F&IW with Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles

[Cluck Amok]

Wiley Games' Battles & Brews event provided our first opportunity to play Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles at Toy Soldier Scale and playtest a few period-specific rules and unit traits. The one major rule addition was a Task Test to Charge for any unit attempting to. . . um. . . charge into melee. Bigger Battles is a great addition to the Fistful of Lead stable and I was very happy with the way this game played out.

More on the game here: https://cluckamok.blogspot.com/2022/08/battles-brews-game.html

[BillK]

Cluck, wonderful stuff. Great pics.

[FifteensAway]

Those are some nicely painted figures.  Read through the battle report on the blog.  Sounds great - especially since I have acquired FFOL:Bigger Battles myself and expect they will be my secondary rules when Rank and File isn't on order.

Now, about that comment about using the One True Scale, I have to ask which range of 15 mm figures you were using since I thought I knew all of the FIW ranges out there and I don't recognize these figures?!   

[mikedemana]

Great photos and nice report on the progress and how the rules played out. I actually just played my first game of Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles last Saturday. It was a British colonial vs. Zulus game. I like how the Shock markers act as a unit morale. In the man-to-man FFOL, they don't seem to have much effect. However, they are a major mechanic in bigger games. It is an effective way to gauge the current morale of the unit.

I like your cork battle boards your figures are gorgeous!

Mike Demana

[Cluck Amok]

Thanks, guys!

FifteensAway - maybe I should have used "Classic Toy Soldier Scale" instead 

mikedemana: I have some biases; I love the historical period and I am part of the author's local gaming group so may have influenced development just a little, to name a couple, but the Horse & Musket skirmish set plays in a more nuanced fashion, too. Something about the decisions around reloading vs charging, I think. In Big Battles the simple differences between Regular, Irregular and Tribal troops lay out a good behavioral framework, and then the right unit trait assignments just add more flavor. I put some work into assigning traits, but I was really impressed with how well the game played and how much fun everyone had - even me watching!

[Pan Marek]

I've played FFL a bunch of times for Wild West games.  I've played Bigger Battles three times.  How are you handling loading with muskets?   So far, I've been letting loading consume the entire action of a unit.  But such seem too long.  Units end up sitting ducks for entire turns.

What do you think?

[Cluck Amok]

Reloading does take an entire turn. However, Bigger Battles handles "Unloaded" differently than standard FFoL. When a Unit is Loaded, it Shoots with one die for each soldier in the Unit. Afterward, the Unit is considered Unloaded. An Unloaded Unit can still Shoot, but with half its number of soldiers rounded up. So next turn the Unit can spend its entire turn to Reload, OR it can Shoot with half the number of soldiers in the Unit rounded up. The Unit can continue to Shoot each turn at half-strength until it takes a turn to Reload, after which it can Shoot at full-strength the following turn. This mechanism represents a fully-loaded Unit in musket range delivering a full-strength volley on Turn One, after which it delivers a more ragged (half-strength) volley on Turn Two OR it can skip a turn Shooting to Reload on Turn Two instead, after which it can Shoot at full-strength the following turn, Turn Three. So, the Units are not sitting ducks after their initial Shoot Action, but they only shoot at half-strength until they Reload. Makes for very tense firefights!

[Pan Marek]

Thanks!
I perused the rules again, and it appears that I missed this rule.
So much for my reading comprehension...

[Cluck Amok]

You are most welcome  Easy to miss because it is different from "standard."

[WillPhillips]

Great looking figures and table!

That Native with the two handed warclub - who makes that?

[Cluck Amok]

Thanks! John Jenkins Designs; 54mm.

[BaronVonJ]

Excellent as always Chris. Sad I couldn't play in your game, but in my defense I was running another
game.
mikedemana

In the man-to-man FFOL, they don't seem to have much effect

Shock has a huge effect in the small scale FfoL, Minus one off any roll or move action? Many a fight has been lost because of those minuses, especially if you let them stack up. I've watched plenty of troops bug out because they had more shock than remaining wounds. People also forget if you take a shock in the open, you force a target away or into cover. Shock matters.

[mikedemana]

I have a smaller number of games under my belt, so that probably explains it. We seem to always have somebody rolling hot on damage and knocking enemy out of action. As I play more, I am sure I will see what you are talking about.

Still, I really like how it has such a big impact on the Bigger Battles...

Mike Demana

[wolivant]

Great paintwork, more pics please )

Regards

Wolt