Dear Diary - a rolling 4 months of comment
Dunker Church - ACW
I allowed myself a small distraction on the ACW Epic project, to build a terrain piece for a future Antietam scenario to include Dunker Church as an objective.
The ACW project effort currently is going into getting the terrain and an order-of-battle for my fictional Battle of Mill Creek scenario, but as I have been putting together some trees for the Epic scale, I thought I would dig out the building and use one of them to enhance the building base.
The building is the ‘Chapel’ model in 10mm from Battlescale’s lovely range. The tree is a ‘ready build’ from Woodland Scenics, with additional clump foliage added. The base is a pre-cut MDF shape from Charlie Foxtrot. I have used a craft knife to chamfer down the edges.
When the time comes to do a Dunker Church battle, it will either be loosely themed on the battle or perhaps I will play my Antietam boardgame from Worthington Publishing and allow that to generate the scenario.
I’m not sure how to treat the feature yet. Should a unit merely have to touch it for it to count as being occupied / taken etc or should the feature be allowed to hold a single regiment (with the unit being held off table and just a flag put onto the feature).
I don’t think that in reality the building and immediate surrounding area was big enough to ‘hold’ a regiment in the correct sense, but the representational aspect of a ‘Built Up Area’ as we use them in wargames does have appeal.
Blore Heath - Wars of the Roses
Tonights face-to-face game, another scenario from GMT’s Men of Iron series, taking advantage of playing this while the rules are still fresh in our memory.
A most intriguing game, that held both payers attentions throughout.
The burden of attack is with the Lancastrians and though their force looks the strongest, especially with all the mounted troops, their formations are harder to activate each ‘turn’.
In our game, the way the Lancastrian line took up the advance was for the mounted to become the left wing, but they were very tardy, struggling firstly to get across the brook and into a good attacking position and then being stung by Yorkist bowmen as the horsemen formed up.
In the centre the Lancastrian infantry, strengthened by men-at-arms on foot, went head to head with the main Yorkist body, but surprisingly they got quite roughly handled and not helped by the fact that they had to negotiate a defensive belt of caltrops, which slowed them down and disrupted the attack.
Towards the latter part of the battle, as the forces were tiring, the Lancastrian bowmen on the Lancastrian right took advantage of the depleted Yorkist numbers, by making a series of short advances preceded by volleys of arrows.
The Yorkist were getting ‘boxed in’ and seeing their situation as hopeless, withdrew from the field in good order.
The rules delivered nuance and created narrative moments such as when the Lancastrian centre was close to breaking, but found the fortitude from somewhere to hold on - a good game, deserving of a replay.
Some thoughts and solutions re the Gettysburg game.
Continuing on from yesterdays post. Having played the first few turns of the game (1 turn = 1 hour), I noted three things;
1 - The first Union reinforcement ‘Reynolds’ arrives too late to fulfil their historical ‘just in time’ arrival at the point of crisis at McPherson’s Ridge.
2 - The first Confederate reinforcement, the brigades of Pettigrew and Brockenbrugh, get into action must quicker than historically the case.
3 - The initial interaction between Confederate Archer and Davis and Buford’s cavalry has a nice motion to it. Under the system, the cavalry are able to slowly give way and withdraw, while still inflicting casualties on the advancing Confederates due to their defensive fire in the Confederate Combat Phase.
Davis did use the new Melee rule, which gives an additional opportunity to attack, to help prosecute a more vigorous attack. The two melee attacks went well for the Confederates (by no means a guarantee) and Devin’s cavalry broke and routed under the pressure, but they were able to rally (again not a guarantee) at Willoughby Run, to help with the next line of defence. So all in all, this part of the game gave a good historical feel, that still had the potential to suffer the variables of combat.
So, my overall feeling is that the opening scenario (Day 1) could benefit from a few tweaks to a bring a more historical opening encounter, but for it not to feel so scripted that it guarantees it. There are two quite different issues to be addressed.
For the Union, it is to try and get their march time-table adjusted enough that there is the chance of Wadsworth Divisions ‘just in time’ arrival, but with variables of that to keep the ‘will they / won’t they’ game tension high enough to be important.
For the Confederate, there is the question of the tardy deployment of Heth’s two reserve brigades, Pettigrew and Brockenbrugh. They were available for morning use, to support Archer and Davis, but this didn’t happen. Since they arrive on the battlefield in a timely fashion, without any special rules restrictions on them, a player is always going to be inclined to get them into action early and while that is understandable and legal, this is not going to deliver the exact historical emphasis of the Confederate attack.
