The Battle of Phelt-Underfoote

    'He stared through the morning mist at the generic enemy force arrayed before him, those Fossestershire dogs, they dare to meet us in open battle!. Well, he thought i will soon put paid to that notion. I shall give them such a test, such a lesson in the rules of warfare that they shall return north from whence they marched knowing once and for all how warfare should work. He strode to the crest of 'booksundercloth' hill to get a closer look at the foe. Yes he thought to himself, soon they will understand the system, scenario or no they will know how strong the rules of war truly are!. 'Sargent!' he barked over his shoulder, 'Fetch the ruler and the dice, its time to give these dogs what for!!'.

     As you may have gathered from the paragraph of bollocks above i have played another test game of my much changed rules for the 'absolutely not the thirty years English civil wars of religion' period i have been tinkering with. The result so far is designed to be simple and quick to play as gaming time is very limited at the mo but still retaining a tactical edge and most importantly being really FUN to play!!. The system is not unlike my Blood,guts and rampant hex system, just missing the hex board and with more 'period' (i use that term loosely) features such as troops having to reload as an action and running the risk of being out of ammo for example.

   For this game i decided not to link it to the ongoing campaign (just in case the rules were crap!) and thew together two armies from my newly re-re-re-based forces (now on single stands per unit) for a generic dust up!. I placed a basic lay out on the table, deployed and got stuck in!. So without further prattle we (thats myself and the ever present Wronghammer plastic re-enactment society) present to you:

               THE GENERIC TABLETOP BATTLE OF PHELT-UNDERFOOTE AND BOOKSUNDERCLOTH HILL!!

(a scenario-less dust up of dice, minis and the spirit of lineemupfornoapparentreason gaming!!!)

The view from Booksundercloth hill of the battlefield.

The armies of Fossestershire (to the north on grey/white bases) and Crivenshire (southwards on blue/white) array for no apparent reason!. Note the smaller playing area for these rules.

 The Fossestershire right of Irregulars and K.E.S riders

Over on the left is the strike force of Knights and the dreaded Wazzockshire Red riders on their giant carnivorous and rather grumpy goats!. Skirmishers lurk near the woods.

 For their part Crivenshire form a strong center of Kings Regulars flanked by sponsored Irregulars, Jarkin royal guards stand in reserve.

cannon stand watch on Booksundercloth hill screened by skirmishers.

The battle begins as the Fossestershire irregulars advance toward the Crivenshire guns, who waste little time firing a volley of lead across their ranks as the Skirmishers advance to take the scrub to the flank!.

The rest of the Fossestershire force advances using the tree line for cover.

A detachment of irregulars are ordered to stem the advance!.

 The Crivenshire skirmishers in the scrub are targeted by the Fossestershire irregulars who pepper them with close range musket fire!.

Forcing the skirmishers to flee the field!.

 On the other side of the field the Red riders slam into the irregulars who are too surprised to get off a volley before they close!, the Jarkin move up in support of their smaller kin.

The K.E.S rider squadron fly over the trees to attack the Royal Regulars, who stand in the face of the charge.

The same cant be said for the Irregulars who beat an orderly retreat from the rabid goats!.

 As the irregulars of both sides engage in a bitter fire fight the cannons roar!.

Sending one enemy unit running in panic!.

 On the Crivenshire left the Jarkin charge the Fossestershire knights!

 Only for the Reds to plunge into their flank!.

The combined onslaught proving too much for the Royal troops who turn and run!.

 Things are going better in the center for the forces of Crivenshire as the Regulars repel the K.E.S. riders.

Which causes the last unit of irregulars to panic and flee!.

 The Crivenshire center has done its job!

However so has the strike force on the Fossestershire left while skirmishers still lurk in the woods unnoticed!.

The skirmishers prove their worth with a volley from the trees sending the regulars running!.

The remaining Crivenshire forces form up in a defensive position but their nerve breaks!. They throw down their weapons and surrender before the inevitable charge hits home.

   So a victory for the north!, but thats not really the point of all this. I am finally at a point where the rules are feeling right. Nice and simple, combat is never a foregone conclusion even if some troops excel at it and the pike and shot troops have to weigh up the odds between sniping at a distance or advancing to close range under fire where their shooting is far more deadly. Add to that the fact that they have to reload the turn after firing the need for that 'optimal' volley adds another tactical edge. The game also has an army nerve system so at any point an army may quit the field if things go badly for them.

All in all i'm a happy little camper!........'till next time!.