I played a bunch of scenario #28 "Botched Relief" some time ago with my 25mm medievals, using a Byzantine v. Goth theme [CLICK]. It was quite interesting, the biggest challenge being how to handle the reinforcing units from the hill. The trick for the attacker is to not destroy each one quickly, since they activate sequentially after the destruction of the preceding unit. The defender wants the biggest bang possible so that the next unit can activate after its predecessor is destroyed. Meanwhile, the attacker is trying to take a "fortified position" of some sort, be it town, whatever. Pretty tense, tightly balanced scenario.
I didn't bother with the road...as everyone is in range of the gun, no one is moving in column on a road, anyway! Victory goes to whomever holds the redoubt with the gun in it at the end of the battle.
Initial Hold Cards. Heavily favor the Confederates [in red]! This works well for the scenario design, showing the "surprise attack at dawn" aspect of the Rebel attack. The wealth of Hold cards shows that Hood made his plans thoroughly, and has lots of staff resources on hand.
The question is...will the other Union units awaken and form up in time to affect the battle?
Winfield Scott Hancock v. John Bell Hood...what's not to like?? Figures are by Chintoys, a bit pricey but nice poses.
WSH: "He won't be hood-winking me today!"
JBH: "Ask not for whom the cock crows - it crows for thee!"
Interestingly, Hancock [CLICK] is from the Montgomeryville area, not too far from here. I believe his family farm is now a combination bypass and strip mall, unfortunately.
First draw - red king goes to the confederacy. It allows all four Units to move together. The two on the right, tasked with taking the redoubt, push out skirmish companies to screen their advance. The other two advance in line, one wheeling to face the reinforcement from the hill.
A black king allows the Union gun to fire, and then an Ace allows it to act a second time [normally units are one and done]. At medium range, the gun hits on a 5+, and the skirmishers save on a 4+ in the open. Two go down, an ominous start.
Next card is a red 8, and a new cycle of activity for the Confederacy [once all your units have activated, you start over regardless of how much activating the other side has had]. I decide to push on as fast as possible with my attack, as standing around will only result in more losses. I push the skirmishers up and they fire a weak volley that gets no hits.
They are swiftly followed by their center companies.
Next, a red Ace! I activate the same Rebel unit, roll a '12' and close in on the gun and preparing to charge it. Another volley from the skirmishers results in two Hits but both are saved.
I'm thinking we'll be taking this redoubt in the next activation or two, no doubt about it - Yeeeeehawww!
Another red card, and I move up Hood's supporting attacker.
Finally, a black card! I activate the supporting Union infantry to wear down the Rebel skirmishers, getting 1 casualty at long range. The screaming rebel failed his save.
Union reinforcements wake up and move down the hill.
Next red card, the rebels who will engage the Union infantry advance into range. They can't shoot - you only shoot at the start of your move in this game [unless a skirmisher - they can shoot at the start or end of their move].
First Joker is turned! This ends both players cycles and removes Disorder markers. We start fresh, and it probably favors Hood's assault more than the Bluebelly's defense.
The coins marking activated Units are removed...but who will get the first card draw??
It's to the Rebs and a face card! This means the three Units near each other can all activate - the fourth to the left has fallen behind, and is too far away to activate with them.
I fire everyone at the Union infantry, but only get one hit and it is saved.
The supporting Reb assault unit moves up [you can use Hold cards to pull in a nearby friendly unit when you charge, so sort of a "supporting charge" rule] close to the assault unit...
...which then recalls its skirmishers. Must reform the skirmishers on the main body, so stuck in front of the gun - but I wanted all remaining 8 figs on the attack.
I then drawn another red card, so move up the last Reb Infantry; might be useful attacking or holding off the Union reinforcements, we'll have to see how it goes.
Union draws a card and knocks down a reb with the muzzle blast alone! [actually, I think this was two hits not one].
Next black card, Hancock moves up his reinforcement Unit [3-2 is one thing, 4-2 is overwhelming]. This is the main tension for the attacker in Neil Thomas' simple but brilliant scenario. The attacker must decide how much he will devote to holding off the reinforcing Unit v. supporting his attack. Per the victory conditions, the attacker can sacrifice those units as long as he takes the objective town / bunker / redoubt.
getting a bit close on the left there...
All Reb units have activated, so a new cycle starts for Hood. He draws a 6 of Hearts, and charges the gun, using a 2 of diamonds Hold Card to bring along the supporting Unit which is at 90%. Union uses their Queen of spades Hold card to blast the charger Point Blank, getting 3 Hits, of which only one is saved - two more Rebs down and a 50% check!
The roll a Fall Back result and skedaddle 8". They are also supposed to be Disordered, but I missed that.
Still, their supporting Unit is on hand and the gun has shot its load so they go straight into the charge sequence.
