What the last rules set you played in 2022

[Westmarcher]

Thanks again for hosting and organising another entertaining adventure in 16th Century India, Steve (nice 15mm minis and palm trees, btw). My commiserations (at least West Ham won today  ). Although my own half-baked plan worked out, to be fair, I think we were both bemused by the actual turn of events - and this time purely 'historical' without mythical beasts, zombies or magical powers. Kind of glad you didn't choose elephants for your Indian army - otherwise I'd be asking for special powers to counter them - e.g., box of mice or bag of buns. Incidentally, is that a second victory for Vasco Mourinho?   

p.s. Your 10mm figures for the period also look very tasty - no doubt, we can get these on the table in future when you can introduce me to the delights of Irregular Wars - Conflicts at the World's End?

[steve_holmes_11]

Yes

Thanks again for hosting and organising another entertaining adventure in 16th Century India, Steve (nice 15mm minis and palm trees, btw). My commiserations (at least West Ham won today  ). Although my own half-baked plan worked out, to be fair, I think we were both bemused by the actual turn of events - and this time purely 'historical' without mythical beasts, zombies or magical powers. Kind of glad you didn't choose elephants for your Indian army - otherwise I'd be asking for special powers to counter them - e.g., box of mice or bag of buns. Incidentally, is that a second victory for Vasco Mourinho?   

p.s. Your 10mm figures for the period also look very tasty - no doubt, we can get these on the table in future when you can introduce me to the delights of Irregular Wars - Conflicts at the World's End?

I hope the first of the 10mm figures will show up at the Painting Competition.

I've checked the Irregular Wars army lists and am horrified to see how many more stands I require to fill out a typical Indian force.

Above the "patrols and excursions" scale of Dragon Rampant, most forces incorporate an awful lot of levies.
Porters, grooms, cooks, water carriers, but most expected to fill out the ranks in a typical battle between Indian states.

They're typically rather dull to paint. I'll engage my impressionist brain and see whether I can devise a "painting by numbers" scheme to churn out lots quickly.

[pbeccas]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Fistful of Lead
2) What armies were confronted? - Soviets v Finns
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes, very
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - 2
6) What went well? - Easy stress free rules
7) What could have been improved? - We played a meeting engagement between two recon forces.  Would have been better if there was an objective rather than just kill each other to win.

[fred.]

Yes



I've checked the Irregular Wars army lists and am horrified to see how many more stands I require to fill out a typical Indian force.

Above the "patrols and excursions" scale of Dragon Rampant, most forces incorporate an awful lot of levies.
Porters, grooms, cooks, water carriers, but most expected to fill out the ranks in a typical battle between Indian states.

They're typically rather dull to paint. I'll engage my impressionist brain and see whether I can devise a "painting by numbers" scheme to churn out lots quickly.

Not wanting to add to the bad news, they are a bit of a liability within the game - and can rather break and route off table if just one of them is destroyed!


But they do feel a core part of the forces and I think working out how to use them - if not effectively but at least not as a liability is important. 

Painting wise, it feels like a variety of browns?

[fred.]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Fistful of Lead
2) What armies were confronted? - Soviets v Finns
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Yes, very
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - 2
6) What went well? - Easy stress free rules
7) What could have been improved? - We played a meeting engagement between two recon forces.  Would have been better if there was an objective rather than just kill each other to win.

Was this WWII? We've not tried FFoL for WII yet, mainly used if for Cowboys and Colonials - I assume they rules worked well, for a more Hollywood take on WWII?

[steve_holmes_11]

Not wanting to add to the bad news, they are a bit of a liability within the game - and can rather break and route off table if just one of them is destroyed!


But they do feel a core part of the forces and I think working out how to use them - if not effectively but at least not as a liability is important.

Painting wise, it feels like a variety of browns?

Yes that "Unreliable" makes them liable to desertion outside the commander's radius.
The kicker being the risk of starting a domino effect rout if within the commander's radius.

Maybe I don't need to paint as many as I imagined.
The art will be applying that variety of browns without looking as though they were only primed and dipped.
I'm currently mulling over contrasts, and looking at lots of google images.

[fred.]

And Unreliable also means they are very likely to stand around and do nothing (at best) if outside the command radius. Resolve 3 melee troops really are hard to use in Irregular Wars. You think great I've got a horde them ripples of Resolve loss and suddenly they have all legged it!

One or two spot colours will probably lift them from looking as if they have only been 'dipped'. But for un-dyed cloth the 'dipped' look isn't too bad

[pbeccas]

Was this WWII? We've not tried FFoL for WII yet, mainly used if for Cowboys and Colonials - I assume they rules worked well, for a more Hollywood take on WWII?

It just a fun WWII game Fred. Five figures a side.  Just had a 3x3 playing area.  Probably went about 40mins.  You can use those rules for anything.

[fred.]

Cool. I've a bunch of 28mm WWII figures. Largely bought for Bolt Action - of which one play was quite enough! So would be good to get them on the table - though might need some more terrain

[Shecky]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Oak and Iron (late 17th - early 8th C. Naval)
2) What armies were confronted? - Dutch (petite frigate and fluyt) vs. Pirates (Queen Anne's Revenge and sloop)
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - somewhat
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes
5) How many players were in the game? - 2
6) What went well? - quick game, sailing is easy, nice flavor.
7) What could have been improved? - I should have read the rules better. We forgot a few rules in our haste to get the game going.