So my house solution, without changing too much of core rule principles is for;
Union - Reynolds and Wadsworth Division will set up on the table at the start of play, rather than entering as a first turn reinforcement. This brings them closer to the point of crisis and allows them to potentially arrive just in time - depending on where the Union cavalry are holding the line.
I would propose that Cutler starts play set up at hex 1438, with Meredith behind them at hex 1439. This will deliver them as described. For those looking for a little bit of the tension of ‘will they / won’t they’ arrive in time, I would additionally suggest that at the start of the Union Movement Phase on turns 0700 and 0800 hours only, that a single D6 is rolled for Wadsworth Division. On a roll of ‘1’, both brigades lose a movement point for that turn. On a roll of ‘6’ both brigades gain a movement point for that turn. On scores of 2 - 5, the movement values are not altered.
Confederates - The 0800 hours reinforcement of Pettigrew and Brockenbrugh, need some restraining rules to represent the prevailing command issues. Note the artillery unit part of this reinforcement, Pender, is not restricted and can be used freely under the series rules.
I would propose that Pettigrew and Brockenbrugh still arrive at 0800, but during the morning (all turns until the 12. Noon turn), each of these brigades must roll for how many movement points that they will get, using a D6. Further, they must enter the game in column and to shake out of column into line costs 4 Movement points rather than the usual 2 MP’s.
The effect of this is that each brigade will have to roll 4+ before movement, just to get out of column, which they will need to do if they are to be allowed to attack and while in column, they are stuck to the road. This should give enough chaos to help represent the tardiness, while still providing a chance for them to get into the fray earlier than they did, so hopefully adding the variables of war without too much scripting.
On re-setting the game to include these considerations, I thought it went rather McPherson’s like!
0700 hours - Davis is repelled (routed) in an initial assault on Herr Ridge, but the Union cavalry still need to fall back to prevent being outflanked by Archer.
The Union reinforcements roll a ‘4’ before movement (no effect) and arrive at Dan Klingel, hex 1929.
0800 hours - Confederate reinforcements arrive, Pettigrew rolls 3 MP’s and advances up the road in column. Brockenbrugh rolls a ‘6’ and sensibly takes this opportunity to include a formation change from column to line as part of their movement.
Archer (green morale code) attacks Devin, but Archer is thrown back routed!
Union reinforcements (Wadsworth Division) rolls a ‘6’ before their movement, so those two brigades get a +1 MP to their movement allowance (now 7 MP’s this turn). This delivers hem to hex 2717 on the edge of Gettysburg.
With Heth’s brigades repulsed, Buford’s cavalry decide to hold their current position, which is still in front of Willoughby Run.
0900 hours - Archer (recovered) moves back to engage Devin and is again routed! Brockenbrugh, freed of his column marker advances onto Herr Ridge. Pettigrew, still in column, holds back.
Union - the cavalry are compelled to move back a hex because Brockenbrugh threatens to out flank them (if he was to roll well enough for movement of course) Reynolds reinforcement now stops rolling for MP modification before movement and ends their movement on the western slopes of McPherson’s Ridge, approaching Willoughby Run - they are still in column.
Robinson’s reinforcement enters play normally.
1000 hours - Brockenbrough is still subject to the movement house rule and rolls a ‘1’! so cannot develop that flanking threat and Pettigrew frustratingly rolls a ‘2’ and so remains in column.
New Union and Confederate reinforcements arrive normally.
Archer passes by the tardy Brockenbrugh and again engages Devin, resulting in a stand-off. The Confederates are now only just starting to gain a bit of forward momentum.
Union - The Wadsworth reinforcement has both brigades paying 2 MP’s to leave column and enter line. Cutler moves towards supporting the cavalry right (Devin) which is under increasing pressure and Meredith (Iron Brigade) advances through Gamble’s cavalry to get ready to counter-attack the Confederates along the Chambersburg Pike.
Observation - In this playing, the changes have brought about a McPherson’s like feel to the game, the right units are roughly within the right parts of the battlefield without too much scripting. The Union are very slightly more forward than historically, but still centred along Willoughby Run.
Had the Confederates not suffered so badly on all of their attacks, then likely the cavalry defence would be unhinged and further back, but these variables are desirable.
