Historicon prelims

I am much looking forward to Historicon.  It will be a needed break from life here in Los Angeles.  The trip will encompass more than the convention itself, as our group immediately following the con will head to Philadelphia for visits to USS Olympia, a member of the Great White Fleet, then across the river to USS New Jersey.  From there it is on to Gettysburg for two days, and other ACW battlefields following that stop on the way to Richmond, Virginia.  Not even sure where we are going, but I plan to tag along.  I am one of the drivers, after all.

American Battlelines will be on my table at H-con, and I hope to get some feedback on the changes to the rules I have proposed.  Mostly, in fact all, of the reviews from playtesters so far has been positive.  The fiddly bits have been trimmed, and the important decisions left in the game.  Morale is one significant area that was changed.  No longer do you have to roll morale every time you take casualties, but instead once per turn, when the unit is activated.  A significant number of die rolls are eliminated, and it is more realistic, in that a big unit cannot take desultory fire from two units, and then break before its next activation.  Now mods are stacked on the unit for Morale, and it is more like to have adverse consequences as a result.

I look forward to the gaming, the shopping, the camaraderie, and my once-per-year chance to see my partners.  It is the one business meeting I attend in person.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.19

I was too naive.  The most central change to my version of American Battlelines has been questioned by the person in charge of the project.  It was my great step forward, and instead we are going backwards.  AmBl is easily converted to an element-based system, but nobody could handle the change.  All this despite the fact it is our worst selling title, and gets absolutely no press at all in the miniatures world.  It is due to more than simply not merchandising.  The game needs a serious face lift after all these years.  And as gut-wrenching as these changes seem, they have produced a very playable and realistic game.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.18

The ODGW partners went through the revised American Battlelines rules in detail last weekend, and they had much to say.  Much of their commentary was easily answered and was a direct result of me not catching every case of the previous rules.  Some of it was my sloppiness, and some of it were matters of style and substance with which I disagree with the partners.  Overall it was very helpful, and nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.  Many of the core concepts went unchallenged, which is heartening.  My goal of simplicity was largely achieved.  Now it would be great if my other playtesters would weigh in on the rules.  That is where the most important work is done.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.17

Today the latest version of American Battlelines was playtested and the rules gone over thoroughly by the OGDW partners.  Bob Benge got me on the phone, and said that it was "not a slaughter," though he did indicate that there was some head-shaking going on.  Pointed up a number of areas that I did not update from the original to the new edition.  So there were some dropouts.  Also there was some question of my reasons behind some of the changes, and why I had dropped one possible action from the list.  All in all, it was productive, and I hope that the changes are adopted by the folks whose ultimate vote I would need.  I can attest that the new game is less fiddly than the old, and seems to have an intuitive feel.  There are fewer die rolls overall.  I also cleaned up a lot of the areas that were not clear from the original.  Just not all of them.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.16

My good gaming buddy Sacha has designed all of the new covers for Mein Panzer.  He also has a new design for American Battlelines, which would replace the fifty star flag on the cover with a more atmospheric set of pictures.  I can only see this as an improvement.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.14

A recent playtest of a game based on the Chickamauga battle went very well.  A few minor referee errors that the players were unaware of, but the game played smoothly and had believable results.  We used the new Morale rule that each unit only tests once, during its activation if it had taken casualties or had other effects in the turn leading up to its activation.  That made the game go faster and was more equitable.

Found a wonderful site with lots of maps and descriptions of Civil War battles here.  Highly recommended.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.12

Next weekend we try out the further simplified rules for our horse & musket game.  One of the things that always confused me was the criticism of Mein Panzer for inadequate infantry rules, but the success of virtually the same concept in Battlelines.  I can tell you that MP gives a great game for infantry.  Better than many rules, in fact.  We have had excellent and tense battles with no tanks on the board.  That is why we are putting out Meine Truppen based on the same core rules system.  It works.

We are set for the ACW playtest next Saturday, so we will see how it runs.  I probably will use a scenario from the excellent new scenario pack, River of Death.  Looking forward to this playtest to iron out any of the values and tweaks needed for the rules.  Hopefully we will have more info in from playtesters to tell us what we may be doing wrong.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.10

I have just recently revised the process- or mechanic-driven system of American Battlelines for an experiment.  I am trying element-based, or stand-based, determination for combat, morale, etc.  The Kill Value number on the table, normally associated with the number of figures on stands, will instead equal the number of stands firing.  No figure counting, which means the number of figures per stand is truly irrelevant.  All infantry stands take four hits to remove, cavalry take three, and artillery take two (two guns per stand).  Artillery is using the newly revised method which has gun factors assigned for each type of artillery gun.  This makes for a much simpler and smoother resolution of combat, with approximately the same effect as before.  It will be interesting to playtest this experimental way of playing the game.

