19th Century Imaginations during the pandemic

One thing I have been working on, during the pandemic, has been the gathering of a large collection of 15mm figures related to the Russian forces of the Russo-Turkish war of 1878-79.

This includes Russian units, and also Bulgarian and Romanian.  Eventually, I would like to also do a similar sized force representing the Turkish forces, but in the meantime I am playing around with some Imaginations ideas for gaming.  That leaves with considering different fictional match ups.

in the past, my 19th century imaginary foes were the Margravate of Furstenberg, and the Cantons of Rumpwhistle. In 28mm, I would use ACW union troops for Furstenberg and Confederates for Rumpwhistle. I also introduced a third, relatively neutral nation based on Danish forces - the Kingdom of Elsinore.  Sadly, I sold off those 28mm figures, but I retain the fictional navies that I built.

Now that I am switching gears to 15mm, I can resurrect the army of Furstenberg, based on my Mexican-American war U.S. troops.  Rumpwhistle is out of luck in this conflict, except as a naval power (I can use my Spanish American war Spanish forces as Rumpwhistle colonial troops).  The new nation will likely be the over extended Romani-Bombastia Empire (Romani for short).

In the west, Romani has hegemony over several client states (notably Vulgaria, and Bromania).  Both are home to ethnic Romani peoples, and border Furstenberg and several smaller Balkanized states.  Howeve, in the vast eastern hinterlands of Romani, there are border skirmishes the Chow Empire of the Jade Dragon in the north, and the dangerous mountain regions of Boruckistan in the south.  The Romani Emperors have long sought after control of seaports on the Chow Sea, but those are also contested by naval and colonial forces from Furstenberg, Rumpwhistle and other nations.

This will give me plenty of scope for all sorts of fictional conflicts, using figures I already have, as well as naval actions.  The trick will be devising rules and games that will reward solo play, and in a small battle space.

Pictures of troops and notional maps will follow.  I hope to post a battle report soon.

 

Miniatures gaming update

I recently got to play in a few miniatures games, which I had been absent from for some months with the busy time at the end of fall semester, over the holidays, and heading into spring semester.

At the Williamsburg Muster in February, I got to play in a Frostgrave game, very fun.  I forgot my own wizard and his stats at home, so I used a "loaner" wizard (actually my friend John D.'s wizard), and I did well enough.  I retrieved a single treasure, but did get to kill (using the spell "Bone Dart") my friend Jon K.'s wizard (Jon set up and hosted the game, and I repaid him with Bone Dart).

Also I got to try out Impetus again, using Late Romans vs. Sassanid Persians.  Fun game.  I played against Stephen P.  We had a good time, and have enjoyed these rules pretty well.  Looking forward to trying some more armies.  The Romans did well and were performing very nicely in terms of points, at the time the game was called, but the Persians had just broken through with an encircling move on one flank, and it wouldn't be long before Roman Collapse.  Still, a very fun game.

Over the holidays, I got to play in a large 1809 game using the Shako II rules (with the D10 modification).  Very fun.

I've gotten to play a few Saga battles here and there, very fun.

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Coming up - projects I am working on, to run soon, are:

An 1965 scenario between Pakistan and India, using Cold War commander.  To get ready for this, I am doing some 1:300 scale Asian terrain.  The battle I am doing featured some flooded rice fields, so I am doing rice paddocks (and I am trying to straddle the line for pieces that could be used for 1:300 or 10mm or 15mm).  Also, some villages.

Using Piquet: Field of Battle to play a Russo-Japanese scenario.  There are things I like about Basic Piquet, and some things I don't like.  I believe that FoB preserves the good, and patches over the bad, so I want to give it a try.

Mexican-American War - looking for a new ruleset.  I may try Field of Battle if the above game goes well.

Japanese Medieval - Will be basing my Japanese on 80mm wide bases.  I'm pretty sure I will be doing two Samurai armies.  Will also look into doing the Koreans.  Looking to play "To the Strongest" with these armies.

Gaming over the Christmas Holiday 2018

One of the things I enjoy most about being employed by a University, is that my work schedule is more or less similar to a student's schedule, which means I get a break over Christmas every year.  This is (as reported on in previous years here at Gaming with Chuck) a time for family, friends, and in our house - gaming is one of the ways we spend time together.  This year was no exception.

The gaming we did was of three varieties.  First, there was a lot of board games and card games.   These were done at home, with either the immediate family, the extended family, or with friends so close they are practically family.  More on what we played down below.  Second, there was some miniature wargaming.  With my reduced schedule, I actually got to play some wonderful miniature wargames - I usually try to host one (as the referee) over the holidays, but not this year.  Instead I got to play in a few (again, details below).  Third, there is roleplaying. We did not do a lot of RPG gaming this year over the Christmas break, but did manage to get one day of gaming in, right around New Years, which was a smashing success.

So, first, the board gaming.  There are a couple of board gaming activities that take place at our house over Christmas time.  Every year we participate in the Boardgame Geek Christmas Card Exchange.  This year was no different - we were able to send out some great cards to gamers all over the planet (we signed up for 12 gamers to send cards to, and received random names from a list).  I try to read the profile of the person getting the card on BGG before sending the card, and writing a note about their type of gaming, and any ways it intersects with ours.  Also, every year at Christmas time we try to have a few boardgame days at the house, where we host people with lots of Christmas treats, music, drinks, and boardgames.  A great time.  This year was no different.  We had friends over several times.  Finally, every year around Christmas time, we try to get some new boardgames to play as a family, and spend the spare time of the holiday break playing them together.  Some great breakout titles this year have been Sagrada, Queendomino, and Railroad Ink: Blue.

As gifts there are some games we got but haven't tried yet.  That includes (finally) the Toscany addition to Viticulture, and Anita received Between Two Castles.

For miniatures gaming, chiefly I got to play in three games.  First, I got to play in Saga - the Viking Age skirmish game.  I got to run out my Anglo-Saxons against the feared Jomsvikings.  Great game.  Practically speaking it was a tie, but I hand the victory to the Jomsvikings.  In that game I tried a different commander for my Anglo-Saxon force.  Typically, I use a regular (generic, non-named) Warlord, but this time I used Alfred the Great.  He has some (according to the rulebook) abilities in the game as a playing piece, and I love the history of Alfred, but it just wasn't my playing style.  Second, I got to play in a fantastic game of Shako II - 15mm Napoleonic rules.  The battle was an 1809 battle between the Austrians and French, and I was on the French side.  Loads of fun even though our side lost (as it did in real life).  The third game was a battle of late ancients, with Late Romans fighting Sassanid Persians.  We used the Impetus rules for this one, and it was a lot of fun.  A bit strange with so many new players, but we agreed the rules (now 10 years old) were very good, and deserve a rematch.

Finally, we played an RPG session.  Our last RPG series, which was a dungeons and dragons game set in the World of Greyhawk, saw a big break coming up for the players, as they prepared for the next part of their quest.  Taking advantage of that natural pause in the campaign, we this time played with a new set of players, having a city adventure, protecting a shipment of wine, arriving in the city of Niole Dra during the midwinter festival week of Needfest.  Lots of fun, as invisible thieves, evil knights, and goblins tried to spoil the winter festival.  The new adventurers uncovered a much bigger plot than the simple theft of fine wine, and the game will no doubt continue in the future.

I will end by saying that one of the highlights of the Holidays was getting together with my Brother's family, which is almost always a chaotic affair, but this year it included some gaming.  We taught them how to play the Christmas card game, 12 days of Christmas (not the one pictured above, but rather the one from Dr. Gordon Hamilton, published by Eagle-Gryphon).  It was a lot of fun, and I think my brother's family are almost recruits into gaming.


God bless all who read this, and I hope we all have a great 2019.

Getting familiar with Baroque (part II)

This is a continuation of the conversation started in Part I.

I would like to talk about the turn sequence for Baroque, which is one of the things that makes the game attractive for me.  I was never much of an Impetus player, (I played the free Starter version a few times, using typical Roman/Barbarian army pairs, but not too much).  So, the Baroque structure is one that I am exploring with a fresh perspective.

