Messages

16

MBS Media / Re: [MBS YouTube] Getting Started in Naval Gaming

« on: November 13, 2023, 10:56:51 am »

Thanks for this.  Well done!

17

The Showcase / Re: BFG Narrative Project

« on: October 27, 2023, 12:18:23 pm »

Wow, super impressive.

18

MBS Media / Re: MBS Podcast Episode 85: Taking Another Look at Star Wars Armada

« on: October 06, 2023, 11:36:03 am »

Another nice episode.  Glad you are getting some games in!

19

Misc. Naval Games / Aquanautica Imperialis- Raid on Ork Air Bases

« on: October 04, 2023, 12:21:43 pm »

A game of Aquanautica Imperialis- Wet Navy 40K homebrew rules.



The Ammoriss Naval PDF tries to destroy Ork coastal air bases during Operation: Hemlock. 

My opponent and I quickly find out that we are a little rusty with these rules! 

You can read all about the battle and Operation: Hemlock on the Blood and Spectacles blog:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/10/battle-report-aquanautica-imperialis.html

20

Historical Naval Games / Poseidon's Warriors- Battle of Lade

« on: September 27, 2023, 10:16:02 am »

This is the continuing recreation of the Ionian Revolt.  The Ionian Revolt was a revolt against the Persian Empire by the Ionian Greeks and their allies prior to the Greco-Persian War.  It took place from 499 to 493 BCE.  It was a land and sea affair, so I am using a combination of Poseidon's Warriors and Men of Bronze to re-create the campaign.  Both are from the Osprey Wargaming Series.  In addition, Men of Bronze has a specific supplement for the conflict called The Ionian Revolt.



By the sixth year of the Ionian Revolt, the Persians had successfully counter-attacked and recaptured much of the lost cities.  However, the Ionian Greeks still held out with Miletus being the originator of the revolt still resisting.  The Persians reformed into a single army, supported by naval forces and marched on Miletus to end the Revolt once and for all. The accomplished Persian general Datis took command of this unified Persian force.

Upon hearing of the approaching enemy, the Greeks decided to challenge them at sea rather than on land.  The Greeks assembled a large fleet from many of their member cities.  They made for the island of Lade in order to stem the Persian attack on the city. 

The Persian force was composed of a multi-national fleet as well.  It had Phoenicians, Egyptians, and even the newly re-conquered Cypriots.  They were likely led by Datis himself.  The Persians sent the former tyrants of each rebel city with the offer to surrender.  This strained the Ionian coalition. In addition, the Greek general Dionysius trained them hard in tactics and fighting.  This did not sit well with all the Greeks. 

Today, we are going to be fighting the Naval engagement that occurred off the island Lade.  Supposedly, some of the Ionians retreated from the battle, persuaded by the Persians offers of peace.  This allowed the Persians to overwhelm the remaining Greeks forces and defeat them. 

Once we get the results of the sea battle, we will also be playing the land battle using the scenario in The Ionian Revolt supplement for Men of Bronze.   

Forces:

Persians
1 Slow Trireme unit with admiral and elite troops
4 Slow Trireme units     

Ionians
1 Fast Trireme with Admiral and
1 Fast Trireme
3 Slow Triremes

Set-up:
This battle will take place on a 6x4 table.  The fleets are spread from West to East.  The coast of Lade is on the short edge to the East. The two fleets are facing off.  The Persians are to the North and the Ionians to the South.



Both fleets have deployed for a standard engagement, with the Ionians having their Fast Triremes on the left edge furthest out to sea.  The two sides spread out across the ocean by Squadron.



Mission:
This will be a straight up battle, with both sides looking to sink the opposing fleet.  The basic scenario is found in the main rulebook.

The turn after the first combat, each Ionian squadron will start the turn with a simple 4+ morale test.  If failed, they will abandon the fight.  They are removed from the table as they signal their desire to fleet and escape to the Persian ships.  They are no longer relevant to the battle.  Once two Squadrons have fled, no additional Morale tests are needed.

Instead of my normal turn-by-turn breakdown, I am going to try to break the game down into the Maneuver Phase, the Battle Phase, and the End Game section.  Something a bit different to ease the load of book keeping, and to avoid me taking too much time typing during the actual game!


