Greyhawk Scenario Report

[kent]

A few questions about Rallying:

[1] Morale pg 17:

If the unit remains stable, it need not again check morale until such time as it suffers losses to the stated percentage of its original strength, but at that time it must be removed from the table for the remainder of the game.

So if heavy foot suffers 40% casualties and makes his score of 7 on 2d6 to remain stable he then reads the above quote but what does the above quote mean?

[2] Swiss/Landsknechte Pike Charge -- Cavalry charge pg 18:

Both of these force a morale check and potential retreat. How do we decide if a retreating unit rallies?

All I can find is a little table on pg 16

[3] Cavalry charge / Morale pg 15

Cavalry must finish out the *remainder* of their move which might be small but Units failing morale must retreat 1 move back which I assume is 9" for heavy foot not 1". Does this mean than footsoldiers could end up far away from cavalry *after* contact with a cavalry charge? That doesn't make sense to me.

[Matthew]

Jun 10, 2012 10:51:57 GMT -6 kent said:

A few questions about Rallying:

[1] Morale pg 17:

If the unit remains stable, it need not again check morale until such time as it suffers losses to the stated percentage of its original strength, but at that time it must be removed from the table for the remainder of the game.

So if heavy foot suffers 40% casualties and makes his score of 7 on 2d6 to remain stable he then reads the above quote but what does the above quote mean?

I take it to mean that if a unit takes one third casualties and passes its morale test it remains in play, but if it suffers another one third casualties (for a total of two thirds) it is removed from play; heavy horse thus have the potential to fight to that last man.

Jun 10, 2012 10:51:57 GMT -6 kent said:

[2] Swiss/Landsknechte Pike Charge -- Cavalry charge pg 18:

Both of these force a morale check and potential retreat. How do we decide if a retreating unit rallies?

All I can find is a little table on pg 16

As I understand it, that is the table used for rallying. Note also that army commanders will automatically rally units they join.

Jun 10, 2012 10:51:57 GMT -6 kent said:

[3] Cavalry charge / Morale pg 15

Cavalry must finish out the *remainder* of their move which might be small but Units failing morale must retreat 1 move back which I assume is 9" for heavy foot not 1".

Does this mean than footsoldiers could end up far away from cavalry *after* contact with a cavalry charge? That doesn't make sense to me.

Yes, but remember that in the next turn they can be charged again, since they have to remain stationary to rally, so are going to be contacted by pursuing cavalry.

[Deleted]

Jun 10, 2012 14:41:09 GMT -6 Matthew said:

Jun 10, 2012 10:51:57 GMT -6 kent said:

A few questions about Rallying:

[1] Morale pg 17:



So if heavy foot suffers 40% casualties and makes his score of 7 on 2d6 to remain stable he then reads the above quote but what does the above quote mean?

I take it to mean that if a unit takes one third casualties and passes its morale test it remains in play, but if it suffers another one third casualties (for a total of two thirds) it is removed from play; heavy horse thus have the potential to fight to that last man.

That is correct.

[kent]

Jun 10, 2012 14:41:09 GMT -6 Matthew said:

I take it to mean that if a unit takes one third casualties and passes its morale test it remains in play, but if it suffers another one third casualties (for a total of two thirds) it is removed from play; heavy horse thus have the potential to fight to that last man.

OK. Kinda like The New Originals from Spinal Tap.

Jun 10, 2012 14:41:09 GMT -6 Matthew said:

Note also that army commanders will automatically rally units they join.

I'll keep an eye out for that.

Jun 10, 2012 14:41:09 GMT -6 Matthew said:

Yes, but remember that in the next turn they can be charged again, since they have to remain stationary to rally, so are going to be contacted by pursuing cavalry.

Fine.

===

Good stuff Matthew.

Here's another quickie:
On page 14 - Post Melee Morale - [4] - Looking at the calculated differences in morale:

0-19 means melee continues. Is this involuntary and within the same single turn?

Do the remaining categories for difference in morale (20+) *end the turn* and begin a new turn?

