Working on a new game!

After many, many yeats I'm working on a hex-based, introductory wargame that will cover different historical periods. I'm very excited by this new project that will be published by Ganesha Games in the (near?) future. For the moment I'm playtesting the game with the help of some of my friends. They are all boardgamers, but none of them have ever played wargames with miniatures.

What's going on...

February should be a busy month.
Encouraged by the last couple of weeks activities and support from my fellow gamers, I am writing a supplement for DSLB. It will contain:
- rules for multiplayer big Battles (1 Corps per side);
- a simple Campaign system;
- Lists for Minor Countries;
- some new rules
- Errata, rulings and clarifications (these will be available also as a free download somewhere).
90% of the above is already written, and currently being tested.
No title yet: any suggestion?

Don't be shy..... :)

Altar of Freedom test

Always looking for innovative sets of rules, I bought Altar of Freedom (by Greg Wagman, published by Iron Ivan Games) and the scenario book All quiet on the Potomac, that contains all major battles of the Eastern front in the American Civil War. After trying the rules solo (which is not the best option considering the secret bidding procedure) last saturday I invited my friends Diego and Diego from Rome to give it a try.
I set up the Champion Hill scenario, explained the rules, and we finished it in 3 hours - just in time for lunch.

AoF is a game about commanding quite great bodies of troops (the basic unit is the brigade) that does not care about formations, and has very simple rules for movement and combat. As the author stresses in the designer notes, it is all about Command and the Generals' attributes (that DO change from battle to battle).
The heart of the system is the procedure for taking control of the clock (i.e. a sort of initiative that allows the player in control to set the pace of the battle) and I must say it works very well, as you have endless possibilities of trimming your bid for Priority points. The game has been designed for 6mm miniatures with the classic 6x3 cm. bases, but we played with my 15mm figures, based for Fire and Fury, on magnetic, 8x4 sabots. Above, you can see 2 US brigades "in column" and below the table after a couple of turns, with the Confederates defending the bridge on the Vicksburg road.

Knowing nothing about the rules, the US player was maybe too timid in his approach and surely I made a mistake adding Forney's brigade (an optional rule) to the rebel roster, because the Confederate won easily after the 8 turns of the scenario, avoiding the capture of the bridge by the US forces.
In AoF, small arms fire is quite ineffective if you want to break your enemies: close combat - and a wise use of supports - is what you need. You always (ALWAYS) need to have a reserve and this is something I like a lot, as players of my games know very well. Below, a Confederate Division deployed for an attack.

In all, a very good game in my opinion. NOT for those players who like the details of micromanagement, formations, wheels and "you can't do that", but great if you want to play all major battles of the ACW (the second scenario book will be available in 2014) in few hours, on a 120x180 table, and with a relatively small amount of figures.

100 dice, hexes and miniatures scale

I received several requests about basing for 100 dice, hexes size and miniatures scale, therefore I decided to take some pics and post them here.
As most rules in the last decade, 100 dice does not require rebasing: you can play with whatever miniatures you have. For hexes - however - you shoud follow the golden rule: a hex must contain 2 of your bases side by side. As I wrote in the rules, take the base with the largest front and double the size: this will be the needed hex measurement across. A few pics will tell more than 100 words.
6mm.
One of the most popular way of basing these little soldiers is 6 x 3 cm. with 2 or 3 stripes of minis. Being 6 cm the frontage of a base, you need at least hexes which are 12 cm across.

Top row, left to right: a British Infantry unit in Combat Formation and an Unformed Light Infantry in woods.
Center row, left to right: a General, an Artillery unit (here I doubled the base for visual effect, but you need just 1 Artillery base to play) and an Austrian Infantry unit in March Formation.
Bottom row, left to right: a Cavalry unit in March Formation and the CinC.

The same pic with a different angle. Thanks to Antonio for lending me his Baccus 6mm.
Golden rule: maximum frontage 6cm = hexes 12 cm across.
10mm.
Many different basing systems here, as some producers make 10mm figures in stripes of 5, some go for single figures. I have Old Glory, whose Infantry is in stripes of 5.  The largest stripe of Infantry is about 3 cm, so I made 7cm hexes to have some space on both sides.

