QB the last...for the moment

Its the Menu de Renforts!

Oh yes, one last bit of activity this holiday weekend. I have had the privilege of re-reading Peter Hofschroer's Waterloo Campaign to research the reinforcement schedule. This is a great resource even if the conclusions are a bit iffy for an Englishman! I have added the draft reinforcement schedule to the QB page. All we need to do now is find some time to get playing and see if it actually works.

There may be a number of issues with this game, mainly around activation levels and attrition. It will be interesting to see how it plays. The idea is that this should produce a very tense game all the way through to the finish.

Quatre Bras - Ferraris (18th century) from Walking Waterloo

I have also enjoyed reading the Walking Waterloo Blog over the weekend. Another great resource. Thankfully, I have not felt the need to go and change anything on the play test map as a result. Some great map extracts and photos though, as per this example.

More QB at last....

Counters!

A busy weekend but I have had some time to put together a set of counters for QB. I have uploaded the file to the QB page. It looks a bit messy when you open it up but it prints out OK. Let me know if it doesn't work for you.

I have improvised some Brunswick counters and will return to do a proper job on them when I have time. In the meantime, here are some nice Dutch-Belgian types!

Quatre Bras nearly there.....

Just in time for Easter

I have found some time to work on this game over the past couple of days. I have finalised the play test map....

Gemioncourt is now a fortified hex given its similarity to the Waterloo farms. Here it is....

I have also pulled together a draft set of rules, based closely on the Waterloo a la Carte set. These are now on the new page I have set up for the game.

My to do list now has only two items:

• A reinforcement schedule
• The counters themselves

I have nearly completed the reinforcement schedule. I think the counters will be straightforward and I'm looking forward to doing the Brunswickers. Something for the weekend I think.

Quatre Bras again...

Revised map

I have had a few minutes away from the coal face today and have used that time, wisely I hope, to have another go at the QB map. Here is v2:

The real changes here are to the top right hand quadrant which I think now better represents the landscape. The Thyle sector is now more dense and offers less scope for flanking. The QB to Thyle road now much straighter. I have used some tree images adopted from one of the electronic versions of Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame (see the site here and have a play on your browser, these are really good little programmes!) to show the sunken road area. I'm not sure I like the way I have represented this feature on the map, the hex alignment felt better on the earlier version, but in game terms it should work out fine.

Still on the subject of QB, I am following the development of a new game by Dave Kershaw. A while ago (2012) he published a little game called Napoleonics: Quatre Bras as an Android App. I leave it up to you to try this one, the demo is free, and here is a nice screenshot. Unfortunately my phone is a little on the small side and I have not found it easy to get to grips with.

Dave is now building a paper version of the game (Battlelines Quatre Bras) and you can follow his development blog on BGG here. It will be interesting to see how this turns out as it looks very promising.

Year end mega stress blow out!

Oh yes, its that bad!!!

We will be working pretty much up to midnight on 31 March to get the ball over the line for this year. That sounds quite exciting but is actually also very tense. Very little time for any game related activities and I'm almost permanently asleep on the train these days. However, a little light in the darkness........

Yes, a draft map for Quatre Bras a la Carte! QB is one of my favourite battles because of the potential for volatility in reinforcements. It is also one of the few battles in which a British regiment lost its colours. Plenty of colourful characters and troops from across Europe. Go Brunswickers! 

The map is not yet right but it is getting very close. I can simply cannibalise the counters from Waterloo a la Carte. The rules are also pretty much there. I notice on re-reading Waterloo a la Carte that there are some areas of uncertainty that can be cleared up easily. If I'm not working this weekend I reckon I can probably get a quick play test in. Roll on Easter!

Spoils of War

Derby Worlds 2014

A short dash up the M1 followed by a lengthy wait in the rain to get in. The Castle Donnington site is nothing like as good as the Derby University Atrium (I have said that before). This time round, with plenty of rain and low clouds, it was darker inside than usual. It may well be my eyesight, which is not good, but I found it very difficult to see what was going on. Being wet didn't help. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. 

I had a few things on my shopping list but perhaps the weather made me less inclined to purchase. I saw but did not buy Chain of Command and Crossfire. Nothing much else took my fancy until I got to the Parabellum stall where I found......

Joy of joys! A bit pricey but given that it is out of production I'm not complaining. Also, I found some useful chaps for a future Waterloo Dutch-Belgian contingent as well as doubling up for an 1812 US army...

Last but not least, some extra troops for my emerging Russian Front armies to play an early war variant of Norm Smith's Tigers at Minsk game.

I have had a poor year for the shows. I usually get to WMMS at Wolverhampton but this year was busy working. I also usually get to Claymore in Edinburgh but by good fortune I was there a week early at the Commonwealth Games. I think Derby will be my last outing this year, there is Birmingham Wargamer in late November but this is over by Stourbridge which is a bit of a hike. Never mind, I have some lovely Wurttemberg cavalry to play with!

Waterloo a la Carte Part 2

Nearly ready for play testing....

I have single mindedly pursued this little project over the past few weeks. This is quite a difficult feat given my inclination to wander so I'm pleased that I have got to the play test stage. This means:

Counters: Check. Ready for sticking and cutting out (they are on an A4 label and I can't make them any bigger).
Map: Check. Taken to the print shop and printed out on A3 card-stock
Rules: Check. Hastily cobbled together and ready for bashing during play testing.

