Naval Playtest 4 - Nearly There!

With some amendments and clarifications now applied to my 17th century naval rules, the Rejects took to the "online" seas again to try them out and provide much wanted feedback.

The players commanded the ships as follows:

Lee - La Therese 3rd rate, 8 dice

Jonathan - Le Lion Rouge 4th rate, 7+1 dice (extra for master gunner)

Plus, a yacht the St Ann: unrated, 2 dice

Steve - L'Hercule 4th rate, 7 dice

Dan - L'Etoile de Diane 5th rate, 6 dice

Ray - L'Elbeuf 6th rate, 5 dice

My particular focus was on the changes I'd made to shooting and a slight amendment to the movement sequence.

On with the game.

The two sides had to negotiate the islands to get at each other.  For the purpose of orientation, the dice are always placed at the stern of the ships.  So, direction of travel should be clear... I hope.

L'Etoile de Diane and L'Elbeuf.

The opposing squadron.

Dan, Ray and Steve benefitted from the wind and moved quickly.  Having to sail into the wind meant a slower start for Jonathan and Lee.

One change to the turn sequence was that instead of moving a squadron at a time, I wanted to trial the squadron most windward moving one ship first, then alternate ship movement thereafter.  Of course, the option to attempt an interruption and steal a move was still available.

My reasoning was that in games with one squadron a side this stopped complete control by one side.  Plus, in multi-squadron games the side with the weather gauge moves a squadron first then alternate squadrons thereafter.

L'Hercule decided to take a lone route towards the enemy and found himself subject to a thumping broadside from Le Lion Rouge.

With Ray and Dan rounding the island to the north, Steve found himself isolated against a whole squadron.  Especially as Lee, commanding La Therese, was about to unleash something nasty.

Despite having taken some earlier damage from L'Elbeuf, La Therese sailed neatly into position to bow rake L'Hercule.

Another slight amendment was to make it just a little trickier to acquire a raking shot.  To achieve this a ship cannot rake if they conduct a turn in the hex from which they are going to shoot.  In other words, the raking ship must sail straight into position.  My reasoning being that it requires skill and timing to deliver the shot.  Thus, hasty last minute turns are not in keeping.

I missed taking a few photos I'm afraid.
L'Hercule, being severely damage is limping away.  St Ann's rudder is shot and is unable to steer.  Dan, commanding L'Etoile de Diane, chased after St Ann but found himself the victim of some clever manoeuvring by Le Lion Rouge.  Captain Jon then delivered a game winning stern rake.

The stern rake delivered by Le Lion Rouge.

Jonathan and Lee were victorious as the opposing squadron reached its breakpoint and scattered in the hope of an escape.

Afterthoughts
With all players being a little more familiar with the rules, the game lasted c.80 minutes.  I thought it was fun and played smoothly.

I was pleased that the raking fire amendment to both position and differentiating between bow and stern rakes played out so well.

The order of ship movement worked fine and the players seemed pleased.  However, there was a discussion about this and how it might be tweaked further.  Some interesting ideas were mooted and taken note of.

There was also a good discussion about what happens to a ship once it reaches zero dice.  The current situation demands that the afflicted ship either tries to make an escape or, if carrying a critical damage, sinks.  It didn't really have the right feel in a period when capturing ships was such a n important feature.  So, there were plenty of excellent ideas and solutions.  I now have plenty to ponder.  The key thing is to make the changes as small as possible and keep the principle of the game design - fast, fun, and not burdened with small detail and things to keep track of.

On the whole, I am pleased that we have rules which give a fun and, I believe, challenging game.

My thanks to the Rejects.  Jonathan must be included as a Reject, being a founding member of the Spokane Chapter.  Your feedback and good ideas have been invaluable.

Naval Playtest 3

With two play tests under the belt, I decided to extend a wider invitation for a third test game.  Hopefully for a bit of fun but also to garner some constructive criticism.  Of particular interest to me would be any comments about changes I had made to turning.

With five players, I decided to have two versus three.  So, Dan and Lee had the heavier gunned ships against Steve, Jon and Ray who commanded lighter more nimble vessels.

