More Random Thoughts

On Skirmishes and Dungeon Crawls

Some of my recent thoughts:

• I've reversed course and now lean towards "small skirmishes" with individually based figures.
• I'm reading Five Leagues from the Borderlands again. Some good ideas but I don't think it will work for me.
• It calls for 8 figure bands. I prefer 2-4 heroes vs. the enemy hordes.
• There are a lot of pre-battle steps. I just want to get stuck in; I don't want to game a shopping trip.
• I am looking at a simplified wound system. My dungeon crawl rules ran into the same issue as D&D - at higher levels, combat drags because of higher hp. Five Leagues has a system that could work, however.
• Why not go back to Four Against Darkness?
• I don't like having to switch dice at higher levels
• I'd like all possible enemies in one place, not scattered over multiple volumes
• Dungeons are too random. And crafting specific dungeons takes too long.

On Arena Fights

Thinking about skirmishes led me back to my arena fights with Nocan.

• Thinking about ditching the junior/senior circuit. Graduating to the senior circuit seems too much like starting over.
• But then, how do I do levels? My tables that generate opponents are all predicated on 3 levels per circuit. I would need to redo all my tables.
• I also thought about adding possible death rolls during bouts, just to make the games more risky. No decision on this yet.

Soccer and Star League

With the World Cup approaching, I've been thinking about some prior gaming. Back in 2014, I played some soccer dice games, then modified the rules for Star League - grav ball style sporting contests. I wonder if I can dig up these games?

Stuck and Some Random Thoughts

I find myself in the wargame doldrums again, and I don't care. It has me pondering my gaming.

The LARP Effect

I've mentioned before that my favorite hobby is actually LARP. Things have been going well, with lots of new players. I've also been busy with some crafting projects (mostly weapons).

Alas, the season is drawing to a close (we shut down for the miserable Florida summers). That has me thinking about using games as a substitute. But how?

Dungeon Crawls

This seems like the perfect substitute for LARP, but I've been having issues.

• I'm not satisfied with my rules and I haven't found commercial rules that work for me.
• Setting up a game can require some work - I have to come up with the dungeon encounters. I could use a random generator, like Four Against Darkness, but it can feel too random. Playing a battle, like the Dominion of series, is actually simpler to set up.

I'm still thinking about how to do quick and easy dungeon crawls, but I'm not really getting anywhere.

Skirmishes

In lieu of a dungeon crawl, perhaps I could do some fantasy skirmishing.

As part of my stalled American Revolution skirmish project, I made some counters with small numbers of figures per stand.

I designed these for "big skirmishes" where each unit is approximately a "squad."

But I haven't printed them because of printer problems. First, I ran out of toner. When I refilled, my tablet that was linked to the printer died. I have a new tablet but I have to figure out how to link it to the printer.

Regardless, I am still wondering if I should do small or large skirmish (1 figure vs. multiple figures per counter).

Posting Less

I'm writing this as a way to sort out my thoughts. But I'm feeling that I'm wasting time with blogging. I may reduce posts to just battle accounts, in which case there may be long periods of silence when I fall into the doldrums.

Bellicosus vs. Philip

The Twelve Foes of Rome Campaign

The next chapter of the campaign.

Carthage is defeated but now Macedon is making trouble. Rome sends Bellicosus the Younger to resolve the issue (in other words, conquer Macedon).

Battle of Kleisoura

Bellicosus (red) advances into Macedon through a hilly pass. King Philip V of Macedon waits for him.

• Romans - Cavalry, legionaries (armored elite), allied spears. Reserve: spears and legionaries
• Macedonians - Peltasts, 2 phalanx. Reserve: 2 Allied spears, cavalry

Note: Peltasts should be treated as spears. I used a light infantry marker to distinguish them. Unfortunately, I forgot they were spears and treated them as lights.

The Roman legion in the center drives off the phalanx.

But the Roman allied spears rout.

Roman cavalry takes out the peltasts.

Once again, the center legion is victorious.

The legion then routs the reserve spears (not pictured).

And then flanks the remaining spears.

Philip retreats into Macedon.

Battle of Kallisarissa

Bellicosus pursues the retreating Macedonians, catching up to them near the town of Kallisarissa.

Note: I used the same lists as above but dropped one unit of spears from each army.

Bellicosus sends his legions forward. They rout the peltasts.

There is a stalemate on the left.

But the Macedonian cavalry routs a legion.

Then routs the other.

Bellicosus loses. The Romans retire.

Battle of Phiasko

Bellicosus and Philip meet in a final showdown.

Same armies as last battle.

The Romans are victorious on the right but lose on the left. Bellicosus tried to rally the cavalry but gets killed in a melee.

The Romans are disheartened. Then disaster! The Macedonians overrun both flanks!

The Romans lose! They must retreat from Macedon.

Aftermath

The Romans blame the loss on Bellicosus's untimely death.

He failed to rally the cavalry. I made up the death result to give a more fitting end to his career.

They send another army to avenge Bellicosus's death. The Romans ultimately succeed in conquering Macedon.

