Haufen and Harquebus - Mass Battles in the Age of the Pike.

In November, I was allowed to run the first playtest of the set of Renaissance rules I have been working on for a couple of years. The ruleset, currently called 'Haufen and Harquebus', focuses on the mechanics of large pike blocks from the height of Swiss ascendancy until the redevelopment of linear tactics at Nieuwpoort, with a secondary focus on the decline of chivalry and the rise of firearms on the battlefield.

I have played a few Renaissance rulesets and hold the opinion that most are adaptations of medieval or later ECW/TYW pike-and-shot systems, which to me always feel a little inauthentic to the period. My goal was to represent the power, chaos, and uncertainty that commanders of the time faced, and to allow the strange interactions arising from the melting pot of technology, organisation, and social upheaval the Renaissance presented.

The first scenario used to test the ruleset was my interpretation of the Battle of the Sessia, 1524; the first recorded instance of firearm-equipped troops winning a battle without previously fortifying their positions. This engagement poses a challenge for most rule systems to model accurately or authentically, and several issues became apparent during planning. 

Battles in Lombardy (1521–1525). The engagements at Bicocca, the Sesia, and Pavia are labelled.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battles_in_Lombardy_(1521-25).svg

The Spanish and Italian forces consisted predominantly of firearm troops, while the French relied mainly on heavy cavalry and pikemen. For the scenario to feel authentic, the French should not be able to easily overpower the Spanish arquebusiers in melee, nor should the Spanish be able to annihilate the French with gunfire before they could respond. 

Historically, the French began the battle at a disadvantage, retreating from Italy in good order, while the Spanish only needed to prevent their escape. In the scenario, the Spanish begin with only their light troops, with heavier units arriving later. The French start in the centre and must cross a bridge one unit at a time, encouraging a rearguard action and slowing the Spanish advance.

Units act in initiative order, with initiative determined by rolling dice. Similarly, how far a unit can move and how effective its shooting is are also decided by dice rolls. Most rolls involve a pair of dice, meaning units will generally perform within a predictable range while still allowing for exceptional or disappointing outcomes. 

As a result, the game began with aggressive movement and firing from the Spanish arquebus-armed troops, while the French awkwardly manoeuvred around the small area of open ground. The Spanish arquebusiers quickly overwhelmed the French light troops in the rearguard, who were still armed with crossbows, and the survivors were finished off by the jinetes. Meanwhile, many of the Italian troops, some of them mounted, moved into the marshy ground to set up a crossfire against the advancing French.

The rearguard, however, had begun to form a defensive line in response to the brutal Spanish fire and advanced toward the Spanish with the demi-lancers and French pikemen. The Spanish then moved directly up to each unit’s front to open fire at close range. 

This provides a good opportunity to explain the shooting mechanics: shooting effectiveness decreases over distance, and most ranged units are only reliable within the first twelve inches. However, good dice rolls can extend a unit’s effective range. By closing in on the pikes and heavy cavalry, the Spanish ensured that their shooting would be devastating. If the French survived, though, the Spanish light troops would be left dangerously exposed. 

The gamble paid off; both French units were shaken by the sustained Spanish fire, making it harder for them to act in the following turn. Meanwhile, some gendarmes attempted to assault the Italian skirmishers in rough terrain but stalled at a line of ditches and were decimated in the resulting fusillade.

The French managed to rally some semblance of order and pressed the attack, with a unit of pikemen catching a group of dawdling jinetes and scattering them. The jinetes were presumably busy looting the remains of the French mounted crossbowmen they had finished off in the previous turn; they rolled uncharacteristically poorly for initiative, unlikely but not impossible. This outcome highlights a core philosophy of the system that surprised many players: the jinetes did not have the option to evade. I am not a fan of special rules; instead, the jinetes could evade only by winning initiative and moving away first. In nine out of ten turns, they would comfortably do so, but in this case, it did not happen.

On the other side of the improvised French defence, the demi-lancers lost their initiative roll. Before they could rally, they were shot to pieces; however, since casualties are resolved at the end of the turn, they were able to rally and charge the arquebusiers, managing to push them back and shake them before finally breaking. This represented a desperate last-chance cavalry charge.

