Battles & Brews

 

Last weekend Wiley Games hosted its annual summer Battles & Brews. Four games were played, and for a change I played in all four of them! No games outside this year; it was too damned hot.

 

The first game was "Tiny Triremes." We were play-testing a new fast-play ancient naval game, still in development with prototype models, for a friend of The Baron's. Six players, three per side (red and green), each commanding 4 galleys of 3 different sizes. Red and green dice tracked strength points, white dice tracked hull points and turns were controlled with the wooden "compass." I commanded 4 Red galleys on the right flank.

 

 

The small islands really constricted maneuver so the battle devolved into shooting and boarding actions which reduced crew strengths quickly.

 

On my flank I was finally able to ram and sink an enemy ship, but at the cost of two of my own captured and one sunk. The gods of the boarding action dice did not favor me. One of my captured ships was torched because my opponent didn't have the crew strength to hold on to it. A fun battle but Red lost.

 

Next up was the Battle for Endor using Fistful of Lead: Galactic Heroes. Two teams of two players: two units each of five Rebel scum attempting to infiltrate and blow up an Imperial Bunker defended by two units each of the Emperor's Stormtroopers. I commanded the Imperial Scouts sent into the forest to attempt to "spot" the Rebels, represented by hidden movement markers, some of which were dummies. This mission was critical because the second unit of Stormtoopers, in the bunker, could not deploy until the Rebels were spotted. AND I didn't realize until the battle was fully joined that my Scouts were only wielding pistols, as opposed to the rifles everyone else had. On top of that, I have never rolled so many "out of ammos" in one game!

 

Look! There's Han and Chewie!

 

Sadly, their stories end on Endor. I was able to hold them up long enough - mostly via melee due to being out of ammo so often - for the bigger guns deploying from the bunker to end their rebellious careers. The Scouts lost all but their commander.

 

 

Though I didn't get any photos of the final Rebel rush of the bunker that resulted in the "blood alley" typical of Fistful games, it happened right in front of the bunker with the Rebels all dead and the bunker saved. Long Live the Emperor!

 

The third game featured Mechs. I believe a "MechWars Lite" set of rules was used but not being up on Mech Lore and not intending to play - I was setting up my Red Alert game (you can see it at the top of some of the following photos) while this was going on - I can't say for sure. Maybe someone who knows will see this post and comment.

 

 

But play I did; I took over for another player who got got called home for dinner. I commanded the Red and Black Mechs facing the Green and White. I can tell you the green dice tracked movement and the red dice tracked heat generated by the Mechs' actions.

 

My Big Guy took out a Mech lurking at the edge of the woods and then I lost a Mech to a two-on-one "hand-to-hand" brawl. Our side lost (I believe) three destroyed Mechs to two.

 

Our final game of the day was Red Alert, a space fleet action game using the Commands and Colors system. There are three classes of ships - Fighter, Strike and Capital - and several sub-classes within each class. Each unit has a numerical value towards victory points ranging from one point for a Fighter Unit (Fighter Class) to eight points for a Flagship (Capital Class). Most units consist of three or four ships and each "hit" rolled against it eliminates one ship. I am in the process of converting this to hit points (shields, anyone?) using 1/2500-scale Star Trek models and a D6 die to track hits. I only had enough models completed for one complete side, so in this game you can see the green and red ships as provided in the game on one side and my new models opposite.

 

 

Game play is controlled by hands of cards and the use of Star Tokens. We had two players on each side; so one player acted as the Fleet Admiral and controlled the card play and the units in the center section while the second player controlled those units in the two flank zones. The first side to eliminate twenty-one points worth of units, or eight units regardless of points, would immediately win.

 

 

The Star Trek side won initiative and did some early damage with their Fighters. The Red/Green side (my side) played aggressively but was frustratingly countered at almost every attack by a Combat Card that seemed tailor-made for the situation.

 

On the last turn of the game, the score was closer than it seemed. We were behind on points but had eliminated 7 enemy units, so only needed to destroy one more unit. But the Trekkies only needed one more point, so any kill would win the game. And they got it.

 

Thanks to Wiley Games and the Basement Generals for a fun day of gaming!

 

My next post will be more about the Star Trek models and the Red Alert physical game conversions.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back!"

OK, so I'm not exactly John Wick, but after a two-and-a-half-year-long absence from this blog I thought my return required a little drama. No promises going forward; we'll just see how regularly I am motivated to post.

