Yet More Wildcatters

This time Simon was green, Jeff red, Richard yellow and myself blue.

Jeff and Richard scored well due to their accumulated Wildcatters.

An AAR from Richard:

Another excellent session of Wildcatters. An

extremely close game, you probably couldn't get much closer than an 8

point spread between first and third (Simon was still in Island mode for

this game I feel 😂). The scores were very high which is further

evidence of everyone playing strategically. There was always lots of

helpful advice being shared amongst at least 3 participants each game

which is always nice to see......

With the benefit of hindsight, the cosy Wildcatter deal early in the

game might not have been the best option. Had Mark won one additional

Wildcatter he would have won the game by 2 points. (Jeff drops 8 to 102,

and Mark gains 4 to 104, which would have made the scores 104,102 and

100). All speculative though as every different action creates a

distinct set of new possibilities. The thing which I've noticed is that

Mark is more averse to bidding too much on Wildcatters, whilst Jeff and

I tend to be more cavalier with bidding. This is also reflected in the

fact that Mark rarely gets into a position of having to take out a share

loan.

So this is yet another area where everyone kind of needs to keep their

eye on players accumulating Wildcatters and at least forcing them to pay

as much as possible if they seem determined to get them. Strategic 

choices to perhaps deny other players the ability to bid unopposed need

to be considered, especially late game.

I think everyone is well attuned to the need to pick up consolidation

chips and I think Mark is best at doing that finishing with the highest

totals in this category across most games he has played in. Mark is also

best at managing his own shares and rarely has take out a loan.

Whilst taking a loan, in and of itself, isn't too much of a big deal,

the fact that a reserve of your own shares must be accumulated and oil

deliveries held back means that, avoiding a loan is probably the best

strategy. This has hampered my game for the last couple of outings. I'm

going to try and improve in this area in the future. Perhaps I could get

some tips on how to do that....

Everyone has also worked out the late turns refinery build and deliver

strategy, although I think this one is yet to prove itself a winning

strategy as it does allow the other players to potentially piggy back

and pick up valuable delivery points. It really does need a careful

scrutiny of what oil other players have available to execute this to

maximum advantage.

There hasn't yet been a game breaking strategy emerge, which is good as

it keeps the game engaging and re-playable. You don't really find out

how well you've done until the final count.

Wildcatters is definitely a star in my game po

Osprey Campaign Series 59 - Vittoria 1813

I started reading this at the same time as I was reading the Donald Featherstone book.  This one was more to my liking.  Only very minor criticism is that the text under the illustrations was a straight repeat from the main body of the text, so nothing new was added.

The book is to the usual Osprey standard, providing photos, reproductions, new artwork and decent maps.  This is no exception.  Some of the authors photos are a little obscure and I have noted this with my own photos.  Black and white does not enhance the quality.  This same is true of the photos that were in the book "Wellington - The Crossing of the Gaves and the Battle of Orthez" that I reviewed back in June (the start of this Napoleonic Peninsula odyssey). 

What I really liked about this book, in contrast to Featherstone, was that its section on wargaming was much better focussed.   It also pointed me in the direction of Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun which I have now purchased and more importantly started reading. 

The tricky thing with wargaming this battle is the allied outflanking move which came as a surprise to the French having traversed terrain that was considered impassable and the subsequent river crossings that involved undefended and defended bridges and fords, combined with the fighting on the other flank in the broken terrain on the hillside.

The outflanking move can be based on unit arrival on the tabletop with perhaps restrictions on French deployment and relocation beforehand.

The river crossings and the fighting in difficult terrain need for further consideration.  The first step will be the refining of the map that I obtained from the book Military Dress of the Peninsula War.

Wargaming In History - The Peninsular War by Donald Featherstone

Published in 1991 and I've probably had it since then, but only now got around to reading it as part of my ongoing research into wargaming aspects of the Peninsula War.  You'd think this book would be perfect, but initial impressions are less so.

The introduction to the Napoleonic period is too general and should focus specifically on the Peninsula War.  The same applies to the chapters on infantry and cavalry, brief as they are, they cover aspects not relevant to the Peninsula, such as the British cavalry at Waterloo.  What is missing are those things unique about the Peninsula War as distinct from other areas of the Napoleonic Wars.

