Babbage in the Crusades - First outing.

Games have been hard to come by of late.... but with festivities nearly upon us a well earned break and a chance to get some painting in and who knows perhaps some additional projects.... If I made the nice list :-)

I did manage to give the Babbage rules a run out and with the aid of the secret wargamers friend made a few slight revisions.

A follow on game with the Dust and Tears campaign which saw the remaining Crusaders looking to advance across the table defeating any Arab forces along the way. The Christians started in the right hand corner with the orange dots representing possible Arab forces. 

The skirmishers and light units moved forwards and triggered a number of Arab units giving the Christians a chance to order their lines ahead of any Arab assault.

Massed archery hopes to slow the Muslim advance and the hordes of light cavalry.

The Arab infantry faired no better from the Archers and Crossbows lightly armed spearmen held the line but were losing men at a rapid rate.

The Crusader Warriors came forward sensing a gap in the Arab line.

A clash in the centre of the table as the fanatic swordsmen met the Arab Spearmen.

As the Arabs fell back they were set upon by the elite Knights. Another defending unit wiped from the table.

The Christians were not having everything their own way, they were losing valuable troops, half the Knights were killed or wounded alongside a number of warriors. This would make the next encounter a challenge.

All in all not a bad first outing.

Skirmishers really prove there worth flushing out the various hot spots... The ability for Arab units to disappear and reappear on the flanks or ahead of the advancing Christian forces made it quite a challenge and force the Christians push against the known units to restrict the likelihood of them coming back elsewhere. The Christians need to think about sticking together as being out numbered and isolated will make the Arabs more aggressive.

More next year I am sure....

Thinking about the Christmas break - This was quite a shock - Dust, Tears & Dice: Dispatched from the Front XXXIV - Twixmas Projects

Two of the Arab cavalry units are still on the paint table - Can I get them done before New Years Day?

Best cancel all visitors :-)

Christmas Shoot out 2025

The annual Christmas shoot out at the Wyre Forest Club and 10 rival gangs arrive to spread some Christmas cheer. 

The mission is simple scattered across the table are 50 presents which have fallen from Santa's sleigh, players must pick them up and drop them into the festive zone in the centre of the table, due to the aura of goodwill no one is allowed to shoot in the zone.

For each present dropped into the zone players receive one point.

We used a cut down version of Dead Man's Hands to keep the game moving along, each player entered on a table edge, players were not allowed to shoot their immediate neighbours until the first two rounds had passed. Many players used the opportunity to rush to grab some early presents.

It's not long before the lead if flying.

The native warband lacking in fire power were pretty handy with the tomahawk scalping a number of characters including the all female posse - shocking behaviour....

Marching down the street took some balls - but it also attracted a whole lot of fire. The not some magnificent seven quickly became the fragile four and then the tragic three.

For many picking up a present often resulted in a hail of bullets coming your way... Santa's presents were soon littered across the table.

In the centre of the table and the safe zone players having dropped off presents used the magic circle to step out shoot and step back in - hardly the Christmas Spirit.

The final round and a mad rush for the present drop with 4 players all within one present of one another. In the end the Cinderella Cattle Company bagging a late win by one present :-)

Great fun - everybody got to take an active part, with individual firefights taking place across the table, so many mini encounters in back alleys and shop doorways.

Merry Christmas......

Mr Babbage in the Crusades - Solo Rule Mechanism.

Lots of travelling of late, but it gave me the opportunity to worth through some ideas around the unit generation for the Outremer games on the assumption that all players took a role of the Christian forces. Based on Daniel Mersey's - The Men who would be kings Rules for Mr Babbage, with a blind placement from Joe Legan's Platoon Forward.

Mr Babbage in the Crusades

When determining what enemy forces are being faced use the number of regular units in the Christian force to generate the number of ‘blinds’ in the Arab force, the only variant to this is that for each Elite units in the Christian force this generates two ‘blinds’.

Blinds are placed on the table based on the scenario generated.

The blinds should be placed representing the opposing forces placed in the best possible position on the table to defeat the Christian forces. You won’t known what these forces are until rolled, this creates a challenge that tough terrain might be lightly defended or other areas you face overwhelming concentrations of enemy forces.

During the game each ‘Blind’ is diced for when spotted within 24” of the opposing unit. This should encourage the scouting of terrain with light cavalry or skirmishers. Only unbattered units are able to take this test.

