Christmas Gift List

Just jotting down some my Christmas wish list.

Interested in a couple of video games:

and

I also would like some more medieval garb

I'd like to get the padded coif (S/M size) that this guy is wearing (from Medieval Collectibles).

I also want this helmet from Norton Armouries. I just don't know what size I need. I have to measure my head with the coif on, so clearly I need to get the coif first.

EDIT: While I still like the helmet, I now have another in mind. My updated LARP wish list is on my Way of the Wardens blog.

Finally, I could use a spare pair of tights (also from Medieval Collectibles size L). I already have a pair in brown but I would like a pair in black.

Relic Bearer

After making away with the sacred relic of St. Ukkert, the invading band of goblins, reinforced with orcs, tries to escape to the mountains. However, a company of King's troopers intercepts them.

The goblins (in black, on the right) need to cross a river to escape. The King's men are blocking the bridge across.

A band of goblin scouts (upper right) cross a ford and engage the militia spearmen.

The militia drive the scouts back across the river. Meanwhile, a lance of Guards takes a stand on the bridge. The Guards are attacked by 2 goblin bands.

The Guards wipe out one of the goblin bands. To their surprise, they find that the band was carrying the stolen relic.

The goblins counterattack, inflicting serious casualties on the Guards.

The Guards retreat. The militia and rangers cover their retreat.

One militia lance is scattered by the arrows of the goblin scouts.

The rangers destroy a goblin warband but the remaining militia is eliminated by the orcs. The Guards take refuge on a hill.

The rangers are destroyed.

The orcs assault the Guards on the hill.

But the Guards destroy them.

Goblin scouts set up to pepper the Guards with bow shot. The Guards charge down the hill and scatter them.

At this point, the last band of goblin scouts flees from the field. The sacred relic has been rescued!

Notes

• This game was based on the Ringbearer scenario in Dragon Rampant. That scenario, however, ends when the ring bearer unit is destroyed. In my test, I decided to make the ring (relic) bearer to be random. I rolled a D6 when a goblin unit was destroyed with a 6 indicating that it had the relic. Well, I managed to roll a 6 on the first unit. Game over. So I decided to play out the rescue, with the Guards trying to escape with the relic. This turned into a rather tense affair as the goblins/orcs mercilessly swarmed the Guards. Fortunately, I had given the Guards an extra hit point (elite status and all), allowing them to (barely) survive the encounter.
• This is my latest test of my "paladin" rules. 
• Once again I enjoyed the game, with it being a tight affair.
• Still, there are opportunities for improvement. For example, units are assigned a level from 1 to 5, indicating their experience and toughness. When 2 units are in combat, the difference in level is a modifier to the attack roll. Well this turned out a bit fiddly, as I did not remember the levels off-hand and had to consult a roster then do the math. I'm thinking about streamlining it to give the unit with an advantage a 1 or 2 point bonus. I can eyeball this in a flash without having to look something up.
• I also want to modify my retreat rules. Whenever a unit took a hit, I rolled to see if it retreated. However, the odds of a retreat were extremely high. Ironically, automatic retreats probably saved the Guards, as they were forced to retreat in the first of multiple attacks. This prevented the later attacks from occurring. I want to increase the odds of a unit standing to fight. I am also thinking of performing all attacks before testing for retreat. Or if a unit is about to be meleed and is forced to retreat by missile fire, then the meleeing unit pursues.

My Paladin Rules - So Far

Last month I mentioned that I had a hankering for some small scale fantasy wargaming. Since then I have run a couple of experiments (such as this skirmish) using scenarios from Dragon Rampant. I'm writing my own rules and they are still in flux. I thought I'd jot down some notes about where the rules stand.

Organization
Technically, the rules use a 1:1 figure scale, meaning that an individual "figure" represents 1 man or beast. However, I am using 3mm figures which are based on stands. Each stand (which I call a lance) operates independently. In a sense, these rules are very much like Squad Hammer in that the basic unit is essentially a squad.

The good guys are based with 1 strip of figures to a stand. I am using the strips from my generic army project.

Heavy infantry (in silver armor) are 8 figures to a stand

Light infantry (in green) are 4 figures to a stand.

I also based some cavalry with 4 figures per stand.

An "army" (company? retinue?) thus equates to about 20-30 troops.

The bad guys (in black) have 2 strips per stand of heavy infantry. The idea is that the baddies are more numerous, albeit not as skilled, as the heroes.

Combat
I wanted combat to have a bit of an RPG feel to it (more about that later) but I did not want to use a D20. Thus, I have borrowed the 2D6 system used by Barbarians of Lemuria. Ironically, the system has a lot in common with Squad Hammer. To hit you need to roll 2D6 equal or greater to a target number, which will vary depending on the toughness of the enemy.

If your to-hit roll is successful, the target will have a chance to defend against it (essentially they are dodging or parrying the blow). Armor will help with defense. Still not sure how this will work but I am leaning toward a D6. That may change however.

I'm still trying to flesh out the details.

