In any event, will try for a post here that shows some of the challenges of running a big game and is related to the last post. Thanks to Steve over at Sound Officer's Call for his pics and write-up, which really helped during a busy pre-Christmas season!
Managed to show up just a few minutes after a few of the other guys who were bringing figs. We got into our greetings right away - it was great to see the guys after such a long time! Some of them have been busy with good tasks - work, caring for elderly parents, doing charity work as a storm trooper [pew-pew-pew!] or with the fire department - and it's a reminder that we are always getting away from something to exercise our minds and our little lead men when we show up to game!
We then hit the task of organizing forces and setting up the table, which went quite quickly. In not too long, this:
became this:
The table is pretty amazing...it's just wood [you can see the wood grain, but it looks a bit like wind-swept stand] but the paint and texture looks astonishingly desert-like. Each end of the game was trimmed 6" as it is an 8x4 table, not a 3x9' table. The extra foot in depth wasn't necessarily a major problem, but it does change how quick units get into the game. I kept the center scenario the correct width of 3' as I didn't think it would make much difference on the two flank scenarios.
According to 1HW, this meant that the Scen #4 attacker started 6" closer, while the reinforcements for the defender were 6" farther away. This distorts the arrival times by not quite a turn. The Scen #16 didn't matter as it was a meeting engagement and both had a bit farther to go. should've used the extra foot of space as set-up space, and then marked the table edge at 3 feet deep so Units entered exactly as per the scenarios used. I then should've taken the full foot off Scenario #16 as it didn't really matter - they didn't need the width. So the scenario spaces would've been 3x3, 3x3, and 2x3.
Lesson 1: be careful with table dimensions that may distort important aspects of the scenario like the turn attacks or reinforcements get going.
The Reading of the Rules. I toyed with the idea of a QRS. However, the rules are only 3 pages anyway, and it didn't seem worth the effort. It took about 20 minutes or so, and of course wasn't 100% absorbed. However, I did note as the game progressed that players did in fact seem to remember parts of what was said and were able to find their way around with the rules themselves, or even help each other. Below, me as "talking [shiny] head".
Above, Scenario #16 up close, with #15 then #4 in the distance. Brits left, Germans right.
I placed Steve and Dave against people who'd never played so their previous experience with the rules would help, and on opposing sides. Scenario #4 had neither player with any experience with these rules, so I figured I'd be needed there most, but they actually did quite well for themselves.
One problem was that I had left some of my reminders in the scenario special rules, but they didn't apply for this game. This confused some of the players even though the correct special rules were repeated for thier specific Units below.
Lesson 2: make a very clean copy of the scenario special rules, and do it well in advance!
Scenario #16: Advance Guard. This ended up as 4 crud platoons, 1 Mortar Platoon [25pdrs], 1 Crud CS [Close Support]. But I'm uncertain that the CS tanks were differentiated in all the hubbub.
Lesson 3: Double-check that your friends set up the forces correctly and the players know what they have.
This was played twice, once by Brian and Butch, and once by me and Butch. The first game was won by the British. The Italian advance got onto the hill but in the ensuing firepower contest the British won.
Game #1, Brit view. British spread out 4 Crud platoons, with AC's on the road and 25pdrs to rear. Italian ACs are on the hill [they were shot off it].
Game #1, Italian view.Two Carri platoons to left backed by Infantry, Mortars and ATGs. One problem was that the Italians didn't dig in soon enough, I think. It makes them a tough nut to crack for the Brits who are penalized for lack of HE rounds on the tanks.
The second game, I played the British and confidently dashed up the hill, getting my armored cars on it to spot the enemy and follow up by deploying my entire force off the road a turn ahead of the Italians. I then fought them as they stood, concentrating firepower at every opportunity. Towards the end - I had two Crud platoons left and held the hill, game over! But, I decided to go for 100%. I advanced to wipe out the last Italian Unit, their 75/27 Howitzers, Mortars. In the end, it came down to just a couple of die rolls but I managed to lose my final Crud! So 1-1 on this end, and the scenario seems quite balanced. Lots of opportunities to try different tactics here, definitely deserves some more play in the future.