I have no idea how this will play. The rules themselves, the scale of the map and the counters give me a really good feeling. I'm hoping that there is some magic here where things come together. If not, well there's loads more things to be cracking on with. AAR as soon as I can manage one. Feel free to have a go.

Waterloo a la Carte!

Draft counters

Very busy of late but today's progress is a draft set of counters for my Waterloo adventure. I'm quite pleased with them but they look better on screen than printed. Never mind. 

I have made progress with the rules and am very excited about having a first play test this next weekend. If only I had time to do all of the other things as well, Firestorm is sitting here requiring attention as well!

Napoleonic hex grid game part 4

Some prototype components

I found some Fab Foam sheets in my study today which I had totally forgotten about. They are green A3 and so just the right size for some 125mm hexes in the style of a Kallistra 6 hex piece. I have marked up a couple and will do the rest this week.

Excuse the awful lighting

I have made a lot of progress with counters. Here are some paper Bavarians....badly printed on paper at this stage but still looking quite nice.

I am working on counters for the Allies and French forces for Waterloo and will now be able to play on a full sized 8 by 6 hex grid. Not to worry, I have other plans for my rather nice small Waterloo map from last week.

Napoleonic hex grid game part 3

Order of battle

I prepared an OB for Waterloo whilst on my holidays and have now just retrieved it from the waste paper basket where I had inadvertently filed it. Waterloo is a big battle with lots of moving parts and is clearly not achievable within the standard 8 unit army in Neil's rules. What I have done therefore is to use the army lists in the rule book as the basis for an OB which resembles (!) the proportions of the armies involved.

More fine graphics from J Bignell at Junior General

Anglo-Dutch: 2 British Line Infantry (average), 3 Dutch-Belgian Line Infantry (levy), 1 British Guards or Highlanders (elite), 1 British Riflemen (elite, rifles), 1 British Heavy Cavalry - Household or Union (elite), 1 Dutch-Belgian Light Cavalry (average), 1 British artillery.

Prussians: 3 Line infantry (average).

Total Allied: 13 units

Variable Prussians: They will, of course, have variable arrival times. I'm also keeping the unit type simple for now but may introduce some variation when I have a better feel for the game. 

French: 4 Line Infantry (average), 2 Conscript Infantry (levy), 2 Imperial Guard Infantry (elite), 1 Voltigeur (average, musket), 2 Heavy Cavalry - Cuirassiers (elite), 1 Light Cavalry -Chasseurs (average), 2 Artillery

Total French: 14

French reserve rule: An option is to have the Imperial Guard in a reserve, only to be released when the Prussians arrive or if either side look like folding up (a coup de grace or rearguard action).

Napoleonic hex grid game part 2

And not without some diversionary activity!

Earlier this month I completed my first attempt at turning Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules into a hex based game using an 8 by 6 hex grid. I have now had a chance to reflect on this at the seaside and have brought home some further thoughts as well as lots of extra sand....

Waterloo on an 8 by 6 hex grid

One of my earlier issues was how do I test out the rules before my Wurttembergers are ready? The answer is to knock up some counters and play on a hex map. I found that the map I drew at the beach bore a close resemblance to the battlefield of Waterloo so that is what I have ended up doing. I have also developed an OB which sees 14 French units battle it out with 13 Anglo-Dutch and Prussian units. More on this shortly.

One solution is to simply use the tiny chaps from the Worthington Games' 100 Days game as illustrated above. This looks good and formations can be shown. Another option is to make my own counters. I have had a go and come up with some nice Austrian and Bavarian types.

Corporal Jones is second from left

The Bavarians are considerably smarter!

These are based on nice images from the Junior General website and these are by Daniel Harper and J Bignell respectively.

Last, but definitely not least, I have pondered the rules and made some changes in the new v2. I have reduced the movement distances for cavalry and have generally made it easier for units to change facing as well as removing quite a few other restrictions. As with the first attempt, the idea is to have a simple game with lots of rock, scissors and paper effects. We will see how these play out but I suspect further work will be needed.

Taking up the challenge...

Hex grid Napoleonics

In one of my earlier posts I foolishly announced that I thought I could fit Neil Thomas's Napoleonic rules (which use a standard eight unit army) to fit on the eight by six hex grid used by Norm Smith for his Russian front rules (Tigers at Minsk). I have had my head down this week trying to prove that I can actually do this.

I am therefore now able to reveal my hex version of Neil Thomas's Napoleonic Wargaming rules or, at least, my first go.

Neil's very nice book

In many respects the rules are quite simple to translate into hex grid form. The overall size and shape of the game envisaged by Neil seems to fit very well within a limited hex grid. I have, however, played around with some of the rules. The next effect is to make the game more "gamey" by emphasising the rock, scissors, paper relationship of the various arms. For example, I have made changing formation subject to a morale check so that no-one can be certain if their prize grenadiers will inadvertently remain in line as they are run down by some lancers. I have also made dense infantry formations more vulnerable to artillery fire while retaining their ability to withstand cavalry charges.

So far so theoretical. How am I going to test these out in the current absence of some nicely painted Wurttembergers? The answer is by using some counters and a hex map....

My next job is to lash up some counters using Junior General images and have a go.