Nocan in the Arena

Since my last post discussing my arena combat rules, I made some changes. I'm treating it like a joust - the combatants have 3 passes to score points.

I decided to test out the rules combined with my joust campaign structure. For the test, I'm bringing back a character from my old blog. Nocan was a barbarian miniature that was miserable in combat - he couldn't (no can) hit anything! Let's see how his 2-dimensional avatar fares in the arena.

A little Chat GPT imagining

Backstory

Mocked by his clan for his lack of offensive skill, Nocan travels to the Empire to test himself in the arena.

Note: I'm using my LARP's world as the setting.

Results

Here are the results of Nocan's fights.

Versus the Orc

I did not take pictures of all Nocan's bouts. I recreated his fight against the orc so that I could get a few images. This is from round 2 of the 3rd preliminary tournament.

In the first pass, the orc rushes Nocan, knocking him down. As Nocan falls, he manages to get in a body hit. Score 3-1 for the orc.

The orc rushes again. This time, Nocan sidesteps the blow and clocks the orc in the head. Score 3-3.

This time, both score body hits. Score 4-4.

Finally, Nocan gets the initiative, and strikes the orc while avoiding its counter.

A 5-4 victory for Nocan against a veteran fighter!

Other Highlights

• Nocan proved his tribe wrong with his success in the arena. He reached the semi-finals of one tournament and won another tournament!
• He did not do so well in the regionals. Oh well, there is always next season!
• He did well when the pressure was on. He went 4-0 in bouts that went to extra passes.
• He leveled up, and will fight in the next season as an experienced (level 2) fighter.

GAME NOTES

• Limiting the bout to 3 passes really streamlined the game. The rules as they are could also work for jousts.
• For the latest iteration, I added a simple mechanism to account for different levels. The higher level fighter gets a number of re-rolls equal to the difference in levels.
• I plan to have levels up to 6. Between seasons, characters roll to level up.
• I decided to create two tournament circuits - one for levels 1-3 and another for levels 4-6. That way, there are no crazy mismatches.
• I also added "fighting stance." A fighter can choose to be offensive, defensive, or neutral. Stance affects combat rolls in various ways. I added this to give a decision point to the player. Otherwise, it is just an exercise in dice rolling. The rules did not work as intended, and I usually just adopted a neutral stance. I'm going to play around with these a bit.
• The campaign works great, though. It is quick with lots of drama. I think the entire season took about half an hour.

Voidfighter - First Impressions

I pre-ordered Voidfighter and I received it on my Kindle this morning.

Like a kid on Christmas, I immediately opened it up and have perused it for a bit.

Anticipation, But Why?

I have eagerly anticipated this game since I pre-ordered it a couple of months ago. Which is odd considering that this game does not fit into my current gaming preferences.

A couple of features that go against my preferences:

• Big (for me) board - Recommended for a 3' by 4' space. I don't have a space that big.
• Multiple dice types - based on a ship or pilot's rating, players roll 2D4 up to 2D12. I typically hate "groping for dice" mechanisms.

Usually, these characteristics would be enough for me to reject a set of rules.

So why was I so excited about this? A few reasons:

• I read that it had a campaign system. VERY interested
• Miniatures agnostic - can use any ship models
• Simple movement rules but with special maneuvers to add some spice
• Perhaps I could introduce it to my summer gaming group

Does It Measure Up?

I have not read the rules completely. I have merely been scanning it so far. But I like what I see.

• Movement is simple and should be easy to teach if I want to introduce it to my gaming group
• The campaign system (my initial draw) seems very playable
• LOTS of scenarios (12 in fact)
• LOTS of ships stats plus rules to make your own

So that's my very early first impressions, I'll post more as I delve deeper.

Doldrum Report

As mentioned Wednesday, I'm in a bit of a slump, wargame wise. But I have not been idle.

I made a bunch of these satyr horns for my LARP group.

It's basic, but it will work.

Satyrs are one of the creatures we'll encounter this season.

I haven't made any progress on a joust game. However, it dawned on me that I could use my joust campaign rules with arena battles.

