WW2 Narrative Campaign - Initial thoughts.

We have all been down this road one or two great games leads to a discussion about a campaign, the initial enthusiasm wains after the delay between games, players lose interest and the whole campaign falls apart.

With several players in our group currently amassing forces for the Western Desert, I was looking for a way to link games at a local and wider theatre level. I have been toying with a number of ideas around a narrative campaign but weaving in a number of command decisions for the officers on either side of the conflict.

Steve over at Wargames With Toy Soldiers: 1685 - 1985: recently posted his thoughts about running a campaign in France 1940 and striking a balance between sweeping campaign moves and games on the tabletop.

Given the challenge maintaining on going campaigns, logistics, book keeping and maintain momentum,  the best route is likely to be a narrative campaign as mentioned previously Platoon Forward has some very useful mechanism for low level units and the introduction of personality traits for each leader.

But I want to expand on the post battle follow up and it lead me to think about what's next and what choices would be available to a leader after an engagement. If you have a successful encounter what does that mean for you as a leader of men, if you fail or receive more than acceptable casualties what does that do for your career and reputation amongst your peers?

Everyone has some one they report in to. Commanders at all levels want to showcase there successes, be it keeping their men safe, seeking promotion or covering their own backs if things don't go to plan. Anthony King latest book Command, The 21st Century General is an excellent book on some prominent battlefield leaders.

With a number of players in a potential campaign, how to keep them interested in between games and give them command choices after each encounter.

I thought back to the early 80's and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series where 'adventurers' chose their own path with a dice-based role playing element, each choice taking you through a different path to victory or an untimely death. The reader would typically follow a non-sequential numbered section fighting monsters along the way. I wonder could this mechanism be adapted to WW2 gaming?

I wondered if it had been done before and searched the web and found an interesting number of publications from Col John Antal such as Armor Attacks in the story you are the leader of a U.S. Army Abrams Tank Platoon, you are forced to make a number of important tactical and operational choices.

This feels like something that I can use for my campaign, where depending on the tabletop outcome players are given a number of simple choices.

Reflecting on the last game - what choices would be open to the opposing commanders?

Allied

• Offensive - You now picture of have a clearer of the enemy defences, send in your men again. (This would show your tenancy and would build on your reputation, but only if you can keep casualties to an acceptable level and succeed.)
• Defensive - After being beaten back from the town, send a portion of your command to the northern flank to encircle the town and cut off and reinforcements. (This would show your initiative despite the earlier set back.) 
• Static - Hold position and await reinforcements before assaulting the town again, (The higher ups might view this as a failure given the urgency of the need to clear the town, but it could be seen as understandable given the opposition.)

Vichy

• Offensive - With the Allies beaten back - Follow up taking the high ground to the south of the town where a battery of artillery has been shelling the town. (This shows good initiative but be careful to not weaken your defences so much to expose the town.)
• Defensive - Withdraw from the town reforming to stronger positions. (You gave the allies and bloody nose and kept your command intact.)
• Static - Hold your position - Dig In - For the expected further attack. (This is our soil the higher ups recognise how you brought them time to organise their defences deeper in country and to perhaps reinforce your position.)

Each commanders simple selection might lead to an alternative encounter on the table.

for example

Defensive vs Static - The Vichy forces slip away - when the allies enter the town they find it empty.

Offensive vs Offensive - Players might dice off to see who has the initiative perhaps totalling battlefield casualties from the first encounter or by asking players to pick a time of day to launch their sortie? What if the French are out when the Allies attack?

Defensive vs Defensive - The French are forced to fight a running battle to escape the table or are ambushed trying to leave the town?

Giving the players limited campaign choices will allow me to control the broad direction of the campaign but giving the commanders some interesting challenges which link directly to the battlefield encounters whilst focusing on their career goals, nurturing their forces, growing their command and building their reputation.

Right back to the brushes, both the Commonwealth and Vichy are in need of reinforcements.

Dispatches from the Front IX

The end of May and as the country slowly creeps out of lock down I look back on another successful month with another major project complete with no more bare metal hanging around for the English or the Forces of Darkness in the Elizabethan Zombie Project.

