Warring State of Mind - Bingfa AAR

This past weekend Kelly hosted another of Rocky's game. We played the currently unpublished "Bingfa" (or "The Art of War"), which are intended for large battles during the Chinese Warring States period.

The rules have quite a bit of "chrome" to them, adding systems that are intended to capture the feeling of the period. The opposing sides are either "Yin" or "Yang". Instead of dice, the rules use a randomization system based on the concept of bagua, with four resulted inclined to Yin and four results inclined to Yang; Supreme, Favorable, Moderate, and Minimal. Modifiers to the randomization table provides shifts either for or against.

As an example, I (as the Yin player) draw a Minimal Yang result. However, due to modifiers that provide two shifts in my favor, I instead end up with a Moderate Yin result.

The scenario was a meeting engagement between the States of Qi (on the far side) and Wei (on the near side), commanded by Kelly and myself respectively. 

Both sides consisted of infantry units (crossbows and dagger-axes), slow-moving four-horse chariots, armored cavalry, bow-armed mounted horsemen and skirmishers. Kelly's Qi had the monopoly on cavalry (the period equivalent of cataphracts) while I had a few units of nomads (i.e., Huns). 

Another piece of chrome in the game are army formations, which requires a test for your general's orders to be properly received and understood. Failing once gives you a second chance to pick a formation with a shift against, and failing again forces you to deploy into a marching column.

Army formations determine your divisions' objectives and stances (attacking, defending, or withdrawing), which allows for certain combat actions and affects morale. They can be changed mid-battle.

Unfortunately, I tried to form my army into a couple of the more difficult formations and failed to do so. So my force was caught in a marching column while Kelly's had successfully deployed. 

Divisions are given two objective markers - one real and one dummy - and must move towards them. Enemy units can be fought if they're met along the way, or if an enemy unit is threatening a capture objective.

While Kelly's divisions advanced (slowly, as infantry and chariots can only move one square per turn), my own formation was quickly attempting to shake out into something resembling a proper battle line.

While both sides' infantry and chariots lumbered across the battlefield, our faster units (cavalry, horses, skirmishers, and nomads) battled it out.

My right division, having been at the head of the column, was making the best effort to get to its objective. The center division was coalescing into a fighting formation. Unfortunately, the left division, having been at the back of the column, was horribly out of position and formation. 

Finally, like two lumbering titans, the lines closed and combat was joined. 

Fighting in Bingfa is incredibly bloody. Units under attack orders fight against any and all units in the three spaces to their front, which can quickly result in units routing from the table as they accrue hits. 

Another important lesson I learned is that chariots do not like terrain. They don't appreciate attacking into villages, and they don't like being on hills (which I was informed were "precipitous" terrain; moderate to gentle hills wouldn't be represented at this scale).

This resulted in two of my chariots units being driven back, and another two routed.

The resulting problem is that when friendly units see other units of equal or higher social rank routing from the table, they may decide to flee as well, creating a cascading chain effect of fleeing units. 

This single combat went so poorly for me that I had to take a Defeat Trial test, which I then failed! My army folded like a cheap copper sword, leaving the State of Qi to hold the field and claim victory.

Having played Rocky's other rules ("Wars of Such Magnitude" and "Right Cruel and Fell"), Bingfa certainly has the most chrome. It has a ton of moving parts that simulates the complex machine of Warring States period armies. Players have to consider army formations, division objectives and orders, and combat stratagems. Divisions are big and slow, and may not follow your orders. But it does eventually click, and would make for a great multiplayer game. Rocky's use of 3mm troops also adds a sense of grandeur to the fight (although horses and cavalry may need a little extra differentiation on the table!).

Expect to see more as Rocky develops the rules. 

Painting Update - Napoleonics, WWII

Here's a look at what I've been painting lately. 

I've begun the next part of the Napoleonic project with more skirmisher bases for two infantry brigades. 

I also finished the command elements of the 1940 German battalion. 

As well as artillery support bases.

And machine-gun support bases.

To finish up, a pair each of anti-tank and infantry guns. 

The only pieces that I need to complete now are some horse-drawn wagons for the French and Germans for moving their guns around the battlefield. 

Back in Black - Men of Company B AAR

My wife and I were visiting family this past weekend up in New Jersey, which gave me the chance to swing by the SJGA meeting at their new location.

The club was running two games; Konflikt 47 and Men of Company B. Ted and Chip were running the Vietnam game, so I joined that one. 

I have played Men of Company B only once in the far distant past, which I recall enjoying. 