I decided to do a quick test run. My character lost to the elf (who is facing backwards, I notice. Must have been an over the shoulder shot).

This test revealed a weakness in my arena rules - they just take too darn long! In this bout, the elf kept winning the maneuver roll but then failed to hit. The fight dragged on and on. I may need different rules.

Joust

I've been in a bit of a doldrum this past week so no battle report. However, I a new mania to discuss. We'll show how long it lasted

It all started when I was looking for something to read on my Kindle and I came across this.

Reading the particulars, I am a little leery of buying it, but it got me interested in some joust games.

Rules

I created some simple rules at one point but now I can't find them. So I went searching.

I'm looking for something incredibly simple, with maybe 1-2 die rolls per pass. It would be nice to have a little decision making. I also want something that will allow a character to develop skill over time. Here are some under consideration.

• Full Tilt - very easy albeit no campaign mode.
• Atteint! - from Alan Saunders aka Kaptain Kobold
• Joust: Heroes of the Lists - a THW title - not a fan of the THW mechanics but they often have good campaigns.
• To Cry a Joust - picked it up years ago. Seems simple. Also includes some paper miniatures.

I've taken cursory looks at the above. Right now, Full Tilt seems simplest. I would just need to create a campaign or import one from some other rules.

Campaign

Speaking of campaigns, I developed a simple one a few years ago. I lost the rules I used for the jousts but I still have the campaign rules.

The campaign follows a young knight trying to make a name on the tournament scene. He can participate in up to 4 preliminary tournaments. Making the semi-finals (requiring 2 wins) gets him an invitation to the regional finals. Making the semis there results in an invitation to the grand championship.

I tried it out using some extremely simple rules (1 die roll, no modifiers). Here is a season with Ser Gervaise (using this Knight Name Generator).

• Preliminary One - gets knocked off his horse in his first joust.
• Preliminary Two - makes it to the finals before losing 5-1. Still, he earns a ticket to the regional finals!
• Preliminary Three - he continues to joust to hone his skill. Alas, he loses the first joust.
• Preliminary Four - to the finals and victory!
• Regional - he wins his first joust. In the second, he is tied 3-3 after two passes, In the third and final pass, he misses but his opponent strikes him in the head. Gervaise loses 5-3 and his season ends.

Not a bad start. Two finals, one tournament win, and a trip to the regionals. Let's see how he does next season!

The entire season only took about 10 minutes. A season will likely take a bit longer as I add complexity.

Russo-Turkish War of 1866

I'm still on a late 19th century kick. This time I'm pitting the Russians and Turks in a fictional war. I purchased Dominion of Otto von Bismarck, but for this game I'm using a generic horse & musket variant.

Background

While war engulfs Austria, Prussia, and Italy, revolt breaks out in Bulgaria. The Turkish army begins suppressing the revolt while the Russians, with assistance from Romania, march to assist the rebels.

The Battle of Kurvavo River

The Turkish army takes up a defensive position at the Kurvavo River in Bulgaria. The Russians prepare to cross.

The opposing forces:

• Russian (top) - Cavalry, skirmisher, cavalry. 2 elite infantry in reserve.
• Turkish - Infantry, artillery, infantry. Bashi-bazouks (unreliable skirmishers), infantry, skirmishers

Russian cavalry charge across the river on both flanks. They rout the Turkish infantry.

The Russian cavalry (right) continue their rampage, routing the Turkish skirmisher. Russian skirmishers try but fail to take out the Turkish guns.

The Russian cavalry (left) charges into a wall of lead. They rout.

The Russians then defeat the Turkish left flank. Victory is in their grasp. Only the bashi-bazouks (right) stand in their way. But the bashi-bazouks fight valiantly and drive off the cavalry.

Then they fall on the Russian center and wipe them out.

A bloody Turkish victory!

Winging It

The Next Chapter of the Drake's Dragon's Campaign

The Dragons return to the air. This time, three pilots are on patrol in Goshawk fighters (average quality).

The pilots are veteran Al Hartley, and novices Randy Palmer and Josh Jenkins. Jenkins is brand new to the squadron.

