New ECW campaign - Montrose

Our latest venture is a campaign set in Scotland during the ECW and featuring the charismatic Marquis of Montrose. The rules are set out here and for reference also in the ECW section.
http://cirencester-wargames.blogspot.co.uk/p/english-civil-war.html

For this campaign we are adopting an modified version of the Victory without Quarter, which I have dubbed Victory without Cards. The principal change is the removal of the card-based activation system to make it more amenable to multi-player use. This naturally ripples through the rules and requires changes to things like flank charges.   

Famous by my sword - the campaigns of Montrose

Background

1. Between 1644 and 1645, James Graham : 1st Marquise of Montrose, led the King's armies in Scotland in a campaign that criss-crossed the country. He fought seven major actions and defeated a number of Covenanter commanders. His most famous enemy though was perhaps Archibald Campbell: 1st Marquise of Argyll.

2. This campaign recreates that struggle and in particular focuses on two aspects:
·         Montrose often had the strategic and tactical initiative - fighting when and where he chose on most occasions.
·         Army sizes could vary greatly depending on morale, time of year, clan politics, and interventions to/from England.  

3. So in this campaign movement is somewhat abstracted, with success measures by territories loyal to each side not necessary occupied by each side. The system should also work as a solo campaign with some minor adjustments. 

Campaign Map

 
Campaign Turns

4. Each turn represents a month and is marked-off on the campaign calendar on the map. There are penalties for fighting in the winter. These are stiffer for the attacker than the defender as they will be further from their supply bases. 

5. Each month Montrose may launch an attack into any territory he does not control so long as it is adjacent to a territory he already controls. This could be either a neutral or Covenanter-held territory:
·         If the territory is currently neutral then the winner of the battle may claim it.
·         If the territory is currently Covenanter then Montrose claims it if he wins. If Montrose loses then he must sacrifice a territory he currently holds.
·         Argyllshire and Ireland are home territories for the two sides and may never be captured. Both sides also begin with a second territory

6. Optional Rule: Both sides could have two commanders. They are Montrose / Alasdair MacColla and Argyll / Lieutenant-General Baillie respectively. Both of the Royalists may launch an attack each turn. You might also allow both sides to attack alternatively if you want a more active Covenanter side. 

Territories

7. Each turn a player may "play" up to 3 territories to support his forces. Territories can confer both forces and a tactical / strategic advantage in the coming battle. These abilities are rolled-for the first time a territory is fought over and remain the same for the rest of the campaign.

Armies

8. Both sides will field armies that consist of core units and then are supported by various auxiliaries depending on the territories held. Core troops are refreshed for each battle and auxiliary troops are only used for that game. Dice for both type and quality of auxiliaries, only using outcomes for which there are figures available.

9. [Design note] These army lists reflect the figures we have available. They are probably over generous in terms of the numbers of mounted troops. All classifications are for Victory Without Quarter rules.   

 

Montrose - core forces	Covenanter - core forces
Montrose (Exceptional) Irish Brigade - 3 * Vets Gordon foot Brigade - 1 * Trained, 1 * Raw Gordon Horse Regt - 2 * Trained Trotter Gordon Horse Regt -  2 * Trained Galloper Highland Brigade - 2 * Trained Highlander 1 * Light artillery	Leslie (Average) Infantry brigade - 3 * Trained Infantry brigade - 3 * Trained Horse Regiment - 2 * Trained Trotter, Horse Regiment - 2 * Trained Galloper 2 * Medium artillery
13.41 points	14 points

 

Roll	Covenanter	Montrose	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Forlorn Hope	Forlorn Hope	Raw		Trained		Vet
2,3	Infantry	Infantry	Raw		Trained			Vet
4	Trotter	Trotter	Raw		Trained
5	Galloper	Galloper	Raw		Trained
6	Medium gun#	Highlander*	Trained
7	Medium gun#	Highlander*	Raw*	Trained			Vet*
8	Dragoon	Dragoon	Raw

*  = Montrose units only, Covenanters are always Trained
# = max 1 per army. If no highlanders available Montrose may take a medium gun
If the correct figures are unavailable them roll again.

Tabletop Battles

10. To avoid all the battles being head-to-head slugging matches two elements of randomness will be introduced to the action:
·         Firstly a scenario will be selected which specifies the deployment, victory conditions, and terrain type for the battle.
·         Secondly terrain will be determined by drawing an appropriate card from the terrain deck. We are using the excellent cards from Perfect Captaine. 