The scenario was a standard search-and-destroy mission by an American platoon, with a number of Viet Cong squads hoping to thwart the American's goals. The American platoon was accompanied by a pair of M48 Patton tanks. 

The Americans came on group together on one side of the table, searching through the villages.

As the VC squads only start with two teams and need to recruit from the local villages, they came on the opposite side of the table from the Americans and began bolstering their strength.

The American players quickly discovered several important supply caches. The VC players (including myself) were worried that the game would be over rather quickly if the Americans kept up their success!

With enough recruited villages, the VC began a tentative advance on one of the outlying American squads. 

They would have to deal with the reinforcing M48s, however, who could easily outrange the VC's close-range anti-tank weapons. 

The M48s advanced, supported by a squad of American infantry. 

The third American platoon also deployed, pinning down one of the VC sqauds. With half of the village squares on the table explored and looted, the VC players needed to keep the Americans out of these squares to have any hope of winning.

Credit goes to Sam for keeping this village out of American hands for the entirety of the game! 

That hope was reduced further when a combination of tank and infantry fire from the Americans ripped into the advancing VC squad. As only the squad leader was left, he quickly disappeared into the terrain to try his luck elsewhere. 

That luck would come in the next turn. Another VC squad that had disappeared early in the game was able to redeploy behind the Americans as the tanks and infantry advanced out of the searched villages. This allowed the VC squad to ambush the American platoon command team, wiping them out and recapturing the highest priority cache in the process. 

Suddenly the American platoon found itself out of command and trapped between two VC squads. 

Realizing that their captured caches were in danger, the advancing Americans were forced to turn around and recapture the villages they had left. 

Deadly American firepower ripped into a number of VC squads that had suddenly appeared in the absence of the American infantry squads. 

The game ended with a decisive assault by Ryan with an American infantry platoon, forcing the VC squad with the high priority cache to abandon it and retreat.

At the end of the game, it turned out that the Americans had won by 17 points, and the high priority cache had scored them 18! Had the VC (i.e., me) not been blinded by the chance to take out another American squad and instead retreated, that may have changed the end result. Instead, it was a Proper Victory for the Americans, with the Viet Cong forced to retreat having lost several squads. 

While the Second World War is generally as far as I'm comfortable playing wargames with, I do enjoy the asymmetrical gameplay of the Men of Company B rules. It's an interesting conundrum for both sides; the Americans need to get in and out quickly, and also try to destroy any VC squads entirely before they can disappear and pop up elsewhere on the table. For the Viet Cong, they have to take the time to recruit and gather their strength, and they're always going to be fighting uphill with raw recruits and less firepower. It's a balancing act between knowing when to risk an opportunity and when to run away and conserve your strength.

As always with Ted and Chip, a great game. And it was nice to see the SJGA thriving in their new location!

Brittany's Spears - Right Cruel and Fell AAR

Another weekend gathering at Kelly's!

This time we were playing another of Rocky's rules; "Right Cruel and Fell", for fighting the Hundred Years War.

This was a bash-up set early in the Hundred Years War, with the French and British providing backing to a civil war brewing in Brittany. Historically, this was a proxy war between the two larger powers, but Rocky's scenario was set in a version where both sides had sent proper armies to back their candidate.

The scenery was randomly set up by Kelly, commanding the French, and I, commanding the British (Kevin and Scott would join the French and English, respectively, early during the fighting). Two fordable streams split the battlefield, which was centered upon a trio of small villages. Fields, hills, and forests were scattered around the table. 

The French and their allies consisted mostly of mounted men-at-arms with supporting spearmen, crossbowmen, and peasants armed with sharpened sticks. The English brought their longbows and men-at-arms, while their Breton allies had some men-at-arms, spearmen, and militia.

Now, a decent English commander would have looked at the table, seen how the terrain placement would likely lead to the French cavalry funneling into the center through the villages, and deployed appropriately. I, as it turned out, was not a decent English commander, and so set up two independent commands with an incredibly weak center.

As an example, look at that incredibly open road leading right to the English camp! 

But maybe I would get lucky and the French cavalry would trip over some rabbit holes. 

As the Englishmen busied themselves in a pair of fields, the rest of the three commands approached each other with skirmishing crossbowmen. 

Realizing that I hadn't done much to protect my vulnerable center from a tidal wave of the cream of French nobility, a lone unit of English men-at-arms set themselves in the way with a barricade of wagons. 

Since Scott rolled multiple 6s for his battle's command checks, his troops that weren't in defensive positions were forced to keep advancing towards the enemy. 

