Tested at the Pass

After Sunday's game I was all hepped up and excited and ready to write a narrative with some background on characters and situation but duties called then yesterday was a game day in town and an absorbing WWII game and... well the moment has passed so here is a shorter more direct report on the game.

My goal, beyond having fun,  was twofold: test some new rules and test the rules in a smaller, scenario driven, game.  Spoiler alert: Full marks on both points.

The convoy escort has beaten off the first attacks and advanced but a new assault is gathering.

The scenario was a mix of the general idea of an old teaser ambush with some terrain  laid down as much according to instinct and the pieces on hand as to any vague plan of a narrow valley between hills and river. I then chose 12 units per side plus a victory objective from which arose a back story.

In the Midlands, rumours of dark dealings and a new threat from the West are circulating. The King has "requested", Sir Daniel, Purveyor of Truths to leave his lair and venture forth in person to get to the bottom of things and return with proof. After adventures not recorded he and a force are returning with a captured Lion Priestess in hand. They have only to pass through the Shadow Vale and across the Stone Bridge to reach the safety of the Midlands.

The rearguard cavalry is moving up to counter attack.Casualty figures and looters mark lost units.

MIDLISH FORCES
The convoy enters the table as follows:
Scouts: 1 x light armoured cavalry crossbows
Main Body:
Tunstall Lancers 1 x Armoured shock cavalry
Tunstall Archers: 1 x Light armoured. archers
Pikes: 2 x armoured pikemen.
Guardians of Truth: 1 x Heavily Armoured Shock Infantry
Sir Daniel and escort: Character General
Captive in cart with light armoured escort.
 Wagon
Border Archers: 1 x Light Armoured Archers
Pikes: 2 x armoured pikemen.
Longbottom Lancers:  1 x armoured shock cavalry

Rearguard: Border Horse 1x light armoured shock cavalry

WESTFOLK
The Westfolk forces are all hidden in ambush. Rather than use my usual cards and blinds option or the hidden map deployment I would use in a 2 player game, I tried something new. Each turn I rolled 2 dice. A 6 meant a cavalry unit, 4,or 5 an infantry unit. These are drawn from a list of available units, if none of the appropriate type are available none appear. For each unit I rolled 2 dice. If Red was higher the Lion Queen could place the unit anywhere on table not visible to the enemy and not yet searched by them. If Blue was higher the unit had to be placed in one of the not yet cleared ambush locations closest to the enemy and must shoot or attack if possible or advance full speed on the turn of placement if not. The system worked well to provide a reasonable ambush that was a surprise to both sides but especially to the ambushed as there was no eyeing of cards as possible danger spots, every hill and wood was a danger.  

The list was:
Lion Queen. Character and General with Special unit. Attributes not defined yet so treated as shock cavalry able to move through woods with magical protection equal to armour.
The Assasasin. character not yet defined so treated as light infantry but with attack of 5 and magical protection equal to armour. (didn't get into action)
3 x Light Cavalry, lightly armoured (shield)
3 x light infantry archers, unarmoured but counting as light due to camoflage
4 x light infantry, lightly armoured.

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The scene from a different angle.
(oops I thought this was a later picture but its here now)

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Early on a series of impetuous ambushes by archers and light cavalry inflicted some heavy damage by shooting and by flanking attacks on isolated units. Only 1 unit was destroyed early on but shielding the ones with 1 hit left while trying to cover the convoy became a real headache for Sir Daniel. As more light infantry appeared and the attackers got anxious to score kills or grab the hostage before the rest of the heavy troops could come up led to some possibly rash atacks not backed up by luck. Soon casualties were even and the ambushers were using their speed to retreat to safe havens from which to watch for an opening while keeping up a thin shower of arrows. The convoy plodded forward in all round defence minus 1/2 the cavalry which had chased after some light infantry, been ambushed, rescued by more cavalry, and then caught the retreating enemy just short of cover and rode them down. At this point, both sides were down a couple of units but Sir Daniel had either to push forward or else retreat quickly hoping for a draw. A die roll chose the aggresive go for a win. With battered and lost units on both sides it hung in the balance, if the flanking cavalry could come up behind the ambusher's cavalry in the open, like a hammer against the anvil of the convoy, all would be good. Instead the third archer finally appeared and shot down the last Tunstall lancer, who failed his armour save, and the Midlish force went under strength and was no longer allowed to attack or shoot (not that there were any archers left).  They tried to retreat but the swift moving light infantry soon surrounded them. There was no hope but to negotiate, hand over the priestess alive in exchange for free passage. I gave Sir Daniel a chance to use the persuasion of his secret knowledge on the Lion Queen (opposed die roll) and it worked. He handed her over and was allowed to depart. A Westfolk victory in their eyes if some what diminished by the sight of their enemy retreating unmolested but a continuing story for Sir Daniel.

