Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Convoy Must Get Through

The invasion of Vaneria by the combined armies of Odessinau and Latveria took everyone by surprise.  Believing the allies to have been sufficiently chastised the previous year the Vanerian leadership on the border had relaxed somewhat.

Reacting quickly reinforcements have been dispatched and supplies gathered to run into the soon-to-be-besieged city of Proskurov.  As the invading armies spread out, light troops were sent to harry and disrupt wherever possible such plans.

And so we find ourselves with a convoy of eight wagons and two herds of livestock, escorted by a Janissary regiment, a battalion of light infantry and a squadron of cavalry desperately trying to get themselves under the protective guns of the Gammon Ravelin.  With equal determination a trio of light cavalry squadrons and a light infantry battalion seek to stop them.  Rules are Batailles de l'Ancien Regimes by Bill Protz.  Each unit (or the convoy) are activated on a turn of the card, as is the order of musketry fire.  Being a cobbled together convoy of mostly civilian wagons, even on the road their movement is slow.

The convoy and their view of the distant ravelin.  The back table is in play.  The Janissary regiment has been split into two elements, with the lights in open order on the right side of the road and the Cossacks trailing.

To their left a squadron of hussars leads a light infantry battalion.  The convoy got the first move, then everyone else started moving on card flips.

The Odessinau troops get ready for combat.  In the distance the mercenary Bosniaks and Colonel Stark's light cavalry move after a delay.

But they too get into battle order, facing the lights and Cossacks.  Both the Bosniaks and Cossacks are irregular units so if they charge they will immediately fall into disorder.

The Bosniaks test the mettle of the Vanerian lights.  The melee is inconclusive and the cavalry bounces back to try again.

Seeing the large body of disciplined infantry the Odessinau cavalry relocates behind the woods as the light infantry prepares to engage.

The firing and movement cards to a lesser degree favored the allies.  One Vanerian battalion was severely reduced before they got to fire.

The Bosniaks and lights were pretty inefficient but the morale toss for the lights broke them and they were pursued to destruction.

Although doing grievous harm with musketry to the Odessinau hussars, Colonel Stark's unit handily defeated the Cossacks and found themselves in an enviable position.

Mindful of their mission and aided by the fact that the civilian drivers and refugees wouldn't fight back, the cavalry plunged in among the convoy.  

The head of the convoy got under the guns of the ravelin and was able to reach Proskurov later.  A squadron of Vanerian dragoons showed up belatedly to help and the garrison of the ravelin sortied to help cover the survivors.  In the end, both livestock herds were lost along with four wagons.  The Vanerian lights took 60% casualties after being routed (more on that next).  A Odessinau hussar squadron was routed as was one of the Janissary battalions.  The ravelin was under orders to conserve ammunition so could only fire if the enemy came within 30".  Likewise, the allies were under orders not to proceed too close since they needed to be preserved.  In the wagons taken was found food and musket ammunition, the sheep and cattle may or may not make it to the main body. 

After the action, casualties were diced for.  A roll on a d6 of 1-3 was a light wound or straggler that would rejoin their unit the next day.  A roll of 4-5 was a heavy wound that necessitated going into hospital with a doubtful return.  Finally a roll of a 6 was killed outright.  The results are tracked by the referee (me) and are carried forward in our Imagi-Nation campaign.  Unlike others we have played using the works of Charles S. Grant, we are going "off script."  The commanders will be able to make their own decisions regarding the prosecution of the siege and defense.  Interesting times await.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

A New War Looms for Imagi-Nations

After the planned invasion of Vaneria was preempted by a counter-invasion of Odessinau, the rebuff did not discourage the alliance of Odessinau and Latveria from planning new mischief.  King Alfred of Latveria invited King Alaniz of Odessinau to his dreary capital of Krakow for planning in a cold February.

From a palace painting.

In the end it was decided that Odessinau would provide the bulk of the forces for what was optimistically labeled the “Hammer Blow.”  Latveria would add supporting elements and would put as much of it’s army in the field as was judged safe.  Neighboring recent enemies Litharus and Rondovia were judged to likely remain in camp, providing only limited logistical support to their distant neighbors.  But it is written that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so who could predict the future?