As we begin the final stages of the campaign, you can read the results for the battle of Lade on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/09/battle-report-poseidons-warriors-battle.html

21

News and Rumors / Re: Armada Campaign: Shadowed Horizons

« on: September 13, 2023, 11:38:23 am »

I am a huge sucker for these types of events.

22

The Shipyard / Re: Star Wars second pass

« on: September 05, 2023, 11:57:26 am »

The Praetor looks great. 

I am curious how a galaxy a long time ago, and far, far away knows a reference to the Roman Republic though. 

23

General Discussion / Re: Perspectives on progress

« on: September 05, 2023, 11:55:17 am »

As we say in the business world, "That which is measured, gets moved."

24

The Shipyard / Re: DW 3.0 Prussian Imperium Project

« on: August 31, 2023, 01:04:37 pm »

Nice!  I am looking forward to this!

25

Space Naval Games / Re: Taking a Second Look at SW Armada

« on: August 28, 2023, 09:49:24 am »

A game I wanted to get into, but after investigating it I decided to not jump in.  I was not in love with the Collectible Card Game mechanics that were a key part of the game and was a carry-over from X-wing.

I kind of wish I had done it anyway, cause I can always do something with the models to make the game I wanted instead.

26

General Discussion / Interview on the 20Sided_Gamified_Podcast

« on: August 25, 2023, 02:34:53 pm »

Greetings all,

I am pleased to report that I was interviewed on the 20Sided_Gamified_Podcast hosted by Jared Fishman of the HMGS_NextGen_inc fame. It was great to chat with Jared and a really fun experience. I have been a fan of Jared's work promoting wargaming as an educational and recreational activity and promoting the hobby to young folks.

Check out the episode here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-14-rule-writing-with-eric-farrington-the/id1675149554?i=1000625695835

Jared has interviewed some luminaries in the field of Wargaming and I have no idea how I made the cut!

Of course, for a double feature, you can hear my interview on Man Battlestations here:
http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2023/04/07/mbs-podcast-episode-79-eric-farrington-interview/

The first one is more about Wars of the Republic and the second is more about Castles in the Sky. 

27

General Discussion / Re: Black Seas Demo

« on: August 23, 2023, 05:54:56 pm »

Yes, the initiative system was simple and intuitive and one of my favorite mechanics from what I saw. 

The bases did help a lot.

28

Misc. Naval Games / Re: Castles in the Sky- Indo-China Campaign

« on: August 23, 2023, 03:44:37 pm »

Welcome back to the Castles in the Sky Indo-China campaign between the British and the French.  When we last left off, the campaign was tied 5 to 5.  The campaign ends when one player gets to 7, and is ahead by at least 2.  That triggers a "final battle" scenario.  This could be the decisive battle to get to 7, but it would require a decisive victory.  Last time, the two forces met in a Patrol mission with the French Fabian strategy getting the best of the aggressive British commander.  However, no lasting damage was done and both fleets are coming into this battle at full strength! With that in mind, British Commodore Duckworth of the Royal Navy of Siam is taking an Offensive strategy, while Commodore Aubre is staying on the Defensive. 

i][Commodore Duckworth wanted those French ships removed from the vicinity of Siam.  They had all ready caused issues as the French backed rebels had briefly taken over the Kra Isthmus.  Thankfully, aggressive action of his own had allowed the rightful government to regain control.  However, if the French were a force  in being, they would continue to hamper his efforts to bring Siam under permanent British rule. 

Therefore, he sent out a strong force of picket ships to locate the enemy.  He was keeping the rest of his forces in reserve.  Once the French were sighted, he would bring in the rest of his fleet.  However, to avoid suspicion, he scattered them on routine patrol, waiting for the signal once the enemy force had been fixed.  They would then all converge on and overwhelm the opponent. 

Despite Commodore Duckworth's attempts at subterfuge, the French officer Commodore Aubre was wise to the British plan.  He was under increasing pressure from Paris to neutralize the threat of the British fleet in the region.  They endangered the French supply routes through the South China Sea, and access to the critical rubber plantations in Indo-china.  They were pressing him for a decisive engagement and to go on the attack.  As a result, Aubre sent out his own picket ships as the rest of his force took off from their bases around Indo-china.[/i]

Forces:
Both the British and the French are mobilizing their full fleets today for an outright battle.

