12 x 8 and then 24 x 24

For pretty much all of my table top games I will be fighting on a playing area of 12 x 8 hexagonal tiles. I would have preferred 13 x 9 as this is the standard Command and Colours sized battlefield but my table will not run to the extra row of depth. 12 x 8 it is then and by a happy coincidence this is a nice multiple of 8 x 8 sized area derived from the ideas pioneered by Bob Cordery in both his Portable Wargame and his Morschauser based predecessor. Essentially it is the size of a chess board and a half.

I have a number of ideas beyond the use of a single 12 x 8 playing area - particularly using maps for plotting moves and thereby generating a tactical game. The approach I am looking at involves the use of 6 table maps each of 12 x 8. These can be arranged so that the total area mapped is 24 by 24 hexes and so the standard 12 x 8 table area will fit very nicely within the map as the action unfolds. The 24 by 24 map will be drafted as though it was a large playing area with all of the appropriate terrain duly positioned.. The forces involved will move at their standard table move rates on this master map and battle will be joined when the opposing forces have sight of one another.

This idea is very much in mind for use with a mini campaign and at this stage the first step will be to source a 24 x 24 grid for designing the area to be fought over.

Abstract ACW and Napoleonics - Grid Based

Whilst catching up on my emails and general Internet based stuff after my holiday I came across the following game company:

http://www.dvgc.com/index.html

I have not seen or heard of this company before but was very intrigued by the concept of the abstract ACW game they produce called Squares. The rules are available as a free download and the website also has examples of gameboards constructed by players as well as hints on how to produce your own armies - including a 'no figure' option.

The company also produce 'Gamekits' for various old SPI, Columbia Games and Avalon Hill board games that are available for free - these are usually clarifications or optional rules.

I am always interested in grid based wargames and so may be tempted to try this out by merely griding a sheet of paper to begin with, just to see how it works. There are no dice or chance elements involved so the games appear almost chess like which may or may not be a bad thing. In my experience luck in a wargame is always both good and bad - if it is good for you then it will probably be bad for your opponent!

Morschauser Modern Rules OK............

After much improvisation and ferreting around in my collection at home I have decided that my trial run of the Morschauser Modern Rules updated by Bob Cordery (see my previous post for details) will take place over the weekend using Memoir 44 terrain tiles and figures - together with some pieces from the old MB game of Tank Battle. I will not bother to photograph this as it will not look very pretty but I will try and write the action up on the blog.



I am looking forward to trying these out for a number of reasons - ease of play, time of play and the all important 'flavour'. They appear to have all of these in spades but you never know with a set of rules until you have a bash yourself! That said, I am confident that these will tick many of my rule requirement boxes and so this exercise is really just a confirmation.



I will also be acquiring some of the buildings for use with my own (various) gaming set ups that Bob Cordery has used to great effect in his various play tests during the evolution of these rules. The set of these is available for a mere £6.25 off Amazon and they represent great value. Ignore the livestock and train and you have a set that are usuable for anything European from 1700 upwards. Even the trees could be used although I would probably 'dip' them in flock or lichen to 'vegitate' them a little. The link is as follows:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B00062RTP6/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&coliid=IIN9H8SUAEDA&n=468292&s=kids&colid=GDOT59C5NTUZ

These look really nice albeit a little on the 'chocolate box' side - but are a great and inexpensive alternative to mainstream resin type terrain (which usually need painting as well!).