Scenarios
1,2,3	Pitch battle. A classic encounter.
4,5	Meeting engagement. Both march to the sound of the guns.
6	Flank attack. You have out-foxed by gad
7	Reinforcements. My enemy is near but so are my friends
8	Rear guard action. Hold them while the baggage escapes
9	River Crossing. Seize the ford my good man .
10	Fortified position. It's a siege by god sir.

Weather and time of year

11. The weather in Scotland can by notoriously changeable, so roll before each battle to see what mother nature has in store for you.

	1	2	3	4	5	6
Spring / Summer	Grey & overcast				Rain
Autumn	Grey	Rain		Heavy rain		Snow
Winter	Rain	Heavy rain		Snow		Blizzard

1. Grey & overcast - No effect. This is as good as it gets, so enjoy it!
2. Rain - No-one counts as volley fire.
3. Heavy rain - As rain but fords become impassable and streams count as rivers. Guns may not fire except at short range. No charges, must advance to contact.
4. Snow - Movement reduced to 3/4 usual speed.
5. Blizzard - As snow plus no visibility beyond 4" and no charges allowed, must advance to contact.

12. It is assumed that the attacker would suffer greater attrition in the winter than the defender who is tucked-up in his warm hovel. If Montrose attacks in the winter both sides dice to see if their morale is reduced for that battle. On a 5 per unit Montrose lose 1 morale class and on a 6 by 2 morale classes. On a 6 the Covenanters lose a morale class.  The battle will always be a flank attack and Montrose will be the attacker.   

Solo Supplement

13. The structure is inherently suitable for solo play as only one side will be attacking strategically. So the solo player will take the role of Montrose.

14. Armies: As a solo player you could model the gradual growth of Montrose army as he won battles and rely on the inherent weakness of AI to counteract the bigger  Covenanter forces. You should start with the Irish and Highlanders only. Add the Gordon foot after 1 win and the Gordon horse after 2 or 3 wins.

15. Territories: If the Covenanters acquire neutral territory then choose it randomly. If they have more than three territories then roll to see which they use. 

16. Battles: Use your favourite AI to model the Covenanters deployment and movement. You may find the original Victory without Quarter to work better for solo play as the card based activation system gives natural friction and works well for the solo player.  

 

Territory Effects

Roll separately for both reinforcements and strategic effects.

Roll	Reinforcements	Effect
1	0.5 rolls	Special Event: Roll for a special event affecting a both players. Reroll effect.
2	0.5 rolls	Well-fed recruits: +1 on the quality dice.
3	0.5 rolls	Going to the chapel: A preacher joins you adding +2 moral to the unit he is with.
4	0.5 rolls	Magazine: The additional powder means D3 units may ignore their first reload marker.
5	1 roll	Arsenal: You may field an additional light artillery.
6	1 roll	Loyal town: You receive an additional reinforcement of Raw infantry as clubmen or similar.
7	1 roll	Excellent road network: +1 on initiative when determining who is the attacker in a scenario and +1 on troop arrival dice.
8	1 roll	Port (coastal only): You may count any other coastal territory on the same side of the country as adjacent for movement.
9	1 roll	Well defended: You may field hard cover for D3 units.
10	1 roll	Down from the hills: You an additional reinforcement of Raw trotters as the local nobility turn out to help.
11	1 roll	Commanding views: You may add an additional small hill to your side of the battle field.
12	1 roll	Brewery: One unit is suitably fortified and receives +1 morale.
13	1 roll	Fortified manor: You always defend if a fortification scenario is selected.
14	1 roll	Drill square: Your infantry still test to form hedgehog if charged from less than half way, but at -1 morale.
15	1 roll	Siege Train: Always attack in a fortification scenario. You receive a mortar - this ignores the effects of hard cover and may start a fire on 6 (D6) when it hits.
16	1 roll	Powder Factory: The additional powder means D6 units may ignore their first reload marker.
17	1.5 rolls	Supply dump: You receive an additional reinforcement unit.
18	1.5 rolls	Manor: You may field a member of the local gentry as an additional brigadier.
19	1.5 rolls	Library: Studying the great commanders sharpens your mind. Your commander counts exceptional (or double exceptional if Montrose)
20	1.5 rolls	Spy Network: Roll for an espionage event each turn. Reroll effect if the territory is captured.

