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.  

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.

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

Engagement at Lament Ridge

Having been exposed to the Osprey publication "Rebels and Patriots" at the Seven Years War Convention this spring I determined to pick up a copy and give it a try.  For those not familiar with it the aim to provide a quick, skirmish level game.  Intended for one on one games with additional companies it can work at a multi-player level.  I believe we had six players at the SYWA game.

Each company is composed of several units.  A large number of suggested companies are provided with the rules and have a wide range of years/wars to play with.  Each unit activates on a 2d6 roll.  Failure means the unit does nothing and does not lose your turn.  A big plus in my book.

Here we have a French and Indian War era British company of three line, one grenadier and one light unit moving on a Huron village with mischief in mind.  The natives and their French allies field two French light infantry units (troopes de la Marine), a sharpshooter group of Coeur du Bois and a large, aggressive native unit.  Each side had 24 points in the company.

The British view of their intended target.

A peaceful village about to have their day interrupted.

The initial deployment, 48" apart.

R&P has an officer advancement system whereby honor points are gained by deeds.  More honor, more traits, with a goodly number undesirable.  The log position in the center was the objective.  Holding it the most turns in the game gained honor, as well as inflicting casualties on the enemy and minimizing your own.  Player reaction to this semi role-playing option was varied.

After some movement and activation failures on both sides.

Normally activation is fairly easy.  A roll of "6" or better on 2d6 with the presence of the company commander within 12" adding a plus 1.  To spice it up, a roll of double 1s or double 12s brings a negative or positive extra result.  In our first game the French managed to roll "snake eyes" three times. 

The first game went quickly and in the British favor.

With a quick game and lots of time before the planned barbeque, we reset, tweaked one rating and started again.

The Hurons got in among Howe's light infantry.

I neglected to take more photos in the 2nd game.  The dice were more balanced, the natives managed to do their thing to effectively take out a unit and in the end we had a draw.  The British got the objective points but the French took out more than 33% of the British while keeping their casualties under 33%.

I plan to try more games.  The notion of a quick and dirty game that plays easy and the chance to use figures that have seen little use appeals to me greatly.  It will also likely get me to reexamine my other two Osprey publications, The Men Who Would be Kings and Honours of War.