A few things have to be defined before getting into the turn structure.

First, the army will have a Command Structure.  This is defined by the army list, or a series of options are given.  An army can have Good, Average or Poor.  These cost an increasing number of points, and there is a range given for Leader figures, where they can use their leadership bonus to keep troops under control.  For instance, an Average Command Structure costs the army a total of 12 points, and it means that leaders in that army have a leadership range of 6BU (Baroque Units, or in the case of 15mm armies, 6x 60mm baroque units).  Other Command Structure levels, with cost and range, is found in the rulebook.

The turn sequence works like this

1. Decide the Initiative
2. The active player (one by one) activates all the units in the Command he has activated.  The inactive player responds with reactions and/or evasions.
3. Initiative is re-decided, and repeat until all of the Commands on the table have been activated.

Deciding the initiative works like this - Each player selects one of their commands (each army is divided up into a number of 'commands' that each contain several units).  Both players roll 2d6 for their selected command, and apply dice modifiers based on the leadership bonus of the Leader of their command.  High roller wins the initiative.  If there is a tie, then the highest rated Command Structure will break the time.  Otherwise, re-roll to see who has initiative.

 Once a command has been identified as having initiative. the player controlling that command now activates each of his units, one at a time, and then plays out all that the unit is doing that turn.

The actions that a unit can do include these:

• Rally
• Withdraw (from the battlefield)
• Move
• Disengage (from a melee)
• Shoot
• Charge
• Fight a Melee

A move action can be repeated multiple times, but each time after the first, once the move is completed, the unit must pass a discipline test, or the unit is Disordered.  If the unit is trying to contact the enemy, the last move action is considered a Charge, and certain rules affect it (the rolling of an additional charge bonus distance; the possible reactions of the target of the charge).

The rulebook describes how to handle these actions, but many of them will allow for the opposing player to engage in a Reaction.  In this way, the turn is integrated, and both players are involved throughout.

The reactions allowed are these:

Action	Reaction
Withdraw	Opp Fire or Opp Charge
Move	Opp Fire or Opp Charge
Charge	Opp Fire, Def Fire, or Countercharge
Shoot	Opp Fire or Opp Charge

The reaction can only be against the unit that enabled the reaction.  So that if I move my Pike & Musket unit, and it comes close enough to an enemy unit that it can Opportunity Fire, it can only do so vs. the unit (my Pike & Musket unit) that triggered it.

In addition to the Reactions listed, many units may also Evade.

If more than one unit can React to an acting unit, only one may be selected to React.

If a reacting unit decides to Opportunity Charge, it may hit a different target unit, if such is in the way of the movement of the Opportunity Charging unit.

So, the turn is quite interesting, as the player who has initiative has to decide if his actions are worth doing, if they may trigger some reaction by the enemy.

Movement
All movement and movement bonus amounts are given in multiples of the BU (Baroque Unit).  USUALLY but not always, foot are 1BU and mounted are 2BU, but there are exceptions.  For instance, on the 30YW German Catholic army included in the rulebook, there are infantry musket units called Schutzen.  They have a move of 2BU.

Units may be classed as either Fast or Slow (but not all units are - most are average).  A Fast Unit has a benefit to the discipline test after second or subsequent movement orders (meaning it is easier for Fast units to do more than one move order).  A Slow Unit is the opposite - there is a penalty to the discipline test after performing additional move orders.

The movement rules cover interpenetration, maneuver and wheeling, obstacles and terrain, and how to handle the charge bonus (which is given in BUs of course).

Shooting
Shooting is handled by rolling a number of dice equal to the shooting unit's VBU (Basic Unit Value, recall that the acronym VBU is from the Italian, not English version of the rules).  That number gives a basic number of dice for shooting, which is modified by a Range chart.  The range bands are Point Blank (1BU), Short (2BU), Long (4BU), and Extreme (8BU).  Most hand weapons (bow, musket, pistol, etc) have a maximum range of either short or long.  The firing table in the book gives you a number of extra dice that you gain, or lose, at different range bands, based on your weapon type.

The dice are rolled, and modified by situations (first volley, shooting while moving, shot modifier for mixed infantry units, etc).  Each 6 causes a DAMAGE (a hit), and every pair of 5s causes a hit.  Count up all the hits (total Damage), and then the target unit makes a Cohesion test, to see if the Damage tranlates into Losses.

Damage is not permanent, but is only a modifier to the Cohesion Test.  For every point that a unit misses it's Critical Number (which is the VBU of the unit, minus the Damage it took), it takes a reduction to it's VBU.  So if the Critical Number is (as an example) 2, and the Cohesion Dice Test comes up a 4, the unit would take a permanent Loss of -2 to it's VBU. If a unit has it's VBU reduced to 0, it routs immediately and is removed from the table.

If a unit passes the Cohesion test, it takes no Losses, but does suffer Disorder.  A disordered unit that AGAIN is disordered, will instead take a VBU loss.

The book gives rules for commanders being hit, arc of fire, reduced effect firing (like into terrain, or blocked) and discusses particulars for artillery, pistols, and defensive & opportunity fire.

Melee
Fighting the melee is similar to shooting.  Once two units are engaged and fighting (there are rules determining charge effects, flank charges, melee modifiers for certain unit types and situations, etc.), each will roll it's allowed number of dice (VBU plus or minus modifiers). A gain, 6s and 5s are the dice that cause damage.

Once again, there is a roll to see if the damage translates into permanent Losses (i.e. a Cohesion test).

Following the melee, and determining results, there are rules determining retreats and pursuits, and how they are evaluated.

Rules are given for commander casualties, and also for mixed (i.e. multi unit) melees.

Skirmishers that are hit in the open by formed units do not fight, but are immediately dispersed (remove from the table).  Again, there are rules covering melee and Artillery, and Baggage trains.

The rest of the rulebook covers special rules, setting up battles, and a number of army lists.  These will be covered in Part III.

Getting familiar with Baroque (part I)

The term Renaissance as a period is one which has been responsible for a lot of ink - in both history circles, as well as by wargamers.  Going with the various articles published here at Gaming with Chuck over the years, I am going to (vaguely) take it to represent warfare (typically, but not exclusively) dealing with Western Europe (and the border regions of Western Europe - say with the growing powers in the south and the east).  As far as time periods go, I am going to limit myself with the 16th and 17th centuries (so, roughly, from 1500-1700AD).

There is a lot going on in other parts of the world, and the study of conflicts there is equally worthy of wargaming (in fact, I have even published a set of rules for the Samurai battles in Japan (From the Sky we Came) which covered the Sengoku period, up until the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 AD.  But, that is a different sort of warfare from what I am discussing here.

Here, I am focusing on warfare in Western Europe.  These are the conflicts of the Italian Wars, the wars of religion that grew out of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.  The possible conflict between England and Spain.  The battles of the Spanish Netherlands.  The many conflicts making up both the Thirty Years War and the English Civil Wars (both in the 17th century), and so on.  These battles and wars are marked by several broad features - the presence of gunpowder, the reliance of infantry (in many cases) on pike, the presence of armor (especially, but not only, for mounted units) and the existence of interesting mixed-arms formations (starting with the tercio formations coming out of the Italian Wars, and then moving to the more streamlined pike and musket formations of the 17th century, which eventually gave way to pure musket formations by the end of this period).

I've reviewed, and reported various battles, using several sets of rules for this period.  I have read many, many more.  Lately I have looked into Baroque, from the Italian wargaming company of Dadi & Piombo.

These are an evolution of the Impetus rules for ancient and medieval warfare, published earlier by Dadi & Piombo.  As the cover states, these cover 1550 to 1700.  The earlier Impetus rules overlapped with this period, and the very nice wargame lists they produce on the website have armies up to and including 16th century (including some of the Central American armies - another focus of warfare in this period, but not what I am discussing here).