Espionage Events
1	Counter Espionage: Your spy-master is caught and the network unravels. Reroll the territory.
2	Assassins: Roll D6 for a nominated Brigadier. On 3-6 he dies before the battle.
3	Sabotage: Your spies get amongst the enemies horses. Roll for each mounted unit and on 6 (D6) they begin with 1 casualty.
4	Bribery: An enemy officer is in your pocket. Nominate a non-Veteran enemy unit at the beginning of the game: for the rest of the game it must roll a D6 at the start of each turn: on a 6 it is Shaken.
5	Stolen plans: knowing your enemies dispositions gives you an edge. Redeploy up to 3 units after deployment.
6	Poisoned Wells: Your spies disrupt the enemy badly. Roll per enemy unit and on a 6 (D6) each starts the battle Shaken.
Special Events
1	Bring out your dead: Plague stalks the land. People are flocking for the hills so reinforcements are halved.
2	Stand and deliver: Dandy highwaymen disrupt the roads. Spy networks and excellent road networks are unavailable this turn.
3	Rotten harvest: The harvest is poor so you must forage further afield. Armies must start with their cavalry off-table dicing as flank marchers.
4	Peasant revolt: One of the territories you control rises and must be quelled. Dispatch a unit and roll D6 each turn until its under control -  Shot=5+, Pike=4+, and Horse= 3+.
5	Storms grip the country: whatever the season the weather counts as storms
6	Burn um: Witches are abroad. Roll 1D6. 1/2= one cav unit is missing on  wild witch chase, 3/4= everyone is spooked, a unit starts Shaken, 5/6=one inf unit has +2 morale having killed a suspected witch.

Battle setups

17. Games are played on a 10' table with a 4' wide centre, 2' wide wings, and 1' flanks. Water counts as streams  / marshes unless otherwise noted. Units are Brigades, regiments, or unbrigaded dragoons NOT artillery.

Pitch battle

Terrain: Choose any except rivers and strongholds.   Deployment: Both deploy up to 12" in and not within 12" of the edge. There must be more mounted on each flank than in the centre and more foot in the centre than on both flanks combined. Guns, dragoons, and forlorn hopes deploy anywhere. Both deploy behind screens. All zones must have at least one unit in.   Victory: Route the enemy be reducing to 50% of forces. Each side nominates a victory objective that counts as a routed unit if held by the enemy.

Meeting engagement

Terrain: Terrain: Choose any except rivers and strongholds.   Deployment: Both sides establish an order of march in brigades / regiments / unbrigaded units. The first must be mounted or dragoons. Units then arrive down the centre (or a suitable road as per the map) one at a time in column of march. If there are mutliple roads then foot / guns will arrive down the one closest to the centre but mounted arrive on random roads (roll before the game)     Victory: Route the enemy be reducing to 50% of forces. Each side nominates a victory objective that counts as a routed unit if held by the enemy.

Flank attack

Terrain: Choose any except rivers and strongholds.   Deployment: Dice for initiate, higher score is the attacker, remembering exceptional and poor commanders. The attacker selects up to 1/3 of their force to flank march. The attackers selects a flank to attack. Both sides then deploy as for a Pitched Battle except the attacker may ignore a flank deployment zone if they wish. The flankers arrive in the enemies flank (roll for which 1' square) on a 4+ in turn 2, or automatically in turn 3.   Victory: Route the enemy be reducing to 50% of forces. Each side nominates a victory objective that counts as a routed unit if held by the enemy.

Reinforcements

Terrain: Choose any except rivers and strongholds.   Deployment: Roll to see who is the defender - they choose sides. The defender deploys half their force as though for pitched battle but up to 24" in and may leave one wing unoccupied. The attacker then deploys as for pitched battle. The remaining defenders arrive down a random road on a 4+ in turn 2 or automatically in turn 3.    Victory: Victory: Route the enemy be reducing to 50% of forces. Each side nominates a victory objective that counts as a routed unit if held by the enemy.  The attackers objective must be the defenders half.

Rear guard action

Terrain: Choose any except rivers and strongholds.   Deployment: Roll to see who is the defender - they choose sides. The defender deploys half their force as though for pitched battle but up to 24" in and may leave one wing unoccupied. The attacker then deploys as for pitched battle.   Victory: The game ends when the end-game total is exceeded, thus indicating the baggage etc has escaped. Roll D6 at the end of each turn. When the cumulative total exceeds 23 the game is over.

