2023 in Review

Let's take a look back at my year for gaming.

2023's Trends

• It's been a slow year for blogging. Looks like it's my lowest year ever in terms of posts.
• All in on counters - I even sold off most of my miniatures.
• Napoleonics - I never really took up Napoleonics before, but in the first half of the year I completed a mini-campaign set in northern Italy.

French vs. Austrians

• I tried out some different counters. They look nicer than the top-downs, but I could never decide which side was the front.

• I toyed with a summer Song of Blades & Heroes campaign, but it never got off the ground.
• I made some new counters for a fantasy Imperials campaign. I still haven't printed them.

Fantasy Imperials

• Then I just kind of stumbled through the last few months of the year.

Not exactly a banner year for gaming.

Prognostication Review

Every year I try to guess what the year will hold. Let's see how I did this year.

1. Counters - I predicted I would go all-in with counters. That's pretty much correct.
2. Purge - accordingly, I figured I'd get rid of a bunch of figures. 2 for 2.
3. Finalize rules - I wanted to get my rules into final shape. Never happened.
4. Sci-Fi boxed set - I went on a very short-lived sci-fi kick in January. I wanted to put together a sci-fi set, but it never happened.

Score for the year - 50%, Actually not bad for me. ;)

Quickie Medieval

After trying out a quickie Napoleonic battle, I decided to do the same for medievals.

Battle 1

I recently have taken an interest in Slovak history. Inspired by this new interest, I set this battle in the area of Samo's Empire.

The warlord Samo tries to impose his will on a neighboring village. The chieftain Raduz defends.

I randomly determined the forces:

• Samo (white) - 1 heavy infantry (with leader), 1 medium infantry, and 2 light infantry
• Raduz (red) - 3 medium infantry and 1 light infantry

Here Samo approaches the village.

Samo's light infantry chases its counterpart out of the village but Raduz's medium chase the light away.

Meanwhile, Samo's heavies and mediums take a beating from enemy infantry.

Samo loses his medium infantry.

And a unit of light. Despite some success on his left, Samo must retreat.

GAME NOTES

I planned to do a follow-up battle but haven't got around to it yet.

I determined the forces randomly. I think Samo got the short end of the stick. No matter; I think I may give him some Frankish cavalry next time.

Merry Christmas

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." 

(Luke 2: 8-11 NIV)

May the savior's peace be with you this holiday season and in the years to come.

Merry Christmas!

Quickie Counters

 I've been inspired to embark on a new counter project.

It's largely because of my quickie Waterloo game. A reader made a comment about the Prussians arriving, which gave me an idea for a follow-up battle. In this reality, Napoleon manages to force Wellington to retreat, but now he must face Blucher. One problem - I don't have any counters for the Prussians.

So this leads me to a new project. I'm been toying with the idea of creating simpler generic counters so that it is easier to change colors in the file and create a new army. I played around and came up with these.

I created the base set in red. There are only 3 troop types - close order infantry, loose order infantry, and cavalry. In my quickie MicroBattle rules, I assume that artillery is attached to other units. This means I don't need separate artillery.

Note: I don't need artillery, yet. However, I am toying with the idea of adding artillery grand batteries.

As you can see, I created SIX different quickie armies. And these are generic enough that I can use them for ancient and medieval battles as well!

Note: Make that SEVEN armies. I later added a brown army. It'll work great for the Hyenids.

One thing I've struggled with when using generic armies is distinguishing between different types of formed infantry, such as blades, warbands, auxiliaries, etc. Instead of creating distinct counters, I'm toying with the idea of using markers. For example, green marker on a formed infantry counter could identify lesser quality troops.

Stay tuned for more on this project.

Quickie Waterloo

I managed to squeeze in a quick game.

A Fast Play Version

Time was short so I decided to try out a extra fast play version of MicroBattle. Some of the features of this version.

• Each unit represents a corps of troops.
• You'll notice there is no artillery. I assume that artillery is attached.
• The battlefield is a 5 by 5 grid.
• I roll a single die per attack. A success means the attackers win; otherwise they lose.
• Losing units take a disorder marker (2 = eliminated). I also roll to see if the unit also must retreat.
• A unit can attempt to rally rather than taking other actions.

