AAR: Pirates (blood & Plunder) 24Nov19

I had not played an opposed game in the last couple of months, but on Sunday I met with Ian to give my pirates an outing using Blood & Plunder (Firelock Games). We used a 4’x4’ table with a cluster of houses (barricaded) in the middle, surrounded by a scattering of woods and miscellaneous crates to provide cover. Not the most inspiring of terrain set ups but I wanted to keep this game simple as it was a first outing for the rules. We randomly selected forces; Ian got a French militia force and I got Spanish militia (not a pirate is sight!), and deployed 12” in from opposite corners.

It was a bit disappointing that both sides consisted primarily of ‘regular’ musket-armed militias, so there was a tendency for both to move into cover and simply blast away at each other. I did have a small group of ‘Lanceros’ who did try to get into close quarters, but they were beaten back by French defensive fire and then destroyed by subsequent volleys. I grossly mishandled my group of bow-armed ‘Indios’ by letting them get caught in the open and be blown away. I should have kept them in cover, popping out each turn to deliver rapid volleys of arrows! I did manage to occupy the village square and destroy a unit of Frenchies, but this was only temporary and a French counter-attack threw me back. I finally conceded when I was left with only 1 viable unit left and no obvious means to get at Ian’s more numerous militia ensconced behind a barricade of crates.

The rules worked well. We both liked the decisions concerning the activation cards; do you want to go first with fewer actions, or latter with more actions? When the forces are in close proximity these choices are key. The use of the leaders command points can also be important. The core mechanics of firing/saves/resolve are all simple and quick to calculate, as are the basic actions available. We did not get many close combat situations but I think these would work equally easily. The main difficulty, at least for me, was remembering the unit/leader specific rules. As a result I totally failed to perceive the strengths of my ‘Indios’ unit, which resulted in their premature and unnecessary demise. I also had ‘poorly equiped’ militia, so firing using a club card gained an extra reload marker (I think I forgot this in the early turns). Also, Ian’s leader had a ‘high profile’ characteristic which we forgot negated some rules (e.g. ‘elusive’) of the unit he was attached to. The fatigue points worked well, limiting the actions of shaken units and routing those annoying small (1-2 figure) remnant units. The game played at a fast and intense pace, so much so that I forgot to take any photos! I therefore have posted a photo of some of my pirate figures below.

Off the Painting Table (Oct 2019)

As a stop-gap between projects, I decided to paint a few more figures for my Pirate collection. All were from Wargames Foundry. I really like and enjoy painting their Swashbucklers range.

Firstly I needed a few ex-slave figures, and these will nicely fill in as Spanish Lanceros for the Blood and Plunder rules.

I also bought some Royal Navy figures from a slightly later date (Napoleonic) which will add to my existing British naval forces.

On the gaming front I have focussed on solo games using Sword and Spear rules with my Greek & Persian Wars armies. This rules work really well for solo play and bring to life these armies, who are normally rather bland under other rules systems. I plan to use my Punic Wars armies next, because I’ve never tried them with S&S, so it should be interesting.

My gaming activity is basically on hold until the Warfare show in November, when I hopefully will be inspired again.

Review of Blood and Plunder

Readers of this blog will know that I have searched for a set of pirate rules to suit my tastes. The closest I’ve found so far have been Donnybrook, although even they fail in some regards. I have started writing my own rule set (still at a very early stage) but I heard about another possible recent candidate, Blood and Plunder (Firelock Games, 2016) (B&P). I duly bought a copy and have been trialling them for the past couple of months.

