Dominion of Freedom

When I first posted about Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet, I suggested that one could use it for a different kind of colonial war - the American Revolution. The author Steve concurs. Anyway, I decided to try a battle.

Set Up

I rolled to help determine the army makeups. I came up with:

• Continentals - 4 skirmishers, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery
• British - 1 line infantry, 2 grenadiers (elite bayonets), 1 artillery

I decided that the Continental infantry would be skirmishers, although ambushers may have been better.

The Battle

A British column (red) marches through the American countryside. The Continentals plan to ambush the redcoats. But the British get wind of it, and attack first.

The grenadiers (center) charge the "hidden" Continental guns. A whiff of grapeshot stalls the attack. Then Continental skirmishers hit the head of the column. Firing accurately from cover, the skirmishers wipe out the British line infantry.

The British bring up their guns. Their cannonade has no effect. But now Continental skirmishers hit the rear of the British column, dispersing the British cavalry.

Those same skirmishers then wipe out the grenadiers coming up from reserve.

And then the Continental guns finish off the last grenadiers.

The British column is in shambles. A Continental victory!

Notes

• That was fun, especially since I was rooting for the Continentals.
• It always helps to roll well. The Continentals kept rolling 5s and 6s vs. the British 1s and 2s.
• I wanted to model the stereotypical Revolutionary War battle - the British regulars in the open in rigid lines while the American shoot at them. That's why I made the Continental infantry skirmishers rather than line infantry. I could have made them ambushers also.
• I made the grenadiers melee infantry because I envisioned them going in with the bayonet.
• I probably should have added some terrain, just for looks. In my mind, I envisioned the Continentals attacking out of woods.
• I also want to change my battle board. The brown was for battles in dryer regions, such as the Eastern Roman Empire. I need a greener board for more temperate climates.
• With the success of today's experiment, I now plan to use Dominion for a mini-campaign - the Battles of Lexington-Concord. I have the campaign structure sketched out; just need to get it on the board.

Attack on the Wayside Inn

 A Ser Killian Adventure

Welcome to the Storm Lord's Wrath

I previously mentioned that I planned to continue the adventures of my solo fantasy character, Ser Killian, and his party of adventurers. I purchased Storm Lord's Wrath from D&D Beyond. Now I am set to start the adventure.

Note that I will not play by the book. I am using my Micro Dungeon solo fantasy adventure rules. You can find a brief description of Micro Dungeon (formerly Pocket Dungeon) here.

Similarly, I am not running the dungeon per the published adventure. I am embellishing it greatly to fit into the Micro Dungeon framework.

Spoiler Alert! Nevertheless, there are elements that I borrow from the published adventure. Some may be spoilers, so you may want to skip this post if you plan to play the module.

Background

After Killian and his party defeated the white dragon, peace and prosperity reigned in Neverwinter. Killian and Winston finish building a church in Phandalin. Meanwhile, the town of Leilon rebuilds after a catastrophe.

One day, Killian had some business to attend to in Leilon. He sets out for the town with his comrades, Haiden his squire, Martin his cleric and confessor, and Nashad the man-at-arms.

They decide to stop and rest for the night at the Wayside Inn.

A Rude Awakening

Our heroes are resting comfortably, when screams of terror awaken them. Grabbing their weapons, they exit their second-floor room to investigate.

Making their way through the hallway to the stairs, they pass a grisly scene - patrons of the inn torn apart by some diabolical agent. Suddenly, a zombie jumps them, biting Killian. More zombies attack. The party makes quick work of them. Martin heals Killian, ensuring that he does not turn into a zombie himself.

On the stairs, some wraiths block their way. Our heroes' swords pass harmlessly through the incorporeal forms. Martin blesses the party's weapons. Then they make short work of the wraiths.

They reach the ground floor. In the corner, the innkeeper huddles in terror as some wights approach him. 

Our heroes rush to attack. One wight jumps Killian, slashing and gouging him. Killian steps back, blood running in rivulets. Nashad and Haiden step forward, shielding their commander. Martin calls upon Daeus to heal Killian. With a mighty swing, Nashad chops two wights in half while Haiden finishes the last one.