If it is allowed what happens if there is voluntary breaking away from melee (as in AD&D) under category 0-19?

[Matthew]

Jun 10, 2012 15:33:02 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

That is correct.

Jolly good.

Jun 10, 2012 16:27:30 GMT -6 kent said:

OK. Kinda like The New Originals from Spinal Tap.

Kind of, I guess...

Jun 10, 2012 16:27:30 GMT -6 kent said:

I'll keep an eye out for that.

We have not played using army commanders yet, but it seems like an interesting trade off considering their usefulness in combat units.

Jun 10, 2012 16:27:30 GMT -6 kent said:

Fine.

Excellente!

Jun 10, 2012 16:27:30 GMT -6 kent said:

Good stuff Matthew.

Here's another quickie:
On page 14 - Post Melee Morale - [4] - Looking at the calculated differences in morale:

0-19 means melee continues. Is this involuntary and within the same single turn?

Do the remaining categories for difference in morale (20+) *end the turn* and begin a new turn?

If it is allowed what happens if there is voluntary breaking away from melee (as in AD&D) under category 0-19?

Yes, involuntary and within the same turn; multiple rounds of melee can be fought during one turn of Chain Mail, but once contact is lost (and assuming charge movement does not create a new contact) the current turn is ended, as I understand it.

I remember wishing my light horse could break off after the first round of melee with the crossbowmen, but I suppose it would be pretty unfair to make them roll to stand the charge again. Form what I can see, once units are committed to melee they are in it until one side or the other retreats involuntarily or is destroyed. That said, Chain Mail does refer to voluntary retreats under the continued retreats heading, so perhaps it is intended to be able to fall back voluntarily.

[Deleted]

One of the reasons I like CHAINMAIL:

It does not REQUIRE you to form your army into three battles, but you CAN, and you can designate a King and two great nobles as army commander and two subcommanders.

[Matthew]

What I really like about Chain Mail is the speed of play; it seems that a scenario is usually over within an hour, which suits me fine.

[Deleted]

We used to do pretty big battles... 300 points of normals plus 100 points of fantasy.

Even taking an hour or so to go to lunch at the nearby burger joint, we'd be done in six hours or so, to a decisive conclusion.

[kent]

OK. Good stuff so far.

Here's something else I don't have a feeling for yet:

How many men can we bring to bear on how many men?

For this question imagine I have a hundred figures split into uneven bands of foot soldiers surrounding your tightly packed foot soldiers.

[1] Say I have a 6x1 rank and you have a 6x1 rank touching but not fully facing each other. Do we both only roll in melee for those figures which overlap or do we both count all 6 figures as involved in melee?

[2] Same again but this time we both have 8x5 squads (ie 5 deep). How many men do we consider involved in the melee?

[3] as [2] but what happens if both of us charge - does that make a difference to the numbers of figures involved in melee because they are less organised?

[Matthew]

Jun 12, 2012 7:12:15 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

We used to do pretty big battles... 300 points of normals plus 100 points of fantasy.

Even taking an hour or so to go to lunch at the nearby burger joint, we'd be done in six hours or so, to a decisive conclusion.

That is more like the time frame I am familiar with from Field of Glory; War Hammer (fantasy and 40,000 alike) usually takes about half the time, depending on force sizes.

Jun 12, 2012 13:27:38 GMT -6 kent said:

Here's something else I don't have a feeling for yet:

How many men can we bring to bear on how many men?

For this question imagine I have a hundred figures split into uneven bands of foot soldiers surrounding your tightly packed foot soldiers.

[1] Say I have a 6x1 rank and you have a 6x1 rank touching but not fully facing each other. Do we both only roll in melee for those figures which overlap or do we both count all 6 figures as involved in melee?

It is not clear, but since figures control areas 1" to either side, I suggest that figures within 1" of an enemy are considered eligible to fight in close combat.