Arab Deployment.

At any point 1 General may be added to one Arab deployment.

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
1-2	No Arabs appear in front of your units appear this turn.	Too far away to be placed on the table for now.
3	1 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-4 Spear 4-7 Bow/Skirmish 8 Warriors	Roll Another Dice. 1-6 Stay in Position. 7-8 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. But not within 12” of an enemy unit.
4	1 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-2 Spear 3-4 Bow/Skirmish 5 Warriors/Elite Foot 6-7 Light Cavalry 8 Heavy/Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-6 Stay in Position. 7-8 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. But not within 12” of an enemy unit.
5	2 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-2 Spear 3-4 Bow/Skirmish 5 Warriors/Elite Foot 6-7 Light Cavalry 8 Heavy/Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-4 Stay in Position. 5-6 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. 7-8 12” towards closest enemy unit if skirmish or bow armed light cavalry others stay in place.
6	2 Arab Unit Roll for type. 1-3 Light Cavalry 4-5 Medium/Heavy Cavalry 6 Elite Cavalry	Roll Another Dice. 1-4 Stay in Position. 5-6 12” towards closest Friendly unit if none stay in position. 7-8 12” towards closest enemy unit if skirmish or bow armed light cavalry others stay in place.

Arab Actions

Roll on the following chart to decide outcome, an activation roll is still required but a failure does halt the Arab turn.

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
1 or less	Slink away	Remove from play (Roll immediately on Babbage Table 3)
2	Act with Caution	Missile units advance to within missile range. Skirmish troops may skirmish forwards if within range. Others remain in place.
3-4	Advance	Missile units advance to within short missile range. All others move forwards with a move action but will not contact.
5	Charge!!!	Missile units advance to within short missile range, remaining stationary and shoot if already within range. All others move forwards with a charge action if within range if not move towards nearest enemy.
6+	Charge!!! Religious fervour.	Missile units advance to within short missile range, remaining stationary and shoot if already within range. All others move forwards with a charge action if within range if not move towards nearest enemy. If outside of 12” may add +D6” of movement to their move.
Dice Modifiers +1 If able to contact Christian Unit. +1 If Arab Elite Unit. -1 If Arab unit is outnumbered by their opposing unit or a lower status if the unit sizes are equal if within charge distance.

 Arab Recycling

Dice Roll	Outcome	Positioning
2 or less	Bye Bye!	The Unit won’t take any further part in the battle remove from the table.
3-4	Gone but not forgotten	The Unit my re-enter the game at a later time add a further blind on the table behind the most rear blind or Arab unit if no blinds are still in play.
5	Same Idea different place!	The unit re-enters the table on a random table edge using a direction arrow (must be a minimum of 12” from Christian forces). If unable to do so roll again next turn.
6+	Back for more.	The unit re-enters the table 12” immediately behind where it was forced to slink away. (If this takes it out of play counts as bye bye.)
Dice Modifiers +1 for each unit the first time it tests for removal/return. -1 For each unit the Arab player has already said ‘bye bye!’ to in this game. -1 For each Arab unit destroyed.

Richard I Personnel Bodyguard - Third Crusade

Just missing the November deadline as the weather was crap to varnish.

Bored of the white and having quite a cluster of foot knights, I opted for a small unit of foot knights to act as a personnel bodyguard for Richard I

Are they accurate, did they really fight at the battle of Acre or Arsuf in this level of plate and chain. I am sure others have a view, but they give me an option on the field of battle.

These 'Chamber Knights' will compliment the Knights Templar.

Battle models from Fire Forge games - They will fight as Elite Foot under the Lion Rampant rules.

December is upon us....The gaming table is under pressure from the rest of the house to turn it into a storage unit as Christmas descends on the house... Perhaps one or two games if I am lucky.

The Battle of Germantown 1777 - Rebels and Patriots.

Club game from a few weeks ago and the Battle of Germantown, the scenario is taken from a old edition of Wargames Illustrated. Played using Rebels and Patriots and the first outing for the Germans.

British forces under Howe face off against Washington's continentals. We had to scale the table down to 10mm which left a little bit of room to place the units on the table.

The US player attacks on multiple fronts hindered by the fog one brigade approaches Luken Mill securing 4 victory points if they can seize it. Additional bonus points are awarded for each unit destroyed or routed and -1 point to the owner of the lost unit.

