Back through the window

It turns out I'm not as smart as I thought I was! It turns out that I had misread a key part of the ‘Through the Square Window’ rules and used far too many dice in the melee combats!  I have edited my previous post to highlight the mistake so you can pop back to it if you want to see the details.  Still it gives me a good reason to play another game of these really rather nice rules.

In the meantime I have been making up some markers for use in the game.  These show unit status after combat and morale tests.  Because the game works on alternating turns (I go-you go) these are necessary as some effects can last across more than one turn.  So here are the markers I have created so far.

Event markers

I need something to show where routing pike bases have dropped their pikes.  These can double up to show those stands now have a lower combat value in melee until they recover them.  Lastly I knocked these unit data labels up.

Unit data labels

The card label bases don't show up as much as the small ones I used last time did as I have sprayed them in similar colours to the cloth.  The dice show the current unit strength and the label the unit type and training  level. The number in brackets is the starting strength so my poor addled brain can see when they are at half strength or less.  There is space on the pro-forma label for a commander's name if I do any historical refights.

I'm part way through a refight of the test game now I understand the melee rules correctly and it has changed the complexion of the fight entirely.  More when I do an AAR in a couple of days time. 

Trying 'Through the Square Window' rules out

I finally found a window (Yes it's a a square one) in my busy schedule to give these rules a run out.   As previously mentioned they take a very similar approach to the rules I wrote for the period.  A case of parallel evolution as I was totally unaware of them when drafting my own set.  They are less complex than mine as they don't have rules for the initial deployment stage or for weather and the terrain rules are more straightforward, but are more complex than DBA and it's offspring.

My earlier review is here BTW Small but Perfectly Formed: Through the Square Window Rules review

Setting up the game

Before the game starts there is a bit of admin to do.  This is to calculate the strength of each unit as a numerical value derived from the troop type and the number of bases it has.  This is because there is no casualty removal rather a unit's strength points are reduced by combat until at zero a unit breaks.  The next bit of admin is to determine the Army 'break point' in this case derived from the number of units and their size.  Lastly all units have to be defined with a tactical formation type such as Dutch battalion or Kurassier and a training level.  This influences the tactics they may use and in some cases the number of dice rolled in combat or morale tests. It sounds like a lot of faff but it is very easy to do and given a couple of games would be something I could do in my head.

The appendices to the rules give some general (and quite useful) information on the main armies for the Thirty Years War. Other than that the rules are not specific about how to deploy troops beyond stating that the troops should be within heavy artillery range of 70cm but not closer than 50cm from the enemy.

In my test game I didn't use any artillery and I kept the terrain as a totally featureless plain.  The two armies are vaguely connected to the Bishop's Wars of 1639 and 1640 as one side is Scottish and the other is English.  Although that's about as accurate a reflection of the real history as you are going to get!  It's nice to get my 6mm pike and shot troops onto the table as they haven't been out to play for a few years!

Both sides are set up with three commands; an infantry centre and two cavalry wings.  

The Scots have a unit of Highlanders as a Forlorn Hope in advance of the main infantry formation.  Well there are optional rules for them so I thought I should try them out (I did warn you that it isn't all that accurate).  The pike and shot units are using Swedish tactics to allow a musket salvo and charge to contact option and are classed as trained.  The cavalry are arqubusiers and trained.  I did initially think to define them as light cavalry as a nod to Scots cavalry having lighter horses than the English but it reduced their effectiveness too much.  There is a small unit of dragoons deployed ahead of the Scots horse at the top of the picture.  Overall the Scots horse is outnumbered and probably out classed but they have more and better foot.

Over on the English side the cavalry are 'charging horse' who will attempt to close to melee straight away rather than sitting back and shooting.  They are classed as trained.  The foot is Dutch style so no salvo fire and is classed as poor.  This reflects that the English foot in the Bishop's War were not really enthused about taking on the Scots and were badly trained new recruits in the most part!

A quick  unit count and the resulting army strengths are 17 for the Scots and 18 for the English meaning that the Scots will roll 2D6 and the English 3D6 in any Army morale tests (more on this as it happens).  The unit strength points are as shown in the the next image these are not the same as the Army Strength points..  I'm showing this on the table using the micro dice and dice holders from my 2mm rules.  I know the dice holders are a bit intrusive, that's because I haven't painted them yet. The unit at the top left with a strength of one is a single base of Dragoons.  The largest a dragoon unit can be is two bases so that would give it a strength of two. Dragoons are rather fragile under these rules.

Unit strength points are based on the troop type and number of bases and are a measure of how much damage they can take before being destroyed.  Army strength points are based upon the number, type and size of units.

