Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: guitarheroandy on February 11, 2015, 10:59:49 PM
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I am extremely fortunate to have been asked to help play test the upcoming Colonial 'large scale skirmish' rules by Dan Mersey (of Dux Bellorum and Lion Rampant fame). These are intended for publication by Osprey sometime nextI year, so we are in the early stages of play tests and Monday evening was my first foray into the rules.
Dan has asked play testers to be careful what we post online, as things can change so much in the course of play testing, but I have checked with him that it's ok to tell you the following:
The game has similarities to Lion Rampant in its design and in some of the game mechanics. Basically, each unit of troops/warriors has to 'activate' each turn. Some things it can do without any tests, but other, more unusual or complex things need to be tested for. This varies according to whether you are a regular soldier, a tribal warrior, etc.
Dan has made the troop types fairly generic, but with upgrade options to create forces based on historical campaigns, e.g. enabling warriors to be fanatical fighters, allowing upgrades to marksmanship, etc. This is good, as it prevents loads of different troop types to confuse and confound. He has opted for a similar approach to weaponry which is simple but incredibly effective, allowing for games from 1850 to 1900 without needing lengthy weapon tables. This is a feature of rules that Dan writes - he makes the core mechanics simple, but open to maximum player engagement and thus far, this set is working well along those lines.
Units depend on the quality of their leaders and there is a neat mechanism for varying quality of leaders in your forces. This is important, because the worse the leadership of the unit, the harder it is to rally if it is unfortunate enough to be pinned down under fire. Talking of which, shooting and combat are simple and brutal, but seem to work well. We tested this by charging a large tribal unit over open ground at a British firing line with predictable results - the warriors did make it into contact (we made them 'fanatics' so they had good leadership), but were so shot up that they were repulsed in the combat. We felt that this was good, as it means that a native player will have to use terrain in a cunning way to win! As we play NW Frontier/Afghanistan, this is perfect for our Pathans!!!
So to the test game, where we used what I have painted, which is a unit of 12 British infantry accompanied by a unit of 12 Sikhs against 2 units of 12 Pathan riflemen/jezzails and 2 units of 16 Pathan swordsmen. For the main game, we used no upgrades. These forces are effectively half the standard size that one would normally use, so we decided that we would play on a 4 x 4 foot table. We decided that the British would be trying to burn down the lovely Pathan watchtower that Jimbibbly James made for me a while back, so plonked it in the centre of the table and rolled for leader qualities....REALLY BADLY!!! The British officer was clearly fesh out of Sandhurst and one of the Pathans had a tendency to smoke too much dope, thereby giving him variable leadership. One of the Pathan swordsmen units got a trait that meant they had to charge if they could - good - just what Ghazis should do!! So off we went...
The Anglo Indians advanced on the tower, with the British unit making a beeline for the door while the Sikhs took up a position to shoot the bejeezus out of the advancing Pathans on their (left) flank. The Pathans simply rushed forward to slay the infidels, hoping to do a wee bit of sniping when they came into range.
In the event, the British unit reached the tower but was forced to take refuge inside by hordes of Pathans while the Sikhs were left out in the open trying reasonably successfully to keep the remaining natives at bay (pinning is a real killer when you are a native unit with a dodgy leader!) In the event assaults and shooting gradually reduced the British unit until it became pinned inside the tower, needing to score 11 on 2 D6 to rally! At this point, despite driving off 2 Pathan attacks, the Sikhs, losing men and outnumbered, decided that they would have to leave the British to their fate inside the tower...we called it at that point as a Pathan victory.
The rules still need some tweaking regarding the effects of buildings on shooting and combat, but apart from that the game played out well. The Sikhs held off massed assaults (volley fire is NASTY!) and one dodgy decision (not getting into firing line quickly enough) saw the poorly led British unit take a pasting. All true to historical form, then!
Here's a few pics for you in approximate order of the action taking place.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0016_zps8a4fdf6e.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0016_zps8a4fdf6e.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0020_zps0b5dbf8e.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0020_zps0b5dbf8e.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0018_zpsb757ef99.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0018_zpsb757ef99.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0023_zpsc46eca12.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0023_zpsc46eca12.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0022_zps4081b62c.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0022_zps4081b62c.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0024_zps128d04c3.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0024_zps128d04c3.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0025_zpsed0eabd2.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0025_zpsed0eabd2.jpg.html)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/guitarheroandy/IMG_0026_zps713e3e46.jpg) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/guitarheroandy/media/IMG_0026_zps713e3e46.jpg.html)
FYI, the British are Empress Zulu War models painted in Khaki with minor conversions to give them puttees. The Sikhs are Foundry and most Pathans are Old Glory with a smattering of Castaway Arts.
I now have a unit of Foundry Ghurkas, one more unit of Old Glory Pathan riflemen and a Perry Screw gun on the painting table as we speak, with innumerable additional units for both sides (including Afghan regulars!) awaiting their turn in the painting queue.
I really enjoyed this game and am looking forward to another next week. Hopefully using the Ghurkas and an extra Pathan unit if I can get them completed in time!