Note: I randomly roll to determine who and how many fly.

Encounter!

While on patrol, they encounter 3 Cobras and an Adder (3 average and 1 obsolete fighters).

Hartley (green 1 - left) gets on the tail of the Adder. His shots rattle the enemy pilot. Meanwhile, 2 Cobras separate Jenkins. Bullets rip into his plane, damaging it. Jenkins flees the fight.

Hartley stays on the Adders tail and shoots it down. Meanwhile, Palmer (green 2) scores a hit.

Palmer finds himself in a bind. Evasive maneuvers! Whew, they missed!

But it gets worse for Palmer while Hartley tracks down another target.

With some nifty flying, Palmer turns the tables. His shots miss. Hartley manages to damage another Cobra.

With 2 planes damaged, the Imperial pilots decide to break off.

Final Tally

• The Dragons damage 2 fighters and destroy another while only having 1 damaged aircraft. They win this scenario.
• The campaign score stands at 1-1.
• Some Dragon milestones:
• Hartley gets his first kill, 
• With his third mission complete, Palmer rises to veteran status.
• Jenkins survives his first mission.

Drake's Dragons

Spurred by the dogfight I posted yesterday, I decided to start an aerial campaign. I resurrected a character and setting from my old blog.

The Lucranian War

The campaign is set in an imaginary world, where a diesel-era evil empire invades the democratic nation of Lucrania.

During this war, Devin Drake leads a squadron of brave aviators fighting against the might of the Empire.

Previously

The Dragons were marginally victorious in their last campaign, but suffered heavy casualties in the last two missions. They pulled out for some rest, but are now back in action.

I actually started a second campaign but it fizzled out. I'm considering that mission a one-off and am now starting a new campaign.

Mission: Intercept!

At the Dragons' airbase, the warning klaxons blare. Incoming air raid!

Only 2 Dragons, the commander Devin Drake and young Dewey Hobbes manage to get in the air.

Drake (green 1) flies a standard Goshawk fighter while Hobbes (green 2) pilots an obsolete Chick fighter. They face 2 Cobra fighters, an old Adder, and 3 Vulture medium bombers.

Using the heavy cloud cover, our heroes get a jump on the bombers. Hobbes damages one.

Then shoots it down. But the enemy fighters converge.

One gets on Drake's tail, damaging him. Hobbes takes damage in a crossfire.

Two fighters gang up on Hobbes and bring him down. Drake escapes into the clouds.

The cloud cover throws off the remaining bombers' aim. They do minimal damage.

They score 1 hit out of 4

The Lucranians are lucky the damage is not worse, but this goes down as a defeat for the Dragons.

Sadly, Hobbes did not survive the crash.

GAME NOTES

• Campaign Score - 0-1
• I determined the sides randomly. I think it was weighted a little heavily against the defenders. I will think about tweaking the randomizer.
• I use fictional planes for my fictional universe. There are 3 classes - obsolete, average, and advanced. I gave names for each class per nation.
• Lucrania - Chick (obsolete), Goshawk, and Peregrine (advanced)
• Empire - Adder, Cobra, and Viper fighters. Condor (light), Vulture (medium), and Buzzard (heavy) bombers.

A Nameless Battle with Nameless Foes

A few things have stimulated a desire to do a little aerial gaming:

• I watched a Crusty Colonel replay of an aerial game (Algernon Pulls it Off?)
• I pre-ordered Voidfighter. Although it is ostensibly a space combat game, I presume it will have many similarities to aerial combat.
• While de-consolidating, I had my aerial combat box out.

So now I take you over the fields of Flanders, as two nameless Allied pilots (green) run into a patrol of two equally nameless German pilots. All fly average planes.

The Allies spot the Germans first.

In game terms, the Allies had the advantage and got a bonus on their initial maneuver rolls.

But the Germans recover quickly and turn the tables on the allies. One plane is damaged.

A German gets on the tail of the second Allied plane, damaging it.

That plane decides to flee, and escapes into some clouds.

I initially placed the terrain down just for looks. But when the Allied pilot fled, I figured he'd head for the clouds.