The restrain on Brockenbrough and Pettigrew have created a good level of frustration, removed total power of control from the player and have left the burden of the attack with Archer and Davis, which again feels quite right for a Gettysburg opening.
There is another turn to play (1100 hours) before Brockenbrugh and Pettigrew are free of their shackles.
I don’t think these are the last word in house rules for the opening turns and I recognise that others here have already suggested various ways of doing this. I am hoping that these tweaks deliver the historical possibility, but also the variables that live alongside that, which might help both game and simulation.
I will play to the noon turn inclusive and then re-run this a few more times.
EDIT - at the start of the 12 noon turn (all restrictions end) the Union have pulled back behind Willoughby Run and occupy the lower slopes of McPherson’s Ridge. It suddenly feels very lonely as the Union player with a sea of grey advancing!
Gettysburg opening
The new Gettysburg game from Worthing Publishings, in their Civil War Brigade series, goes onto the table.
In this shot, we see Buford’s dismounted cavalry with artillery support are holding Herr Ridge.
Heth’s first two brigades (the orange stripes nearest the viewer), Archer and Davis, have travelled up Chamberburg Pike in column and have now fallen out into line to assault the Union right.
A couple of gamers, who are better placed than me to judge these sort of things, have commented on BoardGameGeek that they feel the initial Union reinforcement (under Reynolds), takes a tad too long to reach this part of the battlefield and that on the Confederate part, there is a feeling that initial Confederate reinforcements, Brockenbrough and Pettigrew will advance without the restraint of their historical caution and that those two things taken together, give an opening to the game that does not replicate the historical situation.
My opening moves here are to test that assertion out. I will read a few opening accounts of the battle and create a timeline of where units historically might be expected to be or what they were doing within the structure of our one hour turns and from that, see if an opening tweak is needed.
Overall, there is a looseness to any battle that is essentially a meeting engagement, so I need not worry about subsequent reinforcements. This will be interesting to research.
As for the Confederate opening move, they assault the ridge in the face of Union artillery and cavalry carbines and suffer 1 casualty point (which equals 100 men). They enter a fire fight, both side take casualties, but both pass their Morale Tests, so hold.
The Union really need to give the advance some momentum, so they use the new Melee rule from the new version 1.4 of the rules. This additional attack can be risky for the attacker, but in this instance, the assault by Davis pays off and Devlin routs.
The Union right is now unhinged. In the Union part of the turn, though there may be a temptation to have the Union artillery fire offensively, wiser counsel might suppose that a Union withdrawal to the next feature, Willoughby Run, will be the safest option …… we shall see!
Epic ACW project - first steps
As we plot the ‘from scratch’ journey of using Warlord Games’ Epic ACW figures for my Action at Mill Creek scenario, a start has now most definitely been made.
The full order of battle of 7 - 8 regiments, 1 artillery battery and 3 brigade commanders pers side have been detached from their sprues and temporarily attached to the provided bases.
Except that is for …… the artillery. These are much easier to paint on the sprue and then fix permanently to their bases, rather than the other way around.
As per the photo, the Union battery of 3 models have been completed. The two models in the Confederate battery are still on the sprue, but are primed and will be painted next. Once done, I will be happy to put the first game of Mill Creek on the table, with a mix of painted and unpainted as units rotate across the painting table.
Having been drawn down the rabbit hole once before of painting a lot of details on the Epic models, this time, I have taken some short cuts and not worried too much about a few careless mistakes - they really are unnoticeable at normal viewing distances to the Mk I eyeball (digital photography on the other hand can be rather cruel).
In the first game, I will likely use my own rules, but thereafter would like to have a go with both Black Powder and Valour & Fortitude to benchmark them against the same scenario.
The terrain needed for this scenario has now all been secured. I already had the hill, road and waterway to fit the scale and have since bought a 10mm bridge from battlescale and some 2 - 3” trees from Woodland Scenics, some of them pre-built and some to be made up from their kits.
In the background I have the materials for some fencing and fields that can bring some aesthetic enhancement in due course.
The new red paint I picked up from Warlord Games (Phalanx Wargame show) from the Army Painter Fanatic series, has work a treat on the Union artillery crew. It lives up to its ‘high pigment’ credentials, needing just a one coat application and it has also withstood an ink wash okay.
If you have got one of these big battle Epic box sets and have become a bit overwhelmed by painting all of the content, then I can heartily recommend doing a small Pocket Army project instead, to break into that package in a sustainable way.