The end of turn one with individual unit strength points in yellow

The detail orientated will notice that the cavalry formations have changed some what.  That is because my original deployment was by units from my Marston Moor Orbat.  TTSW rules place limits to how many bases make up a unit so I had to change things to ensure that units were not larger than the rules allow.

The games afoot!

On the first turn the English advanced their horse as quickly as possible, while moving more slowly with the foot.  The idea is to get into contact ASAP on the flanks and delay things in the centre.  For the Scots the reverse is happening.  They want to get to grips with the English infantry and hold off the horse to allow a decision to be achieved with their infantry.

Turn two started to show how things can develop very quickly under these rules.  The English horse attempted to charge their Scottish opposite numbers, well they are charging horse it is what they do!  However, the wily Scots elected to evade, which they did successfully.  They then turned back towards the English horse and opened a galling carbine fire upon them.  In the centre their foot closed to close range and opened fire. This stopped some English units in their tracks and caused casualties all along the line.  

Melee combat is resolved using 1D6 per strength point per base so a three base unit of eight strength points can be attacking with 24 dice looking for sixes to to hit.  On average that should be four hits on the opposition.  Firepower is less deadly as it only uses one dice per shooting base but it hits on fives or sixes at short range and sixes at long range and happens before melee.  The number of dice in both types of combat can be increased or reduced according to troop tactics or training although there are only about six possible amending factors.  Plus and this is a big plus hits from shooting trigger a morale test for every hit inflicted. 1D6 is rolled for every hit and extra dice for secondary factors.  These are all rolled together and any twos or ones are failures.  Twos cause an advancing unit to halt in place as does a single one but if two or more ones are rolled the unit routs!

EDIT

Following a helpful comment from Tradeston Wargames Group (the authors of the rules see comments below).  It is clear that I was misreading the rules on melee combat.  I should have been using the strength points for each base to calculate the total dice so a unit of strength 8 is made up of a pike block strength 4 and two musket blocks strength 2 each totalling the units eight strength.  So I should have ben throwing eight dice for the unit NOT eight dice per stand.  This actually removes my one niggle with the rules (as well as making perfect sense and showing that I should read more forensically).

The second turn opened with the English horse attempting to charge home against the Scottish arquebusiers again.  This succeeded in most cases This time the Scots couldn't evade They would have had to have saved an action from their previous turn to use on an evade move.  In the centre the English opened fire all along their front hoping to stop the Scots closing.  This was only partially successful which would have consequences.  The Scots declared charges with their foot and the resulting morale tests were 'interesting'.  Three English foot battalia routed rather than standing to fight and one retired.  The melee phase offset that disaster with Scottish horse being destroyed or routed off the field.

Turn 2 - the position after the Scots opened fire. 
Sideways on Retire markers are halted units

So turn three looked to be hanging in the balance, except both sides failed their army morale test.  That means that they both withdraw from battle.

The army morale test compares the result of a dice roll with army strength points lost, routing, or pursuing off table and not yet returned.  The number of dice rolled is calculated by dividing the original value of the army strength points by six (rounded down),  If the result is equal to or lower than the lost points that army withdraws.

So game over after only two full turns.  However, they were action packed turns with both sides being busy and having decisions to make throughout.

Gratuitous close up of old Scots castings blowing holes in the enemy

You may have noticed that I'm not using the basing suggested in the rules.  It doesn't impact game play in any serious way as far as I can tell.

Oh and the Highlanders never fired a shot or swung a claymore.  They routed on turn one under threat of charging English foot and then spectacularly failed a rally test at the start of turn 2 and broke up and fled!

Conclusions

These are rules that repay a careful reading, which in my case that included taking notes.  This is because some important information is only found in the 'sequence of play' section and isn't repeated in the main body of the rules.  This includes some things that might seem obvious but left me thinking " I'm sure I saw a rule about xyz, but where was it?".    These include:

• No firing after starting a charge move,
• No firing after being contacted by chargers,
• Confirming that firing normally comes before movement unless specifically noted otherwise (any troops who can use salvo fire and Highlanders are specified and possibly Swedish Cuirassiers although that later may be a typo),
• When rout and pursuit moves are made following morale tests,
• When rally from rout and pursuit moves is attempted.

Melee combat is brutal and units can be wiped out in a single combat round due to the large number of dice being rolled.  I may introduce some mitigation against that effect in a future test game.  On the other hand using larger armies than I did in this test game with support lines in depth may alleviate the issue and would include an additional level of decision making about conserving units.  Watch this space to see what I come up with on that topic.  EDIT See my edited blue text above and the comments below.  I was misreading the rules on this point.

