Tag: Pub Battles

DIY guidelines

These guidelines are newly created and will be used for a series of videos. I will update it as playtesting necessitates.

1) Pick a map.

2) Pick the defenders LoC (must be a major road leading off an edge).

3) Pick two enemy armies, the larger number of blocks is the attacking army.

The defender may set up anywhere beyond one mounted move of the enemy’s edge.

The defender must prevent the attacker from being within command range of their LoC at the end of the day.

Either side may withhold any number of Corps (or individual dragoons) to enter on later turns (specify Corps and turn) as reinforcements. On the appropriate turn the chit is added to the cup. The enters on a road either on its own edge (E), or one of the side edges (S). The first reinforcement drawn from the cup enters by road along which ever edge was specified. Once a Corps enters on a side, that side becomes the edge that all friendly S Corps enter on, and any subsequent Enemy Commands  with an S must enter on the opposite edge. A side without a road may not be selected. If no eligible side remains, the reinforcement must use its E side. 

Variation: Meeting engagement. Both Armies armies enter on their home edge along one road on turn one in column, unless specified to enter later as a reinforcement.

Variation: Fog can be determined to reduce visibility to 1/3 foot move. If you want to use fog, roll a die each turn before the chit draw. If you roll the less than the turn number the fog clears. If a 5 or 6 is rolled on turn 1, there is no fog.

Note that this could create a very different Gettysburg, even if the historical Armies and home edges were used. Brandywine could find Washington on the Pratzen!

War Campaign: Play the same armies, keep track of victories. Play 5 battles. After the first battle, the winner of the previous battle is the attacker. If the defender is a larger army by number of non HQ and detachment blocks, it must remove complete HQs until it has the smaller force.

Even if you own just one scenario and map, this should provide numerous variations.

Let me know what you think, or if you think I have missed something!

The new Terrain rules

Pub Battles is experimenting with new terrain rules. There is no longer a one third movement reduction for entering cover. Terrain effects on combat and LOS have not changed, and road movement rates still apply.

Kriegspiel, from which Pub Battles was modeled, does not use varied terrain costs. It was felt unnecessary.

Once again, in Pub Battles the chit draw moderates everything. Are you racing your opponent to a a critical point on the map? You are not moving a squad of men across a street, you are ordering 4-6,000 men, horses, and equipment, over a mile across uncertain terrain with unknown enemy countermoves. Yes, terrain will factor into the equation of how far the block of troops can move, but it is only one of many limiting factors.

Are the orders clear and understood? What if there are considerations or recent developments the commander was unaware of? What if there is some terrain obstruction that does not appear on any map? What if a nearby enemy formation gets the jump on you? How will you react?

How can a playable game possibly model all of those circumstances? Does it make sense to pick out one factor (terrain) and make it the only consideration? Terrain is often selected because it is the most obvious, but does that make it best?

I submit that the chit draw does a better job of regulating movement and maneuver between two armies. Of course, all this discussion is merely discussion. How does it play?

When Command Post Games first asked me to play test this, I thought “What the hey? No way! This won’t work! “Try it” they said. So I tried it.

Having played many games this way, I can assert with confidence that it plays more smoothly, allows more maneuvering, and that it doesn’t “break” anything. Switching formations in and out of march column, as well as changing facing, still costs the same. A block still has to be within command range if it wishes to contact an enemy block. All you are really gaining is an additional third in most situations, yet I feel as if the training wheels have been taken off. Without this change, terrain and maneuver players are often reduced to moving one third of a movement stick. Now I call playing that way “The Battle of Molasses”

2nd Second Bull Run: “I’ll expect you to beat them.” Playtest Demo

Longstreet’s entrance on Day 1.

I chose this quote from Jackson to A.P. Hill, because it defines the Second Bull Run at all levels. Lee was expecting Jackson to beat them as well, and only reluctantly sent Longstreet back through the Manassas Gap at midday on the second day. This resulted in the Union rout and defeat only because Pope refused to believe that Longstreet was a threat until too late.

This is Day 1. Longstreet is pulled back behind Manassas Gap in the evening. On day 2 he can enjoy an easy victory if Jackson can hold out. If he chooses to rejoin the battle, then regular victory conditions apply.

The Second Day gets sorted.

And Now I have completed the Second Day. Spoiler Alert! Don’t read any further unless you want to see who wins before you see the video. I have amped up my editing game, and have managed to put together a quicker and clearer video! Only about 4 minutes of your life you’ll never get back!

This game features the first time I’ve video’d the second Day of the battle. This is where it gets really interesting and gives a unique feel because Lee must decide whether or not to bring Longstreet back through the Manassas Gap. He certainly doesn’t want to if he doesn’t have to, but if Jackson can’t hold out another day without Longstreet’s Corps…

If you want to recapture the Confederate success, just act like Pope, as though Longstreet skedaddled and ain’t ever coming back. Send everyone against Jackson, and totally ignore Longstreet. This is especially effective if the Union is already weakened from the first day’s fighting, and NEEDS to believe that Longstreet ain’t coming back.