tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post1814059544843576673..comments2024-03-29T07:13:16.494-07:00Comments on Archduke Piccolo: Age Of Eagles - Play Test and First Impressions.Archduke Piccolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-81457633979032201322014-09-18T18:00:40.232-07:002014-09-18T18:00:40.232-07:00Sorry it has been so long since I saw this comment...Sorry it has been so long since I saw this comment, Steven. Thanks for you kind remarks. On the whole, I prefer too the type of game in which can plan sensibly. True, encounter battles you can really plan for, except to respond as best you may to events as they develop. But in formal attacker defender actions, the attacker has to be able to count in the boys being pretty much available. Otherwise you end up with a piecemeal sort of assault that peters out for lack of heft.<br /><br />Having said that, I have a second game coming up soon, in which I'll be able to make use of far greater knowledge of how the thing is supposed to go that I had last time.<br />Cheers,<br />IonArchduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-48316409880713114362014-09-14T05:52:51.158-07:002014-09-14T05:52:51.158-07:00Excellent Battle Report. I enjoy AoE for its shee...Excellent Battle Report. I enjoy AoE for its sheer simplicity - much the same reason I enjoy the original Brigade level Fire and Fury. <br /><br />There are a few abstractions I don't care for but those are easily managed. <br /><br />Gamers these days seem to crave an aspect of "command & control" or "friction" modeled on the table where you must pass a command roll or subject your forces to random events. <br /><br />I much prefer to give an order, and have that order carried out. I will admit it's hard to beat the excitement in Blitzkrieg Commander or Black Powder before making a command roll, still though, I'd much rather simply carry out a battle plan and see it through as best I can.<br /><br />Thanks for the great write-up and pictures.Disgruntled Fusilierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10995610821904415726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-38930517269717621582014-09-05T20:11:31.657-07:002014-09-05T20:11:31.657-07:00Thanks for your comment, Michael. The table was p...Thanks for your comment, Michael. The table was pretty basic, but managed to look fine - and I particularly liked the way the low angle shots came out.<br /><br />I'm certainly willing to give AoE another crack. I reckon I prefer these to Volley and Bayonet at any rate (which rule set I was never able to get my head around). A lot of the other rule sets of this scale - Napoleon's battles, Snappy Nappy, and the like - I have not encountered. So far as I know they haven't reached this remote corner of the world.<br /><br />I reiterate also: a rule set I don't like as a two player game might well gain favour as a solo set. AoE looks very promising in this regard.<br />Cheers,<br />IonArchduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-6940167234865584152014-09-05T17:14:57.169-07:002014-09-05T17:14:57.169-07:00Thanks for this cleverly written and thoughtful AA...Thanks for this cleverly written and thoughtful AAR, Ion. Some splendid pictures towards the end really show how lovely the table looked up close. I have played neither FnF nor NB but I confess no great desire to try either after reading these rules. I shall explore the Polemos Naps rules once I get enough of my figures rebased, as well as the rules you kindly sent me, but this post certainly whets my appetite to get that project done and the figures on the table!<br />Cheers,<br />MichaelMad Padrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00410143683610813671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-32441873123684505382014-09-05T06:30:25.550-07:002014-09-05T06:30:25.550-07:00Cheers!Cheers!Archduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-82771242533194306312014-09-05T06:30:09.914-07:002014-09-05T06:30:09.914-07:00Bear in mind this was a 'first pass'. I a...Bear in mind this was a 'first pass'. I am hoping for a second round shortly. Just by the way, I quite liked the look of the Quatre Bras set up (give or take the extraordinary number of Allied cannon), which required only a very small table to accommodate it. <br /><br />There is a sizeable and still pretty active 'Napoleonic Fire and Fury' Yahoo Group if you want to explore the thing further. Archduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-17457014028030999622014-09-05T06:24:54.938-07:002014-09-05T06:24:54.938-07:00Thank you for your comments so far. I value your ...Thank you for your comments so far. I value your feedback.