Leading the innkeeper, they race for the front door. But a fire has broken out, blocking the entrance.

"This way!" yells the innkeeper, as he leads them to a back exit. They escape.

Our heroes then circle the inn, looking for more undead. In front, they spy a lone figure in black robes. He is casting lightning bolts at the inn, smashing planks and starting more fires.

Killian calls him to stop. But he laughs and launches a lightning bolt at Killian. It hits and knocks him to his feet. Our heroes charge. The figure then chants an incantation. Zombies appear and block the party. Killian and Haiden dodge and rush the necromancer. Their swords bite into his flesh. More chanting and more zombies attack. Nashad and Martin take wounds. Zombies press Killian back. But Haiden breaks free, attacking the necromancer. The villian retreats, right into Nashad's path. Nashad swings his great sword. The necromancer's head flies off. Suddenly, the remaining zombies collapse. It was the will of the necromancer that animated them. Without him, they return to death.

Aftermath

Our heroes help rescue the survivors from the burning building, then tend to people's wounds.

In the morning, some leave for Neverwinter or Phandalin. Others decide to accompany Killian to Leilon.

NOTES

When I read this adventure, I was concerned it would be too easy. So I amped it up a bit. I certainly challenged our heroes. You can see the damage here. 

Martin was down to 4 hp, Killian to 3, and the others to 2. They all started around 9-10 hp so most were down to 1/3 or less. And at one point, Killian was down to 1 hp before Martin healed him. It was a close run thing. Just what I wanted.

Note that I made another change. I hate the level drain of some undead. In my rules, their chilling touch just does additional damage, which a cleric can heal. They are still dangerous, as Killian can attest.

More Dominion

During March, I took a little detour from the Dominion series, but I'm back.

This latest posting was prompted by another release in the series - Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

Needless to day, I purchased it straightaway.

But First, a Pike & Shot Battle

A couple of weeks ago, I played a battle from 36 Renaissance Battles for Dominion of Pike and Shot. I'm just getting around to posting it.

The battle in question is St. Gotthard 1664, featuring the Ottoman Turks (blue) vs. my favored Austrians.

I lost my notes on the tide of the battle and I didn't take many pictures (I don't want to reveal the setup that the author so meticulously prepared). Anyway, you can see it was far from competitive. The Ottoman steamroller just did a number on the Austrians.

But I am glad to see an army list for late Pike & Shot Austrians. I may use this battle as the basis for an Austrians vs. Turks campaign.

On to Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

As I mentioned, I picked up DotSab right away. Looking through the lists, I was pleased to see some American lists, including ones for Florida! I decided to test the game with a Seminole War battle.

In the initial fray, the US dragoons drove off some of the Seminole ambushers.

But then disaster struck for the American forces. The dragoons got into a firefight with more ambushers. Both sides were rendered hors de combat. In the center, the Seminoles drove off a unit of line infantry,

Note: The trees are just there for looks. They do not impact the battle.

After exchanging losses, it comes down to this. The US line infantry outflanks and attacks the Seminoles. Alas, its attack fails. This allows the Seminoles to descend upon the flanks of the Missouri Volunteers, routing them in the process. This forces the line infantry to withdraw.

The Seminoles win!

Note: I just realized that I have the Seminoles army list wrong. They should have 2 elite units. Well, they still won.

DotSaB for Colonial American Battles?

As the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution approaches, I've been toying the idea of playing some Revolutionary War battles. I wonder if I could use DotSaB for these battles. I may have to experiment.

Give Me Liberty!

To celebrate the upcoming semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of American independence, I started a new blog.

Over the next year plus, I will periodically post commemorations of major events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. I hope you join me on my journey.

You can find this blog at https://kevinsusa250.blogspot.com/

Tangerines!

Part 1 of an Invasion Florida Campaign

The Campaign

So far, I've dabbled with a couple Cold War games, but I decided to do a mini-campaign.

• This will be a best of 3 scenarios.
• I'm using my MicroBattle rules.
• Scenarios will come from Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames (OHW)

Background

I'm using the same backstory as before.

