My Gaming Developments

Some miscellaneous gaming notes.

The bases are coming! The bases are coming!

Actually, they're finally here! Last month I created and printed some modern era counters. I had to order the bases for them. They finally arrived. I'll be able to put the counters together.

New markers

In last week's Revolutionary War battle, I used some new and some old counters. I like how they enhanced the game.

•  The red, pill-shaped tokens are casualty markers. I like them because they stand out but are small so don't obscure the counters.
• The white pipe cleaners indicate units that fired. I've had these for a while and used them before, but it has been some time. I think it makes the photo battle reports more understandable.

Terrain

My portable battle set uses flat markers for built up areas. They are convenient but honestly don't work very well. Usually, the counters obscure the BUAs.

Last week, I pulled out some old 2mm terrain. The fort (top) worked pretty well (with one drawback). The farm (bottom) did not work well because it took up too much space. The units did not fit neatly into the BUA spaces.

I have a solution in mind - buildings in two dimensions (length and height). Bob Cordery has some excellent examples on his blog. I just need to pick up the supplies and build some.

There is one issue with these, and it is the same quibble I had with my fort. The walls are on the interior of the grid sides. This means that there is not enough room for a unit to fit in a space. I see a few  solutions to this problem.

1. Create buildings that fit on the outside of the grid sides. I just worry that it restrict space in the spaces next to the BUAs.
2. Create a slightly larger grid. I currently have a 1" grid. Perhaps I could go to 1.25"?
3. Uses smaller counters. My counters are also 1" wide. 3/4" counters would probably fit better.

Number 3 is the least likely option because it would require redoing all my armies. Number 2 would be fairly easy - I just need to create 2 new battle boards then create BUAs that match the grid size.

Another Counter Update

Some more news on the counters front.

•  I set up my printer and successfully printed a sheet of counters.
• I have some blank 1" x 1/2" bases available so I was able to mount some of the newly printed counters.

Here is a photo my counters in progress,

You can see that I mounted an artillery unit for each army. I also mounted a new army (in the box); it is light blue and can represent Bavarians, Mexican War US regulars, or more that I'm unaware of at this moment.

I still have some more artillery, infantry, and my modern armies to mount. I'm waiting on the bases from Litko to do these.

Counter Update

Some updates on the counter front.

Counters Ready

I made some tweaks to my modern counters, adding light armor (2nd from left), a dropship (5th), and a rocket launcher (last).

I then duplicated the army in two other colors - brown and gray. I debated making blue and red armies but decided to go with muted colors.

I also added some horse & musket artillery and formed infantry to the file. These are to fill in some gaps in my generic pre-modern armies.

The artillery

I now have a sheet of counters ready for printing.

Printer Purchase

While in Walmart recently, I picked up an inexpensive printer. Once I get it connected, I'll be able to print the counters without sending them out to a printer. This should expedite my counter creations.

Litko Order

To complete the counters, I ordered a bunch of plastic bases from Litko. I'm getting a bunch of 1/2" squares for the modern armies and some 1" x 1/2" rectangles for the pre-modern artillery and infantry.

I also ordered some small red rectangles to use as casualty markers. These will replace the pipe cleaners I currently use.

Next Steps

Once I get the Litko order and set up the printer, I can put together my next batch of counters. Stay tuned for more updates!

Random Thoughts

Just some random gaming thoughts.

MOAR Tanks!

After playing my Memorial Day battle, I've been in the mood for some tank battles. Rather than play more Tank on Tank, I decided to put together some generic modern counters that could work for sci fi as well.

Here's what I've come up with so far - tank, artillery, missile launcher, infantry, and infantry in powered battlesuits.

I want to add some light armor and a helicopter or dropship.

I plan to mount these on half inch counters (which I need to order). Then I can use them individually for skirmishes or combine 2 into a unit for larger battles.

Unfinished Campaigns

I recently started a new campaign (stay tuned for the first battle report). I probably shouldn't do that given that I have a bunch of unfinished campaigns already. Off the top of my head, they include:

• Five Klicks from the Zone
• Napoleonic Knockout
• Icespire Peak D&D
• 1666 horror
• Fantasy Romans
• Revolutionary War Florida campaign (hope to finish it this July 4th)

And there are probably many more!