Dan - Le St Phillipe 2nd rate:  9 Ship Dice; Top Speed 5

Lee - La Therese 2nd rate: 9 dice; top speed 5

Steve - L'Hercule 4th rate: 7 dice; top speed 7

Jon - Le Lion Rouge 4th rate: 7 dice; top speed 7

Ray - La Ville de Rouen 5th rate: 6 dice; top speed 7

Top speed being defined as the movement when the ship is broad reaching.

The battles

We managed to get in two games.  So, here is the first.

The background for this game being that the heavier ships of Dan's and Lee's are being chased by the lighter ships.  With the pack now overtaking them the slower but more powerful ships are resigned to having to engage.

By the way, the dice are always placed at the ships' stern.  Hopefully, that will help you see their direction of travel.

The two squadrons sailing in parallel.  

The lighter squadron led by L'Hercule.

The larger ships led by Le St Philippe.

The wind was not kind to Dan and Lee, who found themselves having to turn away from the enemy to avoid trying to run into the wind.

The lighter squadron were able keep the wind in their sails and their sights on their prey.

Taking advantage of the weather gauge, L'Hercule hove into a position to deliver the first broadside on Le St Philippe.

Le Lion Rouge, captained by Jonathan, sailed within range for a broadside at long range.

With the St Philippe badly mauled, it sought some protection by trying to put distance between it and the enemy.  However, it would not be able to avoid their attentions and would soon have to strike their colours.  Victory to the lighter and more nimble craft.

To determine a victor, each squadron has a number of hits it can sustain before making a break for it.  I set this at 50% of the total squadron dice.  So, Dan and Lee would break at 9 hits.  The others would break at 10 hits.  The break point can be tweaked, for example an experienced or well led squadron might have a 60% break point or a poorly led or mutinous squadron at 40% of the dice.

In this first game Dan and Lee took 9 hits, the light squadron took none: 9-0

Game 2

The squadrons were again running parallel but now in opposite directions.  Plus, a couple of islands to perhaps complicate things.

This time the wind favoured the larger ships of Dan and Lee.  Meanwhile, Jonathan, Ray and Steve turned away from the enemy in order to benefit from the wind.

As La Therese and Le St Philippe rounded the island, things were looking good.  However, the enemy maintained a good position.

As La Ville de Rouen lined up its broadside, La Therese let loose its own causing significant damage to Rays command.  However, Captain Jonathan moved in support and bloodied La Therese.

Even though it was the move of La Ville de Rouen, the rules allow an attempt to interrupt its shooting.  This does cost the allocation of some precious dice.  Lee in La Therese succeeded in his interruption and got his fire in first.

At this point the wind changed direction.  Ray, worried about the damage his ship had sustained and sailed away to try and affect some repairs.  However, Jonathan and Steve appear to be trying the cut off the forward and rear of the heavy squadron.

L'Hercule moved into a raking position.  With nowhere to go and in a desperate position, Lee orders his crew to board L'Hercule.

After a protracted struggle, Steve leads his crew to victory and captures La Therese as a prize.
As their colours are struck down, Dan of Le St Phillipe recognises that the tide has turned against him and makes good an escape amongst the islands as cover.

This second game was much closer.  All players had quickly understood the rules and the impact of the weather gauge and the use of interruptions.  Whilst victory went to the lighter and more nimble squadron again, it should be noted that the break points were closer 9-7.

Afterthoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed the two games.  The players will have to pass their own judgement but seemed happy.

The rules played how I wanted them to: fast, fun and without complication.  In fact, each game was completed in just under an hour.

I was happy about the changes I had made to the turning arcs of the ships... pat on the back!

Happily, a couple of tweaks and clarifications did come out of the "post-match" analysis.  First, a sensible refinement to raking shots. Second, that separate broadsides can be made (to port and starboard) in different turns without the need to reload after just one broadside.

We also had a discussion about the order in which the squadrons moved.  The most windward moves first.  The debate was about whether moving first could be a penalty.  It was a good discussion.  For the moment, I am going to leave it as it is and review after some more games.