My recent (the past 2-3 years) renaissance wargaming was with a modified version of the Neil Thomas Renaissance rules, from his "Wargaming: An Introduction" (several convention games, and an Italian Wars scenario).  While they produce a small, and satisfying game, they are a bit limited in troop types, and also in allowable player actions.  While they are excellent for introductory games, and for small convention games (to introduce a period), they don't have the complexity or depth to keep more experienced wargames engaged for long.  On the other hand, these days, I am not a big fan of very complex rules.  While I admire the Field of Glory rules, and their Renaissance version, they are not the rules for me.  Also, while I am a huge fan of the George Gush rules (mentioned here on Gaming with Chuck with some of my other Renaissance rules reviews), they don't play well with a modern audience.  However, I think that Baroque might fill the sweet spot (at least until we try By Fire and Sword).

Unit Types
As mentioned, Baroque covers 1550-1700.  The unit types it features are perfect for representing battlefields in that period.  There are, roughly, two different types of units, plus artillery.

The first type are Mounted Troops, and include several classes of unit -

• Gallopers - Shock cavalry trained to charge at a gallop, may use a pistol, but more likely to rely on the sword or lance.  
• Trotters - Cavalry that charge at a trot.  These almost always will be pistol armed, and will discharge those during the slower charge, to follow up with contact by sword.
• Reiters - These are pistol armed (and perhaps heavily armored) cavalry, the prefer to not close to contact - but instead will keep their distance, and employ pistol tactics, like the Caracole maneuver.
• Sipahis - Eastern cavalry, usually armed with missile weapons.  Sometimes present in large units (treated as a 'Massed Unit').
• Light Cavalry - These are fast, skirmish cavalry, often armed with missile weapons.  
• Horse & Musket - In the later part of this period, some trotter units will have integrated foot musketeers, for greater strength on engaging the enemy in fire combat.  This is a mixed unit with mounted and foot soldiers in the same unit.

The second type are Foot Troops, which also include several classes of unit -

• Pike & Musket - This is the mixed unit of pikemen and musketeers made popular with the advent of more, and more reliable, hand weapons that use gunpowder.  Because a portion of the unit is armed with pikes, this reduces firepower, but also provides a strong deterrent to cavalry, and the ability to hit other infantry in contact. 
• Early Tercio - This is very, very deep unit, coming out of the 16th century, with some integrated shot troops.  Because of its extreme depth, and training in deployment, it is almost impossible to gain a flank advantage against this unit, but it is extremely vulnerable to artillery.
• Later Tercio - Not as deep as the earlier tercio, and sometimes employing a higher ratio of shot troops, the Later Tercio is almost as flexible as the Pike & Musket unit, but still a bit more unwieldy.  It is not as well protected on the flanks and rear as the Early Tercio, but it has enough shot troops posted there that it can give fire out of those aspects of the formation.
• Pikemen - Deep formations of only pikemen, without integrated shot troops.  These are popular in the earlier part of the period by those nations fielding pikemen, but not employing the Tercio.
• Irregular Infantry - These are (sometimes) fierce hand to hand fighters.  Sometimes they are equipped with missile weapons.  Sometimes they appear in large units (treated as a 'Massed Unit').  But they are not the disciplined mixed units listed above.
• Shooters - As with Pikemen units, these are from the earlier part of the period before the mixed units took over - these are units of purely missile armed soldiers.
• Skirmishers - Light troops, sometimes armed with good quality firearms, designed to skirmish with the enemy.
• Dragoons - These are mounted infantry, armed with missile weapons.  They combine the faster maneuverability of mounted troops, with the ability of infantry to provide good missile fire.

Other classes of tabletop units -

• Artillery is available.  In this  period, as the science of artillery is being developed, there is a bewildering constellation of different types of guns, calibers, firing mechanisms, etc.  These are all simplified in the rules to light, medium or heavy batteries.  And further, they are classed as either Cannons (firing a relative flat trajectory), and Howitzers (firing a high arcing shot).
• Commanders - The army will be divided up into a handful (usually 3 or 4) of commands (or brigades).  Each of these has a commander.  One of these commanders will be the General (or commander in chief).  A commander can be attached (if he wishes) to any non-artillery unit in his command.  the commander-in-chief can be attached (if he wishes) to any non-artillery unit in the entire army.
• Baggage - All armies have immobile baggage.  The baggage may be Fortified or Not.

Measurements in the Game
Battlefield measurements in the game are measured (and listed on the charts) in terms of BU, or  'Baroque Units' - so named to distinguish them from the basic unit of measure from Impetus, which was the Unit, or U.  In Baroque, the BU is equal to half the frontage of a standard unit (which is always 12cm).  So, a BU is 6cm.  Speaking of unit frontage...

Unit basing
For 15mm, the standard unit frontage is 12cm.  Which is perfect for me, as my units are based on standard 4cm wide bases.  So three bases wide, makes a unit.  For Pike & Musket units that is perfect - a stand of pikes in the middle, flanked by two stands of muskets - looks great.

Using larger one piece bases would be nice, but I don't want to rebase my renaissance wargaming armies.

The depth of the units varies, with the deepest being the Early Tercio - it is 12cm deep.  Since I mount my pikes in two ranks on a 3cm deep (or sometimes 4cm deep) stand, it is easy for me to model an Early Tercio - 3 stands wide, and 3 or 4 stands deep(!) - but it is the biggest unit in the game (and was quite large in history too).  A more standard Pike and Musket unit is listed as 4-6cm deep - which means, for me, one or two stands deep for Pikemen in the middle, and two stands deep of Musketeers on the flanks.  Easy, and it looks good.  Cavalry is easier - one rank deep.  Massed Mounted units are two ranks deep.

I'll follow this article up in Part II with a discussion of the turn sequence, and basic game structure.

General d'Armee - first thoughts

Recently, we played a couple of games of General d'Armee at our regular ODMS game meetings.  These have been run by Sean (read about his gaming stuff over at Mad Mac's Attic), although I suspect that they have struck a chord with the group, and that we'll be playing more.

The rules are available from Too Fat Lardies, who sell the Reisswitz Press rules (that is the imprint of David Brown's current batch of rules).  These (GdA) are on a step up from General d'Brigade (GdB), and one of the chief differences is that now battalions and regiments are treated as somewhat generic in size, only differentiating by gross categories (large, regular, small, etc).  This is very similar to Black Powder, etc. and different from the earlier rules (GdB) - which had you using specific numbers of miniatures for different units, based on historical OB.  There are a ton of useful resources at David Brown's blog.

The turn sequence runs (roughly) like this -

1. Both sides dice for the number of Aides de Camp (ADC) available.
2. The ADCs are applied to units.
3. Each brigade is rolled for to see if it is Hesitant or not during that turn.
4. Both sides then roll 2d6 for initiative, subtracting 1 for each Hesitant brigade.
5. Winner chooses to go first or second.
6. First player orders and resolves Charges.
7. Second player orders and resolves Charges.
8. First player resolves moves.
9. Second player resolves moves.
10. First player resolves firing.
11. Second player resolves firing.
12. Melees (resulting from charges, or carried over) are resolved.

In all this is a pretty good sequence.

Firing is done (by regular formations and artillery) by the toss of two dice, and then modifiers are introduced.  The final result is consulted on a chart to see what the impact is (casualties, discipline test, etc).

Firing by skirmishers is done by granting the skirming formation a number of Casualty dice - roll them, and they cause a hit on 4,5,6.

Charges are handled first as a test, to see what the charge results are.  This may, or may not result in a melee or a volley being fired, as well as charging home, retiring, etc.

Melee's are resolved by each side having a number of casualty dice (as with skirmish fire), these are rolled and hits counted.  Then the winner of the melee is determined by  comparing these scored hits.

In all this is a good set of rules, with a lot of thought going into how the different formations, etc interact with each other.  Looking forward to playing some more of these, I may run a game or two myself in the near future.  Sean has published a Player's Guide over at his blog.

Here are some pictures from our most recent game, which was the battle of Maida 1806.