Morschauser Gridded Modern (aka WW2) Rules

I have been following with interest Bob Cordery's update of Morchauser's gridded modern set of rules from the early 1960's. These are a simple set of rules suitable for combat from the 1930's to the 1950's using a grid of 3"squares. Bob has updated these rules and tweaked them to make them a little more representative but has managed to maintain the original flavour of the set. With this in mind I acquired a piece of green felt from my local branch of Hobbycraft and now have an 11 by 11 gridded surface for trying these rules out on. I also acquired some felt squares for terrain - roads, rivers, woods etc and merely need to add some representational buildings and trees etc to complete the set up. Initially I shall experiment using pieces from Memoir 44 until I decide what I shall acquire to game with 'properly'. The rules are available as a free PDF from Bob's Red Hex Wargames website which is well worth a look in its own right. The gestation of these rules, together with some outstanding playtests, can be followed on Bob's blog -

http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/

He is also working on a version for the late 19th century - not only colonial - which may be just the thing for my Balkan Wars set up.

These rules will not be to everyone's taste but certainly for speed, ease of use and flavour they are hard to better in my opinion. The use of a grid to regulate movement and firing etc (as well as such things as minefields and hidden movement) has many practical advantages which outweigh to a large extent any perceived scale issues and such like.

Another great advantage of such an approach is that stylised nature of the game requires little in the amount of models to be representational - rather like a DBA sized set up. For WW2 I would certainly not expect to be fielding more than around 40 to 50 figures with some vehicles thrown in for good measure. This means of course that armies raised for such a set up will have a chance of getting finished! Of course it also means you can buy more of them...............................................;-)

The Cut of the Cloth

Well I spent some time yesterday evening griding up the previously mentioned blue cloth with 4" squares. The end result is OK but I did experience the 'pull' effect by not having the cloth tightly stretched enough. Still, given that the grid id in black on a fairly dark blue cloth any wayward lines (which are minimal in any event) are not easily discernible. I finished up with an area of 11 by 13 squares and I opted for a standard grid rather than offset squares. This has a more traditional and aesthetic appeal but in doing so I have given myself an additional task in that the rules will need a revision to incorporate the sea change......;-)

I have already given this some thought and will crunch the play sheet over the next day or so. I was initially reluctant to do this but seeing the end result and having put some models on to see how it works am very pleased I did.

Grids

One of my particular hot topics of the moment is the concept of using a gridded playing surface. This could be hexed, squared or offset squared. I first came across the offset square grid in use with the Axis and Allies War at Sea collectable miniatures game. The starter pack included a double sided map which comes out at 7 by 11 squares each of 9cms. This equates to a playing area of roughly 63 by 99 cms or 2ft by 3ft as near as makes no difference. Coincidentally, the standard sized grid in use in Mike and Joyce Smith's Tabletop Battles is 3ft by 2ft. For me personally, a 3ft by 2ft playing area is ideal given my space availability at home although I could go to 3ft by 5ft at a maximum. With this in mind I am considering making some bespoke playing surfaces (probably the old standby of hardboard with a supporting frame) in green, desert sand and blue. The first two would then be gridded up in accordance the Tabletop Battles system of 2" squares (making 12 by 16) but I did hit a slight snag when considering the naval board as I have yet to finalise the rules for the set up. Hexes would be nice and I think I am right in that a base set of Hexon terrain tiles comes in with sufficient pieces to make a playing area of the desired size. I have a further consideration with the naval grid as whilst the War at Sea version uses offset squares I am now leaning towards conventional squares - if only because from an aesthetic viewpoint the ability to have 8 compass headings rather than 6 would be preferable.

In any event, the standard War at Sea grid at 7 x 11 squares is slightly too small both in terms of the number of squares available and the area covered. My bespoke grid for 1/3000th will use 4" squares and I have resigned myself to the fact that I will need a bigger playing surface for naval games. I am thinking on a minimum of 9 x 13 which is 3ft by 4ft 4" - as mentioned previously, that would be as far as I could go.

I have acquired a big chunk of blue cloth at Ikea that has been chopped in two pieces and overlocked at a local dry cleaners. The blue is idea for naval actions - I prefer a royal blue for my seascape - and I shall grid this over the weekend using my trusty black permanent marker. I am confident that it will not take as long to grid as the double sheet in use for the 1/1800th War at Sea models with 8" squares!