Converting TF-ON rules to non-hex

My ACW rules, Two Flags - One Nation have been around in hex format for some time. In this most recent version (2021), I have converted them over to an open table format while taking the opportunity to change a few things. In effect, the 2018 version and the 2021 version will be sister versions, one hexed and one not.

By moving away from the 4″ hex in this edition, now any scale of figure is easier to work with and the 2021 rules use two sets of measurements to embrace that. 

Thanks to bloggers Jonathan F and Steve W for supporting the rules on their blogs over the years and for the nudge to get this conversion closer to the finishing line.

I pretty much have the full text and charts that I think will see the 2021 version done. I just need a little more time with it before making it available, but in the meantime, here are the updated design notes, included with the rules, that bring us up to date.

It is wordy and without pictures, so those fortified enough to want to know more, please use the ‘read now’ tab for the rest of this post. 

Battle at Dungborough 1471 with Billhooks!

Above, Perry artwork used in the rules. Taking the Never Mind the Billhooks (Wars of the Roses rules) out again for another spin, we find ourselves in the fictional county of Dungborough. It is 1471 and both armies are on the march to take the high ground that is Larkin’s Hill.

Each force is in march column with their respective Van’s in the lead, each followed by their Mainward and Rearward. Due to the high ground before them, neither side is aware of the others presence.

This post covers an AAR of the action. Please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post.

Giving the WotR Billhooks rules a first outing.

Lovely brushwork by Phil Robinson

Never Mind the Billhooks is a free set of wargame rules by Andy Callum and presented in the latest issue of Wargames Illustrated magazine.

Having tested some of the system mechanisms using just a couple of bill / archer units on the table, I decided to upscale to a trial action, using the suggested 100 point game. This was played out on a 4’ x 3½’ table with 28’s, but I am testing an idea to singly base units on 80mm frontages, whereas, I am guessing that the game uses 120mm sabots since they have unit frontages of 6 figures, ranked in two to give 12 figures per unit.

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Never Mind the Billhooks - free WotR rules

It is time to feel the love for our wargame magazine publishers. The latest issue (393) of Wargames Illustrated is out and this month they have a free 32 page rules supplement authored by Andy Callan.

I have really been looking forwards to this, a great combination of a good set of rules by Andy and lovely presentation from the WI team. 

Please use the 'read more' tab for the rest of this post, which looks briefly at the rules and magazine.

Converting a tabletop game to a boardgame

This post runs off last weeks post (see Resource Section below), in which I AAR’d an ACW game using 12mm figures on Hexon terrain. Actually starting with a hex based scenario meant that  moving the whole thing to a physical boardgame is fairly straight forward, though not without some practical hurdles, not least time and effort.

This post briefly outlines the process, costs and some things to embrace or avoid etc, plus there are a few photo’s of the replay action.

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ACW - Action at Mill Creek

I have spent the week going over my ACW rules Two Flags - One Nation, that are intended for using figures on hexed terrain. The idea being just to a bit of a tidy up in readiness for our next face-to-face game.

As well as the usual tidying up of text to better express some points, I settled on a few minor rule tweaks, so it seemed a good idea to set up the Mill Creek introductory scenario from the rule book, which is useful as a benchmark scenario for testing rule changes.

The rest of this post discusses the (quite) minor changes and shows some highlights of the game.

Please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post.

Two Flags - One Nation Version May 2018

These hex based rules have been back on the table recently with the ‘Battle for Ball’s Ford’ scenario (as blogged a few weeks ago) and this caused me to have a re-look as to how some things were working for the good or bad. 

I like the general thrust and intention of the rules, but they continued to feel a little awkward in places and an ultimate goal of more fully merging my ACW and Napoleonic sets had become somewhat mired.

Several small adjustments have been made, but five changes are actually fairly significant.

In brief they are; the Game Clock has gone, the Post Close Combat Results Table has gone, units do not make a post Close Combat Capability Test, The Retreat and Rout Phases have been combined  into one phase and when defenders being charged take their Capability Test and pass, they are presented with options other than just firing. This last point will have greater use in the Napoleonic set as it will be the mechanic for determining whether units make it into square etc.

Anyway, the changes have meant that the design notes have needed to be modified and they are presented in full here for a deeper explanation of the system.

Please use the ‘read more’ table for the rest of this post.

Into Battle - WWII Tactical (The West '44 to '45) Module Download

Into Battle - WWII Tactical (The West '44 to '45)

This post introduces a new supplement for the hex based Into Battle tactical rules.

It covers the 1944 - ‘45 period on the western front and adds a few additional rules, equipment lists for Commonwealth, U.S. and German forces, some additional terrain types and a scenario based upon a German counter-attack against a Canadian held village.

The supplement, like the main rules, are provided as a free download for personal use only.

The rest of this post will discuss some of the design perspectives of the module / system and list the few amendments that have been made to the main TaM rules. The resource section will give links to the download files for Into Battle - WWII Tactical (The West '44 to '45).  

Please use the 'read more' tab for the rest of this post.

Attack on Buron - 1944

Counter-Attack at Buron - an Into Battle Scenario

Into Battle - WWII Tactical (The West '44 to '45) is the proposed west front 1944 - ‘45 expansion for my Into Battle - WWII Tactical hex based rules.

This small expansion includes a scenario covering the Canadian defence against a German counter-attack at the village of Buron. Todays post is going to follow an AAR of this action as an introduction to the module, which will soon be released as a free (for personal use) download.

please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post

Free ACW hex based rules

Two Flags - One Nation. These are my own hex based ACW rules. They have existed as a set of home-brew rules for 10 years and more and have morphed through a variety of versions.