Jagdpanzer - a rules review

This is another review in the Once and Future Rules series, of wargame rules that are out of print, but that got a lot of play at one time (at least, in the clubs and groups I played in since the early 1980s).

Once upon a time, in Campaign Headquarters (in Newport News), there were some gamers called Alfred, Jason and Gary.  They played Jagdpanzer.

Once upon a time, in Campaign Headquarters, there were some gamers called Wayne and Oscar.  They played Jagdpanzer.

Once up on a time, in Campaign Headquarters, there was a gamer named Danny.  He played Jagdpanzer.

Most of the folks I played with in those years (mid to late 80s) were playing Overwatch.  Some were playing Angriff!  But not a small sampling were playing a set of rules called Jagdpanzer, published by Greenfield Hobbies, and authored by Kevin Cabai (a former armor Captain in the US Army).  This was when I tried the rules, and I liked them.

One of the strengths that I will applaud, right away, about Jagdpanzer, is that it is very inclusive.  It covers many different weapon systems (armor, infantry, artillery, airpower), all in rule subsystems that are very clean and workable.  The overall effect is a game that gives depth to all sorts of scenarios, but is not difficult to play.  Also, it avoids (by using a dice mechanism for penetration and kill, although informed by real life vehicle and weapon characteristics) the old problem that some rulesets have (I'm looking at you, Overwatch) of comparing mm of penetration, vs mm of armor, to determine a kill.  As an engineering professor, I realize it is not that simple, and that the number of variables present in any single shot to target situation are far to numerous (and perhaps unknowable) in order to present a way of modeling them all.  So why not use a dice mechanism to add in the fuzziness?  Mr. Cabai does just that in Jagdpanzer, and it works very well.

Another think I like very much about the game is that while it lists a ground scale (1 inch equals 25m), it gives all movement and weapon ranges in inches.  Nice.

Here is an overview of the rules, so you can see what I'm talking about, and I'll return with an assessment at the end.

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Turn Sequence

Basic concept - On each turn, for each of your units (the basic unit is the platoon, which is usually 3-5 individual vehicle models), you decide if that unit is going to do one of the following three options:
1. Move and Fire
2. Move double (no fire)
3. Stationary (double fire)

A full turn consists of two movement and direct fire phases (see below).  For each of them, a vehicle decides if it is going to do one of the above options.  So in the first move phase of a turn, a unit could Double Move, and then couldn't fire during the first fire phase.  But then in the second move phase it could Normal Move (and fire in the second fire phase).

If a unit Moves and Fires, it is assuming that the unit is moving tactically, taking advantage of available cover, and is loaded and ready to engage if a target is found.

A unit that double Moves, is assumed to be moving at top available speed (cross country or road), and doesn't conform necessarily to available cover (so may be easier to hit).

A unit that double Fires is assumed to be stationary, and focused merely on firing and reloading as quickly as possible.

Based on that - here is the turn sequence, with some notes:

A. Determine Initiative - Roll 1d6 to determine who gets the choice of being Side A or Side B.
B. Command & Control (optional rules - a dice roll based on nationality to see if a unit activates or not).
C. Movement Phase
   1. Side A
   2. Side B
D. Direct Fire Phase
   1. Stationary Shooters fire Simultaneously
   2. Moving Shooters fire Simultaneously
   3. Stationary Shooters fire Simultaneously (a second time)
   4. Close Assaults
   5. Overrun Attacks
   6. Remove/Emplace Vehicle Smoke
E. Aircraft (optional)
   1. Movement
   2. Combat
F. Morale
G. Movement Phase
   1. Side B
   2. Side A
H. Direct Fire Combat (same as D.1 through D.6 from above)
I. Artillery
   1. Fire missions striking this turn will Impact
   2. Plot new fire missions
   3. Remove/Emplace Artillery Smoke
J. Morale

Movement - In phases C and G, movement takes place.  The two sides alternate who is the first mover, based on the Initiative dice at the beginning of the turn.  The first mover has 2 minutes (only) to move his Command Vehicles (the command vehicle for each unit).  Then his other vehicles in those units move to follow the command vehicle route.  Once the first player is done, then the second player only has 30 Seconds (!) to move his command vehicles.  Any command vehicles that do not move, mean that the other vehicles in their units will also not move that phase.
Movement rates are given for Road, Cross Country, and Rough Ground (wood, hills, mud, deep snow).  Recall that a Double Mover getst double the listed rate.  Rates are listed in inches on the vehicle detail sheets.

Armored Vehicles

Direct Fire (Tank and Anti-Tank) - Roll 1d20 per shooter, and see if they roll below the "To Hit" number.  The basic number to hit is an 11 (or less).  Modifiers to that basic number are here:

Situation . . .
+3 Consecutive Fire (same target)
+3 Automatic Weapons (small AA weapons, autocannons)
+2 Targetting a Building
+1 Range Finder (PzV-f, Nashorn, PaK36, PaK43, FlaK 18)

Target Is . . .
-6 Hull Down
-6 Entrenched
-5 In Dense Woods
-3 In Light Woods
-4 In Town
-4 Infantry
-1 Towed Gun
-3 Moving

Shooter Is . . .
+2 Short Range
+0 Medium Range
-4 Long Range
-2 Moving (without gun stabilizer)
-1 Moving (with gun stabilizer)
-2 2nd Shot, Same fire Phase, at a new target

Penetration
Take the Penetration Value of the weapon firing, based on range (short, medium, long), and subtract the armor value of the facing of the vehicle hit (Front, Side, Rear, or Top).  This gives you a number, which can be indexed on a Penetration Chart, to give the Number to roll, or less, on 1d20 to score a kill.  Otherwise the shot has no effect.  Rather than using the chart, you can calculate it easy enough - just add 5 to the penetration value, before subtracting the armor value.  The resulting number is your target to roll, or less, to score a kill.

Example: A T34, at Medium Range, is firing it's 76L41 gun at the front armor of a PzIVH.  Looking at the weapon chart for the Soviet Gun, we see that at Medium Range, it penetrates 11.  Looking at the PzIVH, we see that the front armor is rated a 7.  So, adding 5 to the gun's penetration value (11+5=16), and then subtracting the armor of the target vehicle (16-7=9) means that we have a chance of a 9 or less on 1d20 to score a kill, if a hit is registered.  In practice, very simple - lookup the range and penetration, and the armor value of the target.

Machine Guns - Vehicle machine guns do not affect armored vehicles in the game.  Larger calibre automatic weapons are listed on the regular vehicle charts.  Normal MGs however, do affect soft targets.  They roll with a strength of '5' on the soft target (i.e. Infantry) table - see below.

Catastrophic Kill
If the number to score a penetration is half or less than the number needed, then it is a catastrophic kill (for instance, in the example above the number needed was a 9 or less, so rolling a 4 or less would be a catastrophic kill).  This means that all crew, passengers, and equipment are also destroyed with the vehicle.  Also, place a burning marker on the vehicle, it now blocks line of sight.

Crew/Passenger Bailout
If a vehicle is killed, but not a catastrophic kill, then there is a chance for bailout by crew and passengers.  Roll 1d6, on a 1 or 2 all personnel are killed, otherwise they bail out.

Vehicle Smoke
Vehicles can (very limited basis) fire smoke rounds.  Pick a target and roll 1d6 for scatter based on range - Short (1,2), Medium (1,2,3), Long (1,2,3,4,5).  If it scatters, the smoke round hits 1 inch away in a randon direction.  It produces a line of sight blocking puffball.
Some vehicles have smoke dischargers - these produce a puffball 1 inch from the model of the vehicle, in the direction the tank is facing.

Spotting (optional)
Spotting rules give a ditance away that a target can be spotted.  It is based on whether the unit being spotted is stationary, in a prepared position (trench or pit), or moving - and also what type of target it is (vehicle, gun, infantry).  This ranges from unlimited range in the open to see a moving vehicle, to only 3 inches to see infantry in the woods or hills in a prepared position.  This is an optional rule, but tends to encourage more play with the terrain and maneuver.  Under these rules, you can spot through smoke, but only up to 4 inches on the other side of the smoke.

