Year's End

 As usual, more reading, and finally some proper painting!

I spent some of today working on some of the Quar. I now have five Coftyrans basecoated, all except skin.

Highlord Blue coats, Hardened Leather straps, stocks and boots,
Averland Sunset collars and cuffs, Sir Coates Silver metal.

Skin will take a little thought, as it's varied, pastel, and often spotted. I think it should contrast a bit with the uniform, too, so I won't use blue or yellow. But I'm pleased I've got this far!

There's also the machinegunner's hat, and the blanket rolls. I need a spot color for those, and I'm leaning towards red.

Reading-wise, I found an excellent new book on the 1216 French invasion of England. I was surprised to find it's published by Osprey.

It's fairly short (which makes sense for Osprey), but is not typical even of the publisher's more "conventional" histories - it's not a summary, guide or overview, but an in-depth coverage of the years immediately following Magna Carta.

The author has nothing good at all to say about King John, except that he died at just the right moment. His son succeeded him as not a tyrant but an innocent, now not about to be overthrown by a savior but by a foreign usurper. He also had the support of the Pope. The struggle is depicted as one that turned England from a cross-channel empire into an individual country independent of France. This started with the loss of Normandy, although nothing is said of Aquitaine.

The battles are Dover (a typical siege), Lincoln (pitched cityfight, relief of siege), and Sandwich (a naval battle). (Hilariously, Sandwich is now landlocked.) Hanley describes these all in a lively style, along with the key characters. Two of the most interesting are the female chatelaine of Lincoln, and a Robin-Hood-esque character who led a savage rebellion on the south coast, forcing the French invaders to go out of their way to avoid him.

The cross-channel relations of the two sides also made for interesting interplay - many of the lords on both sides had holding in both Normandy and England and had been forced to choose a side when Normandy abruptly became French. The King of Scotland held lands in England and swore fealty for them to the pretender from France. 

There are so many interactions between so many characters that I have only really given a taste. But this is quite a good book, and I'm glad I read it.

Happy New Year. I hope your next is full of hobby. (I still have two boxed games on the way myself!)

Clash of Rhyfles Playtest

Today, a little experimentation with Quar. This is not laid out neatly, and is more for my benefit than the readers' - if you're disinterested, skip as this will have some rules and calculation. If you are interested but know nothing of Quar, the rules I'm using can be found here. I'm thinking of using them for small-scale VBCW as well.

One thing I liked about the old 40K starter sets was that they would start you off with just one or two figures a side and go through the turn structure piece by piece. I chose to take a full three-man fireteam of each side, so that I could try out all weapons and the Pluck mechanic too (used only by leaders). The Crusaders have a standard team of Milwer (corporal) with Bogen rifle, Rhyfler with rifle, and Ryfler with Ryshi "heavy rifle." The Coftyrans (who don't do fireteams, but have the WWII British squad organization with seven rifles and a three-man LMG team) get a machine gun team with the same layout, but slightly different weaponry. They start at opposite corners of a 2x2 square.

This will not be nearly as clear or as useful as Stew's much-better-illustrated playthru, but it'll help me. I hope.

L-R: Coftyrans and Crusaders.

Round 1: All three Crusaders move once, 5" towards the enemy. For their fourth action this card, the Ryshi gunner fires. (If I "knew" I had a fifth action, I'd spend two pluck to provide him supporting fire for +4 to his check). He's 17" away, so two full range bands for -2. The target will dive for cover, reducing the Ryshi's check to -6, so he rolls a 6 or less on 3d6: 12! So he missed, but the check is less than 13 and target dove. Attacker moves the target, who is gobsmacked. For Action Five, only the Milwer is left, and goes on Overwatch.