 Top row, left to right (all French units): an Unformed Light Infantry in woods, a unit of Cuirassiers in Combat Formation, and Hussars in March Formation.
Centre row, left to right: the CinC with a General, an Infantry unit in Combat Formation and another in March Formation.
Bottom row: an Artillery unit.  All Old Glory miniatures, painted by Fernando Enterprise.
Golden rule: maximum frontage 3cm = hexes 7cm across.
15mm.
Here also we have many different basing systems. One of the most popular is 3 x 1,5cm (that's also the advised basing for Drums & Shakos Large Battle). Again, 7cm hexes would be OK, but if you want to have more space on the sides, you can go with 8cm.

 Top row: Unformed Light Infantry in woods.
Centre row, left to right: a General, a Light Infantry unit in March Formation, and a Cavalry unit in Combat Formation.
Bottom row,  left to right: an Infantry unit in Square (I enjoyed myself to make a dedicated base, otherwise you can use a *normal* unit and arrange the bases back to back), an Infantry unit in Combat Formation and an Artillery unit. Old Glory, Minifigs and Fantassin miniatures, some painted by me some by unknown artists).
Extended Golden rule: frontage 3cm = hexes 8cm across.
28mm.
One of the most common basing is 4 figures on a 4x4cm, with deeper bases for Cavalry. To accomodate the horsemen, we'll need a 12cm hex.

 Top row, left to right: a General and Unformed Light Infantry in woods.
Centre row, left to right: an Infantry unit in March Formation, another in Combat Formation and a Cavalry unit in Combat Formation.
Bottom row,  left to right: an Infantry Square and an Artillery unit.

A closer view on the French Square and the Unformed Light Infantry (Prussian Jaegers). My 28mm are individually based, so I used some Perry plastic bases as sabots. Hexes are scratch built, but you can easily find them on the Internet. Miniatures are Perry plastic, Mirliton and Front Rank, self-painted.
Et voilà: with 3 types of hexes (7, 8 and 12cm, with 8 being more a luxury than a need) I can play with any Armies I have from 6 to 28 mm, using the miniatures I have and without rebasing.
The biggest table I need is about 150x150 cm, the smallest some 90x90.

Tour de Force

One game yesterday, with Massimo coming from Rome and playing against Andrea in a tight game. The test showed that - with a little luck and some planning - an apparent defeat can be turned into a victory during the last bound. Below, Andrea planning his first move.

Today, I played a game in the morning (solo) and another in the afternoon with Andrea. In about 1 hour, I'll play another game with Luciano (a very busy day!). For all 3 games I used (and will use) the same terrain and Armies, as I want to try different approaches and compare the results. In order to try a *mounted* Army I decided to use the Napoleonic Ottomans against the French.

 The situation before the Ottoman first bound. I deployed a strong cavalry force on the left, and kept 4 infantry Inferior units in Reserve. The plan with the Ottomans was to try a flank maneuver on the left and envelop the French right.

End of the first bound: I moved 4 cavalry units ahead with a General to guide the attack. The Turkish scouts sent to find a way around the French right found broken and wooded terrain, forcing the cavalry to form a sort of column for the attack.  

 As the French player, I was forced to counter the cavalry threat on the right flank, and I did so forming 2 squares and trying to rally the retreating light cavalry, In the meantime, French artillery bombarded the advancing Ottomans in the centre. This was the end of turn 1.

Even if the expense in terms of resources (dice) was high, the Ottoman pushed again on the left flank, breaking the French Hussars. I also advanced the Artillery (bottom right of the picture) to prepare a bombardment on the French square in future turns.

French second turn: time to call for some reserves. I had 1 Cuirassier and 1 Line Infantry entering the fray, preparing for a much needed counter attack. I also retreated with the Artillery in the middle to build a second line if the squares were overwhelmed by the Ottoman cavalry. To lower the pressure on the French right, I also advanced on the left with a couple of battalions.

Third turn for the Ottoman player: I reorganized the cavalry wing pushing on the enemy flank (you need "fresh" cavalry to perform charges in 100 dice) rallying and aligning units. More important, I advanced with two units in the centre (one of Janissaries and 1 of Militia) with a double purpose: attack the French centre and open a corridor for my artillery to bombard the square.

 French third turn: the Cuirassiers counterattack, preceded by artillery bombardment. The Ottoman cavalry wavers, the squares hold... On the French left, I tried to press on the attack forcing the enemy to spend precious Command Points.

 Ottoman fourth turn: the Army is tired, resources lack. Anyway, one French square is routed by a deadly bombardment, while in the centre, Janissaries and Militia continue to threaten the enemy. On the Ottoman right the French attack stalls: they are tired, too.