Leveling Up
When I mentioned that I wanted an RPG feel, I meant that I want to follow the careers of certain characters and have them advance in power -  i.e. level up. Again I have borrowed from Barbarians of Lemuria, which has 5 levels. Thus, I want my heroes to reach up to level 5 with commensurate increases in combat ability.

Now I don't plan on tracking individual characteristics. Instead, each lance will be named after its leader and the lance as a whole can level up. Lances will start at level 1. I still need to work out the leveling rules.

Progress
I've run a couple of games with the bare bones of this system. They have been quite fun, even if they are half baked still. Work shall continue.

My Lazy Gamer Approach

Earlier this year I posted a series called the Lazy Gamer's Guide wherein I shared ideas on making miniatures gaming simpler for those who want to focus on the game without having to do a lot of work. (Ironically, I don't think I ever finished the Guide). Anyway, I want to give an update on my Lazy Gamer Approach.

The Battlefields
I previously discussed the Three S's of the Lazy Gamer Approach - Small, Simple, and Short. My battlefields encompass the first 2 principles

• Small - I use a board that is 8 inches by 10 inches. I can easily fit it on my coffee table, with room to spare for rules, dice, etc.
• Simple - My battlefield has simplified my life in 2 ways:
• The battlefield is gridded, which makes movement much easier
• I can draw on the battlefield with dry-erase markers. I just draw on the terrain instead of using terrain bits. It may not look as nice but it is much simpler to set up and easier to store

The Armies

Although I experimented with block armies I have recently settled on 3mm miniatures instead. 

Nevertheless, I still abide by the Three S's.

• Small 
• 3mm miniatures are definitely small so they fit well into the 1" grid squares. Yet they are large enough to distinguish troop types with ease.
• I reduced the number of periods by creating generic armies that could represent ancient through horse & musket troops. With 3mm, you can't tell exactly what weapon they carry. I figure that massed infantry could therefore represent either spearmen or musketeers. Similarly, light infantry could be carrying bows or rifles. This means that 2 armies can represent combatants across a span of 3,000 or more years (especially when I set the battles in my imaginary worlds; I don't have to worry about the correct uniforms that way).
• Simple
• I don't spend a lot of time painting my minis. At photo distance, I can't see the details anyway. The above red and blue armies only have 3 colors (their coat/uniform color, their helmets of silver or gold, and brown for the base). My evil armies are even simpler - all black.

The Rules

I am still experimenting with different home brew rules sets. Again, I abide by the Three S's, specifically:

• Simple - I prefer fast play rules in the vein of The Portable Wargame
• Short - My rules should be short in two ways:
• When I try commercial rules, they should have a short page count. I am not going to wade through a couple hundred pages of rules to play a game.
• The games themselves should be short (I shoot for about half an hour of game time). This gives me plenty of time to set up, play the game, put it away, and blog about it.

Thank You Veterans

Thanks you for your service. Your heroism keeps us free.

And on a personal note, this is the first Veteran's Day without my father, an Air Force pilot in the 1950s. He passed away shortly before Thanksgiving last year.

Thank you Dad for all that you did for our family and our country.

The Sacred Relic of St Ukkert

The young paladin bowed to the elderly man seated at an old oak desk. The man spoke:

"Brother Anselm, you have done well. So well, in fact, that we have a new task for you. The sacred relic of St Ukkert lies unprotected. You must take your company and defend it."
__________________________________________________________________________

Not long after, Anselm's company approaches the Shrine of St Ukkert, located in a cave in Mount Xhrisimum. Up front are 2 lances of rangers, Gifford on the left and Randall on the right. They are followed by Gernier's (left) and Anselm's paladins.

Anselm spies a horrifying sight - goblin raiders at the shrine (upper right)!

The rangers take up positions in a field and unleash deadly volleys on the goblins. Anselm charges forward on the right flank.

Anselm is repulsed. Meanwhile, a band of goblin spears (upper left), takes off with the sacred relic! The company pursues.

Gernier's paladins block the thieves then Gifford's rangers shoot down the goblins.

Gernier recovers the relic.

Anselm attacks and destroys some goblins while Gernier hands off the relic to Gifford's rangers.

Gifford makes a break for the shrine but some goblin skirmishers intercept his lance.

The goblins scatter the rangers and seize the relic. The paladins rush into the fray.

But the goblins break free and escape with the relic!

Horrors! Anselm's company has failed its mission.
__________________________________________________________________________

Notes

• I am experimenting with ideas for a small scale fantasy wargame. I am using the scenarios from Dragon Rampant. This is the second scenario, the Sacred Mole of Ukkert.
• I was almost unable to play because Onyx decided that my box of miniatures made a comfortable bed. Cats are weird.

• Today's game marked the first outing of my 3mm generic fantasy armies. The bad guys are simply black. The good guys have rangers in green and paladins in silver.
• The game was quick and exciting. The rules sort of worked, but need a lot more tweaking. More on those at a later time (Onyx is on my lap now and it is hard to type).