Round 2: The Gobsmacked Coftyran stands up for one action. The Milwer moves closer to the machine gunner, then for his second action spends two Pluck points to provide Supporting Fire. Do we have a fourth action? We do. The Cryfen machine-gunner has the Milwer touching him (+1 for Loader) and a Pluck point is spent for support fire (+2 for each of the two guys within 4"). He does Area Fire (-1 for each target in a 4" circle, so -2) and the targets are 17" away for two full range bands (-2). The Ryshi will dive for cover (-4) and the Milwer fire a snap shot (-1). I choose the latter for the snap shot as they are both two range bands away but the latter's Bogen rifle has only -2 to its snap fire; the Ryshi has -3. We'll target the Milwer first at 12-. I rolled an 11 - target out of action. The Ryshi gunner is 9- and I rolled an 8 - also out of action! This means the Milwer can't snap-shot back, as that comes after he's shot at (I got that wrong during the Hurricon game).

Whoops, forgot the Overwatch, who probably could have done something about this. Let's fire the Crusader Milwer. Two range bands (-2), shoots at the Milwer (who snapshots back (-1). 9 or less. He rolls exactly 9, so the Coftyran Milwer is OOA. He could thus not have provided the pluck point, so -5 to the rolls. Both would have been 13+, thus both Crusaders move to cover. There isn't any, so they stay put. The Ryshi dove for cover so is prone, while I assume the Milwer is still standing.

I need to make notes re: which photos go where.
I wonder if I can name photos whilst taking them.

Well, this IS why I'm doing this - to learn to watch out for things like that.

Round 3: The Crusader Ryshi returns fire, spending two pluck to provide support (+4). We're doing Area Fire again, able to hit all three opponents (-3) two range bands away (-2). The Cryfen gunner will snap-shot back and the Milwer will load him (I assume this means he cannot snapshot or dive for cover). The third Quar dives for cover. Cryfen to-hit is thus 10-, Milwer 11-, Rhyfler 7-. The Cryfen to-hit is 12 (nothing, as he didn't dive); Milwer 7 (out of action), Rhyfler 10 (dived for cover, so may move 1" and go prone. He could move 5", but there isn't any cover to dive for so he's just hitting the nearest dirt).

Wait, the Ryshi was prone. Any effect? No. The Cryfen gunner shoots back (-3 for snap shot, -2 for range, -2 for prone target, +1 for loader). He needs 6- and rolled a 9. The Ryshi may move an inch, but is already prone.

Supporting shooters may do nothing else, so we're done.

Round 4: Given the lack of cover, both sides should have been prone already, but poor shooting has led to no casualties so far. Coftyrans all move 5" and go prone. One of them had to stand to do this, so that's three actions. They're done, but closer to the enemy and at -2 to be hit.

Round 5: Two more Crusaders go prone and move 2.5". The Ryshi tries aimed fire (no range penalty, but spends two actions - has he a fourth action to do it with? Yes! He picks on the prone Milwer, and spends two Pluck for support fire. (his Milwer has one remaining.) -2 for prone target (who dives for cover - only 1" for no cover) so 6- to hit. The score is 12, so the target is Gobsmacked. We have a fifth action but, due to the support fire, can't use it.

These photos aren't very interesting or illuminating, are they?

Round 6: The Coftyran Milwer Recovers and stays flat. Let's try a grenade next, which uses both actions of the Rhyfler. He throws at a target w/in 10" - the Ryshi gunner who just shot at his boss. He suffers no penalty for being prone. We throw two dice and get 12! That's the best result - all three Crusaders are hit! For the Milwer this is 3D6 vs. his 4 toughness. I rolled a 14 - this is thrice the toughness so the Ryshi gunner is dead! The other rolls, on 2D6 instead, are 6 and 4 respectively, so the Milwer is Gobsmacked and the Rhyfler can be pushed an inch - this seems odd for a grenade to do, but he rolls over half an inch away from the blast. No more actions.

Round 7: OK, that's pretty tough for the Crusaders. The Milwer will recover and both figures stand and move. My intent is to experiment with assault. The Milwer spends his last pluck to Charge, and picks on the opposing Milwer. This chap may take Opportunity Fire, but I assume he fires at the range his target was at from the beginning of the move, so is two range bands away. -3 for snapshot and range, +2 for automatic shooting at a single target, so 11-. He rolled an 8 which would take the charger out of action; for testing purposes let's assume he misses.

(I reverted a bit to see what might happen if the Crusader Rhyfler tossed a smoke grenade first, which would have given a further -3 to hit his boss [which would have still hit, so no prob]. I rolled a 2/2, which meant the Coftyran player would get to place the grenade, so it wouldn't block his LOS anyway.)