Game Notes

• Ouch! That was a tough end after a promising beginning.
• I wonder if removing a unit tilted the favor towards the Macedonians. I could replay the last two battles to find out, but I'd rather not.
• Instead, I will move on to the next foe - Mithridates of Pontus.
• Previously, the Bellicosus family was undefeated in its campaigns. Now they are 3-1.

Dominion of the Spear Revised

There's been no progress on my naval counters. Instead, I've been perusing the revised version of Dominion of the Spear. It is available on Wargame Vault.

It incorporates rules changes that have been proposed and included in later Dominion titles. I already use many of them but I wanted the official revision.

In addition, I picked up 36 More Ancient Battles for Dominion of the Spear. As the name implies, it includes 36 more battle scenarios. I noticed it had Heraclea (a Pyrrhic battle) and Zama, among others. I'll have to give some of these scenarios a go, although I don't plan on playing all of them.

Rethinking My Naval Counters

Back in December, I explained that I was not happy with my square naval squadron counters. Instead, I worked up some new, rectangular counters. I planned to make two sets - line abreast (for galley warfare) and line ahead (for age of sail and modern).

I never got around to printing them. My ink cartridge ran out and I kept forgetting to order a new one. I finally resolved the cartridge issue, but now I am rethinking the counters.

The Problem

I created these simple, generic ships so they could represent any era - from galleys to dreadnoughts. This should reduce the number of counters I need.

But having different counters for different formations kind of counteracts that. I end up making more counters anyway.

The Solution

Now I'm thinking of mounting ships individually. This gives me more flexibility - I can arrange them in line abreast or line ahead, or even separately for small ship actions.

I will probably use 2 ships per squadron for Dominion of style battles.

More Dabbling

I already moved on from the terrifying teddies. Now I'm thinking naval actions.

This latest fad is courtesy of Ganesha Games latest - Torpedoes and Tides. They are rules for coastal actions during World War 2.

I'm still reading them, but naturally I don't expect to get them on the tabletop as is. Instead, I'd like to use them to develop some Dominion of style rules.

On the Portable Wargame Facebook page, Mark Cordone posted Dominion of Fighting Sail, a variant that extends into the ironclad era. Perhaps I'll veer towards ironclad torpedo boat actions.

Right now, I just have a few ideas percolating. For example, inspired by TaT's blinds, I thought about deploying the non-player enemy unseen. There could be a surprise when you attack a sector!

The Snootypants Massacre

The crew of the S.S. Huntingdon kept a close eye on the woods that formed a line across the island. A hunting party led by Sir Reginald Snootypants had entered the woods hours ago. They expected him to return soon.

Suddenly, a bedraggled figure burst from the woods. He was limping but still ran as fast as he could towards the shore. Then the crew heard them, the growls of the teddy bears.

"Covering fire!" yelled the bosun. The crew began firing their rifles at the hug (group) of teddies. This deterred them. The figure was able to reach the boats and escape the island.

What Happened to Sir Reginald?

The figure was Archibald Stout, one of Sir Reginald's companions. He was able to tell the story of the Snootypants massacre.

The expedition (green token) entered the woods. Unbeknownst to them, a hug of teddy bears snuck up on them.

Surprise attack! The teddies maimed some of their party, but Sir Reginald and the other hunters drove them off. They also managed to secure a nice load of teddy bear fur.

The expedition advanced into the interior. They ran into some more teddy bears.

Despite getting the drop on the teddies, the expedition failed to inflict much damage. Instead, the teddies mauled the hunters. Sir Reginald's party retreated.

But Sir Reginald would not be called a coward. He insisted that the party renew the fight.

As more (right) approach the fray, the teddies finish the job.

Archibald just managed to escape the horror.

GAME NOTES

On Wednesday, I mentioned my silly idea about a teddy bear hunting game, with the player taking the role of the teddies. I decided to do a little experiment.

Here are some highlights of the game.

• I divided the board into a 3 by 4 grid. I randomly rolled for terrain.
• I used my modern counters - brown infantry for the teddies and a green heavy infantry for the hunters.
• I kept it simple by only using 1 group of hunters. I randomly rolled 3 groups of teddies.
• Every turn, I rolled randomly (D6+1) to determine what the hunters did.
• 1 = retreat 1 space
• 2 = move left 1 space
• 3 = move right 1 space
• 4 = move forward 1 space
• 5-6 = search (look for hidden teddies)
• Hunters subtracted 1 from the activation die roll for each wound.
• Teddies did not move unless they became alerted to the hunters' presence.
• Teddies only checked if (a) hunters were within 2 spaces or (b) teddies became active within 2 spaces.
• Teddies had to roll 4+ to become alert to the hunters. Otherwise, they stayed put.
• Teddies could move, sneak (move into the hunters square while remaining hidden), or attack.
• Combat was decided like Dominion of. Hunters were missile troops while teddies were melee.
• Hunters could take 3 wounds; teddies only 1.

All in all, an interesting game. I will play it again, perhaps with more groups of hunters and more hugs of teddies.