Skirmish Game: WWII

I played a skirmish game today using the rules in Introduction modified by my
amendments for the Modern period. The game was set in late WWII with a US
Infantry platoon trying to capture a bridge crossing - Pont De La Croix - from
an under strength German Infantry platoon.

The Bridge was defended with an implaced MG42 within a bunker to the side. This
proved to be a tough strong-point for the Americans to take.

Initially the American forces advanced rapidly covered by HMG and mortar fire. A
few of the German defenders emerged from cover and delivered a withering fire on
the probing central US unit which had to retreat out of firing range. This
seemed to stall the US advance but a bold outflanking move on the right where C
squad waded the river and then raced across the open to get within reach of the
occupied village seemed to turn the tide in the US favour.

Despite this the German determination to hold at all cost paid off with a couple
of key removals of the US HMG and the failure of A Squad to overrun the bunker
and thus eliminate the main obstacle to occupying the town.

With his forces depleted and further assaults looking fruitless, the US
Commander conceded.

This was a great little game where the modern amendments stood up well and
enriched my gaming experience. I introduced some command and control, additional
action awards and sub-unit morale tests. All worked well and gave me a nice
little simulation. This also was a second stage in my WWII mini-campaign where
the scale of the scenario suggested a skirmish rules option rather than the
standard rules.

Nine Years War: 1692

I've just completed a fascinating encounter battle between a French Army of the

Sun King and an Allied Army composed of Dutch and British units.

Both commanders were ranged out against each other in standard battle formation. The battlefield itself was very cluttered with terrain - lots of rough ground, woods, hills and fields / walls / hedges. It actually took me a couple of days to start this game as it was quite a pleasant experience to have this setup. Both armies looked good with a mix of pike and musket stands.

There were subtle differences between the two armies which became evident during the course of the game. This is where the envelope of the P&S classification is pushed to the margin. The use of integrated pikes still felt a P&S treatment was appropriate. I did bring in more musket features to promote the increasing doctrinal dependency on firepower.

Both armies moved rather cautiously towards each other. There was quite a bit of marching and counter-marching by a few Horse units to get these deployed in superior numbers on the flanks. The game started to become polarised between the two flanks with a lesser engagement unfolding on the French left while the main conflict played out in the centre and right. The French tried to move aggressively on the Allied left and once engaged with more pike and a first round impetuous charge rule, did inflict a great deal of damage. The Allied firepower was also effective where they deployed a steady firing line as they had more musket stands in their units and the adoption of Dutch drill / platoon fire by all units on the Allied side allowed re-rolls for misses.

The French gradually waxed on their stronger flank and with superior cavalry, in

greater numbers, forced the Allied general to submit and retire his forces.

A good game with lots of period flavour, dash and colour. I liked the specific period rules and how subtle changes can result in tangible outcomes. I'm going to make some updates to my lists in the P&S rules in the Files Section to reflect my playtest findings.