Army Packs for The Portable Wargame

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A duplicate post from HistoriFigs website, for those of you not reading our news page…

Question for fans of Bob Cordery‘s The Portable Wargame… (Amazon link)

I’ve been thinking that our Classic (Scruby) 25mm figures are a very nice size for use with this game. As such, my thoughts have revolved around putting together some [25mm] Army Packs specifically for this game. The obvious choices are:

  • American Civil War
  • Franco-Prussian War
  • Crimean War
  • the African Colonial wars
The idea would be to make new molds (so we get crisp, clean castings) and package the figures in groups appropriate for use with The Portable Wargame. Target price would be as low as we could go and not loose money. For sure we should be able to do something under $40 USD shipped in the US (packs with larger cavalry forces might run slightly more). Even with international postage prices I think we can keep it pretty reasonable.
 
This should be do-able for some themes in 30mm and possibly (a more limited set) in 40mm and 54mm (at a higher price point).
 
What say you?
Amazon Links:

Possibly even some packs to go along with: When Empires Clash (Amazon Link) also by Bob Cordery. Selection not as wide, but some are do-able in 25mm and some in 15mm (Bloodaxe).

Recent Adventures in Painting…

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I just realized it has been a while since I made a Post here, more posts have been to the Facebook group…

Gotta be better about posting here and then pointing posts on Facebook to here.

Late November and most of December were a quiet time in the shop, so I took a bit of time to try and catch up on my painting backlog. Made a bunch of headway, but also started several new projects.

I’ve painted a bit of this and a bit of that. Highlights include:

  • Blasted Planets
    • Pachydon
    • Human Infantry in Greatcoats
    • New, project covering a Swords & Sorcery version of the Blasted Planets universe Blasted Planets 100 …
      • Orc Swordsmen
      • Orc Axe-men
      • Human Swordsmen
      • Dino Beasts
  • Colonial
    • 30mm Scruby Zulu
    • 40mm Scruby (Arabs)
    • 25/28mm Bloodaxe (misc.)
  • 15mm Hawaiians
    These will be re-molded as I go (likely completed in February)
  • Misc. 40K figures
  • 54mm Scruby American Civil War
  • Misc. Terrain pieces

Plenty more on the table right now, just in various stages of incompleteness…

Here are a few pictures (sorry, if they are a bit blurry – still having camera problems)


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Test Drive: The Portable Wargame

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I’ve been wanting to take The Portable Wargame out for a spins for some time now, but just never could figure out what I wanted to do. What figures did I already have that would fit the bill, what playing surface did I have…

Suddenly it hit me; right in front of my nose, 40mm Scruby American Ciivil War and my Hotz Command Mat! Bonus in that they were already out and on the table. Hex grid runs wrong way, but that was easy enough to remedy (ignore).

Nothing fancy for the scenario. Just went with balanced forces: 4 x Infantry, 1 x Cavalry, 1 x Artillery and a Commander for each side. For terrain went with a mirrored layout; clear and some wooded areas (grid was 9 x 8).

Game was played Solo, using Sudden Death rules; grid was 6″ hexagons.
PIPS, rather than cards for activation. I do think I’ll need to devise a simple activation system for solo games; the cards seem nice, but more hassle (matching card decks, etc.) that I want. PIPs were ‘ok’, but still think I need a better solution.

pre-game setup

    • CSA wins Initiative and activates a single unit, Artillery moves up
    • USA activates 4 units; Artillery and Infantry move to forward positions
    • USA wins initiative and activates 4 units: Cavalry moves up and some more Infantry maneuvering.
    • CSA activates 5 units, with advances across the field

      end turn two

    • USA activates 4 units, maneuvering across the field
    • CSA activates 6 units. Advances and fires, but with no effect
    • USA activates 6 units. Attacks and Destroys the Rebel Cavalry and pushes CSA Infantry back on the left; further fire is ineffective
    • CSA activates 4 untis; Artillery fire has no effect

      end turn 4

    • USA activates 4; combat results in the Destruction of Infantry unit & Rebel commander. Further fighting dislodges CSA infantry for position in woods on the Right
    • CSA activates 5; fighting pushes back USA on right, while CSA on left must retreat
    • CSA activates1. Close Combat results in the loss of another Rebel unit. CSA reaches Exhaustion Point! Given the state of remaining troops, this effectively ends the game…

      end of game

      Had this I not been using the Sudden Death rules, the game could have continued.

After some reflection, I think hex grid was a bad choice for ACW; I will need to make up a square grid board and try again. Initial impressions are that, as Bob suggests square grid prior to 1900 and hex grid 1900 and later. My next game will feature British vs. Zulu on a 3″ square grid; might be a week or two, as I need to make up a terrain board with the 3″ grid.

Overall I like the game, I can see many uses for quick games. Will be trying this again soon.

WAR-CHESS or The Game of Battle

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For some time now, I’ve been wanting to read WAR-CHESS by Colonel Charles Richardson; thanks to Bob Cordery for the kick in the pants! His mention of this book in The Portable Wargame pushed me to look into the book a bit more.

