The Hunt for Ysis

The Hunt for Ysis

I have been painting a few of my old Rackhem confrontation miniatures and thought i would give the miniatures board game hybrid a go solo and use my universal skirmish AI a go as well

universal skirmish AI

each monster and character has a level value and a size value and if it is considered intelligent

level is the level of the figure

size is the number of 1” by 1” squares it occupies

sequence of play

play using the standard game rules then at the end of the turn determine noise for each of your figures

during the game a player character will generate and remove noise every turn  , this noise value will be used to determine what how the enemy will respond to that figure , if more than one figure has the same noise then the closest figure will be the target of that enemy

the noise values are 

doing nothin -1

in cover -1

shooting 1

insight of any enemy 1

walking 2

running 3

fighting 4

charging 5

calculate each figure on your sides awareness rating for the turn

to see if a figure is visible add its size to its awareness value and multiply by 2

so a 1“ X 1” base character who is fighting in melee will have a awareness value of 12 and will be noticed up to 12 squares/inches

if a figure is out of sight the awareness is halved for only those figures that cannot see this figure

this means that an enemy is aware of this figure and will determine what it will do with its reaction

we use these values to determine what this figure will do

to find the enemies reaction

each enemy will be stated as a shooter , support or melee type

take the figure level factor and size as a base number

and modify by the following

is this figure wounded -1 

each enemy that can be seen by this figure -1

each full move from the nearest visible friendly figure -1

so a level 4 figure on a large base ( 2” X 2” ) will have a base value of 16

take off and negative points

if this value of the figure is greater than the nearest threat the figure will act as its primary goal , each point lower than the target moves the option 1 stage to the right

an unintelligent character will use its primary function if its value is more than half that of the enemy

characters will always try to 

a shooter type will try to do these actions in this order 

shoot / support / move towards / move away / melee

a support type will try to do these actions in this order 

support / shoot / melee / move towards / move away 

a melee type will try to do these actions in this order

melee / move towards / support / shoot / move away 

Shoot = move into range an shoot , if in range aim and shoot

Support  = using the figures best ability , this may mean joining a combat with a friend or buffing a friendly figure ( buffing is always primary )

Move towards = take a full move to get closer to a weaker enemy

Melee = move towards nearest enemy and engage in combat

Move away = Move away from as many enemies as possible and take cover

Anyway now to the game

The First scenario in the book

The Venerable Ambrosius is leading a squad of purifiers through an old unused laboratory when he spots ysis running down a corridor , he pauses for a moment and then decides to enter this part of the underground complex and bring this viper to justice or at least remove this scourge from the world

after checking his squad was ready they entered the complex , the place was dark and visibility was poor , a few doors were checked but no sigh of Ysis was found , they explored deeper into the complex , suddenly one of the recruits spots some thing moving and moves forward to investigate , opens the suspected door but this door had an alarmed linked to it , this will obviously warn all the occupants of the groups whereabouts.

One of the purifiers finds a parts of a  device scattered on the floor , this looks like parts of a bomb set to rig the complex to blow , gingerly he dismantles the parts , there must be more he says to Ambrosius

suddenly around the corner a mass of dirz clones and warriors appear , Ysis can be seen at the back hiding behind them

This is the start of a solo play-test using the following “engine” to regulate the enemy forces of a game of Hybrid

The Starting Positions

End of Turn 1  , the sides meet

The Onslaught of the Dirz

The Griffons pull back to a better position

Both sides take heavy losses

Ambrosius Falls Badly wounded

Ysis thinks it is better to run away and fight another day

Aftermath

well this turned out to be quite a struggle for the temple of hod , with Ysis escaped the Purifiers proceeded to destroy this laboratory , which will be one less place for the alchemists to do their dastardly work

on the whole the rules were fun to play and since this was an alternate move system relitivly easy to resolve , though one thing i did not do was allocate the type of move before working out who would move first , i just pulled a token out of the bag , and if a figure had not gone i allowed that figure to go on the defence

Solo Rpg

more solo stuff
well this has been an interesting month , apart from being a little unwell my solo gaming got a little side tracked to the extent that i bought an airbrush and proceeded  to paint some of my reaper bones dragons , i would post a picture but i am still learning. Well on to the main story , i picked up a pdf of the gamemasters apprentice cards

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/125685/The-GameMasters-Apprentice-Base-Deck?src=slider_view

i have been reading about other methods of solo roleplay as i was thinking of a way of trying to enhance my solo wargames in a more story telling style , and trying to improve the enemy AI.
Well sitting there looking at the cards , watching an old episode of startrek the lightbulb in my head suddenly lit up and this is what i thought of.