The game hangs in the balance. Both armies are only a few units away from losing morale and have multiple wounded units.

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As mentioned above I was very pleased with how the rules worked with the armour save. With as few as 12 units per side, and a scenario, an engaging battle was fought lasting longer than the earlier, larger, straight encounters, possibly 2 hours and somewhere between 20 and 30 turns. A large battle should still go fast but with a bit more depth than before.

I hadn't been happy with my trial horse archer rule or the shoot only before move and lack of difference in archers types so I tried introducing light and massed archers on horse and foot and let light ones move and shoot but with 2 dice while the massed one could do either. The move and shoot with 1/2 dice worked fine, the other not so much and anyway, looking at the figures I realized that unless my old Minifig Picts were some sort of stealth snipers, they were really just an unarmoured version of the lightly armoured English archer figures they were fighting. For massed archers I had really been thinking Persian Sparabara and the like. In the end I decided to just let any archer move and shoot with 1/2 dice and I'll worry about special units later. One I'm puzzling over is my 2 stands of "lances" which contain a mix of lancers and mounted crossbowmen. Possibly a special unit stat with 2 dice of shock and 2 of archers. But that's a question for later.

In case anyone is wondering about the increased flank value instead of a hedgehog, the pikes are more like Swiss with a mix of pikes and halberds and ready to form square at the drop of a hat without orders from above.

The bridge is in sight. The rearguard cavalry is swiftly advancing on the rear of the enemy cavalry but then archers pop up in the scrub along the river and the Tunstall Lances go down and with them the army's morale.  

More work on characters and magic is next I think. Not to mention more rebasing, painting and playing.

The deal is struck. Safe release of the prisoner for freedom to go.

Ambush Teaser

Knew it was too quiet in the hills to be true.

Save me!

I now have 18 Midlish and 25 Western units (60mm bases) ready to play. Some of the bases lack texture but at least they are all table green.

Some changes have been made since the last test the most important being:

1. Armour saves have been introduced to replace the -1 vs heavies modifier.
2. Additional troop types have been added and changes made to some specisl unit rules.
3. The restrictions on shooting and moving have changed. Light units may now move and shoot as per original game but only roll 1/2 dice. Medium bow units may only move or shoot but roll 1 die per strength point.

if all goes well the armies will march on Sunday.

The Western Woodland Horde.

Mostly Morchauser Shock Rules Test 6 Quick Reference 

(Note clean up done to troop names Sun am and to make armour saves match troop types pm)

Play Sequence. Alternate turns.

Active player moves and shoots units in any order

Resolve all melees

Movement.
Infantry 6", Light Infantry 8", Cavalry 10", Light Cavalry 12", Artillery 4", flying creatures 12" May pass over units of either side. Great Beasts 10"
Stop when entering a ford.
Units may turn or move sideways as desired unless engaged or attacking but no part of stand may move more than move allowance.

Engagement Range. If a unit is within 2" of the enemy it is engaged. Moving to engagement range is an attack. When moving within 2" of enemy a unit must halt or move to contact an enemy. If starting within 2" of enemy front a unit must halt, move to contact or retreat.

Shooting. (Updated post test game) Light Infantry and Light Cavalry Archers may shoot then move or move then shoot but only roll 1 die per 2 strength points rounding up (if they move). They may not shoot and attack.  Infantry and Cavalry Archers and Artillery may either move or shoot but roll 1 die per remaining strength point. 