At this point, the Spanish pike began to arrive, and the French commanders decided their best option was to commit their entire force to the defence. The Landsknechts, Swiss, gendarmes, and demi-lancers advanced to meet the Spanish. The gendarmes caught two units of Italian shot in the open in succession, preventing any flanking manoeuvres against the Landsknechts, while the demi-lancers charged into the marshes to drive off the Italians firing on the Swiss from within. They were counter-charged by more jinetes, and the resulting chaotic combat left all units badly mauled, with both the demi-lancers and the jinetes breaking.

The Landsknechts then ploughed into the Spanish pike, devastating them and initiating the first push of pike. The Swiss advanced against the surviving Spanish arquebusiers, only to be flanked by Spanish gendarmes and Italian arquebusiers emerging from the marshes on both sides. The Swiss managed to defeat all three units but suffered heavy casualties in the process. They now faced the Spanish Landsknechts and another unit of Spanish gendarmes. The Landsknechts broke the initial Spanish pike push but were left shaken. The Spanish Landsknechts then broke the Swiss, though they too became shaken, and the remaining Spanish gendarmes routed the French Landsknechts. The French gendarmes made one final, desperate charge to break the Spanish Landsknechts but dissolved in the process.

Although there were some teething issues, I am overall quite pleased with how the game played out. Firearms proved decisive but not dominant, requiring short range and careful positioning to be effective, yet often leaving units in risky positions. Cavalry felt powerful but fragile, and the push of pike produced grinding, attritional combats well worthy of being called “bad war.” Terrain played an important role, levelling the field between light and heavy units in close combat.

In terms of balance, the Spanish held a clear advantage in this scenario, but that fits the historical context. Overall, I felt the ruleset successfully captured the feel of Renaissance warfare—brutal, uncertain, and chaotic. Some of the mechanics were a little awkward and will need refinement in future drafts.

Many thanks to Ian, John, Mark, and Mark for being the guinea pigs for this system. It was a great session, and I’m incredibly grateful for all your feedback. I plan to have the third draft of the ruleset completed based on what we learned playing the game.

Halloween Rampant, a nod to good old Beowulf.

This is not a typical AAR of the game I put on at our club's October meeting. I thought that those of you who are familiar with the Dragon and Lion Rampant rules, might like to hear about how I introduced some Non Player Characters into the game, so here we go.

With Halloween approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to put on a Rampant game with a nod to good old Beowulf and add a supernatural flavour. 

I could have just lined up some humans warriors against an army of the undead, but I thought this was perhaps a bit too obvious and might even put off some of our members who have a more traditional/ historical bent to the games they play, and so I devised the idea of introducing some fiendish and undead (Skeletons) as NPCs. I'll explain the mechanics behind them a bit later.

SETTING THE SCENE

The game was a combination of scenarios from Lion Rampant (The taxman Cometh) and Dragon Rampant (The Crystal Gale). 

A group of woodsmen tracking a rather handsome stag are drawn into an area of fairly open woodland, where to their amazement they see riches in the form of jewelled amulets, small chests filled with gold and silver coins and all manner of extremely valuable swords and daggers and other wonderous things; but as they pounce on the riches a fog descends and lightning shoots across the woodland, striking and killing one of the woodsmen. The rest flee for their lives leaving all treasure behind believing it cursed. 

Their story is recounted to their respective warlords who listen with great interest and decide to find this cursed woodland glade and take the treasure for themselves. The respective retinues leave, each guided by one of the surviving woodsmen, and so our two sides now face each other across the cursed glade keen to grab as much of the treasure as they can.

THE RETINUES

The game was set on an 8' x 4' table. There were three players per side. On one side were the Anglo-Saxons and on the other were the Welsh with some Viking allies. Each player had an identical retinue comprising one Elite foot, one heavy foot, one light foot with short range missiles and one unit of skirmishers. Each side had one player controlling the warlord as part of an Elite foot, while the two other players had a leader as part of their Elite foot. 

A leader would give a +1 to a courage test for any unit in his retinue that was within 12" of the Leader figure, while the Warlord, who had the Commanding trait, would also give a +1 for a courage test and once per turn could reroll a failed activation of any unit within 12" of his figure.

THE TREASURE

The treasure was represented by blue glass beads. Each had a points value on the bottom of it. The value of the treasure would only become known when a player moved a figure from a unit into contact with it.

The Taxman cometh scenario under the Special Rules section on page 156 covers the acquisition and handling of the treasure. Because of the size of our game, I added some extra treasure beads and so there were four beads worth one point, three beads each worth two points and one bead worth three points. The beads were all placed in plain view on the table. The one point beads were placed in fairly accessible locations at either end of the table. The two point beads were mid way into the centre of the table and the three point bead was placed dead centre of the table. Only the two and three point beads were "guarded" by something unexpected.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

The winning side was the one who successfully acquired the most points in treasure and safely removed it via the table edge they had entered on.