However, the French knights were happy to ignore the villages they weren't allowed to enter and rolled on by. 

The English longbowmen were the most threat to the French cavalry, but this had an unintended consequence. As the French were hit, they slid back and away from the threat; placing them closing to Scott's Bretons.

Kelly's first wave of knights began to charge the enemy units while a second wave formed up.

In Right Cruel and Fell, French men-at-arms are forced to advance towards any enemy units with 3 squares. As the heavily armed knights can only move 2 squares per cycle, it's possible to bait them forward to attack unsupported.

Now, the way the rules work, English dismounted men-at-arms should be able to see off their mounted French counterparts, as they're more numerous per unit.

However, if you're rolling like I did during the game, then your Englishmen are going to be as effective as a can-opener made of cardboard and white glue. 

Kelly's knights attacked on a broad front, pushing back the English center. The longbowmen in the field were desperately loosing arrows to keep the French back. 

Zooming out a bit more, you can see Kevin's attack finally crossing the stream and pressing the rest of the English force. 

However, what sealed the fate of this battle was Kelly's breaking of the center, routing the only English men-at-arms defending their camp. 

Looting a camp is worth 10 loss points. The English would begin to wave at 26 loss points, and rout at 31.

It seemed as though the French cavalry were everywhere, breaking through the English line at multiple points.

With multiple losses of valuable men-at-arms and longbowmen, the English were forced from the field, and France's candidate for the duchy of Brittany was likely to secure his seat. 

This defeat was on me from the outset. I likely should have gambled more with the defensive terrain to give the English a better position. While I wasn't wrong in acting defensively, Rocky's advice was that a much more condensed battleline with flanks anchored on defensive terrain would have had a better chance against the French. 

However, I did enjoy these rules, and I would forward to trying them again. There are also a trio of supplements that expand the rules to other time periods: the War of the Roses, the Italian Wars, and the Great Teutonic War.

Return to Osma - General d'Armee AAR

This past weekend, Kelly hosted a game of General d'Armee (first edition) at his home.

We were refighting Osma, which I have played before with Ted and the others in the New Jersey group (using the second edition of the rules).

The scenario was the same as before; three French brigades attempting to hold back a combined force of four British and one Portuguese brigades. The British had 10 turns to break the French.

Kelly GM'd, Larry and I commanded the British, and Scott and Jeff commanded the French.  

The game started with the British pushing forward as quickly as possible, with the Portuguese using a Forward! order to move up their flank.

The French elected to have one brigade defend the wood-covered hill that extended across half of the table, while the other brigade was split between defending a line of hedges and the small town. 

On the other British flank the King's German Legion light brigade moved in skirmish lines towards the French brigade that was quickly taking position on the hilltop. 

The French garrison, on seeing the waves of British uniforms approaching, realized it was likely better to move up from their position to halt the enemy advance. 

Both sides exchanged skirmish fire as battalions moved into position. 

In an incredible feat of dice-rolling, Larry managed to secure a Retire from an opposing French brigade through the Destiny table! This gave the British a chance on their right flank to keep advancing. 

Meanwhile, I was making a hash of things on the left. A failed infantry assault saw the KGL light brigade pushed back and out of firing position, while a battalion of KGL line infantry was being battered by two French battalions. 

Unfortunately, the Portuguese brigade hesitated, giving their French opponents time to recover and shake back out into formation. The third French brigade advanced up the center. 

The battle for the hill continued. The KGL cleared the French skirmishers, but the formed enemy battalions held strong. 

The British center advanced towards a strong French presence. 

And the Portuguese were having trouble following up on their earlier success, as they exchanged fire with French skirmishers. 

While the British had gained an extra two turns from the Retire result the French had rolled earlier, the scenario wasn't looking good for them overall. The French still held the hill, keeping two British brigades checked. And none of the French brigades were likely to end up Faltering without some very lucky dice. 

And I definitely didn't have that luck! My hope of a successful infantry assault from the KGL line brigade went up in smoke, despite attacking a pair of French battalions that had lost fire discipline. 

The British decided to call off the attack at the top of turn 12, as there wasn't a likely avenue to cause another French Retire or Sauve Qui Peut result. 

My impression of this scenario from the last time I played it holds; this is a tough scenario to get a historical result with. Though I've seen other online reports with the British succeeding. I wonder what they're doing differently? I may have had more success had I been more aggressive with the KGL light brigade and fed them Skirmisher taskings for the game. They can really throw out hits, especially against formed battalions. 

Maybe we'll return to Spain at some point and try it again.