One day I should catalog all my ongoing campaigns, and finish them!

Armies and Stuff

Completed Armies

When I first started painting 2mm miniatures back in the day, my goal was to have a variety of different colors that could stand in various armies. I never achieved that goal.

Now with counters and smaller armies for quick play MicroBattle, I have accomplished that long-sought goal.

Here I have 6 more-or-less completed armies - red, navy blue, blue, white, brown, and green. I have 2 more printed - gray and purple. And I created one more, light blue, but haven't printed it yet.

These armies allow me to portray a vast array of foes. Just taking Napoleonics, for example, I can field British, Prussians, French, Austrians, or Russians.

The One Game of Christmas

I managed to play one game with my brothers over the holidays. We played Castle Panic. It was the first time for my brothers.

Things did not start well. We lost four walls to the first wave of attackers. Then towers started to fall. But we managed to rebound.

Here is the end of the game. We just survived.

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.

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.

Imperial Counters

I already gamed a battle in my fantasy setting using my old, generic counters. However, I decided to make counters specific to my factions. I began doodling around,

Here is a set for the Aurelian Empire.

Top - auxiliaries (medium infantry) in leather armor

Middle - legionaries (heavy infantry) in steel armor + a bolt thrower (artillery)

Bottom - scouts (light infantry) + flame throwers (artillery)

The flame throwers are inspired by Greek fire.

I also created a commander counter with a flag and trumpeter. They all wear fancy gold armor.

And some more troops.

• Left - a cleric radiating holy light protected by 2 templar guards in gold armor.
• Middle and right - 2 allied warbands. Since this campaign is set in not-Egypt, I made the allies desert nomads.

This gives me all the possible troops types for an Aurelian army. Next up are the hyenids.

So far, I am very happy with the results. I know that they are crude, but they will do the job. I am pleased so far.

Considering Counters on a Wasted Wednesday

Rather than playing a game while my wife watched her programs last night, I pondered a new project.

The Aurelian Campaigns

I thought about starting some campaigns set in my LARP's world. The first campaign would feature the Aurelian legions (inspired by Rome) against the hordes of the Dark Magi.

Seems like it would be easy to do using MicroBattle and my counters. But there is where I hit a snag. In my LARP's world, there is no cavalry. The cost and risk make horses impractical for a LARP. In game terms, we explained this lack by declaring that horses went extinct. It's a trick I picked up from Empire LARP.

This leaves me with a conundrum. My counters are very generic and only feature 2 types of infantry, 2 of cavalry, and 1 artillery (which is really for horse & musket games). It seems to me that dropping cavalry leaves the armies as sadly uniform and monotonous.

An army of my homemade counters

The solution is obvious - add more infantry types. I took a look at HoTT and it includes blades, spears, warband, shooters along with specialty types like clerics, magicians, and other fantastical creatures. Seems perfect for this world. But now I need to create more counters!

Meanwhile in Phandalin

After their defeat at Axeholm, Ser Killian has embarked on his next quest. I haven't finished it yet so I have no write-up. Unfortunately, I've been distracted and haven't returned to the game yet.

Out for a Test Drive

I previously tossed out the idea of making counters that are more grand tactical, with more men per counter. Well, I finished them and took them out for a test.

A French army maneuvers to attack Austrians defending a series of hills.

Austrian infantry pushed off the first hill.

French pressing the Austrian artillery.

And that's where I stopped. I've been in the market for a new car and I got a call from the dealership offering a test drive. I dropped the game and headed out. I did not buy the car.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I like them after all. They look great on the computer but they don't really photograph all that well.

I am tempted to make some similar to these.

The side view is not as realistic looking as top-down, but it is colorful and very easy to distinguish troop types. I was previously put off by the facing issue. Which side is the unit's front? Well, for the above battle, I just decided that the top was the front (after flipping Red's facing). It worked out well enough.

My Project is Stalling!

That didn't take long.

I recently decided to do a Napoleonics project using 2mm miniatures. Now that I have the minis in hand, I've lost motivation to clean and paint them. Instead, I find myself considering different types of counters.