River Crossing

Terrain: Choose a river card, with two bridges added. Terrain will be adjusted to provide a fair race to the river crossings.   Deployment: Both sides deploy as for a meeting engagement. In addition to the bridges there may be a ford. Troops may search each section of river and on a 6 (D6) they discover a ford.   Victory: Whoever holds both bridges at the end of the game is the winner.

Fortified position

Terrain: Choose a stronghold   Deployment: Dice to see who is the attacker unless either has the Fortified Manor or Siege Train. The defender only uses 1/2 their force. 1/4 deploys on table as a garrison. The attacker then deploys as for a Pitched Battle. The remaining defenders arrive down a random road on a 4+ in turn 2 or automatically in turn 3.   Defences provide all-around protection and infantry can count as firing from any side, guns must fire forwards only. When 3 sections of defences have been destroyed then it only counts as soft cover.   Victory: Whoever holds the fortification at the end of the game has won. This must be by an unshaken unit.

 

Territory Value Record

Territory	Reinforcements	Effects
Sutherland, Caithness
Ross and Cromarty
Perthshire
Inverness-shire
Moray, Banffshire, Nairnshire
Angus, Kincardineshire
Aberdeenshire
Argyllshire
Bute
Fife, Kinross-shire
Stirlingshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire
Ayrshire
Lanarkshire
West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian
Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire
Dumfriesshire
Kirkcudbrightshire, Wigtownshire
Berwickshire, Roxburghshire
Ireland

 

 

Lion Rampant - the final battle

Saracens:  28 Glory Points
Crusaders: 32 Glory Points

The Scenario

For our final game we decided on a Battle Royal - a variation on the Bloodbath scenario, with three 20 point retinues per side. For the Crusaders it was Knights Hospitaller, Teutonic knights and the English. The Saracens fielded a large force of mounted and infantry, pretty much all the figures we had. The scenario was simple (destroy the enemy) so we threw in a few Boasts to liven things up and a Princess to be rescued and returned to her father.

The deployment

The wargames gods were cruel to the Saracens as they were forced to deploy all three of their retinues before the enemy. This enabled the Crusaders to deploy their best defence forces (the English) against the massed Arab cavalry attack on the Saracen left.

Teutonics and Hospitellers hold the centre / left

The English on the right 

The Saracen centre and right 

The Saracen centre 



The Saracen cavalry massed on their left

Long-shot from the Saracen left 

Long-shot from the Saracen right

As its a large game it is perhaps best described by zone rather than strict chronology.

 The Saracen right

On this flank Stuart the Elder's Hospitallers made their first outing against the Younger's Saracen's. Things started badly for the Arabs with the horse archers failing to evade and being destroyed. A unit of Saracen heavy cavalry also feel victim, until a well-timed flank-charge ended the knights run and saw the Grandmaster struck-down leading the attack. 

Tally ho



Knights press forward

Some bad dice meant the Hospitaller infantry was late to the fight and made limited progress. It was advantage Crusaders though as they had done the most damage.

The Saracen Left 

The Arab force on this flank was entirely mounted with 2 units of horse archers and about 5 of heavy cavalry. Usually this would be a powerful force but they were up against the English in a good defence position.

Glamping Saracen style

 

Saracens advance

The English holding firm

The Saracens break through 

The Arabs were eventually able to wear-down the English and dispose of a couple of units including one of the longbow men. The Saracens were well-placed to turn the flank.

The Centre

If the flanks had been decisive then the centre was much more sew-saw. The battle began with a strong Saracen advance seizing both the wood and the farm in the centre. The Arab skirmishers managed to rescue the Princess and spirit her away to safety. The Saracen archers also won the archery duel with the Teutonic crossbow men and forced them back. So far so good for the Saracens.    

Capture the farm

 

The Saracens rescue the princess 

However as we all know things are never straight forward in Lion Rampant and a couple of bad turns can decide the outcome. The first Saracen misadventure was that the Fierce Foot found the Teutonic foot knights an irresistible target and both charged head-long into the fray. Bad move - they were quickly dispatched for minimal casualties.

At this point the centre suddenly began to look weak. Infantry had to be diverted to the Saracen right to counter the Hospitaller advance, leaving it short-handed as the Teutonic mounted knights rumble forward through a couple of units.        

