Saturday "Look, Sarge, No Charts" Games at Historicon 2013

This past weekend at Historicon 2013 in Fredricksburg, Virgina; the HAWKs ran numerous games using the "Look, Sarge, No Charts" family of rules throughout the con. On Saturday, we ran two large 14 player, two-table, Extravaganza games using the rules.  The first of these, called, "The Goblins are Coming! The Goblins are Coming!" started Saturday morning at 9:00 AM. It was our LSNC Fantasy Extravaganza using 10mm figures and "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" rules, (aka: Look, Sarge, No Charts: Fantasy, Ancients, and Medieval). These rules are currently underdevelopment, and we hope to have them completed by this time next year. The game was co-GM'd by Buck Surdu and myself.
   (Click on any picture to see it larger) 

Buck Surdu, in blue shirt, answers a player's question during the game's first turn.

   Buck and Dave Wood were scheduled to do a LSNC Napoleonic Extravaganza game after our Fantasy game. So, interestingly, to save time on resetting the whole table for the second game, we used the same scenario and table layout for the Fantasy game that was required for the Napoleonic  game that would follow. Simply replacing building with fantasy versions and adding other fantasy terrain elements here and there across the table. The Napoleonic game, The Battle of Laon, was from the 1814 Campaign, and featured a Prussian Army trying to cut the retreat route of a French Army.  So for our purposes, we replaced the Prussians with the forces of Evil: Goblins, Skeletons, and Wildmen; and the French we replaced with an alliance of High Elves, and Wood Elves. We tried to place the units exactly where their historical counterparts would be: for example, Elven Knights and Wood Elves riding Stags as well as Giant Eagles replacing the French Cavalry, and Goblin Warg riders and Skeleton Knights replacing the Prussian Cavalry.

Elven spearmen force back a unit of giant spiders.

  The victory conditions would be the same from both games. The Elves needed to hold open a retreat route, so victory was determined by who controlled the most of two roads that ran the length down the battle field, joining at a "Y" intersection a few feet before exiting the table behind the Elven forces.  For control of the single section of road from the table edge to this Y a side would be given 2 points for every foot, and for control of the two branches of the road that ran the rest of the table, the sides were given 1 point for each foot they controlled. Control was determined by having no enemy forces cutting the road between your farthest unit on he road and your home edge.

A view of the Elven right flank.

  We had a full roster of players for the game, and after a brief rules description, the game began.  A great thing about the rules, is after just a few turns the players were able to run play the game with little help needed from us GM's

Wood Elves brace for the impact from the seething Goblin horde on the far left of the Elven lines..

The battle was a close fought affair.  The Elven cavalry and spearmen launched into the Evil side's left wing, pressing them very hard.  While on their own on left, the Elves fond themselves being pushed back by hordes of Goblins and their human allies. In the center both sides became embroiled in a bitter fight for control of the city that straddled one of the roads.

Elven stag riders melee with a giant spider

A view down the length of the battlefield from the Evil side's right flank.

The Wood Elf Sorceress, on white unicorn, casts a wall of flame to block a flanking maneuver by the Wildmen

In the end, the game down down to a very close finish, with only a point and a half separating winner, the Elves, from the loser, the Forces of Evil. Everyone had a good time, and twenty feet of table laid out with some many forces, was truly a cool sight to see.

A view of the battlefield near the end of the game.

While we were running our game, James 'Tank' Nickle was across the room running a historical Rome vs Carthage ancients game using the same rules. Entitled, "Look, Sarge, Hannibal's Not Here", it was a Battle of Iberia scenario during the second Punic War.  The game had all it's player slots filled and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Tank, in cap, helps a player during the game.

The Carthaginian army (left and bottom of picture), faces off against their Roman enemies (top of picture)

Roman Legions arrayed for battle.

After our Fantasy battle was over, we quickly reset the table for Buck and Dave's Napoleonic game using the LSNC Napoleonic version: "Fate of Battle"  As mentioned above, this scenario was the Battle of Laon from the 1814 campaign. 

