Positive Modifiers for the Solo Opponent

As promised, here's the list of positive modifiers for a solo opponent(as opposed to negative modifiers against my side) from my last campaign game. An article in Lone Warrior no. 165, "Towards a Solo Opponent – Part 2" by Jim Zylka provided the inspiration for going down this particular path.

As an aside, Mr. Zylka is the author of one of my favorite LW articles and what is reportedly one of the most requested from LW: "Enemy Behavior in Action: Renaissance Swiss." As of this date it's available for download on the Lone Warrior sample article page and certainly worth the read.

In "Towards a Solo Opponent – Part 2", Mr. Zylka lays out a list of events that benefit his "opponent" tactically and that attempt to replicate the kind of luck and skill a good human opponent seems to have. These events must be carried out the specified number of times or he loses the game, regardless of all else that happens on the table top. 

The list he makes is specific to a particular army. Thus, it should be expected that, while there may be some general ideas to use from game to game, army to army, each game will probably have items on the list pertinent to the resources and applicable historical behaviors available to that particular opponent army. That is, the list for Gauls would not be the same as the list for Romans. Scenario specific events, beneficial to our opponent are also likely to be on the list. All of this means, you'll have to do some preparation to have a meaningful list of your own.

My list, on the other hand, was rather quickly compiled, and is, in retrospect, fairly generic (honestly, it didn't seem that way to me initially), save for the G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. related particulars, so perhaps I can be forgiven if some of the modifiers did not come into play.

Without further ado, here is the list I used to make my opponent more crafty a commander:

Every time
(These are of the form - Every time this happens, do this.)

• Roll a neg movement modifier of 3 or more inches, re-roll 1x 
• Charge falls short, move unit into contact

3x per game
(In the article, the events here were better thought out as things which could easily happen 3x or more. For my list, the triggering event - failing a sustain roll for instance, didn't happen 3x. Thus, they should be understood as having the preface of "up to 3x per game.")

• Re-roll failed sustain roll
• Re-roll failed morale check
• Re-roll failed main character save
• Ignore terrain effect on movement

1x per game
(As with the previous grouping, in some cases, the trigger event just didn't happen - e.g. Riesling failing a morale roll never happened, so there were no routed figures.)

• Re-roll failed start roll
• Re-roll vehicle save
• Routed figures are reduced to moving 12” away from leader/kept on table
• Flanking an enemy unit becomes an attack from behind with the attendant beneficial modifiers
• Double movement rate for 1 unit

Although my attempt at formulating a list was imperfect compared to the source of inspiration, those events that did come into play were rather effective. Indeed, I lost to my "opponent", so I think that says something. I'll definitely use this technique again - In particular, I like that it feels more like the enemy is lead by a skilled commander with better luck than mine, than being hamstrung by random events. 

What Worked and What Didn't: Weeks 4 + 5

The last two campaign games gave me opportunity to fiddle with mechanisms to allow me to make one side "mine" while the other would be my "opponent", as opposed to playing both sides with limitations of various sorts applied to each.

The Good

Mythic and IN-RADIC, as expected, proved useful for making decisions for the "other side" or even for my own side when I wanted to make a decision "in character" for a given commander.

Example (IN-RADIC, for Mythic see this post):

Even though it would block fire from troops  in the fort, does Baudrillard position the walker in front of the fort? above avg (i thought this was a good idea for someone with a defensive disposition and given the unreliability of the walker to start- but i compromised it to above avg because maybe there was a better option i wasn't seeing. i rolled and got a fail, which i equate to no. apparently Baudrillard sees something i don't.

Does baudrillard believe that the walker isn’t reliable for movement? (this is based on the previous battles - and i figure it's a near certainty) perfect. This is the equivalent of the Mythic exceptional yes. Not only does he realize it, he plans to capitalize on it by positioning it with a lane of fire across the hill front(which does seem a better choice than my original idea).

Does he place a high value on protecting the walker? It cost the army quite a bit - he knows it's too valuable - if not tactically then politically - to risk it. Above avg. Yes

Will he send his right flank to the left hill to protect the walker from infantry attack? His other lizard units were in field works to be held in reserve so i figure there's not much other choice. Dead certainty. I get a Perfect result and decide that he sends them at full speed and they wont test for orders again until contact w/ Riesling is made.