Infantry

Infantry vs. Soft Targets (that is, other infantry units, and vehicles with a side armor of 2 or less) is handled by looking up the basic strength of the infantry unit firing.  This is for a single counter (the game recommends counters for infantry), representing a single infantry squad (usually 3 squads per platoon).  These squads are rated for the following types:

• Infantry
• Armored Infantry
• Airborne Infantry
• Armored Cav/Recon
• Cavalry
• Heavy Weapons
• HQ Section
• Crew

Each type has a strength value for the year and nationalities that employ those types (for instance, in 1941 a Soviet infantry squad has a strength of 4, but in 1943, a Soviet infantry squad has a strength of 6, representing better weapons/training/leadership).

Each basic type has an associated range, within which it can engage other Infantry.  For instance, basic Infantry has a range of 12 inches, but Cavalry only has a range of 8 inches.

Infantry vs. Infantry fighting - when an Infantry squad attacks another, there is a target number based on the terrain the target is in (the only modifier to this number, is if the target is moving, this number is increased by 1):

• Open - 10 or less
• Soft Cover - 8 or less
• Hard Cover - 7 or less
• Supressed - 6 or less
• Entrenched - 5 or less

There is an infantry chart, so your actual number you roll is cross indexed with your squad's strength, to see if you either Supress or Kill the enemy.  In practice, it works very simple.

Melee Combat - Infantry ending in contact with enemy counters will fight melee.  Fights are determined by finding all the attacking (moving) counters that are touching a single defender counter.  Roll 1d6 per counter involved.  Any attacker that is less than a defender's number is destroyed.  Any defender that is less than an attacker is destroyed.  Ties are resolved as both destroyed.  So if multiple attackers go against one defender, the defender can beat all of them by rolling the highest number, otherwise as above.

Melee modifiers (to the d6 rolled) are these:
+1 Charging
+1 Cavalry
+1 Airborne
+1 SS
+1 Marines
-1 Crew
-1 HQ Section
-1 Entrenched
-1 Routing

Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons - A variety of anti-tank weapons can be employed by Infantry squads.  These include Recoil-less Rifles, Handheld Anti-Tank Rockets (Bazooka, PIAT, etc), Anti-Tank Rifles, and the experimental German X-7 Wire-guided Missile (was it ever really used?).  Each of these weapons has range (short/medium/long) and vehicle penetration rules.

Infantry Close Assault - Infantry attacking vehicles use the Close Assault rules.  An infantry squad that closes to contact with an enemy vehicle must pass a Morale test.  If it passes, it rolls 2d6 on the close assault table.  The variables on the table are whether or not the vehicle is closed top, and the terrain (open, wooded, urban).  A range on the 2d6 roll determines if the vehicle is killed.  That is the only result.

Other Rules

Artillery
Rules are given for artillery pieces on the table to engage in Direct Fire against armor units (ranges and penetration are given for different size guns).  Indirect fire rules are given - how long it takes for an artillery mission to arrive, what types of missions you can call (Point, Rolling Barrage, Creeping Barrage, Final Protective Fire), and what type of pattern it falls in (point/tight, or area/loose).  Rules for scatter of shot from the aiming point are given.    Finally, rules for HE rounds vs. infantry and soft targets (those with a side armor of 2 or less) are given.  Infantry are subjected to a chart much like small arms fire.  Vehicles are two, but hard vehicle targets (with a side armor over 2) are only affected very rarely (roll of a 10 exactly, on a 20 sided dice, and only for certain types of artillery).  In the case of artillery (HE rounds) there are column shifts to the left for being in certain terrain (entrenched infantry, woods, town, suppressed target, woods, etc).

Combat Engineers
Rules are given for combat engineers (placing and dealing with obstacles, such as abati, barbed wire, craters, dragon's teeth, tank ditches, and mine fields).  A discussion of, and rules on, different types of mines is present.

Aircraft
Rules are given for aircraft, with a view towards permitting supporting air actions that present ground support.  Detailed dog fighting rules are not present.

And that's it for the rules.  More on the Vehicle and Weapon statistics, in the next article.

---

So, what do I think of Jagdpanzer?  It is a game of it's time, but I do like how it abstracts some vehicle info (penetration and armor), and also how it keeps armor values to a minimum (averaging turret and hull, so that an armored vehicles has four armor values - front, side, rear, and top).  It plays fast.  The morale rules are playable, and give good results.

My only regret - and this is largely from memory (I will have to check the rulebook again) is that there is no mechanism for recovering from Suppression (that I recall). It might have been a preferred house rule, but I seem to remember that we would use either a Command Control roll or a Morale Test to recover from Suppression (I can't find where in the rulebook it discusses this...

Update! After talking with the author, I confirmed that it is a Morale Test that removes a Suppression result.

Overall, and in light of how well the many different branches of WW2 combined arms land warfare is - these are really great rules.  A nice high resolution (low aggregation) wargame simulating WW2 ground combat, and it covers everything in elegant ways, that is still fun and easy to play.

Local wargaming club - active and moving forward

The Old Dominion Military Society has reformed and has been gaming weekly with great success for several months. We recently held our summer convention (Guns of August) at the local military museum, the Virginia War Museum in Newport News, and it was a great success.

Check out the after action report on the club blog.

Wargaming the Barbarian Kingdoms (6th and 7th century) - Part 2, Visigoths

Visigoths - originally, as Feoderati under the Romans, they established area of rule in Gaul and Spain. The early (but exciting) campaigns of Alaric I predate the period considered here.  In 507, however, the Franks, under Clovis I beat the Goths (under Alaric II) at the Battle of Vouille  Visigoth rule in Gaul was at an end, but the Frank's were established as a kingdom that would give us Charlemagne, France, Germany, and a lot of different kinds of cheese.

The Visigoths, however, survived the loss of Gaul.  They had a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, or Hispania).  There, they survived (and in harmony with the rest of Christendom after converting from Arianism in 589) until being overrun by the Moors (Berbers and Arabs up from North Africa) in about the year 711 or 712 (the Mozarbic Chronicle of 741, written in Latin, is unclear).  That was the Battle of Guadalete between King Roderic of the Goths, and Tariq ibn Ziyad.

Battle of Guadalete

So, for about two hundred years, there was a gothic kingdom in Spain. It gave us a lot of interesting Gothic architecture and early cathedrals, but not a lot of details on military practices.

Tariq Ibn Ziyad

Looking at what wargames have to offer on the Western Goths is interesting.  Again, turning to the original DBA list (as a conceptual distillation of the 1982 WRG army lists, and benefitting from eight years of further research and debate) we see that there is an infantry core of five elements. These can be either spear, or warband, or a mix of warband and auxilia - depending on which allies or sources you prefer. But that establishes a solid infantry battle line, supported by two units of skirmishers (Psiloi), and finally a solid mounted contingent of four units of four Cavalry units, and a Knight (general) unit.  

King Roderic

This could easily represent the army of Roderic, at the battle of Guadalete.  There, his solid infantry line was a match for the Moors, but he lost because his right cavalry wing under a disgruntled commander abandoned the field allowing the numerous, but lighter, Moorish cavalry to flank the infantry line.  Legend replaces the commander with Count Julian, who turned traitor because his daughter was raped at Roderic's court, but this (while a great medieval narrative) is unsubstantiated.

Visigothic Warriors - from a later English sculpting method.

Refighting Guadalete as a decisive battle that ended Christian rule in western Spain, until the Reconquista, is a worthy war gaming goal, but the lack of other major foes makes the prospect of building a large Visigothic army seem like a futile enterprise.  It is, however, a great example of a balanced army from the Barbarian Kingdoms era.  There are, of course, lots of Possible match ups against sixth century foes, such as Byzantines, Ostrogoths, or even early Andalusians from the other parts of Spain.

