Following this thread: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4823.0.html I found time to have a quick scrap using the Maurice Lite rules; I'm not normally a fan of card-driven games but found these to flow nicely - and the 'feel' of the game was much more satisfying than I've found for the SYW when I've used Black Powder.
I'm definitely picking up the full version - with the 'properly' produced cards.
My SYW armies are based 50x25 which is fine: effectively using two bases per unit, counting as four 'Maurice' bases: the only disadvantage is having to place them perpendicular when in column - effect is fine but aesthetically it looks bobbins...if (when) I do more armies for this period I'd be tempted to base on 25x25 or 30x30 I think - bit more fiddly to move them all around but at least they'd be facing the right way!
Not going to let commentary get in the way of the pics - but essentially both armies fighting for the village / junction: a sweeping cavalry advance from the Prussian left flank and some action in the centre: Prussian right flank remained static for the duration, but I ran out of time to fight this to a full conclusion. Good stuff though - and pretty intuitive all round; I certainly enjoyed the decision-making processes - definitely some subtlety to these. I'm pleasantly surprised at the way they play solo too 8)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40196.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40199.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40201.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40204.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40205.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40206.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40207.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40208.jpg)
In the pic below you can see Austrian infantry in column: bases are side-on...
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40209.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40210.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40211.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40212.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40213.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40214.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40215.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40216.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40217.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40219.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40221.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40222.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/Maurice%20SYW%2010mm%20batrep1/STA40223.jpg)
I can see more armies & periods in my Pendraken future :d
Nik
Good to hear. Looks good too. What table size were you using?
I've not had a chance to deploy my Allies and French to test out the Lite rules (something to do with my wife cluttering the dining table with papers etc for school). As my infantry are 4 stands to a unit based 25 x 20 for infantry and 25 x 25 for cavalry I suspect I'm fine.
Regards
Edward
Quote from: kustenjaeger on 26 March 2012, 02:49:05 PM
Nik
Good to hear. Looks good too. What table size were you using?
I've not had a chance to deploy my Allies and French to test out the Lite rules (something to do with my wife cluttering the dining table with papers etc for school). As my infantry are 4 stands to a unit based 25 x 20 for infantry and 25 x 25 for cavalry I suspect I'm fine.
Regards
Edward
Thanks Edward - this is my permanent set-up (I know how lucky I am - why would you want to put cars in a 20' x 20' garage anyway??!) - the table is ~5.5ft x ~4ft: to be fair, I wasn't particularly using either of the far ends either (I had the cards & dice etc lurking on there) so the battle area for this was probably about 4ft x 4ft really.
You'll be fine with those basings: the Lite rules describe 'squarish' bases :)
Nice pics Nick :) ....it looks like all systems go for you...your 10mm's look really good.
I hope you enjoy Maurice as much as me.
Paul
Nice! 8)
I impressed with the timeframe from temptation to batrep.. about 3 days?!
:D
I reckon Nik's had this on a 'back burner' since the original heads up about Maurice:
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4027.0.html
The rules are definately on my hit list given that a 100pt army is about 8-9 packs of pendraken figures
Looking great Nik! wonderful kit!
This is furthering my temptation into doing another period: I really like tricorne hats, and it looks like the SYW is perfect for this .... :-[ :)
Quote from: Leon on 26 March 2012, 05:20:26 PM
Nice! 8)
I impressed with the timeframe from temptation to batrep.. about 3 days?!
:D
Hehehe - I'm such a slut ;D
Quote from: Nosher on 26 March 2012, 05:28:58 PM
I reckon Nik's had this on a 'back burner' since the original heads up about Maurice:
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4027.0.html
The rules are definately on my hit list given that a 100pt army is about 8-9 packs of pendraken figures
To be honest, I'd forgotten about them - what with all those sci-fi / AVBCW / Crusaders distractions ;)
You're right on the force sizes - those nice £22 army packs are your friend methinks 8)
Quote from: Kiwidave on 26 March 2012, 05:54:18 PM
This is furthering my temptation into doing another period: I really like tricorne hats, and it looks like the SYW is perfect for this .... :-[ :)
'bout time you started with some more 10mm loveliness Kd :D
Nice looking battle their amigo :). I checked out the Lite version and they do look rather good, as if I need another ruleset to try and learn, talk less of two armies to get!
