Wednesday, April 3, 2013

PoP 2013 update 3 April

Greetings PoP-ers

Subject to any howls of outrage from anyone actually planning to play, I am going
to narrow the theme slightly.

It is now European Armies 1550-1600 AD.
To qualify, the army must have campaigned in Europe.
For the purposes of this theme, Europe goes Westward to Ireland, North to Norway,
East to Moscow, South to the Peloponnese. It therefore includes Ottoman armies
campaigning in Europe

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Rightyo my hearties, here are the Rules of Engagement for the Renaissance wargames
competition at NICon 2013


Nicon 2012 DBR Competition Details
Summary
1. DBR 2.0, normal scale
2. 450AP, book 1,2 or 3 open competition, “Kiwi” AP;
3. Table size TBC, but likely 8x5 or 8x6 depending on availability;
4. Two lists may be submitted. Which list you use is chosen after it is
determined who is the defender. This is to allow the selection of troops
that can only be used as the defender. Lists must be of the same
year/general/tribe etc.
5. Lists are to be submitted to John Way (johneway@hotmail.com)
after 15 May and before midnight on 22 May. I will deposit mine with
one of the non-DBR players before the 15th for the avoidance of
unpleasantness.
6. Two four hour rounds each day- 09:00 to 13:00 and 13:30 to 17:30.
If it is the defender’s bound when time is called the defender will carry
on to complete his bound. If it is the attacker’s bound the game finishes
immediately and any score-influencing outcome of the partial bound
is ignored.
7. Scoring is 10-0 as per DBR 2.0 plus 100 if you break your opponent’s
army without your own being broken. This is to discourage draws;
8. The draw for the first round will be historical opponents, opponents
closest to each other in time and then random for the remainder if any.
Following draws will be modified Swiss Chess;
9. Deployment by alternating commands, see below
10. Alternative troop types for Shot, see below

Detail:
Deployment
As per the DBR 2.0 but with the following changes.
Deployment is in the following order:
(1) First the defender and then the invader place all fortifications and 
Baggage not embarked on naval elements or in a BUA;
(2) Both sides record the relative positions of their commands from 
left-to-right and from front-to-rear and the exact position and direction 
faced of troops in ambush;
(3) Each side alternately deploys one command, starting with the 
defender. 
Each side must first deploy its command with the greatest number of 
ME, including Baggage. Its remaining commads can be deployed in 
any order. Deployment includes all land & naval elements and fixed 
obstacles except any in ambush;
(4) The defender places the concealed command (if any), less any 
ambushers it includes.
Shot
At the time of list-writing, Shot(I) described as armed with Arquebus 
or Caliver may be upgraded to Arquebus (O) for 5AP. These have all 
the characteristics of Sh(I) except that they are graded (O) for combat 
outcomes. If any such are upgraded, all of that description (eg all 
Italian Arquebus or all Militia) must be upgraded. You must tell your 
opponent if you have done this.
Shot(I) described as armed with Musket may be upgraded to 
Musket (I) for 5AP. These have all the characteristics of Sh(O) except 
that they are graded (I) for combat outcomes. If any such are upgraded, 
all of that description must be upgraded. You must tell your opponent 
if you have done this.
Shot (F) fight in the same number of ranks as other Shot.

“Kiwi” Army Points to be used, which are

(S)
(O)
(I)
(F)
(X)
Lancers
12
10
7
10

Pistols
12
10
8
10

Sipahis
10
7
5
7

Light Horse
7
4
4
4

Camelry
9
6

7

Dragoons
8
7
6
 

Pikes
5
4
3
4

Shot
8
6
4
5

Musket


5


Arquebus

5



Blades
5
4
3
6

Bows
7
5
3


Skirmishers
4
3
2

4
Warband
5
4
3


Hordes
2
1

1

Artillery
15
10
6
10
10
Pontooneers

5



Warwagons

10
3


Elephants
24
20
16


Baggage

5
5


Ships
6
5
3
4
4
Galleys
5
4
2
3

Boats
3
2
1
2
3







Notes
Deduct 1 AP for troops that are restricted to defending BUA. Such 
troops count as lost if there is no BUA to defend.
No adjustment for Artillery if without draught teams.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

25mm DBR at NICon 2013

Good afternoon gentles

I am pleased to announce that I have assumed the role of player-umpire for the
Renaissance competition at the North Island Convention for 2013.

