Franco-Prussian War Campaign Ends.....With a Thump

The final game was "interesting".   "Odd" might be a better description.  The French had elected to fight on the same battlefield as in Game 3 (the campaign mechanism gave this battlefield as a choice, and they chose to fight again on the same ground).   The terrain was very full, with probably 40% of the table full of woods.  The Prussians had a huge advantage in initial deployment, but since the French won the actual deployment/placement rolls, the Prussian plan (to get as far up the hill as possible in the initial set up, as well as get on the French left flank) hit the windshield at 120 MPH with a giant splat.

The French were huddled on the hill in a formation best described as a giant blob, and stayed on that hill for the duration of the game, gleefully firing off round after round of Chassepot ammunition at the flailing Prussians.

The game was a disaster for the Prussians - they ended up losing by 16 points - a crushing loss.

The campaign ended after 4 games with 1 win for the Prussians, 3 for the French.   10 Campaign Points for the Prussians, 26 for the French.  At this rate, I'd say the French are eyeing the German border...

One item that was noticeable was that in all three losses, the Prussians made little if any use of their vastly superior artillery.

Some photos:

General Toby attempts to use the Force to levitate cookies off of the counter down to his location

Initial deployments.  Ick.  This game could have been played on a card table!

French cavalry pass the time on a nice, comfortable flank march

The French win no points for subtlety with their deployment

Rank after rank after rank of French

Prussian infantry enjoy a nice walk in the woods

French division moves off on an assault on a town

So - the campaign season is over, and I'm thinking of trying some WW2 stuff for the next game at the end of June.  I'm rebasing my stuff and working on a new WW2 rule "set" for the game.  I'm wanting to get to a set that fits multiple scales (unit could be a squad, platoon, company, battalion) with somewhat minimal changes that would allow players to play any scale of game that they wanted without learning an entirely new set of rules.  We'll see how that works out....

There and Back Again

We played the 3rd game of our FPW campaign season last night.  The previous two games had been split with the French winning game 2 and the Prussians winning game 1.  After 2 games, the victory points were Prussians 10, French 6.

The French had selected the battlefield with hopes of nullifying the Prussian Krupp advantage.  As it turned out, both armies completely deployed in the "open" end of the battlefield - as shown below.

My camera battery died before the game ended, so I only have a few shots of the game -

The battle turned into a bitterly contested fight for the Class III woods next to the town.  Terry (Prussian) and Greg R. (French) battled it out while Greg C. (Prussian) and Rodney/John (French) traded some long range fire on the river flank.

Divisional commander Budritzki looks at his map, trying to understand where all the French came from!

More and more of the French army poured into the Class III woods, eventually wrestling it away from the Prussians.

A fine Prussian regiment deploys to protect the army's right flank.

I apologize for the slightly blurred photos of French regiments deployed behind their hasty works.  This was taken to show the first use of hasty works in our campaign!   The French "dug in" on their right, and the Prussians elected to not get shot to pieces in a bloody assault.

A closely fought game, with no wide ranging maneuvers but a LOT of close range tactical decisions required.   When the Prussians ran out of Army Morale Points, the French had been battered down to only having 2 remaining!  When the Prussians failed their Army Morale test, the French had 4 Army Morale Points.

So - the campaign now stands at 10 VP's each.   We elected to continue the season to game 4 to have a season winner.  As it turned out, the new battlefield is exactly the same as this battlefield from game 3!  It will be fascinating to see how the armies deploy differently in the next game, having learned from game 3.

The campaign system continues to work well.   Just a few minutes after the game, and ready to roll for the next game.  Minimal paper work, no real time commitment - the BEST way to keep a campaign going.

So, there you are.  Battle 4 on the bloody battlefield of Battle 3.  There and Back Again!

FPW Game Map

The battlefield terrain is unusually "thick" for the upcoming battle - quite a bit of terrain, and a fair amount of difficult (III) woods.

The French are on the right side - the edge with the two tiered hill.

The game is tomorrow afternoon - it should be an interesting situation!

FPW Game

I've been a bad, bad, blogger.  I've been busy with various things, and something had to give.  In this case, it has been the blog.   We've had pretty regular game sessions, but my blogging hasn't kept pace. 

In fact, we're playing game 3 in a Franco-Prussian War campaign this Saturday.  So far, game honors are 1 for the Prussians (10VP), and 1 for the French (6 VP).

The last game was a French victory - a few photos follow below:

Prussian Commanders (left to right):  Greg C., Terry, Eric

French Commanders (left to right):  Ed, Greg R., John (Mumbasa)

So - we're on to game 3 of the campaign this Saturday.  I have a pretty robust campaign system that I've developed that seems to work well.   All I need to do is write it up and complete the card deck artwork, and it could be ready as a product.   The beauty of the system is that it doesn't take any substantial time to do, you resolve the process for the next game immediately after you finish the present game, and it creates ongoing battles and unit character.   I'm really happy with it.

