Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Planning Considerations for Germantown, 1777

Wow it's been awhile since I've posted!  No kidding.  While that's not indicative of a decrease in gaming adventures, I have to admit blogging about all of the games was not in the cards given the last month.  October saw a plethora of games on the table including Field of Battle 3 (which we loved!), Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells, and a few other games.

Looking to rectify the dearth of posts, I thought I would post on preparations and planning considerations for this year's Christmas MEGAGAME: Germantown, 1777.  Celebrating the completion of my 15mm AWI project and last November's outstanding Germantown Hold the Line game put on by Bryan L at the "Fall In" convention, getting this tense battle on the table with my closest friends became priority #1 as the summer winded down.

Uninvited Lunch Guests

Long time readers of this blog will remember some of the titanic battles fought in the name of MEGAGAME megalomania including the Ponryi Station 1st May Collective Battle, Tassa Junction in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and of course Aspern Essling last year.  I aim to put on entire battles that are at least memorable to me and the other generals playing in the game.  Germantown, and the AWI, have long been favorites of mine.  So with 2020 still gracing us with gobs of unpleasantness, I felt Germantown would be perfect for this year's MEGAGAME.

Frustrations

Some of the best games I've played recreating this fight could easily be described as "operational" level where I'm taking on the role of Washington, Knyphausen (thank you, Norm - still an unforgettable experience even if the damned rebels came through the back door on us) or another Division or Wing commander, and so the challenge of the rules, of the terrain, and of the very scale of the battle itself become questions to be answered and problems to be solved if we're to have a good and proper battle.

Rules

I've never struggled so much with the question of rules in a large multi player game before. The AWI is such an unusual conflict where the different theaters and campaigns take on different flavors.  Some battles like Crooked Billet, Matson's Ford, and Edge Hill or Whitemarsh are appropriately played with smaller rules sets aimed at a much more tactical decision making.  Games like "Guns of Liberty" or "Rebels and Patriots" are perfect for such games where a company of troops makes the difference on the field of battle.

For larger, stand up engagements like Brandywine, Germantown, or Monmouth, you need a rules engine that can handle large battles without bogging the game down with too much detail.  As Lord Howe or His Excellency General Washington, do I care if the Foot Guards or the 6th Pennsylvania are in double-line, line, or some kind of skirmish order?  Probably not.  I'm focusing on avenues of attack, the timing and commitment of reinforcements, and the prioritization of fires.  

Maybe some of my lead Brigades or Divisions are in rough shape, heavily attrited, and in wargame terms ready to be pulled off the line.  Quite frankly, if you're focusing on formations, figure-to-men ratios, and complex calculations, you dont have the bandwidth for the task of command!  You've become a staff officer.  So in light of those general thoughts, I've considered a few rules for the Germantown game which I'll post here and you will see more of in upcoming blog posts:

Norm's Two Flags - One Nation ACW Rules: Norm's rules are ACW rules, but in multiple playtests this past month, I've found them to be a very good fit for my notions of combat during the AWI and Norm has provided all of the changes you would need to use these rules 80 or 90 years before the war for which they were intended.  With rules for smoothbore-armed units, small units, elite units, artillery half-sections, and a wonderful Command and Control system, Norm's "TFON" are a very good fit for Germantown - if you have the time.  Looking at the roughly 20-30 Regiments per side - the question becomes the time it would take to complete the battle and if that is a practical consideration.

Playing Norm's TFON at the Battle of Hubbardton, 1777

Playing Norm's TFON with AWI forces - a match made in heaven

Fields of Honor-AWI:  A set that many of you will not have heard of unless you've followed the Palouse Wargaming Journal or tuned into my blog last month for a "Simple Wargame" experiment of FOH.  I was lucky to pick up a set of them on BoardGameGeek in excellent condition.  (there were copies on ebay for $40!).

FOH is a "dead simple" game that dispenses with much detail for the sake of brevity and scope.  Case in point are the scenarios that accompanied the FOH rules - Monmouth, Brandywine, Guilford Courthouse and Breed's Hill!  All large battles in their own right.  The question - would FOH be "too" simple?  Perhaps not if a sweet spot could be found.  Again, more on this later.  Ken and I have already played a game of FOH with hexes and this game was hypersonic-fast with units being gobbled up left and right due to them failing 1 morale check and evaporating off the table.  But I have a plan...