There are references to wargames rules, but without specifying any rule set, except to a figure scale of 1 to 10 (page 17, rationale being that this is "essential to have correct tactical groupings of companies").  My preferred rules have 1 infantry figure represents 120 men.  So the subsequent discussions are at a lower level than what I game at.

There is a discussion of creating wargame rules, but again for the whole Napoleonic period, however there are mechanisms the author stresses that could be used to create the troop profiles unique to the Peninsula War.  A lot of that feeds into unit characteristics as I know them in Napoleon's Battles.  The author did mention WRG rules and it could be that those rules have generic units (as in veterans are all the same regardless of nationality).  I should go and find my copy of those rules to confirm that but will rely on my vague memory and that the WRG rules cover the whole Horse and Musket period.

The book does provide decent summaries of possibly the major and some minor battles of the Peninsula, but only those that have a British presence.  The author upfront states his bias toward the British army.  You would certainly have to say British troops and the generalship of Wellington was superior.  Unfortunately, some of the maps are too fine in detail to be useful (it is an A5 booklet, and the old way of drawing contours quickly fills in the spaces with clutter).

There are a lot of factors in the Peninsula War that don't readily appear on the tabletop, specifically appalling weather, appalling terrain, frequent surprise attacks (aided by the weather or terrain) and poor intelligence.

One thing (page54) that does intrigue me and would seem to have particular value for campaigns is his idea of Fighting Assessment Charts.

Supply can have additional, obvious effects such as cavalry being poorly horsed or even having to fight dismounted, artillery or infantry being low or out of ammunition.

All in all this book was bit of a disappointment, especially being from such a noted author.

My next book has been inspirational and given me another lead to follow as well.

More Wildcatters

Richard (yellow), Jeff (red), Stefan (green) and myself (blue) played this challenging game on Thursday.

Final scores were Mark 80, Jeff 60, Richard 75 and Stefan 24.

AAR provided by Richard

Quite a brutal outcome in the wash.

A very close affair even with me snatching defeat from the jaws of

victory with the wrong decision on the final play. I just needed to have

placed a refinery and that would have netted 6 points for a 1 point

victory. Jeff's second loan cost him the game on one analysis, however,

he would have had fewer oil deliveries to continents (he was in 1st

place on three of them for a total of 48 points) so it was give and

take. Mark's victory was grounded in Consolidation chips (44 - more than

half his final score) which meant he was most adept at being able to

manage his portfolio of shares. Stefan fell into the Canada trap once

again and sabotaged his ability to repay a loan, but turned out to be

the King maker in the game.

This was the first game which played very smoothly and relatively

quickly (for the most part) and allowed for some proper strategy. This

is also the first game where all the Consolidation chips were purchased

and where all continents were delivered to, another sign that everyone

was playing strategically.

This was also the first (almost) error free game we've played. There was

an unfortunate error in the Wildcatter auction on the last turn. You

can't participate unless you have a pump jack in the area. Only I had a

pump jack so therefore only I would have been able to participate.

Additionally in thinking about that last auction, I think we will need a

house rule for share loans. Theoretically you can take a loan for shares

at any point in the game according to the rules. This could lead to the

ludicrous situation where on the last round Stefan (assuming he had

actually been eligible) and I could have bid for Wildcatters into

infinity knowing we could get a loan to cover the final bid (if there

ever was one), so the game would never end.  There needs to be a

mechanism to prevent this.

I really like this game a lot. On one level it is very basic with a

concise set of rules. With only 7 plays as the active player and the

need to feed off the other players it really is so brutally punishing of

even a single mistake which makes it so very challenging. The new 3D

components make it look really nice on the table too which adds to the

experience. (There should be bonus points for being able to place a

fully loaded pump jack on the board without spilling it 😂).

I feel we are at the stage now with it that the rules are (mostly) down*

and we can focus on implementing a strategy which does make the game

much more enjoyable. Having said that, I feel we do need to be more

diligent and follow the sequence of play strictly to avoid making mistakes.

*The main rule still not understood by some people is grasping the

difference between drilling in a new oil field, i.e. putting down the

first pump jack vs developing an oil field.