 I felt like I got reasonable tactics based on logic and not my whim

Random events that negatively impact my side in week 4's game only came into play on 1 turn, but had the desired effect of forcing me to deal with an unanticipated event - in that case, it was that one unit of lizard folk turned on their nearest friendly unit and started attacking.

Similarly, the list of enemy beneficial events (not random, more on that in another post) I created for week 5, worked to give my opponent more favorable dice rolls (when I remembered to apply the rule).

I used a movement modifier for each side in week 5 by rolling one red die (negative) and one green die (positive) and adding the values to the base movement rate. This made it more difficult to plan where a given unit would end its movement. While not a complicated mechanism, it was another variable to handle that could possibly impact my decisions.

In the week 4 game, I tried a 2x2 table (3" grid). Compared to my usual 3x3 table (3" grid), I had about half the space to maneuver. Given the scenario, an entrenched defender vs an attacking force, that was fine, and, as intended, reduced the time until contact.

My attempt to have a more "realistic" break point was a miserable failure. On turn 2 of week 4's battle, I scrapped the idea and returned to my original values. I could tell the game would end far too quickly otherwise. I believe this made for a much more enjoyable game.

The Bad

I failed to account for the smaller board when setting the turn limit for week 4. A smaller board should have had less turns because combat starts much sooner and casualties start piling up that much quicker. Sauvignon-Blanc may have won had this been the case.

Similarly, I should have tested for random events in week 4 on every turn - just as in Chronicles of Blood (the game I took that idea from). Every other turn was not as effective in throwing a wrench into my plans.

I forgot to apply some of the positive modifiers for my opponent in week 5. Although it had no effect on the outcome other than perhaps slowing the speed at which "his" victory occurred, it could have. There may be a point when there's just too much to keep track of once the game is in motion.

The ambush advantage I gave to Sauvignon-Blanc in week 4 seemed like a good idea in my head, but placing two bases so far out front meant that, after their attacks on Riesling, Riesling would return the favor before the ambushing units could retreat out of range. And so, they were destroyed almost immediately. I should have just done this as an off-table pre-battle encounter and simply taken the damage as per my random event list for that game.

I totally forgot the weather in both games - again, maybe too much going on to keep track of. At least not without a better system of organization/presentation (I currently keep my netbook handy while playing to look these things up - which is proving ineffective).

The Ugly

My own tactical choices were probably worse than when I used Mythic to decide!

How are you doing with your 2012 goals?

A lot of us started 2012 bright-eyed and full of wonder and anticipation. Giddy with the blank slate ahead of us, we made all sorts of promises to ourselves (aka goals)- some realistic and some pie-in-the-sky.

Well, here we are, 25% of the year is gone and it's time to assess how we're doing before it gets too late to do anything about it. 

 

Me?

 
2012 Goals Recap

I had 3 main goals that I posted about back in December:

• Weekly painting/terrain making/scenery construction/etc.
• Monthly solo gaming
• 100 posts to this blog

 and three bigger projects I hoped to complete:

• 1/72 WWII Pacific Island Assault
• 54mm 1/72 Morschauser Horse and Musket
• 2mm Napoleonics

Assessment

Overall I feel pretty good about my progress - my imagi-nation campaign on the fictitious island of Helvetica has provided more than ample fodder for contemplating rules, campaign and solo mechanisms and constructing terrain and scenery.

I've fought a number of solo battles - both for my campaign and one-offs.

I've also squeezed in a decent amount of painting  including 48 figures for the 1/72 WWII Pacific Island Assault.

And of course, all of the above has provided me with blog posts to the tune of 40% of my 100 post goal.

Changes?

I may not attempt the 2mm project this year. It's tempting for playing games in limited space at work, but the Morschauser project featuring the Great Northern War is going to require substantial painting effort - 8 boxes of figures in total. Never mind that the USMC and armor for the Pacific Theater have yet to be started (I don't even own the armor yet!).

April's Goals

• Prepare, prime and start painting the USMC - I'd like at least 15-20 done, with an eye towards finishing them by the end of May
• Game at least 1x
• Write 2 entries a week.

So, how are you doing with your goals?

Pumpkin wants to know.

Ambush at the Hills of Cordon Bleu:Campaign Week 5

Turn 0

Sauvignon-Blanc, under the command of Colonel Guillaume Deauxtrieve, sends out a rear guard to cover the retreat of the main body of troops under Colonel Baudrillard.