Jun 12, 2012 13:27:38 GMT -6 kent said:

[2] Same again but this time we both have 8x5 squads (ie 5 deep). How many men do we consider involved in the melee?

An important caveat to the above is that only figures in the first rank are counted as able to fight, CM is explicit about this. So, 8, assuming all are within 1" of an enemy figure.

Jun 12, 2012 13:27:38 GMT -6 kent said:

[3] as [2] but what happens if both of us charge - does that make a difference to the numbers of figures involved in melee because they are less organised?

Not as far as I can tell from the rules. Both units would gain an extra die per figure for impetus (assuming that rule is used and an unobstructed charge over clear terrain), but that is about the only difference for combat. Of course, in the next round of melee figures can be moved to surround less numerous foes.

[kent]

Interesting. Why do figures move around grouped in formations with ranks then as opposed to freely and individually?

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2012 16:00:18 GMT -6 kent said:

Interesting. Why do figures move around grouped in formations with ranks then as opposed to freely and individually?

x x x x x x
XXXXXX

I have six figures engaged to your four. Also, men not in formations are historically virtually impossible to control. Once a formation starts to get raggletaggle you're going to get smashed.

[kent]

Jun 12, 2012 20:27:44 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

Jun 12, 2012 16:00:18 GMT -6 kent said:

Interesting. Why do figures move around grouped in formations with ranks then as opposed to freely and individually?

x x x x x x
XXXXXX

I have six figures engaged to your four. Also, men not in formations are historically virtually impossible to control. Once a formation starts to get raggletaggle you're going to get smashed.

That makes sense alright. I was thinking in terms of wasted attack strength as in AD&D when a fighter with 2 attacks kills a goblin with his first attack, in effect wasting his second.

Also: x vs o, with '_' as space:
___oo__
oxxxxxxo
___oo___

Here we have one pair oo attacking the rear with some advantage no?

The point about control is relevant even if it is not explicit in the rules and it seems that Chainmail makes much more sense for 20:1 scale than 1:1 because it is easy to imagine only the first rank of figures with 20 men per figure fighting a melee but not sensible really that a the first rank of single man figures only fighting a melee.

i.e. in real combat I would expect all of a 5x4 group in the front rank to be engaged rather than the first 5 only as in 1:1 combat and in 20:1 combat this is exactly the case the first rank figures essentially each represent a 5x4 group.

There are a few things now I have noticed that don't suit 1:1 combat which is a shame because it is what I wanted to use Chainmail for, fights between dozens of men rather than hundreds.

[Matthew]

Jun 12, 2012 20:27:44 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

Jun 12, 2012 16:00:18 GMT -6 kent said:

Interesting. Why do figures move around grouped in formations with ranks then as opposed to freely and individually?

x x x x x x
XXXXXX

I have six figures engaged to your four. Also, men not in formations are historically virtually impossible to control. Once a formation starts to get raggletaggle you're going to get smashed.

In addition it is rather convenient. There is also a note on the combat tables about keeping close formation to benefit from pole arms.

Jun 12, 2012 21:05:21 GMT -6 kent said:

That makes sense alright. I was thinking in terms of wasted attack strength as in AD&D when a fighter with 2 attacks kills a goblin with his first attack, in effect wasting his second.

I think casualties are counted, regardless of whether they are "fighting" or not. All attacks are simultaneous, so it should work itself out.

Jun 12, 2012 21:05:21 GMT -6 kent said:

Also: x vs o, with '_' as space:
___oo__
oxxxxxxo
___oo___

Here we have one pair oo attacking the rear with some advantage no?

The point about control is relevant even if it is not explicit in the rules and it seems that Chainmail makes much more sense for 20:1 scale than 1:1 because it is easy to imagine only the first rank of figures with 20 men per figure fighting a melee but not sensible really that the first rank of single man figures only fighting a melee.

i.e. in real combat I would expect all of a 5x4 group in the front rank to be engaged rather than the first 5 only as in 1:1 combat and in 20:1 combat this is exactly the case the first rank figures essentially each represent a 5x4 group.

