What the last rules set you played in 2021

[Leman]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Andy Callan's Renaissance rules, plus the advanced rules
2) What armies were confronted? - French v Spanish c1510
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No but first time with the advanced additions
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo
6) What went well? - the random card system worked well, as did most of the advanced rules
7) What could have been improved? - I made a playsheet as none is provided, but left out some important points so will have to work on it.

This actually produced a very exciting game, with both army's mercenaries sitting down as they were unhappy with their pay, both rolling 1 before the game started. I put my own rule in that they could roll a dice to renogotiate this on a 6. The French Swiss got this on move 3, but the Spanish Landsknechts not until move 5. As a consequence the Swiss pike were able to link up with the Papal allies to severely stall the Spanish colunella, whilst the French heavy cavalry were able to see off their Spanish opposition quite quickly and then virtually surround the now isolated landsknechts before they lost their charge bonus as a result of blown horses and broken lances.


Start of the battle - the Swiss and landsknechts have both withdrawn to the base line.


Swiss to the rescue. French gendarmes and archers galloping towards the now isolated landsknechts, having seen off the Spanish cavalry and artillery.

[T13A]

Hi

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - To the Strongest!
2) What armies were confronted? - Alexander's Macedonians v Classical Indians (Commanded by King Porusacupatea).
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No but first game since September last year.
5) How many players were in the game? - Two
6) What went well? - Wounding Alexander on turn three and forcing him off the field, using most of my ammo chits (I commanded the Indians) and actually getting my Elephants and Chariots into action and causing some damage.
7) What could have been improved? - Losing an Elephant on the penultimate turn which forced some units nearby to take morale tests which they failed miserably and led to me losing the game - however it was hugely enjoyable which is the usual case with To the Strongest!

Cheers Paul

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Star Wars Legion
2) What armies were confronted? - Imperials vs Rebels
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - fourth game
5) How many players were in the game? - Two
6) What went well? - Taking 3 out of 5 objecives, killing 3 out of 4 units too.
7) What could have been improved? - Not losing Vader- again!

After 4 attempts, I finally won one!

[kustenjaeger]

Greetings

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Wings of Glory
2) What armies were confronted? - British  v German WWI (October 1916)
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes, but a still a bit rusty
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo
6) What went well? - Entertaining - one plane and the balloon blew up.
7) What could have been improved? - remembering the engine damage symbol earlier - I had to reset part of the game.

Edward

[paulr]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Star Wars Legion
2) What armies were confronted? - Imperials vs Rebels
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - fourth game
5) How many players were in the game? - Two
6) What went well? - Taking 3 out of 5 objecives, killing 3 out of 4 units too.
7) What could have been improved? - Not losing Vader- again!

After 4 attempts, I finally won one!

Did she take it easy on you

[Shedman]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BKC IV using Tabletop Simulator
2) What armies were confronted? - German vs Russian 1941
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Between us we did
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - 2 - Gordon in Scotland and me in England
6) What went well? - Using scripts to generate ranges, command radius, recce - in fact everything that could be measured - for all units
7) What could have been improved? - some of the counters, ie for hits , were a bit fiddly

Gallery here https://postimg.cc/gallery/XBg1ZJ1

[DecemDave]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - One hour wargames - Neil Thomas
2) What armies were confronted? - ECW Royalist v Parliament. the scenario is here
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,20771.msg328430.html#msg328430
Plus house rules on arrival of Parliament Infantry and Royalist cavalry
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes.  Simplicity itself.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - 1 - me.
6) What went well? -
I enjoyed it!  D6s always generate a few key moments of joy and grief. 
Really easy rules.
15 hits to eliminate a unit means it takes several turns and/or units to get a result so units are effectively pinned once committed.
The movement rules alone made redeployment hard for the Royalists (no space to pivot)  without any reaction/command rules needed.
  The rules meant the little marsh was the only impassable bit (I had intended it to mean soft going south of the road) BUT that was enough to slow down the turn 1 cavalry move. 
No nasty roundheads got near his glorious majesty.
Got a result by the end of turn 6 - 90 minutes! 
7) What could have been improved? Needed LOTs of house rules and impromptu D6s to work [Only infantry and cavalry units count in the original rules, so a key one was that non combat units were eliminated on contact but stopped further movment] but I deliberately set a complicated scenario as I intend to try out half a dozen rule sets.  I think as a 2 person game there would be lots of debate!

