15XX Battle Report - in the Vale of Ancient Castles

[WillPhillips]

As some of you may remember, I'm working on writing and playtesting a set of narrative skirmish rules for Renaissance-era Europe called 15XX.

(More info here: https://tabletop.willphillips.org/projects/15xx/ )

Having got both of my COVID-19 shots, I was able to at long last get a real human being playtest game in last week with a longtime collaborator. Here are some pics of how the game played out. More can be seen over at my blog: https://tabletop.willphillips.org/2021/04/21/15xx-playtest-battle-report-the-vale-of-ancient-castles/

My opponent's party: composed of hardened and trainer mutineer mercenaries out to pillage:


And my party: a group of refugees caught in the countryside:


The game is played out on a 6x6 grid. I'm using 15mm scale figures, which gets me a very nice and compact 2x2ft table that still allows for plenty of terrain. This is how the initial "fog of war" played out as we maneuvered out of our deployment zones to initial contact:


The toughest fighting played out around the river ford, but there was plenty of action along the bridge and woods, as well.





But the tower on the bottom edge of the map became a real death trap for me, as my opponent got real lucky with his mortar's rolls.



More pics and a write-up on my blog:

https://tabletop.willphillips.org/2021/04/21/15xx-playtest-battle-report-the-vale-of-ancient-castles/