Since my last post referenced Phil Barker, the author of the DBX rules system, it seemed appropriate to focus this post on the most recently published addition to the DBX family: De Bellis Fantasiae. 

De Bellis Fantasiae (DBF) is the result of the continued development work of the authors of D3H2, which was itself the attempt, with Phil Barker's approval, to bring the Hordes of the Things 2.0 (HOTT) fantasy elements into line with the then-new DBA 3.0 revised mechanics. You may see my previous posts on D3H2 for a fuller explanation, but the big changes to HOTT included measurement in base-widths instead of "paces," the ability to apply "Fast" and "Solid" characteristics to HOTT's fantasy elements and an amended points system to determine element (unit) cost. DBF has furthered this evolution. After "publishing" D3H2, the authors continued to make "improvements" to the DBX system in regards to ease of play, plausibility of historical results and even presentation.

Presentation has been overhauled. Since the book is a Lulu print page-count is less of an issue, so full-color has been used throughout, type is bigger and diagrams have been placed alongside the relevant text. Extra words were used to help better explain rules in an attempt to reduce the "Barkerese" that some people have complained about over the years. FYI, I never had a problem with the writing style.

The element point system has been completely revamped, ranging from the expensive Aerial Hero at 17 points down to Skirmishers, Hordes and Light Mounted at 3 points. Making an element a General costs an additional 10 points. Mages (Magicians) are purchased at Levels from 1 to 5, and a new Magic system allows for some varied spells at escalating PIP costs.

The new point system lets you play small DBA-style games at around 75 to 100 points as well as larger "Big Battle-style" games with multiple commands/generals in the 200-300 point range.

Combat resolution is basically unchanged, but there are some new tactical factors and some "Special Rules" (traits related to training or specific weapon use) that change some interactions. Some of these are tied to specific fantasy army lists - 60 different lists from literature and mythology are included in the book - but all could be applied to other fantasy, or even historical armies as the user sees fit. Indeed, using DBA and/or DBMM army lists as reference these rules can be used to build and play with historical armies as well as fantasy. I consider DBF a great new "toolbox," and really like all the changes.

Oh, and there are new campaign rules, too. If you like the DBX system (I do!), you should check out DBF.

 
 

Sixty-Two Special leads to The Big Move

 

Here are our boys all saddled up for The Big Move.  

My last post in June suggested there were some game reports coming. What happened? Well, the Summer of COVID 2020 for us was followed by this most recent Summer of The Big Move 2021.

Big Move. . . what happened? 2 days after my last post I found myself unexpectedly and ostensibly “retired.” Yeah. What would our response Move be? After some hard deliberation, we decided our best Move might be to take advantage of the red-hot real estate market in the Twin Cities and sell our house in preparation for a Move back "home" to Kansas City. It's what we intended for the end of our current Five-Year Plan to Retirement. . . we would just Move up the date, without the actual retirement part.

 

So, between mid-June and late August, we prepped our home in the Twin Cities for sale, sold it

 

. . . bought a new home, then packed our entire household and put it on a truck for Overland Park, Kansas

 

 . . . and finally, moved into that new home - with our boys, of course.  

 

It was truly a Big Move, and despite the reason for it I am profoundly grateful that it worked out as well as it did. 

Because this is primarily a blog about gaming, I have intentionally understated the intensity and trauma of the overall experience. I'll just acknowledge and thank my wife, family and friends for their help and support and do my best to continue to cultivate a grateful spirit. 

 

"Moving in" turns into "settling in," and while that is happening there may not be much personal gaming news to post. All my stuff is still in boxes. However, I am back in the home town of The Baron, Wiley Games and the Basement Generals, so will be doing some gaming. For instance, I've already participated in this Star Wars bounty-hunting game of Fistful of Lead: Galactic Heroes. And if you want to hear me "drone on and on until I start foaming at the mouth and falling over backward" about terrain, you can check out this episode of BS-ingwith the Baron, which I did just before leaving Minnesota, from a room that was mostly filled with packed boxes awaiting loading.

 

Bruce and I did get that game of DBA 3.0 Big Battle in before the Move. Bruce brought 2 armies that looked terribly mismatched on initial review: II/33 Polybian Roman and I/36b Italian Hill Tribes/Sardinian. The Sardinians are all Psiloi and Auxilia except for a possible Chariot General; I "won" the Sardinians and prayed to the terrain gods. Terrain can be the great equalizer in DBA if your opponent cooperates.

