Stamford Bridge 1066

The Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066. 

King Harold marches his Anglo-Saxon army north to meet with Viking invader, King Hardrada.

The game is my own design and was published, together with a Hastings game by Revolution Games in 2015.

Last year both games went out of print. I am pleased to say that Legion Games are looking at bringing both games back, but to also include the remaining battle of that year as a new design … Gate Fulford, which has been designed by Geoff Noble, who is also doing a strategic 1066 game for Legion Games. The idea is that the strategic game and the individual battles will form a complementary 1066 line-up

All three battles will be packaged together and share the same game engine. I have seen the proposed artwork, which looks very nice, so fingers crossed on all of that.

In the meantime, today, I am putting my copy of the Revolution Games’ Stamford Bridge to the table.

 

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

Stalingrad - Advance to the Volga 1942

Published by Revolution Games and designed by Michael Rinella, this is an Area Movement game that has been designed from the ground up as a solitaire game.

It has been selling very well, my own game store sold out of stock twice before I could get my copy and Revolution Games have just announced that the game has sold out, but that it will be re-printed early next year, along with the next game in the series .... Manila).

Michael Rinella is no stranger to Area Movement game design or to the Stalingrad subject. For Revolution games, this is their first foray into games with a mounted map board and they have done a splendid job.

This post will look at the components, give an overview of the system and an example of play. Please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post. 

Red Typhoon - the Soviet winter counter-offensive

Red Typhoon covers the second Phase of the Soviet counter-offensive against the Germans in front of Moscow in January 1942. The system is covered in just 5 pages of rules, so this is a very easy boardgame to get to the table.

It gets played today as part of the the ongoing list of ten east front games that I am working through that relate to the Dimbleby book (Barbarossa) that I have been reading.

I have covered the game in some depth before on this blog and there is a link below in the Resource Section to that article, which fully describes the game mechanics and includes an AAR.

Rather than repeat that detail, today we will be doing a briefer overview of the game.

Published by Revolution Games, it is a redesign of a game in the Panzer Corps series, originally published by Command Magazine Japan and designed by Shigeru Hirano, it has been developed by Roger Miller of Revolution Games.

For the rest of this post, please use the ‘read more’ tab.

Hastings - an anniversary battle

 

Today being the anniversary date of the Hastings 1066 battle, I have given Invasion: 1066 The Battle of Hastings a run out.

Who will hold the crown by the end of the day?

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

Hastings 1066 - some boardgame action and a figures video.

Recently, I was rather taken by a YouTube video AAR of the Hastings battle using 28mm figures on nice terrain, with the Triumph rules system. A link to that video is given in the Resource Section at the foot of this post. 

There are a series of three videos showing the full battle, but for those inclined not to watch, I would recommend looking at just the first 10 minutes or so, to appreciate the nature of the battlefield and the efforts of the gaming group.

The game shows a hard slog up the hill, with the flanks being where the first Norman inroads to the Anglo-Saxon defensive position are likely to occur, but for much of the game, the Normans are battering themselves against a robust Anglo-Saxon line and a win for them looks unlikely, it is only in the last part of the battle that any certainty of a victory to either side becomes clear. 

This is very much how I portrayed the battle in my Hastings boardgame, it is not an easy battle for the Normans .... neither should it be!

Anyway, prompted by the video, I put the boardgame, Invasion 1066: The Battle of Hastings, on the table (published by Revolution Games). This post takes a light overview of how the game progressed this time around.

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

Stamford Bridge 1066

With the anniversary of the battle just a week away, Invasion 1066: Stamford Bridge, of my own design and published by Revolution Games, hits the table.

The situation covers Harold’s fast response to the invasion in the north by the Viking army under King Harald Hardrada. The armies are facing each other on the mud flats near to the River Derwent.

This always gives a very different game to the hard grind of its sister design (Hastings) and is pretty much a hack’n slash affair, that generates early shocking losses by comparison.

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

Red Typhoon - East front 1942

Currently in print and published by Revolution Games, this is a redo of Shigeru Hirano’s design, previously published by Command Magazine Japan and with new map graphics by Joe Youst and development by Roger Miller.

The game is covering the Soviet winter counter-offensive 1942 in front of Moscow against Army Group Centre. With it’s 5 pages of rules, this has all the makings of a really good players game. This post highlights elements of the system and gives an AAR to example some points.

Please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post, which discusses the game and flow of battle.

Fury at Midway - carrier battles 1942

Fury at Midway is the new release from Revolution Games covering the WWII Pacific naval engagement around Midway 4th June 1942. Originally published in Japan by Bonsai Games and designed by Yasushi Nakaguro, it has been picked up by Revolution Games and developed by Roger Miller, who has introduced a second map, so that it can be played as a double blind system.

It is many years since I had the old Avalon Hill ‘Flat Top’ game on the table, enjoying that ‘thing’ about carrier battles of readying aircraft and then sending them out to exploit successful searches, defeating enemy CAP and then going for the ships. It is a unique area of wargaming .... and here we are again, with a new opportunity to game an action in that style.

