Seconds

 A second outing for Big Battles, Small Armies saw a home-brew scenario pulled together to try the rules with a mixture of unit types. 

Day 1 Dawn

The commander of Army Red has been ordered to take the hilltop village, currently held by an Infantry Battalion of Army Black. Red has 3 Infantry units, 2 cavalry and 1 Artillery. Black has 3 Infantry and 1 cavalry.

Red pounds away at the village with artillery
Both sides advance Cavalry and Infantry

Day 1 Midday - Red's artillery falls quiet having made no impression
Red's infantry and cavalry are both engaging the enemy

Army Black's commander is wounded!

The afternoon wears on with little give on either side

Night time Day 1 - Army Black rallies 

Day 2 Dawn - Red attacks with new vigour

Red's artillery re-enters the battle
Black's cavalry is forced back

The ferocity of Red's attack has been costly

Day 2 Afternoon - Red's attack falters

End of Day 2 - Both sides reach 0 Army Morale

With both sides simultaneously reaching zero Army Morale (akin to both reaching Exhaustion Point in PW) the battle was over. Army Black had held the village and were therefore the victors.  

New!

 

Having purchased a PDF copy of the Third Portable Wargame Compendium, and duly printing and binding it (there is still a reason for going to work, other than paying the bills), I was keen to start using my purchase. I thus gave Mark Cordone's Big Battles, Small Armies a run through. Put simply, this is an expanded 3x3PW on a bigger board with a morale system.

The first thing to tackle was the recording of Day and Night turns, as Big Battles may take longer than a standard wargame day. Enter the Amazing, Non-Mechanical Turnometer (Patent Pending, prototype Summer Variant model shown in the illustration). I have assumed two Night turns for Summer though this may not be the author's intent.

Turnometer

Game

In the time honoured tradition for testing a new system, I chose to use Donald Featherstone's Basic Battle 1, just Infantry on each side. Both sides had 4 Infantry units and a General; I therefore gave them each 5 Army Morale Points (though the General may not count as a unit so this may have been incorrect??)

Day 1 Turn 2 - The red and blue dice show the Army Morale

The two armies shoot at each other over the random hedge
The hedge offered no cover for musket fire, though would for melee

Day 1 Turn 7 - the sun is setting and Red has suffered hits, 
one unit destroyed and one unit damaged

During the night Red's damaged unit managed to rally 1SP

Day 2 Turn 1 - Red's firing pushes Black units back

Both sides take hits

Afternoon of Day 2 - Red's morale is failing

Red's Army Morale reaches 0 - defeat and retreat

I played a completely static game to get a feel for the rules which worked ok, though I have a few queries, for example what happens at night? Should the forces remain where they are (I did this) or should they fall back a set distance eg one grid? As Red's damaged unit regained an SP over night, I restored an Army Morale point, was this correct? It felt right so I did it. I count firing as an action, like moving, so when a side rolls a 1 for example, only 1 unit can move OR fire; I'm not sure if that's what is intended in the rules? Units in melee I would allow to fight without using actions??

Apart from my slight confusion with some of the rules, this was an enjoyable first go at BB,SA and it's a system I will explore some more.

Crossroads*

 *Please Note: This post refers to the Battle at the Crossroads and not the soap-opera set in the West Midlands of the UK, in case you feel cheated.

Today's Portable Wargame was based loosely on a scenario of Martin Rapier's that can be found here.

Setting

Winter has passed and the war between Red and Green is poised to recommence. Green attempts to preempt a Red invasion by attacking a supply line at a strategic Crossroads in the centre of a village. Red has possibly not stationed troops of sufficient quality guarding this vital position...

Grey squares indicate BUA (village and a farm). The two hills are heavily wooded and only passable by Light Infantry. Red starts with 2 infantry units rated Poor at Zone A, and a unit of infantry in the village. The roads are barely passable due to melting snow and heavy rain and confer no movement bonus. When the Poor class units first come under fire they must roll a d6 each turn - a 1 means they retreat at normal speed to the village. When they take their first hit they must roll d6 - 1,2,3 means they retreat as above. Once in the village they behave as per Portable Wargame rules. Green Army arrives on turn 1 (all on South base line). Red's remaining force arrives on North baseline on Turn 2. Green's objective is to occupy the Crossroads at the end of the battle.

 Game

Note: the purple dice remind me these units are Poor quality
Green's attack begins at once

One Red unit retreats but the other stubbornly resists

Green's cavalry bypass the occupied farm

Green's cavalry attempt to out flank the Red defenders

The farm defenders finally retreat

Green starts the assault on the village

The attack is slowing as Green takes hits

Everything is thrown at the defenders

Heavy losses for both sides have reduced them both to EP

The Poor quality troops, naturally, held out longer than expected, tying up Green's forces (shades of Sittangbad). I might try this again using OHW rules that would allow a fight to the last man, though the troops in the village are still going to be hard to winkle out. 

OHW31

 A further extract from the memoirs of General Wells recalls how, as a young Brigadier General, he was charged with holding the two villages of West and East Hampton...

This scenario is the creation of Disgruntled Fusilier and can be found here. The game was played with a variant of the Horse & Musket rules from OHW. The two armies were picked randomly using the table in OHW - both sides rolled a 2 and fielded  3 units of Line Infantry, 1 of Artillery and 2 of Light Infantry. According to the scenario instructions Red always moves first. Victory for Blue can only be achieved by holding both villages, which I assume means Red can win by holding one village at Turn 15.

The battlefield with West Hampton in the West...

Early morning and the assault of West Hampton begins

Red artillery arrives

General Wells arrives but so do more of Army Red

Blues Line Infantry have been wiped out.
The Light Infantry quickly replace them.

As the fight for West Hampton grinds on, Red Line Infantry appear to the NE

They are followed by a Blue Light Infantry unit 

Midday: Red is now attacking both villages

General Wells rushes to replace the fallen Light Infantry in West Hampton
(East Hampton is secure with the destruction of Red's force)

Too late! Red occupies the village

Blue's artillery has finally arrived and manoeuvres towards the action

General Wells and Staff fall back towards East Hampton

Day's end: West Hampton is firmly in Red hands.

The Battle of the Hamptons represents the first defeat in the career of General Wells.

A nice scenario to play; my compliments to the author, Mr Fusilier.

Redoing

 The Fiddler's Bottom game has been replayed, this time using my original 3 hit version of OHW Horse & Musket, plus a bonus for embedded Generals. This time the attacking force out numbered the defenders. Again no specific artillery units were present. To win Red need to exit 3 units within 10 turns.

The opening position

Early cavalry clashes have taken their toll for Blue

Red's Infantry move forward cautiously.
Red cavalry have brushed aside the Blues.

Red in a position to exit three units

Red almost reaches his objective, luckily as casualties are high 

Red achieves his objective and is victorious!