Napoleons War: 100 Days - Waterloo

Here is my own attempt to produce the Worthington Napoleonic Boardgame using a combination of the Memoir'44 Breakthrough board, my C&C Napoleonics terrain tiles, the Risk figures I've been using in my other Battle Cry adaptations and scans of the counters mounted on card. Looks pretty good I think. I can source the rules on-line and the scenarios are included as a vassal module so I can play a game without the need to get the original boardgame.

Grants v Panzers in the Desert

A Memoir'44 game using the Mediterranean Expansion and the British figures on my Desert Board. Always a visual treat with a close game seeing a British breakthrough in the centre being rewarded with victory. 

Battle Cry: First Bull Run

I played an original version of Battle Cry, refighting the First Bull Run scenario from the Anniversary Rulebook. Here is the action after a few turns with the Union in ascendancy. 

Things start to change with the Confederates repelling the Union onslaught and winning a narrow victory. Great fun!

 

Freeman's Farm: An AWI Battle Cry Variant

Here was an adaptation of the C&C scenario on the web-page which is designed for that system but I decided to use the simpler Battle Cry game mechanics with period modifications, the Battle Cry board and cards and my Airfix figures based for these type of games - originally for Hold the Line.

Initial setup with the Americans in superior numbers but lacking artillery.

Here was the outcome - a decisive American victory where a British pincer move was thwarted by a penetrating central thrust. The Americans had some good cards and with more units to hand were able to concentrate force where it mattered. An enjoyable adaptation with the rules working well.

 

Battle Cry Variant: Solferino 1859

Another foray into the Battle Cry variant scene. This time an adaptation I copied from the example provided on the Board Game Geek forums where a contributer had adapted the Battle Cry rules to this classic confrontation between the aggressive forces of France, Austria and Piedmont.

A colourful affair. This time I had to use single bases for Infantry although in future games I may top up the French and Austrians with black figures.

The rules restricted ranges and the ability to battle somewhat but did allow for more movement to reflect the aggressive posture of both armies in the encounter.

Here was the setup before I realised double based infantry units wasn't going to work with up 15+ units on each side.

Here it is with the updated unit array with the Austrians pressing hard on the French right.

This is how it ended with a narrow Austrian victory of 6 v 5 units. The cavalry proved quite effective in disrupting the French attack and this didn't really start to become effective until it was too late.

Another enjoyable variant experience. For both of these variants I'm creating a cheat sheet summary of period rules and unit types. The only bit of visual representation I need are victory / objective markers and for these I'm using flags for each nationality I've downloaded from the internet. Other adaptations I've got to try and formulate rules for are the Crimean War, War of 1812 and the Seven Weeks War. I already did a Franco Prussian game a while back using my 6mm figures - I can use any of these variants with my figure collection if I'd rather use them.

Battle Cry Variants: US Mexican War

Here are a couple of variants I tried out for the excellent Battle Cry board game. First up was a US Mexican War adaptation where I copied suggested rules on the Board Game Geek forum, used my Risk figures and setup using the First Bull Run scenario in the ACW 150th Anniversary Edition.

The Mexican were Green with Militia denoted with yellow figures. The Americans were largely blue with volunteers bearing rifled muskets represented in black. It was quite an exciting contest - the Americans had a number of command and unit quality advantages. The Mexicans were hampered by specific limitations on artillery and cavalry charges. These all combined to give the scenario quite a distinctive feel. I started feelinfg a bit sorry for the Mexicans so as I solo these games I might take on the role of Mexican General next game and play more an AI v Player format.

Here are the pictures:

Initial setup

Close up of the Mexican line - this was before I added the additional units as I realised I didn't have enough Green and Blue figures to cover all the units required.

Here is the outcome. A convincing American victory with a significant penetration of the Mexican right.

The Cat enjoyed it too!

Latest Board Game Experiments: Hold the Line and Command & Colours

I've been doing quite a bit of Board Game experimentation and play to try out my Borg type games and tinker with their variation. Here are some pictures. 

Command & Colours: American War of Independence

Here is the Freeman's Farm scenario from the C&C webpage using Hold the Line counters. I think it looks quite impressive. The counters are great - really thick and large. The numbers on these counters can be used to track casualties instead of removing blocks.

Here is the same scenario using the Hold the Line mapboard. I think the C&C one looks more visually pleasing so for this adaptation I will go with it and leave the use of the HTL board for the original purpose it was designed - playing that particular game.