Please use the ‘read more’ tab for a look at the game.

1066 Hastings Anniversary 2019

Monday 14th October will see the anniversary of one of the main battles that brought about a real dynastic / political directional change to this nation, good enough reason to get it up on the table. 

This is ‘Invasion 1066 The Battle of Hastings’, a small footprint boardgame from Revolution Games and one of my own designs.

This post just picks up a few highlights from this anniversary playing of the game and includes a couple of shots of my (slowly) growing 1066 12mm Kallistra armies.

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

Post Battle analysis of an ACW game

The short scenario for Stonewall’s Sword concludes, with a Moderate Victory for the Confederates.

By the end of the game, the Union had lost all attack capability right across their battlefront and needed to reorganise to recover some strength and fall back onto better defensive positions.

Furthest part of Confederate advance 

The Confederates still had some attack capability, notably on the far right, where Pender was about to turn the Union left and 38th North Carolina were just one hex away from Robert Hudson House, a Victory location that would yield 10 VP’s and if taken, would have raised the level of Confederate victory to ‘Major Victory’ had they captured it.

In the end, a few of the chits drawn mattered. Fatigue was played against Pender, which was enough to dampen his final attack and if only there had been a Rebel Yell chit remaining in the Confederate arsenal, perhaps 38th NC could have taken Robert Hudson House. I love the way this system makes these small things matter.

I think the victory level scores and result accord well with what I am seeing on the map and interestingly the victory outcome was totally casualty based, rather than coming from location VP’s.

I like the way in this system that in the last turn, rather than units flinging themselves into dubious attacks that they might not normally do if another turn existed or if loss was likely, they instead either hold back to prevent loss or look to the ‘Available box’ on the Broken Track to see whether they can recover any units back to the board, so that they don’t contribute to the enemy VP total.

In this game, Garnett (Confederate) was able to recover 1 unit, while Prince (Union) failed to recover their 3 regiments that were in that box and that ultimately really mattered.

This is not a game term, but for the purposes of this report, I have judged brigades to be ‘spent’ that have the majority of their units flipped and under Shaken / Disrupt counters.

The Following brigades were so spent;

Union, Crawford and Prince.

Confederate, Garnett, Taliaferro, Early, Thomas and Branch.

An interesting moment in the game was when the hard to activate Taliaferro got a full activation and went over onto the attack. They went into a relatively vulnerable part of the Union line, but managed to smash themselves in the process at no gain. Another saw Pender activate to Manoeuvre with the Quick March chit added and then Jackson activated them again for Manoeuvre, allowing this formation to really make progress against the Union left flank, while the Union didn’t really have anything (other than the two artillery batteries) to counter this.

I am really taken by this system and want to play much, much more of it.

To offer some statistic on this game, at the close of play;

Artillery

Union - Robinson LOST, Knap and Roemer BATTLE WORN

Confederate - Dement (b) BATTLE WORN

General activity

DISRUPTED - Union none, Confederate 1

SHAKEN - Union 5, Confederate 5

BATTLE WORN - Union 6, Confederate 18

TOTAL STILL IN PLAY - Union 22, Confederate 40

The statistics reflect that the larger Confederate army had worked hard to get their victory as half their army was Battle worn, while only around a quarter of the Union force was Battle worn

Union artillery fend off assault

Returning to Stonewall’s Sword, Revolution Games’ regimental ACW game covering Cedar Mountain, last night, we played our first face-to-face session of the game.

It was a learning game for Mike, so we only got through a couple of turns in a couple of hours of play, but we both really like the system.

This morning, I picked up where we left off and played on, solo.

The photo shows the Confederate right flank at the start of the third turn, at the conclusion of the artillery phase. It is 6.20 PM, Thomas and Early had been pressing the Union left flank, with Early pushing through the cornfields and Thomas skirting them, following the line of the South Fork of Cedar Run.

A collapse of the Union left would expose a gap running from Robert Hudson House to Hudson’s Mill and open the lateral Pike behind the Union position, to Culpeper Road, either trapping much of Banks’ II Corps (Army of Virginia) or allowing their flank to be rolled up.

Banks, with resources stretched on that flank,  responded to the threat by sending Greene ‘s 78th New York and 1 DC to the edge of the Cornfields, together with the gun batteries of Roemer and Robinson moving to cover the open ground.

Thomas’ advance brought his regiments directly in front of the newly placed Confederate artillery. Caught attacking over open and exposed ground, just 600

yards away from the guns, his Brigade suffered harshly.

But the crisis was by no means over and with the Confederate brigades of Archer and Pender about to arrive on the battlefield, this flank was going to come under significant pressure.

This system looks like it will generate plenty of localised regimental action that I can port over to by 12mm figures and hex terrain, that would give a good game in a 4' x3' space.

Perhaps 102nd New York amongst the 
cornfields,  awaitin' for Early's assault.