There are a few things now I have noticed that don't suit 1:1 combat which is a shame because it is what I wanted to use Chainmail for, fights between dozens of men rather than hundreds.

One interesting thing I have realised about Chain Mail 1:20 scale today is that each figure probably represents two ranks of ten men with 3' frontages, and that when 1:10 scale is used two ranks of five men. This works if you consider the base size of 30-40mm figures (1:20 scale) to be twice as wide as those of 20-30mm figures (or whatever).

[Matthew]

Next scenario:

Force Roster

Shield Lands

1 Heavy Horse Hero [48 Points]

12 Medium Horse [96 Points]
12 Medium Foot Spearmen [36 Points]
12 Medium Foot Crossbowmen [48 Points]
Total: 180 Points

12 Medium Horse [96 Points]
12 Medium Foot Spearmen [36 Points]
12 Light Foot Bowmen [48 Points]
Total: 180 Points

12 Medium Horse [96 Points]
12 Medium Foot Spearmen [36 Points]
12 Light Foot Long Bowmen [60 Points]
Total: 192 Points

Total: 600 Points

Horned Society Forces

1 Level 4 Cleric [32 Points]
6 Medium Horse (Renegades) [48 Points]
6 Ogres [72 Points]
Total: 152

12 Heavy Foot with spears (Uruks) [48 Points]
12 Medium Foot with bows (Orcs) [60 Points]
12 Medium Foot with bows (Orcs) [60 Points]
12 Medium Foot with spears (Orcs) [36 Points]
12 Medium Foot with spears (Orcs) [36 Points]
Total: 240 Points

1 Anti-Hero with bow (Bandit) [28 Points]
6 Light Horse with bows (Bandit) [42 Points]
6 Light Horse with bows (Bandit) [42 Points]
12 Light Foot with bows (Bandit) [48 Points]
12 Light Foot with bows (Bandit) [48 Points]
Total: 208 Points

Total: 600 Points


Notes

• Spearmen fight as one class higher as long as two ranks deep (+1 point per figure).
  
• Ogres fight as four armoured foot (12 points each)
  
• A cleric can use cure three times in the battle to return a fallen figure or restore one wound to a hero or ogre. He can also bless a unit he is with prior to combat to increase their dice by one; this can be done twice in the battle. Otherwise he fights as three men of the type he is purchased for.
  

[Matthew]

Introduction

Yesterday, my wife and I played our third game of Chain Mail, this time a much more elaborate affair at 600 points aside, featuring orcs, ogres, a hero, an anti-hero and an anti-cleric. As before, we set up the forces and terrain prior to rolling dice to determine who would play which side. Fate thus assigned Maki the forces of the Horned Society, which she was pleased about as she thought they looked the more likely to win, whilst I took the part of the heroic Sir Beric and the men of the Shield Lands. Having heard news of bandits raiding his northern border, Sir Beric had ridden forth with his brave knights and hardy sergeants, both horse and foot, to find and destroy the raiders. Once reports from his scouts led him to believe that he had the brigands hemmed into a canyon, he deployed his cavalry to ride them down ahead of his spear and bow armed infantry. Unbeknownst to that brave hero, though, his forces had stumbled upon a convergence of enemies; the bandits were but an appendage of a larger force of orcs, ogres and renegade men from the evil Horned Society, a veritable expedition headed by the detestable anti-cleric, Horatius of Torfane. Confrontation was inevitable, and the two armies hastily drew up in ranks for the coming battle.


Set Up



Above: The knights of the Shield Lands deploy ahead of the sergeants between two areas of forest, to their left stand a unit of long bowmen from Furyondy in open order, in the centre a unit of crossbowmen, and to their right a unit of light bowmen. Behind these the rear rank is made up of three units of medium spearmen.



