Testing

 Having enjoyed a game of my (version 2) fantasy variant for One Hour Wargames on Friday, I gave it another go yesterday with the aim of testing out the Magic Use system. The version 1 rules had included magical creatures but no actual magic use so I have adopted the Magic from Swords, Sorcery & Spells (see Portable Wargame Compendium by Bob Cordery - here).

The game featured an attacking army of Wild Men with their Druid and a defending Dwarf army including their Wizard. The scenario was #3 from OHW, Control the River. The objective for both sides was to be in control of the two crossing points by Turn 15.

Both sides arrive 

Fighting on both bridges

The Dwarf Wizard lobs a fireball across the River

The Dwarves have cleared the West bridge but have left the East crossing poorly protected

The Dwarf attack seems to be gaining momentum in the West, while the East bridge is still held

Magic Users are vulnerable, especially to lucky throws from Infantry Units!

The Dwarves press home their advantage

While the Wild Men run out of options

The Dwarves control both bridges, the Wild Men are down to 1 hit point and call it a day

With the current ranges I allow for spells, it was difficult to manoeuvre  the Magic Users into a position where they could fire off spells without firing into melees (which I don't allow) in this game (though the same could be said for archers I guess). I think I'm going to extend the ranges and give them another go. Magic Users are suitably (in my opinion) vulnerable to attack by all units (they could choose to shield themselves though this costs them spells).

Happy Easter Everyone.

Revamp

John over at the 54mm or Fight! blog (see here) has recently been adding some interesting features to his Fantasy Variant of OHW (Neil Thomas's marvelous set of fast play rules). This got me thinking about giving my  gridded version a revamp and including the three hit variant (see here) for assessing casualties. This was given a little play through this afternoon. I have added a Magic section but didn't play that today as I wanted to get a feel for the combat first. 

Inevitable Generic Fantasy Map for no reason other than I like it

Orcs have appeared from the Mountains of Mourning and attacked the Elves.

The objective is to be in sole possession of the hill at the end of the battle

Orc and Elf Cavalry clash - 2 sixes equate to 2 hits on the Orc unit leaving 1 hit point before the unit is destroyed

Fierce fighting on the hill as both sides rapidly start taking hits

The Orc Hero/Leader is seriously damaged by this point

The Elves now control the hill - losses are great on both sides

Having lost the Troll, and with only 1 hit point left, the remaining Orcs leg it 

Well the combat rules worked ok. Just got to test the Magic rules now!

Free

 A free hobby find is always welcome, and this paper house is just that. It come courtesy of Erny's Place, and there are more posts with such buildings if one cares to look. Thanks Erny. I think he really caught the look of the 1980s Warhammer scenery.

A Free House (ie a Pub that's not linked to a single brewery)

I'm not very gifted when it comes to model making, but this one was nice and simple. I copied the image then printed it onto the thin card you can buy that will run through a laser printer. The card is quite flexible so I stiffened the walls by attaching some thicker card with a glue stick.

With hindsight (that really should be available on prescription) I should have left some card at the bottom of the walls to make tabs that could be stuck onto a card base - will definitely do that next time.