Morale tests can break a unit which has taken limited casualties but even routers can be rallied so that balances out and the Army morale test can end a game by forcing an army to withdraw even when you think you are ahead.

I rather like these rules, they have a hidden depth and are going to repay repeat plays to fully get to grips with the subtle challenges they pose.  How much do I like them, well lets just say Irregular Miniatures will be getting an order for cuirassiers in the very near future and I will be making some game markers to aid in solo play and upgrade those dice holders once I get this article posted.  I'm also going to attempt to create a QRS,  although I found I could remember the majority of the rules after a couple of moves.

World war two rules

The first set of wargame rules I ever used were what became Charles Grant's Battle.  These are a simple set of World War Two rules designed for 1/72 Airfix figures and vehicles, with the odd Roco Minitanks vehicle thrown in.  Exactitude in scale not being such a big thing back then.  After all Airfix Infantry might be 1/76 or 1/72 so we just lived with slight differences.  The rules were simplistic, if you hit a figure it was taken out of the game.  No pins or suppression just a straight KIA or equivalent.  Same for tanks you either 'brewed it up' of you didn't.  This had the advantage of making the rules fast to play but also gave an advantage to having numbers on your side as games could be won by attritional tactics!  Games generally used a couple of vehicles and a section or so of infantry a side.

Having dusted off my WW2 stuff recently, for the 'Army Parade' post, I fancy having a game and wondered what rules people favoured for this scale of encounter.  What I would like is a smaller game than Fistful of Tows with a 1:1 model to man/vehicle ratio.  Fairly simple mechanics would be nice.  Infantry based as fire teams/sections and where reasonably accurate World War Two tactics are required.  So for example infantry combat results would be: pinned (can't move but can shoot), suppressed (can't move or shoot), and then neutralised (removed from play) by close assault.  Artillery is generally offboard and vehicles can suffer mobility hits or weapon hits or neutralised rather than being destroyed as an only result.  I can live without turret rotation rules or at worst very simple ones.  Oh and cheap is also good, I like cheap.  Suggestions very much appreciated along with some information on how they meet my wish list.

Of course I would have to finish painting these first!

These are almost done, but I have some still in bare metal as well!

Failing anything floating my boat I suppose I could attempt to adapt Battle.  Change the hit dice to give more scope for a range of results and add some morale rules.  

Joy of Six 2025

It's taken me a couple of days to assemble this show review, partly as it took me a little time to decide on my view on how I found the event.  It's not the largest show on the circuit, in scale or in scale (if you see what I mean), but it is a nice little show within an easy sixty minute commute of Chez Elenderil.  Joy of Six is dedicated to all things 6mm, which makes sense as it is organised by Peter Berry and the team at Baccus 6mm.  It is held at Sheffield Hallam University right opposite the Sheffield rail interchange.  With good parking and transport links including a park and (tram) ride it isn't a difficult show to get to.

I haven't attended this show for a couple or three years and it is a bit larger than I remember it.  It's held in three rooms and a connecting hub where the lifts and stairs are.  One of the rooms also has catering facilities.  All of the games on show are (of course) 6mm as are all of the vendors apart from one who had naval stuff in even smaller scales (Three Deck Dockyards).  I almost bought some resin 1/4800 Russo Japanese war ships from them.  When I got home I took a look at their website and the models are 3D prints using licensed STL files from The Wartimes Journal and at a much reduced price to buying them direct from WTJ's online shop.  They do look rather nice too, even at 1/4800.

Commission Miniatures - Not bad for MDF

And cheap enough to use en masse

Sticking with the trade stands I have a confession to make, I didn't buy a single solitary thing!  Not one.  I know this is a bit of a shock and I think it must be down to the heat welding my wallet closed or something.  I did want some stuff from Heroics & Ros but couldn't get near their stand as it was really busy for the entire time I was there.  I did have a nice chat with the owner of Commission Miniatures, the chap who does the MDF 6mm figures.  It's the first time I have seen them in the flesh (or the MDF) and they don't look half bad given the material is almost 2D.  They have more depth than I expected and at arms length look almost as good as cast or printed figures.  They have the bonus of being very inexpensive at £2 for 96 foot figures.  Something that would make them attractive to me for a period I didn't want to spend a lot of time or money on (hint that's Napoleonic's).  They do some nice MDF railway tracks too.

Rob's Scenics trade stand with pre-painted very tempting models

Baccus were doing good business but I didn't need anything from them (want yes...need, not so much).  I also spotted Brigade Models in attendance with both 6mm and 2mm scenics on display.  I have quite a lot of their 2mm stuff but hadn't considered the 6mm offerings but they do look nice.  Another good set of terrain was on display from Rob's Scenics.  I had a look the Rapier Miniatures stand where painted and based 12 element DBA armies was retailing for around £85.00 which seemed fairly reasonable.