Problem is that my current counters are not at a grand scale. I want my games to cover large battles with each counter representing a division or more. My current counters have 3 rows of 8 infantrymen, 7 cavalrymen, or 2 guns. To me, units look more like companies than divisions.

To address this visual issue, I've been playing around with some different counters.

In the first column, I shrank down my current counters by 50%. I'm just concerned it will be too hard to see the colors on the tabletop.

The second column is a more stylized approach. I'm not sold on the cavalry, however.

The third column uses symbols. This would be simplest to make.

Battle of Oikos

Background

Following up their first victory, the Persians strike deeper into Byzantine territory. The Emperor instructs General Synchysi to hold the invaders at the town of Oikos.

Dispositions

Synchysi posts two units of heavy infantry in and around the town (left), backed up by heavy cavalry. The remainder of his army defends a nearby hill (lower right) so that the enemy cannot turn his flank.

The Persian commander decides to focus his efforts on seizing the hill. His infantry will  demonstrate before the town.

The Battle

Synchysi's infantry repulses an attack on the town and his cavalry chase the light infantry to a nearby hill. Feeling secure, he sends some infantry to the right flank, where a cavalry melee rages.

Note: I ran out of casualty markers and I was too lazy to go upstairs to get more so I pressed a sunflower seed into service.

The Persian light infantry shoot down their pursuers.

In a display of indecision, Synchysi recalls his infantry in the woods. They are not needed, though, as a Persian assault on Oikos fails miserably.

The Byzantines lose some cavalry (top) and their infantry (left) takes casualties from Persian archery.

Meanwhile, the Persian elephants prepare to assault the infantry holding the hill.

Synchysi rides to the beleaguered hill, but he is too late. The elephants have crushed the infantry and taken the hill.

The elephants stand firm, leaving Synchysi no choice but to concede Oikos. The Emperor will not be happy.

Campaign

With another loss, the Byzantines find themselves in an 0-2 deficit for the campaign.

Game Notes

I took the scenario from One Hour Wargames. It is number 14, Static Defense. The attacking Persians need to control either the town or hill at the end of 15 turns. The elephants seized the hill on turn 14.

For the armies, I used the lists created by Mark Cordone in The Portable Wargame Compendium. He lays out some ancient army lists for his 3 x 3 variant.

Counters

This battle was the first outing for more generic army counters. I used blue for the Persians and red for the Byzantines.

I have to say that I am quite pleased with the result. The counters are easy to handle and easy to identify the troop types. Furthermore, they are much quicker to create than painting miniatures. Expect to see more counters in the future.

I have some enhancements in mind.

First, I would like some better casualty markers. I created a design already, but I have another thought. I may print some more unit counters with some kind of casualty mark (maybe bloodstains) and glue it to the backside of the counters. Then I can just flip the counter when it takes damage. I just don't look forward to all the gluing this would require so I may just make a handful of casualty counters.

I used 2mm terrain for woods and hills, but I was too lazy to dig out any buildings. Instead, I used a piece of card with buildings sketched on it. I actually really liked this approach. I often have difficulty fitting buildings and figures in a square but having flat buildings solves the issue. I may create some building counters, kind of like in the Command & Colors series.

Jaded

With miniatures, that is.

I know that I once posted about why I like miniatures. Done well, they just look fantastic. Problem is, I cannot do them well. I am an indifferent painter, so my quality suffers and I take a long time. I tried compensating with smaller scale minis (2mm and 3mm) but in my opinion they don't photograph all that well. As a result, I have not been particularly satisfied with my miniature efforts.

Recently, I started experimenting with block armies and have found it surprisingly satisfying. As a result, I built up several block armies (red, blue, white, green, gray, black, brown, and purple). Playing games with these blocks gives me the same visceral feel as miniatures. I'm rolling dice and pushing troops across the board. Furthermore, I find it far more practical, I don't have to make a new army or new terrain if I want to try a different period.

With my block armies I'm set for large battles, but I still don't have a set up for my role playing games. I am thinking of creating some counters using some paper mini files I have picked up. For example, here are two that I use for my Four Against Darkness characters Khamen and Candorra.

The upshot of all this musing is that I'll probably be posting more games with counters and fewer with miniatures in 2018. I apologize if this is less satisfying for readers, but I have to go with what works best for me.