For figures, standard dark age infantry (metal conic helms, round shields, and either sword, spear, or bow) make the battle line and Psiloi easy to model. Likewise, the cavalry (cloaks, metal helms, round shields) are readily available. The older Minifigs heavy barbarian horse and heavy barbarian infantry are nearly perfect, as well as many modern manufacturers.

A nice set of pictures of a painted army is here.

is here.

Wargaming the Barbarian Kingdom Period (6th century AD) - Part 1, Ostrogoths

The story of the Ostrogoths is a very interesting one, including their origin, and how they became to be considered a single people, but from a military/wargaming perspective, their war against the Romans (especially the Eastern Romans, or the Byzantines, as their identity was coalescing following the fall of Western Rome) in and around Italy is the most interesting, and where we find some potential scenarios and campaigns for good games.

The eastern Goths had come into Italy in the previous century, and held (as the result of a number of successful sieges and sacks) many of the key cities of the peninsula.  In a period of almost 20 years, under Justinian, the Byzantines waged the "Gothic War" in order to restore these areas back to Roman (Byzantine) rule.  This lasted from 535 to 554 AD.  Some Gothic strongholds in Northern Italy would hold out for another 8 years, not falling until 562.

The earlier period is the successful sweep of the Byzantines up the peninsula, crossing from Africa, and securing a number of strong strategic points up the Italian peninsula.

Early Phase of the Gothic War

Battles of this period feature an early Ostrogothic army, against a Justinian Byzantine army.  The fighting is suitable for somewhat larger battles, and also (due to the rough country and terrain of Italy) for smaller raids and skirmishes, that no doubt took place between Byzantine forces, and smaller Gothic strongholds and military units.  Eventually the Gothic stronghold at Ravenna would be conquered by the Byzantines in 539/540.

This leads to the second phase of the Gothic War (540-554 or event 562) where a revived Gothic push back against the Byzantines takes place under the Gothic leader of Totila.

Totila, painted by Salviati in 1549

During the push back phase of the Ostrogoths reclaiming the initiative from the Byzantines, the great Byzantine general Narses would suffer because he also was dealing with encroachments from the Franks and the Alamanni.  In 554 AD, Narses was succesful against the Goths, at the battle of Vesuvius (also known as the Battle of Mons Lactarius), by defeating the army of Totila, and also killing the king.  The Goths, after this, retreated north into Austria.

In the end, however, Byzantines were successful against the Goths in Italy, but it was a fleeting victory.  First, it kept the strength of the Byzantines from dealing with problems in the north and the east.  Second, once the Goths were subjugated, the area was swept over again, by another German group, the Lombards, who would prove to be a lot harder to dislodge (that task being left to the Carolingians).

Battle of Mons Lactarius in 554AD, painted by Adolf Zick (~1900AD)

The representation of the Ostrogoths in miniature wargaming is pretty interesting, even if the army only has a few distinctive troop types.  The DBA rules give a pretty good indication of what we can surmise from history (and how rules writers interpret that history into wargaming terms).  DBA (original) has Army number 86 (Italian Ostrogothic 493-554AD) with 6x elements of Knights, 4x elements of Psiloi, or skirmish infantry, and finally 2x elements which could be either formed as 2x more Psiloi elements, or 2x spear elements.  

Before looking at how they are represented in other rules, it is worth considering the basics presented by the DBA list.  First, is the cavalry. In a gothic army, that is the Ostrogoths that settled in Italy, or the Visigoths that settled in Spain, and the various places these two broad groups came from (stretching all the way back to Northern Eurooe, in what is modern day Sweden), the army was mainly focused on the Warriors being mounted, and fighting in a close order, for shock value.  The other members of the population, as well as absorbed and allied peoples, would generally fight on foot.  Mainly these were loose order skirmishes, designated to a role supporting the mounted warriors. But in the case of some absorbed peoples (like the remnants of local Romanized infantry, which would fight in a dense shielded formation, with sword and spear) the foot troops might actually fight in a formed up formation, not entirely unsuited for a place in the battle line.  Still, however, the main branch is the mounted warriors.

 This is very much the same as what we find in the original 1982 WRG Army List Book Two entry.  There, the army gets a mandatory 44-72 Gothic Cavalry (start at Heavy Cavalry, but some portion can be upgraded to Extra Heavy Cavalry, all with javelin/light spear and shield).  Add to those figures, up to 90 additional Gothic Cavalry (which start at Medium Cavalry, but can up upgraded to Heavy Cavalry, and can be upgraded to match the morale grade of the earlier lot, Irregular B).  This makes for a very strong cavalry section (as you would expect, given the history of the army at battles like Taginae and Mons Lactarius, where the Ostrogoths fought against Byzantines and Germans that countered them with a reinforced infantry center), but without infantry it will have problems against a mixed foe who can reinforce a central battleline of heavy infantry.  The only real infantry presence the Goths have is that of the Gothic Archery (presented in the WRG list as up to 100 Light Infantry, which can remain as Irregular D or be upgraded to Irregular C).

This is a very interesting army, for a wargamer, because of it's strange mix of troop types.  The heavy cavalry is very good, and may be a precursor for later armies in the post-dark ages period.  But, as it is only supported by light infantry archers, it might be tough against some armies.  Where this will do well (a-historically) is in games the give too much credence to archery, and games that do not provide structural problems to cavalry fighting deep formation infantry without support.  I own (and fight with) an Ostrogoth DBA army, but I have not yet tried it with Might of Arms, or Terry Gore's rules.  It should be (at least) an educational matchup against a sixth century Byzantine army.

A move, a return, a restart, and a resumption

Recently, the staff and adjutants at Gaming with Chuck HQ have undergone a move.  This is a return, in a way, back home.

Five years ago, upon completing my PhD, I went off into the world as a new professor, and after teaching for a few years, and serving as a research professor for a few years, Providence has brought us full circle, and we are now returning back to Newport News.

I will be teaching at a local university, and my daughter will be attending my alma mater, Christopher Newport University.  And, I have fallen back into step with my old wargaming club.  There is also talk of regular game days at GwC HQ, and also (gasp) rumors of regular roleplaying.  Where will all the time come from?  Still it is good to be coming home.

Soldier from the wars returning,

Spoiler of the taken town,

Here is ease that asks not earning;

Turn you in and sit you down.

Peace is come and wars are over,

Welcome you and welcome all,

While the charger crops the clover

And his bridle hangs in stall.

Now no more of winters biting,

Filth in trench from tall to spring,

Summers full of sweat and fighting

For the Kesar or the King.

Rest you, charger, rust you, bridle;

Kings and kesars, keep your pay;

Soldier, sit you down and idle

At the inn of night for aye.

      - A.E. Housman, 1922

I mentioned that I have fallen in with the old wargaming club, Old Dominion Military Society, which is now actively gaming again on a weekly basis.  Our summer convention (Guns of August) is being hosted at the Virginia War Museum.  We have plans underway for the new winter convention (Williamsburg Muster), returning to its regular February timeslot.  The local club is also talking about monthly game days (game nights?) where we rent out or acquire access to a large venue, for some big, serious, miniatures gaming.  Maybe at the Museum?  Maybe at a local community hall?  Still working the details.

Miniature gaming, so far, has been of the Thursday night variety.  Which means, typically, smallish games.  Some ODMS members have hosted great things - (The Rules with No Name, FrostGrave, Wings of Glory, DBA, etc etc), and this week we have some Ancients happening, and next week we have some Napoleonics happening.  All very good.

Boardgaming has been quite fun, and with our new game room (the den, or family room, in our new house is dedicated as a game room, with storage for all our board games, and a nice game table, some chairs, a couch, and a computer desk), we have been playing on a regular basis, as a family, and with some guests.   During the move, the inventory and packing/unpacking experience showed us that we have a lot of games that we really like, but haven't played in a while.  And some that we have never played.  To address those issues, we made a list of "games we have not played lately, but want to" and will be using that to schedule Wednesday night family game night. Several recent games of Fantastiqa have been quite fun, and looking forward to some Terra Mystica and maybe some Archon and/or Tempus.