The new "normal" in terms of working practices has seen an extra couple of hours of hobby time each day which really helps keeping the painting queue moving, whether it's a quick basing session or undercoating its far better than the usual commute. 

Whilst physical gaming has been sparse I have been able to grab a number of Standard Games Cry Havoc and Siege skirmish games over face time. With both of us owning the game we swap pic's of the set up a few hours earlier matching the characters on the map before grabbing a couple of hours gaming time.

The rules have really stood the test of time, I still have an urge to re-create this in miniature but let's see plenty of other projects on the list at the moment.

Whilst Osprey might been offering free downloads when C19 kicked off it does not mean it costs us gamers nothing, reading the pdf on Japanese Infantry it got me thinking using Bolt Action to refight Henderson Airfield, I have a number of 28mm US marines and Japanese Infantry but spotted these from company B on the Great Escape Games website. I needed to add a couple of items from them for the Seven Days to the Rhine Rules and well these would make up the postage.

I found myself flicking through Kickstarter one evening and came across Command and Colors latest offering. I have always fancied gaming the Jacobite Rebellions, but it's not going to happen unless someone really does invent tartan paint.. So this is the next best thing.

Estimated delivery September.... So looking forward to playing this at Christmas based on my usual track record of projects backed.

Meanwhile the boss had the great idea to clear out the loft and I came across my original inspiration for getting into gaming. I remember finding a copy of this in my local library and a poster on the wall for the local historical gaming club, wow that was over 30 years ago.

The Ancient game showed a confrontation between the Sassanid Persians and Romans circa AD363.

Over the years I have only dabbled with ancients but have always thought back to these pics and fancied giving it a proper go...  

So as other projects wind down the Egyptian - Hittite lead pile slowly increases. More on this in the months ahead.

Meanwhile the Diplomacy campaign continues with the Wyvern's with a couple of players down and others tittering on the brink it could all be over in a couple of rounds if truces hold and moves play out. Up until now my Turkish forces and the Austrians have had a mutual agreement but we both know that can't last.

So what of June?

So far the monthly project focus has been very rewarding with 4 projects cleared of all bare metal. As tempted as I am kick off the Ancients I have a number of 'fillers' that need to be brought to life with extras for Russia, Africa, The Far East and Other Egyptian stuff.

Meanwhile some light reading as inspiration for the New Kingdom  - Hittite Project.

Four sons. One throne. A world on the precipice. 

1315 BC: Tensions soar between the great powers of the Late Bronze Age. 

The Hittites stand toe-to-toe with Egypt, Assyria and Ahhiyawa, and war seems inevitable. More, the fierce Kaskan tribes – age-old enemies of the Hittites – amass at the northern borders. 

When Prince Hattu is born, it should be a rare joyous moment for all the Hittite people. But when the Goddess Ishtar comes to King Mursili in a dream, she warns that the boy is no blessing, telling of a dark future where he will stain Mursili’s throne with blood and bring destruction upon the world. Thus, Hattu endures a solitary boyhood in the shadow of his siblings, spurned by his father and shunned by the Hittite people. But when the Kaskans invade, Hattu is drawn into the fray. It is a savage journey in which he strives to show his worth and valour. Yet with his every step, the shadow of Ishtar’s prophecy darkens…

Ghost Archipelago - Review and First Impressions

Just as I was preparing the latest batch of Haitians the latest distraction landed on the door mat. Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago, I only played the original game once it was a little heavy on the terrian side for my liking but when I saw the setting for Ghost Archipelago it felt like a rule set that could bring all of my odd collections together on one table top allowing me to get to use some of the mini's that rarely see table time.

I backed the base level pledge in the current Nickstarter from Northstar, which provided me with the Rules, spell deck, a box of Crew, Crew Rooster, Treasure tokens and preproduction casts together with the novel to get you in the mood for island hopping.

Everything was well packed with the books bubble wrapped for extra protection. The presentation style is excellent, the rules are hard back and have a high production feel to them, no pages will be falling out of this set unlike Cutlass! 