French fourth turn. More reserves enter on the right, the remaining unit in square deploys in Combat formation as the Turkish cavalry is not a menace anymore, with the Cuirassiers in control. Night falls on the exhausted Armies: it is a marginal victory for the Ottomans, mostly due to losses inflicted than ground gained.

During the following game against Andrea, I took the Ottomans and tried to repeat the left flank maneuver, but Andrea was wise enough to move first and occupy the woods on his right with a light infantry unit in open order, thus crippling my planned cavalry move en masse. In the end it was a French Victory by a narrow margin.
In a few minutes, I'll play again with Luciano the same battle, and we'll see who will prevail.

The daily test

Yesterday another playtest of 100 dice. This time it was Nap again, Andrea vs. me. After the doubts of tuesday night game, I modified again some rules (Rally, Morale and Reserves) and introduced Cards.
This is something I had in mind since long, because I think cards add a lot to a game without complicating it.
However, 100 dice won't be a card driven game. Cards will simply add some unpredictability, will help you to solve a desperate situation, and will give you back precious dice ("All I want is another hour of daylight!").  In the (blurred) picture below, the situation at nightfall.

Once again my left flank was overwhelmed, and my main attack (in the centre) was repulsed with losses. Andrea won  a marginal victory. He played well, had a bit of luck (always welcome) and was able to use 2-3 cards at the very right moment, getting the edge. Cards work very well in my opinion. All I have to do is to find the right balance of them in a player's hand. Yesterday we played with 1 (that is, a player always has 1 card in his hand and when he plays it, he draws another) today I want to try with 2.
Cards will be generic and specific for the period played. I am now working on a deck of 24 cards.
Hope you'll like it!

100 Dice, this time ACW!

Another evening of playtesting for 100 Dice: this time I wanted to try an ACW battle, so I sketched some special rules for the specific period and fought a full battle, with Andrea helping in the final stage.
Here is the situation after deployment

On the left, the Confederate Force, with Union troops on the right. Units off map are Reserves, dismounted cavalry and miniatures to be used as unformed units. On top of the picture, the numbered hexes are for flanking maneuvers. At the bottom of the picture you can see the blue cups with 100 dice each and the burned dice area with a divider and the turn record marker (the big yellow die).
Below, a pic taken after the first turn.

  The Rebel attack (top) seems to have shaken the US line. US Cavalry evaded from a contact, dismounted and reorganized. An unformed US unit is holding the woods. In subsequent turns, the attack will falter and finally the Confederates retreated.
In the Centre, 2 US batteries concentrated fire on a single Confederate battery, eliminating it in a couple of turns. On the Confederate left all was quiet until the last turns, when the Unionists launched an attack at dusk, achieving very little. In the end, it was a draw.

I'm still not happy with something, but a long conversation with Andrea after the game gave me some interesting idea...... stay tuned!

Work in progress

Another playtest of 100 dice yesterday evening with Luciano. Another defeat (for me), but some steps forward in the complex process of adding, cutting and trimming of the rules.
Real work and other everyday activites prevented me to organize a new scenario, so I repeated the one we played on sunday with Diego. This gave me the opportunity to try twice the same game (but the result was the same :)

This is the situation after some of turns from my point of view (Prussian). Considering the French "Grand Battery" that Luciano deployed against my center-left,  my plan was to hold there and attack on the right, trying a flanking maneuver with my light cavalry to avoid the swamps. My Jaegers secured the woods in the centre....

 Something - however - went wrong: my flanking maneuver was partially frustrated by a broken terrain that appeared in the middle of my path (in 100 dice you may expand the battlefield if you try a flanking maneuver, adding up to three hexes per side) and the attack on the right-centre was more expensive then expected. Above you can see the maximum penetration I reached on this side of the table.

On the left flank, Luciano launched an attack that completely broke my line, also capturing the wing commanding  General. My reserves just recalled prepared themselves to counter, but night fell bringing a minor Victory for the French. There are still several rules to trim, another session maybe this evening.

100 Dice playtest of version 3.0

While other playtests are going on, yesterday Diego came to Terni to play version 3.0 of the rules.
We had a full game in about 2,5 hours, and it ended in a Marginal Victory for him.
The game plays well, it is now a question of finding and solving minor problems, or write rules differently if they are not immediately clear.
Yesterday it was a Napoleonic battle (French Vs. Prussians), next time could be ACW?

100 dice playtest yesterday evening

Another playtest session of 100 Dice yesterday evening chez moi.
I played with my friend Luciano and Andrea came to see the last version of the rules (2.1).
It was a fruitful game session: I found a couple of rules that I will modify, but the overall result is very good.
In two hours I was able to explain the rules and we played a battle to completion (Luciano won a marginal victory). Below a picture of the table just before battle.