The Scenario

I loosely based this scenario on the Battle of Waterloo, using this map from Absolute Emperor. I created the orange boxes to identify the corps.

This gives 6 corps for the French and 4 for the British. I simplified the setup greatly; Here is how it came out.

The British are outnumbered but they only need to hold on until the Prussians arrive. I rolled randomly to determine how long that would be. Turns out Napoleon needs to defeat Wellington in 4 turns.

The Battle

The French advance. The defenders repulse them from Hougoumont (left). But the French have more success in the center.

Note: The red markers indicate disordered units.

The British counterattack. They rout the French attacking Hougoumont and hold back the attackers on the ridge.

But the French push back and rout a corps on the ridge.

And then the French finish off the defenders on the ridge.

Napoleon wins!

GAME NOTES

By and large, I'm using the MicroBattle rules. 

There are 2 major differences.

• Each army has fewer than 6 units.
• Units are automatically disordered if defeated

As a result, game play only lasted about 10 minutes. Just what I was looking for.

Vacation

Well, my winter vacation has begun. I am technically off work for the next two weeks.

Lowered expectations

I'd like to lounge around, like Napoleon above. I hoped to do some gaming every day. I even toyed with reviving the Twelve Games of Christmas. Increasingly, however, it looks like I'll have little gaming time. I just have too many chores to do around the house - take the car in, paint a fence, clear out my father-in-law's apartment, and even do some work work! As a result, I don't expect as much gaming. :(

A new interest

Over the past few weeks I've developed a new historical interest - the Slavs. This arose due to preparations for LARP. In February, I will again attend Mythic Adventures. I went last March and it was a bit of a disaster. This time, I'm making a few changes, including a change in character. Based on my traveling companion's preference, I'll be making a character based on medieval Eastern European culture.

My grandmother was born in Slovakia (when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still a thing!) so I want to base my character on medieval Slovaks. There is not much information online, at least not in English. However, I am looking to Great Moravia as inspiration.

I found a Slovak series on Prime video. Called The Slavs (aka Slavonia), it seems to be telling the story of Samo's Empire of the 7th century.

Anyway, all this has given me a hankering for some medieval Slavic battles, perhaps against the Avars. I just have haven't got around to setting anything up.

Napoleon?

In my last post, I mentioned that Ridley Scott's Napoleon piqued my interest in the period. I started a campaign and have done nothing with it since. I'd like to get in another game during the break.

What about RPG?

I last played a session with Ser Killian in October. He is now ready to try Axeholm again, but again I haven't had the time or energy. I hope to get a session in over vacation.

A Battle!

The Doldrums

It's been a while since I my last battle. A number of factors have contributed to these doldrums.

• I made special counters for my latest fantasy campaign, but the Office Depot where I used to print my counters closed shop. I haven't gotten around to finding an alternate.
• LARP season is in full swing, and I have been doing a lot of stuff for the game. For example, I laced up a new lamellar cuirass.
• And I haven't really been inspired by anything lately. I've toyed with playing a game using my generic counters, but could not decide what period to do.

Inspiration Strikes

Inspiration came from a day at the movies. My brother and I saw the latest Ridley Scott movie.

I enjoyed it, even though it was a flawed film. I think it would have worked better as an HBO series.

Nevertheless, it got me hankering for some Napoleonic action!

The Campaign Begins

I toyed with the idea of playing Austerlitz, but I don't have Russian counters. Furthermore, I didn't want to wait until I found a good scenario. I wanted action immediately. I decided to press ahead with a made-up battle.

As far as backstory, I chose to set this battle in 1805 along the Danube. I also decided to make this the first battle of a campaign.

Prelude to Battle

Faced with the Third Coalition, Napoleon abandons his preparations for war with England. Instead, he rapidly marches his army to the Danube to confront Austria. Meanwhile, General Mack presses the Austrian forces into Bavaria.

