Just a quick update, based on some questions and comments received so far.
Next Tuesday, look for a battle report on two World War One trench assaults: one without tank support, the other aided by a couple of Mk IV's and Whippets. The will be some closeup shots of my modular trench blocks, seen in the header picture.
I have made some notes and solo tested my English Civil War adaptation of the Portable Wargame, based on a merger of Joe Morschauser's "shock" and "musket" rules. Troop types are Pikes, Muskets, Ill-armed foot, Dragoons, Cavalry and Lobsters. Artillery includes Culverins, Sakers, and Falconets.
I am using units strengths of two or three for most units, and one for artillery. I hope to have the rules formatted in the same manner as Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame; Modern by next week. I will then post them for your perusal.
Last night I played a quick re-fight of the Battle of Hastings using Morschauser's "shock" rules, with only a couple of tweaks. there were twelve units per side. Melee infantry had three strength points, Cavalry and missile infantry had two. The Normans reduced the Saxons to 50% of original strength after six turns. I feel very confidant that Portable Ancients will work well with just a little work. Thanks to Carles for suggesting this direction to me.
Thanks for reading and commenting,
-Steve
Steven,
ReplyDeleteYou are making a lot of progress in some very interesting areas. I am not a great lover of warfare much before 1800, and I have had several requests for Ancient and ECW version of the PW rules that I have had to put off. If you are going in that direction, it will be of great help to those people ... and I will certainly pass on any link or links to interested wargamers.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
DeleteI appreciate the support! when my versions are ready, I will send you a link first, so that you can look them over.All will be noted 'based on "the Portable Wargame", by Bob Cordery, and the work of Joseph Morschauser'. Any flaws are my own.
It is a funny thing, that having spent my entire life living in the path of General Sherman's army, I am far more fascinated by the English Civil War than our own. I have been this way since the first time I saw pictured of the old Minifigs Prince Rupert and lads in Military Modelling in 1971.
Try to rest this weekend, you've had a lot on you,
-Steve
Steve,
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was in the V Tank Battalion and drove a Whippet in the Great War, so I look forward to your battle report. Would Whippets have been used in a trench assault? I assumed they were designed more for breakout and pursuit afterwards.
Your ECW adaptations also appeal, as I hope to do something similar myself. Am I right in assuming that you are treating the pike block and sleeves of shot of a foot regiment as separate units, for game purposes?
Regards,
Arthur
Hi Arthur,
DeleteYou are very correct about the Whippet. My two games will feature: First, an infantry assault, with cavalry waiting to exploit the breakthrough; followed by an attack with infantry and Mk IV's, with the Whippets and an armored car taking the place of the horsemen. The goal is to get the "mobile units" off the opposite edge before the attacker takes heavy losses.
My ECW version is using three units to represent a regiment. Most consist of three strength points of pikes, flanked by two musket units, each of two point strength. My playtest armies consist of four foot regiments, and four cavalry units of two strength points each. an artillery unit of one strength point supports each side.
Thanks for the questions, and telling me about your grandfather.He must have been quite a man to deal with the conditions on an early tank.
-Steve
Steve,
DeleteThanks for the detail on your ECW rules, which I look forward to seeing in due course.
My grandfather - a bookbinder by trade - never said anything about his wartime service, just came home a put it behind him. I only discovered that he served in the V Tank Battalion long after his death, when my grandmother gave me a box of old books, in which I found a copy of the unit history. Puzzled that she should have this volume, I skimmed through it and found his name and number in the list of personnel in the back.
Then a family story about my grandfather suddenly made sense. Immediately after the war, he had bought his first car and took his wife for a drive through Sutton, Surrey. Apparently, he drove like a maniac - completely out of character for the quiet, mild-mannered gentleman we knew - until she grabbed his arm, shouted at him to stop the car, and then got out and walked home, telling him she would never get in a car with him again!
I suspect he had learned to drive in the Army, but in a Whippet the only choice was to put your foot down, go like bat out of hell and hope nothing hit you, hence his seeming 'road rage' in the streets of Sutton.
Like me, he was small, c.5'5", and slightly built, probably ideal for the confined space of a tank. When clearing out my late aunt's (his daughter's) house, I discovered a portrait photo of him in his uniform, which sits next to a plastic model of a Whippet assembled by my daughter. He taught me to play chess and rebound my encyclopaedia when I broke the spine. My son has his names - George William - in reverse order.
Arthur
That is a great story, Arthur. Hopefully, my Whippets will live up to his proud tradition. thanks for sharing his story with us.
Deletei am going to run another test with ECW tonight: a smaller game featuring the Storming of Brentwood. I will get some pictures and post results.
-Steve
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteCan you confirm your home email for me please? BTW, Brentwood is around 20 minutes in the car from me!
DC
Sure David,
DeleteReach me at grigor0@att.net
I have enjoyed fighting this battle since reading of it in the old Battle Magazine from the 1970'a.
-Steve
I was pondering how best to do ECW in the confined space of the PW. I await your thoughts with interest.
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard!
DeleteRight now I am gaming ECW with a board of 11x11 two inch squares. I plan to expand to 18(baseline) by 12, in a three foot by two foot area. I am using Scruby 10mm figures, but it should work with 15mm as well.
-Steve
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDavid, for some reason, I can type my email correctly, but when posted,it changes the numeral "zero" after "grigor" into the small case letter "o". Hope this helps.
ReplyDelete-Steve
Looking forward to seeing your ecw rules.Have you thought of highlanders as another unit type?
ReplyDeleteI was also pondering TYW tercios perhaps depicted on the tabletop by a square with a pike unit with a musket unit at each corner?