Roleplaying has been discussed, especially with our return to the old stomping grounds, and so many of the players we love playing with from years ago.  There is talk of "getting the band back together" with some of the our old regulars, in an old fashioned roleplaying game (either fantasy, or maybe sci-fi).  Nothing yet, but details will appear in this fine publication.

Planned upcoming game activities -

Guns of August is going to be in a public place - so it will be a little bit different.  I am treating this as a recruiting and/or community outreach opportunity for both wargaming in general, and for the game club (ODMS).  I will be hosting four (introductory level) wargames, and am in the process of preparing handouts for each, to introduce some history, wargaming, and the rules being used.

1. Introduction to Medieval Wargames - very similar to the games I hosted at Guns of August 2016, with two games going on at once (maybe, Vikings/Saxons, and Crusaders/Saracens).  I'll be using the Neil Thomas introductory rules, and am working on a handout for this game.

2. Wargaming the Revolutionary War - I will probably use a smaller version of the scenario I ran at Thanksgiving 2015, which was a fictional Southern Campaign battle, set in South Carolina 1780.  I won't be using Black Powder for this, because I want it completely friendly to newcomers and kids.  Either some homebrew rules (Patriot's Blood) or Neil Thomas Napoleonic rules adapted for the purpose.

3. Introduction to Renaissance Wargaming - This one will be a lot like the first one, with two battles (four armies), and using the Neil Thomas rules.  One of the battles will most likely be French/Imperialist vs. Italians.  The other might be English Civil War.  Again, similar to the solo Renaissance game I did back in 2016.  The main feather here is the history of the period, and trying to get people interested, so I am working on a nice handout.

4. Introduction to Medieval Wargaming - This one is a conundrum for me.  I have a couple of ideas.  The first is to do the same thing I plan for number 1 above, but maybe with different armies.  The second is to do a 28mm scale game using Lion Rampant, to show what medieval games are like, at that weird mix between skirmish and full army battles (such as LR, but also Saga and some others).  The third idea is to use the Chainmail rules such as my recent games supporting the Lord of the Manor project, and use the handout session to show the connection between miniatures games and the later roleplaying game revolution.  Still deciding this one.

Lots more coming up, including finishing some of the projects here (dark ages wargaming, retro reviews, etc).  Watch this space.

Wargamer's Guide to the English Civil War - review

This is another review in the Once and Future Rules series, of wargame rules that are out of print, but that got a lot of play at one time (at least, in the clubs and groups I played in since the early 1980s).

I have mentioned my love for renaissance gaming in general, and the English Civil War period in particular, several times during this series of reviews.  This time, I would like to review a set of miniature rules that I came to in the mid 1980s, although they were first published in 1974 (a second edition came out in 1977, and that is the edition that I own).  These rules are the 'Wargamer's Guide to the English Civil War' by Bill Protz.  These are still available for sale on Bill's website, along with some of his other excellent rules.

Curiously enough, the first edition of Bill Protz' ECW wargaming masterpiece (i.e. - the volume I am reviewing here) came out in 1974.  It was published by the Myers and Zimmermann wargaming house of Z&M Publishing (Myers and Zimmermann were the lads behind the Angriff rules, and they went on to form a publishing house for wargaming rules - mostly from their neck of the woods up in Milwaukee).

The interesting thing about the publishing year, is that it is one year after the first appearance of Cavaliers and Roundheads, by Gygax and Perren (published by TSR).  From Bill's website, he got interested in the English Civil War, as a wargaming topic, because of Cavaliers and Roundheads (C&R), and also the availability of the Hinchliffe ECW figures.  I seem to recall that TSR needed cash for their new publishing idea, the Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, and that they rushed out C&R for publication in order to raise cash.  The English Civil War must have been a popular period at this time, to not only inspire two great rulesets coming out within a year of each other, but also to convince Mssrs. Kuntz and Gygax at TSR that they could raise capital from selling an ECW rule book.  But they did.  And, furthermore, the Protz book (WGECW) is still highly regarded, and as mentioned above, still for sale.

The English Civil War continues to be a very interesting topic for wargamers, as it not only features in generic, broadbased rules sets such as DBR and Field of Glory Renaissance, but also continues to inspire specific rulesets in popular series' such as Warhammer English Civil War (sadly, now out of print, like the rest of the Warhammer historical series), and Pike and Shotte from Warlord Games (which covers the broader Renaissance, but which has an ECW specific period book - 'To Kill a King' -  due for release the month that this article is being written).  Of course, it has been, and continues a period of interest for me, as well.  On to the rules . . .

WGECW is presented as a 5x8 booklet, 76 pages long.  The book is divided up, generally, into three sections: (1) is an introduction, which gives a very brief overview of the English Civil War, and also reasons for wargaming in this period, (2) is the section containing the rules themselves, and (3) is a series of appendices that introduce information about army composition, painting and uniform information, rules for fighting sieges, and other bits of extra information.  It is this third section that lifts this book from being just a tactical rulebook, to being a wargamer's guide.  C&R did this, somewhat, but not to the extent that Bill Protz has done here.

Initial Concepts
One thing to establish up front, is that the miniatures within the units don't really matter.  Well, that is to say, they matter because it is a miniatures game, and they matter because they bring the splendor and pageantry to the wargame, but they don't matter in the sense of combat being based on particular figures in contact, or even specifically how many figures there are in a unit.  What does matter, is the units CR or Combat Rating.  Now this is typically computed initially from the number of miniatures in a unit (and the point value of those miniatures), but it will change up and down with circumstance, and in fact, the initial CR of a unit might be increased by 25% if the unit is elite.  The unit's CR is what matters, in WGECW.  Combat effectiveness is based on the CR, and losses are subtracted from the CR (although the author suggests that miniatures be removed from a unit, in proportion to CR losses that the unit undergoes).

 The CR is calculated from points values of the miniatures in a formation.  This includes extra points for figures such as officers, flag bearers, and sergeants.  For a mixed formation, such as an ECW formation with a body of Pikemen, and perhaps two flanking bodies of Musketeers, each of those divisions would have its own CR calculated and recorded on a unit roster.

Scale and Unit Types
Game scale is given at 1 inch to 15 yards for the ground, 1 figure to 20 men for the troops.  Basic types of figures are foot, horse, and artillery.

Foot troops can be Open Ordered (such as skirmishing forlorn hope), Ordered (typical musket and pike formation), Double Ordered (half the depth of Ordered formations), or Close Ordered (tightly packed infantry, in order to defend against enemy cavalry).  Finally, there is the possibility of a Ring formation (like a hedgehog, or square formation).

Horse troops can be either Ordered (such as typical charging cavalry), or Open Ordered (such as dragoons or other cavalry, spread out in order to screen), or Caracole (designed to allow pistol fire and recall against an enemy unit).

The rules give basing sizes for troops, which generally doesn't change for the different ordering listed above, EXCEPT for Close Ordered Infantry.  In that case, the player is to remove half the stands of the unit from the table, but to record and remember what their CR is - they have just gotten denser.

Foot unit stands represent three ranks of troops, and Ordered and Close Ordered units are 6 ranks deep, so they should be two miniature ranks (or stands) deep.  Double Ordered infantry are only 3 ranks deep, so are only one stand deep (called Double Ordered, because by halving the depth, they double the length of the formation line).  Horse units and artillery have their methods of representing Ordering on the tabletop.  Open Ordered units, it should be pointed out, have the stands dispersed by a short gap between them - typical skirmishing formation representation.

Turn Sequence
The game turn is divided up into a sequence of events.  Since this is a game that practices simultaneous movement, it features order writing.  Regular readers of this blog will know my affection for simultaneous movement and order writing (similar to my affection for root canal).  When we played these rules, so many years ago, we would write general battlefield orders at the beginning of the game, and our specific turn orders were only changes to those, as well as announcing charges etc.  It helps to have a referee.