So, what do you get for your money? A hardback A4 book with 157 pages that is well written and produced, that contains many excellent diagrams, illustrations and photos throughout. I am no expert on pirate history, but the authors include a good amount of historical background and detail. The period covered is that of ‘early’ piracy (late C17^th), when forces used matchlock muskets, with some firelock muskets and pistols. My interests (and figures) are from a latter period (early C18^th) when flintlocks had taken over, but the rules are easily adapted to cover this change in technology so this does not present a problem. There are four potential factions available: English, French, Spanish and Unaligned ‘Pirates’. Each faction has two ‘core’ unit types and two ‘support’ unit types, and these vary between the factions due to differing stats and special rules. The force leaders come in three levels (untested, experienced, and seasoned), additionally there are named historical characters available. The rules suggest a ‘standard’ force of 200 points, which generally comprises roughly half a dozen units each with 6-12 men. All the games I have played so far have used this ‘standard’ force size, which matches the size of game I wish to play, and I have no experience of how the game scales up or down. The rules do come with a range of scenarios and can be fought as a simple land-based game, an amphibious game or a ship versus ship game. I have only played land-based games, but have used some printed ship gaming boards to play out boarding actions (the photos are from such a game). I have not used the sailing and ship gunnery rules, so cannot comment about these aspects of the rules.

Command and control uses playing cards to determine unit initiative with higher suites going first, but the lower suites tend to give more actions. Better quality units generally have more actions. Players have a hand size equal to the number of units, therefore choosing the order to play cards is important. Firelock Games do produce themed B&P card decks but I cannot see why players would go to the unnecessary expense to buying them. Commanders can give extra actions to units within their command range which is a powerful mechanism. The range of actions available are straight forward, some are single ‘dedicated’ actions whilst others are ‘standard’ actions (e.g. move) which can be used multiple times in an activation. Movement is in blocks of 4” increments and poor terrain reduces the amount by 1”, which I found rather too little.

Shooting and melee use similar mechanisms with D10 dice: Roll to hit followed by a saving roll to determine casualties. Hits, even if saved, cause a ‘Resolve’ test to be made by the target unit, which may result in accumulation of ‘Fatigue’. Fatigue can result in less actions in future turns and finally result in the unit leaving the table, but Fatigue can be rallied off. I thought this simple morale mechanism worked well in the games played and differentiated units in terms of quality. Again Firelock Games produce special dice to record Fatigue but other markers work just as well. I also thought the reloading mechanism worked well; two smoke puffs when unloaded, which are removed by using actions. If a unit has a single puff, it can fire with half number of figures. Pistols are usually single use weapons, often fired only before melee combat. Both shooting and melee tend to be bloody affairs with units losing figures at an alarming rate, therefore games are short and quick! All units have ‘special’ rules which modify their behaviour in combat, and these ‘special’ rules are the primary source of theme or flavour within this rule set, and need to be constantly borne in mind by the players. Finally another mechanism I liked was the use of ‘Fortune’. Each player starts with 3 Fortune markers which are essentially ‘Mulligans’ that can be used to re-roll a particular set of dice whose results you as a player did not like. When and where to utilise this Fortune is important; use them too early and you can find yourself stuck with a bad roll at a bad time latter in the game!

To conclude, I think these are a well produced set of rules that give a fast paced, simple, easy to understand game that has a reasonable amount of theme. I need to qualify my statement by saying that I have not played with any of the naval sailing rules (which comprise a significant part of the rules), and I have not played with the Spanish factions that include lancers and indigenous natives. I think the peripheral items Firelock Games produce are not required by most gamers. My interests lie in a slightly latter period of history and I hope the publishers produce additional material to cover this in the future. If the late C17th period is your thing, then the factional packs of figures associated with B&P will clearly be of interest, and the unusual natives etc. would be good to get and play with. At the moment I think I rate these rules slightly higher than Donnybrook because the game play is faster and the theme is more focussed, but I would still like more pirate flavour to the rules. I am still encouraged to attempt to write my own rules.

Off the Painting Table (Oct 2017)

At the Colours show I bought a naval boarding party from Newline Design as another potential opposition for my numerous pirate figures.

The figures are fairly bland in terms of pose and dress, but seem well cast and do represent good value for money (24 figures for £20). I added to the basic pack by adding some additional single figure options.

