Guildford Courthouse with Warfare In The Age Of Reason

Game at Stephens today and he selected to use the venerable Warfare In The Age Of Reason (now on their 3rd edition) and Guildford Courthouse scenario from scenario booklet.

I took the attacking British (Stephens SYW Brits standing in for AWI chaps), we managed a full 7 turns which was pretty good especially as not played rules for a good while and lots of waffling about Saturdays game and other 'important' stuff. All Stephens lovely 15mm figures

Only a couple of queries mainly to do with QRS have some additional entries to actual rule book but only one we could not reconcile was if Disordered units move a half speed (this was in previous editions but not mentioned in current edition). Don't recall noticing this before ?

AOR is a good old style set that plays quite fast for smallish games but does have some 'memory' issues (especially for charges) for units from turn to turn that need markers and would slow bigger games. 

All the 'action' systems are easy to understand and implement which is not always the case in more modern sets, but maybe feel a bit less dynamic than newer sets but guess that sort of suits periods covered.

British initial advance on Rebel first line (Militia and Skirmishers)

American 3rd Line on ridge (cannot activate until fired on or at musket range) around 'Courthouse'

Large clearing in woodland sees bulk of action in scenario

Fences have no effect in scenario (assumed to in poor repair/knocked down)

British have pushed Rebels back from initial line 

Broken and Routing Rebel units cause disorder on units behind

Large Rebel skirmishing riflemen unit (lower right) a real nuisance as able to Evade and keep coming back 

Highland unit (just behind fence) refused to charge twice !

A top of pic a unit of Insurrectionist light Cavalry are about to ride down some Loyalist skirmishers (they then pursued into woods)

US Militia in disarray but have held up enemy for several turns 

British pushing forward but with mounting casualties

Solo board wargaming interlude - Combat Commander and Liberty Or Death

Had couple of solo sessions with couple of favourite board wargames I have not played in a while.

First up I played through a Combat Commander scenario set around action on 26th June 1944 near Cheux (from Normandy Battle Pack).

This was a cracking game (as it always is with CC) with Huns seeming as if they would run away with game as Time check ate the turns very quickly and they clocked up VPs.

But the Brits managed to turn things around (as can happen in CC) at last gasp with a couple of Melees that done for SS defenders and forced past their Surrender level (the VPs had turned in Brit favour as well with taking of an objective).

I really must get a face to face/live game again with this excellent system.

Early stages with several German units suffering effects of pre-game bombardment

Lots of open ground for British to cross but visibility limited to 5 hexes due Mist so doable

Brits have administered knockout punch in town destroying SS squads and taking lucrative VP location 

Punch was made to village centre but couple of stacks as others held back

Final victory track with Germans reaching surrender level (6) and Brits on 2VP (Huns had been at 10 at one stage)

Afterwards I then set up Liberty Or Death COIN game and am in early throes of this as have forgotten several of its rules/quirks so need some rules revision.

Pity I cannot get 3 other like-minded players for this

Playing full game (1776-1781) and first Winter Quarters card just completed 

Eutaw Springs with 'Bloody Backs'

Group outing today at Mr Ps gaffe with 15mm AWI kit (of Mr P and Stephen) using a scenario based around Eutaw Springs engagement in 1781.

We tried a set that Stephen found on web (from Steves Painting Shed blog) called 'Bloody Backs' which is still a work in progress but has some very interesting core systems.

Le Duc and I took the US forces (mainly as we arrived first and sat at that end of table) whilst Mr P and John commanded Brits with Stephen umpiring again, mainly as he had best knowledge of rules and had produced a QRS with some amendments for our use.

Rather uniquely the game uses D12 for most everything (unit activation, shooting, melee and morale) in multiples of 6 or 3 usually rolling against a target number based on various aspects such as unit density/formation, comparative unit size and usual tactical factors such as cover and suchlike.

Some further variation when charging with an additional 4 x D12 morale type roll to close with enemy and once in contact again rather interestingly only the attacker rolls dice in the melee (a basic 6 x D12 but can be increased) with every single roll causing a 'success' in melee but resulting hits (not 1 for 1 but based on a table) distributed on enemy or yourself depending on target number needed. 

Jokingly I declared that with this system and my dice rolling I could easily cause more damage to myself than enemy ! but was never tested as I never conducted a charge as faced by a lot of good quality British Grenadiers on my sector.

These (Elite) Grenadiers with decent commander were able to generate lots of double actions (units get 1 or 2 actions depending on number of successes rolled) compared to my more average units which seemed perfectly fine for better troops.

Units can suffer Disruptions (up to 3 with any excess converted to reductions in unit Stamina which was standard 6 for all) which reduce number of D12 one rolls to activate and this management of Disruptions (they can be rallied off 1 at a time) is a key part of the game system especially with lesser quality or poorly led troops. 

