First Thoughts from 25mm games
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:37 pm
I have been playing test games in 25mm with Ric Davey and last night had the advantage of a masterclass in the 15mm game from Terry. The latter clarified a number of points which Ric and I had misinterpreted.
These are some of the misinterpretations we had and for which you might consider clarifying wording:-
1. A Disrupted BG loses 1 dice per 3 when fighting. The Glossary says '= Lose 1 dice per full x dice ie round dice up' . On reading this we thought you had to round up the number of dice to a multiple of 3 and then lose 1 per each 3 of the rounded up total. Thus a BG of 4 Legionaries would start with 4 dice, rounded up to 6, lose 2 (1 per 3) and end up with 2 dice (4-2). A little example might help.
2. We thought that any bases in a routing group that were contacted by a pursuing group at the end of the Joint Action Phase were lost. Reading the section with the benefit of Terry's guidance I can see that's not correct.
3. We had puzzled over the effect of the positioning of a general when determining range for shooting. If for example a general attached to a BG is in range but the rest of the bases in the BG are not is the BG in range? We concluded that you ignored the general's model but couldn't find the words to support it.
The other presentational point I would suggest is that the boxes on the reference sheets be annotated with the number of the page on which the main rule appears so that if you are confused by the reference sheet you can find the main rule quickly. Probably a nicety to add in when the rules themselves are 'set'.
In our last 25mm game a couple of effects struck us as a bit odd.
The first was that getting a flank march on that's not mounted is real bear. Ric has been using his Indians and I have stuck to a Roman army. In our last game Ric had effectively covered both his flanks with uneven ground so I flank marched 2 BGs of Auxilia with a TC. This is a tactic I've used to good effect in other rule sets. It came as a nasty surprise to find I only I had a 1 in 12 chance of rolling high enough to get them on! Perhaps the -1 for Medium and Heavy Foot should only apply to Undrilled troops. Properly trained troops are surely less likely to get lost/distracted. As things stand you really need to use mounted for flank marches or send an FC to lead it to have a decent chance of getting on. (And FC's are expensive when using a 650 point army)
The second was that re-positioning skirmishers can take an age. Without a general to help them they really don't zip about; more amble. When your generals are with the battle line and you desperately want those horse archers up to threaten a flank, their pedestrian progress seems very odd. I think it might be sensible to consider either:-
a) Allowing skirmishers a second move ; or
b) Allowing them a second move if they pass a CMT.
Regards
Chris
These are some of the misinterpretations we had and for which you might consider clarifying wording:-
1. A Disrupted BG loses 1 dice per 3 when fighting. The Glossary says '= Lose 1 dice per full x dice ie round dice up' . On reading this we thought you had to round up the number of dice to a multiple of 3 and then lose 1 per each 3 of the rounded up total. Thus a BG of 4 Legionaries would start with 4 dice, rounded up to 6, lose 2 (1 per 3) and end up with 2 dice (4-2). A little example might help.
2. We thought that any bases in a routing group that were contacted by a pursuing group at the end of the Joint Action Phase were lost. Reading the section with the benefit of Terry's guidance I can see that's not correct.
3. We had puzzled over the effect of the positioning of a general when determining range for shooting. If for example a general attached to a BG is in range but the rest of the bases in the BG are not is the BG in range? We concluded that you ignored the general's model but couldn't find the words to support it.
The other presentational point I would suggest is that the boxes on the reference sheets be annotated with the number of the page on which the main rule appears so that if you are confused by the reference sheet you can find the main rule quickly. Probably a nicety to add in when the rules themselves are 'set'.
In our last 25mm game a couple of effects struck us as a bit odd.
The first was that getting a flank march on that's not mounted is real bear. Ric has been using his Indians and I have stuck to a Roman army. In our last game Ric had effectively covered both his flanks with uneven ground so I flank marched 2 BGs of Auxilia with a TC. This is a tactic I've used to good effect in other rule sets. It came as a nasty surprise to find I only I had a 1 in 12 chance of rolling high enough to get them on! Perhaps the -1 for Medium and Heavy Foot should only apply to Undrilled troops. Properly trained troops are surely less likely to get lost/distracted. As things stand you really need to use mounted for flank marches or send an FC to lead it to have a decent chance of getting on. (And FC's are expensive when using a 650 point army)
The second was that re-positioning skirmishers can take an age. Without a general to help them they really don't zip about; more amble. When your generals are with the battle line and you desperately want those horse archers up to threaten a flank, their pedestrian progress seems very odd. I think it might be sensible to consider either:-
a) Allowing skirmishers a second move ; or
b) Allowing them a second move if they pass a CMT.
Regards
Chris