Rebels And Patriots a large ACW game with 'Tuesday Warriors'

Another game using Rebels And Patriots rules at Bryns.
A 'four ball' so Bryn had set up his 28mm ACW stuff with 4 Commands.
After rolling for sides it was Bryn and Billy commanding the Union forces and Simon and I the Rebs.
Another fast and furious light game with these rules.
Pretty much able to play just using the QRS and few unit stats.
Only thing really requiring look up in the game was the 'double 1 or double 6' events of which there were several.
The Union got 4 extra Skirmish units and Rebs 2 later but the early Union appearance meant several times they got to pick from the 'menu' and selected 'Sharpshooters' (?) or as I termed it the 'Exocet Missiles' as the receiving player gets to pick any single enemy unit and roll 12d6 on 5+ to inflict hits.
Couple of double 1 rolls saw both sides inflict friendly fire on own units, which saw my Commanding Officer trot off-table with his unit after failing Morale badly.
These events are fun but maybe a bit too frequent, but then I guess they add a level of welcome unpredictability to proceedings.
Cannon are very powerful as one would expect and the Union having two proved a real pain although the single Reb battery performed well against Bryns force.
Was literally a game of two halves as my wing took brunt of Union shooting early on whilst Billy struggled through a large wooded area to attack me.
Simon moved through a smaller wood on our right screened very effectively by 3 units of Skirmishers (their shooting at Yank troops was awesome) and managed to get some charges in against Bryns troops.
Only the timely arrival of 2 Reb skirmish units (courtesy of double 6) shored up my command which was near destruction.
Not a set I fear for ACW aficionados (or any other period covered) as pretty generic troop types and weapons but again its fast playing and ideal for limited time slot/club night and for that it works very well.




My Rebs at start

Simons Rebs set up awaiting his arrival (running a bit late)

Billy and Bryn set up Yanks

Skirmish units clash in woods as Billys Line troops lag behind (They showed have lagged more but we forgot to count them as Green discipline level)

Rebs begin to suffer in centre 

Simons force moves to right

My single Skirmish unit well out numbered

Rebs swarming to right

Bryns force re-inforced by 2 Skirmish units (Billy sent him the 2 extra he received as well)

My Skirmishers doing sterling work, but Yank numbers surging forward

Rebs taking more punishment

Can Simon win on our right before I lose on our left !?

Billys extra skirmishers arrive

I form a line at wood edge awaiting arrival of Yank 'column'

Might look like a nice Reb reserve but sadly not these are my losses including my Leader !
Some very nice figures with a mix of plastics and metals

Yanks begin to emerge from woodland 

Just as two Reb skirmish units appear in very timely fashion

Billy pushes a couple of spare unit into centre.
Looks like house is on fire buts it is just a bag of tasty snacks :-)

Chain Of Command - a game at Mikes

'Tuesday Warriors' night at Mikes with Bryn and Simon (who very worryingly got a hug from Mike !) playing a Chain Of Command game with Mikes very nice 28mm kit.

Set up was a fight over a village between US (Mike 'assisted' by Bryn) against Germans (Simon and I).

Mike had forgone the Patrol Phase to speed set up with a couple of Deployment areas to rear for both sides.

Once again a rule set I have only played a couple of times and that ages ago so bit ropey over several concepts (took me ages to 'get' sections vis teams !) but thankfully the chaps have good grasp of rules.

Nice game with a very good set of low level tactical rules and of course now looking at having further go with them or IABSM :-)





View of village from German 'end'

Sdkfz 250 and more troops waiting to deploy (believe figures are Artizan Designs ?)