Quote from: Steve J on 27 March 2012, 07:17:54 AM
Nice looking battle their amigo :). I checked out the Lite version and they do look rather good, as if I need another ruleset to try and learn, talk less of two armies to get!
You are *so* easily led astray...love it :d
i am too Nik. Those rules look well interesting. Sort of Memoir 44 meets Magic the Gathering meets Black Powder.
I was tempted as well and certainly don't need to start a new army. My one reservation is I do play solo. And glancing through the rules, I was under the impression each player had a hidden hand of cards. And since neither sides knows the other cards, playing a certain card may be very risky if the other player has certain cards. Playing solo, how did you get around the hidden hand of cards or did you just play the best cards? Or in my skim read of the rules, did I misunderstand the card concept?
Quote from: Serotonin on 31 March 2012, 05:55:04 PM
i am too Nik. Those rules look well interesting. Sort of Memoir 44 meets Magic the Gathering meets Black Powder.
Hehehe - not sure whether that's a good thing ;) :d
Quote from: Jagger on 31 March 2012, 08:43:55 PM
I was tempted as well and certainly don't need to start a new army. My one reservation is I do play solo. And glancing through the rules, I was under the impression each player had a hidden hand of cards. And since neither sides knows the other cards, playing a certain card may be very risky if the other player has certain cards. Playing solo, how did you get around the hidden hand of cards or did you just play the best cards? Or in my skim read of the rules, did I misunderstand the card concept?
Essentially in this run-out I just played the cards...but it's the drawing of new cards that throws in the unpredictability: both in terms of the 'span' you're ending up with for orders but also the Modifier and (particularly) Event cards. Beyond these (which, to be honest, would give enough uncertainty for solo gaming) you've also got the reality that in each turn you're simply not going to be able to do everything at once anyway - and that this will force your thinking for decision-making even when playing solo.
Hope this helps - as I've said earlier, I've *never* been a fan of card-driven games: so this has done well to convince me :)
Quote from: nikharwood on 31 March 2012, 11:03:09 PM
Hehehe - not sure whether that's a good thing ;) :d
I love making bad analogies. Also I love TFL games and their card driven take on things so this looks a fresh new slant on it.
Honestly I'm a fan of cards driven games, I play TFL rules, Piquet and Field of Battle. But I had been really impressed by Maurice. I have played same lite game and now I have the full PDF version and I'm waiting for full cards set.
I think I will play Maurice with my new AWI figures (based 20x20mm) and my old WSS 6mm (based 30x30mm).
I really like as the game flows, and overall the decisional problems the game poses to the players.
Cheers,
Sandro
Florence
Italy
Quote from: Steve J on 27 March 2012, 07:17:54 AM
Nice looking battle their amigo :). I checked out the Lite version and they do look rather good, as if I need another ruleset to try and learn, talk less of two armies to get!
Go for it Steve, then i would have a ready made opponent. Well that is if I can actually stop real life getting in the way of wargaming! >:(
I might start having a look at these rules - they sound interesting. Wanax - if you try them out on AWI then i would be interested to find out how well they worked.
They've missed a trick of course - Maurice Lite should have been called Maurice Minor
;D
Quote from: goat major on 02 April 2012, 01:23:52 PM
They've missed a trick of course - Maurice Lite should have been called Maurice Minor
Or much better Maurice le Petit.
Ok Goat Major, at the end of the panting job I will try to post a batrep for AWI with Maurice and Field of Battle, but will be an hard job write in a different language for me, so be patient.