The key turn (end of turn 3) 
The leading Royalist infantry has managed to redeploy and block the lead Parliament cavalry. The rest of the infantry are still muddled.  Having eliminated the royalist forlorn hope, the defenders of the manor ran out of ammo!  Rupert turned up with the cavalry but so did  the entire Parliament Infantry (6 on a D6 whereas I had expected them to arrive piecemeal)


End turn 6:  Parliament had wiped out most of the King's siege forces, the forlorn hope and a hopeless bunch of dragoons but lost 4 of the original 6 cavalry doing it.  The supply train made it to safety. With Rupert charging across table and confronted by a solid (if battered) wall of infantry, I decided the Parliament infantry would conduct a strategic withdrawal and leave the manor to its fate.  After all, if we beat him 99 times, yet he is still King.

[Ithoriel]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - 5 Parsecs From Home 3rd Edition
2) What armies were confronted? - The crew of the Freetrader "Destiny's Child" vs a squad of warbots
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes. The layout seems logical to me and the page margins are colour coded and labelled so you can see in an instant what section you are looking at.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo
6) What went well? - The dice were kind to the crew, high when high was needed and low when low rolls were wanted much of the time. It does point up that the game is going to be dependent on luck and planning every bit as much as battlefield tactics.
7) What could have been improved?  My knowledge of the rules .... and that will come in time. Also, availability of painted figures and scenery.

Pictures was took so AAR will be forthcoming.

[DecemDave]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Arthur Harman's ECW Siege (in Portable Pike and Shot)
2) What armies were confronted? - Royalist siege artillery and Parliament defenders (1 element of regulars and 3  of militia/peasants)
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo
6) What went well?
I was trying to resolve how much damage a siege might do before the Parliamentary relief force crashed into their rear.  (see earlier post).   And I got an answer.  Not a lot!!  In the first DAY,  half the artillery achieved nothing and the other half did minimal damage to the building (1 of 10 points) and just 1/2 base width cleared of the hedge/barricade. [the latter repairable on the Parliament turn  ] So you would need at least a "week" (or two) before sending in the storming party which is not unrealistic.
Could be a good rule-set for a siege from point of arrival:  digging trenches, building earthworks, etc . By the time troops went into action, the gamers would be as desperate or frustrated as the real generals.   
Copes with small units. (My normal units have 3 or more "elements")
7) What could have been improved?  Rules have a great flowchart for a siege but the high level decisions surrender? when?  honours of war?  sally? is left to players whereas I'd have liked event cards for the defender. 
Also a random variable when assigning strength points to each grid area.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

After 4 attempts, I finally won one!

Trying to emulate Alexander Will ?

[paulr]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - DBMM
2) What armies were confronted? - II/49 Marian Roman v II/53 Ancient British
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - 4
6) What went well? My combat rolls when my Romans charged off a hill into the British Warband that had gone impetuous but hadn't quite reached the Romans
7) What could have been improved? My combat rolls during the cavalry combat on the flank a couple of turns before the above charge
                                                     My combat rolls as the British Warband counter charged 

With my command broken and the British having suffered very few casualties the Romans conceded after only 1.5 hours

[FierceKitty]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Ten More Sons!
2) What armies were confronted? - Yorkists and Lancastrians
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - 2
6) What went well? - An off-table flank-march came on and carved up Warwick's artillery, then turned the flank of some mercenary pikemen too.
7) What could have been improved? - My characteristic problem in this period; when I've got equal or superior numbers of longbowmen shooting it out with their opposite numbers, idential in quality, weapons, and position, I always get turned into a porcupine. Lee's won four in a row.

[Norm]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Sword & Spear (Great Escape Games)
2) What armies were confronted? - Yorkists and Lancastrians
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - solo
6) What went well? - The rules quite nicely stop the effect of 'line them up, advance and clash' by creating more individual stories within each part of the battlefield and having some single units likewise getting their own narrative.
7) What could have been improved? - I should do myself a quick reference play aid that captures the smaller tucked away rules that I frequently forget.