I hope you enjoy playing Wildcatters as much as I do, as I intend to

schedule it in the future on a regular basis. I feel there is a lot more

to explore with it.

New Kingdom Egyptians versus New Kingdom Egyptians

Some of my Carthaginians and Arabs stood in for a New Kingdom Egyptian army to face Karl's New Kingdom Egyptians in a practice game for the club's Basic Impetus competition.  I will refer to my army as the Pseudo Egyptians.

The Pseudo Egyptians out scouted the Egyptians, 

finding them deployed on a range of gentle hills with a wood to their left flank.

The Egyptian chariots on the left flank advanced and suffered for it.

The Pseudo Egyptians shuffled their chariots to their left.

The Egyptians advance their centre.

The Pseudo Egyptians also advance their centre.

The Egyptian chariots move forward and suffer for it.

The first clash goes badly for the Egyptians who either crumble or fail to contact.

It will take a while for the Pseudo Egyptian chariots to rejoin the fight,

but their infantry has carried the centre and the Egyptians flee.

Blucher - The Battle of Oslo

Part of the 2026 Nordic Film Festival, this excellent movie almost got away from me.  I was really pleased that I had the chance to see it, front row with all the full-on sound effects. 

Told in two interleaved parts: the 1946 military inquiry (shot in black and white) and the actual engagement in April 1940 (shot in colour)

The location and atmosphere really brought things to life as a setting to the command decisions faced by Colonel Birger Eriksen who was in charge of the Oscarsborg Fortress.

Being in the cinema with its superior sound really made an impression as the big guns in the fortress fired and the subsequent air attack by the Luftwaffe on the fortress.

A fascinating bit of history, but also with lessons for our time, particularly around being prepared.

Until 1940 Norway had been at peace for 120 years.

Railways of the World

I had played Railroad Tycoon thirty years ago and this game seemed very similar, but with extra chrome.  Of course it seems similar, it is just the latest version of that game (although for me I always think of Railroad Tycoon as the 1990 PC game of that name).

Anyway, Richard laid on this game for Russell (green), Jeff (dark red), Peter (purple) and myself (black).  Richard was yellow.

Very interesting dynamic in that earning peaks midway through at $25,

but as you get more VPs past 48 income starts to decline.

A serious problem if you have a lot of bonds to service.

Best of all this game is available on boardgamearena.com, but it is a premium game.

Classical Indian versus Scots

That's Scots 1418-1429AD run by a descendent, Mark Woods.

What's a mere two thousand years between armies?

The Scots have been out scouted and deployed in echelon 

between a bit of a wood and some broken ground.

No edge of the table shenanigans here!

A bit of a cautious advance.

Skirmishers are soon engaged.

Closing in.

Contact!

Elephants to the fore!

Pachyderms about to make pappadums of the Scottish heavy foot.

The Indian general announces as the remaining Scots flee,

"We gave 'em curry!"

Late War Spanish Napoleonic Infantry

Excessive Essex British infantry figures, a need for some Spanish units and inspiration from Military Dress of the Peninsular War.

I used a new Paynes Grey as the undercoat after a recommendation from James Fisher.

I think it worked extremely well with this uniform.

Note casualty base ready for addition of marker.

The inspiration!

Initial Muster for Vittoria

I've made a first draft of an Allied OOB for Vittoria and set out what troops I have.

I'm short eleven units at the moment.  20 SpLN are currently ready to be based.  

Next is to see what's on the lead mountain.  

I have left out artillery for the time being and also need a closer look at how the Allied army was divided into corps/wings etc, otherwise Wellington is going to be very busy. 

I will be lucky to get this completed this year, but there are other scenarios I can look at in the meantime.

I am pretty sure I have no shortage of French troops.

False Nose Job - A Scenario for Torpedoes and Tides

Mark B took on the job of a secret mission to XXXX and deliver XXXX.  It was all very hush hush.  For the mission he was given two British Power Boat 72' Motor Gun Boats (MGB) and a Vosper 70' Moter Torpedo Boat (MTB).  He chose to enter from the top left-hand corner.  One of the boats carried the XXXX which was to be delivered to one of the red beacons on the far coast.