Buck, (in blue shirt,) gets up on the table to help a player with a combat

Prussian columns advance on the French position

Heavy fighting on the French right.

All in all it was a very successful convention for the LSNC author team.  We were able to run some great games for fans of the rules, and introduce a number of new people to the system.  And, we had a great time doing it.

"Fate of Battle" Rules at Cold Wars '13

Co-authors Buck Surdu and Dave Wood put on a combined four "Fate of Battle" (aka- "Look, Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonics") Napoleonic games at Cold Wars this past weekend. All were well attended, and most all the players seemed to have a good time, and picked up the rules quickly.

The Battle of Laon, 1814 using "Fate of Battle" rules and 25mm figures.

Dave Wood's game was The Battle of Laon, 1814. Dave re-purposed his old 25mm Minifigs by putting them on magnetic “sabot” bases and adding labels. You can see the game looked great and was a nice way to play the game without the effort of permanently rebasing his figures.

Another view of The Battle of Laon, 1814

Close up of some of the figures used in The Battle of Laon game.

Buck ran three "Fate of Battle" games, using his collection of 10mm Old Glory figures. He writes of his games:

   "I ran three games at Cold Wars 2013 with 10mm Old Glory figures. All three were 1814 scenarios from a scenario book we are writing: Vouchamps, Montereau, and Craonne. The games went very well. Each of the battles was very tight until the end. At Vouchamps, the French captured two of the three roads along the Prussian line of retreat. At Montereau, the French only penetrated one of the three phase lines needed to achieve victory, so the Austrians eeked out a victory. At Craonne the French had initially achieved all their victory conditions; however, when their cavalry routed and a Russian brigade pushed through a gap in the French line, the Russians emerged victorious. The players quickly caught on to the rules and were running the game by themselves after a couple of turns. I saw a bunch of folks walking around the convention with copies of Fate of Battle under their arms."

 

The Battle of Vouchamps, 14 February 1814



Close up of some of the units used in The Battle of Vouchamps

Players move their forces during the Battle of Vouchamps game.

The Battle of Montereau, 18 February 1814.

Close up of some of the forces inThe Battle of Montereau.

The Battle of Craonne, 7 March 1814

Buck Surdu, (in blue, on right) helps players work out a melee during The Battle of Craonne.

1812 Zombies by GASLIGHT Game at Cold Wars

After his Saturday morning Dr Who game at Cold Wars, Greg reset his table for his afternoon Zombies by GASLIGHT game using the similar set up and many of the same figures.

S-267 - Corpse & Musket: Napoleonic Zombies by
GASLIGHT - Theme Game
Sat. 2:00 PM, 4 hrs, 6 players
GM: Greg Priebe with Todd Harland-White and HAWKS
Napoleonic 28mm, Rules: GASLIGHT
The year is 1812 and Napoleon's once great army is now in retreat
following the invasion of Russia. Can you guide your ragged band
of French stragglers to safety in the face of Russian patrols,
freezing temperatures and your own fallen comrades raised from
the dead by the curse of a vengeful Haitian priestess?
Children under 14 only with a playing adult.

Russian and French troops prepare to do battle with little knowledge of what lurks in the woods.

French and Russian cavalry is set upon by a horde of the undead.

A french officer is set upon a fights off two of the undead.

A horde of Zombies breaks from the woods and goes for a column of French troopers.

An overview of the table. Greg had made dozens of great Napoleonic zombies by combining the plastic Mantic Zombies set with a Victrix French Napoleonic set.

Two of the players conduct close combat. The afternoon sun gives the table a dramatic wintry look.

A swirling melee as the game reaches its final stages.

