polemos ACW

[getagrip]

Hi all,

Anyone use Polemos ACW rules?

Any good?

Avoid like the plague?

Cheers 

[GordonY]

Bought the Napoleonic ones, they went into the next Bring and Buy, dunno about the ACW ones but theyre the same family of games.

Can heartily recommend the Civil War Battles by Peter Pig though, plus they play very well solo. Theres a battrep thingy on the PP website all about them. (with piccys)

[Ithoriel]

I have the Napoleonic ones and like them but never tried the ACW version.

[getagrip]

Cheers fellas.

Bought the Napoleonic ones, they went into the next Bring and Buy, dunno about the ACW ones but theyre the same family of games.

Can heartily recommend the Civil War Battles by Peter Pig though, plus they play very well solo. Theres a battrep thingy on the PP website all about them. (with piccys)

Why didn't you like them Gordon?

I have the Napoleonic ones and like them but never tried the ACW version.

How do the mechanics work Ithoriel?

[GordonY]

I thought they were overly complicated with way too many tests.

Civil War Battles on the other hand once youve played a game or 2 are dead easy, you wanna change formation, use an action point, you wanna fire off a volley, that uses 2 action points, How'd you get action points, easy you roll a d6, thats how many action points you get. Also no fudging around with how far to the left or right your unit can fire, its zero degrees, always dead ahead, how many can fire? Also easy, the number of bases in the front rank plus half the bases in the second rank. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a quick batrep. http://www.peterpig.co.uk/Range2.htm

[getagrip]

Like that a lot.

Thanks Gordon

Curious about the zero degrees though; doesn't that throw up some weird "you can't shoot but in reality you would" situations?

[Hertsblue]

Curious about the zero degrees though; doesn't that throw up some weird "you can't shoot but in reality you would" situations?

Yes, it seems a curiously "tunnelled" method. Even DBR allows you one base-width either side of the firers.

[FierceKitty]

...with very odd artillery performance, don't you think? One of the reasons I dropped DBR.

[getagrip]

That's the best and worse thing about this forum; you never get consensus on anything. 

[Hertsblue]

Oh, yes you do! 

[getagrip]

Oh, yes you do! 

I'm not going to do it but someone will

[Ithoriel]

How do the mechanics work Ithoriel?

I play the Marechal d'Empire, big battle, version of the rules.

Suggested base sizes are: Infantry and Cavalry bases 60mm square, 30mm square for artillery. That's for 6mm figures. Measurements are in Base Widths so other base sizes could be used without problems.

As an example, a French brigade will be 1 or 2 bases.

Each turn players generate Tempo points (1D6 plus a point for each subordinate commander) which are used to a) bid to be 1st player in that turn and b) to perform actions.

We found them straightforward to play and they gave the feel of a large scale action.

YMMV

[getagrip]

Thanks Ithoriel; fairly comprehensive

Hmm....

[GordonY]

"Curious about the zero degrees though; doesn't that throw up some weird "you can't shoot but in reality you would" situations?"

Well it might seem curious but taken in the scope of the came (Corps sized) an individual unit is a entire brigade, and it gets worse as if the centre line of your unit isnt going through the target unit then your shooting suddenly gets worse (hitting on a 6 rather than a 5,6)

semi detailed breakdown of the rules

Corps General his only function in the game is to provide determination dice (re-rolls) to one of his divisional generals based on Corps Generals quality (between 0 and 3) plus Divisional Generals quality (between 0 and 3) plus distance modifier.

Divisional Generals well their function is to move first then start activating units under their command (1 at a time until they fail) its simply Divisional Generals quality (between 0 and 3) plus the Units quality (between 1 and 3) plus distance modifier.

Once a unit is activated successfully then it rolls a d6 for the number of action points it has (different actions take different amounts of action points) rolling the dreaded 1 can leave you stranded at close range and unable to fire.

Its all handled on a 2 side playsheet, after about 1 game thats all you even need to look at, the book contains army lists for doing what-if scenarios for all periods and theatres of the war, it also contains 12 historical scenarios. Theres rules for running low on ammo, disorder, morale, and my favourite the falter test (or bottle test as I like to think of it) just because youre unit is in charge range dont think its automatically gonna charge. It could be stuck there ready to receive (up to 3 if the opposing unit rolls well on action points) short range volleys.

Apart from that one of my favourite mechanisms is that youre never quite sure how long this battle is gonna last, game length is on a countdown with the defender rolling 1d6 at the end of his turn and reducing the number, this means the attacker cant dither about with a lot of artiillery softening he has to "get stuck in".

In short excellent value for money.

[getagrip]

Thanks Gordon; that sounds quite straightforward and fun

Think I will give that a go!