The Snakeman's sword was damaged but being only one I can't see much use for him anyway.

I did not go to the trouble of selecting the Heritors and Wardens but am happy with the random figures, they have a Eastern feel to them which will allow me to use some of my Ottomans should I need to ground troops or extra crewmen.

 

I quite like the idea of my Atlantians guarding the various temples and jungle outposts, they will definately feature as some of the "bad guys" the rules cater for waterborne warfare with rules for boats, perfect as I picked a couple of these up from Iron gate scenary at Derby a few weeks ago.

The rulebook is 144 pages filled with full color photos of painted miniatures are some lovely art work to inspire the modeller in you. The rules within the book are relatively straight forward and with specific chapters for each area its easy to to find the specific rules. The contents include. Heritors, Wardens, and Crewmen, Chapter 3 Playing the Game, Chapter 4 The campaign followed by Heritor Abilities, Warden Spells, Scenarios (eight in the book), and the Bestiary.

Flicking through the rules and set up this morning, Ghost Archipelago, provides for a basic warband consisting of 10 members that must be purchased using 250 gold coins. Outside of the Heritor and Warden the warband can filled with a mix of  Standard Crewman and Specialist roles such as the Pearl Diver or Scout.

The Wardens must choose from five branches—Beast, Earth, Storm, Warden, Vine, and Wave, allowing your Warden/Wizard to influence the terrian and creatures on the board.

To spice up your encounter Ghost Archipelago also provides a Random Encounter Table with three levels of encounters each giving a different type of creature and with rules for your average wildlife through to Dinosaurs and the undead, plenty of choice to allow me to get those long forgot miniatures on the table - Fishmen anyone?

Ghost Archipelago feels perfect for those mid-week games where you only have a couple of hours to spare, the terrain demands are minimal espically if like me you have been collecting fish tank terrain for years. With 10 figures aside the investment for a warband is quite low and you can always swap out the monsters to fit what you have already - You never know the Bugs may make an appearance....

Haitian Holiday Reads and Eye Candy

Back from the annual holiday and plenty to crack on with after some light holiday reading, none of your pulp paper backs here... The Story of the Haitian Revolution by Laurent Dubois.

It did raise a few eye brows on the beach but well worth a read if you have a interest in the Napoleonic wars and a theatre largely ignored by mainstream wargamers.

Originally a French possession, it was the most lucrative colony on earth, producing a third of the world’s sugar and more than half its coffee. 

Following in the foot steps of events in France and influenced by the The Declaration of the Rights of Man the slave population rose up in 1791 and so began the largest slave revolt in history. 

Over the next 13 years, the island saw civil war and an invasion of Spanish territory together with three successive attempts to re-enslave them. The first was by local planters and the French military, the second by the British, eager for seize Frances colonial assets and finally, after he took power, Napoleon tried to recapture the territory as a French colony and restore slavery.

The rebels fought against huge odds: Britain dispatched an armada of 218 ships to the Caribbean, and its troops battled for five years before withdrawing; Napoleon sent the largest force that had ever set sail from France, losing more than 50,000 soldiers to combat and disease.

All of which makes for a very interesting period to game.

Whilst I may have been technology free for a week it did give me the opportunity to consider how the Maroons (escaped slaves) might be represented on the tabletop using Sharp Practice, initially I did consider both Clan and Militia as options but figured for the early encounters I would start with conscripts as the Maroons had been living in the hills and defeated numerous events by local militia to bring them to heal.

I would welcome peoples thoughts on how they would represent them. 

Maroons					Type	Conscripts and Volunteers
Points Value	4	Weapon	Musket		Size	8
Formation	First Fire	Controlled Volley	Crashing Volley	Step Out	Drill	Characteristics
No Shock	Yes	First Only	3	3	3	Hearth and Home

Hearth & Home – May improve Step out rating by 1 when at home, become Weedy Coves when fighting away from home.

Maroon Skirmishers					Type	Irregular Skirmishers
Points Value	6	Weapon	Musket		Size	6
Formation	First Fire	Controlled Volley	Crashing Volley	Step Out	Drill	Characteristics
No	Yes	No	-	3	-	Tactical, Moveable DP, No Bayonets.

