Wednesday 16 October 2024

En Avante Mes Amis!! Vive l'Empereur etc

I realise I've not given much of an update on the Sharp Practice French I was working on. Looking back, I started them in April and now it's October, which tells a story on it's own. Truth is they've been a bit of a slog. I got through the twelve figure Voltigeur unit in short order, but the Ligne have really been a chore. The real issue is the chest area, with all the collars, turn backs, straps and cross belts was driving me to distraction. I decided to give them a break and work on the Quar, but now I'm back on them.

I've finally managed to finish the first 16 figure unit, but it was hard work and they're not exactly my best work, though they will do from "table distance". They all still need the bases finishing but that pretty much is the last step. 


I got so frustrated with the rank and file that I decided to paint a mounted officer, something to look nice. I bought a pack of Perry Miniatures mounted Colonels - way too senior really for Sharp Practice, but looks good. Actually painting him was easy and quite enjoyable. Like the rest, he looks OK from a distance :-)

need to do something with his face :-) 

Anyway, I've decided to try and speed things up. Last month's issue of Wargames Illustrated had a sprue of Warlord Napoleonic French - six figures in greatcoat. Sadly two are flank company, but looking at the others I suspect these will paint up very fast. Thanks to Dave Lakey (Cheers Dave!) I've acquired a second sprue, and I've ordered another pair of sprues from the Sprue Shop which will give me the sixteen I need - I'll also get a base of Grenadiers if I want them. 

To be honest I had considered Warlord when I was starting the project, but Perry's were just so much better value. Getting half the unit free and not having to deal with the metal Warlord command group which looks a bit iffy to say the least certainly helps. I wonder why Warlord went for the mixed material (plastic rankers but metal command)? I assume production cost, but it does make the boxes a bit on the pricey side on a per figure basis. When I was looking at options the Warlord Army sets were reasonable value, but the individual boxes less so. AND I love Perry's models in general.

The other change I'm going for is to add a gun by Victrix. I swapped a metal Perry one with Andy Parkes (Cheers m8). I prefer the plastic Victrix model because it comes with five crew (spot on for Sharp Practice) while the Perry ones only have four.  

Anyway. I've ordered movement trays from Warbases. Once they arrive I'll have all the "bits" I'll need, just need to get them painted. I've had a bit of a think and I'm worried the sixteen man Ligne units are a bit too fragile. Luckily the overall force cost is pretty low so rather than getting another unit I could add some more troops to the original units making at least one of them a much more robust twenty four strong. 

So this is what I'm now aiming for

1 Unit 12 Voltigeurs

2 Units 16 Ligne

Officers and Leaders for the above

Support options:

at least one base (probably 2) of Ligne to be used either as a third unit or to bolster the others

One artillery piece and crew

One small unit of Dragoons

One or two bases of Grenadiers

Musicians \ Standard Bearers - the latter not so much for on table but maybe as a good option for a Deployment point?

That's the "Cunning Plan" anyway  :-)


  

Tuesday 10 September 2024

Can I resist the Rabbit Hole that is Quar?


Err I'm not sure.

Obviously I have already dipped my toe in and have a Crusader Squad. I was going to stop there, only ten models. Three Fireteams of Rhyflers (rankers) and their Yawdryl (Squad Leader)

Yawdryl 

Fireteam 1 with their Milwer (Corporal)


Fireteam 2

Fireteam 3

I suppose I could use the two spares on the sprue (you get 12 from each side in the starter that I split with Paul). That would give me a Sharpshooter and a spare. I know, I could get an LMG team and an officer and a Torpedo Rhyfler (sort of Panzershrek) and .....

LMG Rhyflers with Hg11a LMGs

Sharpshooter

Torpedo Rhyfler


Squirrel Handler

Here are my current Crusader plans

1 Full 10 Quar Squad

2 LMG teams each of one gunner and loader

2 Torpedo Rhyfler

1 Sharpshooter

1 Squirrel Handler (don't ask)   

1 is-Caertan Officer

That's 19 figures so no problem really, but its an odd number so maybe chuck in a second Sharpshooter??

Err when the Trench Raider figures arrive I'll need 3 or 4 of those but other than that ..................

and a Tractor (tank) 

I'm doomed aren't I?

Thursday 29 August 2024

This Quar's War - Clash of Rhyfles rules - are they any good??