All in all, I had an enjoyable and, from a rules writing perspective, profitable evening.  Thank you to all who participated.

The Battle of Mortimer's Cross, Feb. 1461 - A Brief AAR

Jonathan took his War of the Roses rules to the next level and exposed them to the Rejects to stress test them. Or, for those of a certain age, put them to the Tonka Toy test!

For other reports and information, I refer you to The Palouse Wargaming Journal.

Dan and Lee commanded the Yorkists.
Steve and I took charge of the Lancastrians.

The initial deployment at the start of the battle.  Yorkists are closest to the camera.

This is the player information Jonathan sent to each of us:

"Battle of Mortimer’s Cross

Jon Freitag

SITUATION

The Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 or 3 February 1461, near Mortimer's Cross in

Herefordshire, close to the River Lugg and the village of Wigmore. When Edward heard news

of his father and brother’s death at Wakefield on 30 DEC, he prepared to move to London to

join Warwick. Hearing that a Lancastrian Army was moving in his rear near Hereford, he

moved to intercept. They met at Mortimer’s Cross. Taking the title, Duke of York, Mortimer’s

Cross was Edward’s first independent command.

On the morning of the battle, a meteorological phenomenon called a parhelion (or "sun dog")

appeared, causing three suns to be visible in the sky. Edward used this as a powerful omen,

telling his troops it symbolized the Holy Trinity and divine favor, which boosted their morale.

The "Sun in Splendour" became Edward’s personal emblem.

ARMY SIZES

Both armies have three Battles. The Lancastrian Army has commands of Jasper Tudor

(Pembroke), his father Owen Tudor, and Wiltshire. The Yorkist Army has commands of

Edward IV, Devereaux, and Herbert.

LANCASTRIAN ARMY

Pembroke – 1x Men-at-Arms (CE6), 1x Household (CE7), Retinue Archers (CE4),

Retinue Billmen (CE5)

Tudor – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)

Wiltshire – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Array Archers (CE3), Array Billmen (CE5)

YORKIST ARMY

Edward IV – 1x Men-at-Arms (CE6), 1x Household (CE7), Retinue Archers (CE4),

Retinue Billmen (CE5)

Devereaux – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)

Herbert – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)"

The flanks of both armies advanced.  Meanwhile the central battles played it more cautiously.  Jonathan used the "chat" option of Zoom so that each player supplied their orders separately and secretly.  Hence the centres on differing orders!

The right Yorkist battle, led by Tudor (Steve) charged into the Herbert's battle (Dan).

After a prolonged struggle, Tudor is forced back.

On the left flank, the Yorkist Devereaux (Dan) flung his battle at Wiltshire's (Steve).

Wiltshire is initially pushed back, after both sides took heavy losses.

Whilst the Yorkist centre (Edward IV commanded by Lee) struggled to change orders, the Lancastrian Pembroke (me) advanced quickly...

... and seizing the initiative charged the king.

Only for Pembroke to be pushed back...

... and back.  On the positive was Edward having the leave the field wounded.
Wiltshire on the Lancastrian left now took the fight to Devereaux.

Despite resistance, Wiltshire threw Devereaux back with loss.  Elsewhere on the battlefield things are looking grim for the Lancastrians.  Both Pembroke and Tudor being forced back and suffering losses.

With both sides with commanders dead or wounded on the field and each with a broken battle, things are reaching a critical moment.  The Lancastrian centre and right looking particularly vulnerable.

However, with some sterling archery from all Lancastrian battles, an initial Yorkist attempt to break Pembroke's battle was thwarted and Herbert's broken in turn.

So, from the jaws of defeat the Lancastrians rescue a victory!

We all thoroughly enjoyed this tense, fierce and fun encounter.  There was a great ebb and flow to the battle.  Jonathan's rules really played well and I look forward to reading his report of the game.

Naval Playtest 2

What should you do on one of the hottest days of the year.  Well, Steve and I stayed cool and met online to do a second playtest of my naval rules for my 17th Century ships that might otherwise rest unloved in a box in my cellar. 

Today's outing was really about testing the rules with more than one ship per side.  

