Remember

On this Memorial Day, let us remember those who gave their all so that we might be free.

Byzantine-Persian War

As I mentioned last time, I brought my wargame travel pack with me to Disney, but did not get a chance to play. We returned mid-week but I am off work until Tuesday so I was able to get in some games. Here is the first.

Background

I am going to run a 5 game campaign during one of the Byzantine-Persian Wars of the 6th-7th centuries. Details to be decided.

Dispositions

Army organizations and dispositions are:

• Persians (top) - From left - archers, heavy cavalry, infantry, light cavalry, elephants, heavy cavalry
• Byzantines - From left skirmishers, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry x 2

The Battle

The opposing armies meet on the sands of Mesopotamia, near a small village.

The Byzantines draw first blood, repulsing the Persian archers (left) and disordering some cavalry (right)

A lot of bloodshed on the right.

The ponderous pachyderms (cream) finally get stuck in.

And defeat the Byzantine cataphracts. Nevertheless, the Byzantines have destroyed the Persian archers and 2 units of cavalry. Yet the Persian army fights on.

There is a cavalry scrum among a copse of trees. Two units of Byzantine heavy cavalry fight one unit of Persian light horse. Yet the Persians get the better end of the fight.

With half the army routed, the Byzantines lose morale and retreat from the field.

The Campaign

The Persians have the early advantage in the campaign (1-0).

Thoughts

• One of the issues with my current blocks is that I cannot easily distinguish troop types. This came into play in this battle, as the Byzantine light cavalry was supposed to represent heavy infantry. I got confused, however, and treated them incorrectly.
• I tried a tweak to my MicroBattle rules to speed up the game. Disorder and retreat tests started at a disadvantage (5+ to pass). Still, the game took about 30 minutes.

Countering Counters

Counter Status Update

Last time, I ruminated about switching to counters. I even worked up a file with a few armies, although I haven't printed any yet. Anyway, here is what I have.

A page of counters ready to print

2mm Inspiration

A couple of recent posts on The Wargames Website has me re-thinking counters and re-considering 2mm.

Steelonsand posted about Strength and Honor, a set of Roman-era rules designed for 2mm figures. Inspirational stuff. I even picked up a PDF copy of the rules! Steelonsand also posted some links to 2mm manufacturers I never heard of. I really like the MDF figures, although they are sadly not available.

This reminded me of an earlier post on TWW with homemade 2mm using matchsticks. Here is the blog post by James Ferguson.

Second Thoughts

After seeing these 2mm wonders, I am debating counters vs 2mm.

I don't think I want to use Irregular, however. I like their figures, but I would like something lighter and less likely to get damaged while traveling. I also wonder if I could whip up wood blocks like the matchstick armies quicker than I paint Irregular's miniatures.

Travel Test Run

The reason I bring up traveling is that I will be on vacation starting tomorrow. My wife and I are visiting the Big Mouse.

I put together a travel pack using some older block armies, an erasable battle mat, and some dice all in a zippered pencil case. I am considering a future upgrade to lightweight 2mm miniatures and flat terrain. Stay tuned for experiments.

Counter Intuitive

The Inspiration

I'll be on vacation for a few days next week. This has me considering options for a portable wargame to bring, which led me to pondering block armies and counters.

The Problem

I am glacially slow when it comes to painting. Combined with my GADD (gaming attention deficit disorder), I tend not to get things done. As a result, I end up with a backlog of stalled projects (like this, this, and this).

Counters could be the solution to my lead pile problem. I can whip them out much quicker than painting. Problem is I have had difficulty finding counters that I like.

The Experiment

I decided to take a stab at making some generic counters. I used some Junior General top downs as templates. I did them at a larger scale then shrank them down so they would fit on 1" bases. I eschewed a lot of detail; at the scale I plan to print, details won't show up.

Here is my test batch - some cavalry, infantry, and artillery.

I like the look. Now to print and mount a test run.

Counter Thoughts

I'm even thinking about creating counters for RPGs. I would probably do side view as opposed to top down, like what I did with my virtual skirmish games.

Microlite 20

Now and then I go on an RPG kick and start researching rules. This is one of those times.

I have designed and played solo RPGs (such as these) using rules of my own design. Sometimes, however, I consider how I would introduce new players to RPGs. Given its current popularity, I think D&D is the best option. Then I try reading the rules for D&D 5E and get a headache.

I recently took a look at Microlite20 Purest Essence.

I checked out other versions of Microlite before, but they never clicked with me for various reasons. However, I really like PE and think it makes a great beginner version. Probably better than any of the D&D 5E beginner products.

By the way, one of the reasons I did not care for Microlite was that it only offered 4 classes (fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue). Where's paladin?! Sorry, it's my favorite class. Anyway, PE offers additional classes as "expert" rules, including paladin. Ahhhh!

