Northwest Frontier: "Big Battle" Style

 Re-set my gridded table to 1878 for a little Northwest Frontier action Portable Wargame style, this time using Bob Cordery's "Big Battle"  19th century revisions to the rules. In recent months I've managed to add a few units to both sides of my NW Frontier collection so this battle proved to be pretty big.

The happiest Pathan commander I ever encountered...(actually she just was there for the photo op...Hot Wheels cars are more her taste these days)...

The Headman of the Waziri's village.

 I also used some simple cardboard buildings I built a while back using boxes from the local "Michaels" craft store...You can see a tutorial for making them here.

British begin to deploy for battle

Highlanders and Punjabis advancing on a Pathan held ridge

"Piper, sound the charge!"

I'm also using my added "heroic action" rule in this game where an attached individual leader figure (except the CinC)  can force a re-roll of any close action dice and taking the second outcome...while risking a D6 4-6 roll to eliminate the leader for exposing himself heroically in the action...The British typically have one or two leader figures for each 3 stand "Battalion", and the Pathans have one leader for every 5 units.

The CinC of the British force and an artillery leader figure.

Pathan cavalry make an early charge on an advanced guard of the 12th Bengal Horse.

 The figures are a mix of Jacklex 20mm and Ral Partha 25mm...and after some initial trepidation at the slight scale difference, I've grown accustomed to it and the units all seem "in scale" to me now. Especially since I mixed figure scales in the Pathan irregular bases. It surprisingly looks just fine.

 The Jacklex cavalry actually works better for this basing style (40mm squares) since I can fit 3 cavalry to that size base.

Highlanders and Punjabis scale the ridgeline

a mountain gun in support

Bengal cavalry and Ghurkas in a wild melee on the plain with Pathan cavalry.

Finally, I did find the Portable Wargame Big Board rules to be "cleaner" than the earlier versions. I particularly liked the simplified activation die rules. I did find myself "tinkering" with the Close Combat rules. They seemed to be a bit indecisive in that units could "lock" into close combat and not be able to get an outcome for several turns (particularly cavalry since it only takes a hit on a "1" in close combat so two cavalry units would stay locked in close combat for several turns without a result). So I tried the following rule change:

Units hit in close combat only translate "hits" as follows:

Elite Units        1or2= unit destroyed       3,4,5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP
Average Units  1,2,3= unit destroyed      4,5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP
Poor units        1,2,3,4=unit destroyed      5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP

This rule adjustment served to both speed up the game just a bit and to make Close Combat more decisive...sort of a balance I think between Bob's intent and Morschauer's more "bloody" basic combat resolution approach where hits always eliminate. It also serves to differentiate fire combat results from Close Combat and at least it gave the Highlanders a reason to charge that heavily defended ridgeline!

But regardless, it produced a fun Sunday's diversion, and some thoughts about a possible campaign using a "squared" larger map that is scaled to my tactical table size of 18x18 grid squares so each grid square on the map would be a "table".  The battle rules are clean and fast so running a campaign could actually work, and I can spice it with some skirmishes using "Sword and the Flame" if needed.

More Crazy Tiny Wargames

 I'm continuing to tinker around with very tiny wargames using the Portable Wargme Rules. Even my wife was, "wow, that's really tiny!..." so I guess that's something to be said...
I also took a cue from the blogs out there in that I put the "Diceshaker" app on my ipad and used it to generate the die rolls. It actually works really well and is a sort of no nonsense die rolling app that works just fine for this.

I played Quatre Bras out a couple of times with the British winning the first go and the French the second...so fun all around. Such a small game is pretty cool because I just kept it set up on the kitchen counter and played a few turns over my coffee this morning before the kids woke up and I headed off to work...and without the tell-tale clatter of dice, I was able to keep the wife slumbering too!

French columns assault Gemioncourt Farm

French columns take a drubbing from disciplined Brit volleys...

A second game experimenting with a gradual arrival of Brit reinforcements as in the historical battle...

The French get the better of the British left in the initial stages of game 2.

The Black Brunswickers held strong in Gemioncourt Farm in both games despite heavy assaults from French columns.