Staring out across the plain to the foot hills known as Cordon Bleu

Turns 1 -  3

Given the scarce amount of cover, the lone lizard tracker advanced towards the small grove of trees on the right flank. Section 3 under Deauxtrieve advanced between the grove and the central hill, while Section 4 moved to take the hill.

The walker, in an engineering miracle, passed its sustain rolls 2 turns in a row before sputtering to stop.

Tracker-of-Shadow-Ghosts leads the advance and thinks to himself,  "It's quiet. Too quiet." (loosely translated from the local lizard folk dialect)

Turn 4

AMBUSH!

Without warning, the Riesling forces crash out of the forest (not pictured) and on to the plain.

Section 4 advances to the hill

Sergent Jeanclaude and Caporal Genevieve form Section 4 into a firing line.

His blood lust raging, Tracker-of-Shadow-Ghosts charges the Riesling left and draws first blood!

The victor will have to wait to tear the heart from his victim.

Not pictured, Deauxtrieve's section opens fire on Riesling to little effect.

Turn 5

Section 4 opens fire on the Riesling force from their vantage point atop the hill, killing Feldwebel Hegel.

Section 4, 2nd Company opening a can of moderate whoop-ass on Riesling.

Tracker-of-Shadow-Ghosts attempts to further engage the Riesling troop as victims of his terrible onslaught but the Riesling lizard hero, Ka'raz-sekl-ka-la, senses an opportunity for his own carnage.

The ensuing melee would be unmemorable save for the fact that both heroes were killed!

 

Even in death, they are locked in struggle!

Not pictured: The steam tank, proving its engineers were not talentless hacks, passes its sustain roll and pivots 90 degrees to fire at Section 4 atop the hill scoring SIX hits, Sergent Jeanclaude among them. Msr. Jeanclaude, showing his mettle as an officer, dusts himself off, pulls the shrapnel from his overcoat and utters a curse towards his attacker.

With unwavering determination, the Riesling forces advance - Zug 23 risking themselves to provide cover for the Riesling left.

"Charge!" (also translated from lizard folk)

Turns 6 - 7

Deauxtrieve, sensing that it might be best to put some distance between his men and the approaching lizard folk melee troops, moves towards the hill.

The walker and steam tractor exchange artillery fire and both score hits. The steam tractor escapes damage - the round entering and exiting after rattling around a bit. The walker is not so lucky and the drive mechanism may be unrepairable.

As Zug 23 charges Deautrieve's section, Jeanclaude attempts to move the remnants of his force around the hill, using the walker as a shield, to flank the Riesling force:

"Single file everybody! No talking!"

Turn 8

Section 3 holds their own against Zug 23, but Zug 24 joins the fray.

The melee goes badly for Sauvignon-Blanc, but amazingly they pass morale.

I let the dice decide, "Does Deauxtrieve stay and fight or run?" He stays!

He is either courageous or a fool. Or perhaps both.

Screaming "Death or glory!", Deauxtrieve is returned to his maker.

Another Sauvignon-Blanc loss, this time under my direct leadership!

Campaign Week 5 Background

The Setup
Following yet another loss for Sauvignon-Blanc in my imagi-nations campaign, I turned to Mythic to answer a few questions:

Does command replace Baudrillard?

I decide this is very likely but not a sure thing, given the results the last 

time I asked. I get a yes result.

Will the new commander be Bardot?

Bardot has been with Baudrillard since the start and would be the likely choice except that he's also of a defensive nature and Sauvignon-Blanc just can't afford that right now. I figure unlikely and get a no.

Will Bardot also be replaced?

I figure this is likely - out with the old in with the new and all that but I roll a no. Command reasons the men and lizard folk must have some loyalty to Bardot and wouldn't react well to his replacement in light of his not getting the promotion.

Will the new commander be aggressive?

I decide this is a near sure thing and get a yes result.

The Scenario

Lacking a suitable scenario idea for the new commander to get his feet wet, I roll on Mythic's subject and event tables and get "Ambush leadership".

Here's what I came up with:

The new commander, Colonel Guillaume Deauxtrieve, is out with a small force covering the retreat of the remaining Sauvignon-Blanc forces back to the fort at Port Guillaume Le Roy, when he is ambushed by the Riesling avant-garde.

The objective for Sauvignon-Blanc is to escort Deauxtrieve off the table, while for Riesling it's to kill him.