The figures painted up easily; I wanted some variation with an underlying ‘uniform’ appearance. The figures are more Napoleonic in dress rather than the earlier period I wanted to depict, but I don’t think the basic clothing for an ordinary rating changed much over time. The officer and mate dress is probably incorrect for the period I’m aiming at, but I’m not too concerned about this anomaly. The Royal Navy has always been a multi-ethnic body and wanted my force to reflect this. Forces based in the Caribbean would almost certainly have had a high proportion of different ethnicities; they could not pop back to home waters to ‘recruit’ replacement men from the slums of Britain. Actually my European figures in the force look a bit ‘pasty’, they should in fact be heavily sun-tanned. I also attempted some tattooing on the figures to help give a seafaring feel.

On the bases, I opted for a decking look rather than standard flocking. I’m not totally happy about the effect I have achieved; it looks a bit block-like. Interestingly, this block effect means the figures actually look OK on cobbled terrain areas. So rather than re-paint the bases, I will stick with it for a while.

Review of Donnybrook rules

I have reached that point in life when suggesting suitable Christmas presents from members of my family becomes difficult. There is very little I actually want! Of course wargame related items are the exception to this general statement. So, I suggested that my wife might buy me a copy of Donnybrook (Clarence Harrison & Barry Hilton; Wordtwister Publishing 2013), a set of rules that I have been aware of but had not yet taken the plunge to purchase. The reason for my hesitation was probably the price (£27) which is a lot for a product I have no experience of, and which may only cover a niche area of my gaming interests (possible use with pirates, and some Jacobite Highlanders that have been lying idle on my shelves for years!). A few comments on TMP and a discussion on the Meeples & Miniatures podcast did spark my interest though. So what do you get for your money?  The rule book is a beautifully presented set of rules, lists, scenarios, game play and thumbnail descriptions of conflicts covered during the 1660-1760 timeframe. The photos of figures are excellent quality, and many show games in progress (with a ‘comic-strip’ style of commentary, which may not be to everyone’s taste). The authors forward explains that these rules have been extensively played and derive from rules comprising 2 sides of A4 paper, so how come they are now part of a 112 page rule book?

The basic rules only occupy 12 pages and are fairly simple. The central mechanic revolves around a card activation system where each unit/character has an individual card in the deck, plus there are ‘reload’ and ‘turn end’ cards. Unlike other similar rule sets (e.g. Muskets & Tomahawks) no cards are supplied with the rules; you have to produce your own. I have initially opted to use standard playing cards but I can foresee future projects designing and producing my own conflict specific cards. I must admit to liking the card activation mechanic in games, particularly solo games but it can work well in opposed games with opponents who have a ‘relaxed’ attitude to winning/losing.

The second, key mechanic is the ‘Ability’ dice used by units; Recruits use D6, Regulars D8 and Elites D10 (note to self – must buy some more D8’s!). For shooting, close combat and rallying the unit rolls using their Ability dice type, generally requiring 6+ for success. The quality difference between troops is clear in the probabilities of success due to the dice scores achievable. There are few modifiers and saving throws are made for cover etc.

Whilst these two mechanics drive the game, the other rules are very basic and easily understood. For example, there are rules differentiating close order troops in comparison to loose order troops (they move slower, have improved ‘volley’ fire and have restricted attack zones etc.). There are rules related to specific weapons (pikes, halberds, bayonets etc.) and effects of armour etc. There are also optional rules for additional extraordinary events which can add extra chrome and uncertainty. So, if the basic rules are simple and short, what else do you get for your buck?

The next section covers 8 different factions. I can see myself using 4 of these factions: Army, Civilian Mob, Highlanders, and Outlaws (i.e. Pirates). There other factions that are less appealing to me: Covenanters, Rapparees, Tribal, and the bizarre Cultists. Each faction is structured differently, mainly in relation to the special characters or effects that can be included. I think a bit more imagination could have been used in this section of the rules (e.g. the authors like using hunting dogs, repeating this character in multiple factions), but I feel it becomes clear that these basic factions can be used as a foundation for players own designs. Donnybrook can easily be adapted and used as a ‘toolbox’ for players wishing to recreate any conflict of the period (or even slightly outside the period).

