Well, not all the minis and terrain are unpacked, so it still looks a bit sparse, but I'm ready to try it!
(It's been a long week.)
The Ga Pa mission (please excuse the lack of Swedish accent) is the simplest in the book - two full sides at either edge of table, go at it, and start rolling for final turn once there are five or fewer units remaining. We have twelve, so this may take a while... Also, it's about four in the morning as I write this intro.
Roll for officer qualities. Von Blacke of Talabecland is to the manor, but not the manner, born and thus gives his men no leadership bonus, whilst his opponent Ensign Schotte of Middenheim is blessed with invulnerability to lucky blows. Curious to start with certain rules negated for them, but while I could just pick something more interesting I can already determine who's attacker and defender in this scenario!
The Talabec (Red and Yellow sides) are spread across their table edge, with each "regiment" of pike and shot near a piece of terrain, and their dragoons in the center to support whoever needs it.
The Middenheimers (Blue and White) have their infantry to the left, and dragoons to the right ready to sweep round the hill and try to hold up that flank while their infantry overwhelms the other.
I'm afraid the tiny Wofuns make the photos a little incomprehensible. My apologies, today's report is mostly for my own practice and comprehension and the closest this gets to eye candy will be like those teensy mini M&Ms in the cylinders.
Turn 1: "Eastern" flanks move forward. (Right for the Talabec, Left for Middenheim). Dragoons on both sides fail activations on rolls of 4.
Turn 2: No one except the red Talabec pike manage to activate, moving to the edge of the forest.
Turns 3-4: The Talabec shot make it into the forest and their left flank makes it into the village, while one dragoon unit ranges ahead to spoil the Middenheimers, who have advanced into and past their own forest on one flank and round the hill on the other.
Turn 5: The Middenheimers are in range to shoot at the isolated dragoons with shot and their own dragoons. The dragoons take four casualties but their survivors pass two morale tests, then hold off the enemy pike. After this the other Middenheim dragoons roll a double one to activate and end up charging across the table towards the town.
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| Surviving dragoons in peril. |
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| Both sides needed three sixes to cause a casualty. |
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| Dragoons careen towards uncertain doom. |
Turn 6: The Middenlander infantry emerge from the fallen trees, and the fleeing Talabec dragoon (singular) fails a rally check and is thus eliminated.
Turn 7: The Middenheim dragoons continue to retreat, but the rest of the blue-and-whites move to the center of the board. The Talabec cement their hold on the village and their own forest.
Turn 8: The Talabec turn aggressive, closing in on the Middenheim flanks as they in turn move towards the Talabec center. Three blue musketeers are killed by a first volley from the trees.
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As the western sun streams thru the window and warms the photographer...
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Turn 9: A fierce but inconclusive pike fight between Yellow and White.
Turns 10-11: Blue shot and Red pike are eliminated.
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| Yellow officer desperately duels his opposing number... |
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| To no avail (the side with more 5+'s wins). |
Turn 12: Yellow pike (containing the officer) is forced to retreat after shooting casualties, but cannot do so since it's blocked by shot of its own side. This means it rolls a morale check (4+) and if it fails (with a three in this case) loses that number of figures (worst case scenario!).
Turn 13: Sensing victory, the blues and whites push on. Though the officer-led pikes rally, and the shot move out of their way, their next casualties force them not to retreat but to disintegrate altogether. Everyone on the Talabec side checks morale, though only one unit retreats a quarter of its distance. In response, the Talabec dragoons return the favor against the Middenheim officer, forcing him back into his own shot.
In
Turn 14, the Middenheim officer unit fails to rally and loses another three figures...!
We still have six units left, so the game isn't over! (you roll for last turn only once there are five units remaining on the board.)
In Turn 15, the Middenheim unit breaks, eliminating their officer, but the Talabec dragoons get shot up some more, down to one man. The Talabec shot in the village roll a double 1 for their activation and retreat six inches towards the board edge.
In
Turns 16-18, two units (one from each side) are taken off the board, but the game still goes on. At this point the two Talabec shot units are being pushed closer to the edge by the Middenheim shot and dragoons.
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| Dragoons trying to sneak up on shot under cover of a wall. |
Turn 19: Final turn! Unfortunately, the dragoons fail their roll to charge, and then the opposing shot in the far corner fail their rally check.
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| "We're done here!" |
They're not quite off the board, but while it's a tie (and both officers routed from the board), I think the Middenheimers got the better of the exchange. Had this been a campaign, I'd have ended it in Turn 13 with a Middenheim victory but more survivors on both sides.
Von Blacke rolls an 8 for his fate (Wounded but Rescued), while his opponent Schotte rolls a 9 (captured honourably).
This was a long report - longer than it looks since it took me most of the day to play (lots of breaks). Notes of interest:
- Automatic end of turn on a failed activation isn't actually all that bad because it makes the turns go by faster. There are few enough units in an army that you work through them quickly, and if I hadn't been writing a report, the game would have been over in a couple hours, tops. With more familiarity with the rules, this can be a fast game.
- The more casualties, the more difficult it is to rally. Once a 12-strong unit has fewer figures than its morale score, it can't pass since it has to subtract its casualties from the roll.
- The 6/12 combat dice allows even an understrength unit to have an effect on the game.
- Pikes and dragoons generally stand off against each other, because pikes are better when charged, and dragoons can avoid combat with Evade and Skirmish activations.
- But it's always possible to brick a roll and thus lose that "good" move.
- I have good dice - I rolled a lot of sixes today!
Thanks for your patience with this post; hope it wasn't too confusing! Back to the grindstone...