I found some free mind mapping software on the web for my ipad

http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/

and used that to tell the story , this is how it turned out

the game took about 3 hours and i found i was fully engrossed , i used the cards to create the scene , roll the dice and literally be my GM

 after that episode i played two more games , a horror investigation and a conan type fantasy both of which were very immersive and with cliff hanger endings

Horror investigation

Fantasy Setting

So all i can say is that give it a go i think you would be surprised on what you come up with

The Boyne on a summers evening

My Boyne Project

This project started over a year ago and had stalled but this week i managed to finish it off by painting Williams forces , all the figures are 10mm pendraken though mostly from their older range

Now that the forces were finished i pondered on which rules. The rules had to be solo friendly so having a set where there is interaction between players was not what i was looking for so in the end i settled on FOG(R)

Turn 1

Essentially two battles in one , William had to get 20% of his troops over the Boyne for a minor victory

Turn 2

The first onslaught by the Dutch Guard

Turn 3

Impetuous Dutch failed to wait for support

Turn 4

This almost broke Williams army but for some lucky morale throws

Turn 5

James's left flank has started to crumble

The mail Williamite army holds it breath to see if James will push forward and destroy Williams army , But where was James ?

Turn 6

With James's left flank broken his sub commanders try to steady his troops

Turn 7

With Williams Artillery finally telling it toll and James's Left Flank Broken I called an end to the battle , James's army thou beaten still had some fight in it and williams dutch guards just now managing to rally

Aftermath

Another successful game with the Fields of Glory Rules and a very hard scenario for both sides

Train Wreck in Siberia

RCW Train Wreck

After Completing my 10mm Russian Civil War Project which has been on the go for the past eight yearsi had an idea to do a armoured train heist , this was an interesting game using the ASLSK#3 board game rules

I used and converted the stats from "Red Actions" set as i wanted a little more indept than the red actions set could give me

Here are the forces involved together with their stats

Makhnovist army

4 units Partisans Attack (3) Range (2) Morale (8) 

3 units Cavalry Attack (2/5) Range (4) Morale (8) 

1 unit Tchanka Wagon Attack (4) Range (10) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

Armoured train counts as Stone building containing

Armoured train Attack (5) Range (12) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

1 unit of Red Regular Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (6) 

2 units Machine Gun Attack (4) Range (12) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

the turn started with the train just on the board and moving 4 inches a go , if it were stopped the White Makhnovist army would claim an outstanding victory against their red oppressors

Setup and turn 1

as you can see the Makhnovist's lay in wait ( by the way all figures are pendraken and the train is from their boer war range and fits the "n" guage track perfectly )

Turn 2

Everyone advances with some sporadic fire from the train

Turn 3

The Makhnovist charge the train

Turn 4

The train continues on

All over by Turn 5

Lots of Casualties on both sides in the close combat phase , and a last ditched attempt by a lone Makhnovist manages to wreck the train engine.

With the loss of the engine , this was a Makhnovist win but it did cost them more than half their army

Aftermath

The one think i am finding about solo games is there is no need to point out armies and some scenarios would not make a fun two player game but this one was as i found it quite difficult to balance when i was going to attack the train

RCW Flavour Rules and Unit Stats

all units have officers , no units have support weapons

Units of different grades or types may not stack

Units have own leaders so may self rally but with variable result (red dice higher +1 to roll , red dice lower -1 to roll)

armoured trains contain up to 4 support weapons and/or infantry units or mixture with defence as stone building 

All model stands count as 2 counters plus leader in stack , support weapons count as 1 counter plus crew

Cavalry Attack = (Fire/Close Combat)

Vehicles are single vehicles

White armies

Conscripts Infantry Attack (2) Range (6) Morale (6) 

Volunteers Infantry Attack (3) Range (5) Morale (7) 

Officer Infantry companies Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (9) 

Colour Infantry companies Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (9) 

White Cavalry Attack (2/4) Range (6) Morale (7) 

White Cossacks Cavalry Attack (2/4) Range (6) Morale (8) 

White Plastoons Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (7) 

Czech legion Infantry Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (8) 

British Empire Infantry Attack (4) Range (7) Morale (9) 

USA Infantry Coy Attack (4) Range (7) Morale (7) 

Indian Infantry Coy Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (9) 

Indian Cavalry Attack (2/4) Range (5) Morale (8) 

Chasseurs D’Afrique Attack (1/3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

French Metropolitan infantry Attack (4) Range (7) Morale (6) 

French Colonial infantry Attack (4) Range (7) Morale (7) 

Nationalist armies

Conscripts Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (7) 

Regulars Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Elite Infantry Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (9) 

Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (6) Morale (6) 