In goes the Crusader on his prone opponent (+2 to his skill, so 14-). He rolls 11, a hit, and rolls D6+2 Might vs. Toughness 4. He rolled a 2, so equals the Toughness, which only pushes his opponent. No good. Curiously, since this is a Combat action he can't fight again even though he is Engaged, so he'll Steady, giving him back a single Pluck point for future use...

That's the second time someone has basically rolled over
in response to an attack.

But it's getting dark, IRL and I guess in-game too. At this point, having tried all the mechanisms I wanted to, and needing to get to bed soon, I'll stop here. Comments from Quar veterans gratefully welcomed.

Hunker Down and Hobby. Plus 200 Posts!

So, Hurricane Milton went through, which means I have a three-day weekend though I only caught the edge and there wasn't even any rain. A couple coworkers north of me lost power. Spent Wednesday keeping an eye on the track, watching Boney episodes and Games Workshop videos, and building Quar and Paperboys:

Crusaders, three fire-teams of three plus a Yawdryl (Sergeant).

Coftyrans, in WWII British squad organization - rifle group
and machine-gun group. Though the Crusaders get the Brit helmets.

Pirate-era Spanish.

Also finished reading Wellington's Redjackets, a history of the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire Regiment) in the Peninsular War. Good, if typical of the other period regimental histories I've read. I did enjoy learning more about the South American expedition of 1807, and the 1814 invasion of France, which I was unfamiliar with.

Last blogpost was my 200th.

Among the first Asimov
nonfiction I read.

• In the course of the last hundred, I discovered Very British Civil War, obtained nearly all the sourcebooks and plenty of useful miniatures for the period, and began to experiment with rules for the "period." I also discovered Quar.
• I also got in several programs of miniature painting at work, as well as Paperboy displays and papercrafting activities. I've moved to a branch where I have more kids to work with, but fewer teens, so some of that has been reduced in complexity. I'm effectively in charge of a Chess club now, so I have opportunities to experiment.
• I read dozens of books.
• I went to two HMGS-South conventions. I ran a game of Charge! at one.
• I organized and named my Wofun regiments so as to play Charge! The game I ran provided much useful feedback, so I should be able to play some more soon.
• I even painted a little on my own account, for the first time in quite a few years, and obtained some terrain to play with. (I have got to get a lot more hills and colored patches for forests.)
• I started working through the Charles Grant Programmed Wargames scenarios - so far three.
• I played five Minceheim games solo.
• I played in 10 games at Das Krieg Haus over roughly two years - not bad actually, given that I can only get there every other Saturday. (Some of the available Saturdays, I chose to attend the Virtual Wargames Club instead.) These were nearly all GMed by Oriskany Jim or Mark Ritchie.

What didn't I do? That would be actually finishing, or even seriously progressing on - any particular project. Except for the Jacobite mostly-solo campaign.

I would like to:

• Prep and run Picacho Pass - I have an increasingly enthusiastic partner for it, so I really need to get on that.
• Play more programmed scenarios, with an eye to working through the entire book.
• Obtain more natural terrain to do it with.
• Paint the Quar and start playing it.
• Start playing VBCW, or even running it for the club. It doesn't help that there are numerous rules that would work; I am actually considering Quar: Clash of Rhyfles for small games.
• Do some more library gaming and -adjacent activities. My supervisor has voluntold me to prepare take-and-make crafts for the foreseeable future, so Paperboys are on the horizon. I also ended up with accidental responsibility for a display case that is ideal for miniature displays...

Not too shabby, really. I still think this blog is pushing me to actually do hobby stuff; it's also opened up a community of fellow bloggers whose encouragement is just as invigorating. Thanks, and I'll see you in the next hundred!

Hurricon 2024: Friday

Stayed home Thursday due to 30+mph gusts on the highway. Made it to the con today despite low-pressure tires (and help from a kind gas station attendant despite our lack of a common language) in time for a 2pm game.

Magnetized planes on collapsible antennae.
The green Fokker is in a spin.