The Forces
As I played Riesling as my own side last time, I opted to play Sauvignon-Blanc this time.

To help guide my decisions for both sides, I used a personality generation system I downloaded from the Yahoo Solo Wargamer's group a few years ago for the individual units and for Deauxtrieve himself. Deauxtrieve, it turns out, is not only aggressive, but seeks to inflict maximum casualties on enemy forces. He may be exactly what Sauvignon-Blanc needs.

As mentioned in my last post, I wanted to do the next campaign game using G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. This would require a reduction in the size of the forces used. I settled on 2 infantry units, 1 hero and 1 vehicle each. A die roll would determine whether a unit was lizard or human.

Sauvignon-Blanc

• Section 3e, 2e Compagnie- - Deauxtrieve (Leader), Corporal Batonrouge (Veteran), 8 soldats
• Section 4e, 2e Compagnie - Sergent Jean-Claude (Leader), Corporal Genevieve (Veteran), 8 soldats
• Walker
• Tracker-of-Shadow-Ghosts (Lizard hero)

Riesling

• Zug 23 - Feldwebel Hegel (Leader), Gefreiter Schultz (Veteran), 8 schutzes
• Zug 24 - Feldwebel Kimmel (Leader), Gefreiter Wilhelm (Veteran), 8 schutzes
• Steam tractor
• Ka'raz-sekl-ka-la (Lizard hero)

G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. Cometh!

After much thought, I've decided the next game in the campaign will be a G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. game with 2 units of infantry, 1 hero and one vehicle per side.

Why the switch?

I've been reading G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. battle reports lately, including some of my own from a few years back that I rediscovered on my hard drive and now I'm jonesing for a game.

G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. requires some preparation. So, tonight, I rolled up everything and now I'm ready to go whenever I get a chance!

15mm SciFi update, Victorian and Otherwise

I broke my left elbow skateboarding the other day (I'm 40, so this got me more than my fair share of raised eyebrows) and that has hindered my ability to type up my thoughts on the Conflict at Candide - not because I can't type, but because one handed typing is painfully slow. Fortunately, I can still paint.

First up, the author and amateur scientist, Mark Twain. Mr. Twain is carrying his scratch-built electro-magnetic razzamataser. Also pictured, the famed occultist, Madame Ishnisanshi:

figures are from Brigade Games 15mm G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. series

Next up, from a galaxy far, far away, a squad of Sepulvedan Control Battalion Riflethings:

Khurasan Miniatures Control Battalion Infantry Riflethings (five poses with pulse rifle)

For these minis, I used the AT-AT driver from The Empire Strikes Back as inspiration for the paint scheme. I have the command pack and plan to order the rest of the riflethings packs - some of which I intend to paint all white like the snow troopers from the same movie.

Conflict at Candide: The War in Pictures

Set Up:

For the narrative and opening dispositions of the opposing forces, please see my last post.

• Sauvignon-Blanc most hold hill for 10 turns + 1d6 while minimizing losses
• Riesling must force Sauvignon-Blanc to abandon their position while minimizing losses.

The Battle:

Turn 1:

Baudrillard orders the lizard unit to his right flank to move left to support the steam walker while the advance units spring their trap!

Ambush! (note the steam tractor which will fail to start when given the chance this turn)

Ra'zel'Krrragh'lah hisses an oath to the Warrior God of his people and raises his battle axe high as Schutze Essenbeck rethinks his decision to leave the family business to his younger brother.

The ambush could not be a better success - both Riesling units are removed from the table. Maybe things are starting to come up Baudrillard?

Not so fast. 

I manage to destroy the ambushers and I feel pretty good about it.

Turn 2:

The dice gods, sensing my bravado, knock me down a peg.

It's an even numbered turn, so I test for a random event (as described here) and, of course, get one: one lizard unit turns on a nearby unit.

Traitors

Turn 3:

Regardless of what happens after this, I am ecstatic: the steam tractor starts and then advances!

Pictures or it didn't happen.

Turn 4:

I breathe a sigh of relief when I test for a random event and roll a 4 (no event). 

To no one's surprise, least of all Baudrillard's, the steam walker opens fire at Riesling troops on the opposite hill and misses.

The tide of the battle clearly is going in Riesling's direction. Even the steam tractor miraculously passes its sustain roll and advances to fire on the walker:

The Riesling army dominates the battle field as the steam tractor spins to fire on the walker.