Estonian Infantry Kompagnie Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Polish armies

Pow Infantry coy Attack (2) Range (5) Morale (6)

Conscripts Infantry Attack (2) Range (6) Morale (7) 

Regulars Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Uhlans Cavalry Attack (3/5) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Legionnaire Infantry Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Freikorps armies

Estonian Infantry coy  Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (9)

Baltic Infantry recruits  Attack (2) Range (6) Morale (6)

Iron Division Infantry Attack (4) Range (7) Morale (7)

Freikorps Infantry Kompagnie Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (7) 

Landeswher Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (6) 

Uhlans Cavalry Attack (2/5) Range (6) Morale (9) 

Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (6) Morale (8)

Freikorps Cavalry  Attack (1/3) Range (6) Morale (7)

Red armies

Red Guard Infantry Attack (2) Range (4) Morale (6) 

Conscripts Infantry Attack (2) Range (4) Morale (5) 

Regular Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (6) 

Naval Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

Latvian Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (7) 

Partisans Infantry Attack (2) Range (4) Morale (8) 

Cheka Infantry Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (9) 

Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (5) Morale (7) 

Cossacks Attack (2/4) Range (5) Morale (8 ) 

Konarmy Cavalry Attack (2/4) Range (5) Morale (7) 

Makhnovist army

Partisans Attack (3) Range (2) Morale (8) 

Cavalry Attack (2/5) Range (4) Morale (8) 

Others

Caucasian Infantry Recruits  Attack (2) Range (4) Morale (5) 

Mongol Cavalry Levies  Attack (1/2) Range (5) Morale (7) 

Tibetan Bodyguards Infantry Attack (2/4) Range ( 6) Morale (8) 

Chahar Mongols Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (5 ) Morale ( 7) 

Central Asian Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range ( 6) Morale (8) 

Finnish Jäger Infantry Coy  Attack (4) Range (6) Morale (8 ) 

Greek Infantry Coy  Attack (3) Range (5) Morale ( 6) 

Austrian-Hun POWInfantry Attack (2) Range (6) Morale ( 6) 

Japanese Infantry Attack (2) Range (5 ) Morale (7) 

Japanese Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

China Warlord Infantry Bodyguard Attack (3) Range (6) Morale (8) 

China Irregular Attack (1) Range (4) Morale (7) 

China “Dare to Die” Infantry Attack (5) Range (1) Morale (8) 

China Reg Cavalry  Attack (1/3) Range (5) Morale ( 7) 

China Reg Infantry Attack (2) Range (6) Morale (7) 

China Assault Infantry Attack (4) Range (3) Morale (8) 

Turkish Cavalry Attack (1/3) Range (5) Morale (7) 

Turkish Infantry Attack (2) Range (5) Morale (7)

Support weapons for all armies

Tchanka Wagon Attack (4) Range (10) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

Machine Gun Attack (4) Range (12) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

Mortar Attack (4) Range (2/16) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

Field gun Attack (6) Range (2/24 ) Morale (7) rof roll(4)

Howitzer Attack (9) Range (2/32) Morale (7) rof roll (5)

Ford MG car Attack (6) Range (10) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

Austin Armoured car Attack (8) Range (6) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

FT 17 tank Attack (6) Range (8) Morale (9) rof roll (4)

Mark 1-5 tank Attack (8) Range (10) Morale (8) rof roll (4)

Armoured train Attack (5) Range (12) Morale (7) rof roll (3)

ASL & Spanish Civil War

A Spanish Civil War Scenario

 Decided to give my ideas of using Advanced Squad Leader with miniatures , this time it was a Spanish Civil War Engagement where the Nationalists had to take the town held by an International brigade and some local militia

Using ASL Rules modified for figures

Each infantry stand = 2 counters but act as 1 counter 

1” = 1 Hex

The Nationalist have to secure the town bridge and the river was only crossable by railway bridge or road bridge in town

I put some flavour into the game by not allowing some leaders to effect firepower dice rolls

i decided that some of the the militia units  had elected their leaders so that person would have been charismatic but not that good in combat

Nationalist Forces

8-1 leader (cannot effect firepower)

2 units 3-4-7 Falange volunteers 

2 units 4-4-7 Falange volunteers 

8-1 leader (cannot effect firepower)

4 units 4-4-8 Carlist Requetés

8-1 Leader

Mounted Infantry

4-5-8 Spanish Foreign Legion

Artillery piece Cannone da 65/17: with its own crew

Republican

9-2 leader

2 units 4-4-7 (1st line) International Brigades 1 with MMG 1 with light mortar 

8-1 leader (cannot effect firepower)