 

I defended (of course) and chose Difficult Hills and Woods, which mostly ended up on the right side of the table, so that is where I set up to fight. Bruce wanted to fight in 3 neat Roman lines, but I wanted a messy scrum in the terrain so maneuvered to set up good positions with a refused line on the left to hold the flank.

The Roman Cavalry general took the bait and led his Auxilia into the woods and was killed after some initial success. His Auxilia had a little more success, but not enough, and the command was eventually demoralized.

At which point the Romans withdrew to form a defensive "square" and the Sardinians solidified their terrain wall. The Romans weren't going to fight in the woods and the Sardinians were not coming out, so we had a draw, advantage Sardinians because of the demoralized Roman command. A very interesting positional battle from my point of view. Thanks, Bruce, and stay well!

Commands & Colors

I received my copy of Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles a week ago as part of the GMT PS500 program. Got Bayonets & Tomahawks, too!

I've been a fan of the game system since the Ancients version was released. It's card-driven, but it feels like DBA to me (remember I consider that high praise), in scale and unit treatments, with the addition of rules for attrition. I have all of the Ancients supplements, plus Medieval and Red Alert (the "space combat" variant).

Of course I am converting the games to miniatures. My plan has been to use 4" hexes and 15mm miniatures mounted on 40mm wide bases for Ancients, and that may still continue to happen, but I am also now considering using 54/60mm models for at least my "favorite historical conflict," the Punic Wars. Not intuitive, I know; we lose the "mass effect" with fewer, bigger models representing each unit. I can still use 4" hexes, like I have been doing for 15mm figures, and use one model to represent each "block" in the game, so most Ancients units will consist of 3 or 4 models. Might even be able to use some of the same hex terrain for both scales with some careful planning.

Why go this route? The main driver is I have never been totally satisfied with any of the 15mm or 28mm Republican Roman models I've encountered. I really like the John Jenkins Designs models for both accuracy (I know, right?) and drama. The Gauls are stunning.

Then, one must determine in what "world" the models will live and fight, and playability is key. These models tend to be top-heavy, so either they need wider bases for added stability on uneven terrain, or the terrain needs to be very flat and even. My French & Indian War terrain and basing is a good example of the former.

Since I am more interested in playing large battles than skirmishes, terrain can be less detailed and more abstract. . . and flat. That means the bases of the models won't need to be enlarged. One thing I do want is magnetic bases, so the models will stay put in their traveling boxes. After a bit of experimentation, I found a self-adhesive magnetic tape that can be cut to the silhouette of the base edge of the model. The tape is only 1mm thick, so with a bit of paint and flocking after the fact, it won't even be noticed, and the base will visually blend with the terrain. How strong is the magnetic effect? I applied to a "left-over" French Regular as a test and he can crawl right up a metal cabinet like Spider-Man!

Basing potentially solved; on to the terrain. How flat is flat? Can't be boring. . . and we still need to represent hills. Can't have slopes, though, for the above-mentioned reasons, and for the same reasons the "tops" of the hills have to be flat.

Years ago I purchased a quantity of GHQ Terrain Maker foam hexes; I hauled some out and started making terrain. The goal was a "scrubby" Mediterranean look. I started with a sandy brown latex house paint; literally sandy as I mixed sand into the paint. This texture hides the surface look of the foam itself. I then followed that up with 3 different colors of fine green flock, held in place with sprayed coatings of diluted white glue. Multiple, soaking coats is key. The foam hexes come in 4 different "heights," providing instant flat hills.

Some other special, easily recognized terrains are needed, too. Woods, for example. I can do Woods. Again, playability is important, so I opted for a single large tree in the center of the hex that would leave enough room for the models. For the hex base I started with the same dark brown latex house paint color I use for the French & Indian War bases and layered on some brighter green flocks and "leaf litter." Here are some Woods and Clear hexes next to each other - and not every Woods hex has to have a tree.

Can't forget about the Rough/Rocky ground. I mixed a little paper mache into the latex paint and layered on some fine gravel with a little less green flock. Goal is still as flat as possible, but the look should be "rocky." A helpful feature of the foam hex is that you can actually press any high spots down into the foam after the glue dries and spray on another layer of glue.

I haven't attempted any water features yet but have a pretty good idea of how I will handle them. Here's how the terrain looks with Roman legionaries on the advance.

A little paint and flock and the bases of the models will blend right in to the terrain. I'm sure it won't surprise you to learn I have a "house rule" or two in playtest mode. And I will still be able to skirmish since the models are individually based. "Short" distance for SAGA at this scale just happens to be the width of a 4" hex. . .

See ya!