Saturday, January 28, 2012

Status Counters for Soldier's Companion

One of the many benefits of Frank Chadwick's Soldiers Companion is it plays clean, in that one doesn't need to consult tables and charts whilst playing the game.  Rosters are also kept to a minimum, and a unit roster reads very much thusly:

1st Btn. South Wales Borders - V1
Breechloader Rifles 12/24

Troop identification, Quality (V for veteran), Fieldcraft (1) and weapon (Martini-Henry rifle)

There are no boxes for casualties as the figs are knocked down/lifted/given full honours as the firing is resolved. Moral state can be recorded as it fluctuates.

The need for some counters became apparent to me after many games playing Soldier's Companion through the years, and while I don't like a lot of board clutter, in some cases I am forced to admit that a discreet counter would have been welcome in avoiding a bad call.

There are three variable states that are linked to morale, but aren't actual morale factors under the rules:
Checked
Charging
Frenzied

Checked occurs when morale effects are resolved - a morale roll failed by 2 or less results in a unit becoming Checked.  They fire with a 1 pip penalty, and have some melee disadvantages. A checked unit may also not advance towards the enemy.

Charges are declared before movement, before initiative is determined.  Charges aren't resolved until after fire, so it's sometimes not difficult to forget in a big game if a unit is charging or being charged.

Frenzied is another morale state, which occurs when a unit witnesses a friendly unit winning a melee. Frenzied units count towards winning initiative, and frenzied units must charge the nearest enemy unit.

Litko Aero makes some nice counters (I picked up mine at the Wargames Vault during a sale) so it wasn't difficult finding appropriate counters.

Now to see if they'll help me win.

- finis -

Thursday, January 26, 2012

More Œnotrian Artillery

Here are a coupe of rogue guns for use in defending town walls.  Rogues performance is equivalent to that of the 68-pounder, albeit with a slower rate of fire.  This can be explained by the 68's use of the percussion cap for firing, while the rogue still uses the "prick and prime" method.



Rogues are not much seen in the field, being very heavy and difficult to maneuvre, but they are useful in knocking down the walls of smaller Martian states. Any siege train on Mars expecting to carry the day will feature a battery of rogues, and any municipality hoping to resist will mount a few on the walls, as a deterrent.


These are part of a three-gun set from Scotia Grendel - you will find them under the Medium Dwarven Artillery.  As resin-cast, there is a bit of "greeblische" around the base, simulating churned-up dirt from the field. This might bother the extra-fastidious when deploying them on a stone parapet.

 I wasn't entirely certain these would scale well with my RAFM Martian gunners, but they do.

- finis -