More Biblical

I've just completed my third venture into the Biblical period. This time a New
Kingdom Egyptian v Hittite Kingdom encounter.

I decided to use my solo rules so I was the Egyptian and the NPG the Hittite
commander. He proved to be a better general than I and soundly whipped my army.
I didn't exploit the Egyptian mobility and he quickly managed to pin me down and
force me into a fist fight which I was doomed to lose.

Both armies had distinctive strengths and advantages. The Hittites were good in
a straight fight with their heavy chariots which were battlefield resilient.
Their poor infantry were good at supporting the chariots once the fighting
started. My Egyptian light chariots had all the potential to whizz around the
battlefield but apart from one successful unit, were forced into combat with the
Hittites. They could break away but were taking heavy casualties.

Overall another excellent game. Nice and fast with missile firepower a potent
battle winning element and speeding up the disruption of the armies.

Cheers

Brian

Biblical Take Two

Hot on the heels of my battle last night I set up a fresh encounter, once again
set in the Biblical period. This was another indulgence as I was itching to play
a Mycenean army - one from the later period where troops looked more Greek than
Summerian and which I don't have suitable figures for yet.

Opponents - I decided on the Sea Peoples. It proved a fun match up with a fast,
bloody, full on clash developing. Some minor manoeuvring from the Myceneans gave
a slight advantage early on but the Sea Peoples managed to close down their line
pretty quickly - all those auxilia in a full 12cm dash forward - quite a sight.

Both sides bows were effective, the Myceneans particularly so. The Light
Infantry also proved useful in flank attacks on Sea People warrior units when
they charged the Mycenean spear. Overall the Myceneans fought in a more
consistent fashion - better dice rolls, despite having the close quarter odds
slightly stacked against them with Sea People morale and armour advantages.

The Heavy Chariots were particularly effective in neutralising a couple of Sea
People units and were great at absorbing hits with their superior saving rolls.

Overall a cracker of a contest and most enjoyable. I had the Rome Total War
music on Youtube playing in the background so it was like playing an episode of
Time Commanders!

Cheers

Brian

First Biblical Game

I treated myself to a venture into the Biblical period for army purchases this
Christmas and got myself some nice 6mm Egyptian and Hittite figures to allow me
to pursue an aspect of warfare I've always had an urge to look into in more
depth.

Many of my early games with toy soldiers contained Egyptian chariots, Assyrian
siege engines and Mycenean heroes, and it is these fond memories which I hope to
re-kindle with this move into the period.

My first pitched battle was a treat. It proved a rather one sided affair in the
end but did play exactly the way I wanted it to and gave me all the character
and feel of a pacy Biblical encounter.

The forces were slightly out of timeline in that it ranged a New Kingdom
Egyptian against an Assyrian Empire army. The latter is a very cool combat
operation. A bit like a Biblical panzer division in its offensive capability.
Looks great aswell with a potent mix of chariots, cavalry and infantry.

The Egyptians put up a pretty valiant fight but were overwhelmed by the Assyrian
surge forward. The terror rule combined with mixed units, heavy infantry and
better armour gave a fundamental edge to any Assyrian attacks. Despite this the
Assyrians were reduced to five units vs 2 Egyptian so it wasn't a walkover.

I've got plans now to go through all the major combatants I'm interested in and
in scanning the list, it does present a suprising amount of variety in
composition and tactical fighting style.

I've figures to cover:
- New Kingdom Egyptian
- Hittite Empire
- Assyrian Empire
- Cimmerians
- Sea Peoples
- Myceneans
- Trojans

This will keep me occupied for a time. One final comment, the Biblical rules
were spot on in my estimation of the ideal good game and satisfying simulation.

Cheers

Brian

Napoleonic Game: Peninsular War

I played a Napoleonic game today, seeing that I'm completely cut off due to

heavy snowfall.

It was the classic British v French Peninsular line-up. The game was a cracker

with a real "near run" feel to it. The French were the victors in the end but

only just, with four remaining units, most of them pretty battle weary.

I did have an issue during the game. I had a British line attacked from the rear

by a Dragoon regiment that had managed to move round behind it from a previous encounter with vanquished British cavalry. The Dragoons won - but where do the British retreat? I ruled they would still move directly to their own rear i.e. through the Dragoons. In this case they met a Rifle unit placed in their path and were eliminated. Just wondering how others would have ruled on this.

