OHW Symposium: Scenario #8 Analysis, p.1

Scenario 8 is a classic: it has few moving parts but they keep the puzzle puzzling. It also shows its inherent design strength by consistently presenting a similar challenge through various periods - as long as your rule mods don't break it by eliminating one of the key aspects of the game: force composition and terrain mechanics.

...such a simple table! How are we to know there's hours and hours of study here?

The military challenge has North Red defender holding a hill that interdicts a road that attacker Blue is advancing upon from the South. Blue detours to seize the hill while Red forces rush to reinforce from the North and West. We may imagine that Red has a series of units spread at key points in the campaign area to defend itself from the Blue invasion. Some details:

• Both sides have 6 Units.
• Red may select 2 Units to setup on the hill facing South. Two groups of two Units arrive on turns 3 and 6, the first at the road, the second from the West side, just North of the hill itself.
• Blue has two groups of 3 Units arriving turn 1 and 4, via the road.
• Red has first player Turn.

Winner must be in exclusive control of the hill. As it is relatively easy to contest the hill, one must destroy enough enemy Units that they cannot contest it at game end. 

It should also be noted that one can introduce a tie-breaking mechanic:

- the side with the most Units on the hill, or the fewest Units destroyed, wins a marginal victory
- dice against Unit losses until one side retreats on Turn 15 [so if Blue has lost 3 Units, and Red 4 Units, Red would roll trying to beat a 4 - if passed, Blue must roll trying to beat a 3 - continue until one side fails and decides to retreat to lick their wounds].

Doing this usually makes the skillful player the winner.

Key to the entire position, IMHO, is the small wood and the hill area behind it [so the East end 6"], which secure the flank of Units on the hill. The hill is very strong to the South, as both defending Units will be able to fire from it [if not shooting Units, give an uphill defense from a charge into melee, taking half casualties so lasting twice as long as normal]. However the hill is weak on its East side, where only one unit can face East and the attacker can mass the power of 2-3 Units. As the attacker only has a slight advantage of 3-2 Units with which to attack, a choice must be made to attack from the South or the East.

Complicating the selection of a Blue axis of attack and how to develop it are the period rules and the force composition. For 6 of the 9 early OHW period rules, entry into Woods is limited to Skirmish Units that 1/3 of the time Red or Blue will not have [if using the diced force composition mechanic on p.64]. For the remaining 3 Late period rules [ACW, WWI and WWII] the importance of the woods is greatly reduced as all Infantry may enter it, and Infantry are 1/2 - 2/3 of the force.

Below, I give some situations regarding force composition issues. As my Feudal Welsh borderlands collection crosses over the Ancients, Dark Ages and the Medieval Unit selection a bit, it may not be strictly accurate for all the force composition lists, unfortunately. It does show the ease with which one can adapt the general period lists to more specific historical events, forces, Unit types and locations, however.

Problem #1: Red has no Units that can occupy the wood and Blue does

Red is in serious trouble as the wood will be used as a base for the Blue attack. Below, Red occupies strong position with two infantry - taking half casualties in melee in the early sets of rules, but neither can occupy the woods. Turn 1, Blue advances with mixed force of one Cavalry [Welsh javelin throwing Teulu], one Skirmisher, and one Archer Unit.

Turn 2 below, Cavalry threatens to engage, Skirmisher occupies wood, Archers flank hill. Red's possibilities aren't great - move off the hill against faster foes? Await reinforcements?

Situation improved: Red has an Archer to oppose the Blue force, but which Unit to target? The menacing Teulu, the harassing Skirmishers, or the opposing Archers??

Situation even worse: Red has no shooting, while Blue is maxed out with two Archers and a Skirmisher. OHW rule hills do not have an advantage against shooting, only melee. In this case, Red will lose at least one Unit to massed archery, and hope to hang on until Reinforcements enter next Turn - and they'll need to be Knights/Cavalry and Archers.

Problem #2: Red has a Unit to occupy the wood and Blue does not

The mechanic for Line of Sight INTO woods is now crucial - and NT doesn't specifically state one in the OHW.  However it can be assumed from the rule explanations and scenario commentary that it is "you can see into the entire wood, but not thru two sides of it, i.e. through the entire wood." 

Some other typical mechanics to handle line of sight in woods:

- you can see a limited distance into the woods, e.g. short range shooting distance.

- you can only see a unit lining the edge of the woods.

Obviously, the type of wood and the ability of Units to fighting into and within it depends on the location / history and the scale of the game - the smaller the scale, the easier it should be to see into the woods.