The sequenced events of the turn, however, are these:

1. Both sides write down orders for their units.
2. Both sides read out their orders, alternating who goes first every other turn.
3. Moves are performed simultaneously according to orders.
4. Skirmish Fire is assessed, and casualties immediately calculated and removed.
5. Artillery Fire is assessed, and casualties immediately calculated and removed.
6. Other Small Arms Fire is assessed, and casualties immediately calculated and removed.
7. Melee is adjudicated and resolved.
8. Turn is complete.

Morale tests can be triggered in any of the firing or melee events.

Movement
Movement is quite straight forward, and is based on some simple charts showing inches, based on the type of movement (and troop type) performing it.  There are some simple reductions and additions based on different circumstances (road movement, move and fire, direction change, etc).  There are some specifics to be followed if a unit of musketeers is going to be firing by introduction (that is, as the ranks fire, and are replaced from the rear, that they slowly move forward), or extroduction (the same, only the unit as a whole slowly moves backward, as firers run to the rear of their file).

Movement for cavalry is slightly more involved, although the chart is every bit as simple.  For mounted troops, the player must determine if the horses are trotting, cantering or galloping.   Rules are given about accelerating through these different states.  A horse, cannot, for instance, go from a simple stand-still to galloping in one move.  It must start at trotting, then the next turn can proceed to cantering, and finally to galloping.  As with foot troops, there are some simple additions or reductions based on circumstance and operations.

Finally, there is a similar table, with similar rules for artillery pieces of different sizes, and different situations.

Small Arms Fire
Once the type of fire (regular, introduction/extroduction, pistol caracole, etc) is determined, then the number of figures, and their CR, can be assessed.  The following procedure is used to determine the number of casualties (expressed in CR reduction to the target unit) is finalized.

1. Determine CR
2. Determine Range
3. Toss 1 die
4. Check Die Adjustment Chart for mods
5. Cross reference die results with range, to get an Effectiveness Letter
6. Cross reference the effect letter, and the CR firing on the Small Arms Casualty Chart, to get the casualty integer.
7. Modify the casualty integer by modifiers on the final casualty adjustment chart.
8. Take the final modified casualty integer, and multiply it by the point value of the target troops, and deduct the result from the target unit's CR

One final consideration, is that armored units (foot and horse) have a reduced calculus of how much total CR damage is inflicted.

Artillery Fire
The procedures for doing Artillery Fire, are somewhat different from small arms fire.

• First,  determine your target, and then based on range there is a chance for the artillery shot to go awry.  If at short range, it is a definite hit, but at medium and long range there is a chance to miss.
• Second, determine the ranks penetrated (light guns penetrate 2 ranks, medium guns penetrate 3, and heavy guns will penetrate 4).  
• Third, for each rank penetrated, there is a one point casualty integer, and these are all summed up (so for 3 ranks penetrated, there is a total casualty integer of 3).  This is reduced by terrain (such as firing up- or down-hill).  
• Finally, multiply the casualty integer times the CR of the troops hit, and reduce this from the target unit.  This total amount is reduced by half in a number of situations.
• The final CR total is subtracted from the target unit's CR.

There are similar procedures for other types of shot (the above, is for regular round shot, that does damage by bouncing through multiple ranks of soldiers, and killing them).  Shot types include exploding shell and langridge (case, or hail) shot.

Melee
Not surprising, the CR system is core to how melee engagements are adjudicated in these rules.  Each side calculates their current CR (lots of modifiers, such as Horse vs. non-Horse gets multiplied by 125%).  Then, the winner of the melee is determined.  This is done by each side rolling 2d6, and multiplying the result by their unit's CR.  The high score wins the melee combat.  Now, casualties are inflicted as a percentage of the original CR (not the product of the CR multiplied by dice).  The losing side will deduct (from their base CR score) an amount equal to 25% of the winner's CR.  The winning side will deduct 10% of the loser's CR.  The loser then takes, and applies, a morale test.  There are rules for fleeing, pursuits, and how officers affect things.  That is it - it is easy to play out melee combat, and although the impact of multiplying your CR by a 2d6 roll at first blush seems like there can be a lot of variability, the actual casualties (CR deduction) and morale results are more important.

Example combat - Lets say a Royalist Pike and Shot unit, with 12 pikemen (including 2pt command figures), and 12 musketeers will have a total CR of 36.  It is facing a Parliamentarian unit with 8 pikemen and 16 musketeers, or a total CR of 32.  The Royalist player rolls a 7 on the dice, and a total of (7x36) or 252.  The Parliamentarian player rolls a 9 on the dice, and a total of (9x32) or 288.  The Parliamentarian unit wins.  The Royalist unit subtracts (.25 x 32) 8 points from it's CR.  The Parliamentary unit subtracts (.10 x 36) 4 points from it's CR.  The Royalist unit, as the losing unit, will have to test morale

Extras
The rulebook is about half full of appendices. The first few of these go over how units should be organized on the wargames table, and a short guide to painting and flags, as well as advice to the 15mm player (a new scale, for the most part, in the early 1970s).

But then the appendices get more interesting.  There is a subset of rules for doing siege games.  These cover the specifics of affecting fortifications and buildings, as well as rules for grenadoes and other siege equipment.  A series of six different classes of storming/sieging are described, as scenarios and what is to be done in each (as well as victory conditions, and how to represent that sort of siege on the tabletop).

There is a set of notes regarding the organization of armies and the proportion of units, etc, in the years of the First Civil War (1642-1646).  And finally, there are some blank and sample unit rosters (showing a clean way to record unit CR and orders/status).  Lastly, the book ends with a nice glossary of ECW military terms.

Assessment/Conclusion
I owned this book before I owned either Forlorn Hope or 1644 (both of which I played more than these rules).  In fact, the only renaissance/ECW rules I owned before these were the George Gush rules from WRG (and, eventually, Universal Soldier).  I only played these a few times, but I returned to the book for information about the period, and units, artillery types, etc many times over while in my early years of ECW playing.  This was one of those rulebooks that back then (in the 1980s) was in many of the wargaming shops I visited, and also on the rack at vendor booths at wargaming conventions. I saw it a lot, but unfortunately the people I played with did not use it.

One of the things I found disconcerting (more below, as I discuss this effect in regards to shooting) is the fact that the unit is kept track of by its CR, and casualties and effects are based on total CR engaged, and not individual stands or figures.  I understand the reason for this, with mixed units of pike and shot, but it seemed to introduce as many difficulties as it solved, see my comments below about shooting (both musketry and artillery).

The basic scale and representation of the game (in terms of figures per unit, movement and shooting ranges, and also turn/time sequence) works very well.  But for some reason, these rules never quite were the thing in the group I played with. I include it here, because of the impact the book had, and Bill Protz's excellent writing about wargames, not so much because I played it so often (I played almost all the other ECW rules mentioned in this review series - Forlorn Hope, Cavaliers and Roundheads, Universal Soldier, Hackbutt and Pike, and the forthcoming Gush rules and 1644 - more than I played the Wargamer's Guide to the English Civil War).  Eventually, I would get other resources on wargaming units and uniforms and army lists, etc (Forlorn Hope was excellent in that regard, but also great books from Caliver), but early on - this is the book that made me fall in love with wargaming the period.  Even if the rules in this book did not.

Pros/Cons for Musketry and Artillery
Okay, this seems (to me) to be a bit overly complicated, mostly because of the basic structure of WGECW.  The casualty integer is a number of enemy figures killed.  But the final step, of converting it back to points and then deducting it from the CR, is because of the requirement to discuss everything about a unit in terms of CR, rather than in terms of figures. 


I give the author (Bill Protz) the benefit of the doubt, because there are benefits of doing a unit as a whole, even when it is comprised of disparate parts (like pike, officers, halberdiers, and shot all in a large battalia, for instance).  That is always hard to do, and rules for the period (even the latest modern rules) always struggle hard in how to do hybrid units.  The CR system is an elegant way to do it, it just didn't appeal to the people I was playing with.