Poseidon's Warriors - Play Tested

What's this?! A gaming post, seriously?! Yes, it is :) Anyway, with the help of my gaming buddy and retired AF Tactical Air Controller, Ted H. we finally got to play test Poseidon's Warriors written by John Lambshead. Ted brought over a fine sea mat and coastline terrain which suited the Channel Dash scenario rather well. Being our first time playing the rules we of course got a few things off - like not realizing until about turn 8 that the Operational phase passed back and forth between opposing fleet squadrons. We didn't use the Artillery rules and just concentrated on Ramming and Oar Strikes. We also didn't try out any of the Advanced Rules such as Corvus, Leaders and Towers, etc. The rules are very simple with very little chart referencing. Anyway, Ted won the battle as I failed my Morale check after my fleet's flagship had taken part in a second combat. Ted passed his Morale check having lost a quarter of his fleet.

Ted's fleet in nice line ahead formation at the start of the game. Those are his little islands on his nice sea mat.

Ted's fleet now mostly in line abreast formation - looking for a fight.

My fleet trying to figure out what to do with the islands in the channel.

Ted's fleet blocking access to the sea in line abreast. One of my trireme squadrons having turned 180 degrees away from the enemy.

Having "lured" Ted's fleet into the tighter confines of the channel behind the little islands, one of my trireme squadrons (top of the photo) has Rammed some of his triremes. The rules allow for bow rams to be fought simultaneously. My fleet flagship has also Rammed one of Ted's triremes. Ted suffered the worse and lost several of his triremes. My flag ship suffered one Hull point loss.

Another view of the turn with my triremes and flag ship Ramming some of Ted's ships.

My flag ship completing a successful Oar Strike against one of Ted's trireme - actually the sole-surviving one from the squadron which fought in the previous turn.

Here's where the battle turned. Two of Ted's Quadriremes were able to Ram my flag ship, which later failed its Morale save and ended the game.

 These rules are very fast playing, and with quite brutal combat resolution. I plan to try out the Artillery rules as well as some of the Advanced rules the next time.

Enfilade! - End of First Period

Well, here I am in Olympia, Washington attending yet another annual NHMGS Enfilade! convention. I ran the Actium game with 7 players (one guy sneaked in ;) ) - no problem though. Only one player had played Black Powder or Hail Caesar before - which the command activation for the Actium game is based upon. However, everyone seemed to pick up on the rules by the third turn or so. I lost track of how many turns we actually played, but we continued even after both Antony, and later Octavian were killed. Cleopatra survived till the end, but never made it off the board - a Victory Condition. No matter, all the players gave the game a thumbs up and had smiles the whole time. I will be incorporating a few mods to the game tomorrow morning when I run it again. One will be to allow Cleopatra's squadron to get a free move even after a failed command role - which happened quite a few times in this game. Another will be to the Grappling rules - it will take one additional ship to attempt to grapple a ship each class larger than itself. The players themselves gave these opines during the AAR. Here's a quick shot of the game during mid-play.

Note the convention-safe plastic sheet over the Hotz mat. Go ahead, spill your drinks :)!

Here are a few games I was able to take pictures of prior to the start of my game. I still need to go back and get a shot of the huge Ligny game run by the White Rock Gamers from British Columbia.

Lloyd Bowler's Viking Run - a perennial favorite

Chris Craft's Agincourt game using Hail Caesar. Chris' game appropriately won Best of Period.

Gene Anderson's Martian Airship Raid game - and to think this is an Historical Gamers convention. Shame on you Gene :)

Doug Hamm's Waterloo - The Better Plan using General de Corps.

There are well over 100 games scheduled throughout the weekend. I know I won't be able to get pictures of all of them, but hope to post some quality shots. Oh, and GM's who host two or more games got this cool looking coffee cup below.

Irregular Miniatures 2mm Rep. Romans and Marching Forts

These are the Irregular Miniatures 2mm models which will used in the Actium game. Mainly lining the shore for aesthetics - quite like they did during the actual battle.

That is a nice Hotz Artworks terrain mat they're on.

I've been thinking that 2mm would be a good scale for an Alesia game. Irregular makes army packs, including Gauls, so the figures are not a problem. However, the terrain, which would include a lot of siege works, may be something a bit much to tackle. Still, it would an interesting scenario - what with Julius Caesar leading a desperate cavalry counter-attack and all.

A shot to show the rear of the troops

A couple of 1/1200th Langton ships for scale comparison. Close enough for gaming purposes, IMO.

I really should start on the handful of Crusader Gladiator figures now that the Actium stuff is ready.

Hail Antony! Actium Playtest Success!

