Strength, Honour and Chivalry

New year and a new project. I will try adapting Strength and Honour to the High Middle Ages, c. 1050-1250. I have read on the Facebook group that there is an adaption for the Late Middle Ages, but the Medieval period was a long one, about 1000 years. During this time, armour, tactics and the ethos of war changed.

Few Changes 

My starting point is that warfare in the High Middle Ages differed from warfare in the early Roman Empire, the period covered by the core rules. However, many mechanisms and troop types could easily be translated to the medieval period. However, differences do exist.

The Main Differences 

The Size of the Armies. 

Numbers are a problem for medieval chroniclers, but the overall impression is the armies were in the low 1,000s. Battles like Hastings and Hattin were the exception. This means that the base will represent a lot fewer men. An infantry base of between 1,000 and 2,000 men is my starting point. This means the battlefields are smaller, which will impact the mechanics, for example, command ranges.

Leadership. 

In Western armies, leadership had a heroic quality. The commander was usually attached to his retinue and led from the front. More Alexander than Julius Caesar. Muslim, Byzantine generals had a more classical approach to the general positioning. This will impact the Command Board and the risks to the general in combat.

Deployment. 

Honour and status had an impact on deployment. The vanguard and the rearguard were positions of honour.

Pre-Battle Sequence. 

Battles were rare. Most generals adopted a battle avoidance strategy. This makes the pre-battle manoeuvring more important. I am currently looking at adapting the Mortem et Gloriam system, which covers this aspect well with a simple set of rules.

Religion & Faith. 

What is the impact of religion - relics for auguries? It may be necessary to have a priest troop type.

Initial Scope

My initial area of concentration is the Crusades from the 1st to the 3rd Crusade because the variety of fighting cultures involved will be a good mechanics test. The main tactical styles will include the Western, knight-based armies with emerging chivalric way of war. Eastern military culture; the Muslims (sedentary, Fatimids and the Turkic ruled Damascus, etc) and Byzantine. These armies were influenced by the tactical doctrines of the Roman and Sassanid empires. Last, the culture of the steppe nomads, wild Turks and Mongols. 

The Battles Covered

The starting point is to get the scale per base correct. This will involve looking at about a dozen battles to ascertain the best scale to get 6-14 elements per side on the battlefield, but it also produces a balanced game.  The current list is; Antioch (1098), Ascalon (1099), Harran (1104), Ramla (1105), Tell Danish (1115), Field of Blood (1119), Ibelin (1123), Inab (1149), Harrim (1164),  al-Babayn (1167), Mont Gisard (1177), Hattin (1187), Acre (1190), Arsuf (1191), Gaza (1239), La Forbie (1244) and Mansurah (1250).

Not all these battles will make the cut, and the several battles fought during the siege of Acre could be turned into a mini-campaign.

Bomb in the Park.

This is the second game in a series that explores the superhero genre. In the first game, our team of heroes managed to acquire some of Dr Nicholas Amargus’s (DNA) deadly psychogenic gas. As the scientists work on an antidote, our team of superheroes find out that DNA and his minions are planning to detonate a chemical bomb in the Mission Trials Park. If successful, the harmful gases would threaten several small suburban towns. Our team of heroes., although missing, several members rush to prevent the Doctor’s heinous plan.

Super Mission Force

The first game in this DNA campaign, the ever-versatile Pulp Alley, used, but for this scenario, Super Mission Force was my rules of choice. As the name suggests, it is a set of rules designed for the genre. Also, the Kitbash miniatures I used came with character cards, so little pre-game planning was involved.

The Line-Ups

Aegis – the Heroes:

Star Phantom: A cosmic enforcer with blaster powers.
Primor: A stalwart defender from the magical realms, wielding a shard of unparalleled power.
Knight Eagle: The team's tactical genius and relentless vigilante.

DNA’s League of Rebirth:

Dr. Nicholas Amargus (DNA): A brilliant yet deranged scientist with enhanced mental prowess.
Emulator: Alien royalty armed with devastating blaster abilities.
Deadshot: A criminal marksman of unparalleled skill.
Mayhem: DNA's unwavering enforcer and protector.