Err yes. I think they're very interesting indeed. I need to stress the rules are still under development - the authors are open to any suggestions and are active in dealing with the inevitable questions and queries a game hitting the market will generate. The rules are however certainly complete and perfectly playable as they stand. Also I'm only three or four games in, but my initial reaction is very positive. 

The basic set up is a ten Quar squad a side on a 2x2 foot playing area, so very new player and user friendly. 


OK I walked into this expecting a fairly GW port like with gun toting anteaters dressed in WW1 attire. What I actually got was something very like a good, slick, historical Squad level skirmish wargame with gun toting anteaters dressed in WW1 attire.

I'll try and break this down, but as an overview there are really only 2 rules mechanics in place that overarch these rules. The first is a skill check against a target number rolled on 3D6, nothing overly new there, but with a really interesting fixed result overlay. The second is a 2 dice roll with 6s counting as success and 1s as fails. I'll come back to those in a bit.

Activation is an interesting blind card draw - your opponent draws a card with between 3-5 activations (which I'm calling "leaves" because the graphic on the card is a branch with 3-5 leaves on it). You know you have three, but when you use them you have to ask, "do I have a fourth?" etc. This does give you some really interesting things to think about. Do you plan for only three leaves or do you risk a move using four? Each leaf is an action for a trooper - most of these are very familiar, such as move, shoot etc. You can only take two actions per Quar, and only one of them can be a combat action. Some actions however take 2 leaves, such as throw grenade or aimed shot, so you can try and do something only to discover you don't have the leaves to spend. I'm calling what the rules call activations leaves because it can get confusing with activations triggering actions and some actions needing two activations and my head hurts. There are leaves on the card, I'm calling them leaves. When you've spent all your leaves you draw a card for your opponent and he gets to do his thing. The turn ends when you run out of cards, then you rinse and repeat. Like I said, interesting.

I should add there are ten cards but you shuffle then discard one at random and blind. The full mix is 3x3, 4x4 and 3x5, so if you are capable of counting you can sometimes get an inkling of what is going on but that is beyond me at the moment. 

So on your turn you get to move etc. Movement is a stat but basically it's 5". St Andy of the Chambers told me he thinks everything should move 6" as a base but 5" works here. You can sprint and all the usual stuff.

Shooting is that 3D6 skill test. You declare the shot, your target declares his response, which can be dive for cover, return fire, or do something else depending on the scenario. The target number is your skill which is usually about 12 minus \ plus any modifiers for range etc. Equal or less than the target number and your opponent goes down "Out of Action". Nothing overly novel except perhaps the return fire option - St Andy of the Chambers did this with his now mostly forgotten Starship Troopers rules back in the first sheet metal age of wargaming. Now the interesting part. There is a fixed result overlaying the results, so a 3-4 is always a hit, a result that missed but scores 13 or less results in a "Gobsmack" (pinned) and a 17 or 18 is a fumble at the shooters end. I love this because what we have here is something rather clever, a ranged attack mechanism that also includes a suppressive fire mechanism in the same resolution. No extra dice rolls, no declaration that you are shooting to suppress or anything. It's smooth and works.

There's more to it than that, Overwatch, etc but that's the bare bones.

Weapons have a couple of basic stats - range and snap fire mods. Range is defined by bands, and for each band you suffer a -1 to your target number so a 6" band has no negative at 1-6", -1 at 7-12" etc. Combine this with the shooting result overlay and you in effect have no max range for shooting cos bullets go a long way, they don't just stop at an arbitrary 24" or whatever.  Snap fire is used for reaction shots - a negative to bigger \ longer \ less handy weapons get bigger negatives. OK there are also a few weapons with fixed range like shotguns, but it all hangs together well, and by spending an extra "leaf" you can take an aimed shot which ignores range bands.      

All you Chain of Command players will see where this is leading. You want to move across that bit of open ground? Better use suppressive fire, smoke and, you know REAL TACTICS. OK you are using gun toting anteaters in WW1 attire (GTAWWA???), but to succeed you really have to think about small unit \ fire and movement stuff.

The other mechanism is the 6\1 roll - you use this for grenades etc but its a good and interesting system that will be applicable in other circumstances. Double 6 is the perfect result, double 1 it goes off in your hand, but with varying degrees between. 

There's also the "Pluck" system. This is basically a command point that you can use to modify some results or spend to take special actions. It's a nice system. If I had one criticism it would be the authors missed a trick here in not tying "pluck" to leaders and their command abilities \ ranges but maybe that can come in time?  

