New Year, New Rules

Just before Christmas these two new (to me at least) rulebooks landed on my shelf: Osprey’s Frostgrave and Warlord Game’s Beyond the Gate of Antares.

First Frostgrave: This is Osprey’s latest offering: a fantasy skirmish games pitting wizards and their warbands against each other, set in a ruined city. Sound familiar? Yep, distinctly Mordheimesque. Thats not a bad thing in my eyes – Mordheim is an old favourite of mine but its rules mechanics are showing their age. I kept a watching brief during the crowdfunding phase of Frostgrave’s development, and when the positive reviews of the published product and interesting game reports started flooding in, decided to buy it.  And it didn’t need a huge buy-in – the background and list-building are generic enough to use (or adapt to use) pretty much any fantasy figures, so my existing fantasy miniatures (from the Hordes, Mordheim and Warhammer ranges) will provide the bulk of the manpower (and womanpower) for future warbands.

I have yet to have a game of this, but at first reading the rule dynamics seem to be a blend of old-school D&D combat and Mordheim. Looking forward to rolling some Frostgrave dice…

Now Beyond the Gate of Antares, or GoA, or Antares, or some other way of dealing with the verbose game title.  This is Warlord’s science fiction release – and is the result of quite a tortured development process. It was initially launched by Rick Priestley as a crowdfunded game, with community-driven campaigns and backstory elements, but that process failed spectacularly. Priestley took it back under his direct control at Warlord, and developed the figure range and rules using more traditional writing and funding processes.

Having seen some of the early game play videos released during development, and noting that GoA used the Bolt Action order dynamics, I was interested more in the game dynamics than in the sci-fi aspect. I figured it would be a more nuanced sci-fi iteration of Bolt Action, and that I could adopt elements of the GoA rules to patch up some corners of the Bolt Action rules that I don’t particularly like.

However, even a cursory reading suggested that GoA is more of a new game than a grown-up version of Bolt Action. Yes, it certainly is more nuanced and has more depth than Bolt Action. Almost every aspect of the game has a more granular mechanic. However, almost every aspect of the game also has a different mechanic. After PWG stalwart Anthony van Dijk and I ran a first playtest, we were wondering whether knowing Bolt Action well had helped or hindered our learning of GoA.  While there is clear Bolt Action DNA in the order dice mechanism, and in a broader Warlord Games approach to rule-writing, everything else feels very fresh. (Caveat – I didn’t ever play Rogue Trader, so I am not sure if there are clear echos of Priestley’s earlier sci-fi offerings in this set).

Anthony's Boromites deploy. Anthony also kindly supplied a full Algoryn OPFOR for me to use.

My initial impressions (after just one infantry-based game) are favourable. Yes, GoA has sacrificed a lot of the abstraction, simplicity and speed of game play that makes Bolt Action popular. But play moves along at a good pace, and the detail in the rules feels like it creates options and opportunities, rather than a tedious overhead of detail. While no expert on Infinity, in my opinion it reads and plays as a lot less finicky than the Bella Corvis game. And Anthony suggested it was a lot more nuanced than 40K (a game I have never played).

(Note: GoA is less of a skirmish game than Infinity – designed for a minimum force of around 30 figures plus a few vehicles., and designed to scale up from there, rather than down to smaller engagements.)

I really like the GoA reaction mechanics  - units can respond to opponent activations with a range of actions – which together with the dice-based activation mechanic make the game feel very immersive. No waiting to play your turn – you are almost always involved in decision-making, even if you have not drawn the current order dice.

I am looking forward to my next GoA game.

Waterloo 2015

French 2nd Infantry Division begin their assault on the Allied Line. Image courtesy of Lindsay Hall.

The Peninsula Wargames Group took the opportunity of the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo to present a refight of the battle over the weekend of 20-21 June.

Using over 6000 28mm figures, representing years of painting and planning, club chairman Mike Karsten described the game as "possibly the biggest game we have planned, and will ever play".