The Battle Begins

DNA and his malevolent league converge around the ominous Weeping Angel statue, a harbinger of impending chaos within the city park.
Aegis, tracking DNA's movements, prepares to thwart his sinister plans, their resolve hardened by previous encounters and the gravity of the impending battle.

Round 1

Star Phantom, the vanguard of Aegis, launches a dazzling energy assault against DNA, but is swiftly ensnared by Deadshot's cunning arrow, plunging him into peril.
Knight Eagle and Primor surge forward, their determination unyielding amidst Emulator's relentless barrages from above.
Primor, channelling the mystic power of his shard, engages Mayhem in a titanic clash of strength and sorcery.

The Fray Intensifies

Knight Eagle, evading Emulator's onslaught, ascends toward the Weeping Angel, only to face a torrent of devastating blasts that leave him reeling.
In a dire turn, Knight Eagle succumbs to the relentless assault, his valiant efforts snuffed out as darkness descends.
Star Phantom, despite his resilience, falls victim to DNA's insidious mind assault and Deadshot's lethal precision, succumbing to the onslaught.

The Aftermath

With two of their own incapacitated, Primor valiantly attempts to stave off DNA's impending catastrophe, but the UN Chemical Unit arrives too late to prevent the release of DNA's toxic concoction.
As the dust settles, Knight Eagle, fuelled by determination and righteous fury, vows to bring DNA and his cabal to justice, while Star Phantom remains in a precarious coma, the team's beacon of hope hanging in the balance.
Aegis faces a dual dilemma: containing the spread of DNA's chemical calamity and unearthing the mad scientist's hidden lair before his next malevolent scheme unfurls.

To Be Continued...

Workbench 2024

This blog is always self-indulgent because it aims to set out my projects and ambitions for the forthcoming year. A similar bit of self-indulgence occurred last year, although personal circumstances made many of my ambitions attainable. However, it would be wrong to blame the vagaries of life on my failure to deliver all my projects last year. The most crucial factor was that I was too ambitious, a common trait with wargamers. Therefore, this year, I have been more constrained in my aims; although the project list is still as long, some will not see the light of day during 2024.

Campaigns

Last year, I had two campaigns that I planned to play during the year. The first was a fantasy campaign, the Second Shadow Wars, using the rules of the Fantastic Battles. This campaign saw little action since the early months of 2023. First, the campaign took an unusual turn when Umbarji Khan ( my Orcs ) suddenly died, leading to a succession crisis. I had not drawn up the maps for all the Umbarji realms, nor did I have detailed biographies of the various brothers and sons that would contest the Blood Throne. Finally, I needed rules to cover these surprise developments. 

I have learnt from this campaign to stop trying to develop everything myself and take some of the work the other enthusiasts have placed on the web. Therefore, I plan to play the Umbarji Civil War by adapting some one-page campaign rules and personality-driven mechanics in Henry Hyde's 'Wargaming Campaigns'.

In the meantime, the original campaign centred on the Wilderness Steppes will concentrate on the struggle for the Lakeside towns. Due to his father's death, Ozbeg has been drawn into the struggles with his family and has left the Wilderness campaign to one of the leading generals, Doba Skullcrusher, to conduct the war on his southern border. Again, this will involve looking at off-the-shelf campaign roles, using a hex system, or even returning to such old favourites as Mighty Empires. 

The Tomb of the Serpent

The second campaign used the Pulp Alley and their Tomb of the Serpent campaign.  This is now halfway through, and I plan to complete this during the year. Slade Horton and his companions from the Mace Institute are now crossing the desert in search of the Serpent’s tomb, where they will come face-to-face with the Egyptian God of chaos, Apophis. I have fallen in love with this band of adventures and plan to translate them to other game systems, so expect to see the Mace Institute appear in alternative World War II adventures. 

Recreating Battles.

I have two recreations near completion in painting and research, and they will hit the table in the first quarter of 2024. The first is the Battle of Crediton in 1643, where I'll reenact the battle using the Twilight of Divine Right rules, and maybe another replay, using For King and Parliament. 