Sandro
Florence
Italy
P.S. Leon, if you read this message, where is my "message pin" as "people choice" winner? 8)
Quote from: Wanax on 02 April 2012, 05:16:48 PM
P.S. Leon, if you read this message
I read every message!
Quote from: Wanax on 02 April 2012, 05:16:48 PM
, where is my "message pin" as "people choice" winner? 8)
Matt deals with all of that, and he's been very busy with his day job. We'll get the winners badges attached to your profiles soon!
8)
Got my first Maurice Lite game on Thursday evening - SYW Prussians v Austrians. The rules read well and have the full version coming when it's ready later this month. This has scotched the bigger fellas somewhat as its back to 10mm again - what ho!
Quote from: Leon on 02 April 2012, 05:29:08 PM
I read every message!
Of course.. mine was a silly consideration... :-[
Sandro
Well it was inevitable really, just pre ordered Maurice and a card set. That's despite knowing nothing about the period or having no idea what armies I want or what war to do.
Any suggestions?
You're not alone on this one Chris ;). I am very tempted by these but am in the process of a severe spring clean of my wargamings stuff, so am desperately trying not to get another set of rules, figures etc.
You have more willpower than me I think Steve! Im going to do a bit of spring cleaning too I think. Got a few projects that I started and realistically will never finish that need getting rid of. Mind you its no small feat to search through my piles of unpainted lead and work out whats needed and whats not. Last time I did that I sold on a WW1 German force that I hadnt touched for 3 years only to find my gaming group wanting to put on a WW1 campaign 2 months later!
Lack of space and time more than willpower Chris ;). One advantage of not being able to get to a club anymore is that I'm no longer at mercy of the fickle trends within the club! Plus with 50% of my limited gaming being solo, I look for games such as BKC that work perfectly well for this. However I have downloaded the Maurice Minor rules to try and give them a run out over Easter, if family time etc permits.
Give me a shout if you fancy a non solo playtest of them!
Serotonin, much neglected by its earlier and former neighbours is the War of Austrian Succession. SYW figures will be fine for this - French don't have turnbacks. Some of the paint jobs are a little different, eg. Prussian dragoons wore a predominantly white uniform and most Austrian regiments sported coloured vests and pants. The Hungarian infantry are quite different as well. In fact with a very small number of extra figures Pendraken would easily be able to cover this very interesting war.
That sounds interesting. Will have to consider that. Certainly coming down on the side of the Seven Years war, but not sure on force choices. Possibly Prussian and Austrians, but would like to do Russians maybe.
The Ottoman Turks of this period are a nice army to...*hint hint*
Quote from: nikharwood on 26 March 2012, 03:11:01 PM
Thanks Edward - this is my permanent set-up (I know how lucky I am - why would you want to put cars in a 20' x 20' garage anyway??!) - the table is ~5.5ft x ~4ft: to be fair, I wasn't particularly using either of the far ends either (I had the cards & dice etc lurking on there) so the battle area for this was probably about 4ft x 4ft really.
You'll be fine with those basings: the Lite rules describe 'squarish' bases :)
Full rules state (Lite probably do to)
"It is not necessary to rebase your figures for Maurice as long as your bases meet the following criteria:
The width of a single base should be the same across your army, whther that base is for infantry, cavalry or artillery.
The depth of a base can vary with figures of different sizes, but the ideal situation is for infantry and cavalry bases to be "squarish" or rectangles that are no more than twice as wide as they are deep".
A couple of other paragrpahs then Sam closes with "The most important criterion is that you and your opponent use the same system for basing your figures. the second most important criterion is that you like the way your figures look!"
Have fun
PS: I'm personally doing mine on 30x20 8 foot or 5 skirm per base, cav can tmake up my mind between 3 cav or a 30x40 base with 6 per base and also using 30x40mm for guns with 4-6 gunners per base normally 5 :) 30mm circles for my Generals some progress pics to come soon.
Quote from: nikharwood on 26 March 2012, 02:26:33 PM
Following this thread: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4823.0.html I found time to have a quick scrap using the Maurice Lite rules; I'm not normally a fan of card-driven games but found these to flow nicely - and the 'feel' of the game was much more satisfying than I've found for the SYW when I've used Black Powder.
