What was the last ruleset you played 2017?

[Steve J]

Mars every time. Peanuts in chocolate sooooooo wrong.

[Raider4]

Snickers!

I think you meant to say 'Marathon' . . .

Cheers, M.
--

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

1) What ruleset do you use in your last game? - Mortimer et Gloriam
2) What armies were confronted? - Mid Republican Roman vs Pontics
3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - indeed
4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - nope
5) How many players were in the game? - two

Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory! Smashed five of his units, but I lost two legions, my elephants after they broke his Guard cavalry, I took a massive spear unit, but in the process lost my cavalry after a risky charge vs exposed infantry,  but we broke when the Triarii finally succumbed to overwhelming Armenian Allies!

[Chieftain]

And for the last game of 2017...

1) What ruleset do you use in your last game? - L'Art de la Guerre

2) What armies were confronted? - Gauls vs Islesmen

3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - yes

4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - no

5) How many players were in the game? - two

A fine end to the year.

[ErHo]

Mars every time. Peanuts in chocolate sooooooo wrong.

WHAT? Who hurt you?

[vonlacy]

1) What ruleset do you use in your last game? - A Long Way to Tipperary

2) What armies were confronted? - The Army of the Commune of Estonian Workers v Estonian Nationalists

3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - yes

4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - no

5) How many players were in the game? - Six


This was a three week game. It was based on the drive by the Army of the Commune of Estonian Workers into Estonia during February/March 1919. They faced 4 battalions of Nationals dug in around a city. This force was made up of Nationalist conscripts, an Estonian German Baltic line battalion and a Finnish Volunteer battalion rated as veteran. They could also call upon a veteran White battalion but this would cost victory points. The Red Estonians had twelve battalions; eight being conscripts, two line and two veteran. Like the Nationalists the Reds could call on two battalions of Soviet Naval infantry at the cost of a fistful of victory points.

[paulr]

So the Estonians won, but which ones

[vonlacy]

The Nationalist Estonians.

[vonlacy]

Following the preliminary barrage the Army of the Commune of Estonian Worker's go over the top through the Nationalist defensive barrage to attack the depleted trenches held by Estonian Conscripts.

[vonlacy]

 The Army of the Commune of Estonian Worker;s brave shot and shell to storm the Nationalist trenches. The Nationalist conscripts have broken and flee, the Nationalist general sends in his Finish Volunteers as an Eingrief battalion to retake the line in a bold counter attack to halt the Red tide.

[vonlacy]

The Finns storm the captured second line trenches. The Estonian Reds drop to weary and are spent run back towards their own lines. The Estonian Worker's caught in the crater field also drop to weary and begin to fall back to their own lines. At this point the commander of the Estonian Commune soldiers called off the assault dropping a barrage to cover their retreat.

[Steve J]

A Long Way to Tipperary

I've never heard of these rules. Who publishes them etc? BTW, the photos show what looks to be a cool game.

[Dr Dave]

1) What ruleset do you use in your last game? BLACK POWDER with our own "Sheffield steel" amendments for the BEF in August 1914

2) What armies were confronted? The mighty BEF defending poor Belgium with the help of some Frenchies tried to stem the tide of invading huns.

3) Did you feel comfortable with the ruleset? - oh yes, I'd say so, most definitely.

4) and... was this the first time you used this ruleset? - no

5) How many players were in the game? - 12, it was a biggy. The big game at the end of the year prior to the Friends of General Haig annual dinner dance.

[Leman]

1. Tin Soldiers in Action

2. Austrians v Prussians c1860

3. Very much so and it was my first game

4. A thrilling contest pitting a large, but relatively poor Austrian force against a very small but much better Prussian force. This was a 15 turn game in which the Prussians were due to receive reinforcements in turns 5 and 10, but even then not knowing what would actually turn up. As it happens another infantry brigade, with artillery and jaeger, turned up in turn 5 and a cavalry brigade (which turned out to be as useful as a chocolate teapot) in turn 10.

5. A two player game with the Austrians just edging it in turn 15, ie they took the town, their objective.

This is yet another set of square based rules which has really lifted my spirits. The game was thoroughly enjoyable as the rules are about as straightforward as you can get (once you decipher the extremely poorly translated German - word for word rather than into English idiom). The game is card driven in the sense that each command is given a playing card and cannot do anything until its card is turned, turning all of the cards being a move and then the deck is shuffled and the next turn starts. In this game there were seven commands, so only seven cards from the hearts and spades suits. This makes for unpredictability and also makes the rules great for solo play. The rulebook takes the toolbox approach (and much more successfully than Black Powder) as it covers 1680 to 1915 (beyond if not gaming the Western Front).  There is an initial breakdown of troop types and weaponry, but another section covers unusual and rarely seen troops, eg bandsmen, cyclists, balloons, signallers etc. The core rules are all in one place and the contents section is more like an index as it is extremely extensive and detailed. After the rules themselves and the additional troop types and weaponry that can be used, there is a look at armies in the three main periods (the Enlightenment, the Napoleonic Wars and the Victorian period). The whole thing is rounded off with examples of play and three scenarios. The one drawback for me is that it is a figure based and therefore figure loss system of attrition, but this is because it appears initially to have been devised for 28mm. However there are ways around it, such as using a roster (how I played yesterday, which did very little to slow the game), use a 3,2,1 basing system as suggested in The Pikeman's Lament, or with the smaller scales just use the number of bases to represent figures. This is made easier than might be imagined as only one unit can occupy a square (I played on a 5'x3' mat in 6" squares) and also allows for a unit to be shown in a diorama style, eg that 1870 French unit can now be shown with its skirmishers out. This is not a cheap book from Caliver, but I feel it will open all sorts of new possibilities for one-off small scale scenarios and imagination campaigns, leaving me with rules like BBB, Altar of Freedom and Honours of War for the set piece historical battles.

[toxicpixie]

That sounds cracking!

Repeat after me: I do NOT need another set of rules. I do NOT need another set of rules.