Commanders really only function as focal points for Brigade Command and Control as they apply their Command quality to units within 12" but this is a biggie for unit activation eg my lowly Militia if acting outside command radius would roll 6 x D12 needing 1-2 for success but with a decent +4 commander in range this becomes successes on 1-6. 

Once Disruptions kick in a unit might only roll 3-5 dice and if you fail to activate you must take a 3 x D12 morale test which can see unit retire, rout or disperse completely so boosting success number is tres importante.

Stephen did add a commander risk table but not used.

Militia certainly performed like Militia being fairly unreliable under duress but not impotent.

Of course inevitably a couple of problems arose that not fully addressed in such a short set of 'house' type rules but most were easily adjudicated for such as firing from cover, oblique movement, charging 2 units with 1 and splitting fire (this last one generated a fair bit of discussion as seemed tad odd on a couple of occasions).

Personally I found this overall to be a nice playable system and quite dynamic (always a plus for me) and overall had a decent AWI feel to unit types and interactions.

Game was scheduled for 16 turns of which we managed 13 (which is pretty good for a newly played set) and was headed for a draw as neither side really on course to achieve victory conditions in this time frame.

Pics mostly from early turns (ie before front line Militia melted away)

Rebels & Patriots - Tuesday Warriors AWI game

At Billys last night with Bryn and we played a 28mm game using Rebels And Patriots again, but this time using Billys very nice AWI 28mm stuff (some very nice Old Glory figures in the mix).
An 'encounter' type battle with 2 x 28 point forces per side (Billy took the Brits and Bryn and I the Patriots).
Turned out very one-sided as British took horrendous losses advancing to try to get to grips with Yanks.
Billy got a bit fixated on using British bonus in melee to detriment of ever firing and thereby suffered high losses especially as most Yank units were Good Shots and had First Fire.
Not sure the rules can really reflect AWI very well on anything other than a fairly superficial level.
Key to a R&P game is use of Skirmish class troops to screen your Line troops and some of the big 12 figure Militia/Indian units are ideal for this as they take less hits but fire as well as Line.
It can be quite hard to get to melee in rules, hence use of skirmish screens or suicide covering units to absorb hits leaving those behind unscathed.
Not so sure skirmish type units generally operated in this way in bulk of 18th Century as much more a seize and hold terrain role prior to French Revolutionary period onward.
It is very much how the game system works but 'feels' much more like Napoleonic tactics than 18th Century (works tad better for ACW imho).
But on plus side certainly very easy to play and quick (indeed too much so as written - we only roll Morale for adjacent losses if wiped out not just removed due to Routing).
The rules are what they are, a fast play set with historical miniatures, however rather light on the history but big on playability.
I much prefer Sharp Practice in......er....practice for this scale of game.

Liberty or Death - COIN game played

Excellent game of Liberty or Death with my Dad tonight.
I tried British and Indian combo for a change.

We played full scenario and played through to 1779 (5 Winter Quarters cards) with Dads Patriots and French attaining an auto win.

A really powerful card we had not seen before really helped him, Mercy Warren (?) which shifts any one City to Passive Opposition and so targeted New York City yielded a swing of 6 VP as I was at Active Support and took Rebellion to a 12 point difference in Support versus Opposition !

I was never able to get this back and with Patriots having 3 Forts out compared to 3 Indian villages it was curtains for Royalist aspirations............

We had a ding dong battle in Quebec City once French arrived with huge losses on both sides but appearance of General Lauzen (?) to assist French results swung Dads way.

Great game with a lot of Event cards we had not seen before.

Liberty Or Death COIN again

Another try out with Liberty or Death COIN game tonight with my Dad.

Tried the Medium scenario and Dad stuck with the British/Indian combo against my Patriots/French.

Another great game with this most excellent system.
Managed to play through 3 out the 4 Winter Quarter cards with Rebels ahead but not quite at auto Victory levels.

Only issue with LOD is that it tad slower to play than other COINs we have tried due to a few ‘if ‘ ‘and’ or ‘but’ options with Commands especially for British with the influence of French blockades or lack of same being key factors.

I thought the battle procedure would slow things but not the case as fairly easy to sort and don't occur that often.