Below, Red Player Turn 1, he starts with an Infantry and a Skirmisher on the hill...

...and occupies the wood with the Skirmisher.

Blue Player Turn 1, half his force enters: Knight, Archer and Infantry:

Red occupies a central, forward position in the wood and none of the Blue Units may enter it, ergo cannot melee the Skirmish Unit. The Skirmisher may emerge to use its limited fighting power against the Blue Infantry or Archers, but it is not wise - as long as they stay in the wood, the Skirmisher has protection from shooting and being charged. In effect, the wood is a small fortress just for the one Unit.

Blue Player Turn 2, he splits his forces - Archers stand and shoot Red Skirmisher, Knights go left to threaten Red Infantry, Infantry go forward on road to act as a blocking force or to get onto the East side of the hill. It looks like a grim situation for Red at this point.

Red Player Turn 3, two Units enter, a Cavalry and an Archer.

Blue Player Turn 3, the Knights threaten the West hill flank, the Infantry back up from the combination threat of Archers and Mounted, while the Blue Archers continue to attack the Skirmishers from outside their range. Red now occupies a strong central position while Blue is scattered, with the knights being especially vulnerable.

Red Player Turn 4, he exploits his central position, advancing with Archers and Cavalry to stall the Blue attack. While the Skirmishers have little to do except lurk in the woods and toss a few javelins at the Blue Infantry, their presence has been significant.

Alternative to Problem #2: 

As above, but Blue has an effective force entering: 2 Archers and a Knight!

The presence of Blue massed Archers forces the Red Skirmishers out of the woods or they will be destroyed in about 3 turns - 2 if Blue rolls well!

Blue still has to spread out a bit to work the 12" Range for Archers, but they will continue to threaten both Units on the hill - when one is weakened, the Knights can charge it.

Again, Red will be relying on the arrival of reinforcements to hold out. Their arrival immediately pressures Blue on the road, while the Cavalry can help hold the hill.

The above solutions apply to all the earliest rules: Ancients, Dark Ages, Medievals and Pike and Shot. In the following Horse & Musket / Musket & Saber rules, If Red has a Skirmish Unit, it must start the game on the hill above the wood while the other Unit should be an Infantry, possibly an artillery if it is powerful enough [shooting d6 at least]. 

If Blue has no skirmishers and Red does, then the first thing Blue must do is advance against the wood at an angle shielded from the firepower of Red's other Unit. Blue then destroys the Red Skirmisher occupying the wood - or forces Red to retreat it - and moves against the remaining Unit on the hill. The speed with which this happens and Red's selection of the first pair of reinforcements will determine how much this will help Blue. If a Red Cavalry and Artillery enter, then they will quickly make their influence felt.

Conclusions on Scenario #8 and the Early Period Rules

In my experience, attacking from the South only works if the 3-2 Blue advantage in numbers brings a significant position or firepower advantage. This means Blue can exploit the woods and Red cannot [a position advantage] or Blue can bring sufficient firepower to bear that at least one Red Unit is destroyed. An example would be two Archers to none, or 3 v. 2 Infantry / Reiters in Pike and Shot [and...keep your powder dry!].

So in the Ancient, Dark Ages, Medieval and Pike & Shot periods both sides will have to start the game with their best shooting Units and / or a Skirmisher, if available [and they aren't always both officially available in a period, e.g. Medieval, and if they are available they are limited in quantity to 0-2 typically]. 

In the Horse and Musket period, both sides will have 3-4 Infantry with good firepower so the presence of a Skirmisher is less impactful, and only if one side has it and the other doesn't. if Red has one then Blue will be forced to reduce or screen the wood. Its weaker firepower will be offset by the cover advantage, taking only half Hits. This will leave two Blue Infantry to gang up on a lone Red Infantry on the hill, but it will take time and Red reinforcements are arriving soon. 

Alternately, Blue can attack the hill straight on with three Infantry Units, accepting some casualties from a Red Skirmisher in the woods while blasting the other off the hill. This may work before Red reinforcements arrive at the hill since none of these rules give shooting cover to Units on the hill, but they DO give a significant melee advantage of halved casualties. It will certainly help Blue to possess the only skirmisher, as he will use the wood as a little fortress to assist the attack of the two Blue Infantry which will be attempting to handle two Red Infantry already on the hill.

In all the above, one can make an error, or roll poorly, which will affect the outcome. So, don't do that!  :)

Hope this has been a helpful presentation, but that's not all of it - tune back in for Part 2 - the later periods" ACW, WWI and WWII.