And finally I had a few minutes this afternoon after work to dig out some old plastic minis from a Parker Brothers Battle Cry game from the 60s...the board is long lost but I still have the minis so I pressed them into service. This is a hypothetical layout of Gettysburg at a very abstract level without ridges (that I am going to make this weekend) to see if I can stretch Bob's portable rules to their limit on a 7" square?!

Battle on a Postage Stamp

 Ok, so it's Sunday night and my daughter and I spent an hour in our garage (oft referred to by my bemused wife as..."daddy's game storage room"...) and turned up some interesting finds. It seems several years ago I had contemplated a "Really Tiny Wargame" using an old portable chessboard....I had painted over the chessboard using "green chalkboard spraypaint" and then for lack of figures and rules...had stashed the board away for a future inspiration. Fast forward to this afternoon and we opened an old box and what was sitting on top but the little green 7" by 7" chessboard! Now immediately my synapses started firing and thoughts of how cool it would be to have a Really Portable Wargame using Bob's rules. So this evening I marked off a 7/8" grid, 8 squares by 8 squares, and dug out some of my 6mm Adlers and picked out 2 armies of 12 elements and set up the ultimate tiny wargame!

 The battle is Quatre Bras, I think referred to in history as the "Battle on a Postage Stamp"...I thought it appropriate that this super small sized game would model one of the great but really small Napoleonic battles of the war.

 The "table is a 7 x 7...inches that is...! The Adler 6mm figures are just the ticket to pull it off, and the "Portable Wargame Rules" will be the rules of choice for this one. It may be a stretch...but it will hopefully be a fun experiment.

View from the French side towards Gemioncourt Farm...Quatre Bras off in the distance.

 I have a few resin cast 6mm houses, but houses from a Monopoly game would work as well. I'm thinking of making wooded square bases to place on the grid instead of bits of clump foliage.

A 7" by 7" wargame

I'm contemplating how to make hills...and streams at such a small scale...
The squares are only 7/8" so not much room for terrain, but still, it looks like a wargame.

Two Gridded Games: Part 2

The Americans approach the outskirts of San Lorenzo

 Knowing that In my second gridded game this week that my table size might stretch "The Portable Wargame" rules a bit far, I decided to play them with doubled range and movement distances. I think this did not affect the game unduly and gave a sense of the game's scale (a battalion level attack on a town) that was similar to my last game using slightly altered Memoir 44 rules.

Under heavy fire the GI's advance. This time US armour tries to outflank the town rather than drive headlong down the main street

 In this game both side put all their initiative "eggs" in one basket and devoted their moves and firing to the struggle around the town...the units on the ridge never moved in the game though some mortar rounds were exchanged to no effect.

Still they lose a tank unit to Panzerfaust  fire from heavily defended buildings

 One change I made to the rules was the addition of infantry AT markers that are added (single figures with an AT weapon) to a square allowing infantry in the same square to destroy tanks at half range (in this game, two squares). Normally infantry and MGs are not allowed to destroy armor at a distance.

Also I used my "heroic leader figure" rule that allowed a single leader figure "stacked" in the same square as an infantry unit to call for a re-roll of the opponent's hit die and regardless of the second outcome the leader must roll a d6 less than 4 to survive the "heroic moment". That rule actually worked to the German's advantage when one of their company commander's got a good re-roll negating a hit on a significant unit...unfortunately the next turn the unit was destroyed and the leader as well so the "Amis" captured the town by result of a series of good rolls in the final turns.

Again, the "Portable Wargame" and M44 prove that complex can be simple if designed correctly!

Two Gridded Games

The Valley of San Lorenzo

 Inspired by the new edition of Bob Cordery's Modern version of the Portable Wargame I dug out my generic WWII plastic figures and a couple of odd scaled plastic tanks all of which came from dollar store sets from China. I set up a scenario set in 1943 Italy where an assaulting force attempts to capture a village surrounded by a rough semicircle of ridges.

Army Tan playing the role of the Americans

 The idea was to play out an experimental game first using Memoir 44 as is on a square grid with a few added rules for MGs and Mortars. ( MGs get a 4-3-2-1 rating and count as 3 hit infantry  and mortars a 3-2-2-1-1 counting as 2 hit artillery) Then to reset the battle and use the Portable Wargame Rules. Not so much to compare their merits, but to just enjoy gaming with both of them.

