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Tuesday 25 January 2022

Colonial fast play 3 x 3 Portable Wargame

In a Facebook post that he wrote last week, Mark Cordone suggested a way of setting up a very fast play version of the PORTABLE WARGAME that used a 3 x 3 square grid and a modified version of the rules. I was intrigued by this suggestion, especially as it made it possible to set up and fight a battle in less than thirty minutes ... so I decided to give his idea a try-out.

His original suggestion was to use the system to fight Ancient battles, but as I have loads of Colonial figures, I decided to add some artillery rules and give a Colonial version a go. The results are as follows.


Somewhere in the Sudan

The opposing forces: The Mahdists

The Mahdist force comprised:

1 x General

1 x Mahdist artillery unit (Average)

2 x Mahdist infantry units (both Average)

2 x Hadendowah infantry units (both Poor)

1 x Cavalry unit (Average)

The opposing forces: The Anglo-Egyptians

The Anglo-Egyptian force comprised:

1 x General

1 x Egyptian artillery unit (Average)

2 x British infantry units (both Average)

1 x Egyptian infantry unit (Poor)

1 x Sudanese infantry unit (Average)

As per the rules, the 3 x 3 grid was set up, and both sides threw a D6 die to determine who was the attacker and who was the defender. The Mahdists threw 4 and the Anglo-Egyptians threw 1 ... so the Mahdists were the attackers. They also threw for terrain setup and placed a hill on the right-hand square of their baseline.

The Anglo-Egyptians then placed their forces on the grid, followed by the Mahdists. The Anglo-Egyptians chose not to alter the positions of their units in response.

Turn 1

The Mahdists activated their units first.

Their artillery fired at the right-hand British units but missed.

They then moved their Mahdist infantry and their cavalry forward and engaged the Anglo-Egyptians in Close Combat.

Whilst the fighting between the Mahdist infantry and the Anglo-Egyptian infantry was indecisive, the cavalry lost their Close Combat and retreated. The Anglo-Egyptians chose not to follow up on their victory.

The British fired their artillery at the retreating Mahdist cavalry, hitting them and causing them to retreat off the battlefield.

(At this point, under Mark's rules, the Anglo-Egyptians had won as the Mahdists no longer had units in each of the columns of squares, but I decided that as the Mahdist cavalry could return next move, I would continue the battle.)

Turn 2

Both sides threw a D6 die to see who had the initiative. The Mahdists threw 2 and the Anglo-Egyptians threw 4 ... so the Anglo-Egyptians had the initiative ... and chose to go second.

The Mahdist cavalry returned to the battlefield.

The Mahdist artillery fired at the units in the centre of the Anglo-Egyptian line. As a result, the British Highlanders lost 1 SP, the Sudanese infantry retreated off the battlefield, and the General was unhurt.

The Close Combat on the Mahdist left flank/Anglo-Egyptian right flank was ineffective.

It was then the turn of the Anglo-Egyptians ... whose artillery fired at the Mahdist cavalry, causing them to lose 1 SP.

The Sudanese infantry returned to the battlefield, and the Anglo-Egyptian General moved to join the Anglo-Egyptian artillery.

The Close Combat on the Anglo-Egyptian right flank/Mahdist left flank continued, and the leading Mahdist infantry unit lost 1 SP.

Turn 3

Both sides threw a D6 die to see who had the initiative. The Mahdists threw 6 and the Anglo-Egyptians threw 3 ... so the Mahdists had the initiative ... and chose to go first.

The Mahdist artillery fired at the Anglo-Egyptian artillery and hit them. This caused the Anglo-Egyptian artillery to lose 1 SP, although the Anglo-Egyptian General emerged unscathed.

The Mahdist cavalry charged into the Anglo-Egyptian troops in the centre of the Anglo-Egyptian line, but their attack was ineffective.

The Hadendowah infantry charged the Anglo-Egyptian artillery, but in the fighting the leading Hadendowah infantry unit lost 1 SP.

The Close Combat on the Mahdist left flank/Anglo-Egyptian right flank continued ... and resulted in the leading Mahdist infantry unit losing another SP and being destroyed.