More KQP Baseball

I finished a couple more series of my quick play baseball game.

Note that I play a "full" game for the first game then resolve the remaining games of the series using my ultra quick system.

Chicago Cubs vs. NY Giants

In the first game, NY's Hugh McQuillan pitched a 3-hit shutout. The Cubs' Charlie Root also pitched well, but in the middle innings, he loaded the bases. Then Jimmy O'Connell ripped a single to score 2 runs. Final 2-0.

Jimmy O'Connell

The Cubs retaliated with a 2-0 victory of their own. In the final game, the Giants scored 2 runs in the 1st, then cruised to a 3-1 victory.

Cleveland Indians vs. Washington Senators

The first game was a barn-burner. Cleveland struck first with a walk and four singles to go up 3-0. In the bottom of the inning, Washington rallied for 4 runs on a grand slam by Goose Goslin. Later, the Indians grabbed the lead with 2 runs after a walk, double, and triple. In the bottom of the 9th, Washington tied the score to send the game to extra innings. Then things got really wild. Cleveland's Doc Johnson ripped a double to score 2 runs. Then after a couple of singles, the Senators knocked a pair of doubles to score 3 runs and win the game 8-7.

Cleveland won the next two games 2-0 and 3-1.

What's Next?

• I need to play the Pittsburgh - St. Louis series to complete the first week of games.
• Given my glacial pace, I think that a 54 game season is too ambitious. I will likely only play 6 actual games per team and then use more ultra quick play games to round out the schedule.
• I also gave up on keeping individual stats. Too time consuming.

Kevin's Quick Play Baseball

Not entirely happy with the baseball games I tested, I decided to whip up my own game.

I used the stats for the 1941 season, which I got from Baseball Reference. I think I read somewhere that 1941 is close to the all-time baseball averages so it seems like a good baseline for determining the likelihood of specific results.

Determining At Bat Results

For each at bat, I roll 3D6s. I read them sequentially instead of adding them. So a roll of 3, 6, and 1 is 361 rather than 10.

Here is how I read the rolls.

• Batting - the hitter is out on a 1-3 and reaches base on a 4-6
• This roll determines either how the hitter got out or got on base:
• Out - Strikeout on a 1-2, ground out on 3-4, and fly out on 5-6
• On Base - Walk on 1-2, single on 3-5, and extra base hit on 6
• This is only used if there is an extra base hit. The hitter gets a double on a 1-3, triple on a 4, and a home run on 5-6

You may notice that there is a 50% chance of reaching base, which is a bit high. There is a reason for that, which I will explain below.

Player Stats

I rated the hitters for batting ability, power, and speed. Each is rated on an A, B, or C scale, with A being the highest. A ratings get bonuses to rolls while C's get penalties. Pitchers are also rated, with A reducing and C improving the batter's rolls.

Game Length

To speed up playing time, I decided to apply an idea I mentioned previously. I had noticed that most innings had ended quickly, with none or one batter reaching base. Then there were a few innings where there was a rally, with multiple players reaching base.

With this is mind, I decided I would only play out the innings with rallies. I arbitrarily decided that each team would have 3 potential rallies per game, so I would only play 3 innings.

This is why I bumped up the chance of reaching base to 50%. The idea is that in those rally innings, either the pitchers slump off a bit or else the batters get into a groove and do better than average. This is offset by those innings where not much happens.

Because some innings don't get played, I decided to randomly determine which batter starts the inning.

Sample Game

 I decided to try out the rules using a couple of teams from the 1920s. The 1927 New York Yankees visited the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics, both Word Series winners.

Early in the game, Mickey Cochrane singled, reach third on a double by by Jimmie Foxx, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Al Simmons, giving the A's a 1-0 lead. In the middle innings, Babe Ruth homered then a sacrifice fly drove in another run after three walks. 

The Babe homers

Now the Yanks led 2-1. The Yankees threatened late in the game but two strikeouts ended the threat. Then the A's went down quickly to end the game.

OK, that was an enjoyable and realistic game.

Ultra Quick Play

My rules led to a quick game (maybe 10 minutes or so), but I realize that it will still be a bit too long for a season. I think I'll play out one game per series, and then use other rules to generate scores for the remaining games.

I took an idea from Pen & Paper Baseball. I will play one at bat per inning and play 3 innings. I will generate team ratings, akin to the player ratings. If the batter gets a walk or single, then the team scores 1 run. A double = 2 runs, a triple = 3 runs, and a homer = 4 runs.

Using these ultra quick rules, I finished the series. The Yankees won the second game 3-0 then the A's won the finale 3-2 in extra innings.

Evaluation

So far, these rules seem to work OK. I'll have to test them some more.