Using Warlord Games' Black Powder rules, with six players on the Anglo Allied side and four on the French, the game represented the events from 10 in the morning of the 18th June 1815 until the arrival of the Prussians - in this game at about 3pm (notably earlier than on the day). In an effort to ensure no revisionist tactics were employed, the game umpire played both Wellington and Napoleon - and issued Corp level orders to each player. It meant that each player was obliged to attempt to fulfil their specific historical orders. It worked very well, with each player making tactical changes that meant the outcome was not a certainty, but it still allowed the game to fall within the realms of the historical. In addition, the terrain in front of the weak English flank was made "rough going" by the umpire, to discourage an obvious revision of tactics. Each 15 minutes of battle time was allocated 30 minutes of game time.

Initial Allied deployment, as viewed from the west. Image courtesy of Anthony van Dijk.

The French launched their attack just after 10.30am, with the 1st Corps attacking the Anglo Allied on the central to eastern flank, the 6th Corps attacking La Haye Sainte and the 2nd Corps attacking Hougoumont. Despite a quick victory by the French 4th Division at Pappelotte, the initial attack at Hougoumont was repulsed, and at La Haye Sainte the defenders grimly held on against multiple divisions.

French 4th Division assault Pappelotte. Image courtesy of Anthony van Dijk. 

The usual suspects (and the view from the East). Image courtesy of Anthony van Dijk.

This set the tone for multiple game turns, with the French making gains on the east flank, while being checked in the centre and west. Despite the 1st French Corp infantry reaching the Allied lines piecemeal, a series of brutal cavalry clashes ensured they managed to gain a toehold on the eastern end of the Allied line. Allied cavalry commanders rushed to reinforce the central and eastern ridgeline, and just as the Kings German Legion were finally evicted from La Haye Sainte, Wellington launched a strong counterattack from the west ridge towards La Haye Sainte - effectively splitting the French army in two and cutting off the 2nd Corps at Hougoumont.

Hougoumont stands. Image courtesy of Anthony van Dijk.

Clash of cavalry. Image courtesy of Lindsay Hall.

2nd Division columns of attack falter as they reach the British line. Pic courtesy of David Davidson.

At about the same time, word reached the French command of the imminent arrival of the Prussians at Plancenoit and Pappelotte, and the Imperial Guard was dispatched to head off that threat.

We ran out of time to complete the game, and the umpire took some time to consider the result. The French had occupied a section of the ridge, and were in a position to threaten the road to Mont St Jean, but had taken significant casualties in doing so. Whether they would be able to hold off a Prussian counterattack was open to debate. And the Allied line of retreat to the west was secure. While it was agreed the French had done better than the historical outcome, they had not done enough to claim victory, and the umpire declared it honours even.

More images, and a more detailed AAR will be published shortly.

And now for something...

Gamers paint most what they play most. Figures that will get table time will get the attention on the painting workbench. And most gamers refuse to believe this, and insist on buying the figures for little "side projects" or distractions. I have boxes full of "nice ideas" which only in my most pragmatic moments do I admit to myself I am unlikely to paint. 

These Weird WW2 models were shelved amongst the "distractions". I had really liked the idea of playing some Weird War games, and had a few years back bought the basics of a some forces - mostly from Westwind's Secrets of the Third Reich and Incursion ranges, with a few bigger kits from the Dust Tactics series. For rules I ordered the SotTR rules and the Weird War iteration of Two Hour Wargames NUTS. And then nothing happened. Or rather, Other Things happened.

One of the Other Things was 28mm World War 2, and amongst that, my German force grew organically from a small demo force to a fairly solid collection. When PWG club decided to run a "very late war 1945" Bolt Action game, a quick chat with the umpire resulted in a green light for some secret weapons to be added to my German force...

The big mech is a Dust Tactics repaint, which I have named „Otto“ Schwere Technikrüstung Ausführung B. (Forgive my pidgin German - its all Googlate generated...) No additional detailing whatsoever. Otto's little friend is my interpretation of remote optical/IR targeting drone (dubbed „Spürhund“) based on a Tamiya 1/48th Goliath kit.