On a final note, I've cracked the problem with Blogger.   Use Google Chrome!   No problems when using the "right" browser - no problem loading photos, etc.   So, with that irritation solved, I'll try to post more frequently.

1809 Game

It's been a while since my last post - too little time due to work and other hobby priorities.

We had a nice 1809 game, with tweaks to Field of Battle 2 that I wanted to try. Turns out that the tweaks really didn't do much, which reinforces my belief that FoB2 is pretty robust already.

In the game, the French were facing an uphill struggle, as they were considerably under the initial morale point total of the Austrians. Additionally, while outnumbered in units, the Austrians had the advantage of an initial deployment in a strong position.

The French gave it a go, but ultimately ran out of morale points as they tried to press an attack on the town on the Austrian right flank. Good game, but not a close one!

Some photos from the game:

Austrians defend to the left, as the French press the attack on both flanks.

Austrian artillery defends the bridge linking the towns.

Hmmm.  Can't seem to get Blogger to upload more photos - I'll post later when I might have more luck.

Unit Labels - Old and New

In my games (Field of Battle, Field of Battle WW2, Pulse of Battle), each unit has a rating for combat and defence.  The ratings are die sizes, which are rolled competitively vs. the opponent's die to determine the outcome of combat, rallying, movement.  

While it is certainly possible to use a roster, I don't like having to refer to another piece of paper during the game.  Call me lazy.

My system uses 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch steel stands glued to the back of the command stand.  Rating labels are then stuck to adhesive magnetic sheets.  By simple changing out the label, the unit now has its rating visible on it on the table.  

My original labels are shown below:

Functional, but hardly inspiring!

I've been playing around with the label style, and eventually settled on labels that reflected the unit's uniform - tunic color on top, trouser color on the bottom, facing or piping on the left.   Rating on the top and unit name on the bottom.   Examples of the Confederate system in practice are shown below:

I think the new style is a lot more visually attractive, and conveys more information than the old, generic style.  So far, I've created Federal/Confederate and French/Prussian FPW labels.   Its not a fast process, but the end results justify the expense and effort.

2013 becomes 2014

I'm not big on worrying about what I accomplished in the past year.   I've never felt that an arbitrary time block has much meaning...unless it is to define the start and finish of an NFL season.

Other than that - big things in my life this year:

Great vacation with our motorcycles this summer.   I've lived in Colorado all my life, and have travelled all over the US.   For the life of me, I can't imagine living anywhere other than in the Rocky Mountain west region.   Beautiful scenery, unbelievable weather....unless you're contemplating moving here in which case it is horrible here and you should look elsewhere.

This year we survived our bike vacation without being run into by a tourist moron making an illegal U-turn (See 2011) or having our tow vehicle seize up (tow vehicle - see 2011 - its a good thing to be able to get home after a moron hits both of you on your motorcycles and they aren't rideable, and various injuries make it unlikely you feel like riding 400+ miles anyway;  vehicle seizing, see 2012).   A brief word to those of you who don't ride - PLEASE watch for bikes.  You're in 3000 pounds plus of cage, airbags, and seatbelts.   A moment of neglect on your part can permantly change, if not end, a biker's life.   Please, please pay attention when you drive.  That bike rider is someone's spouse, father, mother, brother, sister.  You get the idea.

We lost our Westie (Bailey) this August.  She was a great little dog.   Toby, our Jack Russell, is enjoying his role as "Big Dog" in our home.

Rekindled an old friendship with Bob Jones, thanks in part to his energizing "Getzcon".   As I'm now past the half century mark, I realize that good friends are hard to come by, and that being stubborn is a stupid thing to do.   Thanks, Bob - I'm glad "we're back"!

Part of the joy in motorcycle riding is enjoying the ride, rather than purely looking forward to the destination.   I've learned from the thousands upon thousands of miles of biking that each moment is interesting, fascinating, inspiring, terrifying, confusing, difficult, and many other things all at once or by themselves.   The point is that too often we find ourselves busy being busy, and don't enjoy the ride.   Don't keep point totals on how many figures you paint - enjoy the process of seeing your armies grow, of seeing their character change as you create them.   If you ignore the ride, you'll end up with a painted pile of lead and nothing to show other than the lead, which, contrary to wargamer's beliefs, is NOT a precious metal.

And certainly not to be overlooked is the Denver Broncos magical season.   I cannot express my joy in watching the consumate professional Peyton Manning as he has virtually single handed changed the culture and personality of the Broncos.   Oh  yeah, and he's helped them win a boat load of games too.

And, while last in this blog entry, but first in my heart - my unbelievable wife Lisa.   My best friend and bike partner.  The absolute best thing that has ever happened in my life.  THAT is what makes each day special. 

I wish you all the best for many, many, years to come.