UI and army 1 morale point
but then ARMY MORALE came up for the Austrians who had to die role their leadership dice of d10 against a d12 because their Army Morale rating was already reduced to zero.
the throw was lost

As a result of losing this throw the Austrians quit the field.

A victory for Piedmont and King Victor Emmanuel.

In effect this was all one game turn if you say the exhaustion of the deck is a game turn. Both sides had unturned cards.

The Milan Brigade eventually got into action and probably delivered the losses that tipped the balance in favour of Piedmont.

The game did feel different to Fire & Fury however it did play at the same sort of pace. I had played Field of Battle Piquet before which certainly helps as the processes are unusual.

I have some more reports coming, before concluding this rules test series.

Tags austrians, Field of Battle rules, fire and fury war game rules, mid 19th century wargames, piedmontese, Piquet Wargame Rules, rules test, solo wargaming, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargame rules, wargaming, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

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Rules Test A3: Fire & Fury 1848-1861

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 25th May 2022
5 Comments on Rules Test A3: Fire & Fury 1848-1861

This is the third of a series of battles testing the simple aspects of Fire & Fury (1st edition).

As before Marshall Radetzky and his Austrian forces are engaged with the Piedmontese of King Charles Emmanuel.

The commanders are equal rating under the rules and each move initiative is diced for on opposed d10 dice throws.

All the units have the same Brigade effectiveness rating of 4/3/2 Fresh/worn/spent. As the battle rages units decline in effectiveness going from 4 though 3 to 2 rating. This value modifies the opposed d10 dice rolls which are characteristic of the game rules.

The Forces are

Austria

Left Flank – Brigade Ritter Von Benedek (Green Facings)
Centre Left – No1 Battery Field Artillery
Centre Right – Brigade Von Baden (Orange Facings)
Right Flank – 5th Graf Radeztky & 8th Ferdinand, Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha Cavalry Brigade

Piedmont

Left Flank – Pinerolo Infantry Brigade
Centre Left – “A” Battery Field Artillery
Centre Right – Bologna Volunteers Infantry Brigade
Right Flank – Piedmont Lancers 3rd & 6th Regiments

The initiative went with the Austrians who as one “well handled” moved forward in one line.

In response some “desultory fire” came from the Piedmontese.

in turn the Piedmontese line move forward “well handled”.

The Austrian Hussars had achieved a breakthough and promptly fell upon the Piedmont “A” battery field artillery.

The attack “faltered” miraculously for Piedmont, as it looked like their whole line was about to collapse under the first assault. (hussars rolled modified = 4 against artillery unmodified max die throw of 10).

It was all over so quickly – one swift attack by the Austrians and the Piedmontese turned tail! The Empire is restored, the rebels suppressed and folk can return to drinking coffee and smoking in the cafes of Lombardy…….

Victory Points are usually won by destroying enemy units. The emphasis is not on objectives. Not surprising as a 1990’s era ruleset rarely made objectives the focus. Not so today where often it is the dominant aspect of working out the winner.

Here Austria accrued 7 victory points versus 2 for the Piedmontese.

Just to be clear – no arrangement was made in these battles – the die rolls were as you see them. I suspect it was such as the hapless artillerymen holding off rabid hussars that caused so much ire when these rules were first published.

The rules contain outcomes with descriptions that feed a narrative easily. Telling fire or desultory? you know which one is having an impact.

The Fire and Fury rules (FaF1ed) use scales to help the gamer play Gettysburg on the table top! So the Brigade is the key unit size. Battalions and Regiments don’t figure. This actually also narratively worked for me, which I had not expected.

All in all three very enjoyable games.

Before I conclude my thoughts on FaF1ed, I will run some more rulesets out for a canter.

Tags austrians, fire and fury rules, fire and fury war game rules, piedmontese, rules test, wargame rules, wargames, wargames rules, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, WRG 6th edition

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Rules Test A1: Fire & Fury 1848-1861

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 23rd May 2022
3 Comments on Rules Test A1: Fire & Fury 1848-1861

This rules test used the 1990 1st Edition ruleset called Fire & Fury. No rule amendments were applied except to deal with the minimal number of units on the board.

My starting point was actually Donald Featherstones Battles with Model Soldiers and his three battle scenarios to show rules in action.

ruletest A – just infantry
ruletest B – infantry plus cavalry
ruletest C – infantry plus cavalry plus artillery

So first up is the all infantry affair. Having never used these rules before it was an easy way into them.

The table set up is shown below in the first photo with two brigades per side each of 4 bases.