The four battle suits („Vielfraß“) are slight modifications of the Westwind "Wolwerine" kits. I changed the weapon loadouts  - there are two Ausf. Gs with packed flamethrowers, one Ausf. M with twin linked HMG (a 12.7mm weapon from the Luftwaffe inventory) and one Ausf. B command suit with 20mm auto cannon.

Bolt Action Rules

Before their debut on the gaming table, the game umpire and myself playtested some basic rules and and guesstimated point values for each of these models. No doubt we were wide of the mark in some instances, but they played fairly well. I have to admit I am a bit hazy on what we decided for the assault rules, but given that none of these models got into close assault we didn't get a chance to implement the playtest decisions. For their first deployment, we used the "Defence of the Ruhr" scenario from Battlefield Europe, we declared a large enclosed farmhouse as the Allied objective and the German deployment zone.

Standard Walker Rules 

Light Walker: 6/12 advance/run

Rough ground: No run

Obstacle: No run

Building: OK

Advance: 2 Pivots

Run: 2 Pivots

Heavy Walker: 9/18 advance/run

Rough ground: No run

Obstacle: No run

Building: OK

Advance: 2 Pivots

Run: 1 Pivots

Walker Close Assault special rules:

• Walker does not have to make an assault directly to the front. It may pivot as part of the run move.
• Walker = Tank for purpose of being assaulted by infantry. (ie infantry units not equiped with AT weapons must pass order to test to assault it).
• If Walker initiates the close combat, target unit must pass a morale test to engage in close combat.
• Resolve assaults by and against infantry as per infantry rules, but damage as per armour rules. Compare number of wounds scored by infantry, vs number of wounds scored by Walker.

„Vielfraß“ Technikrüstung Ausführung B

Cost: 145pts (Veteran)

Damage Value: 7+ (Armoured car/carrier)

Weapons: 1 x Casement-mounted Medium/Heavy Autocannon

Special Rules:

Fanatic.

Command vehicle.

Light Walker.

„Vielfraß“ Technikrüstung Ausführung G

Cost: 120pts (Veteran)

Damage Value: 7+ (Armoured car/carrier)

Weapons: 1 x Mech-mounted Flamethrower

Special Rules:

Mech-mounted Flamethrower:

Hits: 1D6, Pen +3, Range 12, Fuel out on 1, Easily catches Fire (+1 to damage roll)

Fanatic.

Light Walker.

„Vielfraß“ Technikrüstung Ausführung M

Cost: 120pts (Veteran)

Damage Value: 7+ (Armoured car/carrier)

Weapons: 1 x Mech-mounted Twin HMG

Special Rules:

Twin HMG:

Fanatic.

Light Walker.

„Otto“ Schwere Technikrüstung Ausführung B

Cost: 426pts (Veteran)

Damage Value: 9+ (Medium Tank)

Weapons: 2 x Super Heavy ATGs, 1 x pintle mounted MMG

Special Rules:

Gyro-stabiliser

Fanatic.

Heavy Walker

Flak Rule

„Spürhund" Infrarot-Zielhilfe Fahrzeug

 Cost: 70pts (Veteran)

Tracked

Damage Value: 6+ Softskin

Weapons: None. 1 x Casement-mounted Infrared/Optical Camera

Special Rules:

Radio-controlled: Control team needs to be in play for the vehicle to be activated.

Targeting aid: Requires succesful to hit roll to aquire target. If this vehicle moves, or if target vehicle moves out of LoS, or if player removes dice at end of turn, target aquire is lost. If LoS to any target is shared by this vehicle and any vehicle of its platoon, that vehicle gets +1 to hit against the target.

As expected, the Otto was a great big glass hammer of a points sink. Yes it hit as hard as it looks it could, (if I recall correctly it dispatched at least one Firefly with ease) but its relatively poor armour and tall profile made it a juicy target for any Allied tanker on the table. The targeting drone was also a tricksy beast to play effectively - in order to be effective it had to leave cover. It lasted 2 turns before hull mounted machine guns saw it off. The „Vielfraß“ suits were the most cost-effective units, and they proved decisive in the defence of the chateau. I think the combination of the scenario and the terrain used on the day made it very difficult for the allied attacker, so in some ways didn't give us a full picture of the effectiveness of this force.