Thanks to my fellow-Hawaiian expat, Kimo, a great playtest for the Actium game was just concluded. Kimo brought over a few nicely painted ships which were added as armed escorts for Cleopatra's squadron. The victory conditions for Antony's fleet was allowing Cleopatra to break out with her cargo ships intact enroute to Egypt. This and either destroying or capturing Octavian. The scenario has Octavian's placement unknown to Antony's forces - just as it was historically. Octavian's victory conditions would be the capture of Cleopatra and/or the destruction of Antony. Antony's command ship being known to Octavian. An alternative victory condition was the overall number of ships destroyed. This was the case for our game after six turns. Antony's forces run by Kimo destroyed far more of Octavian's ships and was declared the winner of the game. This despite Cleopatra being unsuccessful in her bid to escape. The rules are based loosely on Hail Caesar - mainly the command activation rolls at the top of the turn. All of Octavian's commanders had rating of 9 (this due to Antony's plans being known to them), and all of Antony's commanders having a rating of 8. Antony himself retained a 9 rating due to his force of personality. Here are some images of the game.

Octavian's right squadron, run by me, in a line-abreast formation having to make a 90 degree bend to keep unit cohesion and also avoiding contact with an adjacent squadron. This squadron later was decimated by both missile fire and close combat action

Another view of Octavian's right squadron - he was actually in this squadron and his command vessel destroyed.

Kimo actually destroyed the command vessel that Octavian was in - here on the right flank. A subordinate took over the command with a lowered command rating. This actually should've ended the game, but in the heat of battle we continued with the game. One thing Kimo pointed out later, after another of Octavian's command was destroyed was that the replacement command vessel should not occupy the area the previous one was destroyed in. That made sense and will be incorporated in future games.

A view of the center of the battle - Cleopatra's squadron behind Octavius' squadron.

To keep the game simple enough for convention play, only Cleopatra's and Antony's ships were classed as Deceres, and command ships on both sides classed as Quadriremes. All covered deck ships (painted in either red or blue) classed also as Quadriremes. Open decked ships classed as Triremes. The few open decked ships with fancy prows and tails were classed as Liburnians - and these only in the center squadron of Octavian's fleet.

Antony's squadron getting the better of Agrippa - which was not the historical case, of course!

 Another thing we discovered was that although missile fire can cause some damage, it was best to engage in close combat, and ram if possible. To successfully ram required a separate activation score.

The beach of captured or destroyed ships - note they are mostly red ones formerly from Octavian's fleet. Behind them are the recently painted Irregular minis legionaries and marching camp. I've ordered a few more to beef up the look.

Action in the center - Cleopatra's ship still behind Octavius' squadron.

Here's an updated QRS from notes taken during the play test.

Besides resuming painting on the Ii Naomasa figure, I'll be trying out the Gladiatorial Combat rules for the other game I am committed to host at Enfilade! in May.

Irregular 2mm Wee-Romans and Marching Fort

Well before I could resume work on the 120mm Ii Naomasa figure, my wife brought in the mail and the Irregular Miniatures figures had arrived. Very impressive as I just placed the order earlier in the week. So from the UK to here in the Pacific NW under a week shipping. The were primed black and quickly brushed with a fairly small tipped brush. I used a dry-brush technique, lightly dragging the brush over the raised features. Gold for the helmets, flesh for the faces and legs, and red for the shields. The mounted command figures were basically done the same way - with horses of course. That is a grain of rice on in the right forefront for scale.

The models are two packs of three 20-figure strips of infantry each, one pack of 3 strips of mounted command, and a marching fort. They'll line the shore for the Actium game - just an aesthetic addition and nothing to do with the game mechanics.

The image above shows the rear view of the figures. I only know this because the mounted commands are to the front of the formations.

Next is a shot with some 28mm Warlord Games EIR, again for scale.

Here's what they looked like prior to painting. The bases for the troops are cut-down bases from a Perry plastic kit.

I just placed another order for another marching fort and several more infantry packs to beef up the look of the units. Who knows, I may use the figures in a 2mm game someday too!

Antony's Command Ship for Actium

Here's Antony's command ship for the Actium game. It's a Valiant/Ramming Speed 1/900th scale Deceres model; the same type used for Cleopatra's ship earlier. The pack came with two vessels so worked out very nicely. She's painted up in Seahawk greens and blues - the home team's colors. I was put off from painting it up a few weeks ago after their devastating loss at the Super Bowl.

I was going to order a set of fighting towers, but ended up using parts of a GW Empire repeater handgun. The barrels of the gun looked like temple pillars to me so I went with it. Atop the "towers" are spare Langton bolt throwers which help disguise the conversion.

The image below has it next to a Langton 1/1200th scale Octeres for size comparison. In that scale the Valiant model will be a monstrous Tessarakonteres.

Below is a WIP shot with the GW Empire repeater handgun barrels glued on with the bolt throwers on top. It was an after thought after I had primed the model. I also noticed after the priming that I had knocked off the tail - luckily I found it again and glued it back on - hence the lack of primer.

