A Tangled Mass: Cannon Fire. . .

Another Menzel engraving, this time featuring Prussian horse artillery in action.

In keeping with simplicity and ease, here are the rules for artillery that Young Master Paul and I use currently.

Cannon Fire (D6 per gun.)

Close Range -- D6 = # of hits

Medium -- D6 –3 = # hits

Long -- D6 –4 = # hits

Once again, very simple and easy to recall without straying into overly complex territory. We do not differentiate between different sizes or calibers, and at close range cannon are assumed to be firing canister, case shot, or similar.

We use the usual saving throw table here too with each figure 'hit' allowed to roll a save. Actual kills are recorded on the order-roster sheets that I print out before each game

Although my batteries typically feature two guns and about 13 crew, including a mounted officer, The Young Master and I usually just have one gun and crew each since most of our games have been modestly sized up to this point. As I mentioned in the previous post, available time and cats sort of get in the way when it comes to setting up larger games and leaving them in situ over a long weekend until we can finish things and pack up.

See what you think. Play around with these and feel free to change 'em, as the late, great Donald Featherstone advised, if they're not quite what you're after. Given the time available to us here, I am much more willing to err on the side of playability and ease than might once have been the case many moons ago.

-- Stokes

Comments

tradgardmastare said…

Thanks for sharing your ideas with us. Simplicity is certainly the way to go in my humble opinion. The idea that rules can be carried in the head is a great step forward for all of us who have poured over playsheets and wrestled with rules. I think it also adds an important dimension when playing with those who may be the next generation of the hobby too. All the best with these and the games Stokes and keep them coming.

12:59 AM

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…

Thank you! I think I recall reading somewhere that simple sorts of games with basic rules that can be recalled easily (draughts/checkers for instance) are more successful for players than the overly complex variety. That could have been something Rick Priestley and John Lambshead advised in Tabletop Wargames: A Designer and Writers' Handbook, but I cannot swear to it. The old WRG 1685-1845 rules, while they had some interesting features, come to mind with regards to confusing complexity. In any case, reducing the amount of times one must refer to and interpret rules certainly helps to keep things fun and moving along. Thank you again for your kind, encouraging words.

Best Regards,

Stokes

8:02 AM

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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