Mystify, Mislead, and Surprise - Bingfa AAR

I was once again at Kelly's place for a game this weekend last. 

Rocky had offered to run a newly modified version of Bingfa, which incorporated some of the suggestions us players had offered up at its last outing. The main difference was an adjustment how units fought. 

Previously, a unit would fight each enemy unit in it's front three squares. This often led to lines of troops clashing and then instantly leaving the battlefield thanks to the combat system, which then lead to entire commands evaporating thanks to the Stay Test system. In order to keep troops around on the battlefield longer, each unit now gets a single attack that must go to the enemy unit directly in front, or to a side if there is no enemy unit directly to the front. 

John and I commanded the Chu forces for this game, while Kelly commanded the Qin. The Chu army consisted of a smattering of chariots, horse and skirmishers, with most of the force made up by a mass of low-morale infantry. 

The opposing Qin army had a sampling of everything available to the Warring States general; chariots, cavalry, horse, nomads, skirmishers, and higher-morale infantry (thanks to the Qin's military pension system, according to Rocky). 

Deployment was masked by a thick mist, though both sides knew the general terrain of the area; a valley split by a river with an urban area in the center. Open fields were scattered around the valley, and a temple complex dominated the hills on one side. 

Not knowing what Kelly's deployment would be, John and I took the cautious route and evenly split our forces into two commands, one on either side of the river. I failed to get the command out to start with an attack, so the army would begin on the defense.

When the mist cleared after a couple turns, we were surprised to find that Kelly had taken all three of his commands and deployed them on one side of the river facing John's troops. 

Two of Kelly's command pushed towards John's troops, while his third command took up a blocking position in the towns and fields. 

I had no other choice but to begin the slow process of advancing my troops towards Kelly's flank. 

John and Kelly's mounted troops began to clash on the far side of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the first wave of my attack fared poorly, resulting in five infantry units routing from the battle. 

With my nose bloodied, I decided to keep shifting my troops along the riverside rather than trying to cross and engage. 

John and Kelly's infantry traded crossbow fire, while Kelly's cavalry won the field and held down his right flank. 

John's troops finally received their orders to advance (changing formation takes a turn for orders to disperse), with his right wing moving towards the urban area. 

Kelly and John's main infantry bodies also moved into close combat, with the results favoring John. 

Another round of combat saw more units on both sides routing from the field. However, Kelly's overall break point was smaller than ours (thanks to the masses of Chu infantry units) and he lost enough units to automatically break and retreat. 

Kelly's plan was audacious and, had his luck been a little better, could have easily resulted in a Qin victory. While he wasn't able to bring most of his chariots into the main fight, they acted as a redoubt against half of the Chu forces. And his infantry generally had a better chance to stay after a loss in combat; that just didn't happen this time. 

Overall we liked the change to combat, as units had more staying power. The draped cloth was also a great idea, and a creative addition to Kelly's gaming table. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it's use. 

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.