3 units 3-3-6  Local Militia 

Armoured car with MMG

The buildings were constructed out of card , i found some nice pictures on the net , the roads were made with strips of fine emery paper so no painting needed

Buildings

The Game

All woods are considered orchards and the cornfields are giving cover , buildings were classed as wooden

Setup

The Republicans are holding the town , The Nationalists are advancing from the bottom the picture

Turn 1

The Nationalists advance after their artillery cause damage on the Republican militia

Turn 2

The Advance Continues

Turn 3

The Republicans send out their armoured car to try and take out the enemy artillery which is causing some heartache for the militia

Turn 4

Opps

the lucky shot form a direct fired artillery round disposes of the lone armoured car

This seamed to be one of the battles turning points

Turn 5

The advance continues and the Spanish foreign legion cavalry make it to the outskirts of the town after suffering from some irregular militia fire which the cavalry brush off

Turn 6

The cavalry charge and destroy the militia while the rest of the nationalists advance

Turn 7

the militia side of the town has fallen and the independent brigade thinks better of it than defend a losing position , this brigade did do well in turning back the assault by the Falange & Carlist but it was too late

Aftermath

i think the system works well for any size of engagement , especially if you put some flavour in the game. I had looked at other sets before i used ASL

Ii think i will need to redo my Russian Civil War on the same base sizes

A Vasl Game - Going to Church

A vasl Game - Going to Church

This week i managed to find a guy called Martin who helped me understand the rudiments of using a online program called Vassal which was use to play a game of advanced squad leader with counters online , voice was handled via skype.

years ago i had ASL but sold it due to the fact that this program was not available and had no one to help me with the rules. However i managed to find a second hand copy of the ASL #3 set and bought the 2nd edition paper back rules.

well during the week we chose a scenario , setup the forces and went to it at 1pm on saterday , the game lasted for about 3 hours with 6 turns with with i had to secure the church. The pictures are from what i can remember as i didn't take pictures during the game but suffice to say that on the first turn my mortar ran out of smoke , my dice rolls were appealing when it mattered and were good when it did not , shame i can't throw those dice out the window.

Well here are the pictures showing roughly what happened

Setup ( the river does not exist )

Turn 1

Advance around the church taking cover where possible 

Turn 2

My heavy machine gun helping to keep the germans heads down in the church

Turn 3

the first glorious failed attempt at throwing a demo charge 

Turn 4

Had another go with the demo charge , this time it did go off but only caused a pin result

Turn 5

the engineers followed up the demo charge with a charge of their own

Turn 6

Last turn and i poured everything in in a last ditched stand to take the church

the victory conditions were that there must be no unbroken germans in the church at any pint during the game

Aftermath

Well my mortar proved appealing throughout the game mainly due to my abysmal dice rolls

my other troops faired reasonably well and i felt the game was quite enjoyable especially as this was with an actual opponent who knew the rules very well.

i think the scenarios was a good learning curve as it made me as the attacker try to plan my advances and only to be let down by the dice ( here i go again blaming the dice )

well would i play this again , yes i would and in fact i have another game planned

ASL with Miniatures

ASL "Tretten in Flames"
I had a copy of Advanced Squad Leader many years ago but sold it all , far too many counters and the rules were very daunting ,however I picked up a second hand copy of the ASLSK #3 and after some reading and figuring out how i was going to play this solo , well i found a nice scenario called "Tretten in Flames" . After looking at the map and a further look at google earth i decided that the mapboard used was too different to the battle so decided to convert this game to a miniatures type.

so this is what happened , i made some counters and stuck some 6mm GHQ figures on them , gave those counters some tables like squad 1 , leader 2 , LMG etc for both sides , laid out some terrain and used that. i did not use hexes but measured in inches for each hex and stipulated that all units in a "hex area" must be touching each other , if a unit was in an adjacent hex it must be positioned further than 1/2 inch and up to 1 inch away , otherwise it would be in another area entirely  , i used the rules as written but i bet i missed loads of stuff and got lots of rules wrong but that was for both sides

Well here are the pictures and battle report

Setup From the German side

Setup From the British Side

Germans advanced with artillery and mortar Support with the ski troops force marching through the woods at the top of the table

German artillery did a good job of neutralising the British next to the river before assaulting the area

The German Ski troops exit out of the woods and attack the British in the flank

More Fire From the Germans allowing them to take the positions without too much trouble

By the end of turn 4 of a 6 turn game The germans were in control of half the town and with only a few British squads left unbroken i called it a day with a decisive german victory

Aftermath

Even though ASL is a bit daunting with regard to the number of rules i think it went ok and i know that i will be having another go with this concept , I do think it looks nicer with figures and terrain than maps and cardboard counters