The first half of the rule book covers rules and faction lists, and does the job very well, so what is covered by the last half of the book? Scenarios, this seems to an obligatory section for any published rulebook. The scenarios included are fairly standard (Convoy, Raid etc.) and do not excite me because there is nothing original here. I don’t know why authors include this section unless they have something new to say. Next, the rules show a game ‘in play’ in a comic book style. This is very pretty but does not really demonstrate rule mechanisms. I really cannot see what this AAR adds to the publication. Finally there are historical thumbnail sketches of conflicts that could be played using Donnybrook. Again this section is fairly basic and seems to me to be more unnecessary ‘padding’.

I have played three solo games using Donnybrook, and the next club game arranged will be an opposed game using my Jacobite highlanders (an AAR report will be published at a later date). The first solo game was ECW (slightly out of period, but Donnybrook worked well) using two Army factions. The game was fast and fun. Most action was seen by the musketeers, but the decisive combat was surprisingly a push by the Parlimentary pikes, greatly aided by the attachment of a very energetic drummer and ensign. The Royalist cavalry activation card rarely came up, so they stood about and were shot to pieces (I therefore have not tested how well cavalry work). I expected Sergeant characters to be more influential aiding musketeers to reload, but again activation card order did not work in their favour.

My next game was the 1745 Jacobite rebellion pitting Highlanders against the Government Army.

 This game ended in a bloody draw. A unit of government militia was deployed forward (aided by a scout character) and successfully shot one highlander unit to pieces (but the militia lost 3 figures to misfires!). A second highlander unit (aided by a bard character) then charged the government militia and routed them. This highlander unit proceeded to charge the government horse, who were standing around (their activation card never appeared in time) and slaughtered them. So, yet again, I was not able to test the effectiveness of cavalry in the game. Meanwhile the government regulars were using volleys to inflict significant casualties on the remaining advancing highlanders.

Both sides had lost 50% casualties and were not in a position to force the issue, so I decided the game to be a draw. In this game, sergeants did help the government troops to reload and close order volley fire was effective. The highlanders were particularly aided by having the bard and piper characters.

 

My final game was using two Pirate factions (I forgot to take photos of the game). This game had more close combat than firing, because the unit composition was more varied i.e. each unit had a random mix of muskets, pistols and swords; rather than dedicated units of muskets etc. The firing of  pistols prior to charging was highly effective. I think that the defenders should equally get to fire their pistols prior to close combat (I may make this a house rule). Due to the ‘mixed’ nature of the units, I introduced a random selection of which figures were casualties, which slowed the game down a bit. I also found it more difficult to keep track of the composition of units. There were no mounted troops involved, so I still don’t have a clue about how effective they may be. The pirate game worked fine, but lacked a distinct piratical feel that I was hoping for. I think I need to design additional elements to address this and the beauty of Donnybrook is that this is easily achieved.

So finally, what do I think of Donnybrook? Overall the rules are beautifully produced, fast, fun and easy to play. They are particularly suitable for solo games. They should be treated as a toolbox and players can (and should) modify them to suit their needs. I do feel there is too much padding in the rules, which adds little to the package and has, presumably, added significantly to the £27 price tag. I do feel the price is too high for a set of rules that are essentially so very basic. I would not mind if the padding encouraged me to undertake new projects, but on the whole it left me feeling rather flat. I can see myself using these rules for Jacobite rebellion, and possibly ECW. Regarding pirates, I will need to think a bit more on how much additional chrome needs adding to get the flavour I require. I think the authors should develop an online resource for period specific cards, and a downloadable QRS would be most useful.