Observations:

- British 2 man line firepower is very effective

- Use the crest line on slopes for British lines

- French artillery is brilliant, British very poor in contrast. If the French

had had more guns they would have mashed the British line in the unprotected

zones.

- the French Dragoons acting as dismounted infantry was a nice touch. Good range

if they are stationary and potent for defensive fire if charged.

Overall played very nicely as a simulation of Napoleonic warfare and reflecting

the Peninsular dimension.

War of the Roses Game

I've just completed a real grinding contest between the Houses of York and Lancaster. As it was pretty snowy outside I decided on a Towton like battle fought in a swirling blizzard. The gameplay matched the weather with a whirlwind of manoeuvre settling down to a series of close combats along the line.

The archers were potent and made a telling impact, however, it was the heavy infantry and cavalry which proved to be the decisive arms. The superior armour ratings gave them high battlefield endurance and staying power in close combat.

I succumbed to allowing a unit of mounted knights on each side - what a medieval game without knights! I know it wasn't on the lists but I couldn't resist.

Outcome was a very narrow Yorkist victory - 3 units to 2. About as close as you can get.

I really enjoyed this - it looked good and played the way I would expect a medieval brawling match would pan out.

Next on my list - a revisit of the skirmish rules I think.

Skirmish Game: Future War

I'm currently not going into work due to the adverse weather conditions in
Scotland, so between sessions of shoveling snow, this has given me the
opportunity to catch up on my gaming.

I was anxious to revisit the skirmish rules which I'd used for a FIW battle. I'd
enjoyed this immensely so I thought I'd give it a try this time with a sci-fi
spin. I'd used my old favourites the "Azzies" vs the Terran Union.

I used my completed Skirmish rule amendments and overlaid some random terrain
determination and specific solo play rules for the Terran deployment of
concealed units as the defender.

The Azuriach Imperium had an entire platoon of three sections which amounted to
36 men in total on 13 bases. 9 power armoured heavy infantry, 3 PML teams and
one Command base. The base is the combat element in my skirmish games.

Opposing them were a platoon of Terran Guard Infantry. These were 22 men
organised as 8 bases: 5 rifles, 2 PML and one command.

Both forces were classed elite for unit characteristics.

The table was pretty cluttered with terrain. I was simulating a rugged jungle
type environment with plenty of steep hills and ravines. This slowed the Azzie
advance. They did detect a couple of Union positions early and started to deploy
their greater numbers to eliminate these in turn. Well that was the plan but it
didn't go that way initially. The Terrans managed to ambush from a couple of
other concealed positions and throw back the assault on the left aimed at one of
the victory objectives - a steep hill occupied by 6 guardsmen.

By the way the Azzies had 3 primary objectives. Two steep hills occupied by the
Guard and a solitary research station.

The Union started to throw back the Azzie advance which was hampered by the
terrain and some bases getting bunched together. As casualties mounted so the
morale tests started to kick in. This ultimately had severe consequences for the
Terrans as they lost both of their PML Teams when they reached 50% casualties.
Their command stand was also eliminated which caused another base loss.

In contrast the Azzies' morale held up for two sub-unit tests and an overall
force down to 50% test. The Elite morale status helped both sides to maintain
cohesion and not disintegrate in the face of mounting casualties.

Finally the Azzies forced the Union to exit the table with only one base
remaining. The Imperium retained five battle worthy bases.

This was great fun and both sides gave me surprises. I think I've got the rules
with my own modifications nailed down now. I liked the discretionary use of
cover by bases, my solo defender placement rules worked well and the observation
rules operated nicely.

Overall a good one. I'll extend the combatants to my adaptation of the WWII
Rules next. I've done quite a bit of work to re-vamp and tighten the text up so
I'm looking forward to giving them a road test with combined arms forces.

Seven Years War Playtest: NPW Modifications

I finally got round to playing a game this weekend. The last of my Napoleonic
adaptations to other H&M periods. This time a Frederick impersonator pitted
against a wily Austrian commander.

The game played out very nicely and I particularly liked the way the Prussian
rapid fire ruling of half move combined with firing, allowed the Prussians to
advance on the Austrians and still inflict attritional casualties. Put a lot of
pressure on the defensive force to match the Prussian musketry.

The Austrians were good in defended positions, however, in this game the
Prussians seized the initiative early and managed to get to occupy most of the
prime locations early on.

I've been focusing on some research and a backlog of rules drafting to get all
my Modern periods and AMW sub-periods onto the word processor.

Now I'm free I'll get back to some more games and might even start rolling out
some painted forces!