Morris' Wargaming Escapades

Today I painted some sails because the next turn in my Peninsular Campaign will include a naval engagement. That's the extent of today's update, but I will just add that the title of this post is taken from a poem by Ausiàs March (1400 – 1459), the best poet ever to grace the Catalan language. After the pic, I quote some more of his wonderful naval verses. Sails and winds will work my will,  Setting a chancy course across the sea. Ponente and Mistral rise to rebel. Levante and Sirocco fight for me    Backed by their allies Midi and Gregal Beseeching the North Mountain Wind to turn Its storms aside in their support, so all Five winds may blow the way of my return. The sea will seethe like boiling casserole, Change colors, taking on unnatural form, Showing its ill will at full blast to all That stray on it one second in that storm.  The fish will panic all throughout the sea And seek out secret shelter in the deep, Till from the sea that gave them life they flee...

I will list some of my favorites in the fantasy genre and highlight a video from each one. A big caveat is that I prefer miniature agnostic and indie games, so this list must have the disclaimer *excluding Warhammer. I know there are fabulous Warhammer channels out there with high production values and millions of viewers. Good for them! This post complements my recent post about the best produced historical wargaming channels on YouTube . Skirmish Wargames . Wonderful and plentiful selection of indie games recorded with close-ups, voiceovers, fixed cams. Highlight : This Fear and Faith battlerep is hilarious and frightful at the same time. Gray Army Gaming .  High production values and interesting skirmishes. Highlight : I love his videos using the ultrasimple rules One-Hour Skirmish Wargames, such us this fictitious (for the moment) Defending Ice-Island . The Fantasy Skirmisher . Highlight : This  Sellswords & Spellslingers linked campaign is quite an eyeful and showca...

By well produced I mean having some of these elements: fixed or steadied cam, close-ups, dramatics cuts, VFX effects, overlays of rule mechanics, good banter, etc. Of those that I have seen, these are the ones I've enjoyed the most. I will highlight one video from each, If you have other favorites, please feel free to add them in the comments.  Compact Conflicts TV . Highlight: Their two hours  New England Wargame Campaign  is for me an archetype of a well-run campaign. It has land battles, naval battles, intrigue, diplomacy, scouting, role-playing, spies, uniform larping.  The Crusty Colonel's Wargames Show. Highlight: The Battle of Austerlitz  done in 2mm with a homebred variant of 2x2 Napoleonics called Sacre Blue  is a joy to behold and an ode to streamlining. Minis, My Way. Highlight:  Ottoman-Venetian naval battle using Galleys & Galleons. Hard to produce a more gorgeous naval report.  7th Son : Highlight: this   La Haye Saint...

Before the battle each side chooses 3 out of these 4 actions: scouting, maneuver, reorganization or propaganda.  The side that lost the last battle rolls one d6 in each chosen table. The side that won the last battle rolls one d8 in each chosen table. SCOUTING 8 May deploy after knowing the disposition of the enemy 7 May move one terrain piece (even a town) up to 3d6 inches 6 May deploy one unit in forward position (up to 2/3 of the table) 1-5 No effect MANEUVER 8 May have an extra unit in reserve coming from own baseline or flank  7 May have an extra unit in reserve coming from own baseline  6 May deploy one unit in ambush (hidden) 1-5 No effect REORGANIZATION 8 Upgrade one random infantry or cavalry unit to elite 7 Add a skirmish screen to one infantry unit 6 Local guide. One close-order infantry unit can move through rough terrain without penalty 1-5 No effect PROPAGANDA 8 If during the battle a Cavalry charge wipes out an enemy unit, regardless of the result of the...

This is the report of the first month of upheavals and the first decisive battle fought in the Peninsula. I'm using these rules: Campaign Rules: Domino Theory Campaign from No End in Sight (Ivan Sorensen). This campaign motor was intended for the Cold War, but it works perfectly for any conflict that has a strong ideological component like the Napoleonic Wars. It works on the basis of two tables. Each turn there are two random rolls, one in the Spread of Ideology table and another in the Spread of Order table . To these rolls a third is added depending on the outcome of that month's main battle. A very clever system by a designer notorious for rules such as Five Parsecs From Home. Tabletop rules: Simplicity in Practice by Neil Thomas (house rule: +2 for each melee factor, not +2 dice) Situation at the onset Simplified map of the Peninsula The numbers in each region represent Alignment. Positive numbers stand for Susceptibility to revolutionary ideals and the negative ones ...

 It has been discussed to exhaustion how these medieval rules were a crucial influence in the genesis of Dungeons & Dragons. This is not the purpose of this post. I will focus on its virtues strictly from a wargaming perspective as a mass battles ruleset.  Chainmail contains a variety of rules. I will only discuss point 1 in the following list: Medieval mass battles rules Siege rules. Man-to-man (skirmish) medieval Jousting rules Fantasy additions to mass battles rules and sieges It is history of gaming how Dave Arneson meshed 3 with 5, added  Hit Points and created the concept of RPGs. There is plenty of books and articles discussing this. On the contrary, I will highlight 3 sub-systems of the mass battles rules that I think deserve more attention. WEATHER  This table in my opinion is pure genius. So simple, dynamic and elegant. It can be overlaid into any ruleset. I would only add perhaps the possibility of mist (reduced visibility) in the cloudy table. O...

This will be a heresy both to Classic Traveller and B/X fans, but bear with me for a little while because it's just a fun reskin. STEP 1 . Roll a character using Classic Traveller Character generator as written. STEP 2 . Convert the characteristics of the rolled character to B/X in a straightforward manner: STR > STR +2 INT > INT +2 WIS > EDU +2 DEX > DEX +2 CON > END +2 CHR > SOC +2 The rolled skill levels become old-school Saving Throws Modifiers , to be used only in tight spots, after a string of bad decisions or really unfortunate outcomes. They are rolled when there is something critical on the line and everything is SNAFU. The base saving throw for an unskilled character is 10 (pure luck). Example: a Pilot-2 rolls against a Piloting Saving Throw of 8 in tight spots (10-2) . Ignore other B/X saving throws except against spells (becomes against psionics). Psionic characters use the spells from B/X. STEP 3 . Pick a Classic Traveller B/X class f...