A German patrol of two Raumboots and a Kriegfischkutter are out on patrol. 

 It is a moonless night.

We decided not to use blinds as we were under a bit of time pressure.

The German patrol easily spotted the intruders.

The Raumboots are somewhat under-gunned and the British boats are hard to hit...

However, one poor MGB was soon hit.

Was it a decoy?

While one of the British boats takes a pounding,

the other reaches the rendezvous point and starts to unload.

Whatever it is it is going to take a while.

Both sides now have a badly damaged boat.

The secret mission continues, but at a slow pace.

With one MGB now battered the Germans try to close in on the Vosper.

The captain of the other MGB must be telling the spooks to get a move on.

The captain of the battered boat has a plan.

Smoke!

With the unloading finally completed it is now necessary for the British

 to stop the Germans from sticking their nose in, false or otherwise.

More smoke hides the mysterious activities.

But both sides have scored additional hits in the confused night action. 

Mission accomplished.

Time didn't permit us to play on and make good an escape.  Also, I decided that the Germans needed to actually spot what had been delivered (they had three turns) and that the automatic spotting at medium range does not apply.

All in all, another exciting game of Torpedoes and Tides and a nicely different scenario.  

The mechanics used by TnT give an excellent feel for confused fighting as I am sure occurred with small boats coastal forces at nighttime in WW2.

Europe in Turmoil but no Great War

Richard brought out this game for us to play again.  He went conservative while I was liberal.  

An excellent game.  Occasionally the conservatives had a decent lead, but with no war the final scoring favoured the liberals mainly due to their strong position in France.

Took five hours to complete which is longer than normal, but then that is because there was no Great War to bring a sudden end to proceedings.

BATTLES FOR WARGAMERS The Peninsular War: 1813 by Terence Wise

I paid $4.95 for this a long, long time ago.  I have dipped into it occasionally for inspiration and now I think it's time has come (almost).

Published in 1974

It covers a set of semi connected, less well known battles of this period and area of operations (basically the Pyrenees), after the Allied victory at Vittoria.

It starts with Castalla on the Spanish east coast and not involving Wellington or Soult, as the other five do.  Each battle has information on the forces engaged, a description of the fighting and aftermath as well as a decent map and an inspirational picture of a refight using Airfix figures.  Delightful!

The six chapters cannot really be called scenarios, and they are certainly rules agnostic.  Basic information is provided for organization and uniform painting guide with the notable omission of the Spanish.

The west coast battles focus on Soult's invasion in July 1813 and cover Maya, Roncesvalles and Sauroren and the subsequent French attempt to cross the Bidassoa in late August to relieve the siege of San Sebastian and then the Allied crossing on 7 October to invade France.

The battles involve divisions attacking through difficult terrain, often against much smaller opponents.  There is often a bit of preliminary marching and also for the defender when bringing up reinforcements.  I think this makes them challenging to stage, but a good test of a ruleset's ability to simulate Napoleonic warfare as against set piece battles.  Perhaps too small for a campaign, but the Scharnhorst (part of the Blucher rules) or Snappy Nappy might provide some kind of framework.

Anyway, lots of food for thought and having visited some of these battlefields I am certainly keen to see if I can develop some scenarios for Napoleon's Battles.

BIG BATTLES Thematic Byzantines versus Later Abbasid Arabs

An historical match up using Basic Impetus 2.0 Big Battles option.  Brad and John commanded the Byzantines while Karl and I had command of the Arabs.

With Big Battles the benefits of out-scouting and deployment are not so critical.

Terrain was kept to a minimum, just two gentle hills.

Arabs on the right and Byzantines on the left.

The two armies are very similar.

Although the Arab has a lot more infantry.

The Byzantine cavalry wings rush forward.

The Byzantine cavalry (as seen from their side) takes significant casualties.

While the Arab foot advance as quick as they can,

their cavalry is happy to stay shooting at the Byzantines.

The Byzantine cavalry is trying to get into contact.

As seen from the Byzantine side, their cavalry is getting bogged down.

After some success the Byzantine right wing has collapsed

and the Arabs are now focussing on breaking their left wing.

With both wings broken the Byzantine centre stands forlorn on their hill.

Game over.