L'Aire National

Camot- Commodore Aubre- Command 4
Charles Martel Class Heavy Cruiser (Battleship)   

Cuchinchina - Captain Gourdon- Command 2
Gloire Armored Cruiser

Tourane- Captain de Genouilily- Command 2
Descartes Class Cruiser

Tonkin- Captain de Vence- Command 2
D'Iberville Class Cruiser

Hue- Captain Senez- Command 2
D'Iberville Class Cruiser

Fantassin- Captain Valjean  - Command 4
Chasseur Class Destroyer- Torpedo 

Tromblom- Commander Morice- Command 2
Chasseur Class Destroyer - Sky Mines     
Their picket force will be the Fantassin, Tonkin, and Hue led by Captain de Vence of the Tonkin

The Royal Navy (of Siam)

HMS Malaya- Commodore Duckworth- Command 2
Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship

HMS Archeron- Captain Manby- Command 3
Duke of Edinburgh Class Cruiser

HMS Achilles- Captain Durham- Command 4
Warrior Class Cruiser

HMS Arrogant- Captain Knowles- Command 2
Arethusa Class Light Cruiser

HMS Medusa- Captain Butler- Command 2
Active Class Light Cruiser

HMS Corsair- Commander Montgomery- Command 4
Bull Finch Class Destroyer- Torpedo

HMS Hasty- Commander Rawley- Command 2
Bull Finch Class Destroyer- Sky Mines
The British picket force will be the HMS Corsair, HMS Arrogant, and the HMS Hasty led by Captain Knowles of the Arrogant.

Mission:
Today is an Escalation battle with the French as the attackers!  Each force has a small 15 Operational Value picket force that will start on the table up to 12 MU in.  Follow-on forces will need to make a command roll after turn 2 on a ship by ship basis to enter the table.

In addition, cloud cover is impacting the board at altitude 4. 

Set-up:
This is a full fledged battle, so it will take place  on a 72MU by 48MU board.   The British are coming on above the cloud cover, and spaced out to try and track down and engage the French fleet. 



The French are coming in on the corner, and clumped together in the cloud bank, but at high speed. 



For this battle, we are using a standing white board to track the key details of the battle like ship speed, altitude, Command, damage, and special effects. 



In addition, I am not going to be detailing every move and shot like previous game reports. Instead, I am going to give some high level details.  The battle will be broken down by stage.  These will be the Maneuver Phase, Battle Phase, and the End Phase.   

If you are so inclined, you can read all the details on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/08/castles-in-sky-indo-china-campaign-vii.html

29

Misc. Naval Games / Re: Aeronautica Imperialis- V1- Operation: Hemlock- Convoy Raid

« on: August 23, 2023, 03:41:31 pm »

Not a fan of the new (and now dead) version as it makes maneuver and altitude into a pointless exercise.  It is much easier to get into position, and half the challenge of the game is trying to predict and engage/disengage with your opponent. 

The big changes were they reduced the number of altitude bands, and increased fire arcs and speed.


Edit: How far are we in the campaign?  Well, it if a pretty informal thing that is relatively open ended.  We have had land, sea, and air battles.  The campaign is more for narrative structure and deciding what to play next more than anything else.  After a few years, I would say we are about half-way to a resolution?  Just when it looks like the Imps will clinch, the Orks claw some wins back and ward off defeat!

30

General Discussion / Thinking about Naval and Space Games

« on: August 17, 2023, 03:20:53 pm »

Most of you folks know that my first game ever was a wet-Navy game set in the Warhammer 40 universe called Aquanautica Imperialis.  Therefore, Naval and even Space combat games have a place close to my heart.  However, I also find the genre challenging to design miniature wargames for. 

This post explores why and some potential approaches to getting around it.  It is a little rambling, think piece, and I hope it sparks some discussion. 

You can find it here:

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/06/wargame-design-thinking-about-naval-and.html 

Here are some of the key thoughts:

Challenges for Designing Naval/Space Games
1. Where are all the battles at?
2. Re-fighting WWII
3. Few Naval Powers
4. Problem of Scale

Some ideas to "Fix" these issues?
1. You don't have to lean into Historical battles
2. Re-fight WWII but with FOCUS!
3. Look at someplace else rather than WWII!  D'uh!
4. Simulation is not the only approach to a game
5. Scale is what you make it

The audience here seems to have a lot of thoughts and ideas in this area.  Hopefully, you can help spark some creative juices for me.