[FierceKitty]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - IACTA ALEA EST!
2) What armies were confronted? - 3rd Crusade vs Ayyubids
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Very.
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? - The Frankish charge finally hit where and when I needed it to, with back-breaking results.
7) What could have been improved? - Lost Richard the Lionheart early on. But Philip took over to good effect.

[T13A]

Hi

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Honours of War
2) What armies were confronted? - Russians v Prussians
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - 'ish'. Still learning the best way to play the rules.
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? - The Russians deciding to frontally attack a brigade of Prussian Grenadiers backed up by a battery of heavy artillery.    
7) What could have been improved? - The Russians deciding to frontally attack a brigade of Prussian Grenadiers backed up by a battery of heavy artillery. 

Cheers Paul

[Steve J]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BKCII with some house rules.
2) What armies were confronted? - British vs Fallschirmjager.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Very.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Not by a long way.
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo.
6) What went well? - The British Recce got off to a good start, which certainly helped the attack go in. Using a weatherboard for the first time worked a treat.
7) What could have been improved? - Both sides command rolls, especially for the Fallschirmjager at the start.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Two games of Divisions of Steel run by Si Hall at Leighton Buzzard
2) What armies were confronted? - British vs German LW armour then British vs DAK infantry in the desert.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - basics are same as MeG/ReG but some nice twists. So yes.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Not by a long way.
5) How many players were in the game? - 5 then 4 with 3 more watchin and Si umpiring. All in 10mm!
6) What went well? - The British moralecwas astounding. The Getman aim was devastating. The players are organising a second game for next week!
7) What could have been improved? - I need to paint more desert British infantry and platoon command stands for my DaK!

A good night. Lots of questions answered by playing the game.

[steve_holmes_11]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - Mortal Gods and Mortal Gods (Mythic)
2) What armies were confronted? - Greeks Vs other Greeks, and Hades against Legendary Heroes
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - No
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Yes, first time out.
5) How many players were in the game? - 2
6) What went well? - The Historic match up felt sensible and balanced, the second game with mythological participants descended into a morass of fiddly special rules and power gaming.
7) What could have been improved? - Post match read through the rules revealed that we got quite a lot of detail wrong.


My Friend Hugh visited to test out Mortal Gods: https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/collections/mortal-gods

The game is quite similar to a Samurai game called Test of Honour which we have played two or three times.
Test of Honour never really impressed me: each game featuring the leaders dashing about slaughtering the rank and file until the inevitable clash between the two surviving bosses.

Mortal Gods adapts the rules to better reflect the constraints of hoplite warfare.
 * Hoplite style rank and file can combine into bigger groups which enhances their staying power at a sacrifice of manoeuvrability.
 * Leaders can use their activation to command a unit, rather than dash about killing stuff - this brings a lot of balance.
 * The 4 die rolls for each samurai swordfight have been replaced by two - and a possible reaction test where one side loses badly.
 * Power differences between leaders and rank and file are less pronounced.

Our second game featured mythological forces (using the mythic supplement).
This re-introduced all the undesirables from the samurai game.
 * Wildly overpowered characters who can slaughter almost any rank and file unit at minimal risk.
 * Little incentive to command a unit when your leader can simply charge in and cause carnage.
 * Special rules pile on extra die rolls before and after combat.
 * It's likely to end with the opposed faction bosses going toe to toe.

Summary: Rather good core rules for historic skirmish. Poorly implemented supplement.

[Steve J]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BKCII with some house rules.
2) What armies were confronted? - British vs Fallschirmjager.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Very.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Not by a long way.
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo.
6) What went well? - The FJ spoiling attack broadly worked, but at some cost.
7) What could have been improved? - The British command rolls and some more appearances by the Typhoon would have helped!

[Chris Pringle]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BBB - but with mods for the 18th century.
2) What armies were confronted? - Marlborough's army against the Franco-Bavarians - refight of Blenheim.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Took a couple of turns to get the hang of the rule mods - after that, great.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - First time with the rule mods.
5) How many players were in the game? - five.
6) What went well? - Rule mods worked very well to recreate C18 linear warfare. Game was good, ebb and flow and change of fortunes, key objective changing hands three times.
7) What could have been improved? - Would have been nice to set more villages on fire so Matt could use his battery-powered illuminated fire markers!

Full photo-AAR here: https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2022/02/blenheim-or-should-that-be-oberglau.html

[Steve J]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BKCII with some house rules.
2) What armies were confronted? - British vs German Heer.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Very.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Not by a long way.
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo.
6) What went well? - The British Typhoon ground attacks and the flank attack by 'C' Coy, 7th SLI.
7) What could have been improved? - The German command rolls might have helped inflict some more casualties on the British.

[Elliesdad]

1) What ruleset did you use in your last game? - BKCII with some house rules.
2) What armies were confronted? - British vs German Heer.
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - Very.
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - Not by a long way.
5) How many players were in the game? - Solo.
6) What went well? - The British Typhoon ground attacks and the flank attack by 'C' Coy, 7th SLI.
7) What could have been improved? - The German command rolls might have helped inflict some more casualties on the British.

I'm looking forward to reading the full AAR on the blog Steve. Hopefully you'll have posted it by the time I'm back from Hammerhead tomorrow evening. What a way to look forward to spending your Saturday evenings, eh?
Cheers,
Geoff

[Steve J]

I'm looking forward to reading the full AAR on the blog Steve. Hopefully you'll have posted it by the time I'm back from Hammerhead tomorrow evening. What a way to look forward to spending your Saturday evenings, eh?

You hedonist Geoff   . The pics are uploaded, so all I have to do now is write up the AAR...