The Germans gang up on the remaining Allied plane and shoot it down.

A decisive victory for the Germans!

A Naval Outing

Thanks to a message from the future, I discovered at the last moment that yesterday was International Naval Wargames Day. Thanks, Kaptain Kobold!

I decided to do a quick naval game. I settled on a Dominion of series variant called Dominion of the Oar and Ram by Mark Cordone. I found it on The Portable Wargame Facebook page.

I used my squadron counters, which come in 3 sizes. In addition, I have a couple of transport counters (such as the top center counter below).

I did not keep a record of the game. It's a generic Red vs Green battle. Red is trying to capture Green's transports.

Here you see the final turn. Red's large galleys flank and  board the transports, ending the battle.

Anyway, thrown together quickly so it did not capture my imagination. Hence the abbreviated report.

Some Thoughts on a Little Lissa

As I was toying with a backstory for last night's game, I thought about doing Lissa. After all, I've been in an 1866 mood. Ultimately, I choose to put Lissa aside for the moment. But now this whole experience has me thinking.

• A Dominion of variant should be able to handle Lissa.
• I'm not sure if my current squadron counters (seen above) work for later naval conflicts. I worked up some counters in line formation. They might work better.

• I also need more flag tokens to mark defeated squadrons.

MicroBattle 2025

These are the latest iteration of my MicroBattle rules for big battles. They're pretty much dead at this moment; I'm totally hooked on the Dominion of series instead. I just want to put these here for reference.

Basic Concepts

I designed MicroBattle for quick solo wargames where I don’t need to spend much time looking up rules or modifiers.

The TEST

MicroBattle’s key mechanic is the Resolution Test, or simply the TEST. A unit or figure makes a TEST whenever it engages in an uncertain activity, such as combat.

A TEST is a roll of a D6. The testing unit passes on a roll of 4 or better.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Circumstances may make an action harder or easier than normal. In these cases, apply modifiers to the TEST if the unit has an advantage or disadvantage.

Circumstance          Modifier    Target

Extreme Advantage        +2             2

Advantage                 +1             3

Normal                         0             4

Disadvantage                 -1             5

Extreme Disadvantage    -2             6

Another way to visualize advantages and disadvantages is that they change the target number to succeed. The Target column shows the resulting numbers.

Multiple Advantages or Disadvantages

An advantage with a disadvantage will cancel each other out.

Multiple advantages or multiple disadvantages do not necessarily stack. If they did, the target could go off the chart. Instead, I assume that it takes 3 or more advantages or disadvantages to result in a extreme.

Eyeballing

I do not have a list of every possible advantage or disadvantage. Instead, I generally eyeball the situation and make a judgement on where a situation lands on the circumstances chart.

 

The Battlefield

I use a square-gridded battlefield, usually 6 x 8 squares.

Rules for Big Battles

Rules for clashes between armies. Units are divisions or corps, although it is possible to scale down.

Set Up

Use these tables to generate random scenarios.

Scenario and Terrain

Roll Scenario                                                                                                         Terrain

1 Clash – cause the enemy to break                                                                 Clear

2 Breakthrough – move 1/3 of units off enemy’s base line                         Hill

3 Escape – like Breakthrough, but defense starts with small blocking force Hill

4 Defense – hold a prepared position                                                         Woods

5 Seize – both sides try to seize a strategic point                                         Rough or water

6 Retrieve – retrieve and return to baseline                                                 Built up area

Army Order of Battle

Roll for number of units per army based on unit type.

• Primary - 2 to 4 (D3+1)
• Secondary - 0 to 2 (D3-1)

You can add or subtract units to get the sides relatively equal.

Rules for Conducting the Battle.