Yanks encroaching on our left

A German Section deploys

Yanks line 'high hedge' with 60mm Mortar in support to rear (this proved very effective against Simons troops in the Church - aided by some stellar rolling by Mike)

Sdkfz 222 and M8 Greyhound both ablaze after hits by Bazooka and Panzerschreck respectively (costly for both sides as double 'Bad Things Happen' rolls with loss of vehicle and inherent Junior Leader......ouch).
German Sniper team visible to left of wrecked Sdkfz 222

Pike & Shotte - another (and better) Grand Alliance outing

Another game with Pike & Shotte at Billys with Simon and Bryn (Shane came, saw and cleared off early :-) ).
Essentially a repeat set up of last time, with Jacobites defending a ridgeline, but trying reduced Musket ranges (half for all small arms) and couple of rules we had forgotten last time.
Simon and I were the Jacobites with Billy and Bryn the Alliance forces.
Simon cannily withdrew his whole wing backwards to refuse our whole right and this frustrated Bryn whose forces failed to advance quickly enough to engage.
Simon had left one battery of guns on the ridge which managed to annoy Bryns forces.
Bryn did however send his Cavalry force to assist Billy on the Allied right.
And so the Jacobite left wing saw a real ding dong engagement from the get go with Billys Cavalry crashing into mine but being initially repulsed.
However his second wave pushed one of my Brigades back but thankfully some dismounted Dragoons and a supporting Brigade shored up this flank.
Simon did have some Cavalry support poised but not required.
Meanwhile (and in stark contrast to last encounter) Billys foot advanced en mass and even managed to get opening volley (I was holding mine for inevitable close combat) but thankfully this was mostly ineffective. Before engaging my ridge line units.
A to and fro battle ensued which the Jacobites managed to win breaking several Allied Foot units and eventually breaking 2 Brigades.
My Cavalry were battered and one Brigade broke but the other held.....just.....and with Billys Foot beaten the Allies yielded.
All in all a much better game with reduced firing ranges as more manouvre possible and units do get eyeball to eyeball much more.
Still find Black Powder system a bit too free and easy for my sensibilities at times especially in this period of slow/staid movements but it certainly plays quickly and decisively with lots of units in action.
Billys 15mm troops are a joy to behold (pics do not do them justice)
One thing to note in the above I had no moans about my dicing for once !

Rebels And Patriots - Tuesday Warriors bash

Game at Bryns with Billy (Tuesday Warriors as I have named this group) using the recently released 'Rebels and Patriots' rules from the glossy Osprey stable and also one of the 'Lament' series of rules.
Bryn set up an ACW encounter with his excellent 28mm troops (a mix of Perry plastics, Fronk Rank and ?) with Billy as Feds and yours truly as Rebs.

Rules cover several American based war periods from mid 18th Century through to 1865

I did not have the rules but did find a QRS (although seems it was bit different from Bryns) so had an idea of game play.

Fairly simple with units activated via 2D6 rolls against target of 6+ to execute various orders such as Move, Fire, Attack, Close Order and so forth, nothing taxing in any of this.

Double 1 or double 6 rolls yield bad and good random effects such as 'Fire on nearest friendly unit ' or 'gain plus 1 to Discipline' type stuff.

Movement is free and easy as units not in Close Order essentially operate on a 360 degree basis for everything.
Obstacles (walls/fences) take a move to cross but no actual rules for Buildings as such, which author passes off with 'too hard to write rules, so sort it yourselves', hmmmm, I confess I would rather have a rule or even guidelines rather another eye candy picture (they are very nice though being its Osprey publishing)

Firing is usual buckets of dice system with 6-12 dice rolled per unit depending on status (Skirmishing or Disordered) hit on 4-6 depending on firer (Artillery, Standard Shots and Poor Shots respectively).
These 'hits' are then converted in casualties based on a standard of 1 figure per two hits but adjusted by various factors such as cover, target formation.
So say you generate 4 hits this might be 2 casualties inflicted (1 per 2) or only 1 if behind cover (as now 1 per 3).
Simple and intuitive.

Units are 12 men for Line, 6 for Skirmishers and Guns have 4 (?) crew think Cavalry are 6 if Light 12 if Heavier types (?).

Units Rout after 3 Disorders which are very nasty as half shooting/fighting dice and -1 per Disorder on Morale Tests.

Commanders are odd beasts as they are attached to a single unit throughout the game not being able to attach/detach, although with small number of units per side this is not really an issue.

Morale is tested per unit for each casualty suffered on 2D6 needing 6+ adjusted for several factors, and aided by having Commander within 12".

And herein we discovered a problem as not 100% clear if you Test for every unit that is Routed within 12" (which caused a domino effect of tests/failures for both sides) as rules say 'Test if unit Wiped Out' without defining wiped out, but at others state 'Test if unit removed from play with 12" ' which is what happens when a unit Routs ie it is removed from play.