With loses mounting fast in the centre only a unit of Saracen spearmen stood farm in the farm. With hedgehog formation and cover they had a  might 5 Armour and were pretty-much untouchable.



Propping-up the Saracen right

With the game all but lost Saracen commanders issued a challenge to single combat to the Teutonic leader. Amazing he managed to win the combat rolling 2 sixes! Even that was not enough though as the Saracens had lost too many points to have any hope of winning.

The End

So dear reader that is the end of the battle and of the campaign. The Crusaders won the final battle and claimed the campaign with a last-gasp victory after being behind for much of the time.

Overall a fun campaign and a fun set of rules once we learned not to take them seriously. The big plusses were the small  / colourful armies and the ability to fit 2 or 3 games into an evening.  The introduction of the flanking rules and allowing a reroll if your first go failed helped the play too.

So now its on to our next campaign - Montrose's fight to secure Scotland for the King


      



Sword and Spear Ancients - our first game

This week we tested a new set of ancients rules - Sword and Spear by Mark Lewis. This is part of the on-going quest to find a set that  is suitable for club nights. Since you should define your terms for me Suitable is:

• Plausible outcomes where reasonable tactics are rewarded.
• Simple and fun with limited scope for arguments (we're gamers so NONE = impossible!)
• Good for multiple players per side with everyone involved most of the time.
• Visually attractive.
• Fast enough to resolve a decent sized game in 3 hours.
• Not needing rebasing.

The Rules

The core of the rules is the activation system, which has something in common with Bolt Action. One dice is placed in a bag for each unit, different colours for each side. Seven dice at a time are drawn, rolled, and used to activate units. Units have an activation score and meeting or exceeding the score allows different actions. You can place multiple dice against a unit to increase combat power, movement, or morale. You can also use dice to counter enemy actions.  The turn is over when all the dice have been used.

So an interesting twist on "friction command" with less randomness than games like Lion Rampant as you should always move a good proportion of your army each turn. The plus is that it forces you to make choices all the time. The fact each mini-turn has a mix of both sides dice means you are involved throughout and there is some subtlety in use of your dice.

The down-side is its "friction command" at the end of the day. So if you don't like that, find it gamey, or want to have full control of your troops then it will not appeal to you.

The Game  

As we had the figures available from our recent Lion Rampant games we decided to pit our Early Crusaders verses Turks. We played with 450 point armies on an 8'*4' table with a couple of players a side. Since it was a practice game we just lined-up with infantry in the centre and mounted on the wings

The Crusader right - lots of doughty spearmen and crossbows

The Crusader left - Teutonic Knights subbing as Brother knights 



Turkish right - the elite cavalry 

Turkish left - the average / poor stuff

Turkish infantry - not much expected from them ;-) 

Overview

Due to the points difference the Turks had 18 dice to the Crusaders 12. The Crusaders also had quite a few units (spearmen and crossbows) who looked like they would do better on the defensive. So the Turks attacked and the infidels wisely sat back.   

Turks advance on their left

The one exception was that the Brother Knights pushed forward in search of prey. In S&S they are "Impact" troops which makes them deadly if they charge. Use of the initiative dice meant that one unit was charged and flanked - bad news for them. The other though as able to get up a head of steam an smashed two units of Turks.

Brother Knights rumble into action

 On their left however the Turks saw-off some mounted sergeants and flanked the enemy position.


Turks do well on the left

At this point the Turks noticed they had some potent "Impact" infantry lurking at the back and so pushed forward with the centre. By now most units were committed and it was about careful use of the dice to try and win some victories.  

A general melee ensues!

By finishing time the Turks had reached a soft army break-point (1/3 points lost) but the Crusaders were not far behind. Another 30mins and we'd have seen a result.

The Verdict

An interesting set of rules that did force you to constantly make choices and keep both sides engaged throughout as you had to counter enemy activation dice placement. The attraction is the friction command system, so if you don't like that approach, then Sword and Spear will likely not appeal.

We've decided to play a second game with the same armies so we can focus on the tactics not learning the game / armies.

So how does it do against my checklist?

Plausible outcomes  - TBD after a further game

Simple and fun - YES

Good for multiple  - YES

Visually attractive.- YES

Fast enough to resolve a decent sized game - TBD.

Not needing rebasing - YES