The other thing that made me take a step back was the squad organisation. Yup GTAWWA have squad organisations, and ignoring the designations they look rather familiar to my eye. The more traditional "Royalists" are using what is almost a straight port of a WW2 British Rifle Section, with gun group and rifle group, and the more revolutionary "Crusaders" are using a squad of three identical three Quar fireteams based around a heavy rifle, almost like a late USMC squad from WW2.

There are dangers of course in trying to squeeze too much new stuff in and losing the original focus, but so far the dev team have shown a deftness of touch that is very reassuring. There are no morale rules as such, but I hope theyre going to get added soon.

In case you missed it the background is lavish, deep and interesting. Oh and there is a simple campaign progression system that allows your Squad to play through a series of scenarios, improve and craft a tale to tell of heroism and glory. Which is nice. 

And the Quar themselves are adorable.

So overall I think these are a really interesting set of rules and well written. I mentioned Chain of Command before. Clash of Rhyfles shares none of the mechanisms but does somehow have that vibe, you know, its fun but challenging and grounded in real tactics.  I'd have no hesitation at all at recommending them. Do yourself a favour and give them a try.

Cheers! 

  




Sunday 25 August 2024

This Quar's War - a Clash of Rhyfles starter box - wotsinit??



This isn't a review of the rules - there's so much in that subject that can be looked at later other than to say the rules are far more developed and nuanced than first impressions. This isn't about the game play either - for similar reasons, plus I've only played three times so far so am in that dangerous "I think I have this when in fact I don't" period. This is about the box and what you get.

So what do you get? Contents are as follows:

48 page starter rules booklet. The rules booklet is well laid out and beautifully illustrated. This covers everything you need to play out of the box including rules, some background and squad \ fire team organisation for both sides. It needs to be stressed it is a quick start set so doesn't include stuff that isn't in the starter set if you follow, but everything so far is available as free pdfs so if you want to expand with other models you easily can. There is also a campaign system to allow your troops to progress and improve. It's all good.

Plastic multi part models - in this case sprues to produce 12 Crusader and 12 Royalist infantry. The models are very nice, go together reasonably well, and have enough options to ensure you can make two full squads of ten Quar Rhyfles (infantry) with a couple of spares. This is all you need to play the basic game. The models are stupidly cute and fun. Aww look at his little anteater nose, look at his floppy boots, look at his little assault rifle etc! These are made by Wargames Atlantic so are excellent quality, though as usual with WA there seems to be a shortage of open left hands - a personal peeve of mine that applies pretty much across all WA sets.

A set of very good quality initiative \ activation cards - again beautifully illustrated

Six D6 - standard dice. Yup just standard D6, no need for all those expensive special dice. Which is nice

A bit of nice artwork with the firing table on the reverse.

The box also has some interesting cut out card terrain on the inside. It's very much in theme but I'm not sure of the real value other than as a cute gimmick.

All good. Yup - with one or two exceptions. There are no status markers. This is the only issue for me. They are available online as a free pdf but I'd rather have had them in , or on the box rather than the terrain. It's a minor thing and we will all have something that we can use, but .... I know from talking to "people" in the industry that printed material costs quite a lot in comparison to other components so I do understand. The second minor irk is there is no quick reference sheet. There is a shooting Quick ref as I mentioned before, but it seems a bit of a miss not having something more.  Anyway, moving on. 

So 24 figs , rules , dice etc - all you need to start playing. Price in the UK varies a bit but you can pick it up for £60.   

Would I recommend it - absolutely. I've thoroughly enjoyed putting together my squad, painting them and reading the background. The three games I've played so far have been interesting and engaging. The starter game is set at a Squad + level and on a small 2x2 foot gaming area, but there is an obvious option to expand to a Platoon size game, and support weapons and tractors (tanks) are on the horizon. 

I'm waiting til I have a better handle on how the rules play before posting a rules review, but at the moment I'm wholly positive.

Give Quar a try - you wont regret it :-) 

  

Wednesday 21 August 2024

This Quar's War - One and done, or a rather deep rabbit hole?

I've been a fan of This Quar's War for years. Those cute little anteater things with a WW1 vibe always appealed. The problem was they were a very niche game with a limited (none?) distribution in the UK, so if I wanted to play it I would need to get both sides and convince someone else to play. Unlikely.