More to follow.
EPIC - Hail Caesar
I have been following Chris from Sally 4th Miniatures over on the Lead Adventure Form (under the Ancients tag) as he has been painting up some samples from the new Epic range from Warlord Games - covering Hannibal and the Punic Wars.
Anyway, from there, I found the link to his store, which has just put up a very generous pre-release discount on the various aspects of the new release.
I can’t imagine that the discount will extend beyond the release date (end of this month), so for those interested here is the link;
LINK
https://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/product-category/epic-battles-the-punic-wars/
1066 games fest.
(Note - despite the image, this is about boardgames …. I just came across this old photo and thought I would add it for a bit of ‘pretty’.)
The Hastings game (see previous post) ended up in utter defeat for Harold!
In the last quarter of the game, pretty much all formations, other than the Norman right (Franco-French under Eustace) were exhausted, suffering heavy losses and subject to units routing, though it was Harold’s centre and left were actually falling back.
Interestingly, Harold’s right did rather well and rather spectacularly saw off the Bretons (Norman left), but were then content to just sit there, rather than move onto the Norman centre and hit William’s now exposed flank.
By this time, the game was probably going the Norman way anyway, but such a distraction to William would likely have seen him have to use his cavalry to respond. Without that distraction, the cavalry were free to roam …. and charge at the remaining knots of Saxon infantry making last stands.
One charge shattered the men that Harold was with, but he escaped to some nearby Fyrd, but another charge went in and this time Harold was killed, it was all over for the Saxons (a sudden death victory condition).
Next the Stamford Bridge game went onto the table. In all of the yeas that I have been playing it, I have never seen the Viking force so badly trounced! Historically the Vikings arrived in 300 longboats and after their defeat, they only needed 30 ships to take their army away …… this was that moment!
I did try something new for the Saxons and if that has unhinged the game, then that bothers me, though Harold’s army did get a run of some notably good die rolls, so I shall run this again (and again) with the same tactic and see if a tweak is needed or whether it was just a case of lady luck.
The Vikings lost both Hardrada and Tostig (historical), the Saxons lost Harold’s brother, Gyrth. The arrival of Viking reinforcements (Orri’s Storm) did put a lot of hurst on Harold’s army, but by this time, the tide was too. Much in the Saxon favour for that to matter.
It goes back on the table today.
Adding Commanders to the Epic ACW project.
At the Phalanx Wargame Show, I picked up a couple of ACW commander packs from Warlord Games.
These are made in a SioCast resin (or Warlord Resin as they prefer to call it), providing a light, robust and crisply detailed set of models.
The Union set has Grant, Meade, Sherman, McClellan and Custer.
The Confederate set has Jackson, Lee, Stuart, Longstreet and Hood.
I will have a think about how to base these. I know I want the overall commanders to have two figures per base and other commanders just one, but it might be nice to play around with these, such as putting a couple of cavalry figures on Stuart’s and Custer’s bases etc.
Anyway, clean-up of the figures looks to be quite straight forward.
The ACW Epic Union artillery have just hit the painting tray. I am doing three bases for a Union battery to represent their six guns. The Confederates will get two models for their four gun battery.
From the Warlord Game stand at Phalanx I picked up two dropper bottles of paint from the new Fanatic paints range by Army Painter. These are highly pigmented, so I thought I would try a red and a yellow as these are typically the hardest colours to lay down over a dark paint ……. Wow! Their coverage is excellent.
on the table I have my own 1066 Hastings boardgame. I am using the Revolution Games version, but using the rules and charts from what will become the new edition by Legion Games.
It also gives an opportunity to check the new counter manifest, which has really lovely artwork and will be giving juicy big .75 sized counters. The counter manifest looks fine and I am now making sure that there are enough rout markers.
I am part way through the battle and typically Harold is holding the ridge fairy comfortably …… then, a small breach in the centre suddenly became a big breach as three Fyrd units routed and left a gaping hole in the line.
The Anglo-Saxons have counter-attacked, mostly closing the gap and capturing the Papal Banner in the process - ouch!
The Saxon centre is now weakly held by Fyrd, but the Norman cavalry have been taking steady losses and one cavalry unit has just turned and routed. William needs to break that centre before it can properly reform ….. perhaps some personal intervention might be called for, risky, but this is for the crown after all :-)
Revamping the site
Well more of a re-ordering really. The site was a bit archaic and as things expanded, was becoming unfit for the direction of travel.