Moveable DP – May be selected as a support option.    

Tactical – Can perform Ambuscade when two cards are available.

No Bayonets – These troops are at a disadvantage in Fisticuffs. 

Just need to put in some painting time now to get some additional units on the table.

If Dubois book was not enough the chaps over at Wargames Illustarted have just posted a teaser for an article to be published in WI 360, here's some behind the scenes shots from their face book page.

All Trent Miniatures with a few head swaps for good measure.

 

It's looking like a busy couple of months ahead...

The wonders of Amazon.

Another year passes by, but thanks to the wonders that is an Amazon wish list. Friends familiy and loved ones have come up with the goods - who said gamers are difficult to buy for :-)

With an over night stay in hospital scheduled plenty to keep me in reading matter, Charles Grant's excellent Volume on the French Army in Egypt is the highlight with some wonderful colour plates by Bob Marrion, plenty of inspiration for more French units.

Ideas for the Haitian project are taking shape with some background reading to get me in the mood. Loads of scope for Sharp Practice and if I concentrate on the native Haitian forces they can be used to light both British, Spanish and the French - talk about multi-purpose gaming..

A couple of Oil Storage units for the Modern Chechen games and whilst battlefield ready do need basing and some fencing to make them fit on my table top. Who can say the Rogue Star rules might be suitable for my 15mm Sci-fi gaming?

The only choice now is what to take to read...

Cutlass! A rule review and yet more Atlantis Ramblings.

I really should be painting Frenchmen, but as usual something shiny has come along, having painted up the recent Atlantians the opportunity for a game has come up on Sunday so for once lets get the freshly painted toys on the table whilst interest is at it's peak.

I have spent the week reading up on the Cutlass! rule set and giving some of the mechanics a run through and first impressions are they look a real blast.

Gav Thorpe has done a fantastic job some fresh rule mechanics and a comprehensive campaign system all in all the rules have a very polished finish to them.

The rules well laid out even if they are a little heavy on Pics of lovely looking figures and terrain and artwork of pirate maps which add no real value to the rules themselves.... but do give you plenty of inspiration if it was needed.

The rules are aimed at a land based fantasy pirate skirmish game, with your classic Human, Dwarves and Orcs together with other regular fantasy factions. But as usual I already have some new ideas to tweak this. 

The rule concepts take me back to some of my early gaming with the likes of Necromunda where you build your faction up over time adding recruits, extra items and a hideaway.

One of the things which drew me to these rules was the variable turn structure, I used to play a lot of Two Hour Wargames Rules, where characters can interupt an opponents go, but this got rather confusing when trying to field a large number of figures and decide who went before who, Gav appears to have nailed it with his rule structure.

Each leader rolls for their Authority at the beginning of the game and this provides them with the total number of actions or orders they can bark at their men in a given turn. They can provide them with orders such as move, shoot, Hand to Hand or special actions such as reload. If you have an authority of 5 your can spend one action telling 5 men to all shoot. However the next action/order you give is only for 4 men etc, etc. until you run out of actions.

However as you attempt an action your opponent has a chance to react which if successful takes the turn from you and hands the initiative to them, from what I have experienced so far this means you have to think about the order in which you carry out your actions so if you mess up, suddenly you are on the back foot this balances the risk vs reward with any actions.

Each character has a number of stats which are represented by a quality dice meaning a low quality character might roll a D4, a more experienced chacter might be rolling a D8. These rolls however are open ended so if a player scores the highest possible result (a 6 on a D6 for example) they roll again and add the next score on to the total result, you keep going with this until you fail to achieve the highest result, in my first play test a D4 Character took down a far more experienced character by rolling 3 x 4D4. 

Combat is slick and has some nice features which give you a feel of true swashbuckling on the high seas.

With the first outing this sunday, I am very much looking frward to giving these a proper run through.

Meanwhile I started to note down the potential back story to future encounters in Atlantis. The one line from the Warlords film struck me with plenty of possibilities "They steal some rifles the Atlantians have acquired from a ship they plundered".

How many ships have they attacked over the years?