However all this changed when Josh Qualtieri (Mr Quar) and Wargames Atlantic got together and released a starter set with multi part plastic figures. 

 


Except as I've grown older I've realised there is no point buying stuff if it never gets assembled, painted and played. I have a lot of projects on the go and some have stalled. So I decided to try and resist. 

But there was a problem. Rob H started posting pics of his Quar. Then he asked me to print some Quar bits he has picket up through Tribes\MMF as he doesn't have a printer. So I got to see some "in the flesh". Resistance was crumbling.

I read the rules - which are available as a free pdf btw from  Zombiesmith and I thought "maybe".

My reasoning is the rules are very low figure count - you can play with ten figures a side and that is pretty much all you need. There are two factions in the starter set, 12 figures a side. This could easily be a "One and Done" project - so why not?

So starter set bought. Split it with Paul D and assembled and painted my squad in a weekend. One and Done!

Played last night, thoroughly enjoyed it and now I'm looking for a few extras............................. 

My thoughts on the actual rules will follow but TLDR not bad at all


Tuesday 23 July 2024

100 Hour War Scenario 2 - Zepeda misses out again!

I mentioned in Scenario 1 that one Honduran Corsair had a cannon malfunction and had to abort, inadvertently triggering the dogfight. That was Captain Zapeda. A few hours later he and his comrades were back in action, this time against a pair of Salvadoran Corsairs. And just like on the morning sortie, his guns jammed on testing again............

Major Soto pressed on and in the dogfight that followed claimed two more kills both against Corsairs. At some point a pair of Salvadoran F51s appeared. So this is the setup for Scenario 2. I've messed around a bit with history to get it more playable.

The Salvadoran Corsairs begin about two thirds of the way up the table, with the trio of Hondurans behind them. How far is important given I wanted to give the Salvadorans a chance. The Corsairs used by Honduras don't have Great Dive due to their having quad 20mm cannons and the rule restrictions on only 2 Traits, so to put them just out of engagement range there needs to be at least 22" between them. I left Zepeda in the mix but with no guns - he can still help in what can rapidly turn into a 4v2 even if he cant shoot as the opposition don't know this!  The F51s enter after they pass a raw Pilot Skill test at the end of each turn, adding one die for each turn they fail (or tbh when I thought it was a good idea to get them on to keep the players engaged). They don't use High Cover btw - there is no suggestion of any real coordination going on. Everyone dices for initial Advantage when they start, just as part of the explanation process for new \ first time players)

And that was it. We played three times and it seemed to work.

Corsair on Corsair action. Hondurans in blue, El Salvador in green


I'm going off to polish this one as I think it's a good demo. It's also interesting to see the unusual match up. 

side-note - Zepeda's cannons. After these two actions there was some investigation as to why his cannons failed twice when the others didn't. The result was in some ways emblematic of the war in general. Honduras had bought a batch of 20mm ammunition from the UK, presumably on a discount. Why is this a problem? Well the Corsairs used US M3 20mm cannon, which is in theory a copy of the Hispano 20mm used by the British. Problem is the US version had been "re-engineered" (and wasn't quite as good as the Hispano because of these changes but that's another story) and as a result the UK ammunition was about 1mm thicker than the US version. On older worn out guns this made no difference as the wear and tear coincidentally meant the UK rounds mostly worked. It appears Zepeda's guns were still in reasonable condition so jammed when trying to fire the British ammo. This was apparently resolved by the field expedient of clamping 20mm High Explosive Incendiary \ Armour Piercing into a lathe and grinding them down til they fit. Flying is dangerous but the guys who got that job certainly must have had massive "cojones" :-)      

Monday 22 July 2024

100 Hour War part 4 - Decals and done

Paint done, now for decals!

At this point I should mention the Blue Falcon Hobbies decal Patreon. Steve Toth sends out decals to members once a month and in sheer coincidence last month he did a sheet of Honduran and Salvadoran markings for the 100 Hour War. These were (obviously) perfect for this project and were one of the reasons I thought it would be possible, though I was wincing at the Honduran wing tip and rudder markings.

It only took and hour - part of the speed I realised was the fact I was only painting pairs or threes, and also (to my shame) I was only concentrating on the the things you would see on the table, so left the undersides plain. 

And here they are - all painted and ready for action!

F51 Cavalier Mustangs 

Salvadoran Corsairs

Honduran Corsairs