I planned to do this bit by bit, but part of the structure needed a sledge hammer for some instant effect, so I burned the midnight oil and went at it!
Quite a bit of the old content has gone, but this was necessary to get the new format which will help the site be more intuitive for the reader to navigate and easier for me to manage.
I have also freed up enough labels from my 30 page limit to be able to introduce new subjects as needed, particularly stand alone projects.
Hopefully it will not be too long before pages start filling again and it can be a coffee destination.
Free Epic Sprue
I have just picked up the new Wargames Illustrated magazine (July Edition) from Sainsbury’s (UK store) and it comes with a free sprue from the upcoming EPIC Hannibal module from Warlord Games.
Apparently, the sprue is randomly assigned to each magazine and can be any one of the 5 different sprue types from the set. Mine was the Roman sprue, giving examples of close order infantry, velites and cavalry. They are in a tan coloured plastic (from memory, I think Carthage sprues are grey) and are crisp models with nice detail.
I half hoped for the elephant sprue, but they only had two mags in the store and both were Roman. In any case I am glad to get my hands on something at last and the 3 rank Roman units are very cleverly designed to minimise painting.
I think these are going to fly off the shelf with some punters buying multiple copies of the magazine simply for the sprues.
As might be expected, magazine content is themed towards the Epic release and Ancients in general, a good cover-to-cover read for me.
At last - Austrian Hussars
These fine chaps trot from the basing department to their barracks to await their first encounter!
Painted as the 4th Hussars, these took longer to do than I would have hoped, partly because I originally painted the jackets and pelisse too light and instead of fixing it straight away, by the time I did that, there were other details painted which then got spoiled by the fixing of the green …. Including lace!
Anyway, they are done and have based up rather nicely.
1403 and all that!
We have just returned home after a couple of days away at Shrewsbury (UK). On the way home, we drove past the 1403 Battlefield Centre, so called in.
The site has a small exhibition room, explaining the 1403 history by story boards which are supported by some exhibits such as armour, arrows and swords etc to help the imagination.
There is also a battle trail that plots out a walk around the battlefield.
Outside of this, there is not much for the wargamer and I would say it is not worth making it a destination specifically for its own sake, but if you are nearby, it is certainly worth calling in … plus there is the ever present rewards of cake (or breakfast etc) and coffee for the weary traveller :-)
They have a book selection and for me, there was the choice between Osprey’s Shrewsbury 1403 book and the title shown here. I flicked through and thought the Osprey had the better maps and illustrations, but that I preferred the text of the other book, plus I had a nagging thought that I already had the Osprey book on my Kindle.
Anyway, I like John Barratt, so that was that. His text covers the battles of Homildon Hill, Pilleth and Shrewsbury.
If nothing else, the book has introduced me to the existence of the Campaign Chronicles series …. so some more stuff to track down.
Coming back today (Tuesday) means the week suddenly feels shorter with a lot to cram in!
I have just wasted half a day trying to rescue a cheap pack of Chinese plastic trees from the ‘Bring ‘n Buy’ at Phalanx …. big mistake! The quality is too poor to work with. I have just popped to Hobby Craft and bought 4 trees for £11 … good! and now they will do the job properly.
I still have the two 1066 boardgames to quality check and I want to set up the Bosworth scenario from the Blood & Roses boardgame, firstly to see how long it takes to play (re a possible face-to face game) and to further explore how designers are handling the deployment of the two main armies and the Stanleys, plus there is a face-to-face game on Friday, so there is plenty to do.
Phalanx show - St.Helens
High excitement today …. That annual trip to a fave show is at last here again … Phalanx Wargame show. I believe that this is now the only wargame show left in the North West (UK). What a sad thought. Is it on the endangered list?
Phalanx is a medium sized show, held in the main sports hall of a leisure centre in St. Helens and is run by the Spartans Wargame Club.
It is a friendly show, always well managed and is noted for its large and active ‘Bring ‘n Buy’ stall, which is held in a separate room from the main event.
In truth, over the past few years, some of the ‘A listers’ have stopped attending and I noticed three that I bought from last year were missing, though they were at Partizan in May, but those that do attend, give it their all and I still managed to be parted from my cash rather too easily :-)
I don’t normally do the Bring ‘n Buy, but this year I dropped off quite a few goodies for the bring and buy and made a tidy sum, which I was able to take back into the main hall to spend in full - for me, this is part of the essential relationship between the Bring ‘n Buy and the Trade Hall.