I think these rules could be really good - I think they'll be ideal for a multi-player big game at the club, as the basic mechanisms are very straightforward and gamers would quickly be able to pick up and play, but at the same time they will reward 'proper' Colonial tactics from all sides. I also think that, as long as the scenarios are good, they'll reward repeated playing too. Very promising indeed!!!
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Looked awesome Andy ,pity I missed out next time . Hopefully have some boers painted and ready to do some raids on those Brits
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Very neat, I guess I need to finish painting my Lion Rampart war bands up. So then i can start painting up some colonial wars forces.
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Great stuff Andy :-*.
Can't wait to see the rules... might ask Dan if he needs any more play testers in fact!
Darrell.
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Nice looking game. :D Still envious of that watchtower.. :-*
I like the way the rules are taking shape, especially the automatic pass on certain actions. One of the things that can be frustrating with Lion Rampant is that certain units excel at performing historically but they still have to pass an activation roll to do so. In one game we had a unit of mounted Knights which just sat there doing nothing rather than moving towards the enemy to get into charge range.
The unit sizes appear to be larger too. :D
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Really excited about this set of rules. Look forward to hearing more!
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Well if this is a patch on Lion Rampant I'm thrilled! lol
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The Men Who Would be Kings is a great title too 8).
Is as suggested by the title, will the rules cover Back of Beyond type stuff as well?
How far into the 20th Century will they go?
I know that you're under orders so understand if you cannot answer :)
Darrell.
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I wouldn't go beyond very early 20th century, as the feel of the weaponry and tactics is generally 1850-1900. You could easily do 2nd Boer War and campaigns on the NW Frontier in 1905, but I'd draw a line at the outset of WW1...
Certainly no rules for stuff like armoured cars, etc and rightly so really as I do think BoB needs something 'additonal' to the usual colonial stuff to make it work. To me, making rules cover too wide a remit is often detrimental to the end product. All IMHO of course...
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So RJW and the and maybe the The Mexico Expedition with be the farthest I could go?
how well could I represent American turn of the century forces fighting against Small Elite skirmish tribals like the Apache or fighting against the Morou in Mindanao? Or what about fighting Philippines insurgents on a table covered with jungle terrain?
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I don't know enough about the RJW to comment. Mexico, yes. That would work IMHO (based on what little I know).
I think unit upgrades, etc would allow you to do the Apache wars easily enough. I don't know enough about your other theatres to comment specifically but generally, I can't see why not.
Dan's aim is to avoid being too 'Anglo-centric' and the rules themeselves are anything but limiting in the theatres one can explore. I reckon there's enough in the unit selection process and leadership traits to enable pretty much anything vaguely Colonial from 1850 (ish) up to WW1 to be played. The one slight doubt I have is Plains Wars as I'm not sure how well the current weapon rules deal with bows, esp from horseback as per plains native Americans such as Sioux and Cheyenne, etc...
I'll email Dan on that one...
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Any rules for the next village along piddling in the stream?
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I wouldn't go beyond very early 20th century, as the feel of the weaponry and tactics is generally 1850-1900. You could easily do 2nd Boer War and campaigns on the NW Frontier in 1905, but I'd draw a line at the outset of WW1...
Sounds great 8).
Certainly no rules for stuff like armoured cars, etc and rightly so really as I do think BoB needs something 'additonal' to the usual colonial stuff to make it work. To me, making rules cover too wide a remit is often detrimental to the end product. All IMHO of course...
Thanks Andy 8). It might be a good one for a future product?
Not having read the SCW book I'm guessing that could be temporarily used for BoB?
Any thoughts anyone? (I don't mean to go OT so I'll start another thread in an appropriate place. ie. please don't answer the meandering of my mind here!)
Darrell.
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Any rules for the next village along piddling in the stream?
There are rules for 'dangerous terrain' - does that count? :D
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There are rules for 'dangerous terrain' - does that count? :D
it rather depends upon one's point of view/perspective!!! lol
Darrell.
I know... toilet humour.....
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This sounds great!
Love Dan's rules and have been dabbling with Darkest Africa and toying with the idea of NW frontier for a while.
*Bulk Orders Colonials*
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*Bulk Orders Colonials*
Yeah...I've picked up most of Artizan's NWF stuff so this is perfect!
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If Dan needs any more testers I'll happily volunteer the school club -
Scarborough College Wargames Society
Scarborough College
Filey Road
Scarborough
YO11 3BA
They are currently playing "On the Seven Seas" (we have 16 foam-core sloops and brigs now, plus a frigate, so it's getting to look like a naval battle)
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I have just dug out my Pathans too... Now I'll put them I acetone and paint them again.
16 man a unit eh? Stupid old glory packs. Haha.
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I think I might be able to get the las Vegas wargames into this also.
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A few weeks ago my Foundry filibusters and Fenians, along with some Delaware tried to invade Canada, my Perry Canadian BIF gave them the right about face. I used Lion Rampant and it rattled along so I've no doubt this will work.
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Very nice looking game Andy !
Will indeed be interesting to get started with the playtesting...just have to paint some minis first...