The basic idea of the rules is to assume a lot of things happen of their own accord and just deal with the action and excitement.  For those who like to do tests for running up the main sail or shoot differing types of ammo, this is not for you.  The intention is quick and fun.

The mechanic that runs throughout is that a six on a d6 does something.  Each rating of ship starts with a set number of d6, for example a First Rate carrying 100 guns would start with 10 d6, a Fourth Rate with 56 guns might have 7 d6.  These dice are used during a turn to shoot, reload, repair and to interrupt another player's move.  There are only two modifiers, both on shooting, one for close range and one for raking.  

The ship that's been activated can perform its actions in any order.  Everything except moving requires a six to perform it.  The number of d6 rolled to get the six is decided on by the player.  So, if the Fourth Rater spends 4 dice reloading, it only has 3 dice left for shooting... if the reloading dice successfully produced a six!

A ship degrades during a battle.  Each hit is the loss of one of the ship's d6.  In a way, the rules takes a resource management approach.  The player has to allocate dice to different jobs.  However, as the number of dice (resources) reduces due to hits, the management of the resources become more critical. Thus, more decision points for the player.

That's enough blah, blah!

So, with three ships each we set about it.

With the wind rolled for, Steve was going to enjoy the early advantage of being windward.

Steve made sure that he kept the wind. Meanwhile, I was forced to tack into it.

Very quickly, Steve was positioning his ships to profit from the elements.

And so Steve manoeuvred nicely to bring raking fire. 

His ship, Le Saint Phillipe had 8 dice.  All of which he brought to bear.  Being close range and raking, that gave him a +2 on the dice.  Effectively now needing 4-6 to hit.  Which he rolled with devastating effect.  A consequence was the need to roll for critical damage. In this case my vessel was holed beneath the waterline and likely to sink if not repaired.

The raking shot that devastated my ship of the line.

Not content, Steve then brought a broadside against the same ship.

Steve would now board. With the crew decimated, it was easily captured.

Steve then used the weather gauge to sail into position to rake a second of my squadron.

However, with my 2 remaining ships, I gave a broadside and cut their line.

I will freely admit that I my knowledge of naval conflict in the age of sail is extremely limited.  However, I recall something from somewhere that gunnery fire from these ships required execution at the optimal point as the ship rolled.  I think that was to ensure the shot didn't end up being fired into the sea and killing sharks!  So, in a situation above with a double broadside the allocated dice are equally divided.  This is to abstract that the gunnery may not be at it's best on either side due to having to fire despite the roll of the vessel.  Nonetheless, even with reduced dice, was I still rolling with a 50% chance of doing damage.

But, this would be too little and too late.  

Steve lets rip with his cannons.

With that blow, my squadron has had enough and decides to try and put as much ocean between them the Steve's ships as possible.

I tested a morale/exhaustion threshold for the squadrons.  Essentially, a squadron would decide to withdraw once it had suffered hits equal to 50% of the starting total of ship dice.  My three ships started with a total of 21 dice.  So, I set the threshold at suffering 11 hits before withdrawing... which I did.

The final positions at the point my squadron decided that it need to get away.

Afterthoughts.
That was a lot of fun.  To reiterate a phrase from the first playtest, it was "fast and furious".  Exactly what I want.

• Whilst it played quickly, there were a lot of decision points throughout the game.  As the game allows for interrupts, the non-phasing player really needs to pay attention and is therefore fully involved.
• The game worked well with multiple ships per side.  One on one gave a good game.  Three on three was equally entertaining.
• We had a good discussion and quickly ironed out some creases with the boarding and recrewing rules.
• The "resource management" of the dice made the game zip along nicely.  Plus, we did not get bogged down in what mast was hit or how many guns out of action etc.  The abstraction with the number of dice meant that we could concentrate on sailing and action.
• There were critical hits during the game.  This occurs when shooting produces more than 50% hits on a ship.  This did not happen often, but was fun when it did.
• Steve and I had a good chat about turning.  Whilst the game worked, we both felt that a little tweak to calm some turns was required.  This I have now looked at and await an opportunity to test the changes out.
• I am, so far, pleased that the tweaks mentioned above keep to my design principles and maintain the simplicity of the rules.
• Lastly, the exhaustion/morale threshold produced a good end to the game and a decision on a winner.  Plus, the state of my squadron at the point that it was reached felt like the moment an admiral might want to extricate himself.