The Battle of Doberschwitz

The armies meet near the [fictional] town of Doberschwitz.

The French army (top) is split into 5 corps plus the artillery reserve. It converges on Doberschwitz in three columns. The Austrians (bottom) are more tightly formed and include a strong cavalry component.

First blood - French artillery causes casualties to enemy cavalry (R).

The Austrian cavalry try to overrun the guns, but they are repulsed. A French column (L) makes a wide flanking maneuver.

Battle is joined, and it goes poorly for Austria. They lose two units - infantry and cavalry.

The Austrians lose the rest of their cavalry. But they have success in the middle, routing a French corps.

And the Austrians drive back another French corps.

But the French now have the numeric advantage, and the numbers prove decisive. They crush the Austrian infantry in the center.

This forces Mack to retreat. Another victory for Napoleon!

Game Notes

I'll have some more thoughts in a later post, but I just wanted to note that I went back to an older version of MicroBattle, where I resolved combats with an opposed die roll. Sure, it's slower, but it works fine.

Thank You Veterans

Thank you for your service to our country.

Here's a picture of my favorite veteran. My father in flight school in the early '50s.

LARP Distractions

Thought I'd do a quick update. I haven't been gaming because I've been distracted by LARP.

Practices Have Returned

We resumed back in September. Recently, we've been getting some interest so we are planning to return to weekly practices.

Legion Website

I don't know anything about making websites, but I am comfortable with blogging. So I did an experiment where I used Blogger to make a website for my LARP group. Check it out - Chimera Legion LARP.

More Testing

As I noted last time, I'm a little frustrated by combat dragging out in Micro Battle. I decided to do some more combat testing.

Some Revelations

As I experimented with combat mechanisms, I came to a couple revelations.

• Opposed die rolls are too slow. I can only adjudicate one combat at a time. My older mechanism tested if the attacker hit, which allowed me to roll multiple attackers at once.
• I need to go with a single roll to determine hits and retreats, for the same reason as above.

Changing these mechanisms will reduce dice rolls and speed play.

On Combat Resolution

The issue with a single "to-hit" roll is that you can get into an indecisive stalemate where neither side hits in its turn. Opposed die rolls worked better because one side usually wins.

To mitigate the issue, I'm going to experiment with a system where the attacking unit is defeated if it fails to hit. This should speed things up.

On Hits and Retreats

My initial mechanism allowed a unit defeated in combat to test whether it takes casualties or retreats. These were separate dice rolls. I based the mechanism on the concept that a defeated unit will either

• take minimal casualties and stand firm
• retreat with minimal casualties
• stand firm despite casualties, or
• take casualties and retreat. 

Testing casualties separately from retreats seemed the best way to cover all possibilities.

To speed things up, though, I want to merge these into a single roll. I'm not keen on having a binary system of retreat or take casualties. I want results to be more decisive. Therefore, I decided to test a 2-tier system where a defeated unit either (a) takes casualties or (b) takes casualties and retreats. 

Note that units can only take 2 casualties. This should make combat far more decisive. Perhaps too decisive. I will experiment with rallies.

The Test

I decided to do a simple test with a small battle line on flat terrain.

Red has the initiative and attacks. All things being the same, Red needs a 4+ to win a combat.

It succeeds on the left and center but fails on the right.

Roll for results - Blue takes casualties but holds firm on the left and center. Red takes casualties and retreats on the right.

I experimented with rallies. On the right, the Red unit rallies.

Blue counterattacks, with its rightmost unit hitting Red's flank. I treat the flank attack as support for the main combat.

Blue succeeds on the left and inflicts a casualty. Despites its flanking attack, Blue fails on the right. The main unit takes a second casualty and routs from the field.

Red's turn to attack. It fails on the left and loses a unit. It double-teams blue on the right but loses miserably and takes a casualty.

Blue's turn. Both attacks fail. Blue loses a unit and the other must retreat with a casualty.

I think I missed a turn. Anyway, Blue has rallied and attacks Red, causing a casualty.

More missing turns. Blue destroys a Red unit then takes on the last remaining Red. Blue wins!

