Minor Change of Plans

As stated in my last post, we had planned on being camping this weekend.  We live in Southern California which has generally comfortable weather, but is somewhat prone to forest fires in the dry seasons.  Thursday evening a small fire broke out in the hills on the way to the campground we had reservations for.  By Friday afternoon the interstate we had planned on taking was shut down and it looked like the alternate route would be impacted shortly.  Friday at noon the fire was 8,000 acres, by 2 PM on Friday the fire had grown to 14,000.  As I type early Sunday morning it is now 80,000 and within 5 miles of the campsite we had booked.  So as you may have guessed, we stayed home.  Although we thoroughly enjoy camping and haven't gotten out as much as we would like, we're safe at home and upwind of most of the smoke plume (for now).
Staying home means progress on the wargames front though.  Late Wednesday my lovely wife sewed the edges of a small piece of duck cloth.  I then used a template and permanent marker to mark the corners of the hexagons for the map.  There are 9 rows of 8 or 9 hexagons.  Close ups of mat below.

Close up of mat with partially painted miniatures

Mat on coffee table

Template made from 4 pieces of printer paper taped together

Mat on an End Table (How's that for Compact!)

I am satisfied with the outcome of this mat.  I think it will serve me well for the foreseeable future.  I did realize as I was drawing the dots that only a few more rows and I would have had a mat compatible with a compact Commands and Colors map.  I do have enough scrap to make another that would be compatible, assuming I stick with 2" hexes. 

Determined to Get Some Games In

I’m going camping on the beach this weekend and think I’ll have some time for a series of games.  v1.6 seems stable enough that I could probably manage a small campaign over the course of a camping weekend.  I’ve got a red army and a blue army somewhat painted.  Each features 4 regular infantry, 2 cavalry, 2 artillery, 2 dragoon, and 2 irregular units with 4 militia units unassigned to any particular army.  The dragoons, irregulars, and militia are in various states of paint, with some being near completion and others mostly primer gray. 

I have also been busy on the terrain front.  I have digitally designed and printed prototypes for hills, forest, forested hills, 3 types of built-up-areas, a road system, a river system, and the fords/bridges to make the two work together.  Unfortunately, my 3d printer had a malfunction that caused a part to fail.  The part is relatively cheap on its own, but my printer is a few years old, and the newer models can get very good quality at a lower price.  I have convinced myself that if I could sell my existing printer at a reasonable price, I would buy a new printer.  The new printer should be less likely to nickel and dime me on repairs like my current printer does.  I’ve been attempting to sell my printer, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a market for used printers in my area.  I’m also somewhat concerned that I’m going to lose my printing space in a few months.

Against my better judgement, and ignoring previous experience, I purchased a small piece of green duck cloth and am in the process of sewing the edges to prevent unraveling.  After that is complete I will be marking the corners of the hexes with a permanent marker.  Hopefully there will be enough contrast to make the hexagon pattern easily visible.  I had previously used a large sheet of paper and marked the corners with a pencil, but have decided I’m ready for something a little more permanent.  We’ll see if it turns out better than my last experiment.  Click “Hex Grid Failure” if you want to read about that debacle. 

Wargaming on the Beach

My wife and I own a teardrop camper.  It's not much more than a queen size bed, TV, air conditioner, and a few shelves inside.  Outside there's a galley with a small refrigerator, sink, and propane stove.  It's a mini camper, but so far it's been mega fun.  To see more about the camper and our trips, visit my wife's blog at .minicampermegafun.blogspot.com

Our Mini Camper and Chairs

Morning View:  Ocean Between Campers

We took advantage of the three day weekend, stretched it to a four day weekend, and went camping on the beach.  I thought it might be fun to try to get a short game in one morning.  I generally fish early morning, but I don't have saltwater gear yet so I brought my wargame.  It fit in a shoebox with room to spare.  If that's not the definition of portability, I don't know what is.  On Saturday morning, I set up a "mountain pass" type map and used what I could remember of a One Hour Wargames  scenario.  I clearly didn't have something set up right though.  Blue started with two units and Red started with all six.  Blue's reinforcements arrived at the end of the second turn, but because of where the objectives were placed, Blue still got to the pass before any Red units could get through.  Red did make an attempt to flank around, but was repelled.  After the failed flank attack, Red's fate was sealed.  I did try to play on Sunday, but it was too windy and the felt mat kept blowing around and throwing units to the sand.

Late Game:  Blue Presses the Attack

Things Learned:

I think I made a workable solution to "combined attacks".  In the current rules after being attacked by a singe unit, the attacked unit would roll to resolve any hits.  This could result in that unit retreating, which would put them out of range for melee combat that could have otherwise happened.  To solve this all units who can attack the defending units roll, and hits are tallied.  Then the defending unit rolls one dice for each unit that tallied a hit.  The defender could then take one dice as their result.  This has a tendency to give the defenders a much higher chance of rolling "retreat with -1 hit", but also results in much bloodier combat as it is possible to attack with multiple units.

I need to design a general unit.  I haven't decided if the general would increase dice rolls by one for attackers, or remove hits, or both.  

I need to work some way of locking units into melee if the defending unit does not retreat.  I tried a quick "fighting retreat" scenario, but it was very easy for the retreating army, as they could always move towards their objective, even if they were engaged in melee the prior turn.