THE NPCs (NASTIES)

The NPCs comprised two units of Skeleton Light foot with mixed weapons; one unit of Skeleton Elite foot; one Elite foot reduced model unit a very large green orc type (casualties tracked using a micro die) and just in case he was needed, an Elite unit Lich summoner (reduced model unit) who could fire lightning bolts (remember one such lightning bolt killed one of the woodsmen at the start of our story).

These NPCs were intended to act as speed bumps for the retinues trying to acquire the treasure. They were definitely not meant to be game changers. I did change the attack value of the light foot Skeletons from a five to a four, after all they were there to aggressively defend the treasure. 

Skeletons do not test for courage as such (they are already dead, so what have they got to worry about!), but they do test after taking casualties and if they achieve a zero or less they are reduced to an inanimate pile of bones. Skeletons are also brittle, and so casualties are rounded up. So for example three hits on their light foot (armour 2) would actually cause two casualties instead of the usual one.

ACTIVATING THE NPCs

Each time a human unit moved close enough to be able to reach a treasure bead on their next activation, the NPC unit would appear and block their path. They did not activate immediately. Instead, in the next turn the human unit and the NPC would dice off to see who activated first and then the winner would shoot, melee, or move and then the losing unit of the dice off would activate (if they were still there). 

The NPCs were not limited in the number of activations per turn, but they could only respond if threatened with attack or shooting from different units and each time there would be dice off to decide who would go first. Once destroyed, an NPC unit would not reappear, after all there's only so much a Lich Summoner can cope with.

DANGEROUS TERRAIN

There were three areas of dangerous terrain on the table. Two of them were what appeared to be small groups of trees, but if a unit got too close, massive thorny tendrils would shoot out and grab the unwary and drag them screaming into the centre of the "copse" to be devoured. Roll 1 d6 and the unit loses half that number of strength points rounded down. The third area was a very well maintained "vegetable" patch containing some of the most toxic plants known to man. Toxic pollen and thorns. Roll 1 d6 as above when any unit enters the terrain.

ACTIVATION MARKERS

Because there were a lot of units on the table, we used miniature pumpkin tokens and placed them beside a unit once it had been activated that turn. Well, they looked fun and kept the Halloween vibe going. I particularly enjoyed the shouts of "they've been pumpkin'd" and "remove all the pumpkins" at the end of each turn.

GAME OUTCOME

Effectively, both sides were identical in their makeup. At times there was some co-operation to remove NPC units, but in the end it was the Anglo-Saxons who made off with the most booty, due perhaps to superior tactics, but also the Welsh had some shocking dice rolls at times. 

My thanks go out to Matt, Mike R, Colin, Flaky Dave, Ian and Paul who played like true gentlemen and were all more than a match for the nasties they encountered.

If there's anything I've missed (there's always something) and you'd like to know more, by all means message me or catchup with me at the club. And happy gaming to you all.

Mike

O Group - Arras 1940 Scenario updated to 1944.

 

Because the Club had it’s AGM this month I decided that it would be easier to use a scenario that did not require huge amounts of terrain. I looked at this one and remembered the fun we had playing in it’s correct format. However, all my toys are 1944 onwards. So, using my spreadsheet skills, I updated the equipment to what I have. As it is 1944, I had to give the British a few extra toys (aircraft) and both sides had unrestricted mortars, and the artillery was more balanced for the period.

O-Group has become a firm favourite battalion-level game with
several members of the club and Steve has developed his 15mm collection around them. 
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/o-group-rule-set/

The British launch a surprise attack which catches the Germans with their trousers around their ankles,

so to speak.

The games started in the usual manner with combat patrols (CP’s)being deployed all over the place by

both sides. After a couple of turns the British decided to convert their CP’s, to physical platoons on the

table. The reason being to shoot away the German CP’s thus preventing them from deploying. Pretty

sound you would think, but the victory conditions were to inflict 3 FUBARS (12 Sections) on the Germans. This was all in the briefing handed to the players.

From turn 4, the Germans were able to dice to reinforcements. So there appeared on the German left

flank a pair of StuGs. Now this had the effect of forcing the British to bring on their armour. Consequently, there appeared on each flank a pair of Cromwell’s. This caused the Germans to attempt an artillery strike. No luck. Those damned radios!!