Two behemoths square off in what will be yet ANOTHER anti-climactic encounter.

Turn 5:

The Sauvignon-Blanc attacks are ineffectual.

My rifle troops on the hill to the left of the fort open fire and score hits - much to my surprise, given that it takes two hits to score 1 on units in cover.

But, against all precedence, it's the steam tractor that will carry the day.

Redemption: Giving up on taking out the walker, the steam tractor, which miraculously passed all of its sustain rolls, opens up on Fort Candide at close range.

Turn 6:

Not pictured: Baudrillard orders his force to abandon their positions. Riesling victory.

Game over.

***

Things are looking grim for Sauvignon-Blanc.

Will Baudrillard remain in command? Will Sauvignon-Blanc stave off the Riesling advance when they next meet? 

A little bit of book keeping and some work on the cork tiles and we'll find out!

Conflict at Candide: Campaign Week 4 pt1

Baudrillard, driven from the bridge over the river Qui, had led his men to the southern most outpost in Sauvignon-Blanc occupied Helvetica - the outpost referred to as "Fort Candide". Consisting of earthworks and a stone walled enclosure situated atop a hill, Fort Candide overlooks a pass to the little explored north eastern wilderness and pass to the northwest which winds down and out of the tropical and rugged interior, to the more temperate amber grasslands that run down to the Helvetica shore line.The latter offers a route to the port of Guillaume Le Roy that doesn't involve traversing mountains, and as such, the outpost holds great strategic importance.


Reinforced by the garrison at the outpost, Baudrillard sent the majority of his human troops onward toward the port, while fresh lizard folk troops were brought up to take their place. 


Bolstered by reports from scouts keeping tabs on the Riesling forces, Baudrillard set a goum of lizard folk to the task of ambushing the attackers. His steam powered walker, which performed horridly at the previous encounters, would be situated on a hill top to the south east,with a clear view to fire on any enemy approaching the fort. As the cannon may fire whether or not the steam engine and mechanical gears are working, there would be no worries about its function.


Supplies to the outpost, meanwhile, had slowed - inadequate rations, ammunition and medicine to fight tropical disease took a toll on morale and men.

Baudrillard inspiring his troops.

***


Dietrich,satisfied with the performance of the troops under his command, had become concerned about the losses being inflicted in spite of the victories. With no word if or when troops would arrive from Riesling, Dietrich opted to send the majority of his human infantry back into Riesling territory - he would, he calculated, be able to finish Sauvignon-Blanc with their allied lizard folk troop and a small number of Riesling infantry, reinforced with fresh troops, in a support role. He was aggressive in pursuit of his objectives, not wreckless.


The Sauvignon-Blanc walker also concerned him - although it had yet to exert any influence in battle, its large cannon could wreak havoc on any assault on the S-B outpost. He would need to take it out as soon as possible.


Although his supply line was now stretched somewhat - supplies remained adequate, the quartermasters working with typical Riesling clockwork efficiency. Morale remained high and as the weather cleared and with the ground drying out (as much as it ever dries in the jungle), the Riesling army marched steadfastly towards battle.


***

The battle lines are drawn!

***
I hope to have the battle written up in the next day or so. Until then!

March Goals Update

The impossible has happened.

I finished the remaining twenty-four 1/72 Waterloo Japanese infantry with almost two weeks left in the month! w00t!

The establishing shot.

A close(er) up

This puts me 1/2 way towards fielding forces for Pacific island battles - one of my 3 bigger projects this year. It's also either tied with or is a close second for the largest force I've ever painted - the 1st is my lizard folk (either 48 or 50 strong, I can't recall).


I've got some Khurasan 15mm sci-fi minis primed and ready to paint. So they're probably next for completion.  In between, I'll be prepping my USMC for priming.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?: Some Thoughts on Morale That May or May Not Ramble Incoherently

After reading Featherstone's Advanced Wargame Ideas and Tony Bath's Ancient Wargaming: Including Setting up a Wargames Campaign, as well as several free rule sets that mention it, I've decided to reduce the morale test requirement for each force

It appears that I've been a bit too generous.