On the far right the main force approaches Chew House also defended by British regulars.

The Crown forces defending Crew House awaiting the advance of the Americans. The British and Hessian main force is in Germantown will need to gather their forces to support the defenders.

The Continentals reach the outskirts of Chew House and line out preparing to assault the building if they can secure it, it will be worth 6 Pts. 

British reinforcements crest the hill and poor fire into the advancing mounted militia, driving them backwards.

Back at the mill the massed ranks of the militia succeed in driving back the original defenders, but fresh troops in the shape of 2 companies of Light Infantry start to make their presence felt. The Americans press forward.

Meanwhile in Germantown the Hessians advance towards Chew House as the attackers are making slow progressing in forcing the British out.

Finally multiple bayonet charges forces the British to withdraw, but casualties are mounting on the American side making activations more difficult.

Chew House is finally in the Hands of the US and in the same turn the Mill is seized. The victory points are balanced at 10 points each (10 for Germantown firmly in British hands.

But the Crown forces are now fully deployed in front of the Crew House and it feels only a matter of time until it is back in British Hands.

As the game draws to a close it's a victory for the British 16 points to 14. The US simply lost too many units in their assault on the main house.

A cracking afternoons gaming with some real back and forth between the two sides. You really need to prepare your attack stepping into close order and preparing a volley to break the British line, all to often the US opened up at long range which did limited damage to the Brits with the advantage of hard cover in the buildings.

We added in chits for each brigade which gave a random element to activations which made for an interesting challenger for each commander.

Next up.... Lexington and Concorde hopefully over the Christmas break....

Crusader Spearmen - Fire Forge Games.

Another unit off the production line for Outremer and Lion Rampant.

I figured this time around I will make these more of a templar feel to break up the formations for the Christian forces or should I need to separate out regulars vs veterans.

All figures from Fire Forge games.

Still got a few more units to put together over the coming weeks but these fine fellows should hit the table very soon.

RJW Campaign - 'Not' Boxers Revenge - Game 3

After game 2 the Russians really needed to take the fight to the Japanese this game. They needed to win and defeat a number of the Japanese units. The scenario borrowing again from Mark Fatso's Colonial campaign book This scenario sees a Japanese column attempting to reach the edge of the table with 6 prisoners.

The table represents a valley with two roads forking left and right the Russians could be anywhere on the table.

A challenge for both sides as the hill in the centre blocks line of sight and the Russians have to in effect split their forces or hold them all at the very rear of the table.

The Japanese pushed up the centre of the table, all the prisoners were clustered amongst the dismounted cavalry who had the limited range. They were giving nothing away. No sign of the Russians as the Japanese hit the half way mark.

On the right flank dismounted cavalry appeared and are swiftly engaged by the advancing Japanese who were starting to be rather strung out.

Valuable time was wasted scouting the right hand wood and building only to reveal no Russian defenders.

On the right the main defence was revealed Sailors lined the tree line to bolster the cavalry who were hotly engaged with the Japanese Infantry.

The Russian command having learnt from the previous encounter through multiple Infantry units forward from the rear wood looking to block the path of the Japanese advance parties.

The Japanese at the double move left hoping that the poor command scores for the Russians would slow their ability to move to the defence and block their move.

Russian infantry know they have the edge in hand to hand and advance across the centre of the table.

In a bruising round of hand to hand the Russians are defeated but not before disordering two units of Japanese including the guard unit, more time is wasted rallying them, when they should have been moving forwards. 

The Japanese guard through themselves forward the cavalry charged and drove off one unit of Infantry only to be sent to the rear down to two men, as the clock ticked on more Russian Infantry and their own Guard unit stepped into the gap, stopping the Japanese in their tracks. The Japanese battered units would not be numerous enough to defeat the fresh Russians and the dismounted cavalry and their charges from themselves in the front rank.

Game over - A great game down to the final turn.

Points from the final linked game.

Japanese Results.

1 Russian units destroyed - 1 Points.

Russian Results.

Russians fulfil their victory conditions - 3 Points

4 Japanese units reduced to half strength or less - 4 Points.

A victory to the Russian player although not quite enough to win the first phase of the campaign.

The final campaign results Russian Points - 12 Pts vs the Japanese 13 Pts.

So close.... Next up in the year the next set of 3 games and Skirmish on the Rails. :-)