Dr Who Napoleonic Retreat From Moscow Game at Cold Wars

Greg Priebe, a relatively new member of the HAWKs, is a real Dr Who fan, and after running a successful Dr Who game at Fall-In, decided to do a follow up one at Cold Wars. This one was in keeping with the 1812 theme of the convention:

S-266 - Russian Treasure, French Tricorn, The
TARDIS - Theme Game
Sat. 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, 8 players
GM: Greg Priebe with Todd Harland-White and HAWKS
Napoleonic 28mm, Rules: DR Who
The sequel to Fall In 2011’s “Victoria Hawkes & the Steel
Menace”: The TARDIS’s malfunctioning randomizer has landed
the Doctor, his companions, and adventuress Victoria Hawkes in
the midst of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. To make matters
worse, the French have gained access to new alien weapons and
are back on the offensive. Does a mysterious artifact of immense
power hold the key to victory? Can the Doctor overcome both old
and new foes, set history straight and get everyone back to their
correct centuries before Napoleon and his new-found allies march
on to victory?

The 10th Doctor was in play for this game, along with an assortment of helpers including K-9.

Daleks move up to support thier new French allies. Exterminate!

Two units of female Cossacks helped bolster the Russian forces.

An overview of the battlefield.

The Russian Commander fights hand-to-hand with a Dalek

Another view of the table.

With the battle swirling around him, the Doctor managed to complete a number of other tasks located around the battlefield.

Due to an injured leg, Greg was forced to GM the game from a seated position, with one leg propped up. Despite this, everyone seemed to have a great time, and really got into the spirit of the game.

"Look, Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonics" at Cold Wars

Buck Surdu ran two well received "Look, Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonics" games at Cold Wars this past Friday. The first was:

F-256 - Look, Napoleon, It's the Austrians
Fri. 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, 6 players
GM: Buck Surdu and HAWKS
Napoleonic 10mm, Rules: Look Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonic
Wars
A French corps must push past Austrians as they try to reach the
Danube. Come for this sneak preview of the soon-to-be released
Look, Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonic Wars rules. There are no
chart cards to clutter the table. Fight the game, not the rules.
Younger gamers welcome with a PARTICIPATING adult. Rules
will be taught.


I was lucky enough to get a spot as one of the French commanders, and had a great time. This game was a preview game of the upcoming "Look,Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonics" rules, in which each pair of 1.5" x 1.5" stands equals a battalion, and gamers command divisions.


We were tasked with securing a road which the Austrians were trying to sever. It was a hard fought engagement as both sides maneuvered to reach their objective.


On the French left flank, the Austrians pushed hard to breakthrough the French.

Austrian Cavalry manages to work around the French right flank, and hits a column of infantry moving up the road.

Gamemaster Buck Surdu explains a fine point of the rules to some of the players.

The Austrian generals advance their units, pressing the beleaguered French line from all directions.

An overview of the battle as the French try to stabilize their right flank and regain control of the road.

The innovative system allows players to quickly resolve movement and combat without chart cards cluttering up the table and slowing down the game. All the information needed is given on a small label at the back of the base and a few special dice.

The French cavalry makes an appearance and manages break an Austrian square.

In the end, the French were unable to keep the road clear of the enemy, and the Austrians were declared the victors.

That afternoon , Buck ran a second game using the "LSNC: Napoleonic" rules:

F-257 - Look, Napoleon, It's the Russians - Theme
Game
Fri. 2:00 PM, 3 hrs, 5 players
GM: Buck Surdu and HAWKS
Napoleonic 10mm, Rules: Look Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonic
Wars
A French corps is able to bring a Russian rear guard to battle as the
French juggernaut pushes toward Moscow. Come for this sneak
preview of the soon-to-be released Look, Sarge, No Charts:
Napoleonic Wars rules. There are no chart cards to clutter the
table. Fight the game, not the rules.
Younger gamers welcome with a PARTICIPATING adult. Rules
will be taught.

In this game, each side was tasked with securing two of the three bridges which spanned a fordable river which ran down the center of the table.

Once again, the action was fast and furious with both sides maneuvering for an advantage.

In the end the French were able to obtain their objectives.

Both games went really well, and many of the players were eager to know when the rules would become available.