So, adjusting the levels to a more reasonable number:

• A force led by an aggressive leader tests morale after 30% lost
• A force led by neutral leader tests morale after 25% lost
• A force led by a cautious leader tests morale after 20% lost

Now, there is one problem, I admit. Morale in my game is tied to the loss of strength points (in Memoir of Battle each unit has a basic strength value, but MoB has no morale rules of its own). Because the campaign rules allow for the possibility of strength points to be recovered after the battle, I have interpreted that to mean a strength point is a measure of physical health but also of elan, esprit du corps cohesion and such. MoB supports this interpretation I believe, because elite units get +1 and poor a -1 to their basic value. There is no logical necessity that a poor unit must necessarily have fewer bodies than an elite one. A lost strength point, therefore, reflects physical and/or emotional damage.

Clearly, a 20% casualty rate is different than saying, 20% of the troops have lost their will to fight or even 10% are casualties, but 10% have curled up in the fetal position, sucking their thumbs. In one case, you've lost 20% of your force for good and you may not be able to drum up fresh recruits to replace them. In the others, you still have something to work with - although you may need to do something about that thumb sucking.

In any case, I would offer that the MoB and the campaign rules I am using, are not at the "Did Pvt. Jones survive that barrage?" level but are higher up, at the "What's going on with 1st Platoon/Company A/The Queens Guard and do they have the resources to take the hill?"As such, being reduced to 80% of your strength, regardless of the means, ought to be cause for a cautious commander to rethink pushing onward.

I know that some wargamers dislike morale tests and believe it is by their will alone that forces should exit a battle, that a good player would do what is "realistic" (a loaded term if ever there was one when referring to toy soldiers, model vehicles and buidlings and dice rolling).

In some ways, I liken morale tests to alignment in D&D. As one blogger (I wish I could remember which) described it, alignment is the in-game representation of the voice of conscience. Morale is the in-game sense of the on-table commander that the losses may have reached a point where continuing is not the best course of action. Of course, alignment violations can have serious consequences in D&D, while a commander not only can stay on the field of battle after the morale test is taken, but they sometimes do if the dice fall that way, and they may even go on to win the day as a result. So it's not a perfect analogy but I think it shows how I'm viewing the morale test, at least in this campaign - more as a matter of the commander's character than an attempt to forcibly wrest control from the player.

Though it may in fact have the same result as the latter, the effect on me as the player is not "me against the system" but one of gaining some narrative insight to the commander's mind set.

Campaign Week 4: Preparing to Play One Side as "Mine"

To my knowledge, Chronicles of Blood (CoB), a freebie download on WargameVault, has the distinction of being one of the few sets of rules advertised as being designed specifically for solo play. Now, that said, it does not feature an incredible AI, but rather, it codifies into the rules certain techniques familiar to solo wargamers to increase suspense/tension and give advantage to the solo opponent. In this case, the rules provide some general enemy control guidelines, a fixed turn limit, and a table of negative things that can happen to you, the player, each turn depending on the results of a roll on a d4.


While CoA may not be ground breaking - I've seen all of these ideas before - they have provided me a good bit of fun. I contemplated using them wholesale with only some modifications for genre for my next campaign game, just for giggles, as they are written for regimental battles (but I use them for fantasy skirmish).  I'm going to hold off on that for now. Rather, I'll follow their example, and combined with Memoir of Battle, I'll regard one side, Riesling, as "my" side with the system weakening my ability to play favorites. This is something I do often in 1:1 skirmish games but have yet to try in a 1:many game.

Random Events to Put a Damper on My Day
adapted from Chronicles of Blood to fit my campaign/genre/rules


At the start of every other turn, roll 1d4. On a 1, roll 1d6 on the following table:

1. Equipment failure - Vehicle breaks down, will require repair (2 turns, can be non-consecutive, of successful start rolls) OR (if I switch to traditional artillery), powder wet, had to break open new keg - no artillery for 1 + 1d2 turns.
2. Traitors - one base of natives turns on their nearest allies and attacks them on the enemy's activation - stand is permanently lost and under control of enemy for remainder of battle. Does not get added to enemy roster for campaign purposes.
3. Ambush - (1-3) place one enemy stand (3 strength points) if available in the grid space adjacent to one of my units to engage in melee OR (4-6)out of nowhere, archers or/javelin troops hurl their missiles and then disappear (Roll 4d6). Attack is directed against unit nearest an edge of table (dice for ties) or cover .
4. Enemy Reinforcements - Restore the weakest enemy stand to full strength. Dice for ties.
5. Deserters - my lowest strength stand flees the field.
6. Miscommunication - The stand furthest from leader(s) is affected. If more than one, randomly determine by die roll.