Eventually the Germans managed to deploy on CP’s and infantry actions took place with exchanges of

killed sections. The Germans kept trying for their artillery strike and eventually it happened, with a

vengeance. Rocket attack that incorporated 2 Cromwell’s and an infantry section. The first Cromwell was damaged, the second, after some great saving throws only had shock. As did the infantry platoon.

This carnage upset the British so they called in an airstrike. From the cab rank in the sky a Typhoon

appeared and attacked the 2 StuGs. As with the German artillery the result was mixed. One Stug was

destroyed whilst the other only received 1 shock. 

From their reinforcements the Germans the received 2 PzIV’s and a Flak 36 88mm. Eventually the British managed to inflict a FUBAR on the Germans. There followed a series of exchanges between the remaining StuG, plus the 88mm and the British remaining armour. This then forced the British to bring on the Churchill’s they had kept back. They pushed forward on the right flank. On the German right flank there appeared the 2 PZIV’s 

Time was running because of the AGM. The battle was called as a German victory as they prevented the

British victory conditions.

We then retired to the pub, as all good wargamers should. There was an exchanged of emails later when

all the things we had missed were highlighted.. As we hadn’t played for nearly 12 months, we didn’t do

too bad. We do have a couple of games planned so hopefully they will be better. Any omissions or errors were down to me. It was my game.

My thanks to Bob and Vince, our Germans, and Steve M and Matt, our British. The game was played

without fisticuffs or handbags being wielded, and I enjoyed the power of the umpire despite the errors.

Steve L

Tank versus Tank action with Achtung Panzer!

 

One of the best aspects of being in a club like the Devon Wargames Group is that we are a club that is definitely among the 'early adopter' group, a term so beloved by marketing managers across the various retail sectors, but an aspect of the club that means if there is a new or relatively new set of rules out there we are likely to see someone bringing it along for a game.

So it was that one of our younger club members Charlie, and one of our not so younger members, his Dad, Jack, offered to host a game of 'Achtung Panzer!' launched by Warlord Games last year, a World War II tank combat game using 28mm scale models and focusing on platoon-level engagements.

To quote the Warlord Games folks when describing their new game system;

'Achtung Panzer! is our brand-new game of in-depth 28mm WW2 tank combat that lets you fight exciting close-quarter battles in dense terrain, and experience the effectiveness of armoured fighting vehicles and their crews in WW2, with enormous customisability and a rewarding campaign system.

You’ll control a small number of tanks, and using a unique initiative order system do battle through heavy terrain on the tabletop. Detailed spotting and destruction mechanics will require you to first identify your targets, then line up the perfect shot before you fire. The action and event card system ensures that no two games are the same, and the linked campaign system allows you to see your crews and tanks progress over the course of numerous battles.'

Now as a bit of an 'Old Grognard' who in my fifty-two years in the hobby has seen just about most things in wargaming, I try to vary my diet of games now and then, just to make sure 'I'm down there with the kids and keeping it real', and of course to sit down to a lovely table, terrain and marvellous collection of WWII vehicles in 28mm or should I say 1/56 scale, is always a pleasure, and so I prepared to see what Warlord Games had come up with this time with their new tank game 'Achtung Panzer!'

I don't usually play WWII in the larger scales, having in my own collection a large selection of 15mm tanks and infantry from Battlefront, mainly set up for Western Europe 1944-45, and I have used them using I Aint Been Shot Mum (IABSM), and occasionally Chain of Command (CoC), both from the Too Fat Lardies.

More recently I sat down to have a go with a more recent Lardy incarnation, and similarly scaled for small tank actions, 'What a Tanker' (WaT), and I have to say that these tank on tank rule sets probably inspired by the online 'World of Tanks' game have not really grabbed my enthusiasm in that I probably prefer more of a simulation, all arms set of rules like CoC, where infantry and anti-tank capable troops keep the tankers on their guard among the close terrain of NW Europe in the later years of WWII.

However, putting all my pre-conceptions to one side I decided to see what sort of game could be had with 'Achtung Panzer!' and paid close attention as Charlie explained the basics to our group of rookie tank commanders as we prepared to battle it out among the houses and hedgerows of a typical Normandy hamlet circa 1944.