The Mahdist General moved forward to support the remaining Mahdist infantry unit.

It was now the turn of the Anglo-Egyptians to activate their units, and they chose to resolve the Close Combats that were taking place along their whole front.

The fighting between the Anglo-Egyptian artillery and the Hadendowah infantry was inconclusive, but in the centre the Mahdist cavalry was defeated and lost its second SP, resulting in its destruction.

On the Anglo-Egyptian right flank/Mahdist left flank the fighting caused the British infantry to lose 1 SP.

At this point the Mahdists no longer had any units in the centre column of squares and had lost 5 SPs whilst the Anglo-Egyptians had units in all the columns and had only lost 3 SPs. The battle was a win for the Anglo-Egyptians ... but not an overwhelming one.


This battle took less than twenty minutes to fight, and that included making notes for this battle report and taking the photographs. Whilst it was not quite as sophisticated a game as a normal PORTABLE WARGAME one, it was fun and had I wished to, I could easily have fought five or six battles (i.e. a complete campaign) in an afternoon without any problems.

I think that this concept has great merit, and I suspect that it will develop into a useful adjunct to the normal PORTABLE WARGAME stable.

My thanks go to Mark Cordone for coming up with this; he deserves the full credit for what might well be a quantum leap forward for the genre of small, fast play gridded wargames.

36 comments:

  1. Interesting concept - as there's no time for movement, the starting positions are very important! I must give this a try.

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    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      I suspect that as more people give this concept a try out, it will evolve further. For one thing, I am looking at some or all units having the option to start off behind their baseline, thus giving another level of tactical options for the players.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. I've found having a reserve to be very important as well.

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    3. That was my intention, and in the demo game I posted on the Portable Wargame Facebook page both the Persians and Romans had units in reserve, behind their baselines. It costs one movement point to move from the reserve to the baseline, and a unit that does so may enter any of the three baseline squares.

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    4. Mark Cordone,

      Any rules that encourage players to keep a reserve get a double plus good rating from me!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    5. Mark Cordone,

      Thanks for the clarification. It makes a lot of sense to play it that way.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. This set off a train of thought... could we learn something from traditional and ancient board games? Particularly those from Africa where the sides are not evenly matched and often the playing/battle field isn't a square or even a rectangle. Or how about a hnafetafl version of the Portable Wargame with one side is surrounded at the start of play?

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    Replies
    1. Jon S.,

      Traditional board games often have mechanisms that are worth copying and adapting. As to different shapes and sizes of forces and/or battlefield … well, there’s lots of ideas there to play around with.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Jon S
      Speaking of hnafetafl (or Terry Pratchett's 'Thud!' game) you might be amused by this...
      http://archdukepiccolo.blogspot.com/2017/09/encirclement-or-breakout.html
      Cheers,
      Ion

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    3. Archduke Piccolo,

      Thanks for sharing the link.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. What a good idea! This could be a great way to simulate the Roman tactic of forming a hollow square in response to Parthian, Hun and Persian armies. The field could be expanded to 5x5 with the defender deploying in the middle 9 squares. The attacker could then bring his/her units on anywhere on the outer perimeter. Victory would go to the army that eliminated half of the other sides units first. I think this could also work for siege games, with the defender getting only 3 or 4 units and having to shift units back and forth to counter attacks.
      With the armies being only 6 units strong I think even a one unit advantage would be huge, so maybe roll a die, on a 1 the army only has five units, maybe on a 1-3 if they lost the last battle, and on a 6 they get an extra unit but its late, not arriving until a 6 is rolled for initiative.

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    5. Mark Cordone,

      Lots of interesting ideas to explore! Expanding the size of the battlefield to 5 x 5 should give players a little more tactical flexibility. Likewise, having some variation in the number of units each side has should also make the battles even more interesting to fight.