• 1-2 The stand moves forward full movement immediately and makes no further action on my turn - if encounters enemy in adjacent square or can't advance as result then melee ensues. if friendly stand, then takes 1 damage to reflect loss of cohesion. If goes off board then out of play remainder of game. 
• 3-4 stand immediately retreats one full move towards baseline - if a full move would take off table then unit is out of play. If would land on grid space with another unit,takes 1 point of damage to represent loss of cohesion, if an enemy the enters melee. 
• 5- 6 Stand takes no actions this turn but may defend itself in melee if attacked.

I'll also use the stipulations from Chronicles of Blood that the solo opponent (Sauvignon-Blanc) always gets initiative.

To better guide decisions for the enemy, I'll be using the Solo DBA Fuzzy Rules from Solo Wargamer for Sauvignon-Blanc's tactical decisions and of course either Mythic, IN-RADIC or RPG Laboratory's Story System as needed.

Irregular Goodness!

I've been wrestling with my laptop lately - Meego just wasn't reliable enough so I first tried the Windows 8 beta, but as a beta I expected issues and subsequently found them. Now I've switched to SimplyMEPIS 8.5 which I have prior experience using and I'll probably stick with it as it's stable (never mind that I spent 45 minutes last night looking up how to mount an NTFS USB harddrive using the Bash command line) - and so I haven't had much time for hobby related fun.

When I've had a moment, it's been spent struggling to paint the rising sun flags that four of the Japanese infantry figures carry. I finally completed two to what I'll call a passable war game standard (a C- at best). The remaining two, plus four radio operators are on deck for this weekend.

And finally, the reason for this post, after only a week, all the way from England, my Irregular Miniatures have arrived!

Is there anything more guilt-inducing than a pile of naked lead?

There's minis present for three new units in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. terms (10 warrior women and 20 dark elves from their 15mm Fantasy line), as well as several character minis(4 Western Gentlemen and the legendary Sir Harry). And, finally, 3 British infantry, some native porters and a handful of askari for Adventures in Jimland! 


I'm very pleased overall with these figures - although some, like the porters, are quite flash heavy.


My Khurasan order arrived yesterday evening but I didn't get a picture of it - it includes some of my favorite figures to date:

Galactic dictator and ninja (the dictator will undoubtedly be painted in colors that go with my Prussian infantry)

and

these guys! (I picture a variety of scenarios centered around Ursids trying to steal their honey)

Campaign Week 3: The Adventures of Soldat Vendredi

The Setup

Utilizing a simple scouting game from Lone Warrior #167, "Indian Scout Game", with some modifications for my setting as detailed previously, I set out to see if Soldat Vendredi and his guide, He-who-eats-the-eyes-of-his-enemy could get back to Baudrillard with intel in time to be of use before the next battle.

The game uses a simple board game type path from point A (in my case, his location while scouting/spying on the forces of Riesling) to point B (a Sauvingnon-Blanc fort) using 1d6 to determine how many spaces to advance. Each space contains a number from 1 to 11 that corresponds to an encounter table. Given the weather for the week is stormy, I reduced all rolls by 1 (thus it's possible he'd be stuck in the same square for more than one turn).

I decided that if Vendredi can get to the fort in less than 4 rolls, Baudrillard will gain a significant advantage: either 1d3 field works in addition to any fortification or the opportunity to spring an ambush on the Riesling force, if he should be so inclined. Six or less and he gets a free roll on a random event table that negatively impacts the Riesling army. Ten or less and no benefit or penalty. More than ten and Baudrillard is himself caught off guard - and I came up with a simple table of possible penalties.

The Game

The weather has gone from bad to worse. The ground gives way beneath my boots, takes hold of them and only relinquishes after a struggle which I lose as often as I win. I volunteer for scouting missions to get away from the drills and the forced marches. When the rain falls like this, I do not know which is worse: to be miserable in camp or to be miserable on my stomach in the mud alongside one of the native intelligent "lizard-men." My companion such as he is, has the most horrifying name, He-who-eats-the-eyes-of-his-enemy. I can not stress how glad I am that he is on our side.