Black Powder - (sorry Darren) admittedly still one of my favorite rules for tactical, Horse and Musket warfare, a set that is at mostly understood and mostly familiar with most of my group, "slack chowder" (copyright the Duc de Gobin - all rights reserved to their respective owners - no challenge to their status intended) is meant for large battles in a competition type setting.  It is ideal for pickup play and has enough chrome to satisfy requirements for the AWI.  It also has a super convenient OOB for Germantown in the "Rebellion" supplement which I happen to own...

We have not yet played an AWI game with Black Powder but I aim to.  Whether or not it's the game for Germantown?  Not totally sure.  If I was to "bathtub" the units as Brigades of an impressive 6 x stands each, the battlefield would look lovely.  Keeping things at Regimental level on a 6x4 table would be cumbersome and crowded with 60 total regiments on the table and would look more like a Napoleonic battle instead of a AWI fight.


Commands and Colors Tricorne - The American Revolution - Wow this has to be one of my all time favorite AWI games even if I've only played in 3 x battles.  You can check out this epic Battle of Eutaw Springs I played in at Brian's house.  If I'm honest, I've painted and based everything in my collection to play big games of CCT.  While no CCT scenario exists for Germantown, there is enough out there to make one pretty easily.  With my hexmat and dozens and dozens of Regiments, this would be a seriously good time on the table.  But - is it MEGAGAME worthy?  Most CC series games are over quickly.  Really quickly.  If I'm going to invite the whole gang over or to a socially-distant remote location, it wont be any fun if we start at 1100am and the game ends by 1pm!  What's memorable or epic about that?  Except maybe the pizza lunch?

Terrain and Scale

You'll notice that most of these games are hex based games.  Not that I have any particular penchant for hex based games, but in a MEGA GAME that is perhaps one level removed from a Boardgame, I think hexes are perfect for managing forces and speeding up game play.  There is no tedious measuring and no hassle or arguments over terrain.  Players can focus on eating pizza and moving their units.  The challenge becomes getting the terrain right.  Alex has noted that my table with a ground scale of 1" equals 100 yards, we would be able to put the battlefield from the Chew House, through Market Square in Germantown, and to the heights beyond.  Putting hexes down to the TFON scale of 200 yards per hex probably allows a bit more and I'm playing around with the battlefield now to see what will "look" right and "feel" right.  Depending on the rules, combat will likely be adjacent, with players determining whether they want to charge or shoot.  That should at least make the combat look right on the table.  My players will be wing commanders, with one large or multiple small divisions.

So as you can all plainly see - I've got my work cut out for me!  Right now I'm hatching a scheme to play a test game of Germantown using FOH rules with pretty much all of the Regiments that fought in the battle.  Ken and I came up with a "big battle" hybrid system that dispenses with some of the modifiers, reduces firing range of musket armed troops to adjacent and cuts the artillery in half.  I plan on sharing that with you all soon - and will absolutely post the test game from this weekend.  

It's good to be back in the blogosphere!

24 comments:

  1. Thanks for the rule mention Steve. All regiments and FOH, with your tweaks, sounds like a very interesting spectacle.

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    1. No problem Norm. I would not have mentioned if TFON wasnt a serious contender! Thanks for commenting sir!

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    2. Also I'm hoping the game is a grand spectacle. It plays quickly enough to handle the volume of units so let's see how the test game goes!

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  2. When I play FoH on 4" hexes, I treat musketry as adjacent only. Artillery is still ranged. I would give units more than one morale failure before being destroyed but that is my preference only.

    As for ground to hex distance, I think one four-inch hex equaling about 200 yards sounds about right given adjacent musketry and the one battalion frontage per hex.

    Looking forward to seeing your Germantown game.

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    1. Yes Jonathan, Ken and I came to some of those conclusions last weekend and we're keen to try them this weekend with much bigger forces on a somewhat more scaled representation of Germantown.

      Our changes are exactly what you described. I like 2 x hit units also.

      Plus we will be able to reduce the shooting modifiers to 6 instead of 12, and I'm going to point unit labels that have the "actual" listed unit capabilities, instead of applying the modifier. IE British Grenadiers' melee value is "B" or +1, and so on their label I'll list their melee base To Hit as "4" and we can then dispense with the quality modifiers.

      Question - do you keep movement values the same?

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    2. Take a look at my QRS. It shows the movement rate in hexes that I use. Of course, you can change to suit your preferences.

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    3. Jonathan looking at your QRS I'd be so bold as to say we think very much alike. I scribbled some proposed move values down that are identical to your QRS hex values.

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    4. With both of us reaching the same conclusion, the answer must have been obvious! Ha ha!