All in all, the game felt right and seemed plausible in its outcome.  I finish here feeling quite pleased.

Rivoli at the Broadside Show 2025

Another year and another excellent Broadside Show.  This year the Rejects took the Battle of Rivoli to display.

The motley crew.  I'm sure some of these are on the police's most wanted list!

This post is mostly about the game.  I was umpiring and barely had a chance to step away from it all show.  For other excellent reports on the show and the game I refer you to fellow Rejects Lee's Broadside Wargames Show 2025: Show Photo Review and The Battle of Rivoli 1797 - Posties Rejects demo game at Broadside 2025 and Ray's Broadside 2025 - The Rejects on Tour - The Battle of Rivoli 1797.

Surjit carefully eyeing up the table and weighing his options.  Having led the Austrians to the Osteria Gorge twice and failed, he was determined to crack this toughest of nuts.

The Austrians advanced towards the Trombalore Heights threatening Joubert's troops deployed there.

French reinforcements start to arrive while Postie can't quite believe whatever he is seeing or hearing.

Surjit launches cavalry quickly up the gorge and clears the deployed artillery and turns to face the French light cavalry.  The Austrians have already got off to a better start.

To add to the Austrian joy, Vial's troops are being pushed back from San Marco.

Hoping to maintain pressure and hold the initiative, the Austrians rush to climb the gorge and gain access to the Rivoli plateau.

Meanwhile on the Trombalore Heights, Stuart outflanks the French defences and sends the 85th reeling off the heights.  The rest of the French position is looking precarious.

French army reserves are quickly required to form a new artillery line.

The Austrians throw cavalry into the fray.

With troops being thrown back from the heights and San Marco, the French command is trying to form a new line using reserves and Massena's arriving reinforcements.

Alas, the French guns stall the Austrians at the top of the gorge.  However, San Marco is clearly in the hands of the Imperial troops.

Caught in the act!  What sort of lunch break is this?  Ice cream guilt is written all over their faces.

The view over Rivoli shows the French beginning to form their defensive line on the plateau.  All the while, the heights are being heavily contested.

Uh oh!  Austrian troops led by Lusignan have arrived in the French rear.  Fortunately, Steve commanding Massena's division had two units to turn and face the unwelcome threat.

Massena's fresh troops steady the position at the foot of the Trombalore Heights.  With the front line units exhausted and approaching exhaustion, matters are finely balanced just as Surjit launches his best infantry at the French units trying to hold the plateau.

But with an established artillery line supported by steady infantry, the French were able to repulse the Austrian grenadiers.  With that disaster, the Austrian efforts to break out further onto the plateau ended in exhaustion.  With further French reinforcements due to arrive later, the game was called a French victory.

That was both the closest iteration and the one that most resembled the events of the actual battle.  Some slight tweaks improved the scenario and made it a game where the French really had to expend a lot of nervous energy and thought in holding off the Austrians.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

A lot of interest was shown in the game.  Especially in the 6mm MDF figures from Commission Figurines, and the 2mm buildings from Brigade Models.

With so much of my attention on the game, I barely saw much of the show.  Here are a couple of pics just to prove that I did have a quick wander around.  However, I didn't get the names of the games.

I really liked that the terrain was entirely from carpet tiles.

This one was using Lego.  I think it was called "Brickskrieg".

I also managed to come away from the show with some goodies.

I was actually given these by Postie in exchange for doing some future painting for him.

A couple of dice trays.

The rest were bought at the show's flea market.

Hussars to add to my 28mm Revolutionary Wars collection.

A box full of painted 15mm FPW. Mostly French and some Prussians.  I don't know which manufacturer. I will certainly have to rebase them.

All in all, an excellent day.  There seemed to be a lot of people there, including families and young couples.

Well done to the Milton Hundred Wargames Club on putting on another superb event.