Somewhere in Mexico...

[mmcv]

The Aztecs attempt to invade Tarascan territory, will the vicious warriors of the Aztec Triple Alliance be enough to overcome the powerful archery of the Tarascan State?







Find out here: https://mmcvhistory.home.blog/2021/02/08/battle-report-aztecs-vs-tarascans/

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ohh nice

[fred.]

Sounds a good game.

Cavalry in TTS have more speed and some combat rules. You could probably add the combat rules to some of the elite foot. Speed is interesting, you could make skirmishers faster?

Shooting heavy armies vs melee ones can be an interesting game to balance - as you say giving more space favours the shooters. I guess this is where scenarios come in.

[mmcv]

Sounds a good game.

Cavalry in TTS have more speed and some combat rules. You could probably add the combat rules to some of the elite foot. Speed is interesting, you could make skirmishers faster?

Shooting heavy armies vs melee ones can be an interesting game to balance - as you say giving more space favours the shooters. I guess this is where scenarios come in.

Yeah, I suspect the placing of terrain on the flanks favoured the Aztecs a bit more. It did initially look like the Tarascans were going to destroy them for a while though. The pool of VPs kept shrinking as they moved forward, but once combat was joined things soon changed. Interestingly I made the mistake of allowing a few bow units to shoot and move in the opening turns (which should only apply to skirmishers) and as compensation I decided to not let the Tarascans replenish their ammo for a turn. Though might be something interesting to allow. Another possibility would be to try playing with an "infinite ammo cheat" so there's no need to use ammo tokens and see how that balances things. But I'd like to play a few more games as standard to see if it needs balancing, as I did feel the Tarascans were in with a good chance and had they managed to break one of the deep units may well have taken the battle.

The use of march movement meant battle joined to archery range pretty quickly, so not sure if more speed would be needed. The elite troops mostly have shock missiles which work a little like lances do for cavalry, so they do have that hard hitting aspect.

Once I've a few more games in I may play with some optional rules I've been pondering. Particularly around repurposing strategums that are cavalry focused. I also decided to treat camps as scouting bonuses as merchants and the like would often operate as spies and feed information back to the army, so seemed sensible that a bigger camo would gather more information.

[fred.]

The arrow markers are quite intrusive, so playing with unlimited ammo might work. Or you force a refresh on a roll of a 1, or something similar.

[mmcv]

Yeah ammo markers are the one I haven't sussed yet. I can use individual based figures for heroes and shock missiles but would be too much to use as ammo. I know you can get stackable ammo chits but not sure they're any less intrusive and dice tend to get knocked when moving. Saying that, the ammo mechanism does give an interesting tactical consideration, though I'm not sure how realistic it is as I don't often read of battles running out of ammo unless they're particularly prolonged or in difficult circumstances.

[Steve J]

Very nice Matthew .

[fred.]

With the ammo - how about using a figure, with one of the little dice holders, then the dice will be much less likely to get knocked.

[Techno II]

Very nice indeed, Matthew. 

Cheers - Phil 

[mmcv]

Thanks 

With the ammo - how about using a figure, with one of the little dice holders, then the dice will be much less likely to get knocked.

Yeah I do have mini dice and tried setting them in bases but it's quite fiddly. I'd tried using them for wound tracking for Hail Caesar but found after a few turns I ended up just using normal dice as the mini ones were fiddly.

Another option I'm considering is keeping ammo off table and using an army allotment rather than per unit allotment which might provide a better flexibility while still maintaining some of the allowance restrictions.

[fred.]

Fair enough if the mini dice don't work for you - we use them loads for wound makers etc

Having an ammo pool sounds OK - I'd set it a bit lower than the number of units x number of shots. As there is always a couple of units not doing much. And perhaps roll under the ammo on 1d6 or 2d6 for a unit to be able to shoot. So early on they have no trouble, but later they may have to take a turn to replenish.

[mmcv]

Fair enough if the mini dice don't work for you - we use them loads for wound makers etc

Having an ammo pool sounds OK - I'd set it a bit lower than the number of units x number of shots. As there is always a couple of units not doing much. And perhaps roll under the ammo on 1d6 or 2d6 for a unit to be able to shoot. So early on they have no trouble, but later they may have to take a turn to replenish.

Interesting concept to add some friction. I suppose another approach in keeping with the TtS mechanics would be making shooting a difficult activation, possibly when more than half the ammo pool is gone.

And yes, I think I just have big hands so using little 7mm dice is a bit frustrating. I do use them from time to time, but it's a less than ideal solution when I want something quick and easy but still sits well with the game. The author has been producing special chits lately and may make numbered ammo chits. This might work well if non intrusive colours. An alternative would be making ammo chits with arrows on them (i.e. different numbers of arrows on say a 20mm base) but I'd need a lot and it would be probably too much work to be worth it.

Alternatively I should probably try slightly larger mini dice as they may be more palatable. 10 or 12mm may strike a better balance.

[Westmarcher]

Yeah I do have mini dice and tried setting them in bases but it's quite fiddly. I'd tried using them for wound tracking for Hail Caesar but found after a few turns I ended up just using normal dice as the mini ones were fiddly.

Alternatively I should probably try slightly larger mini dice as they may be more palatable. 10 or 12mm may strike a better balance.

I've got the 7mm dice and I agree, they can be quite fiddly. I've also got the 10mm dice and dice frames and these are a much better size without being too obtrusive.

[mmcv]

I've got the 7mm dice and I agree, they can be quite fiddly. I've also got the 10mm dice and dice frames and these are a much better size without being too obtrusive.

Just got a few 10mm dark green dice in the post there to try and they look like they may work much better. Small enough to not be too intrusive while big enough to handle easily. Will definitely give them a go in my next game.

[paulr]

If you are only using the 10mm dice as counters you could over paint the white dots with a less obtrusive colour that was still readable

This would mean they were 'rigged' as you will have added more weight to the 6 side than the 1 side...