-excerpt from the diary of Renault Vendredi, Helvetica, 1889

***

Turn 1 - I land on a possible encounter with an enemy patrol of 2+ 2d6 enemies. I roll to see if they spot our heros.

Today we were nearly discovered by a Riesling patrol. Tense moments passed and I held my breath. My finger never left the trigger of my rifle. A torrential downpour afforded us the opportunity to slip past their watch undetected.

***
Turn 2 - Another encounter. This time there is no possibility of avoiding combat. I roll on the encounter table I generated and get mantis-men. Since these are recently painted, I'm rather glad of it! I'm using the free Chain Reaction: Final Version from Two Hour Wargames. Our heroes are both Rep 5, Soldat Vendredi is the leader and star. There are 3 mantis-men and I roll for their Reps using the rule book - all are Rep 4.

As we made our way back to our fellows, we were set upon by three savage humanoid mantis creatures crashing out of the forest behind us:

Ambush!

Here I used my old copy of Six Gun Sound to devise a mechanism determine how far away the mantis-men started. I rolled 1d6 * 3" and then placed them with die rolls. One of them started in sight and so I decided he, Vendredi and He-who...(the problem with such a name is that typing it takes too much effort) would all take in-sight tests.

There is no love lost between the lizard folk and the mantis creatures. My companion growled viciously, set his spear and charged the first visible:

Our heroes

He-who... scored highest with 4 successes, Vendredi 3 and the mantis 2. He-who... rolled on the grunt table and passed. Lacking any means of firing, he charged.

The mantis-men showed no fear however - a feeling of which they are incapable!

The villains! boo! hiss!

I advanced the lizard-man to within 6" of the mantis, stopped and checked both the mantis and lizard man on the charge table. They tied and thus the lizard moved up to melee. In so doing, he triggered an in-sight test for one of the hidden mantis (the one not in the woods) who passed 1 success - so he will get his turn when the in-sights tick down to the 1s. The melee was quick - the mantis ended up stunned.


As a star, Vendredi can do as he likes and I opt to have him hold where he is.


The remaining mantis with an in-sight success rolls on the grunt actions and charges, only to be knocked down stunned as well. 


I roll activation - the mantis win with a 6, but they can't act as none of them are a Rep 6. Vendredi advances with a fast move and He-who auto kills the second stunned mantis.


Activation again and the mantis roll another 6! He-who auto kills the first stunned mantis.


Vendredi takes his own sweet time advancing.


Activation again, He-Who enters the woods and the mantis charges him. The results are pictured below.

He-who-eats-the-eyes-of-his-enemy tore into the mantis with savage fury. There was nothing left for me to do! By himself, he killed them all. A terrifying but welcome fact!

Behold the carnage!

Turn 4 - our heroes advance but no encounter or incident.

Turn 5 - Another encounter, this time friendly.

Today we encountered a friendly patrol of lizard folk in alliance with Sauvignon-Blanc. They showed us a quicker route back to the fort. They gave us food and fresh water and we were on our way.

Turn 6 - the fort is reached without further incident.

****

After thoughts:

I don't normally include everything (setup, game and thoughts) in one post, but this was a rather short game - or would have been if I didn't have to look up the rules constantly in addition to taking pictures and notes.

The mantis men, all Rep 4, were no match for the Rep 5 lizard man - both sides got an extra d6 for melee, which essentially eliminated any advantage it might give. Poor die rolling didn't help the mantis cause- rolling 6 for activation, while higher than that rolled by my side, left them without any option other than reaction.

I enjoyed using CRFV even more this time.My "roster" worked as I hoped and kept the table clear (the skull and crossbones is something I use regularly for kills, so I don't consider it part of the clutter). Here's a picture of the roster:

My board-decluttering Roster

Dice and markers go in appropriate boxes as needed to remind me of in-sight scores, who needs to take reactions resulting from in-sight actions, as well as who is fast moving, who is ducked down, etc. I failed to include a few things however, so I need to update it before I use it again.

For a very small skirmish, such as this, I'm starting to think I could live with these rules - I didn't feel like I was rolling tons of dice, even when I was. The games go fast however, and there are times (most of the time), when I want a longer game even with only a few figures on the table. 

I am a little disappointed I didn't get more than one combat. I had hoped to evaluate the rules further. Still,I stuck with what I rolled on the scout encounter table in order to be as impartial as I can be. The result of 6 turns will give Sauvignon-Blanc some small advantage in the next battle.