The Union are gunners but have one advantage, defending an obstacle, while the Rebs have none, so both sides hit the same. Unfortunately, the Rebs only get 2 hits on 9 dice, while the gunners roll well and get 2 for 4! As it is a tie, both sides may hold position, Disordered, or Fall Back. I seem to have overlooked the Disorder, however. I'm also uncertain what it means for them to "hold position" [p.44 of rules]...are they 'locked in melee" or just staying very close to one another?
They are then allowed to roll to recover losses on a 5+ as stragglers show up, etc. Each recovers a bit, one gunner and two infantry respectively. Net loss is one each and a deadlock on the objective, with both having support nearby.
Union infantry fires getting three hits, but two are saved.
Union starts new activation cycle, drawing a number card, activating the infantry at the wall, and inflict another loss on the Rebs in front of them [I forgot they may be "locked in melee" in which case they can't be fired upon I'm certain].
Rebels shoot back, firing everyone at the infantry, but the Union save all three hits. Should've shot a gunner!
Next card draw, the second Joker shows up! This not only ends both player's activation cycle, but means they lose all their Hold cards. I forgot this, and also forgot to move Hood or Hancock at all, so I give Hood a move and allow him to use one Hold Card which he spends to reposition the left - most infantry unit.
So far this has been quite enjoyable, and I like the unpredictable turn sequence that is a moderated by the Hold Card mechanic. There is plenty of gritty old-school mechanics involved, and I'm OK with that, also.
The "feel" is pretty small-unit, mostly due to the highly integrated turn sequence. I'd say that the units feel like a single gun, or a platoon of infantry. This is accentuated by the small unit size and the large size of my Armies in Plastic figs, also. Definitely not a "brigade or two a size" feel of game, for me. Also, the little detailed rule mechanics emphasize that small Unit feel. Reminds me of The Sword and the Flame, where Larry Brom called units regiments and squadrons and batteries and such, but it really felt like a platoon, a troop and a gun, instead.
My only rules questions have been how to measure range [center to center? figure by figure?] and how does a Close Combat continue to additional activation cards on a tie.
Exciting little action, and the big question is...having blown their chance to take the position, will the Rebs get another bite at the apple? Statistically, the Rebs should've gotten 3 hits and the Union 1.3, driving the gunners out. I fully expected the Union infantry to have to try and retake the gun with the neighboring infantry.
**next post - the grand finale!
Simple map below. The usual 3x3' has to be spread out a bit wider for AGW, so more like 4x3' for me.
And this is what it looks like on my dining table:
Above, the classic toy Soldier pile of books for a long hill, with a bastion protecting a field gun, and an earthwork with an Infantry Unit. Initially, they will be outnumbered 2-1, and artillery are a bit frail when assaulted, 4 figs v. 10 for my Infantry Units. The second Unit - if used - would be a unit of Sharpshooters with rifle-muskets. I was then just going to repeat the same reinforcing units again.
Below, the Confederates in butternut, four Infantry Units of 10 figs each, all armed with muskets as this is an early war battle. The only rifles are the sharpshooter reinforcing unit.
I didn't bother with the road...as everyone is in range of the gun, no one is moving in column on a road, anyway! Victory goes to whomever holds the redoubt with the gun in it at the end of the battle.Initial Hold Cards. Heavily favor the Confederates [in red]! This works well for the scenario design, showing the "surprise attack at dawn" aspect of the Rebel attack. The wealth of Hold cards shows that Hood made his plans thoroughly, and has lots of staff resources on hand.
The question is...will the other Union units awaken and form up in time to affect the battle?
Winfield Scott Hancock v. John Bell Hood...what's not to like?? Figures are by Chintoys, a bit pricey but nice poses.
WSH: "He won't be hood-winking me today!"
JBH: "Ask not for whom the cock crows - it crows for thee!"
Interestingly, Hancock [CLICK] is from the Montgomeryville area, not too far from here. I believe his family farm is now a combination bypass and strip mall, unfortunately.
First draw - red king goes to the confederacy. It allows all four Units to move together. The two on the right, tasked with taking the redoubt, push out skirmish companies to screen their advance. The other two advance in line, one wheeling to face the reinforcement from the hill.
A black king allows the Union gun to fire, and then an Ace allows it to act a second time [normally units are one and done]. At medium range, the gun hits on a 5+, and the skirmishers save on a 4+ in the open. Two go down, an ominous start.
Next card is a red 8, and a new cycle of activity for the Confederacy [once all your units have activated, you start over regardless of how much activating the other side has had]. I decide to push on as fast as possible with my attack, as standing around will only result in more losses. I push the skirmishers up and they fire a weak volley that gets no hits.
They are swiftly followed by their center companies.
Next, a red Ace! I activate the same Rebel unit, roll a '12' and close in on the gun and preparing to charge it. Another volley from the skirmishers results in two Hits but both are saved.
