Bonnie Blue Flag test game AAR

[vtsaogames]

A short, belated AAR on a test game of Bonnie Blue Flag https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/2021/06/bonnie-blue-flag-test-game-aar.html

[Norm]

Thanks for posting this and glad you got it to the table. The ‘sudden death’ from the 10% rule can feel very disruptive to the narrative and somewhat arbitary when it happens to a unit that is fresh and good quality, much less so if a beaten up unit suffers it.

very much look forward to your outing with Shadow of the Eagle.

[FierceKitty]

Are you referring to Flad the Inhaler, famed for stifling captured Turks with cigarette smoke?

[vtsaogames]

Didn't even notice the typo. I guess Flad's nickname would be Dragula, though some might mistake that for an early proponent of the Pride holiday.

[Bydand]

Enjoyed reading your AAR it is always interesting to get other peoples thoughts on the rules.
If I may explain my rationale when writing the rules to include units on full attrition quitting the field after falling foul of the 10% rule. Think of the failure as being part of the bigger narrative regarding the particular unit in the lead up to battle, a veteran regiment for instance may seem to be in fine fettle with its full complement of attrition as you order it forward but what if,
a) It was badly handled in its previous engagement.
b) Has no confidence in its new Colonel.
c) Has a high percentage of new recruits.
d) Feels it is being sacrificed ( once again ) in a futile attack.
e) Nearing the end of its enlistment and sees no point in taking risks having done more than its share of fighting.
These are just a few of the plausable reasons why a unit may unexpectedly perform so badly when engaging with the enemy,
thinking of the outcome in this context also helps soften the blow of rolling such abysmally low dice in the first place !!
Kevin
 
 

[FierceKitty]

 

Didn't even notice the typo. I guess Flad's nickname would be Dragula, though some might mistake that for an early proponent of the Pride holiday.

[Norm]

Enjoyed reading your AAR it is always interesting to get other peoples thoughts on the rules.
If I may explain my rationale when writing the rules to include units on full attrition quitting the field after falling foul of the 10% rule. Think of the failure as being part of the bigger narrative regarding the particular unit in the lead up to battle, a veteran regiment for instance may seem to be in fine fettle with its full complement of attrition as you order it forward but what if,
a) It was badly handled in its previous engagement.
b) Has no confidence in its new Colonel.
c) Has a high percentage of new recruits.
d) Feels it is being sacrificed ( once again ) in a futile attack.
e) Nearing the end of its enlistment and sees no point in taking risks having done more than its share of fighting.
These are just a few of the plausable reasons why a unit may unexpectedly perform so badly when engaging with the enemy,
thinking of the outcome in this context also helps soften the blow of rolling such abysmally low dice in the first place !!
Kevin
 
 

I think there is also the potential issue of the player wrongly just applying the 10% roll to the actual dice by misreading the rule, i.e. going for a real 10% of failure and removal based purely on the dice roll, which is what I did initially, when really the rule is crafted so that it is only 10% of the score you actually need to pass, so often the 10% fails are in the 2 - 4% range and the better units should overall be in the lower end of that range. 

[Redshank]

Even still, a 1 in 50 chance of a fresh veteran unit melting away feels a bit much.

Seems easily amended to a flat 01, or say 01 if unit score is 01-50 or 01-02 if 51+?

The 10% rule as written feels a better fit for the Mex-American War, which I am interested in trying these rules for.