Marius and the German Invasion

The next set of battles re-fight the battles between Marius and the Germans, Aquae Sextiae (102BC) and  Vercellae (101BC). These will be played using Strength and Honour rules. However, these battles are essentially holding games whilst I start to work on the big projects of 2024, Hellenistic World and Rome's Expansion. Why start this new development? 

Partly anticipating Mark Backhouse's supplement to cover this early period; it is my favourite era of Ancient History.  The main difference is this era will be played using 6mm figures rather than 2mm because I have a box of painted minis that have been unloved for several years. Rebasing and some in-filling of figures will be required, but hopefully, this will not be too burdensome. Unsure of the first battle, try to get to the table, but the following are on the list: Paraitatiene (317 BC), Ilipa (206 BC) and Pynda (168 BC).

Wellington in the Peninsula 

This project was on the list last year and is slowly progressing in 2 mm. 2mm is ideal for this era because it gives the authentic flavour of the mass movement of large bodies of men across the battle field. Once the painting is completed for the Battle of Vimero (1808), moving on to the other conflicts of the Peninsula campaign will be easy. 

Lion Rampart, Saga and Midgard 

The one campaign I completed last year was my Feud campaign set in the period before the Magna Carta. I plan to turn my interests to the Early Medieval period, where I will experiment with several rules, including Lion Rampart, Saga and yet-to-be-released Midgard. All three games have the potential to play a Fantasy version, so I may dig out some old 28mm Citadel miniatures to set up some small-scale fantasy battles. I plan to have some extra stuff painted by the excellent Matt Slade to give some of my old armies a new flavour. Ultimately, I may extend these one-off battles into some form of campaign. I'm interested in doing an alternative breakdown of Roman authority in Britain. Where the invaders may have been dwarves and their allies. 

Skirmish Games and Roleplay

Besides using Pulp Alley for the Tomb of the Serpent campaign. I have employed 7TV to bring the swashbuckling character of the Leopard to life as he fights his way through politics in war and the time of the English Civil War. I plan to join these adventures together and publish them as a set of scenarios. 7TV system is also being used for my Sword and Sandles project where a Greek demi-god will take on numerous quests, a mixture of Xena, Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts. However, this idea is still in its early days.  

Superhero Genre

The last area skirmish is superheroes. In 2023, I played the first part of my mini-campaign when the evil Dr Nicholas Amargus (DNA) attempted to brainwash San Diego with his mind-bending gases. I adapted Pulp Alley for this first game, but for the second instalment, I will use Super Mission Force, which is designed for the genre using the gaol system. While these adventures are going on, I am building two teams of superheroes from the Golden Age who will fight Hitler's minions. 

Dungeon and Dragons

Connected to the skirmish games is my renewed interest in role-play, where the character develops even more. A magazine I found in the supermarkets made me to re-look at Dungeons & Dragons. I have found that since I last role-played – in the 1980s- enthusiasts have done much work on playing solo adventures. I plan to use these ideas and employ AI as a tool to help the game master.  I hope to post a blog on my thinking behind this and how it can generally impact wargaming. 

Naval 

I am planning a small Kiss Me Hardy game based on the scenario in one of the Lardies' magazines that is set off the island of Corsica. I am still struggling to find a set of ancient naval roles that reflect the era's sea battles. At the moment, I'm tempted to take up one of the ideas that came out of a discussion between Henry Hyde and Simon Miller of using To the Strongest mechanism for naval engagements. This could be a large project if I decide to undertake this challenge. Whatever, nothing is likely to appear next year. 

 

Some Final Thoughts

No doubt, as a wargaming magpie, some other distraction will draw me off in an unforeseen direction. Games Workshop has re-hacked the old Epic 40,000 as Legion Imperialis. A reminder of time playing Warhammer, so I am likely to give the game a try. No doubt there will be others.

I also hope to attend a couple of shows and a 'Lardie Day'. Whilst, I remain mainly a solo warmer, the hobby has a fantastic community that always gives me a boost. However, these events often provide the seeds for another project. Chain of Command has lingered in the back of my mind since my outing to Nottingham last year.