All the ship models are ready for a play-test this coming Saturday. Can't wait to get the 2mm wee-Romans too.

Battle of Actium - Set-up

Just a preliminary set-up for another game I've committed to host at the annual local convention, Enfilade!, in May. I used some cork board with dried coffee grounds for the shoreline just to give the game a bit of aesthetics. I also ordered some Irregular 2mm Romans and a marching fort to place on the terrain. Looking forward to painting up the little guys as the smallest scale I've painted so far is 15mm. Anyway, here's the initial deployment - well, actually I'll have Antony's forces a bit further out from the shoreline, and Octavian's forces further apart from Antony's. Just wanted to have everything in the photo op.

Most of the ships are CinC which I scored from an old TMP sale. The command ships are Langton, and several ships as well as Cleopatra's are Valiant/Ramming Speed

Still working on the Victory Conditions, but one element will be Cleopatra escaping with her treasure ships.

View from the shoreline occupied by Octavian's land forces - Antony's large command ship offshore.

A bird's eye view from the shoreline.

Arruntius facing Octavius in the center, with Cleopatra and her treasure ships in the rear.

I have a home brew set of fast-play rules based a bit on Hail Caesar and Diadochi. Movement will be hexed based using a nice Hotz mat, of course, which should make movement cleaner and faster. The map below shows Octavian with Agrippa on their left flank, but I have Octavian on the right for the game. I may have his actual placement unknown to Antony's forces, with a Victory Condition being his capture or destruction. I've seen differing numbers of ships involved from various sources. For this game, they'll be close in number for each side. The main difference will be classing more of Antony's fleet with larger vessels.

 

A play-test will follow soon, and I'll be sure to post the results.

1/1200th Tessarakonteres (from a 1/900th Deceres)

Finally managed to pick up a brush today - after several weeks of painting inactivity. This will be used in an Actium game as Cleopatra's command ship. It's a Valiant Ramming Speed 1/900th scale Deceres converted to be a 1/1200th scale Tessarakonteres; One of the largest of ships from Hellenistic times.

As the rest of the ships for this game are 1/1200th scale, this ship will be suitably large and identifiable as Cleopatra's. Here it is next to a Langton Quinquereme.

A view from the stern.

It is based upon this image of a Tessarakonteres.

The towers midship and fore were made from Green Stuff; the tent in the rear is made from spare plastic sprue. The three other ships will be painted up next as command ships belonging to Antony. They are a Langton Deceres and Octeres, as well well as another Ramming Speed Deceres.

Truants 2012 First Game - Ancient Naval Gaming

We kicked off the third season of Truants with an Ancient Naval game today at The Game Matrix. Having just received the excellent 1.5" hexed mat from Hotz Works, I figured it was time to get my 1/1200th Ancient fleets bloodied. I chose a free set of rules called Diodochi for the inaugural event. These rules are amongst the many listed on the Hotz Roman Seas site. I have Roman Seas too, but figured for fleet action with multiple squadrons, Diodochi may work a little better (read simpler and faster-playing). With some, or maybe a lot, of great suggested tweaks/improvements, Diodochi was agreed upon by the experienced Truants as a decent set to work with. There were 9 players with me GMing (or pretending to be). Each of the players ran about an 8-ship squadron. Everyone started out with their squadrons in Line Abreast - the best way for attacking.

 I even got to use some of my Roman Seas (1/300th scale) markers.

Even a gigantic Grapple marker that Al just had to use!

It was a very close game with the red fleet narrowly beating the blue. The rules include missile fire, combat with ram, raking, grappling and boarding rules. I intend to run this at conventions and similar venues where no prior-rules experience being needed.

All of the gamers, except for one, have years of experience with many sets of rules, including naval, so this was a great play test which I received a lot of great feedback and suggested improvements. Stay tuned for more Friday Truants' gaming posts. Disclaimer: I stole all of the photos off of Adrian's Facebook.

Hotz Mats

The Hotz mats I ordered just about a week ago have arrived! Thanks for the quick shipment Eric!

Here is one that will be used for a set of home grown rules that Bruce M. of Company B came up with. Actually, the rules are for his "Bots" game using robots, but can easily be adapted for gladiators. This is the larger (23.5 X 23.5") Sand Brown version that is bit richer in color than in the flash-washed photo.

This is the Sea Blue-Gray mat with 1.5" hexes. The mat is 72 x 45" and should be large enough for the 60-odd 1/1200th ships I have. Plan to use it next Friday at one of our annual Truants games - this is the third year  the few of us who don't work on Fridays (at least during the summer for our educators, Kevin and Mark) meet for ad hoc gaming.

For the naval game next week, I'm thinking of trying out either Delos or Diodochi, a couple of free rulesets that are listed on the Roman Seas website. I think they may work better for the scenario - larger fleets (30-plus per side) and no player experience. Not to mention the GM, me, being quite the novice with Roman Seas.