<br /><br />On the matter of Reserve Marches (RM), I do think I was a bit unlucky with the rolls. A Brigade will move with a modified roll of 7 on a D10, but modified at the first turn, and the turns following a successful RM, the roll receives a +4 modifier. Movement fails on a 1 or 2 (a zero on a D10 counts as a 10). After a fails, this modifier becomes +1-+3 depending on how long the unit has remained immobile. That's why it can be a bit of a while for a stalled unit to get moving. Incidentally, generals do make a difference. I chose generals that had a zero modifier, which, by the way, signifies reasonably capable commanders. Once you get to within 18 inches of the enemy, movement becomes Tactical, with a whole different set of reactions according to a die roll with a whole different set of modifiers. Finally, a disordered/shaken/routed unit responds to a third set of die rolls.<br /><br />There seems to be no die roll required to determine the extent to which artillery will carry out its orders, neither in the Tactical nor the Reserve zones. Such restrictions are compassed by what the cannon are capable of doing in one turn. At that they, like leaders, move freely between the respective zones. <br /><br />The voluntary rout idea is something I 'invented' also for my own rule sets. I could not understand why a unit taking a pounding would stand around helplessly if it could - even against orders - bug out. It seemed to me sensible that one way or another, the local commander might order his men to make their best speed, at whatever cost to order, out of the bad spot. A voluntary rout - accepting all that went with a rout - seemed to me an entirely sensible way to go.<br /><br />Having said that, such a rule would have to take the troops out of musketry range at least. There were occasions (e.g. Iverson's and Daniel's Brigades at Gettysburg, or the 1865 attack on Fort Stedman, in which Confederate infantry found themselves under heavy fire, with all possible movement interdicted by that same fire. There were only two possible responses, apparently: go to ground and wait it out (? Gettysburg), or surrender. But that was due to the added range of rifle fire compared with smoothbore musketry of the Napoleonic era.<br /><br />Whether I need a 'voluntary rout' rule in my proposed BB4ST game, I doubt, but no doubt time will tell.<br />Cheers,<br />Ion<br /><br /><br />Archduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-24556282648371884802014-09-05T03:48:47.138-07:002014-09-05T03:48:47.138-07:00Excllent report and photos! I've had a copy of...Excllent report and photos! I've had a copy of AOE for years and for quite a while intended to collect some suitable 15mm armies for Waterloo. I've still never played the rules and anyway most of my 15mm French have since been sold off. They are the kind of rules I hoped would be good but always suspected may be mediocre. Very interesting to see how the played out!Strykerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14258922461691204362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-27148964080039131132014-09-05T03:46:35.735-07:002014-09-05T03:46:35.735-07:00As a Fire and Fury player (rules that I think are ...As a Fire and Fury player (rules that I think are great for ACW, but I'm no expert, I just like how your army falls apart becoming worn and then spent, seems so ACW to me) I have often thought that AoE would be interesting to try, but as Napoleon's Battles fits in the same scale (brigade level) and are a set that work for me and more importantly are a set I know well, I've never made the effort to have a game.<br /><br />Reading your AAR it sounds very much like FnF, but I don't know about the reserve movement bit. The brigade activation is a substitute for an orders system and I think is a reasonable mechanic - when your troops are fresh you have a confidence that they will follow your orders, but when spent you are lucky if they don't decide that your orders ain't worth squat and they leave the field in disgust. NB deals with orders based on distance from commanders - if everything is in, no problems, if things are out it is no move or half move. The exception is march columns following roads although this is rarely seen on the table top. The one order that NB has and it took me a while to work out, but it is really useful is the "every man for himself" voluntary rout. It buggers the unit somewhat (you will need to allocate a commander to rally them), but it gets units out of trouble.<br /><br />As for artillery, in FnF you still need a commander in range to get it unlimbered and ready to shoot. There are also various outcomes that have your precious artillery limbering up and pulling back which can cause command decisions such as - do I stay with the infantry brigade or move to try and get that artillery back in action?<br /><br />Great stuff!<br /><br />Keep up the pondering and analysis. I find it most interesting.Sun of Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07315805432481558574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6650770985225450559.post-20984125653873723312014-09-05T02:41:17.404-07:002014-09-05T02:41:17.404-07:00Massive!Massive!Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718729719551125559noreply@blogger.com