In first game (we managed two plays) this was a major issue as I caused a couple of casualties on a unit which failed it Morale with awful double one causing it to Rout and causing several tests on other units within 12" which on the smallish table sizes (think standard is a 4' x 4' for standard 24 point force size ?) and another Rout caused yet more Tests.
If you fail you generally take a Disorder but can take 2 on low roll.
There is a Rally order but it has same inherent risk of taking additional Disorders
Billy then did same to me an I lost a couple of units and others took Disorders (note we both had Green Troops as standard with -1 for tests).

We felt that not really a game as a couple of casualties and both our forces were wrecked (both had 2 Line and 2 Skirmish units lost).

Morale Tests can be very brutal the caveat being that a Pass removes all Disorders (expect if unit at half strength as this incurs a permanent Disorder).
Certainly produced a very quick outcome !

So we reset game (with Bryn joining in on Yank side) and decided that these 'within 12 inch' Morale Tests would only occur if triggering unit actually wiped out (although fairly sure this would be an extremely rare occurrence) and it did produce a much better game as units could remain in situ and intact without Disorder much more frequently.
But sadly I do think this is against rules as written.

Also unclear is that rules also state that Tests have a -1 if more than one reason to test but again not really well explained.
Does this mean if a unit Routs besides you, your unit tests but if another Routs beside yours immediately you do or do not test again (as rules say for each reason to test you test) ? when does this -1 actually happen ?

All in all a nicely produced and presented fairly simple set that include several army lists and several scenarios with low rules overhead (despite the Morale issues described) that are easy to teach and good for a club night with limited time, and with added bonus that number of figures required is fairly low (depending on troop mix/types/traits/abilities chosen about 30-60 figures required).
But having played these and Sharp Practice I do think the Lardy set has a lot more depth and replay value but to each their own.
R&P are certainly very well priced (under a tenner currently for softback/PDR/ePub).

Pike & Shotte - A Nine Years War encounter

Game at Billys last night using Pike & Shotte rules with his super 15mm Grand Alliance troops of which there are copious amounts !
Billy set up forces to accommodate 5-6 players but in the end just Billy, Shane and I controlled the hordes.
I took Jacobite force (5 Brigades of Foot and 4 Cavalry with 3 Gun Batteries) nominally defending a ridge line with the chaps controlling the Grand Alliance forces (6-8 Foot and 5-6 Mounted Brigades and 3 Cannon ?).
Lots to control but with Black Powder stable of rules highly doable.
Grand Alliance had poor Command Rolls and then hit a steel wall/storm of musketry and cannon fire (of which more later) which pretty much stopped any general advance with lots of units Disordered and several Shaken.
In P&S units with Pikes in Disorder can cause Disorder on units interpenetrating or interpenetrated, a nice simple rule although we got this slightly wrong as made it an auto cause instead of on a dice roll of 6 only.
The Pike Company rule is good (Cavalry lose all bonuses against Infantry units with a Pike component and such Infantry gains versus Mounted) meaning its a foolhardy Cavalry unit that would charge Pike assisted units in most circumstances.
On Allied right Billy charged from get go (its BP system !) hitting my own mounted and 2 units of Dismounted Dragoons (treated as small units of skirmishing Infantry).
One Dragoon Fired and Evaded the other failed to Evade but performed heroically (good dice rolls) halting the enemy Mounted unit.
My impacted Cavalry lost and retired and Billy used a Sweeping Advance to hit support which also Retired.
However his unit now isolated and vulnerable to my supports.
On my turn my supporting Cavalry Brigade duly charged into Billys defeating them and with supporting Musketry he soon had Shaken.
Meanwhile my dismounted Dragoons continued to hang on inflicting casualties on enemy horse and surviving 2 Break Tests which with my dice rolls is no mean feat !
Subsequently Billy Brigade broke (3 out of 5 units Shaken) and he had to commit a fresh Brigade which fared little better with several being Disordered from my shooting (several opportune 6's !!!).
On my right Shane and I exchanged volleys with Allies suffering slightly worse and both reticent to commit Mounted Brigades (after having seen the carnage elsewhere was probably prudent).
Only 1 Allied Foot Brigade even got close to my lines and its front ranks were Shaken and Disordered by Close Range Volleys.
We called it there as seemed Allies were never going to get in any sort of order or strength.
Spectacular looking game with lots and lots of units and indeed very fast playing.