I'm thinking we'll be taking this redoubt in the next activation or two, no doubt about it - Yeeeeehawww!
Another red card, and I move up Hood's supporting attacker.
Finally, a black card! I activate the supporting Union infantry to wear down the Rebel skirmishers, getting 1 casualty at long range. The screaming rebel failed his save.
Union reinforcements wake up and move down the hill.
Next red card, the rebels who will engage the Union infantry advance into range. They can't shoot - you only shoot at the start of your move in this game [unless a skirmisher - they can shoot at the start or end of their move].
First Joker is turned! This ends both players cycles and removes Disorder markers. We start fresh, and it probably favors Hood's assault more than the Bluebelly's defense.
The coins marking activated Units are removed...but who will get the first card draw??
It's to the Rebs and a face card! This means the three Units near each other can all activate - the fourth to the left has fallen behind, and is too far away to activate with them.
I fire everyone at the Union infantry, but only get one hit and it is saved.
The supporting Reb assault unit moves up [you can use Hold cards to pull in a nearby friendly unit when you charge, so sort of a "supporting charge" rule] close to the assault unit...
...which then recalls its skirmishers. Must reform the skirmishers on the main body, so stuck in front of the gun - but I wanted all remaining 8 figs on the attack.
I then drawn another red card, so move up the last Reb Infantry; might be useful attacking or holding off the Union reinforcements, we'll have to see how it goes.
Union draws a card and knocks down a reb with the muzzle blast alone! [actually, I think this was two hits not one].
Next black card, Hancock moves up his reinforcement Unit [3-2 is one thing, 4-2 is overwhelming]. This is the main tension for the attacker in Neil Thomas' simple but brilliant scenario. The attacker must decide how much he will devote to holding off the reinforcing Unit v. supporting his attack. Per the victory conditions, the attacker can sacrifice those units as long as he takes the objective town / bunker / redoubt.
getting a bit close on the left there...
All Reb units have activated, so a new cycle starts for Hood. He draws a 6 of Hearts, and charges the gun, using a 2 of diamonds Hold Card to bring along the supporting Unit which is at 90%. Union uses their Queen of spades Hold card to blast the charger Point Blank, getting 3 Hits, of which only one is saved - two more Rebs down and a 50% check!
The roll a Fall Back result and skedaddle 8". They are also supposed to be Disordered, but I missed that.
Still, their supporting Unit is on hand and the gun has shot its load so they go straight into the charge sequence.
The Union are gunners but have one advantage, defending an obstacle, while the Rebs have none, so both sides hit the same. Unfortunately, the Rebs only get 2 hits on 9 dice, while the gunners roll well and get 2 for 4! As it is a tie, both sides may hold position, Disordered, or Fall Back. I seem to have overlooked the Disorder, however. I'm also uncertain what it means for them to "hold position" [p.44 of rules]...are they 'locked in melee" or just staying very close to one another?
They are then allowed to roll to recover losses on a 5+ as stragglers show up, etc. Each recovers a bit, one gunner and two infantry respectively. Net loss is one each and a deadlock on the objective, with both having support nearby.
Union infantry fires getting three hits, but two are saved.
Union starts new activation cycle, drawing a number card, activating the infantry at the wall, and inflict another loss on the Rebs in front of them [I forgot they may be "locked in melee" in which case they can't be fired upon I'm certain].
Rebels shoot back, firing everyone at the infantry, but the Union save all three hits. Should've shot a gunner!
Next card draw, the second Joker shows up! This not only ends both player's activation cycle, but means they lose all their Hold cards. I forgot this, and also forgot to move Hood or Hancock at all, so I give Hood a move and allow him to use one Hold Card which he spends to reposition the left - most infantry unit.
So far this has been quite enjoyable, and I like the unpredictable turn sequence that is a moderated by the Hold Card mechanic. There is plenty of gritty old-school mechanics involved, and I'm OK with that, also.
The "feel" is pretty small-unit, mostly due to the highly integrated turn sequence. I'd say that the units feel like a single gun, or a platoon of infantry. This is accentuated by the small unit size and the large size of my Armies in Plastic figs, also. Definitely not a "brigade or two a size" feel of game, for me. Also, the little detailed rule mechanics emphasize that small Unit feel. Reminds me of The Sword and the Flame, where Larry Brom called units regiments and squadrons and batteries and such, but it really felt like a platoon, a troop and a gun, instead.
My only rules questions have been how to measure range [center to center? figure by figure?] and how does a Close Combat continue to additional activation cards on a tie.
Exciting little action, and the big question is...having blown their chance to take the position, will the Rebs get another bite at the apple? Statistically, the Rebs should've gotten 3 hits and the Union 1.3, driving the gunners out. I fully expected the Union infantry to have to try and retake the gun with the neighboring infantry.
**next post - the grand finale!
Definitely Old School gaming here!
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