A few hours on the Interweb and suddenly their are plenty of potential ideas and ships crews that have simply disappeared... or dragged below the surface?

1794  HMS Ardent lost with all hands 500 crew – It is presumed that she caught fire and blew up. A part of Ardent's quarter deck with some gunlocks deeply embedded in it was found floating in the area as was splinter netting driven into planking. No trace was ever found of her 500 crew.

1799 HMS Lutine – Sank off Vlieland in heavy weather. She was carrying a large cargo of gold, most which remains unsalvaged. 269 people were lost.

1800 USS Insurgent departed Baltimore 22 July and after a brief stop at Hampton Roads sailed for her station 8 August 1800. Never heard from again, the frigate and her crew were presumed lost as a result of the severe storm.

The possibilities are endless.

I just now need to resist the draw to paint pirates rather than those half finished Frenchmen.

The Men Who Would be Kings Rule Review

Dan Mersey and Osprey have the unique ability of bringing many of my figure collections out of retirement and back on to the tabletop, first there was the Narnian Forces with his Dragon Rampant Rules and now the Boxer Rebellion with The Men Who Would be Kings.

My gaming preferences tend to lean towards larger skirmish and playing the game rather than recreating the real thing in miniature so anyone who opens their rule writing with the compulsory viewing of Zulu at Christmas and Easter gets my vote... (53 viewings and counting just for the record..).

Although the wife and kids are getting rather annoyed by me quoting the lines before they are actually said.

The Men Who Would be Kings Rules landed on the door step this Saturday morning and it's fair to say I am not disappointed by Dan's latest offering. 64 Pages of Colonial goodness, with plenty of Illustrations and eye candy to get the juices following.

The unit sizes are very much in keeping with his earlier rule sets and my own collection for that matter and Dan has made the troop types fairly generic allowing them to fit most conflicts.

• Regular and Irregular infantry: 12 models per unit.
• Regular and Irregular cavalry: 8 models per unit.
• Tribal infantry: 16 models per unit.
• Tribal cavalry: 10 models per unit.
• Crewed weapons: 1 gun plus 4 crew models.

Each unit must have a leader and keeping them intact appears to be key to keeping your troops in order and pin free to win the the scenario's of which 8 are included in the book.

 

A typical field force consists of 24 points with unit costs broken down as follows.

 

• Regular units: 6 points per unit. 
•  Irregular units: 4 points per unit. 
•  Tribal units: 3 points per unit.
•  Crewed weapons: 4 or 6 points per weapon.

Units can be adjusted by upgrading or downgrading unit abilities which gives you the national variants - e.g. Zulu's with Fieldcraft at +1, but perhaps poor shots at -1 if you follow the movie....

After sneaking off for a quiet read in a pub at lunch time no less.

They appear to be a rule set where leaders of units are the key to winning the game.

Each unit of troops has to 'activate' each turn using their leaders Leadership Score, however some actions for each troop type can take a Free action these are different for each unit type.

The unit Leaders quality is rolled for and will be influenced by whether you are Regular or Tribal and extra colour is added by applying traits for officers, very similar to those found within the Sharp Practice Rules another favourite of mine.

There are some nice features within the rules such as the ability to fire through pinned units which allows you to spread your fire and keep the sword welding hordes at bay rather than having to break or destroy the closest enemy before you can turn your attention on the unit hiding behind it...

A whole chapter is dedicated to playing against "Mr Babbage" or Solo play which takes me back 20 years when "Soldiers of the Queen" was popular and everyone wanted to be British sitting in a square. :-)

Dan has included 30 army lists to allow you to build your forces for various encounters from the likes of The Sudan and Zululand through to the Plains Wars in America. (tempting...)

My only niggle is that with a number of references and illustrations relating to the Boxer Rebellion it would have been nice to see an army list for the conflict.

But it does give me an excuse to dust off my own collection and with 7 days before the first real outing it will allow me to draw up the forces for both sides and play around with the troop traits, with only a small number of generic unit types it should not take long to create such a list.

It's nice to get the Boxers back out of storage, just as I was thinking about letting the collection go.