Recently, Maudlin Jack Tar has been fighting an interesting campaign using the map from SHAMBATTLE (a wargame book published in 1929).
In the original rules, two countries - Bluvia and Redina - were separated by a river. Each of the countries had three cities, which were connected by roads. There were also two hills, two forests, and two marshes, and the border river was crossed by three bridges.
The opposing armies were equal in size, and comprised:
Each army comprises three divisions, each of which has three brigades. Initially, Bluvia and Redina each deployed a dividion to protect their respective capital cities whilst the others were mobilised close to the border.
To date, he has fought:
Please note that the second map featured above is © Maudlin Jack Tar.
In the original rules, two countries - Bluvia and Redina - were separated by a river. Each of the countries had three cities, which were connected by roads. There were also two hills, two forests, and two marshes, and the border river was crossed by three bridges.
The opposing armies were equal in size, and comprised:
- At 40 soldiers (infantry and cavalry)
- 6 medical corps men
- 1 cannon
- 2 machine guns
- 3 hospitals (of which 2 are field hospitals)
- At least half of the soldiers were to be deployed in cities, with a third of these figures in each city
- The permanent hospital had to be deployed at a fixed spot, but the field hospitals could be placed anywhere within the country’s territory
- Each player chose a soldier to represent themselves
- Each player secretly picked an enemy soldier who would act as a spy. The identity of the spy was written on a piece of paper, and this was placed in one of the cities near the border
Each army comprises three divisions, each of which has three brigades. Initially, Bluvia and Redina each deployed a dividion to protect their respective capital cities whilst the others were mobilised close to the border.
To date, he has fought:
- The Opening Moves in the Blue/Red Campaign
- Red/Blue Campaign Turns 2-4
- Red/Blue Campaign Turn 5
- Red/Blue Campaign Turn 6 & Battle Report
- Red/Blue Campaign Turn 7
- Red/Blue Campaign Turn 8 & The Last Battle
Please note that the second map featured above is © Maudlin Jack Tar.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI've been following Maudlin's Battles -particularly interested in his 1/72nd plastic Armies - some old AIRFIX included. Very compact gaming. Hope your cold is getting better. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteReading Maudlin Jack Tar’s campaign and battle report has helped to raise my spirits during my rotten cold ... which I still cannot seem to shrug off.
All the best,
Bob
Bob - thanks for the mention in dispatches!
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteIt was my pleasure ... and well deserved! I look forward to reading more of them in the future.
All the best,
Bob
For your readers interested in the rules for Shambattle, they can follow this link to a free version on the 'net:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nirya.be/snv/shambattle/
Looks like Phil Dutre had a hand in this!
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteThanks for the link!
From what I can remember, I suspect that you might be right about Phil Dutre’s involvement.
All the best,
Bob
You're welcome, I enjoy finding this kind of thing anywhere. The game reminds me of one my friend and I played in a sandpit behind our school. We had never heard of Shambattle or even Little Wars but we came up with something very similar on our own. Instead of using toy cannons we shot at each other's men with rubber bands, using the classic "finger-rubber-band-gun" method.
DeleteI've noticed the link I provided only offers the highest level of rules. If anyone is interested and you are willing to share the link, the full rules (original and revised) are available from this source:
http://www.thortrains.net/milihistriot/books.html
Full disclosure, I have no stake in sales from this site. I'm sharing it as a favor for anyone interested.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteI think that we all had our own ‘wargames’ when we were young. I was lucky enough to own several matchstick firing guns (a couple of Britains 25-pounders, a Crescent 25-pounder, and a Crescent 18-pounder) which provide my 54mm toy soldier armies with firepower.
Thanks for the second link to the SHAMBATTLE rules ... and I’m sure that we all appreciate that you recommended the link for altruistic reasons.
All the best,
Bob