Above: The renegades of the Horned Society deploy to the centre rear of their battle line, with a unit of ogres to their right. Arrayed around these are the the fell humanoids wickedly taken into their service. In the centre stand a unit of heavy foot uruks with spears, flanked on each side by a unit of medium foot orcs with bows, who are in turn each supported by a unit of medium foot orcs with spears. Making up the left wing are two units of bandit horsemen, followed by two units of bandit footmen, all with bows, and led by the bandit anti-hero, Degranes the Pennyless.



Above: A south to north view of the battlefield, the advance of the Shield Land knights will surely be hindered by the forest, but if they can contact the enemy battle line a rout might easily ensue amongst the orcs, due principally to the confines of their deployment space [i.e. if the front units fail to stand a cavalry charge, they will automatically rout the units behind them].


Turn One



Above: Sir Beric leads his men forward at a trot, the Horned Society centre and right stands fast, whilst the bandit horsemen advance to harass the oncoming knights. On the Shield Lands left, the long bowmen advance into the forest.



Above: Two units of knights charge forwards to engage the bandit horsemen; unfortunately, the anti-hero in their midst almost doubles the effectiveness of their archery and the knights suffer devastating casualties!



Above: One unit of knights is scattered and broken, whilst the other has its numbers halved, taking heart at this outcome the bandits stand the charge!



Above: Terrible luck on the part of the knights (here I forgot to roll the impetus dice, but never mind!) and good rolling from Maki (one die needing 6+ comes up a 6!) destroys the remaining unit of knights in the first round of mêlée; Degranes laughs evilly at the plight of the Shield Lands.



Above: View of the battlefield from south to north, two thirds of Shield Lands medium horse have been destroyed with no casualties for the Horned Society; the remaining knights advance to charge distance of the main enemy battle line. On the west side, the Furyondian long bowmen advance out of the forest.


Turn Two



Above: Pricking their mounts with their spurs, the whole remaining first battle line of Shield Lands knights surges forward into the teeth of the foul enemy. Behind them, the crossbowmen follow up and cut down the light horse with their quarrels (six hits), severely wounding the bandit chieftain (two hits).



Above: Sir Beric detaches from the unit he was leading and charges Degranes the Pennyless, beheading him with a single blow, and leaving his fallen carcass to be dragged across the battlefield by its directionless mount. Vengeance is satisfied for the loss of so many noble knights, but at what cost? As he turns back in exultatio,n Beric sees that the fate of his remaining knights has been all too much like that of their fellows!



Above: The only unit of horsemen to reach the humanoid battle line crashes into a unit of armoured uruks, but makes little impression on their serried ranks; they soon move to flank the knights who recognise their danger and withdraw orderly from the fray.



Above: A disastrous turn for the Shield Lands, three units of knights destroyed by archery and one driven back by the uruks. Sir Beric and put pay to Degranes and one unit of bandit horsemen, but he himself now stands exposed to the same archery that felled so many of his knights. On the left the Furyondian long bowmen emerge from the forest and take their first shots at the advancing orc archers, whilst on the right the light bowmen shift into open order.


Turn Three



Above: As feared, Sir Beric is slain by arrows shot by orcs and bandit horsemen, even as he spurred towards them; his heavy armour was no proof against their barbed tips at such short range. The minions of the Horned Society give an unpleasant cheer, and grim faced bandits avenge their fallen leader.



Above: In response, the crossbowmen of the Shield Lands let loose a volley of arrows into the orc ranks, slaying half of them, but they are unperturbed by such losses and stand firm.



Above: On the Horned Society left, the orc archers show less stoicism in the face of the Furyondian long bowmen; having come into range, they exchange shots, but the orcs have had the worst of it.



Above: The orc archers break, scattered by the deadly shafts of the Furyondian long bowmen.



Above: In their turn, the long bowmen take casualties, but show more discipline than the orcs and stand fast, shouting out a ragged cheer at the collapse of their enemy.



Above: The last of the Shield Lands knights regroup and charge the remaining orc archers, hoping to rout them into the orcs behind, but they show no fear and stand fast. When the uruks attack their flank it is the last straw for those brave cavaliers and they rout back into their own line, causing a unit of spearmen to do the same. On the Horned Society left the bandit horsemen ride towards the crossbowmen, whilst a unit of bandit footmen move into open order with the intent of flushing out the bowmen in the woods.