The plan called for a strike force to move in secret on the Vanerian city of Proskurov, which sits astride the Buh River in the Ukraine.  Projections by engineers and senior staff suggested that it would take 30 days to dig the parallels, set the siege gun positions and open a functional breach in the walls.  During that time the plan was that Latveria would tie up the bulk of the available Vanerian army.  Naturally, any delays would increase the chance of a relief force intervening.  Once there was a practical breach the city would be summoned to surrender, of failing that, to be stormed and sacked.  Field Marshal Ivan Oleksander of Odessinau will act as overall commander of the besieging and immediate covering force with Princess Victoria von Dhoom of Latveria getting her first semi independent command.

Proskurov’s defenses had been upgraded during the Vanerian occupation from the 17th century Vauban style fortress to include outer works and an improved citadel to anchor the fort on the more vulnerable side facing Odessenau.  The Gammon Ravelin in particular will have to be dealt with before a proper siege can begin.

A peaceful winter in Proskurov. (Now known as Khmelnytskyi)

The Gammon Ravelin


A transcript of the court proceedings when Jaan Abdul-Jaleel Yaman, Sovereign of Two Continents, was informed of the movement of the Axis forces:

“The very firmament will tremble beneath the multitude of hooves and boots that shall respond with such overwhelming force that the only recourse these foreign invaders will have is total capitulation to The Khan of Two Seas.

The hand of Venaria lies lightly upon the land of compliant vassals.  The hobnailed boot will be driven through the throat of all rebels.”

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Great River Race

Rebels and Patriots is an Osprey rule set and has been a point of interest for some time now.  The games play fast and clean and give me a chance to use my 25/28mm French and Indian War figures which have set idle for years.  For a quick game it naturally sacrifices some "realism" and this is no exception.  Taking the game at face value it has been satisfying so far.  Depending on the scenario each player controls a 24 point company that you can customize by upgrading or degrading units.  So for example you can have natives, light or line or "shock" infantry that can sharpshooters, regulars or poor shots.  Each unit activates typically on a 6+ roll of 2d6.  The company commander gives motivation bonuses and can be played almost like an RPG as he can gain rank and abilities (not all are good) as he progresses.

This was our third game and represents the French with 18 points attempting to get three rafts of supplies down the river and off the 4x4' table.  The British with 24 points have other plans, and a French relief force is on the way.

My homemade rafts with marines and milice aboard.

The activation dice were cruel and a raft broke up immediately
drowning the crew.

The British attempted to cut them off at the ford and capture them.

Just in time some French arrived to shoot British in the back.

This had the desired effect, allowing the two rafts to escape.

Though one was just carried by the current, all aboard down.
Each turn the French diced to see how far the rafts would go and whether they would change lanes in the river, potentially grounding or hitting one another.  After the wretched initial luck the French avoided hitting land or each other.  In the end both officers gained "honor" points in equal numbers.  This scenario is very hard for the river rats and may need some tweaking next time we run it.

We reset the table and did the Beans and Bullets scenario too.
Alas, this was the only picture I took of the glorious French victory.  This game, with each side having 24 point companies, was as difficult for the attacker as the last one was for the defender.  While the British were able to loot part of the French camp they were pushed away with heavy casualties.

We need to add cannons and cavalry to future games to see how they play.  Then and only then will we talk about whether we want to "house rule" anything.  In theory the rules will accommodate games from 1750-1868, but I'm looking for something at the early end.  

Friday, November 8, 2019

Rock-Con 2019

Once again we returned to Rock-Con at the Tebala Even Center in Rockford, IL.  I've been going for years with the intent of sampling new (to me) games, playing some old favorites, and connecting with old and new gaming friends.  To that end it was highly successful.  Some years ago they merged with NavCon so there are always a nice selection of naval themed games.  Los Tres Amigos traveled down from the Fox Valley in WI and shared a room to defray costs and all had a good time.  The following is picture heavy and text light, but there is so much eye-candy to be had.