 

This year I have re-visited the rules and taken them back to their original hex based roots, adding some changes that I have enjoyed in my more recent rule dabblings, in particular Eagles at Quatre Bras.

This post (edited to update notes to the Sept 2017 version) replicates the design notes from the rules, while the rules themselves (including two scenarios) are now available as a free download (copyright reserved) in the resource section of this post.

Please use the 'read more' tab for the rest of this post.

Updated ACW hex based rules

Two Flags - One Nation ACW rules

I have been going through a re-write of some old rules and bringing some new ideas to them, but even just a couple of months ago, they felt just a little awkward and not sufficiently intuitive. However over the last couple of weeks, I have hit one of those creative moments when things just seem to flow from the pen and fall together in a smoother way.

 

Part of this was generated by bringing in across more elements from my Napoleonic set (Eagles at Quatre Bras) into the design, resulting in a better game. Anyway, I put a game out yesterday that seemed to generate fewer hand written scrawls across my draft set and I had something of a breakthrough in how to handle Divisional Commanders, which I feel is fairly innovative.

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Battle generator for WWII games

L'nL Battle Generator with my own rules.

A few weeks ago I posted a review of Lock 'n Load's new Battlefield Generator for their recently released Russian module (Heroes of the Motherland) boardgame. As part of the review, a scenario was generated, which gave a compact one mapper game with relatively few forces.

The scenario worked out quite well, so I have used it as a basis of putting a miniatures game together using Kallistra 4" hexes and Pendraken 10mm figures.

This post gives an overview of the resulting 'mash-up'.

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Into Battle - WWII Tactical - Version May 2016

Into Battle - WWII Tactical are my rules for gaming WWII tactical with hexes on small tables. The rules have been around in their current form for over 18 months and have withstood the testing of many games, so seem quite stable for a range of situations.

Artwork that I did for a boardgame version

The last time they were updated, it was simply to reduce the front armour of the StuG III by 1 point, so amendments have been minor and in keeping with that, I have just given them a further tweak to add in a few nuances, such as special traits for Hetzers and some minor changes to the Line of Sight rules.
A brief discussion follows concerning the tweaks.
Please press the 'read more' button for the rest of this post.

Free game - sample from Into Battle - Tactical WWII

Followers of the blog will be aware that I have developed a set of WWII tactical rules for using 10mm figures on hexed terrain. The rules have always been available as a free download.

Accepting that not everyone who is initially interested in the rules will have either the forces or the hex terrain to try the rules out, I have put together a few files that can be printed off to give everything the player needs to play scenario 3 from the rules.

There are five documents in the resource section below, they are;
1/ The rules to the game - Into Battle - WWII Tactical, a 44 page download (only 21 pages are rules, they are well spaced out and an easy read) which includes the Scenario 3 information.
2/ An intro sheet - which explains about printing the files and shows the game values represented on the game counters.
3/ Combat unit counters - sufficient for scenario 3
4/ Game admin counters - sufficient for any game
5/ A map - reflecting the terrain and hex grid used for scenario 3
All the files are held in my Dropbox (thank you Dropbox). When you try to download, you will probably get an invitation window to register with Dropbox. If you don't want to do that just close down the invitation panel and the download button will be revealed anyway.
In addition, I have included a link to an AAR from one of the other scenarios in the rule book.

RESOURCES.
Into battle - WWII Tactical Rules - link
Combat units - link
Game Counters - link
Information sheet - links
Map - link
An AAR from one of the other scenarios in the rulebook - link

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Campaign module for Tigers at Minsk

Yartzevo Defiant.

Even as the Germans were closing down their Kursk offensive (Operation Citadel) on the Russian front in July 1943, the Soviets had already started their counter-offensive, driving into the shoulders of the Kursk bulge. The attacks into the Northern shoulder would see the liberation of Orel followed by Smolensk and the attacks into the southern sector captured first Belgorod and then Kharkov.

This post delivers a mini-campaign, themed on part of the fighting in the north. Orel has just fallen and to the north west the Surovov Offensive opens with Smolensk as the ultimate objective. We are dealing with the first week of that offensive, where the Soviets tried to breakthrough in the direction of Yartzevo.

The campaign has been designed as a module to support my free Tigers at Minsk rules (see resources below) which manage a WWII tactical game, played out on a hex grid measuring just 8 hexes wide by 6 deep and fitting into a playing area no bigger than 3' x 2'. The module will probably convert quite easily to other rule sets and some boardgames.

For the rest of this post, please click on 'Read More'.

Eagles at Quatre Bras

This post covers the first few play tests of a new set of rules that I am working on with a view to getting some napoleonic games onto a hex grid within a relatively small gaming area. There are examples of both boardgame and figure game battle boards.

The units represent brigades and divisional artillery and the rules are set at the lower end of the complexity spectrum. Play is solitaire friendly and fits into an evening game session.

To read the rest of this post, please tap on the 'Read More' tab.

Free WWII hex based Rules

At last I am ready to round out those recent posts covering WWII tactical games on a pinboard sized gaming area using hexes and my own home brew rules. After much reworking, the rules are in good shape for sharing. They included quick play sheets and examples of play. The current army lists are based around east front 1943 - 44 and six scenarios are included.

The rules have been posted to my Dropbox account (thank you Dropbox).
This post presents my design notes, lifted from the rules, plus of course a link to the rules themselves. Please click 'read more' to get the rest of this post.