Actually, this is not the first wargame, but the first wargame worth reporting on. I fought another one using my chessboard; however, it was the same predictable game. I wanted to do something different that was less predictable.
My first plan was to play a scenario from Stuart Asquith's Guide to Solo Gaming. I did end up using Chris Salander's H&M 2.0, except that instead of using the chessboard I would use a measuring stick. Instead of moving based on number of squares, I would roll 4 6D dice to decide how many figures were to move. I also wanted to try the game on a new portable table, which has a small top.
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The Blue Army is on the left, the Grey Army on the right.
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The armies move forward, both seeking to seize the ruins in the center of the field.
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| The grey army reaches the ruins first. The ruins are occupied by a blast from the past, Barnaby of the Rifles. He led forward 4 of his riflemen to accomplish his mission. |
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| In the upper picture, blue sends his cavalry forward to turn grey's right flank. He falls short of reaching the grey infantry, with disastrous results. In the lower woods, the blue infantry drives back the greys. |
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| In the upper part of the picture, the greys kill two of the blues cavalry. In the center, the grey cavalry charges the blue artillery, routing one gun crew. In the south woods, the grey infantry counterattack, with support from the cavalry. |
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| In the north woods, the blue cavalry is eliminated, and the blue infantry in the woods suffers losses from the riflemen and grey artillery. The blue cavalry in the south woods lose their skirmish with the greys, and the grey infantry starts their assault on the woods, pushing some of the blue infantry back. |
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| At this point the blue general realizes that the battle is lost and orders a retreat. The blue cavalry acts as rearguard. It was an enjoyable game that was less predictable than using the chessboard. The figures were picked at random from my Peter Laing figures, with the redoubtable Barnaby being in the mix. |