You're not the ony one on this board who says so, Major General. Can you please elaborate on what exactly makes Maurice so good?
You see, I have a few BP-playing buddies who might be very interested because we're in for a bit of a change. But I can't very well ask them to cough up 40 quid on a rumour.
Cheers,
Aart
P.S. Oh, and nice piccies there too!
Quote from: Aart Brouwer on 10 May 2012, 01:13:18 PM
You're not the ony one on this board who says so, Major General. Can you please elaborate on what exactly makes Maurice so good?
You see, I have a few BP-playing buddies who might be very interested because we're in for a bit of a change. But I can't very well ask them to cough up 40 quid on a rumour.
Cheers,
Aart
P.S. Oh, and nice piccies there too!
Thanks Aart (& good to see you back BTW)
Right - where to start? Probably first by saying that, to date, I have hated pretty much every game that has cards in it (apart from *actual* card games, natch). This one seems to be the exception that proves that rule. I also need to say that I've not played the full game yet (am reading these through this week but work keeps getting in the way) - but on a couple of read-throughs of the Lite version - plus this bat rep - I was convinced enough to part with my hard-earned...
Some basic thoughts - that have been echoed by others:
- I quite like BP: but it has never 'grabbed' me...some parts feel clunky & overblown somehow, despite their simplicity. Perhaps it's simply because they're not Warmaster. And I love Warmaster.
- BP, naturally, covers a lot of ground - and some things don't 'fit' or 'feel' right without having to muck about with loads of stuff added on to vanilla units - which, on one level, is fine - but it really is essentially a fudge which seems unsatisfying I guess; I think it's suited very well to Naps & ACW - but doesn't cut it for me with SYW
- Maurice concentrates on 1690-1790: a narrower spectrum and is therefore a better 'fit' for the period
- it consciously attempts to accommodate characterisation (indeed, calls it 'roleplaying') - without the puerility of BP's approach...
- it is flexible & fast: this is a decisive ruleset I think
- it, through its simplicity, avoids over-doing things - whilst still retaining complexity & chaos
- it recreates fog of war simply - through the card-driven mechanic which includes interrupts & events etc - plus it forces you to not just make decisions but take command: I *like* this
- it's very pretty
- it has a funny name
- the book smells nice (no, really)
Some of my points there are throwaway - but I'd encourage you to download the freebie Lite version & give it a run-out: I think you'll know within the first turn whether you & your group will like this before having to hand over the casheroonie. :)
Wow, how about that for a friendly neighbour! I get a whole essay in response :)
Quote from: nikharwood on 10 May 2012, 01:30:38 PM
- it consciously attempts to accommodate characterisation (indeed, calls it 'roleplaying') - without the puerility of BP's approach...
- it is flexible & fast: this is a decisive ruleset I think
- it, through its simplicity, avoids over-doing things - whilst still retaining complexity & chaos
- it recreates fog of war simply - through the card-driven mechanic which includes interrupts & events etc - plus it forces you to not just make decisions but take command: I *like* this
I'm not sure I like the role-playing aspect. BTW that's what the wife said last night! .. ah ha... ha ha?... joke falls totally flat, man buries face in pint...
But the other points I highlighted really stand out. Those should be enough to get the chaps' attention. Thanks mate!
*off to download trial version*
Cheers,
Aart
Like Nik I haven't actually managed a game of the full version yet.
The lite version is good, but the full version seems so much more complete. Some things that are very simple in the lite version have more depth in the full version.
It has a lot of period feel, not least due to the artwork. I don't know how well the rules would transfer to earlier or later periods.
Role-playing - while this is mention a few times my take is that it is more like characterisation of a few notable commanders. If you want to go the whole imagi-nation route then this is well supported, but far from essential.
See if you like the style of the lite version, if you do the full version (with cards) is well worth buying