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  3. Everyone loves a good Megagame and I think German Town is an excellent choice. A nice reward for finishing the AWI armies. I don’t have any useful feedback for rules but I’ll really enjoy the pictures of the game when it hits the table. Good luck with the project! 😀

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    1. Thanks, Stew! Yes everyone loves a good megagame and I love hosting them :) stay tuned, lots more AWI excitement coming.

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  4. Nice to have you back as it were and it has made me realise that it is over a month ago since my last game and AAR. Lockdown 2.0 has taken a lot of the gaming drive from me I'm afraid.

    As for rules, I like BPII and the bath tubbing route, as IMHO they give a good game and one that is not over too quickly. You certainly have a few good options and maybe the playtest will help you decide which route to go down.

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    1. Thanks, Steve. Truthfully, BP are still my favorite H and M rules hands down. Regarding the lockdown and the current situation with the pandemic, this game cant be played at home, per my Mrs, and so I have to find a location suitable for 5 to 6 people! Shes good with up to 1 or 2 other people, but 5 to 6 is too many for my gaming room. I'm going to ask my church to borrow the parish hall!

      We will see re the rules. My hope is for 2021 my group finds a few core sets of rules and sticks to them. A tall order for sure!

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  5. I'm currently painting a large collection of 15mm AWI figs to a high standard. Trying to decide whether to use FOH as my rules system. So I'm really looking forward to your FOH Germantown playtest. I like fast, compact gaming and your blog is one of my favourites!

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    1. Hi Noel,
      I have just finished my AWI 15mm project after 16 years (!) I hope you enjoy some of the posts coming up on this blog as the AWI is in full swing here.

      FOH are very clean and streamlined rules. If you want to play bigger battles, these rules will scratch the itch. I'm glad you have enjoyed the blog and I've missed all you guys over the last month. Watch this space, sir!

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  6. Interesting considerations for the game. Excellent stuff.

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    1. Thank you sir! Stay tuned lots more interesting things coming up soon!

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  7. Interesting hthoughts and discussion. It’ll br good to watch this develop from afar.
    I’m pleased that you returned to blogging!
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James it's certainly good to be back! We have our work cut out for us in getting this mega game to become reality!

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  8. A further thought: you wanted a set of rules to cope with both small and large actions. Since FOH can easily switch to/from hexes and since the number of hits to destroy a unit can be modified to give desired speed of play, relative to battle size, maybe it is a good contender for you?
    I just have some questions about how melee works. Since both sides seem to fight separately (eg not opposed D10 rolls), how does one win a melee? What then happens to the loser? What if there is a melee tie? Can several units simultaneously do a gang-up melee v 1 unit in FOH?

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    1. Noel,
      I'm on the train into work at the moment (and haven't had my morning coffee!) so i dont have the rules in front of me but I think I can answer your questions.

      First, since the combat phase comes after movement, multiple units may attack an individual unit in a hex. The rules give guidance on "stacking" in melee (check in the minis rules section- I can look it up later today when I'm home).

      I believe that in melee both sides roll a D10, apply mods, and the higher roll is the winner. The loser must then pass a morale check at -2 for losing the melee or is destroyed (if playing the base rules, all units take 1 hit and die if they fail their MC). If the loser passes their MC, they retreat 1 hex.
      As far as a melee tie, both units must pass a MC. The rules have clear guidance on what happens in the event of a tie I know that because we had a number if tied melee scores and resolved them with no problems or issues.

      As far as your other comment, I believe you're spot on at least for this battle, it looks like FOH is a very solid contender. Stay tuned you are going to like what I will post further on this!

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    2. When playing with miniatures and allowing multiple hits per unit, I stick with the same process as in firing. That way, each unit may suffer hits rather only on the loser.

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    3. That sounds like a good idea, Jonathan. We will have to test that out this weekend.

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  9. Great analysis Steve - I can see how your thoughts and framing for Germantown to work are being formed.

    No apology for the Slack! required ...I'm just a grumpy old man LOL

    Reading back on the TFON hack, it sounds very plausible.

    Did I read right that you have played FoB3? WOW, glad you enjoyed sir...we must talk :) I'm still trying to find time to get it on the table

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    1. Thanks Darren! The TFON for AWI is outstanding and just what the doctor ordered! Especially after eating a bowl of slack chowder ;)
      Yes sir! Played FOB 3 and really enjoyed it looking forward to playing more in the new year once the Germantown megagame is behind me!

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