1. Range: Foot Archers 12", Horse Archers 6" 
2. Effect: Each 6 hits target in cover,  5,6 hits target in open. 
3. Artillery: Range 18 hit on 2,4,6
4. Limits. Must have line of sight. May not shoot if fording. May not shoot if self or target is engaged. LOS in woods 2"

Melee. If in contact both sides roll during the melee phase. Roll 1 die per remaining strength point Roll Melee Power or less to hit. Front/flank values. 

1. Shock Cavalry 5/3, Cavalry Archers 4/2, Light Cav 4/2, Light Horse Archers, flyers 3/2 GB 5/3
2. Shock Infantry 4/2, infantry archers 3/2, Pikemen 3/3,  Light Infantry 3/1, Light Spearmen 2/2, Light Archers 2/1 
3. Modifiers: to power but never less than 1 after modifiers
1. -1 to power if attacking uphill or out of stream or if any but Light Infantry or light archers in woods
2. -1 to power  if enemy is behind hard cover or is pikes or spears in the open.

Armour Saves. When a unit takes a hit from shooting or in melee it may roll 1 die per hit to reflect the defensive benefit of any shields, helmets, armour, thick skins or ability to dodge. Troops with light armour or just a shield save on a 6. Troops with 1/2 armour and shield save on a 5,6, infantry in full armour and armoured cavalry on barded horses save on a 4,5,6.

Strength Points. All units start with 4 strength points except artillery which have only 2, and some exceptionally big and strong monsters. When all strength points are gone the stand is removed.

Commanders. Form part of unit or may be a single figure which may attach to any unit. Commander rolls extra die in melee. Commander will be last man killed on stand. If commander killed all units roll 1 die. 5,6 carry on, 3,4 retreat a full move, 1,2 Rout.

Army Morale. When an army has lost 1/2 of its units it may no longer shoot or attack or move into contact.

The Black Company Leads The Way

Rebasing is proceeding swiftly during very short spurts which are too few. Some thought is being given to trying armour saves again now that melees are only 1 round per player turn.

Meanwhile, here is the reformed Black Company. The knights are down to 3 but the bigger base has allowed the crossbowmen to deploy their pavises, 1 per 2 men.

Tweaked

Its been 5 years since I decided to develop a fast and easy set of homegrown rules for my ancient/medieval games rather than trying to keep up with the latest commercial fad. This current exploration of a Morschauser based set is nothing like what I had in mind back then. This has led me to question whether or not I should keep the Gathering of Hosts name so I decided to go back and check the rules against the original criteria. (See camel meets straw post)

So far the new rules clearly meet 4 of the criteria. They are simple and intuitive enough to be played without a QRS and to be easily learned, focused on major troop types rather than details and the 6 cm bases are compatible with more than one set of commercial rules, esp since I will end up with many pairs of stands. The original list calls for single figures but allowing for elements and tracking hits which is how the new rules work.  The intention is to develop some sort of command control for commanders so that remains a maybe. Lastly while large battles work I have not yet tried a small game so that is also an open question. With somewhere between 5 and 7 of the 7 criteria met, I am satisfied that I am justified in continuing to use the name.

That settled, here is a summary of the rules as played by Rob, Norman and myself last Friday.

Morchauser Shock Rules Test 5 Quick Reference 

Play Sequence. Alternate turns.

Active player shoots with archers and artillery. Horse archers may move upto 1/2 then shoot then finish move.

Active player moves units in any order

Resolve all melees

Movement.
Hvy Inf, Med Inf  6", Lt Infantry 8", Archers 8", Heavy & Medium Cavalry 10", Light Cavalry and Horse Archers 12", Artillery 4", flying creatures 12" May pass over units of either side.
Stop when entering a ford.
Units may turn or move sideways as desired unless engaged or attacking but no part of stand may move more than move allowance.
If 2+ Pike units turn back to back they form square instead of moving. Then then have no flank but may not move. 