[mmcv]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Hachiman - homebrew Feudal Japan rules
2) What armies were confronted? - Ao (blue) vs Shiro (white) clans
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - solo
6) What went well? - The rules flowed pretty well for the most part. I set myself up an attack across the river scenario which was pretty bogged down in an early test game but with the revised rules flowed a lot better. Melee was brutal, commanders were important, and the new rules around messengers and banners worked well. One side seemed to dominate early but some key breakthroughs shook up the situation keeping it pretty dynamic throughout.
7) What could have been improved? - Tracking of Fatigue (combination of combat stress, exhaustion, taking fire, etc) ended up being a little onerous at times. I suspect this might have been down to the scenario (lots of blasting away at each other across the river, not much hand to hand) though it was a minor enough quibble and would probably want another test game or two before tweaking it too much. Probably on a more open battlefield.

[T13A]

Hi

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Black Powder
2) What armies were confronted? - Austrian/Russian v Prussian
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes and no!
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - Two
6) What went well? This was our 4th 'learning the rules' game and I'm still finding these rules perplexing. Somethings I really like, but other aspects leave me scratching my head.  :-
7) What could have been improved? Well, as far as the rules go, rather tightening up the way the rules are written.







Cheers Paul


                                                     

[Westmarcher]

Nice looking game, Paul. 

I prefer Honours of War for this period and have no hesitation in recommending it if you haven't already tried these rules yourself.

[Steve J]

I agree that Honours of War works much better than BPII for the SYW, even with the 18thC supplement to tweak things.

[DecemDave]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Neil Thomas OHW  + in house Scenario rules and a playing card driven add-on for random events and to turn some units "green" or "veteran" . 30+ units on table.
2) What armies were confronted? - 10mm Early war Parliament vs "dug in" Royalist vanguard and main body coming up but with other objectives set by the King who didn't trust the vanguard commander.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes . Exceptionally easy mechanics let you concentrate on your cunning plan. 
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Me no, the other two yes. Both picked it up by turn 2.
5) How many players were in the game? - Three.  Woohoo real games are back!   
6) What went well?
All three had fun. Three and half hours to final conclusion.  Good intro to historical wargaming.
The random events:  several units on each side became tougher or weaker so position manoeuvring was worth while. The Royalists were hampered by  haycarts blocking the roads  and a priest temporarily halting what would have been a devastating flank charge.  On the other hand, some parliamentary cavalry wandered into a previously unknown marsh and the pro-democracy uprising in a town was crushed in just two turns (yes - he rolled 6 each time) by a ruthless Royalist .
7) What could have been improved?
Rules: Typical "old school" problems - each player sits idly half the time although the turns are fast and get faster.  Very "bloody":  ended up with the last 4 survivors chasing the last 2

Scenario: The Royalist vanguard refused my offer to march off and so was eliminated by turn 8.  I should have invented some excuse to keep her active.   Well maybe not. 

Cunning Plans:  Despite it being my scenario/table/troops, my initial deployment was Considerably Restrictive Against Parliament. Two thirds of my army bottled itself up assaulting the Manor and their were lots of other objectives. (block the entry roads, secure two towns, steal requisition the silver plate from the church,...)  . I won a very marginal tactical victory but the Royalists successfully held the Manor throughout.

Game aids: Leon needs to make 5mm dice that are less likely to slip in the frames. 

Visuals:  I have gone off the look of those sabot bases. When time permits (  ) I think I will just attach the based elements on top of another thin single base with some weak glue like spray mount and try that.  And playing cards muck up the table - need some nice markers for next time.

Pic shows the critical centre point of the game as the Royalists launch a desperate (=not good idea in these rules) frontal cavalry charge to stop the Parliamentary infantry entirely surrounding the Manor House.

[paulr]

 

[paulr]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Black Powder
2) What armies were confronted? - Austrian/Russian v Prussian
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes and no!
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - No
5) How many players were in the game? - Two
6) What went well? This was our 4th 'learning the rules' game and I'm still finding these rules perplexing. Somethings I really like, but other aspects leave me scratching my head.  :-
7) What could have been improved? Well, as far as the rules go, rather tightening up the way the rules are written.
...

Very much agree, we have been testing/learning BPII with the Glory Hallelujah supplement for ACW and even after 6-7 games we are still having to make notes of how the rules actually work and seek advice on basic things such as what contributes to a brigade breaking

I suspect that once we get our notes in order and settle on our house rules we will get a decent game but