Over the Hills - Play-test

[carojon]

One of the more recent additions to the catalogue of Napoleonic rule sets 'Over the Hills' got a play-test last night



If you would like to know more then just follow the link to JJ's

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/over-hills-napoleonic-rules-play-test.html

Jonathan

[gustav]

interesting review JJ.  hmm food for thought indeed.

[carojon]

Cheers gustav. Well worth having a look at.

[LCpl McDoom]

Thanks for the review, I succumbed and ordered a copy.

You mentioned you used micro dice to record FH at unit level - may I ask what were the typical min/max ranges of FH incurred? To explain my interest, I'll admit to being a bit fussy about having too many markers on the tabletop to manage information as the game progresses, so I sometimes look for alternate ways to 'mark casualties'.

[carojon]

Hi Lc McDoom,
On the basis of the one play test we did for the post that is a tricky question to be precise about.
I took a judgement that most units that are well trained regular troops are going to be on a FS of 7-8, thus a d6 to record degradation of that rating should be more than adequate for the majority of units as a FS of 0 removes the unit. I use 18mm figures and like you I don't like markers that draw the eye away from the figures so I use 5mm (the smallest) micro dice available and I don't think having even two of the dice behind a unit would be that distracting, although I would suggest that that is very unlikely as that would only apply to those very elite units and most players concentrate on rallying off FH when they threaten to remove a unit or make it inoperative. Remember it is the army FS that cannot be rallied off and will stop units in an affected formation from carrying on the battle.

Obviously beauty is in the eye of the beholder which is why I posted the pictures of our game with the micro die in action, to allow others to make their own minds up. Personally I don't find they detract from the aesthetics of the game.

Hope that helps
JJ

[LCpl McDoom]

Many thanks for the reply, and aye, agreed - the pix you have posted up look impressive.

Rules arrived yesterday (thanks Caliver Books) and I was up past midnight reading and re-reading. I am now very intrigued to see how they work, and I like the fact that you have a Basic Game format to learn them quickly, and then you have a whole range of Optional Rules too. 

[carojon]

I hope you have fun. I to spent a lot of time pre-reading and the re-reading after our game. I have come away with lots of ideas and am looking forward to having another go with them, time permitting. So much to do, so little time!
Cheers
JJ