Assessment

The whole test took about 14 minutes to run. Hard to say if that is slow or fast; I need to do a full-blown battle to assess. Still, I like where this is going. Will need to experiment some more.

3 x 3 Redux

Last year I made some unsatisfactory experiments with the 3 x 3 system. I shelved the concept at the time but now I have come back to it. In my most recent MicroBattle game, I noticed that the battle essentially devolved into left, center, and right sectors. Just like 3 x 3, I thought.

I did a little more digging into 3 x 3 and found some variants where they allow flank marches. So effectively it becomes like a 5 x 5 grid. I decided to try it out.

I'm doing a generic horse & musket battle. The armies, let's call them France (blue( and Austria (white), form up on a 3-square front.

I allow troops to move into the edge squares, expanding the field to 5. I don't have reserves for this test so I don't have a reserve area.

By now, France has the upper hand.

But the Austrians advance on the left.

At this point, I stopped the battle. I used a variant of my MicroBattle rules designed to make combat more decisive. The problem was that it wasn't - the sides kept making saving throws so combat kind of ground to a stalemate. I wanted something more fast-paced than standard MicroBattle, but this version wasn't delivering. So back to the drawing board.

Taking on the Tower

A Ser Killian Adventure

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

Approaching the Tower

After a journey of about a day from Leilon, our party of heroes approaches the Tower of Storms. The tower sits upon a craggy island connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway that barely rises above sea level.

Traversing the causeway (1), they get attacked by 6 sahuagin. Our heroes dispatch the enemy in short order.

Note: I added some encounters and changed others to improve the adventure for solo play.

Next (2), a giant crab erupts from the sea and attacks Haiden. Haiden's spear finds a soft spot in the crab's carapace, wounding it. But the crab's claws snap onto Haiden's arm, drawing blood. The others come to assist, but their attacks glance harmlessly off the crab's armored shell. Finally, Killian lands a mighty blow that cleaves the shell and kills the crab.

They reach the island and begin to ascend the craggy slopes (3). They find a small cave. When Nashad peers in, a ghostly presence reaches out and possesses him.

"Before you take hasty actions, hear my tale!" the possessed fighter pleads. He explains how the unholy priest of the tower killed him and trapped his soul on earth. The spirit could not be freed until the priest was truly dead.

Agreeing to undertake the spirit's quest, the party continues toward the tower. As they approach its gate (4), a swarm of harpies attack. Their song charms Alyn and Nashad so Killian and Haiden must fight alone. Nevertheless, our heroes drive off the beasts.

The Tower

They enter the tower (5). A trap drops a stone on Alyn, who suffers an injury. They pass through a room (6) without incident and enter the back room (7). There, they meet the priest.

The priest unleashes a bolt of lightning, which strikes Killian in the chest and knocks him to the floor. Alyn rushes forward, and strikes a telling blow on the priest. Growling with anger, the priest lashes out at Alyn, drawing blood. Nashad enters the fray and scores another hit.

The priest attacks Nashad but Killian recovers and counters. The paladin's blade bites deep. The priest turns on him and drives him back with a series of attacks. He is about to strike when a sword suddenly pierces him from behind. The priest stares at the blade sticking through his heart.

The priest coughs and gasps, "you win today, but this is not over. My master will revive me...." With this he collapses.

The priest is dead but the tower's evil still pervades the place.

"We must destroy the root of this evil," Killian proclaims.

They continue up the tower, defeating a few cultists on one floor (8) before coming to the top. There, they see a heart lying upon a pedestal. The heart is beating and an eldritch light emanates from it.

"This is the source of the evil! We must destroy it!" commands Killian.

Nashad rushes forward. He swings his two-handed battle axe at the heart but a ray of light zaps him. Killian dodges another ray and stabs the heart. Nashad attacks again, this time slashing the heart. Finally, Haiden attacks. His strike splits the heart in twain. Then, the heart erupts with a burst of magical energy, knocking our heroes flat.

Aftermath

The spirit thanks the heroes for freeing him. He then releases Nashad from possession.