Turn Four



Above: The leaderless forces of the Shield Lands win the initiative for the fourth time in a row, not that it has done them much good!



Above: Continuous and determined volleys from the Shield Lands crossbowmen scatter the bandit horsemen, but they cannot themselves stand against the combined archery of the remaining orcs and bandit footmen. Nonetheless, the routed knights and spearmen of the Shield Lands rally and turn about to face the enemy. On the Horned Society right, the orc infantry charges the Furyondian long bowmen, whose arrows take their toll on the enemy.



Above: Although the Furyondian long bowmen courageously stand their ground in the face of the ferocious orc charge, they are no match for them in close combat; they are soon broken and scattered, any survivors fleeing ignominiously into the woods.


Turn Five



Above: The spearmen and knights of the Shield Lands advance raggedly toward the enemy, taking a few casualties from the enemy archers. On the Shield Lands right, the light bowmen rush out of the forest and attack the bandit archers.



Above: Although the mêlée is fiercely contested (six rounds or more) the black hearted bandits eventually gain the upper hand, scattering the light archers into the woods. With both their right and left flanks irretrievably lost, the end looms for the remaining forces of the Shield Lands.


Turn Six



Above: In a last desperate throw of the dice, the knights and spearmen of the Shield Lands charge into the enemy lines, engaging orc infantry on the left, as well as orc archers and bandit archers on the right. Unfortunately, the orc infantry stands the charge.



Above: On the Shield Lands left, the ogres charge into the flanks of the knights, and both spearmen units on the right are reduced to half strength before contact by a withering hail of arrows from orcs and men.



Above: The Shield Lands spearmen sell their lives dearly in a protracted mêlée that destroys the Horned Society archers, but with them defeated the orc infantry are drawn in and reinforce the line, eventually breaking one of the spearmen units.



Above: With the orc spearmen standing firm and ogres crashing into their flank, the fight is ghastly and hopeless for the Shield Lands, both knights and spearmen are soon crushed and scattered, impaled on spear tips, bodies broken and mangled, or fleet feet taking a lucky survivor far from the pursuing enemy.


Turn Seven



Above: Horribly, the minions of the Horned Society rejoice over the scene of carnage, their vile laughter echoing over the field. On the right, the last unit of Shield Lands spearmen grimly turn to face the remaining enemy archers, knowing that even in flight they cannot hope to escape the intact and fresh Horned Lands cavalry.



Above: The last of the bandit archers grimly shoot down the brave spearmen of the Shield Lands. It is perhaps a better ending than they could have hoped for at the hands of the orcs. An evil day for the hardy folk of the Shield Lands.



Above: A south to north view of the battlefield showing the final positions of the Horned Society.



Above: An east to west view of the battlefield showing the final positions of the Horned Society.



Above: A north to south view of the battlefield showing the final positions of the Horned Society.



Above: A west to east view of the battlefield showing the final positions of the Horned Society.



Above: The casualty pile, consisting of 109 men of the Shield Lands [600 Points], 31 men of the Bandit Kingdoms [184 Points], and 30 orcs of the Horned Society [138 Points].


Conclusion

Well, this was a brutal affair. It took about two hours to play out, but it was virtually decided in the first fifteen minutes when the forces of the Shield Lands failed to execute their charge on the Horned Society battle line with enough aplomb. Setting up the cavalry ahead of the archers and infantry had predictable results, but apparently was actually far from uncommon in medieval warfare, Ambroise for instance talks about knights defending the infantry and archers against Saracen horse and foot archers on the march from Acre to Arsuf. Of course, he might have had a rather different arrangement in mind (perhaps he only meant defend in the sense that the knights would eventually surge from behind the archers and infantry when the enemy drew too close, but that does not really explain how they were suffering casualties and taking up the role of crossbowmen when their horses were slain; yes cavalier fans you read that right). Combined with the archery success of the Horned Society, though, the biggest issue for the Shield Lands was the refusal of the enemy foot and horse to do anything other than stand and fight when charged. Very troublesome when the success of your attack relies on the enemy turning around and running away!