Engagement Range. If a unit is within 2" of the enemy it is engaged. Moving to engagement range is an attack. When moving within 2" of enemy a unit must halt or move to contact an enemy. If starting within 2" of enemy front a unit must halt, move to contact or retreat.

Shooting. Archers that shot may still move but may not attack. Artillery which shot may not move.  Roll 1 die per remaining strength point.

1. Range: Archers 12", Mtd Archers 4" 
2. Effect: Each 6 hits Heavy or in cover,  5,6 hits all others. 
3. Artillery: Range 12 hit on 2,4,6, range 6 hit on any but 6.
4. Limits. Must have line of sight. May not shoot if fording. May not shoot if self or target is engaged. LOS in woods 2"

Melee. If in contact both sides roll during the melee phase. Roll 1 die per remaining strength point Roll Melee Power or less to hit. Front/flank values. 

1. HC & MC 5/3, Lt Cav 4/2, Horse Archers, flyers 3/2 
2. HI 4/2, MI 4/2, Pikemen 4/1,  LI 3/1, Archers 2/1 
3. Modifiers: to power but never less than 1 after modifiers
1. -1 to power if attacking uphill or out of stream or any but Lt Inf & archers in woods
2. -1 to power  if enemy is heavy or is behind hard cover or if cavalry fighting pikes frontally.

Strength Points. All units start with 4 strength points except artillery which have only 2. When all are gone the stand is removed.

Commanders. Form part of unit. Commander rolls extra die in melee. Commander will be last man killed on stand. If commander killed all units roll 1 die. 5,6 carry on, 3,4 retreat a full move, 1,2 Rout.

Army Morale. When an army has lost 1/2 of its units it may no longer shoot or attack or move into contact.

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These are the rules that we used for the playtest, it was just a matter of figuring how to catagorize each stand of orcs, elves, wolves, men etc . The dragon was a bit of a puzzle but we finally decided to count as flying heavy cavalry  with 6 hits.

After a brief discussion on magic we decided to defer and just made the scenario be about disrupting a wizard who was casting a complex spell to demolish the Elven castle. (he can be seen atop a small green knoll in the nearest corner of the table in the picture.

I spared a few troops to delay the enemy's approach on the wood and deployed the rest in 2 lines between wood and table edge with a reserve of warg riders and flyers including the mighty if somewhat cartoonish dragon. The enemy massed cavalry and spearmen against the gap with a host of elves going through the wood. The attackers had 37 stands and the defender 35 iir.

I took an early lead as my archers shot well at the attackers. Since Rob's cavalry started opposite my main line while Norman's infantry had to slog through the woods and over the river in a giant wheel, his cavalry struck first and, after a fierce fight, were pretty much wiped out before his infantry could close in support. I did a sort of Roman line relief and battled with his heavy infantry, getting the worst of it before my reserve attacked his flanks and rear (I like flyers!).

My horse archers sat and watched Norman's advance for a while but finally took off for a ride around the enemy, hoping to hit Rob's heavies in the rear. Norman's archers did some nimble blocking and though I got around them it took too long so I turned on them. It took about 4 turns but eventually I wiped him out at a cost of over 1/2 my force.

Back in the woods Norman's eleves finally threw the few remaining remnants of my flank guard out of the wood. They were just in time to see the sort of damage a playful dragon can do. During my melee phase the enemy lost their 19th unit and were no longer able to shoot or attack. My forces had lost only 15 units so the wizard was still mumbling and waving. The castle soon exploded in  colourful clouds of blue and green and there were loud cries of delight and chortling, barking and fighting from the chaotic crowd in front of the castle.

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On the whole the rules worked well though we needed better names for unit types as well as some magic and monsters. Tge question of characters and command control are still up in the air. The command and control is especially problematic since the game ran well without any including the occasional blunder, units not moving, or the wrong ones,  open flanks etc. With 3 players and roughly 3 dozen units aside, the game ran about 2 hours. Clearly room for more rules & complications or more figures though a more complex scenario might help. A three hour game would be fine.

My next step will be to move more figures to 60cm square bases and play a small skirmish.