A Battle In Germania Using Three Ages Of Rome Rules

 Some time ago I finished painting another batch of 8 Foundry Early Imperial Romans, seen here.

With these new recruits to the legions mustered in to a collection that's either Foundry or Victrix, I decided that I had enough figures to try a battle revisiting Philip Garton's Three Ages of Rome (3AR) rules published by Helion.

These are fairly simple rules, mostly quite clear and self-explanatory, with army lists for the republican, early imperial and late imperial eras of Roman history.   The rules are written with 15mm figures in mind, but can be adapted easily for 28s by increasing movement and missile ranges by 50%.  There are simple command rules, loss of cohesion instead of removing figures as casualties, and no buckets of dice to throw.

Wulf Stinkig had rallied the men of the Fritzi tribe and their allies, and after raiding and much annoying behaviour, had drawn out a substantial Roman force.  Wulf's force includes two veteran units of massed infantry, two trained mass infantry and one trained unit of skirmishers, a raw unit of mass infantry and a raw unit of javelin armed skirmishers.  His co-commander is his brother in law, Grull the Bald (the little axe markers are to remind me which are the veteran units).

Opposing Wulf is the veteran general Bulbus Nasus, who has spent the last five years in Germania after an unfortunate dalliance with Caesar's niece Vuluptua.   He is assisted by Crismus Bonus, a hard headed centurion. Bulbus has four veteran units of massed infantry legonaires, a unit of trained skirmishers with slings, and a unit of hastily raised auxiliary archers, rated raw.  He also has a unit of trained massed cavalry tucked away behind some woods, Maximus style, and commanded by a young and eager tribune,  Caius Insalubrius.

Wulf Stinkig gives a long oration, which can be summed up as variations on "Slit Their Gizzards".  3AR has a pre-battle rule for oracles and orations, which can help or hinder each side, but in my haste to get started I forgot about it until too late.  I guess there were no priests or soothsayers available.

The Romans take a cautious stance, opting for Hold orders.  Wulf and his warriors rush forward.  Movement in 3AR is generous, 20cm for massed troops in the open, and it recommends adding 50% to the movement rates for 28mm figures.   This brought the Germans almost to charge distance.  They take a round of sling stones and arrows, and the greenhorn archers do some damage to the one raw unit of warriors.  In the Roman move (order of movement depends on chit or card draw to activate various commanders and their troops), the missile troops pull back and two units of legionaires under Bulbus rush forward.

Both sides are locked in combat, but Grull the Bald's veterans are coming up to support their comrades, while Wulf sends his skirmishers through the woods.  They flank a unit of Roman auxiliaries, which hold their own, just barely, personally led by Crismus, while the raw archers come through again, keeping a unit of German javelin throwing maniacs at bay.

As Grull leads his men forward, the young firebrand Insalubrius leads his cavalry forward, making some speech about how if you find yourself in Elysium, then you've failed your saving throw.

Crunch!  They crash into the flank of some German veterans, who are pushed back in Disorder.  In 3AR being flanked or even attacked in the rear isn't necessarily fatal.   In either case, the defending unit takes a -1 on its saving throws if any hits are scored.  In the case of the auxiliaries above, they survived several rounds of combat with the skirmishers on their flank.  What 3AR does well, I think, is that once your units get into the fight, it's hard for them to recover their cohesion.  Adverse results can cause Disorder, which is bad, Disruption, which is worse, and Rout, which is worser.   Routing units can provoke Impetuous Pursuit in the victor.   While there is a rally phase, it's harder to recover cohesion, especially with enemy units nearby.

Wulf Stinkig has seen enough.  Most of his units have lost some level of cohesion, and he hasn't really scratched the Romans.  He orders a general withdrawal, so his brave Fritzii can live and fight another day.   The Germans stream off the field.

One German unit is caught front and rear and is destroyed, the only loss of the game.  3AR might seem a little bloodless to some, I found that most combats end with, at most, one level of cohesion lost (Sound to Disordered, Disordered to Disrupted).  However, as noted above, it gets progressively harder to rally troops in the thick of it, and so you can sense when a battle is lost or won fairly quickly.

So Bulbus Nasus is happy because he can claim a victory and he has some captives to sell to the slavers.   Caius Insalubrius will be mentioned in dispatches, burnishing his career.  Wulf and Grull will retire and try their luck another day.