My focus on spend this year has been to recover some of the terrain items that I need to support my Epic ACW side project (see menu on the left). This is a somewhat unfortunate situation because as part of my big clear out last year to go to a single scale (28mm), I got rid of a shedload of smaller scale stuff, including quite a bit of it going to the refuse centre …. Doh!
My biggest spend went to Pendraken, Warlord Games and Coritani. Secondary spend went to Warbases, Bow & Blade, Phoenix Games Studio and Christopher Morris Books.
Two traders were absent for health reasons and I wish them speedy recoveries.
I have put some pictures up of a few games over on the ‘Wargame Show page’ (see menu on the left, 5th tab down). There are only a few because I am a bit limited here as to what I can do per page as I am only allowed 21 pictures on each tab and I am trying to keep a few other shows on that page for a while longer.
I thought the games were superb and the diversity of the hobby is nicely captured I suppose by two tables that sat at opposite ends of the scale spectrum, that justified being ‘Game of the Show’ but for different reasons.
One was a 6mm Blücher game (also shown above) set inside a 4x4 tray. You take one look at this and think, ‘I would like to do this at home …. and can’. Baccus 6mm were trading nearby, so one can be inspired and then go and buy what is needed (with Pendraken also doing a good 6mm building range).
The other was a 54mm Napoleonic game on a table that looked at least to be 12’ long and likely more. You would think that 54mm is all about the individual figure, but the mass on this table and it really was a mass, was just spectacular and the labour of love clear to see.
Over on the Wargames Show Tables tab, the 4th photo (an aerial shot of the table) shows a lovely 15mm game on Plancenoit being played with the Bataille Empire rules. It is a 6x4 table and the bloke was telling me that they often play this on a 4x2. In his words, the major benefit is that two very nice armies can be gathered without needing a shedload of figures. This was another table that could easily have inspired a new project, plus they did a nice 4 page information pamphlet for gamers to take.
If you scroll down to the first of the Partizan shots on the Wargame Show page, you will find that amazing 6mm multi player Omaha game displayed at Partizan, which was also here - marvellous.
I thought the scales were very well represented by the trade, with something for 6mm, 12, Epic, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm all catered for. On the flip side, there was an absence of things like rulebooks, trees, hedges and hills type stuff, though Coritani are good for roads, rivers and resin bits such as ploughed fields, walls and gun emplacements.
Anyway, thanks to all of those who put on games, with many having to travel a good distance and likewise to the traders, who with increasing costs stIll support the show circuit.
To me, the hall felt a little emptier than usual and I had just assumed that footfall had probably fallen, but on my way out, club members said that they had roughly the same numbers as last year, so I assume it is the drop in trade stands that is making the venue feel roomier as there are certainly a good number of fewer traders today (21 at this show) than there were in the hey-day, a sign of the times perhaps.
One trader said they were happy with the trade side of things, another said it was quieter than usual, though I saw several that were clearly quiet. The Bring ‘n Buy on the other hand was buzzing.
Perhaps the local smaller shows are going to suffer in a traditional sense against what seem to be the powerhouses of Hammerhead, Partizan and Salute. Hopefully the identity of local shows will morph to meet that challenge and keep the punters coming through the doors. Looking forward to next year :-)
It is a 1066 week.
Legion Games have picked up my two 1066 boardgame designs, Hastings and Stamford Bridge.
They want to do all three 1066 battles for this new edition, so another designer, Geoff Noble has been brought in to do all the heavy lifting of introducing the battle of Gate Fulford to the system and arranging artwork and re-editing etc.
With the project close to completion, this week I am playing both the Hastings and Stamford Bridge games to check the counter manifest, making sure the right counter backs match the front, that there are enough rout counters etc and of course to have another run with the rules and play aid charts.
This has already been done several times as an ongoing process …. but, belt and braces and all of that.
The counter manifest looks very nice and I have seen the artwork for the new maps, which is likewise nice. I shall be playing the actual games on my Revolution Games version of the games, but using the latest rulebook and play aids (which haven’t fundamentally changed) to actually run the games.
I must be back in the 1066 mood, because today I glued up some 1066 Norman knights as prep for the 1066 armies that I will start next year, once the napoleonic project has rounded out.