On the British left, the remains of 7th Armoured Brigade dashed forward in Scenario #4: Take the High Ground. Below, a nice shot of the 4 Honey platoons advancing and facing off against the German reinforcements and their objective. Steve does a nice recap of their play, which included no less than THREE games! I wasn't able to follow it all closely, but they seemed to have done pretty well with figuring out the rules and having fun.
The center was Scenario #15: Fortified Defense, a really great scenario that I will definitely play again and again. It is definitely a game that goes to the 15-turn limit, as the attacker gets to "refit" his force by removing what's left of it at any time and then re-entering the entire force in new shape! In effect, a complete second wave. The Defender has two solid "fortifications" which are Towns in terms of game mechanics.
I misunderstood the "Additional Weaponry" special rule, which gave both towns some extra fighting ability. In the scenario it says they get a d6 of shooting and - in the early periods of rules [Pike and Shot and earlier] - melee as well. I interpreted this to mean two full Units, which became 25pdrs backing the "garrisons" of an Infantry Unit each. HOWEVER, this also gave the 25pdrs 7 Hits that had to be shot away before they were removed while the scenario rule says that the additional weaponry are destroyed once the garrison Units are eliminated. Below, Infantry Unit garrison backed by second Mortar Unit - 25pdrs.
So in effect the "additional weaponry" adds a d6 of shooting to a unit in the WWII rules, but is destroyed with the garrison Unit, and the entire force has only the 15 Hits of one Unit in the original rules [but I gave it 30, in effect]. So for WWII it functions as a sort of "double dice shooting ability" but no extra hits and no extra range.
Obviously, the 25pdrs made the defense a bit tougher as it was a 12-8 battle, in stead of a 12-6 battle [albeit two defenders have double-dice in shooting]. This was a bit balanced by the fact that the "towns" were not full fortifications. I played them as "encampments" that gave Dug-in to any unit within them, which is allowed in my version of the rules, anyway - it just takes one turn.
Lesson 4: Make sure you read the scenario rules carefully - preferably, play it out a couple times ahead of the main day!
Below, the result of the extra firepower: attacking Germans taking lots of Hits from the defense. It should be noted that my version gives ATGs and Tanks a Long Range of 24".
This was compounded by the deployment of the Germans, which was very spread out, so it was harder to concentrate firepower. And this was compounded by the South Africans rolling a bunch of crazy rolls, including needing all 6's to hit and getting 3 in one roll!
Below. The German second wave. It has more infantry who are supposed to be mopping up what the Panzers have left. South Africans have only lost 2/8 Units, however!
The center game went for the duration. Between the additional Units and the second-wave re-entry, Scenario 15 is going to go 14-15 in turns most of the time, I think.
Overall, 6 games were played in three hours, an average of two a player, which meets the OHW goal of being able to play twice, typically. The victories were a pretty even split, altho I'm not sure about the result of the third Scenario #4 battle.
The players all seemed to have a good time. I was especially pleased to get both a good turnout and lots of Units on the table, as we hadn't played in a long time - a few years, at least! This reminds me of some great comments made at the Gen. Pettygree Blog [LINK] about big games. Sometimes a big battle is just the thing to get creative juices flowing, and provide a creative high point. It reminds me I need to do more painting, altho I've been doing a lot of designing, playing, and basing [especially of medievals]. But the lead mountain has not been dented much lately, and I do enjoy the creativity of painting.
Lesson 5: Sometimes, bigger is better, and a game is "too big to fail" for FUN even if it isn't run perfectly!
"Tanks for the memories" all who came out and played, I hope we get some games in sooner rather than later!
Really inspired by your big battle versions of One Hour Wargames. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Good to hear - I think we were all a bit inspired by the Big Battle! Sometimes a big to-do makes it special, and I think these rules can handle it.
ReplyDelete