Army Green playing the role of Germans

 I'm also keen to put my homemade Spanish Village to use and since my SCW collection is still under construction, these odd little plastics will serve in their place. They are just a basic color spray coat with the helmets picked out in a darker color...pretty effective for a "quick and dirty" set up.

First game using Memoir 44

the table is a 4'x4' gridded with 2 1/2 " squares 18 by 18

The Americans approach the town

US armor assaults the outskirts driving back the defenders temporarily

Tough German defenders inflict damage as the tanks outrun their infantry support

On the right flank the GIs fight their way up the steep slopes of San Lorenzo Ridge

I just used d6s to count hits and I counted plowed fields as "rice paddy" terrain as per M44 specs.

The advancing US infantry take casualties from the Germans who have re-occupied the outskirts of the town

The battle swings in the defender's favor as one of the American armor units is destroyed by close assaulting infantry

Though the Americans manage to clear a portion of the ridge, their attack stalls and the Germans hit their 6 victory points and get a win.

So all in all a simple, somewhat crude looking game but fun nonetheless...and in keeping with the abstract level of a gridded game. The M44 rules worked just fine using a square grid (I did not allow diagonal range counting) and playing solo I just dealt each new command card face down and then played the opposite side before turning it up. A fun game for sure!

 So on to the next game using the Portable Wargame rules.

Wargaming Bliss...

 When you live in my neck of the woods (Virginia USA), a package from the Royal Mail is always a good thing! A hefty batch of Spanish Civil War 15mm figs arrived a few days ago (BTW in great time...less than 2 weeks across the pond from order to delivery and a completely spot-on order...!) from Peter Pig (...many thanks guys!!).

It's like Christmas in July!

 What gamer worth his/her salt can't be salivating over a sight like this!...even my dear wife was impressed by the contents...her "wow, that's a lot in that box...!  ..."made all her past negative comments about my gaming expenditures fade into the past! (I call it the 15s effect...and it goes for 10s and 6s as well)...it always feels like riches when you open a shipment of 15s!

So for about $130. USD I was able to get a nice Spanish Civil War collection up and running doing both sides assuming one base=one company (100 men +-). Based four figures to a 40x40mm base will give me armies that will work for the "Portable Wargame" rules as well as such as AK47 Variant for SCW and Crossfire. So I am really getting back into this period after selling off all my 20mm SCW collection back in the late 90s (...in 20mm the best way to go is the beautiful  "Historical Products" line of SCW sculpted by the late David Alsop now sold by the very knowledgeable Pat Condray)

Nationalists

 I managed to get everything based up this evening and looking forward to a weekend of painting!

Republicans

 I just need a few more figures on the Republican side...and some Morrocans...and...well...you all know how it is...just a few more....
"Arriba Espania!"

15mm Spanish Village: Finishing Up

 I was able to make a few final touches on the Spanish Village with the addition of bases that would cover a 2 1/2" grid square and give a little area for added scenics. Though I think I will have to use some method for indicating units occupying the buildings as there is no room for them in the square if a building is in place.

 I also had a try at making some plowed fields after being inspired by Jeff's suggestion using the Liquitex "Ceramic Stucco". All the bases and the fields were made of the backing cardboard from a pad of drawing paper cut to size. The walls on the fields and building bases were cardboard as well and served to stiffen the cardboard when later painted. I found the fields warped for a while when the Liquitex was drying but they dried flat eventually. Just a matter of painting and some added foliage and a small amount of static grass and time to call the project finished.

Here you can see the fit of the buildings on the gridded surface

 I also did a final pass with a sharp pencil across the lines of the roof tiles to get a more convincing rendition of a pan-tile roof.
The final effect looks ok to me, and the added bases also give another layer of protection to the inner core of relatively soft foam inside. The buildings seem pretty sturdy and should survive a few knocks.

All ready for battle!

So now the wait for the SCW figures from Peter Pig will hopefully not be too long.
(This just in,.... a note from Peter Pig just arrived in my in-box saying the SCW figures are now headed my way...!)