After looking at the original layout of the hex grid that I featured in yesterday's blog post, ...
... I wondered what it might look like if I turned it through ninety degrees so that the the corners rather than the face of the hexes were at the top edge of the grid. These result looked like this:
The second version of the hex version of the 3 x 3 Fast Play Portable Wargame board.
The second version of the hex version of the 3 x 3 Fast Play Portable Wargame board with the Reserve Areas marked in light grey.
This version of the grid still has ten hexes (shown in green) with three hexes in each of the top and bottom rows and four hexes in the central row. This is the area over which the battle will take place and a further row of four hexes (shown in light grey) are placed at top and bottom edges of the grid to act as the Reserve Areas.
Aesthetically, I feel that this second version looks better than the first and I wonder whether this alignment of the hexes might be more suited to the sort of wargames that are fought using the 3 x 3 Fast Play Portable Wargame Rules. Unfortunately, for the moment I am unable to test this ... but the more I think about it, the more inclined I am to give it a try at the earliest opportunity.
I like this new layout with the four hex reserve area, having reinforcements arriving in a particular hex, and units only being able to enter the battlefield will add another interesting level to the game. I think that would work with squares too. I'll try it out.
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteYou've spotted one of the things that struck me. Where you place your units in the Reserve Area now becomes an important decision ... and a badly placed unit could end up presenting a player with a major problem if the enemy begins to break through on an axis they have not covered or cannot cover quickly.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThe thing I don't like about this arrangement of the hexes is that a unit cannot simply advance straight forward, but must oblique to its left or right.
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteThe answer to your point is both yes and no.
If I am using my Hexon II hexes (which are 10cm wide) and my standard 4cm wide unit bases, it can move straight forward if it starts off in the left-hand side of a hex and moves into the right-hand side of the hex in front of it. If I am using a double-fronted unit or one that has a base that is wider than 5cm, movement will have to be oblique.
I hope to explain my thinking in a further blog post at some point over the weekend.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, point taken. Actually, if the fact that a unit is occupying parts of two hexes is not a problem, a double-fronted unit or formation could still move straight forward. However, there might then be an issue about turning through 60 degrees...
DeleteBest wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI am going to be playing around with this over the weekend, and hope to write another log post by Sunday that I hope will explain my thinking in more detail.
Interestingly, I note that Archduke Piccolo has also been looking at half hexes.
All the best,
Bob