All in all, I like 3AR, it's a fairly simple set of mechanics with army lists that cover a large swath of ancient history.   It doesn't require throwing buckets of dice, which I like.  Most melees are decided with each side throwing one or two d6 to hit, and then throwing saves, with a 4 on 1d6 always being the magic number after modifiers.  The rules for command and control are simple, with three basic postures for each wing or command of an army:  Hold, Attack, Withdraw.  Commanders have radii where they can influence their units, and any commander designated Heroic can add a +1 modifer to a unit in combat on the first round, with some risk of being killed or captured.   So no mechanics that couldn't be taught to someone in twenty minutes, and a conclusion within two or three hours, makes these rules suitable for club play.

I'm a sucker for rules and I admire how Helion supports the hobby with a line of rules for various periods, though they are probably eclipsed somewhat by the Osprey blue series of rule books.   Philip Garton knows his onions, this is one of three sets of rules for ancients that he's written and published with Helion, which I respect.  3AR would be a good way to introduce folks to ancients gaming, though I suspect that if I wanted to find opponents, I'd be better off putting more time into learning Midgard, which seems to be as well suited to ancients as it is to fantasy.  Of course, there are also the TFL Infamy, Infamy! rules for the early imperial period, and my copy just arrived, so stay tuned for more struggles in Germania!

Blessings to your die rolls!

MP+

Napoleonic Frenchmen Of Varying Statures

Hello friends:

I've been terribly neglecful reading your blogs and updating my own.  September has flown by in a blur as work resumed.  The church is like school, it all kicks off in September and while I'm enjoying my work and the people I serve, this year I'm painfully aware that I no longer have youthful energy reserves to draw on.  Perhaps some of that has bled into my hobby time, though I have been working hard on some projects in my spare time.  I think often of retirement, it sounds more and more attractive.

I had a long conversation with my son this summer abour his experience with ADHD and how he's managed it successfully as a young adult.  He startled me when he looked at me and said "Dad, where do you think I got it from?"  I've never been diagnosed, but I now realize that I've had something akin to ADHD all my life.  My attention span can be short, I get distracted easily, and while I can be good at what I do (I have a few post graduate diplomas and a CV to prove it), to be successful I have to concentrate hard on one task and when it's done I'm exhausted.  Not to bore you with my personal life, but in hobby terms I find that I can overload myself with projects, ping ponging (SQUIRREL!) from one period and scale to another.  I've learned some coping skills - put one project in a box and keep it in one place, and don't let my workbench become chaotic.  Plan a unit and paint it.  Decide on one rules set that I want to learn and play.  It doesn't always work, but it helps.

So this September I decided to take a break from my SYW and WW2 naval projects and return to Napoleonics.  Because I've enjoyed Sharp Practice, I wanted a small force that I could play with, and because my mate James has a lot of Bavarians and kaiserlicks, I thought that I couldn't go wrong with French.   I started with a set of Victrix 28mm French infantry.  Not my first time with Victrix, but I won't lie, these fellows are tricky and you have to concentrate on getting the right arms with the right bodies.   Had to hunt for instructions online.   Not great.  Then I decided that I would paint a test batch with white undercoat, which is a change from my normal practice of using black.   After all, the base of an official French uniform is white, n'est ce pas?

It was a good idea, but the white undercoat exposed a lot of places where I'd missed a spot, whereas black undercoat covers a multitude of sins.  Also it's harder painting a dark colour like French blue on white.   So back to black with the next batch.

I'm not unhappy about how these lads turned out, but I realized that I really don't know a lot about what a French soldier of the period carried.  These figures have a lot of gear that I really couldn't identify - canteens?  map cases?  matchstick cases?  cheeseboxes?  Zut alors!  So I just guessed.  Anyway they're done and it was a good exercise.  When the mood strikes me, I'll assemble another dozen of these fellows.

Since I had my French palette out, I decided that I would revisit a pile of 6mm fellows that I printed some years back, when I still was doing 3D prints in resin (glad those days are over, lessons learned).  These strips are 6mm figures from MC Miniatures.   As you can see, the bayonets are fragile and a lot are missing, but en masse I think they'll look ok.

The method is simple, black undercoast, light grey drybrush, then blue and red for the coats, white for the crossbelts, and then flesh, gunmetal for the muskets, black for the shakos and copper for the shako plates.  The pom poms were the fun bit I allowed myself at the end and required a steady hand.

Now off to the basing depot with them.  For the 28s I think i'll base them four to my usual 2inch square MDF base and for the wee lads, I'll glue two strips to my standard rectangular bases for 6mm Naps.  I have a lot of 6mm French in metal already done, but I think I'll use these printed stands to represent multiple elements in a regiment - four to a regiment for Sam Mustafa's LaSalle, and two to a regiment for General D'Armee 2.   Of course, for larger games such as Blucher, it will just be one stand per regiment or brigade.   It will be fun to try once I get them based.