Baccus put on a fast play Battle of Lens 1643

Having wandered around the traders I turned my attention to the games.  These were of a high quality with some really nice terrain on display.  What was noticeable is that the vast majority were full scale battles and only two were not historical refights.  As usual there were a good number of participation games alongside the demonstration games. I missed spotting a couple of games and a couple which were advertised were actually missing.

Baccus' Battle of Lens was using big bases so the entire battle only had just over a dozen combat formation a side.  It's one way to make things move faster I suppose, restrict the number of units a side, but it doesn't really work for me as a concept.  It sort of turns a battle into something like a skirmish game when there are only a handful of combat units a side.

First El Alamein courtesy of Maidstone and District Gamers

The MAD display game was one of those who were keen to interact with passers by which was nice.  A good chat ensued about how after the real battle Rommel felt Montgomery wasn't playing fair as he refused to follow up into Rommel's AT gun lines.

Lovely terrain here probably my favourite table at the show

Total Battle Miniatures displayed the Battle of Lobositz 1756 Prussia v Austria and I think the opening battle of the Seven Years War.  The terrain was excellent and shows what can be done in a small space.

Those troops look like an army and sit well into the terrain

I spotted the Yarkshire Gamer taking part in Champion's Hill 1862 (I think).  Lots of Adler 6mm on displayin this game.

ACW action from The Yarkshire Gamer himself

Another rather nice table this time showing a Franco-Prussian war battle

Per Boden put on a Bloody Big Battles game from the Franco-Prussian war.  Again really nice terrain.

Meanwhile in 1960s Goa.  India v Colonial Portuguese

Battle of Bouvines 1214 (or so)

There were the obligatory strange hats on offer

A big cold war gone hot game.

Just after the time frame I set my cold war gone hot game in.  East Germans trying to move down the length of the table against BAOR opposition.  Whether they managed it I don't know.  If all they had were T55s I don't fancy their chances unless they had an awful lot of them!

Overall some nice tables but for some odd reason I wasn't really feeling enthused.  It may have been the heat but it seemed like a lot of the games had their own private force field around them that repelled spectators from getting involved with the players.  Or maybe I'm just getting old and grouchy, who knows.   At other shows I have friends who are running games or trading so I can have a chat but none of them are 6mm gamers so were not at this one. The jury is out on whether I will return next year.

I promised an Army parade

Well I suppose I should deliver then!  So here they are:

By my count this is a smidgen over 4,200 little lead warriors plus vehicles

If I ever do this again I'm going to need a bigger kitchen table!

By way of giving a vague idea of what's on the table

For World War Two we have 1940 Germans, some 1940 British Home Guard (the BEF are still waiting to be finished) and some Late war Soviet Armour and support.  The BCW troops are Covenantors, Montrose Highlanders and Irish and both flavours of English (good guys and bad guys you may decide which is which).  The rest are Late Imperial Romans, Justinian Byzantine, Goths, Huns, Moors, Dacians, Early Sassanid Persians, Picts, Strathclyde Welsh, actual Welsh, Scots-Irish, Middle Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.

It appears I have been a busy bloke these last few years.

Be Gad, but it's warm

Of course it's summertime but even so this is hot!  I'm actually finding painting difficult as paint is skinning over on my coffee jar lid palettes and glue is going off before I finish mounting figures.  Time to do something different I suppose, but what?  I'd play a game but my usual venue, the conservatory, is self identifying as a sauna at the moment.  I've caught up on my SK regimental admin and read all my favourite blogs.  Hell, I even did some gardening until the heat beat me.

All of that said I have now reached the point where I have painted more 6mm cavalry than I have bought so far this year (so far being the operative phrase) and have rather a lot of 6mm foot on the painting table, so failing a sudden rush of blood at the Joy of Six show this coming weekend I'm on target to reduce the lead pile again this year.

In other news I had one of 'those' birthdays at the end of June.  One of those that ends in a zero, yes one of those that causes you take stock of the remaining time before you.  Sensible me says you really shouldn't keep buying more troops but the other me doesn't agree and points out how much I like looking at the serried ranks of completed figures.  Possibly time for an army parade for my little lead warriors?  At the last census I'm well over the 4,000 figure mark so it should be impressive.  I just need to clear a table top to lay everything out on.

Finally again in reference to birthdays I was lucky enough to receive the gift pictured below from my family.  Signed by the Under 21 and  First Teams courtesy of my granddaughter's boyfriend who worked for the club as an intern and then under a fixed term contract and provided performance analysis to both those sides.

Signed Blackburn Rover's shirts first and second strips.