Turn Sequence

1. Initiative: Opposed roll. High roll first.
2. Side 1 Turn
• Activate: Activate D6 units, modified by commander quality (-2 if army under 50%
• Move: 1 space for infantry and artillery. 2 spaces for cavalry. Move orthogonally only.
• Light may TEST to move an extra space.
• March – move +1 space if 4+ spaces from enemy
• TEST to move through rough terrain.
• Combat: See below
• Rally: 1 attempt per turn per commander. May attempt in lieu of other actions for the unit. TEST to remove a disorder marker.
3. Side 2 Turn: Same as Side 1 Turn

Combat

• Ranges: Melee = 0 (unit moves into enemy square), Volley Fire = 1, Skirmish = 2, Artillery = 3 (count ranges orthogonally)
• To Hit: TEST to hit (1 TEST per defending unit)
• Combat Results
• Attacker passes TEST - Defender defeated
• Attacker FAILS TEST - Attacker defeated IF defender can counter
• Defeat
• Defeated unit makes 2 TESTs
• Disorder TEST Fail - Add a disorder marker. 
• A light unit may TEST to retreat instead
• 2 disorders destroys the unit
• Retreat TEST Fail - Retreat 1 space (diagonal OK)
• Take a disorder marker if cannot retreat

Following Up

Victorious units may move into a vacated space. Cavalry may make an additional attack.

Army Morale

TEST when an army reaches 50% casualties or loses another unit beyond 50%.

Failure = army defeated and retreats from the battlefield.

The Austro-Italian War Continues

I had some free time so I decided to follow up from the Battle of Custarda.

The Battle of the Carbonara River

After defeating the Italians at Custarda, the Austrians pursue. The Italians take up a defensive position behind a small fordable river called the Carbonara.

The Austrians (white, bottom) initiate the attack by sending their elite jaegers in a probe across the river. The Italian line infantry sends them reeling back. Then an artillery duel begins; the Austrians get the best of it,

The Italians send some Bersaglieri against the Austrian artillery. The Bersaglieri succeed, but at such high cost that they are also rendered ineffective.

Note: The Bersaglieri are not elite in this game. Still hurting from the last battle, I guess.

The Italians try to plug the gap with some unreliable cavalry. The cavalry bolts instead. Then the Italian infantry on the left attacks the Austrians Grenzers. The attack devastates both sides.

Decimated, the Italian army retreats.

Aftermath

With two shocking defeats, the Italians sue for peace. Venezia remains in Austrian hands.

GAME NOTES

• I think I will close out this campaign with a 2-0 Austrian victory.
• The river provided a defensive bonus to the Italians. It did not apply against artillery, however.
• Forgot to deploy my generals, which means I forgot rallies once again. D'oh!
• I've been getting confused shuffling back and forth between different versions of Dominion of, so I created a generic horse & musket version. I used this version for my battle.
• I also created a random army generator - loosely based off the one in Dominion of Frederick the Great, but tweaked a little so armies without elites are possible. I used my generator to come up with these armies.

An Italian Diversion

Rather than return to my version of the Italian campaign of the Seven Week's War, I now turn my attention to Napoleonics. This recent distraction occurred because of this post on The Wargames Website.

Because I'm just getting my feet wet with the Dominion of Napoleon Bonaparte rules, I decided to use one of the published battles. The first one in the book includes Austrians, so there we go.

Battle of Montenotte (1796)

The Austrian general Count Argenteau leads his corps in an attack on a French position. The French are in redoubts.

Notes: I used gray markers for defensive advantage; I could have put down some walls instead.

The initial Austrian attack (right) routs the French infantry. An attempt to rally fail.

But the French line infantry rout the Austrians in the center. Argenteau fails to rally his men.

A disaster for the Austrians! The French rout two infantry units.

Argenteau brings up his reserves and launches his Hussars against the French line infantry. The French break and flee. Alas, an Austrian infantry column on the right also breaks.

The Hussars flank the French position and drive the infantry away.

A bloody victory for Argenteau and the Austrians!

GAME NOTES

• This was actually a fairly long battle. There were 2-3 turns where nothing happened, so I did not take photos.
• Just realized that I should have marked the Hussars as unreliable after their first  victory. Oh well, fog of war.
• This reminds me that I need some more counters and markers:
• I used light infantry counters for line infantry. But I should make some dedicated line infantry counters.
• I should make some markers to indicate unreliable infantry.