      I look forward to seeing how this develops.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Interesting game and rules. Fast and
    Furious. Will have a go with my ECW minis

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    Replies
    1. Stephen Smith,

      It’s exactly that sort of game … and would probably work well with your ECW figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. Bob,
    My immediate reaction was to see the division of the board into left flank, centre and right flank might be ideal for ECW armies in the common deployment of Foot in the centre and Horse on the wings, or for medieval armies with their three 'battles'- vanguard, main body and rearguard.
    Regards, Arthur

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    Replies
    1. Arthur1815 (Arthur),

      I agree about the game suiting linear warfare … and I think that it would be ideal for the ECW period.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. Hello there Bob,

    That is certainly an intriguing option. I think allowing a degree of off table deployment will add to the decision making - perhaps even forced/flank marches with an allowance for stragglers etc. Certainly something to think about. On a separate note it was great to see you getting a game in at last!

    All the best,

    DC

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    Replies
    1. David Crook,

      I think that it has some interesting possibilities, especially for campaigns where both sides have small forces and there are lots of skirmishes.

      It was great to fight a wargame after such a long break … and I suspect that this will be the first of several!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Bob - A comment on what happened when the Mahdist cavalry early on left the field. I had earlier formed the impression that the battle was lost if at the end of its OWN move, the army was left with an empty sector. If I am right about this (not a gimme!) then the Mahdists would not have lost at the end of turn 1.

    Where this interpretation might be problematic, though, is if a home sector is occupied by the enemy come one's own turn. Can a unit try to fight its way onto the battlefield from the reserve zone?
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    Replies
    1. That was my intention, a side gets a chance to react on its next move if one of its columns is vacated during the enemies turn, so your action was of having the cavalry change back into the action was correct.

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    2. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      Having reread Mark’s original post, I suspect that you might be right about the interpretation of the rule, and that I was right to continue the battle beyond the end of Turn 1.

      If a unit reaches the other side’s baseline, I would think that that marks the end of the battle, even if the other side has a unit in the Reserve Area that could try to fight its way back onto the battlefield.

      It’s an interesting point to ponder on.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    3. Mark Cordone,

      Thanks for the clarification.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. It could get one chance to counter attack and force the enemy back, but I like your interpretation better. If an enemy unit occupies one of an army's baseline squares the battle is lost.

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    5. Mark Cordone,

      I like the possibility of a counter-attack option being available, but with a chance element that it won’t happen included in the mechanism.

      I think that getting a unit to the enemy’s baseline is like getting a pawn across a chessboard. In chess the pawn becomes a queen, and in 3 x 3 PW it signifies the possibility of a decisive win.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    6. Perhaps the final, desperate counter attack would need to be led by the armies general?

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    7. Mark Cordone,

      Now that is an interesting idea to play around with!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. I think this system would be great for massed battles that focused on managing practically exclusive engagements on the flanks and center, like ancients. A 4th area could be added to represent the cavalry skirmishes that were often separate affairs until one side won and came crashing into the already engaged lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RyanRecker,

      That is a very interesting idea that makes a lot of sense.

      The addition of the 4th area on the flank might well lead to interesting tactical flexibility within the game. If you give it a go, please let us know how you get on.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Or it could be done as a quick pregame round of combat between both sides light cavalry units for an advantage in the coming battle, like placement of the terrain or which side gets to set up second.

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    3. Mark Cordone,

      Another excellent suggestion!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. Reading the blog an old video game came to mind. "Conquest of the new world" from 1996. It might provide some inspiration. It fought battles on a grid like map. 3column and 4 rows. And on both sides an reserve area. It has some interesting mechanics, and would tie in to some suggestions above.
    This youtube link shows what i mean. https://youtu.be/wfRDJm9OoSE
    If needed I can tell some of the rules in the game.

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    Replies
    1. Gerard-Jan Gerritsen,

      Thanks very much for the link. It was interesting to see how similar CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD looked to the 3 x 3 game, and I will look into this further. There is no point in reinventing the wheel if someone else has done a lot of the work for you!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  9. Whoa! I might have to try this on my teensy table. And I have Mahdists and Brits... hmmm...

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    Replies
    1. Jennifer,

      I think that you might well enjoy trying this concept out.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  10. I’m going to give this a try…
    I play small board chess variants against the computer which is fun, l feel this will be the same…

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    Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      I hope that you enjoy the experience. Please let us know how you get on.

      All the best,

      Bob

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