Some pics from last sunday playtest

As announced, we had another playtest session of "100 dice" last sunday. Unfortunately, Massimo could not come, so I played against Diego a full battle. I had some Armies ready, and Diego wanted to try the Russians: I took the Prussians and we secretly deployed.

The battlefield from behind the Russian baseline. Bottom left are Diego's reserves. My plan - after seeing the enemy deployment - was to maneuver round his left flank, trying to envelop his entire army. It was a simple plan (the kind of plans that generally work) but it was quite expensive in term of dice, and it heavily relied upon the early entry of my reserves.  Anyway, I decided to try.

My right wing: the burden of the attack was on these soldiers. Behind them my reserves, that I needed from the second or third turn to reach the desired effect on the Russian left wing. The initial phase of the plan was OK: I successfully added 2 clear hexes on Diego's left and my light cavalry was ready to exploit them, but the test for the reserves arrival was a failure both on turn 2 and 3.

 Several turns later: my offensive was a disaster, reinforcement did not arrive on time, and my right wing was cut to pieces. I had to use the Reserves not for the final push on a wavering enemy, but to avoid complete disaster. Add a couple of unlucky die rolls and - voilà - you have a smashing defeat just behind he corner...

Sixth turn: my dice are over and night falls. I barely keep my baseline with a couple of Grenadier units, Diego's losses are minimal, and we proceed to count Victory points. With a stunning +36, the Russians got a smashing Victory.
The game seems to flow smoothly, it is quick and furious and players have to take a lot of decisions. I noted just a few details to be modified.

Final "volley" of pics

Some more pics from last sunday playtest of "100 Dice", my introductory, hex-based new game.

Somewhere around 2nd turn, with the Austrian player (Massimo) attacking on the Prussian left flank. You start the game by deploying (sometimes secretly) your Main Force. The secondary Force will arrive later as reinforcements.

Turn 3. Diego has successfully repulsed the Austrian push on his right flank and is counterattacking with his heavy cavalry. See those blue cups? They contain 100 dice each, and players use those dice for any roll required by the game. When they finish, night falls.

A close up on the centre. Prussian guns are bombarding the Austrian centre.
On the right of the picture, you can see a wood hex without....trees. Trees are removed when Light Infantry (in this case Austrian Grenzer) occupy the hex (they are the only unit type that can enter woods). Light Infantry is on a single, 3x3 cm base.

More on last sunday playtest

Another couple of pics (close ups) from yesterday playtest of "100 Dice".

Massimo moving his troops on the left flank to stop an attack from Prussian Cuirassiers. Different levels of terrain are clearly visible, as are two swamp hexes in the centre of the pic. On the far right a wood (impassable to all but Light Infantry).

An even closer view of the central part of the battlefield. Smoke indicates that Artillery has bombarded and therefore cannot move in the ensuing activation phase. Prussian infantry is negotiating the swamp, while the Prussian CinC is watching closely....

Playtest Sunday

Yesterday Massimo and Diego came from Rome to help me in the playtesting of my new project.
I explained the rules from scratch and they played one game (battle) in about 2 hours.

 Above you can see Diego (left) and me with my papers. The battlefield is small (8x10 hexes, I want a very portable game) and there are many dice on the table.. While I'm waiting for some new 10mm Naps, we played with 15mm SYW. I'd like the System to be kinda of universal for horse & musket. Its provisional name is "100 DICE".

Saturday wargaming in Latina (SYW)

Last saturday my friend Antonio and me went to Latina after an invitation from Gualtiero Grassucci, author of the rules "A la Guerre". Gualtiero and his friend Massimo prepared a wonderful scenario (Bergen, 13 april 1759) and we played the whole morning, learning the rules as we went (we just quickly read them the week before). Above, a pic of the battlefield from the Prussian position.
We went to Latina for different reasons: Antonio - who is starting right now his new range in 6mm AWI and SYW - wanted to see the nice collection of Gualtiero and try the game with the great advantage of the author explaining the rules. My aim was to play a SYW battle with a nice ruleset, and learn how some of the period tactics could be reflected in a game. In the pic above, the wooded hill around Vilbel, on the French left.
I must say we were both very satisfied from the trip. Gualtiero and Massimo were extremely kind to spend one entire morning hosting us, and very patient with our low knowledge of the rules. I played with Gualtiero with the Prussians and Massimo shared his French forces with Antonio. Above, the fortified town of Bergen and the cultivated fields surrounding it attacked by my brave Hanoverians...
In all, a very nice trip. A big thank to Gualtiero and to his "A la Guerre" rules!