Friday we arrived in Rockford early to check in and find we missed the cut-off date for the ditty bag.  Oh well, it worked out okay anyway.  We then skipped the afternoon session and went to a flea market at Royal Hobby in Rockford.  Collectively we scored some great deals, well worth the side trip.  They were also one of the vendors at the Con.

The Battle of Five Armies using A Fistful of Miniatures. 
The "Good" side won.

Cold Steel and Canister: Bavarian Vacation

Rapid Fire: Operation Barbarossa

Chain of Command: "Out of von Luck"

Medieval Naval Engagement Rules System: Battle of Bach Dang
River, 938.

Formula De: Grande Prix

Not sure, probably Dust 1947: The Lost Briefcase

4th Quarter Football: American Football Demo

All Quiet on the Martian Front

Not sure, can't do justice to all the work they put into it.
Not pictured are some Wings of Glory and Star Wars X Wing games, along with a kamikazee game using 1/700 ships and models.  I tried to get a sampling of games but missed out on many.

Dust 1947: Cattle Raid on Corsica

Team Yankee: Al Jahra I - Kuwaiti Bridges

Ironclads (Modified): Gunboats on the Mississippi

Cruel Seas: The Convoy Must Get Through

Blood Eagle: Fetch My Daughter You Fellows

Chain of Command again I believe

Game I played in of "All Quiet..."  Humans win

Black Sails Demo

The big picture.  Few ships survived

Phase II of the Team Yankee game set in Kuwait.

Not sure, perhaps another Dust 1947 game
We played in four of the six sessions, taking Saturday night off as well as Friday afternoon.  Sunday I played 5e AD&D while the guys played in the Asian Naval game and had a blast.  During the Sunday morning slot the Con had a give-away of unclaimed auction items, donations, etc.  You line up, go through taking one item from each table and then get back in line if you wish.  I happened to be in a good position when they started and did very well.  Lots of useful items to me, including a ditty bag.  So all's well that ends well.  The Con ends at 1:00pm Sunday we could take a leisurely drive back to Appleton.  Next year I'll plan to run a game or two myself.

The pros to the Con are a great and friendly staff, wide range of games, food and drink available on site, a reasonable fee for the weekend and vendors.  The down side this year was there seemed to me to be fewer games and fewer vendors.  Maybe it was just that the new games weren't my cup of tea.  Lots of space and dystopian universe games to be had.  Regardless, I plan to return in 2020.  Give it a try.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Relief of Peking

The Three Amigos chose to have a blast from the past and pull out The Sword and the Flame along with 20mm/HO scale soft plastic figures for a Boxer Rebellion game.  The Coalition relief force of two British, two German, two French and two Russian infantry units, along with cavalry from England and Russia and two modern guns were to drive up the road to the relief of the besieged forces in Peking.  The Allies could enter anywhere along their long table edge and the Chinese all started concealed on a sketch map. 

For those unfamiliar with TSatF, it is card-driven for movement and combat results, d6s for variable movement and gunnery.  So all units will eventually move and shoot but you cannot predict how far with certainty.

British infantry and guns plus Germans arrive.  All Boxers are hidden.

French and Russians with all the cavalry on the other end.

A battery of Chinese regulars unmask and opens fire.

Ends up fairly effective fire.  Some figures are molded prone.

Despite a bunch of stragglers the cavalry eliminates the gunners
as hidden Boxers turn to face a new threat on their flank.

The Germans take out the Boxers and prepare to move as more
appear, as if from the ground.


From the woods storm three units of ill-equipped but fanatical Boxers.

British move forward to provoke the Chinese into closing as
artillery on the hill behind them fires overhead.

The French and Russians press onward after masking the woods.

The Chinese move forward, losing men to artillery and rifle fire.

The last British reserves are committed and the Chinese begin to rout.

Victorious but decimated, the Boxers pull away on the far right.

The battle reaches it's climax in the center.

Loses for both sides but the Coalition is successful

The victory becomes complete on the left as well.

The well-served artillery contributed mightily to the victory.
It must have been 25 years since I last played this system.  It has some goofy, Hollywood ways of resolving some things but is still a fun time.  Bob has a large collection so we may see more games, especially if the long-delayed new edition comes out.

Thanks for reading and