Piedmont Forces led by none other than King Victor Emmanuel comprised

The righthand Brigade comprised the Bologna Volunteers in red banded kepis
The lefthand Brigade comprised the Brigade Pinerolo

The Austrians were amazingly led by Marshal Radetzky (brought out of retirement yet again)

The righthand Brigade comprised IR28 Green facings: Graf Latour
The lefthand Brigade comprised IR59 Orange facings: Leopold, Grossherzog von Baden

Uniforms are anything but, as my figure painting interests have ranged from 1848 to 1870! So 1848 uniforms will jostle with those of 1859 or even 1866/70. It was a period of much change in weapons and warfare which in turn influenced what soldiers wore.

The Brigade Effectiveness table is your starting point.

I gave all units a 4/3/2 rating = Fresh/Worn/Spent. This factor which declines during the battle modifies the basic die rolls for manoeuvring and combat. You can see this is a key way to show uneven forces from actual battles.

This last event was I guess, what a lot of complaint was about when the rules first landed. Evenly matched forces could play out a massive swing on the “opposed rolls”. The Austrians rolled 7 up and 4 up to get the Bolognese “swept from the field” and “driven back”.

In the Wars of Italian Unification forces often melted away before renewing an attack with more vigour.

So maybe these rules might bear further examination

Narrative

On this occasion King Victor Emmanuel decided to lick his wounds and retired from the field damaged but not yet defeated. He would return to the fray……….

Tags fire and fury war game rules, piedmontese, wargame rules, wargames, wargames rules, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

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Fuoco e Furia or Feuer und Wit, battles in the Po Valley?

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 27th Apr 2022
2 Comments on Fuoco e Furia or Feuer und Wit, battles in the Po Valley?

I have been searching for rules that offer that “something” – that dimension that enhances gaming a certain era. You could call it flavour because most rulesets are basically the same – dice throwing, card turning, measurement, maths, probability and movement around a table sized gaming space.

And of course we all like different flavours.

The Po valley in Northern Italy has seen great armies and leaders pass through, throughout the centuries. Mid 19th century warfare as an era is probably seen by most as a backwater – certainly when it comes to Italy. I guess the wars that get remembered are the Franco Prussian War and of course the American Civil War. These wars it could be argued, framed the next 100 years of global history and perhaps still do.

Back in the Po Valley it was the case of an old empire in retreat.

It was also the time that got us from Napoleon to Kaiser, musket to rifle if you like. Smoothbore and Rifled guns operated side by side.

Battles in the Po Valley in the mid 19th century were short and hurried affairs. But some incurred great loss of life that was noticed. Notable for their apparent lack of professionalism – something about no scouting, lots of surprises and a distinct lack of strategy. The accounts – many contemporary bear out the first two criticisms.

The great strategist Napoleon fought in the Po Valley at the end of the 18th century and his battles were very much confined by the geography. I think his Napoleonic Grand Strategy is more about what went on in the whole of Europe. His wars should been seen in that context. So I would argue Radeztky in 1848 was no less able than Napoleon in achieving his strategic victory in the Po Valley. The difference is that Austria was not fighting a pan european war. But it was fighting battles in the Po Valley.

The issue of poor scouting and too much surprise actually makes for more interesting wargames and throws up opportunities to make a game more interesting. It perhaps beckons to the more erratic ruleset?

For many the war across the Atlantic in the United States is not to be compared – different continents with different outlooks, society and geography.

And yet to my untutored eye while the ACW might have had a grand strategic aspect (western and eastern theatres?), it also seems to have had some campaigns driven by geography limiting the options available to a General. Perhaps there were similarities between these apparently very different wars fought on separate continents?

Even so I had set my mind against looking at the American Civil War as a rules source for my mid 19th century European interests: A case of less is more – something wargamers are often not very good at – me included.

But……

The very nature of limited professional armies, volunteer forces, often with ineffective leadership and disorganisation plus similar technology means that the wars in the Po Valley, seemed quite complimentary to those of the Amercian Civil Wars (ACW).

A bit of a ramble to explain how belatedly, I have considered using ACW rules for my Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU) battles. In particular Fire and Fury.

http://www.comune.torino.it/canaleturismo/risorgimento/webapp/battaglie/index.html

The Wiki Commons licensed image shown here is to be found in an excellent Wikipedia page about the Italian Unification Wars. The image shows a classic hill top town – in this case being attacked by the Sardinians (Piedmontese) while defended by Austrians.

Tags american civil war, fire and fury rules, wargames, wargames rules, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of the italian unification, wikipedia