This campaign follows a band of American insurgents. Known as the Tangerines for their orange bandanas, these insurgents are behind enemy lines in South Florida, striking at the military forces of the Communist Cuban occupiers.

Defense of Lonely Hill

The Tangerines retreat into the Everglades after hitting a Cuban depot.

They must make it across a canal and hold a defensive position on a lone hill.

This is scenario 20 - Fighting Retreat from OHW.

The Tangerines' light infantry make it across the canal and make for the hill. The heavy infantry units make a stand at the bridges.

The Cuban light armored vehicle wipes out the infantry on the east bridge.

The Tangerines on the west bridge faces long odds. The Cuban armor races toward the hill.

The armor wipes out the hill's defenders. The Tangerines stubbornly holds the west bridge.

I got so caught up in the game I forgot to take more photos! :(

Things look bleak for the Tangerines. The heavy infantry on the bridge gets overwhelmed while the Cuban armor takes the hill.

But then the last remaining Tangerine infantry drives the armor off the hill. Following up, the infantry seizes the hill. This gives the Tangerines the victory.

GAME NOTES

• Campaign score: Tangerines 1, Commies 0
• I was perusing OHW, wondering if I could convert the scenarios to a 3 x 3 type game. Finally, I just decided to play one of the scenarios using MicroBattle.
• Because my units can only take 2 hits before being eliminated, I decided to reduce the number of turns the Tangerines had to hold on. Victory would go to the side holding the hill on turn 10.
• This scenario was cool in that the Tangerines were in it to the end, even though they got shot up pretty bad.
• Kudos to the heavy infantry on the bridge. They really kept the Tangerines in the game by bottling up the bulk of Cuban forces.
• You might notice that the Cubans were short a unit. They also had a helicopter, but I require a 6 on the activation roll for it to come onto the field. It just never happened.

Baseball is Back!

After some consideration, I finalized my plans for a dice baseball league.

The League

I'm calling my league the Roaring 20s Baseball League.

I had Microsoft Copilot create a logo. Not bad, but some obvious flaws.

The Teams

I devised an 8-team league drawn from some of the top major league baseball teams of the 1920s. These are the teams I chose.

• 1929 Chicago Cubs (98 wins, National League champions)
• 1920 Cleveland Indians (98 wins, World Series champions)
• 1923 New York Giants (95 wins, National League champions)
• 1927 New York Yankees (110 wins, World Series champions)
• 1929 Philadelphia Athletics (104 wins, World Series champions)
• 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates (95 wins, World Series champions)
• 1928 St. Louis Cardinals (95 wins, National League champions)
• 1925 Washington Senators (96 wins, American League champions)

Note: I originally chose these for the initial iteration of the R20BL, which never completed play.

The Schedule

I went around and around about how many games to play and how to format it. I finally decided

• Each team will play 14 games (2 vs each other team).
• Teams play home and away against each other
• The top American League team will then play the top National League team for the R20 championship.
• I don't have a set schedule when I will play the games. I'll just do it when I feel like it. I hope to finish by the real World Series in October, but we'll see.

Initial Games

The league is under way.

Series 1 - Chicago Cubs vs Washington Senators

• Game 1 - Chicago 6 - Washington 4
• What a game! The Cubs raced out to an early 3-0 lead. Cleveland scored 2 in the middle innings. Late in the game, the Cubs scored 1 on a home run. Then Cleveland's #7 hitter, Doc Johnston, belted a 2-run homer to tie the score.
• In extra innings, the Cubs had bases loaded and their slugger Hack Wilson up. Cleveland's relief walked him, bringing in the winning run,
• Game 2 - Chicago 4 - Washington 0
• Pitchers Guy Bush and Art Nehf combined for a shutout and the Cubs scored 4 in the middle innings to win easily.