Once the crossbowmen and long bowmen got involved, there was a flicker of hope for the Shield Lands, but eventually they lost the archery contest. It could have been very different, on both flanks there was the prospect of victory if the dice had gone their way. Still, the intact Horned Society centre would have eventually prevailed. The infantry lines of the Shield Lands were a mess; not only were they deployed badly to get through the woods, but routing knights caused part of the line to fall back! A gap of three inches had purposefully been left between the foot units for retreating knights, but somehow it did not work out in practice like that. We definitely prefer rolling for ranged combat, and it makes virtually no difference on average (well, perhaps one unit of my knights would have survived the combat in the first turn, but that s the sort of variability we were looking for with randomisation). There were some rules issues that came up in play that are worth thinking about in the future, such as how fluidly troops can move between open and close order, what happens when units in open order seek to flank an enemy they are in close combat with, and whether it is desirable for units contacted by friendly routers to also automatically rout, regardless of circumstances.

All in all, despite being my third defeat in a row playing against Maki, this was another great fun game. It did not feel particularly decisive at the time, but looking at the points, it is obvious that the Horned Society preserved almost half the points of their army, which is much better than your average War Hammer skirmish. Still, Chain Mail does continue to feel rather like that game, even though movement is much faster on the whole (but then we are playing lengthways along the table rather than widthways). Thinking about it in retrospect, I should not have attacked from such a bad position, much better to have played more defensively, but it is doubtful I could have reorganised my forces in time and the enemy horse archers made a quick attack necessary to some degree, which when it failed then dragged my whole line into combat piecemeal. Generally speaking, the inability of units to voluntarily retreat quickly rubs hard against the speed of involuntary retreats, which is also very much the case in Field of Glory. Whilst it probably makes the game more tactical overall, it does mean that once you commit a unit to the attack ahead of the main battle line, it is very unlikely to return, so it must either be expended or supported. Other games, like Field of Glory do seem to allow for this with light or skirmish units.

[maxvale76]

You know; EVERY time I read about a man playing his wife/girlfriend in a war-game; the woman has incredible luck and wins.

I have now read the same story on this thread 3 times in a row... are you SURE you're not consciously or unconsciously throwing the game a bit in her favor? The session reports are wonderful and I'm an avid reader of game reports like this on many different sites...but seriously...it seems like I've read this same story a trillion times.....I think a lot of guys are so happy that they've managed to get thier wife/girlfriend to play them in a game that is typically only played by men...that they seem to find a way to lose to them.

Of course...maybe I'm just jealous because I KNOW my wife wouldn't play a game like this with me in a MILLION years!

[Matthew]

Ha, I wish that I could in good conscience explain my defeats away so easily! I have had some pretty terrible luck at war games these last few years, in stark contrast to my prior experience. Sometimes I wonder if playing reloadable computerised war games has caused me to lose my edge, but on the other hand I crushed my father-in-law in our third game of Shogi the other month, so maybe not. Mind, in all these games I have been acting as chief source, interpretor, and arbitrator of the rules, which may be a source of distraction. In these particular scenarios, though, my defeat has come down to bad luck, both in initial force selection and during play. Either way, there is no doubt that I was hankering after victory in that last game; following my previous defeats, my feelings were less than stoic when my knights were being slaughtered by the arrows of the Horned Society!

[maxvale76]

Well, she is obviously now a veteran; what with 3 wins against a worthy opponent.....next time; SHE gets to be the rules-checker and YOU get to spend all your time focusing on the game!

The pride of XY chromosome possessors is at stake!

[Matthew]

No doubt, no doubt. However, we are thinking about shifting systems for our next game to Swords & Spells, Battle System or the latest draft of War & Battle.