In the meantime, here is a look at some new Cornfield terrain that I have been working on for 28mm, using Christmas crafting pieces sold in The Works (UK high street stationary focussed retail outlet). You get bags of 8 x 1 foot lengths of a sort of thin Christmas tree type material for just £1. When cut down to 30mm, they give a fair representation of a corn field at normal viewing distances.

I have made two trays of corn for this field, which can be removed to allow troops to be represented in the space. Both pieces can also be removed and replaced with a bit of teddy bear fur to re-purpose as a wheat field.

Jackson’s Sword by Revolution Games.

The first of the American Civil War regimental games in the Blind Swords series by Revolution Games, it covers Cedar Mountain with each turn representing 20 minutes and the map scale using 140 yards to the hex.

The series now has four titles in print, with a fifth, First Bull Run on the horizon.

The rest of this post discusses the game and system. Please use the 'read more' tab.

Last Battle - Ie Shima 1945

This is Michael Rinella’s (Take Aim Designs) coverage of the battle for the Japanese island of Ie Shima towards the war’s end and is published in associated with Revolution Games.

The design is in the classic Area Movement style and this post looks at some of the features and play experience.  

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

Stamford Bridge 1066

Invasion 1066: Stamford Bridge.

Now I wouldn't normally promote any of my own stuff like this, but Mr. ER Bickford has just put together a short ( 5 minutes) video replay of my Stamford Bridge design.

It's nice that he has taken the time to do it, but I think it is also worth looking at as an example of how effective a non-verbal video presentation can be.

Anyway - thank you Mr. Bickford.

LINK
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/video/149621/invasion-1066-stamford-bridge/musical-replay-stamford-bridge

Celles - part of the Bulge campaign.

The Ardennes, December 23rd - 27th 1944

Battles of the Bulge Volume 1

Designed by Roger Miller, developed by Richard Handewith and published by Revolution Games. The game covers that latter part of the Bulge campaign (1944) when German forces came closest to the Meuse River.

The following post gives an overview of the game mechanics and the flow of play.

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

Hastings Anniversary replay

Battle of Hastings 1066.

Today (14th October) is the 950th anniversary of the battle that proved to be a monarchal, social and institutional crossroads in the history of Britain.

I could hardly let the day go by without putting my Hastings boardgame on the table.

 

The following post shows highlights of today's play and provides links to system notes and previous replays.

Who will win the day? ....... this time!

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

Invasion 1066 - Stamford Bridge

Invasion 1066 - Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge is the second 1066 game produced by Revolution Games, the first covering Hastings.

The games share the same system, but produce quite different gaming experiences.

This post gives an overview of the game, combined with an After Action Report.

Please press the 'read more' tab for the rest of this post

Stamford Bridge 1066

Sorry I have not posted for a while, but I have been working pretty much full out on my Stamford Bridge boardgame design (below graphic not from the game), just to tidy things up, with the help of some playtesters and Revolution Games.

This is the sister game to my Invasion 1066: Hastings game that Revolution Games published last year.

The design has been around for a while in DTP format, but going to a publisher not only gives this DTP'er some 'real' counters, but gives an opportunity for some streamlining and a re-appraisal of some ideas.

Hastings is a tough grind battle for the Normans as they fight their way up Senlac Hill, but here on the open battle flats near York, the situation gets right into a hack and slash affair from the get go, with a surprising level of attrition to both sides as unit flanks quickly get exposed and invite innevitable attack. Considering the same engine drives the two games, they have a very different feel.

Part of the Viking army have left their armour at their camp, so at the start of play, the Viking front line sets up inverted and neither player knows which of those units has its armour (strength 5) and which don't (strength 4). This 'untried units' type of rule crops up in a few boardgame wargame rules and it is one of my favourite game mechanics.

Anyway, the map and graphics for the game are done and we should be seeing this game available before Christmas.

I will replace this post with a full article once the game is available, in the meantime, here are a few resources that might interest;

RESOURCES:

Description of the hastings system and AAR - LINK - http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/invasion-1066-battle-of-hastings.html

Further Hastings AAR - LINK - http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/1066-william-tries-again.html

Revolution Games Website - LINK - http://www.revolutiongames.us

Posted with Blogsy

1066 - William tries again!

Invasion 1066 - The Battle of Hastings is published by Revolution Games and covers the Norman attempts to wrest Senlac Ridge from the Saxon shieldwall and defeat King Harold.

Game cover

This post gives a light AAR on my most recent game. The Resource section provides a link to a more detailed examination of the system.

Press 'Read More' for the rest of this post.

Operation Battleaxe 1941

Operation Battleaxe, Wavell Vs Rommel, 1941 covers the Allied offensive in North Africa during June 1941. The game is a joint venture between designer Mike Rinella (of Take Aim designs) and game publishers Revolution Games.

The game uses the Area Impulse system, similar to that used in some of Mike's other designs such as Monty's Gamble and Breakthrough: Cambrai and the games in the 'Storm Over' series such as Arnhem and and Stalingrad.

As usual, this post will highlight game play by way of an AAR.

Please click on 'Read More' for the rest of this post.