BUT.........I do feel this period is ill served overall by BP/P&S (as written) rules as the musket volleys are equally as 'good' as those of SYW or Napoleonic period and with a massive 18" range ! (no doubt with 28mm it would not look just as 'bad').
This jarred for the period and meant at up to 18" with First Fire I could unload 4 dice per unit (more than Arty which only gets 2 dice) and even I when firing say 10 units (40 dice) will manage at least 1 or 2 sixes to Disorder the enemy with hits added bonus.
Cavalry all get 1 Dice to fire as well (up to a huge 12") which of course means on a 6 they can Disorder target, again this just does not gel with my feel of the period (Pistol armed types 'only' fire to 6" but as this is Close Range they hit on 3+ rather than default 4+ as we understood rules !?).
If I were to House Rule I would try reducing Muskets/Carbines/Pistols to half range (keeping moves and artillery as is) with no + at Close Range and -1 at 3-9".
I would be tempted to reduce these ranges further as in period, volleys were generally  loosed off at well under 100yds indeed often at under 50yds due to training, accuracy (lack thereof) and doctrine, maybe 6" maximum.
Only if charged would I allow the +1 hit benefit, if only to discourage relentless charging.
Mounted I would only allow the 1 shot as Closing Fire and without any +1 benefit.
Only Shock Cavalry (essentially the French) would get +1 to hit benefit in Charge/Counter-charge situation Firearm types get the 1 dice shot.
I would consider this Mounted Shot as not being able to Disorder but that might be too severe.
For Foot I would not allow a Charge to Contact with enemy until after First Fire has been used.
I would also consider making it harder to get 2 or 3 moves with Foot (-3/4 = 2 moves -4 = 3 moves vis Command Roll ?) to reflect ponderous non-cadenced moves of the period as opposed to 'Exocet missile' mode they currently possess (an overall BP system 'problem/issue').

Not fully sure there would be no unintended consequences with these tweaks and could slow game slightly (maybe not so desirable for a big evening game ?) but do on face value seem at least in principle somewhat more akin to late 17th Century European Warfare as I understand it.
Otherwise its just another Lace War (or Blue Team vs Red Team) in different uniforms, only real difference being the Pike Companies (a nice rule that works and is easy).

Always a balancing act between game speed/playability and history I guess, but personally I much prefer more historically based substance to a simple 'moving diorama' and/or 'dice fest'.


All figures and terrain courtesy of Billy (his room is a treasure trove of figures in all scales and periods !).
The amount of troops and units present here certainly put 'Grand' into the War of Grand Alliance for an evening game.
His hospitality (and on this occasion dice rolling) much appreciated especially as mine was much better than usual.
Is this how the 'Dice Demon' gets to feel every game/roll !!!!!?????










Billy deploys his ill-fated Horse Brigades (note just some of his collection visible behind)

Central massed Alliance Foot Brigades (and more shelves of figures)

Alliance left commanded by Shane.

My right

Jacobite centre

And left wing

Dragoon 'heroes' just about visible on extreme left

Green 'puff' indicates a Jacobite Brigade with Freshly Raised and Untested units

My right wing Cavalry moves forward but never went further as Allied Dragoons dismounted in wooded area

The lone Allied Infantry 'almost' assault. The purple dice on my unit to right signifies that its Untested outcome gave it a very desirable 4 Stamina

Allied right in disarray as one Brigade breaks

Allied horse repelled. The hero Dragoons still in situ despite having hits (should read 3)

Musket balls exchanged at 18" (it even looks daft to me here) and note hits and disorders on enemy waaaayy across field

Shanes Guard units with hits from my 'long range snipers'

Good view of Allied lines staggered far too far from my ridge line but it does look epic

Jacobite cavalry begin to push their advantage on left wing

Jacobite centre also with several Disordered units from Allied long range laser guided Musket Volleys. Two were also Shaken out of 5 Unit Brigade at this point.