Now the real work begins

I have literally a ton of unmade paper terrain buildings and fixtures that need to be constructed.  It is time to dig into these and put them together.  The 10mm are for a friend's playtest and development group for his miniatures game.  The 6mm are for my chosen scale, microarmor in WWII, and 10mm everywhere else, though I may be tempted by 15mm's for the War of the Roses project.  So much to work toward now, what with a group that is willing to try out new systems and help me out with playtesting.  The Battlelines system has to jell relatively quickly, so that I can open up space for the GQIII project final work, and the Meine Truppen rules, which are going off in directions that no one planned for.  It is all keeping me busy.

Drum Beats on the Battleline pt.9

Dissection of the game last night, by two gamers.  One is an experienced reenactor of the Civil War; the other is a designer and a chart maven.  Between those two Battlelines was fairly well raked over the coals, regarding all its myriad modifiers, of which there are a lot even after substantial trimming.  The Quick Reference Sheet presentation was critiqued, and I had to determine certain parts of the game model as unchangeable, possibly changeable, and something worth fighting for.  All that is part of the design process — what to take out as much as what to leave in.  Much of what is left in is modified considerably, but in each case I endeavored to make it simpler and more consistent with the other rules in place already.  Battlelines relies heavily on the TQ check, and that is used in more places in the rules than previously.  Still, I found myself having to defend each position I took, which is difficult, but is as it should be.

So where do we stand with this game?  No where, actually.  I have yet to receive an independent playtest report.  That bodes ill for the game's success, and confirms my cynical view that most people who volunteer for playtesting really just want a free set of the rules.

Drum beats on the Battleline pt.8

At the last business meeting, which I missed because I was under the weather and not near my phone, my changes to the American Battlelines system were discussed.  Seems like the new rules have stirred up some reactions amongst the party faithful.  Well, all to the good.  Healthy discussion is called for, especially when a system has lain moribund for as long as this one has, despite its obvious strengths.  The interactive sequence, brigading, and the disordering method are very useful for depicting the maneuver aspect of the horse and musket era.  Its problems arise in its handling of firepower, where there is room for improvement.  I think I have come up with just that solution, without throwing out the basic rules.  More playtesting is called for, but I think Am Bl has come a long way.

One of the topics about which there will undoubtedly be discussion will be the decision to make the products stand alone games or modules.  I have my own opinion on this subject, but will keep quiet on the issue for the present.

Drum beats on the Battleline pt.6

One positive thing that came out of our last test was that a new QRS will be formatted and will be simpler than the current one.  This will help the game no matter what changes are made to it.  A good QRS is absolutely essential to any successful game, as it is the text from which the game is actually played.  The rulebook is nothing but backup.  Also, people felt that the game played smoothly and believably.  And they told me the artillery rules are totally screwed up.

Drum beats on the Battleline pt.4

The first round of comments from the ODGW staff has been received and answered, and it was not as negative as I expected.  In a post to me, "lively discussion" was the operative term for their first game using the modified rules.  This first staff playtest of the revised American Battlelines generated a predictable wave of questions.  Some were omissions; others were clarifications and explanations.  Overall the game plays cleaner, but this means making changes, which are rarely welcome.  Battlelines had some kludgey rules to it that detracted from its forthright play.  Taking those out meant making the game simpler, and more concentrated on the tactics rather than dealing with special one-off rules.  I have reduced the number of lookup items, to make finding the correct modifiers (of which there are still too many) easier. I have yet to post a Command chapter, so that area is still unresolved.  Otherwise, the comments did seem to be somewhat supportive, rather than wholly dismissive.  Playtests on this set of rules have not been forthcoming, so I will have to wait longer for neutral results.  I am an inpatient man by nature, so that is a hard thing for me to do.

In terms of controversy, wait until they find out I want to change the cover.  Currently a game for the AWI, Mexican-American War, and ACW has a 50-star U.S. flag on the cover.  Bit jarring, that.

Formations

I am currently doing some research on the variety of attack formations used in the horse & musket era, specifically from the ACW back through the Wilderness, or French & Indian (native American) War.  Though few were used in North America until the large formations of our conflagration in 1861-65, they require study for the usage to which they were put for understanding all the conflicts, including the Napoleonic era.  While slogging through Steven Ross's book, From Flintlock to Rifle: Infantry Tactics, 1740-1866, which I can only read in short sections due to its dry-as-dust presentation, I have just about finished my current read on the politics of the secession during the ACW.  Then I will launch into With Zeal & Bayonet Only: The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775-1783, which comes highly recommended as a tactical study of the British army in its war against the rebellious colonists.  The all-important maneuver aspect is requiring a great deal of study, so that we can get its effects fine-tuned, and decide what to include and how to include them.

Drum beats on the Battleline pt. 3

Entrenched views change slowly.  I have updated two chapters for the American Battlelines project, and I am awaiting the controversy, since I have simplified several of the rules.  The only thing more involved, and still not very complex, is charging, which is to horse & musket games as torpedo attack resolution is to modern naval games.  Am awaiting responses to this latest version of the rules.