Liberty Or Death - first outing in anger

Played Liberty Or Death for first time with my Dad with he as British & Indians and I as Patriots and French using the Full Scenario set up (1775 onward).
I had played a solo game to get mechanics of game into brain, of course it is a COIN game so basic stuff is standard but as always with quirks unique to individual game and new sets of Operations (termed Commands here) and Special Activities.
Main change from other titles is the introduction of dice rolls for 'pitched' Battles (actually representing the outcome of a series of battles in an area) to establish and some political bonuses to winner (Patriots with Washington get more 'renown' benefits if they defeat a British force).
The level of casualties are recorded (the actuall casualties return to Available boxes on a Winter card) as these influence Victory Levels and indeed French Arrival.
There are also named Leaders such as Washington, Howe for each faction with some getting several that can appear on Winter Quarter cards.
Each Leader has an 'ability' such as Washington increasing Political influence after winning a Battle and reducing on losses by 1 if defending, Gage can increase Militia losses after a Skirmish activity and so forth.
Each Faction has a one use only Brilliant Stroke card with French having an additional card to bring them fully into the game, these Trump Event cards and some can Trump each other, these allow 2 Free Limited Actions and a Free Special Activity only caveat is that a Leader must be involved in one of these Actions.
French and Indians both rather different factions not really like those in other games.
French spend 2-3 Years (a year ends with turn of Winter Quarters card) niggling the British by supporting Patriots but with no actual piece in the Colonies, as they build up forces/political will to intervene directly in war.
They have very limited options as regard Commands and Special Activities but can still be thorn on British side by paying to raise Patriot units or Resources.
The Indians are erstwhile British Allies, and I confess was dubious that they were a viable faction in a game about US revolution (not that well read on their 'exploits' or influence on events), but they are actually a well rounded faction in their own right with several very interesting options open to them.
Their Raids (sort of Terrorism in modern COIN scenarios) can effect the key Patriot opposition levels (local population not keen to suffer these raids), and their Warpath special action can hurt the Patriot cause by attrition of their forces.
They can place Villages to aid certain Commands and indeed need to for their Victory Conditions.
I should add Victory Conditions for each Faction are split into 2 a primary and secondary condition which can determine who suffers the Winter card events.
British and Patriots are more recognizable as Government/Coalition types but again with several twists and quirks.
British have a lot of units with both British Regulars and Tory (Royalists) units and some powerful Commands (Muster can see up to 6 British Regular appear in one go and as many Tories as one can pay for or force pool allows !).
Britannia also rules waves (at least until French navy pokes its nose into affairs) with essentially unfettered access to the (mostly) coastal Cities via the Atlantic (kind of works like a Road/Communications network), the later French use of Blockades can disrupt this.
British and French also contest the West Indies from whence French Naval Squadrons sortie and this area is worth 5 Resources so not to be ignored.
Patriots are a mix of a Regular type and Militia (closest faction equivalent I can think of is NVA in Vietnam game) with Continentals equivalent of British Regulars, albeit less numerous, and Militia sort of like Guerrillas who can use Propaganda (again a type of 'Terrorism' effect) to stymie British Support in areas and the wee sods can pop up in Cities and Provinces with their insidious agenda.
Much more to game and its interactions, strategies than this brief outline and single play can convey but like every other COIN game I have tried it is an excellent gaming experience even with two players (would love to get a 4 player session in sometime with at least one title) and indeed solo, in fact I think this game is one of better 2 player COIN game experiences (with obvious exception of Colonial Twilight).
My only gripe with game is that an awful lot of action can occur in Massachusetts area which is very tiny (first time I have had to use on board Command Grouping areas) but that is down to geography/practicality, a less intrusive 'annoyance' is transposing of New York City and Philadelphia into Atlantic Area to give them a playable area but one can tend to forget they are actually adjacent to other regions not just Atlantis wannabes :-)
As to game we managed to play through 3 Winter Quarters cards (I should say these have varying Special Events that can effect one player) years and game ended at end of 1777 with Patriot win, as it seems in this game in two player mode you can win with a single faction Victory Level.
++Edit - nope found rule that like all other COIN games both factions must ‘win’ for a side to auto-win++
Great stuff and next play will no doubt be much different as we both now have at least some idea of strategies and interactions (certainly do not attack Washington if he has a strong army and a Fort as rather tough to defeat and a loss to him has repercussions !) never mind the ever changing mix of cards in deck and order of play.






Set up 1775 start, Stand up counters are Leaders (optional 'flat' counters available)

Later in 1777 French have appeared (white cubes) in New Hampshire. Note 2 Command Group counter in Massachusetts (contained Patriot, British and Indian Pieces

French also in Norfolk which Patriots had stolen from Royalist control

Tory Royalists (Green cubes) have mustered all across the seaboard and adjacent Colonies. Note Casualties box full (on left top) and the adjacent Command Grouping box showing the units of both faction in (yes you guessed it) Massachusetts.

Southern Colonies pretty much neglected by both of us all game

At end a narrow Patriot win but getting 11+ more Opposition than Support on board and having slightly better adjusted number of Forts built than Indian Villages.