However, my games table is ready for Imperial Romans and Germans to kick off (SQUIRREL!) so more on that soon I hope.

As always, I'm grateful to you for reading this.  Be well and blessings to your brushes.

MP+

y.   

Skytrex Coastal Freighter and 3D Print Trawler for Torpedoes and Tides

Hello friends:

There's been more activity in the shipyards and recently two more 1/300 scale ships have sailed to join my collection for gaming with the Torpedoes and Tides rules.

I ordered two of the freighter models from Skytrex from their Cruel Seas line and now have one painted.    Nice kits, a resin hull with metal superstructure, funnel, lifeboats, and other bits.   I used green painter's tape to mark off the upper white section of the hull and gave it the usual weathering treatment.   The funnel marking is of my own design.   I haven't given my commercial ships any flags because they are equal opportunity targets. 

Also finished is an armed merchant trawler which I found on Thingverse.  Do a search there for Cruel Seas and you'll find quite a few useful models.   The designer says this is 1/300 scale, and I have no idea  if it is, it looks rather big to my eye.  It looks a close enough match to photos of the Isles class trawlers of the RN, so it will do as an escort vessel.   I gave it a quick paint job to suggest the Western Approaches pattern, and found some Skytrex metal crew and guns.   The mast is made from copper wire.  There are no depth charges modelled but she could usefully represent an ASW or sweeper vessel on the table top.    Hopefully she'll give the E Boat skippers something to think about.

I must get back to T&T, my Canadian Fairmille crews need to redeem themselves.

Thanks as always for looking.  

Cheers and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Schlaup's Farm: A Seven Years War Sharp Practice Game

It's been a while since I took out the Too Fat Lardies Sharp Practice rules, and I wanted to give them a try with some Seven Years War figures, and they worked surprisingly well.   I was also reminded of how well the chit/card format works for a solo game.

I dipped into my Prussian and Russian collection to put two small forces together.   I didn't use any points, just picked two small forces that seemed appropriate for the Seven Years' War kleine krieg.

The Prussians got a light cannon, a group of 8 hussar skirmish cavalry, a group of six jaeger rifle armed light infantry, and two groups of musketeer line infantry.  They had four Big Men: a Lvl 3 in overall command, a Lvl 2 with the cannon, a Lvl 1 w the line infantry, and a Lvl 2 with the Jaegers.

The Russians got a group of 8 hussar skirmish cavalry, a group of six musket armed skirmishers (Pandours), three groups of 8 musketeer line infantry.   They had three Big Men: a Lvl 1 with the hussars, a Lvl 2 with the line infantry, and a Lvl 3 in overall command.

After Turn 2 some of the opposing forces are on the table, shattering the peace of the Schlaup Farm and its inhabitants. Prussians on the left side.  I wish I knew why I insisted on fighting end to end and not side to side.   I randomly selected the Prussians as defenders so they get to deploy a little further forward from the jump off points.

The two opposing groups of hussars looked at each other and growled.  It was the Prussians who got the first card and elected to charge at the canter so they catch the Russians standing.   Since the Russian hussars are classed as irregular cavalry I thought about giving them the evade option but as I read SP, that is only allowed to troops classified in the lists as skirmishers.  So it goes badly, the Prussians lose 2 men and their Big Man is wounded, going to a Lvl 0, but the Russians lose half their 8 men and are thrown back with lots of shock.  The Prussian hussars on the left are by Front Rank, I don't have any idea who made the orange chaps on the right, some of my earliest painted figures.  Falcon, maybe?  Dunno.

Scharf's Rifles arrive and take up position behind a stone wall, which I count as light cover because it's only breast high.   This was my first time using these figures and this troop type.  In SP their rifles take 2 turns to reload but outrange muskets by 12", so they are useful troops best employed at long range.  They do have the evade characteristic which is handy because they are few in number, and a 6 figure group is more vulnerable to shock than an eight figure.   In SP, these troops can reduce their reload time to 1 action (the action cost for smoothbore muskets) instead of the usual 2 using the Tap Reload rule, which states that "This is a poor choice in the long-term as it causes damage to the rifling on their weapon, however, in extremis, it may be an attractive option" (p. 43).  However, the rules don't state what effect this damage might have and how long before it takes effect.   Probably a factor in a campaign game.  These are Foundry figures as featured in my previous post, and they are having their maiden action.