The first was Aerodrome, a remarkably simple WWI air game with an absolutely magnificent presentation:

It looks like a plane's dashboard but neatly shows every move required to play. There was even a little electronic switch with a light to show when we had completed our "orders."

To left and right, .22 shell casings to denote ammo.

Around the dials, movement orders - three per turn. Wooden dowels are placed here.

Above the dials, the number of shots we chose to take.

Below, damage points and height levels - ground, low, medium, high, very high (which neither the DR1s or Camels could reach). Colored plastic dowels denote these.

Movement is simultaneous, but you must plan three moves ahead, with little certainty of having an enemy in your sights. So fairly strategic, as you must anticipate enemy moves. Maneuvers include sideslips, Immelmanns (really Split S's), ordinary turns, stalls, and double right turns (aided by torque). Hits are automatic, provided you chose to fire during that segment - I was advised by a veteran player to always do this even if you weren't sure of a target, because the "field" was small enough that we were close in. A firing table cross-references range, crossing targets, height difference and whether you fired one burst or two. When hit, you roll a D20 against the number of hits you took, and if you fail, D10 on a crit chart that may set you afire, knock out your guns, screw up your steering, etc. The rate at which we were hit meant this was unlikely - you need to roll pretty low to take a critical but you only need to be hit two or three times to run out of basic HP.

A typical turn. On the first segment, I move forward two hexes
at medium height. In my second, I turn left and fire (If there are
no Germans in my line of fire, I'll be out of luck). In my third,
I move forward one hex. I have 12 hp and 20 bursts of
Vickers fire, four of which I'm using this turn.

A Belgian Camel.

My own ornery steed.

My Camel and a Fokker, one hex apart at the same height
with no deflection, automatically do 8 damage to each other.
Behind me, two planes in the same hex. (No chance of collision
unless you meet in cloud.)

Me spinning after an ill-advised attempt to turn in place.
That's a stall, and it's a 30% chance to fall into a spin.
One of my partners, last convention, had failed every single
stall he tried; this time out he passed them all.

After five 3-on-3 games, I'd been shot down four times, but gotten five kills (three of them shared) thus gaining the coveted title of ace and a few nice badges. I ran out of ammo during the fifth game, then escaped off the board.

The second game was the much-anticipated Quar: Clash of Rhyfles, which I'd spotted on the Quar Discussion Facebook group. There were two 1-on-1 games played simultaneously, with six or seven Quar a side.

Michael, who thus far had played two games but was not that familiar with the rules was running the game but had brought only one Rhyflers' handbook, so I had to take over with my experience of Youtube battle reports and Stew's sample AAR, but nothing else.

And I got it badly wrong, confusing activations with actions. We took each "leaf" of the activation cards to mean that one figure could take two actions, which stretched out the first turn to the point that it was effectively two turns. But the game was quite friendly, and we quickly got the hang of shooting. However, we also missed the Gobsmacked rule for much of the game - it's quite easy to get Gobsmacked but it took a while to get used to how it affected the Quar.

It didn't help that we didn't have activation or Gobsmacked markers.

My board.

My side - the dastardly Crusaders.

My opponents, the dashing Coftyrans.

A poor wounded Quar has been dragged into cover by his buddies.

Two of my chaps garrison a house.
(It was solid)

... beleaguered by advancing Coftyrans.

... ending with a climactic hand-to-hand brawl
inside the house.

End result - I had three dead Crusaders and two seriously wounded, and had killed only one Coftyran and seriously wounded another. It didn't help that a grenade had gone in through the window of my impromptu redoubt.

That said, it was a fun game that is clearly best played in a spirit of friendship and roleplay, and we both enjoyed ourselves. As we were cleaning up and talking with and buying from the GM, we had a few drop-ins curious about wargaming and had a welcoming little conversation.

A few other games:

Pete Panzeri's 80th anniversary Market Garden game.
Like the D-Day game he ran at Krieg Haus recently, it
is operation-scale with each base or vehicle standing in
for a company.

A colonial game - Russians vs Persians.

A display of the new Bolt Action set.

Vietnam air war.

A lovely WWI Middle East set up - Brits vs. Turks in the town.

See you tomorrow! (or rather today...)