War-Chess Cover

I am now in the process of reading the book, and will be trying out the game as well. This will be a slow read, as I try to fully grok the work and work out how the game might be played today. I expect that I will be posting a series of articles concerning this book and my efforts to play the game.

For an opening post, lets start with the beginning of the book, the first section is presented here as it gives a excellent overview of the coming games of battle…

Composition of the Game of Battle

The Game of Battle represents two antagonistic armies, one of which, the Attacking (or Invading) Army, is compose! of four figures, each representing a regiment of Light Infantry; five figures, each representing a regiment of Infantry of the Line; two figures, each representing a regiment of Cavalry; two figures, each representing a battery of Artillery; and one figure (a wagon), representing the ” Supply Train,”’ in which it is to be supposed is carried all of the subsistence, ordnance stores, etc., necessary for the maintenance and effectiveness of the army.

The object of the Attacking Army will be to capture the Citadel.

The other army, called the Defending Army, is composed of four figures, each representing a regiment of Light Infantry; five figures, each representing a regiment of Infantry of the Line; two figures, each representing a regiment of Cavalry; two figures, each representing a battery of Artillery; and one figure, the Citadel, representing a city in which are arms, ammunition, foundries, subsistence supplies, and all kinds of government property, which it is of vital importance to hold.

The object, therefore, of the Defending Army will be to secure the Citadel against capture.

Now that we have a picture of the opposing armies, we need to take a look at the battlefield.

The War-Chess Game Board:

War-Chess Game Board

And now, a bit of descriptive text, again directly from the book:

The board has one hundred and thirty nine (139) squares that can be occupied.

It represents a comparatively level field, traversed by a river impassable except at the fords and bridge.

In crossing the fords and bridge the figures move one, two, or three squares, according to their power, as elsewhere on the board. The short black lines indicate the entrances to the fords and bridge.

A figure cannot take, or check, another across the river, except at the fords and bridge.

In our next article we will look at: Rules of the Game of Battle


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The Portable Wargame

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Bob Cordery, 2017
102 pages

This book presents Bob’s rules for fast-play war-game rules; where battles are played out on a gridded table-top. The rules are designed for a small footprint game; not everyone has the space for a large table, free time to paint large numbers of miniature figures or room enough to store it all…

In the first 11 pages we learn a bit about how the game rules came about as well as some history of grid based wargames.

The next 16 page cover; some basic rules and description of grids, lines-of-sight, arcs-of-fire and so forth. All well presented, perhaps a bit too much detail for the experienced gamer, but very helpful (well illustrated) for anyone new to wargames.

Next on to units and how to represent them on the table-top. This section is five (5) pages long with some good photographs. Not too detailed for the old guard and instructive for the new gamer. The one thing I do find lacking is a selection of recommendations for beginning army composition. I realize that there are any possibilities here, but new gamers may have a hard time deciding what forces they may need. Perhaps an added appendix, in a future editor, could help address this.

Before moving into actual game rules, there is a short (four page) section covering Bob’s design notes. This is a nice addition; something of the design philosophy is always nice to have.

From there we proceed with rules for the late nineteenth century, including colonial, battles. This section is well organized and should serve a beginning warmer well. Following the rules is an illustrated (includes numerous photographs) battle report.

Next up are rules for an early to mid twentieth century wargame. Again, well organized and followed by another (equally illustrative) battle report.

Sample from battle report

A bit about game play; This is an IGOUGO sequence game. Units are assigned strength points and each side has an Exhaustion Point (1/3 total strength rounded up) when reached will cause the army to cease offensive action. Turns start with an Artillery Fire Phase, followed by alternating unit activations (each unit may: move, move & fire or initiate close combat). Artillery fire is simultaneous; roll a die, apply modifies to obtain results. Movement, as iis all distances measured by grid spaces. For Fire Combat, attacker rolls a die and applies modifiers to obtain results. In Close Combat both players roll a die, applying modifiers to determine the result. Special rules for various types of terrain and transport are provided.

The battle reports are good and they are useful; a bit too long (nearly 20 pages fro 19th century and about 15 pages for 20th century) for my taste, but very informative for the new wargamer. I would think the space could be better used for example army lists or the like; much like the Army Lists section in the book: When Empires Clash.

Thus ends the main portion of the book. The appendix presents Some thoughts on war-game design and this is followed by a short bibliography and footnotes section.

I have enjoyed reading this book, I purchased the paperback and ebook (Kindle) versions. The book is also available in a hardback edition. The book is well illustrated, drawings and photos. I found the photos appear best when viewing the Kindle edition, on a color screen (Kindle Fire or Desktop computer readers). The printed versions is best for players, since the charts & tables are more accessible (as to be expected, give the limits of ebook viewers).

I recommend this book to anyone intruded in small wargames or in grid based miniature wargames. I would say that is is a ‘must have’ for the war-game student.

You can purchase a copy from either:

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/bob-cordery/the-portable-wargame/paperback/product-23048800.html

or

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1326904582/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_t2_GI1KybVMDX5GG


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