More light infantry action.   The Russian jaegers (I'm calling them pandours) take up position behind a stone wall and await the Prussian line which are slowly making their way forward through a muddy field.   Unlike the Prussian jaegers, the pandours are musket armed, so their only advantage on the table is that they are classed as skirmishers and can also evade.   It was a mistake leaving them to face the Prussian line alone.  Even with the benefit of light cover from the stone wall they are outgunned six muskets to sixteen, with no range advantage.  I should have tucked them inside the farmhouse, but they might have been lost to me from a bad looting test - quite likely, really, given that these are rough and wild troops.  

One thing I like about SP is the random events, which can occur if three command cards or chits are drawn.  In this case, a random event happened to the Prussian line infantry.  Their Lvl 1 Big Man stepped in something awful and, since he is evidently a pomdaded and perfumed sort of fellow, his Command Rating fell from 1 to 0.  He would need to get to the courtyard, find a well, and wash.   I got a good snicker out of that.

As mentioned, the pandours should never have been left that far forward.   They inflict a little shock on the advancing Prussians and their stinky leader, but the Prussians stop, present, and unleash a first volley that kills two pandours and sends the rest reeling back with lots of shock.  So a lesson learned.

 

But what about the Russian line infantry?  They were stolidly advancing up the centre of the table.  The Prussian light cannon got a few shots in, killing a few and causing shock, but according to the Russian SYW army list I was using, Russian line have the "Stoic Serfs" characteristic, which allows them to "ignore the first point of shock for each round of fire received or round of fisticuffs".  A very useful ability that rings true to accounts I've read of battles like Kunersdorf (which had its anniversary ysterday!).

So the Russian line continued to advance at a slight oblique towards the stone wall held by the jaegers, and being careful not to show their flank to the hussars, who in turn were reluctant to face that mass of bayonets.   

At this point I stopped taking photos so I'll briefly describe the outcome.  The pandours fell back and were out of the fight.  The Russian Lvl 3 Big Man was lightly wounded trying to rally them.  Meanwhile the Russian line infantry pushed up to the wall, firing at the evading jaegers and killing two of them.   Their advance carried two of the three groups in the formation over the wall but the third group was now separated from their comrades by the right angle of the wall, so I ruled that they were broken off from their formation.  Leutnant Stinky, having disposed of the pandours, broke off one of his two groups and along with the cannon they made life miserable for the exposed group of Russian musketeers, which lost three men and took a lot of shock.

The depleted Russian hussars thought they might sneak around the barn and catch their nemesis in the rear, but the cards went against them, the hunters became the hunter, and in a second melee the Russians lost two more men without doing any damage.  The survivors were out of the fight.  The Prussian hussars had nothing between them and the Russian deployment point, so they galloped up, captured the cart of fodder and vodka, and with the Russian morale rapidly collapsing, I called it a day.

Things I learned:

1) I was reminded how good SP is for solo play.  As long as I can play a complete turn, I can leave it and come back to it when time permits without forgetting a unit that hasn't moved.

2) I use chits but I really need to make some playing cards, the chit pull is awkward and the way I've painted the MDF chits, they tend to stick together.  Also, I allowed myself to put the Tiffin chit back in the cup if it came up too quickly and only apply it the second time.

3) Light infantry and skirmishers are fun to use but the caveats described above apply.  They are too vulnerable to be left in the open.

4) Cannon are fun but don't expect too much of them.  Rolling ten dice is a pleasant experience, and it will cause some damage, but with two actions to reload and one to lay the gun to get the extra dice, it means that a cannon will at best fire every second turn.

5) Formations, formations, formations.   Two, or better yet, three groups of lined infantry in formation, ideally with a subordinate leader to help reduce shock, are terrifying to face if handled properly, and their first fire is a veritable Death Star.   However, they are easily disrupted by bad terrain.

6) Don't forget that a Big Man needs to spend a Command Action to activate a group or formation he's with.   It's not automatic.   It was one of those details I'd forgotten from previous games.

7) A little terrain goes a long way.  I think the table I set up had a good mix of terrain to troops.

One final thing, I mentioned that I was using Sharp Practice army lists for the SYW and yes, I have lists for the Russians and Prussians but I'm blessed if I know where they came from.  If you'd like them, let me know in the comments and I'll send them to you.