Series 2 - Cleveland Indians vs. St. Louis Cardinals

• Game 1 - St Louis 2 - Cleveland 1
• The Cardinals scored 2 runs early on a homer by cleanup hitter Chick Hafey. Cleveland got 1 on a triple by Ray Chapman. The next batter grounded out to end the game.
• Game 2 - St Louis 4 - Cleveland 1
• Midgame, the Cardinals score 4 runs on 4 doubles. They breeze to an easy victory

Pyrrhus in Italy (Dominion Style)

I was getting a little tired of the 36 battles so I decided to do something different with Dominion of the Spear (DotS). I previously ran a Pyrrhus in Italy campaign using MicroBattle. Let's see how he does with DotS.

Notes:

• I used the Epirus Pyrrhus and Tullian Roman lists as the basis for the armies but added allied spears to both for 14 point armies. Otherwise, Pyrrhus was a little thin.
• I used the Tullians because the Polybian list has elite legions. I'm not sure that quite applies to Rome yet.
• I used the terrain generation rules from the 3 x 3 Portable Wargame. I haven't totally figured out how terrain will affect the battles. For Heraclea, I rolled a river but I ignored it. Then I rolled no terrain for the second battle. So it was a moot point.

Heraclea

King Pyrrhus lands in Italy and advances to Heraclea to confront a Roman army threatening the Greek colonies.

Here are the initial dispositions.

• Rome (red) - armored legions on flanks with new recruits in center. Javelins (using LI counter but counts as Melee Infantry), cavalry, and Italian allied spears in reserve.
• Pyrrhus - From L to R, elephants, archers, and Pyrrhus with his elite cavalry. Phalanx and Greek allies in reserve

The new legionaries charge Pyrrhus's archers and wipe them out. Meanwhile, there is a brutal melee between Pyrrhus's elephants and one of the veteran legions. In the end, both are rendered hors de combat.

Pyrrhus leads his cavalry against the veteran legion (R). HIs charge breaks the legion, but his cavalry is blown. Meanwhile, the Greek allies hold off a charge by the Roman cavalry.

Pyrrhus sends his phalanx against the Roman recruits in the center. Pyrrhus is confident. But the recruits put up stiff resistance. They finally break, but the phalanx is spent.

Pyrrhus realizes that he cannot win the day. He calls retreat.

Note that I did not eliminate Pyrrhus even though his unit was destroyed. I'd like to think that he would at least stick around for the rest of the battle. The counter is just there for window dressing, however.

The Pyrrhic army withdraw back towards the Greek city-state of Tarentum.

Tarentum
The Romans pursue Pyrrhus back to Tarentum. Just outside the city, Pyrrhus makes a stand.

Same army compositions as Heraclea. I made a roll to see if either side lost points but both passed.

This time Pyrrhus puts his phalanx in the front. The battle starts off well when Pyrrhus leads his cavalry in a charge that rides over a legion. But his elephants fare poorly against the armored legion on the other flank.

Pyrrhus's archers fill in the gap left by the elephants. The legion blocks the archers' hail of arrows on its shields. Then the legion charges and routs the archers.

But the charge leaves the legion disordered. Pyrrhus's Greek allies pounce, and drive off the legion. On the right, their is a brutal cavalry scrum, knocking both sides out of the action.

Pyrrhus is wounded in the fray so he retires from the field.

I rolled to see what would happen to Pyrrhus. I rolled a 1, which I would normally interpret as death. But he's the star of the show. Instead, I decided he was gravely wounded and could not remain with the army. That's why you don't see his counter in the next picture.

His infantry holds out. But the Roman javelins (R) come up to the phalanx's flank and pepper it. This forces the phalanx to retire.

Pyrrhus's army retreats into Tarentum. The Tarentines, however, have little interest in sustaining a siege. Faced with the city elders' grumblings, Pyrrhus decides to leave the Greek colonists to their fate. He packs his army into his fleet and sails away.

Finis

Campaign Notes

I chose to repeat Pyrrhus's adventures in Italy, a campaign I originally completed using my MicroBattle rules. Using DotS, I was able to complete the campaign in one morning.

I had planned to play Pyrrhus's Sicily campaign using MicroBattle, but put that on hold after discovering DotS. Now I think I will run the Sicily campaign using DotS.