Victorious, our heroes return to Phandalin without further incident. They can now prepare their assault on Axeholm.

The Tower of Storms

A Ser Killian Adventure

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

Sorry about the long-winded account, but I want to set up their next adventure.

The Plan

After their defeat at Axeholm, Ser Killian begins planning to return and finish the banshee.

First, he sends a missive to the temple in Neverwinter, asking for reinforcements.

Then, he decides to travel to Leilon to seek a warrior to replace Gruff. Martin is still recovering so Killian and Haiden set out by themselves.

The Journey

The trip to Leilon takes a couple of days, but it is not without some excitement.

On the road, the come across a marauding ogre. It is a long, drawn-out battle, but Killian and Haiden finally cut down the monster.

As the first evening drew near, they come across a battered girl on the road. They nurse her back to health then escort her to Leilon.

The Tale of the Tower

The girl relates her story to the heroes. She was on a ship bound for Neverwinter. When an eldritch storm struck, they headed for a light, which they assumed was a safe haven. 

Unfortunately, it led them to their doom. The ship ran into rocks, which tore it apart. Most of the crew and passengers were lost, either to the waves or to the sharks that patrolled the rocks. She managed to make it to shore and stumble to the road where our heroes found her.

Leilon

Our heroes make it safely to the town of Leilon. They find a refuge for the girl at the local temple. Then they begin searching for help in their quest.

While making the rounds of the local taverns, they learn more about the Tower of Storms. Locals believed it was haunted, and the spirits of the tower feed off the souls of those lost at sea. The spirits are able to stir up storms and then shine a light to draw in unfortunate ships.

Hearing this tale of woe, Ser Killian proclaims a sacred vow to end the tower's malign influence. Perhaps not the best strategy, for local adventurers seem reluctant to join the quest. But finally they find two fighters so down on their luck that they will take any job. With that, Alyn and Nashad join the party.

To the Tower

On the way to the tower, our heroes run across a small group of marauding orcs. It's a brief fight, but the new heroes get a chance to show their stuff. They are ready for the tower!

What happens at the tower? Find out next time!

Battle of Khukhusa and Fasu

THE PALMYRAN CAMPAIGN

This is the first battle of my fantasy campaign. In my world, Palmyra is a region similar to historic Egypt. However, it is threatened by the Hyenids (essentially gnolls) who raid from the south.

Background

The Imperial garrison gets word that a large Hyenid horde is raiding southern Palmyra. The Legion rushes south to stop the horde.

Set Up

The Legion (bottom) forms two lines.

• First line (L to R) - auxiliaries, scouts, and an allied warband
• Second line (L to R) - auxiliaries, legionaries (with commander), and an allied warband

Note: I'm using my old counters for this game. Red is the Legion and white is the allied warbands.

The horde only appears as a dark mass in the distance.

Note: I'm taking an idea from Geoff aka elliesdad and am hiding the enemy troops. I'll reveal them when they reach engagement range.

Objective

The Legion needs to take the villages of Khukhusa (L) and Fasu (R) so the Hyenids cannot sack them.

Victory will go to the side that seizes and holds both villages.

The Battle

Both sides advance quickly. One of the Legion's auxiliary units reaches the village of Khukhusa. On the Imperial right, a pack of giant hyenas attack a unit of allied warriors. I'm using cavalry counters to represent the hyenas.

First blood goes badly for the Legion. They lose Khukhusa and the regulars (center) take losses.

A ray of hope. An allied warband destroys the hyenas while the other warband seizes Fasu.

Then a concerted counterattack retakes Khukhusa and advances in the center.

A Hyenid assault on Fasu fails.

With this failure, the Hyenid commander calls retreat.

Aftermath

The Legion secures the villages, and the first victory of the campaign!

Hyenid Counters

And here are counters for the Hyenids, the foe that the Legion will fight in this campaign.

Top - brutes (heavy infantry) + giant hyenas (beasts)

Middle - packs (warbands)

Bottom - hunters (bows) + more giant hyenas

Here is the Hyenid general, with standard and drummer (with a human-skin drum)

And shamans.