Cheers and blessings to your die rolls!  MP+

New Grenadiers and Jaegers for Der Alte Fritz

I have a little ritual when I finish painting a horse and musket era unit.  I like to "muster it in" to the army I'm currently working on, and so, having shown you the Prussian grenadiers finished in my previous post, I wanted to stage a little parade with their compatriots from IR3 Anhalt Dessau.  Together they will represent the 3/6 Von Kleist Converged Grenadier battalion, which is drawn up for inspection here by Der Alte Fritz.

Frederick and his glittering staff watch the regiment pass in review.  As a converged grenadier battalion, they would not have carried any colours.  Almost all of these figures are by Foundry, a few of the staff are from the Front Rank / Gripping Beast line.

A six stand unit in 28mm is large for the average table, to be sure, but it's my preferred unit size and works well for smaller battles.  For a larger fight, I use three stands to represent a foot regiment and two stands to represent cavalry, so it works.  Here Frederick has the regiment gathered for an inspiring speech, in which he calls them a parcel of rogues and tells them to earn their laurels in the thickest press of the battlefield, etc etc.

The King's eye is caught by a grenadier answering the call of nature.

"Sirrah, a grenadier should know better than to be caught in an exposed position!"

"Yes, sire, but rest assured I fight as fiercely as I piss!"

"Hmm, should I flog this rascal or promote him?"

Frederick pauses to chat with two pioneers and urges them to keep their axes sharp and clean.

Next on his itinerary, the King watches a demonstration of light infantry tactics by a newly raised regiment of Jaegers zu Fuss.  Captain Scharf of the Jaegers puts his green coated men through their paces.

The King wonders if hiding and skulking behind walls is quite becoming of soldiers.   However, he is soon impressed by the sharp crack of their rifles.  "Perhaps they will be useful against those verdamnt Croats!"

Historically there wouldn't be much call for light troops in a game depicting a pitched battle.  However, a skirmish game, especially one set in the kleine krieg with jaegers, pandours, cossacks and hussars cries out for a unit like ... Scharf's Rifles.   OK, I'll get my coat.

So these jaegers, like the grenadiers, are Foundry figures are painted mostly using Foundry triad system paints.

Many thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Of All The World's Brave Heroes, There's None That Can Compare To The Prussian Grenadiers!

 Some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules 

Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.

But of all the world's brave heroes, there's none that can compare.

With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to the Prussian Grenadiers.

Apologies to any British grenadiers out there, but it seems a good song to celebrate finally finishing these lads.  They are the second half of an order to Wargames Foundry in the UK last year (currently my go-to range for the Seven Years War), but the poor fellows got tucked away half painted in preparation for our move last November, and I've finally dug them out of a box and pushed them over the finish line.

These brave fellows are painted to represent the grenadiers of the Von Retzow regiment, or the Grenadier Garde, as per Kronoskaf.   Together with a contingent of grenadiers I painted last year, they will form the 3/6 Von Kleist converged grenadier regiment.  Once I finish a skirmish currently occupying the table, I'll post a parade photo of all the grenadiers assembled.

Extremely terrifying and competent NCO.

Pioneer.  He came in a set of Prussian grenadier characters.  I've been trying my hand at painting eyes, he looks like he has the thousand yard stare going!

Another character figure.  Private Horst is falling out to do what we all have to do sometime.   A fun little vignette figure to tuck away on the battlefield.  He'll probably catch Frederick's eye and get a tongue lashing!

Very happy to get these fellows finished and hopefully christened in battle soon, where they will doubtless fare as poorly as all first time units do!

Cheers, thanks for looking, and blessings to your brushes! MP+

What A Tanker! Skytrex 1/300 Scale Tanker for Torpedoes and Tides

When I posted pics of this model on my Bluesky social media feed, my friend James called it "the scummiest vessel he'd ever seen", a nice tribute to Stan Rogers and to my intention to paint this Skytrex model as a hardworking little tanker.   And yes, this post's title is a little joking reference - IYKYK as the yutes like to say.

Not much more to say about this model, it's from the Skytrex Cruel Seas range, 1/300 scale models that work well with the Torpedoes and Tides rules I like.  It's straight out of the box, resin hall with some metal bits, no mods, just some heavy drybrushing and some rust effects to make it look like the tramp steamer she is.

When Joy and I were waiting to disembark in Vancouver last summer at the end of our Disney cruise, a little oiler barge came alongside our ship to fuel it, and I was amused at the contrast between this working vessel and the pristine cruise ship, so i tried to capture that memory here.

No flags, I want this ship to be a target for E boats or RN torpedo boats.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+