 I used an old board I made for another game, adding my new wooden hexagons for woods, swamps and broken terrain. We played a SYW scenario (French Vs. Prussians). At the top of the picture you can see the 2 cups (each with 100 dice) and between them the discard box for the "burned" dice.
More playtest sessions will follow, as I'd like to finish the rules during summer holidays.

100 Dice project - Reprise

While I'm still stuck with Drums & Tricornes Combat System (and choice between linear and "squared" terrain) I decided to "close" the 100 Dice project my introductory miniature battle system from Antiquity to Musket Era.
In version 2.0 I changed the combat system and trimmed many rules, aiming at simplicity. I also introduced a new phase (Exploitation) that should give further depth to the game and a more historical flavor to certain units (like light cavalry).
Within a couple of days I should be able to have a final version of the written rules, in the meantime I'm testing them extensively.
And now, straight from the rules, some pics describing 100 Die.

 Terrain hexes. Top, from left to right: clear, broken, wood, swamp. Bottom, left to right: a 2 level hill and a wood hex with “detached” trees to accommodate a light infantry unit (1 base).

 Top, left to right: Cavalry in March Formation, Cavalry in Combat Formation, Infantry in March, Infantry in Combat. Bottom, left to right: a Leader, the CinC, an Artillery unit and (in a swamp) a Light Infantry unit.

 The unit is in Combat formation: the green marked hexes are its FRONT, the yellow ones are its FLANKS, and the red ones are its REAR.

 Artillery Arc of Fire.

LOS example: in this case it is blocked by the woods.

More about 100 Dice soon...

Fresh breeze from the South West..

Last thursday night was the Premiere of my new Age of Sail game: 6 friends came to play and I organised a simple scenario giving them one ship of the Line each. In about two hours I explained the rules, we played and we got a clear final result. They all enjoyed the game, and play proceeded smoothly after the first couple of turns. I was so busy taking notes and explaining that I did not take any picture of the game. At the end we had a brief exchange of thoughts, and they made some suggestions that I'll follow, regarding Crew grading and boarding actions.
So yesterday I wanted to test these modification myself and put up an engagement between a Franco-Spanish and a blockading British squadrons.
Miniatures are 1:2400 Hallmark (painted by me), sea-mat from Magister Militum.

The Allied squadron (top right of the above pic): three French and two Spanish ships.
L'Orient (120 guns), Guerrier and Conquerant (74), San Justo and San Leandro (74).

 A close up on the British squadron: Britannia (100 guns, left), Mars (74 guns, right, leading the formation). Orion (74) and the "small" Chesterfield (40) follow.

Some play aids: the ships' Logs with allocated crews and the wind star (top right) indicating wind from South East, 6 strong. Some ships have already sustained some damage, as you can tell from the Damage die on the bottom right corner of a couple of the Logs.

 A close-up on the Log of French ship L'Orient, a Large one (120 guns). The French squadron Commander is on board, as you can tell from the Flag on the top left corner of the Log.

 A sudden wind change and the British squadron, seizing the initiative in perfect Line formation, passes behind  the Allied squadron, using all its firepower to damage the Spanish ships San Justo and San Leandro. The latter will also catch fire and abandon the fight for a while. After few turns however, L'Orient successfully boarded and captured the Orion while the Chesterfield - heavily damaged - was forced to flee.
Not bad, for a game that has no name yet....

Pipeline updated

Pushed by recent events, I decided to chage the schedule of my future releases.
First in line will be Drums & Tricornes, my new SYW ruleset, that uses a brand new Command & Control System. When D&T will be released by Ganesha Games, I plan to finish and release 100 Dice which is a hex-grid, dice pool fastplay game for different historical periods.

My notes about D&T date back to last year (march 2012) when I wrote about 50% of it but then I stopped due to "real" job taking over my time. In my terms, this is a Large Battle game where 2 Armies of several Brigades each fight on a 120 x 180 cm. table divided into 216 squares (each of 10 x 10 cm.). Above you can see a pic taken from the last test I made last saturday.

More about Drums & Tricornes in future posts...

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.

Another playtest day for "100 dice"

Next sunday, my friends Massimo and Diego will come to Terni for another playtest session of 100 Dice.
In the meantime I'm writing......
The structure of the game is finished, now the details.....

Who knows? I could release it next summer.

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".