This year's NICon is hosted by the Wine Country Generals.
Venue: Napier Boys High School
Date: 1st  – 2nd  June 2013
Organiser – Kevin Foxall - dkbfoxall@clear.net.nz    - Mobile – 021 366 304
The registration fee is:
Registrations received  prior to 31 March 2013    - $30.00 01
April – 30 April 2013   - $40.00   
After 01 May 2013  (at umpires discretion)  - $50.00

Please contact Kevin or me for a registration form.

I will publish a player pack here in the next day or so. If you have an opinion on
format, now is good!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Wargaming for the Small 2: bring on the gun-men

So part of the appeal to me of the boys playing agin each other with four arrow-men a side was that they could set-to and leave me in peace to paint my own toys. Peace is a relative term of course- they were only 3 metres away and it did not take long for voices to be raised and violence offered.

The main project I had on the bench was a regiment of foote for my 28mm ECW Royalists, or at least the musketeers thereof. Now the lads started to suggest that these fellows, now called "gun-men"(do not try to alter nominative destiny as assigned by a 6 year old- "they are called musketeers" "why?" "because they have muskets" "no, they have guns" "these guns are called muskets" "why?" and so on to madness...)  should join in the fighting. The appeal of this course of action increased as the gun-men moved from their uniform covering of brown undercoat to flesh, uniforms and detailing - like butterflies emerging from cocoons.

So the gun-men were added to the order of battle while they were being painted but before basing on multi-figure 'element' bases for DBR/FoGR.

The rules for gun-men are as follows. Gun-men move and shoot like arrow-men, except that they
cannot shoot if they moved this turn and when they do shoot, they add +1 to the total number of figures shooting. IE four gun-men shooting have a final score of 5 plus the die roll.

I also introduced the idea of an objective, typically the top of the hill. The winner is the player whose troops occupy the objective.

Well this went down a treat, and as intended the boys had some hard lessons to learn about timing their attacks, massing firepower and seizing objectives.

Next installment- Pirates!
Push of Pike 2013!

I am pleased to announce that the details for PoP2013 have been (mostly) decided. And here they are (drum roll)...

 After extensive polling and wide ranging consultation with stakeholders and a bottle of cheap but agreeable Merlot, I am pleased to advise the following Rules of Engagement for PoP2013

Dates: Saturday 7 and Sunday 9 September 2013AD
Locale: Forrest Hill Scout Hall, Becroft Park on Becroft Drive, Forrest Hill on Auckland's sunny North Shore
Rules: DBR 2.0, with a possibility of 2.1 beta.
Scale: 15mm, Normal scale
Points: 450AP, Kiwi AP
 
  (S) (O) (I) (F) (X)
Lancers 12 10 7 10  
Pistols 12 10 8 10  
Sipahis 10 7 5 7  
Light Horse 7 4 4 4  
Camelry 9 6   7  
Dragoons 8 7 6    
Pikes 5 4 3 4  
Shot 8 6 4 5  
Blades 5 4 3 6  
Bows 7 5 3    
Skirmishers 4 3 2   4
Warband 5 4 3    
Hordes 2 1   1  
Artillery 15 10 6 10 10
Pontooneers   5      
Warwagons   10 3    
Elephants 24 20 16    
Baggage   5 5    
Ships 6 5 3 4 4
Galleys 5 4 2 3  
Boats 3 2 1 2 3

Deduct 1 AP for troops that are restricted to defending BUA.

Draw: Random, but tweaked so no one from outside of the Auckland/Waikato area has to fight a homeboy
Rounds: 4 rounds of 4 hours- 09:00-13:00, 13:30-17:30. A warning will be given approx 30 minutes before time, after which no Invader may start another bound. If the game is still running at full time, the defender may finish his bound.

Theme: Armies 1540-1600AD

Lists: one or two lists. The second list must be the same year/general/tribe/location/allies (or no ally). List to be used is chosen just before season is declared.

Scoring: 10-0, as per the Book.

If 2.1 beta is not used, then the following rule changes will apply:
  • deployment in alternate commands;
  • in any list with Sh(I) described as arquebus or caliver, ALL may be exchanged for Arq(O) @ 5AP;
  • in any list in which Shot are expressed as equal proportions of Sh(I) and Sh(O), ALL maybe exchanged for Musket (I) at 5AP;
  • Sh(F) fight in the same number of ranks as other Shot.

Entry fee $30 Lists and fee to me by the 25th August please. I may not check them all but they will be published on the day and transgressors will be mocked.  Trusting that meets with you universal approbation I remain, your humble and obedient servant John