As you would expect from Warlord, the game comes with some nicely produced components to compliment the vehicles and terrain of your table with an example of one of the vehicle status cards above and some of the chance cards each tank commander can hold and play when the opportunity presents, but always with the threat of a counter card held by ones opponent.

The game sequence is driven by a series of chit draws determining which particular model tank can activate to move and fire, and we managed to play two games during the day with the first game very much on the 'learning curve', with myself commanding a Panzer IV alongside another such tank, a Panzer III and StuG IIIG, facing off against an assortment of Allied types including a Sherman, Cromwell, Sherman Firefly and Stuart.

Both sides were tasked with controlling a small village between our lines, and so with the Panzer IV's attempting to get into a covering position it was left to the StuG and Panzer III to get into the village, whilst the Allies seemed content to sit back on their ridge line and take pot shots at manoeuvring German tanks in the fields below their ridge overlooking said village.

Not surprisingly the Firefly drew most German return fire, forcing it to reverse into cover to make repairs allowing the lighter German tanks to use the respite to get in among the buildings to lay claim to controlling the hamlet.

In our second game we had the German force fielding some big cats including Tiger and Panther alongside the Panzer IVs and with the Allies attempting to storm our position on a ridge as they looked to present multiple targets in the hope that one of them would be able to close for a fatal flank shot.

The German big-cats won the day though smashing up the advancing Allied armour with a few tense moments of card play and dashes between cover to spice up the play, before the Germans got the drop in the important exchanges of fire.

So rather than giving a detailed blow by blow account of Achtung Panzer! I thought I would offer my very personal impression of the game, very much similar to that of What a Tanker, in that these games are much in vogue at the moment along with skirmish games in general; with it seems a new generation of historical gamers less inclined to build and field big collections of miniatures, requiring the time to play the larger battle, with all its added complexities of command and combined arms tactics, but rather the low-level skirmish game focussed on the minutia of which armour piercing shell to stick in the breach and how good is my driver at performing a high speed reverse.

So what's wrong with that you might say, to which I would reply nothing, if you enjoy that kind of game, combined as here with the terrain and vehicles to compliment play, and that said, I enjoyed this break from my normal diet of play, but I don't think Achtung Panzer and other similar offerings have enough nutrition to satisfy my personal hunger for historical simulation, similar to the choice between a MacDonalds and a gourmet three course dinner with wine.

If nothing else, WWII land warfare generally marked a return to combined-arms warfare, where infantry, artillery and armour worked best when brought together in combat teams, specifically arranged in quantity for the task at hand; and with the array of anti-tank capability in the hands of the poor bloody infantry, the tanks tended to often enter battlefields, as seen above, like shy debutantes stepping onto the ball-room dance floor, only too aware that that hedgerow in front could easily be shielding a Panzerschreck or PIAT team waiting for their opportunity to cause absolute mayhem.

Thus the infantry screen for such armoured advances were a necessity, whilst the armour, proof against machinegun and most artillery, particularly the more common mortar round, offered the infantry heavy support in the face of such threats, often being used to shoot the infantry onto the target such as a large wood or village.

There are of course occasional actions that come to mind where this type of tank v tank engagement with the occasional anti-tank gun on the scene was an event and actions such as SS-Unterscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann at what became known as Barkmann's Corner and SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann at Villers Bocage readily offer themselves as potential historical scenarios playable with these rules. 

During the brave engagement often called "Barkmann's Corner", 

SS-Unterscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann pictured, destroyed approximately 

nine Sherman tanks and many other various vehicles with his lone Panther tank.

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen5.htm

I can easily see the attraction of these 'Tank Heavy' games and for Warlord in particular, with models to sell, the rules make perfect marketing strategy, and I rather hope they prove to be the entry-drug required to attract a new generation of wargamer into the historical gaming arena, and in due time a desire to replicate the history that these sort of games should inspire further reading to produce.

So in closing, I think Achtung Panzer! is a well produced game of tank versus tank action that gives a tense skirmish 'knife fight' of a game playable to a conclusion in a few hours of play, but for the WWII aficionado perhaps just a light interlude to their normal gaming and to the new student of WWII warfare a set of rules and game that should hopefully encourage further exploration into other rule sets that produce an equally fun game with all the complexities and challenge of combined arms warfare that WWII tanks were but a part.

Thank you to Jack and Charlie for my first game of Achtung Panzer! and to Stephen, David, Nathan and Owen for the fun we had trading APDS among the hedgerows.

JJ