Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Info and chat about wargaming weekend events arranged by LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG in both England and Scotland
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barr7430
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by barr7430 » Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:21 pm

Well, it is all over bar the shouting....

I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading about some of the suggestions many of you offered particularly about the use of the cards...

As always with me, feedback is actively sought, as are ideas or suggestions.

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as Ade, Bob and I :D
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by andy thompson » Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:06 am

I went straight to my bed when I got home last night and have only just surfaced, deary meary but I'm still shattered. Back-shift today should be interesting - I pity the author of the first stupid question I get :roll:

Anyway, fantastic weekend, thanks guys for doing all the hard work putting it together, and of course taking it all apart again too...the part we players don't really see much of but I imagine is a lot of work.

On the cards: I'm sure you've already had plenty of feed-back already but the two cards per table in the first game on Saturday morning were just way over the top. One per table per turn would have been an annoyace and an em-buggerment to planning, but not the total en-funckenment of everything that they turned out to be. Gerry and I got a Highland charge off (eventually - see comment on cards and planning) against an entire Government Line that was either out of ammo or had one more volley. At one point the line was 4 Battalions and a battalion gun, all out of ammo...They didn't stand up to the charge :lol:

On the big game, although it was down to one card per side per turn, the ability of the Kings to throw in another one, or even two, made some areas of the field a comedy of stalled charges and lack of ammo.

The fix? And this is my opinion only of course (that and 99p would get you a decent cup of cofee):

One card per turn per table on the Saturday morning familiarisation game. As noted above, played at a crucial time it might halt one out of two or three charges or leave an ammunition shortage at a critical point and get the effect I think you're aiming for.

Two cards per turn for Ye Kinges in the big game. That way the Kings are making a tactical decision every turn and helping out where the need is greatest. Also, if a flank wants to race ahead on the turn count they run the risk of missing out on helpful cards.

Just my thoughts and meant in the spirit of increasing future enjoyment and certainly not suggesting any decrease in my enjoyment of this weekend.

Thanks again.

Andy
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by andy thompson » Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:57 am

Some of the few pictures I remembered to take:

Government Line about to crack under the world's most fortunate Highland charge:

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Williamite's fording the river:

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The Jacobite left flank begins to waver (some might say crumble but that's just propaganda):

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Andy
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by obriendavid » Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:57 am

Good photos Andy, especially the hand of God helping the Williamites cross the river :wink:

If you're tired after that weekend don't take part in the Borodino weekends, they're exhausting! :shock: full action right from turn one.
Cheers
Dave
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by BP » Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:21 pm

Just goes to show which side God was on ;)

Another thoroughly enjoyable weekend, so thanks to the guys for organising and to all those taking part.

Think Andy has covered the main items we discussed after the game, along with some of the ideas to offer alternatives.

Bill
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by Friedrich August I. » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:06 pm

Dear Friends,

I'm finaly at home again.
First of all I have to say a big Thank You to Adrian, Barry and Bob who organized this great weekend. To meet so many new Friends and old Friends was quite enjoyable.
Here is a collection of Generals, Umpirers/Empires :wink:, a 'El Presidente' and King 'Bill' William:
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From the left Jim, Collin, Bob, Andy, Bill P.,
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Gerry, Bob from the USA, Adrian and Bill.

The comments done by Bill and Andy about the cards I' m obliged to second. In my opinion - as much fun it was - the use of the card's we received AND the events the cards should/did trigger was quite to much.

One thing I saw quite often on this Weekend was when a card was used to make an Enemy unit "out of Ammo" the 'Receiver' of the Card simply refused to do as the card tells him. So how would it be to rephrase one or two of those 'Out of Balls'-Cards with the addition of the mandatory words "you MUST" go back and pick up Ammo?

While I know that the stack of Cards Barry created are quite useable in a time like this with "Babies wore Red" in mind they are not or only partial suitable/useable for the Nations with professional Armies.

Ok, let's go back tothe pictures of the Battle, made by his Royal Highness James II. and declared Winner of the Battle :D
My thanks going to my Commanders! Without them we wouldn' have won this glorious Victory!
The Comanders of the Left Flank
Grand Marshal of the Houshold Sir Andy and His Grace, Grand Marshal of the Stables, Sir Gerry who stemmed the Tide quite well, twice :wink:
To my able commanders of the Center Lord Matt who bound his men to trees and clawed himself in the ground not giving way, to Sir Allan, Commander of the Guard and strong defender of the Center, with some smashing results I must say.
To Sir Marcel and his cracking cavalry attacks under his subordinate (Jeb) Stuart and my good Comte de Kiran, who stood firm against the onslaught of those infamous Danes.
And at last myself, James II(who trowed a 6 for an inspiring Leadership) and, by God's grace, King of England.
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Here is a view over the Battlefield and some of the Players/ Umpires
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Adrian, Paul, Bob and Collin having a chat about who many Leaders Collin will need for his troops :wink:
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Inspired Danish troops passing a priest...whatever he said they ignored him :D
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Kiran and Andy
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Jim Wallace and Bob(USA)
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Adam(Hayes) and Bill 'El Presidente'
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Peter and Collin
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My good Friend Bob
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and finaly some impression of the last day of William's Reign :D :wink:
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Sorry for the size of this message but I' m still with my mind in Derby :D

Thanks for all!
Günter
„Macht Euch Euren Dregg alleene“

"Sort your filth out by yourself!" The King of Saxony Friedrich August III., at his abdication 1918, referred to the quarrels in the parliament and the squabbling within the provisional government.
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by billwargames » Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:48 pm

Gerry,Alan,and myself had a discussion with regards to cards used in the most enjoyable game at the weekend and alternatives to how they be used.Here are some of my suggestions from the above conversations..
Suggestions
-The card deck is used only once.cards are drawn as per the game when used- are discarded,but the deck is used only once and when its done,its done.
OR
-Each player is allowed one card during the game and can use it only once,they are allowed to change the card at the end of each round if they do not like it,but to repeat their card can only be used once during the game..This would allow the player to try to get a card they felt suitable for their situation but not overly dominate their action with cards.
The King is allowed 3 cards, he can use one per round,and draws a replacement at the end of the turn(an option in this case the King can also change one card per turn at the end of the turn -I wasnt sure about this as this could allow the King to build up an overly strong a hand).
This would mean that the King could put some influence on one area only- per turn and would also force the players to be more frugal in the use of their card.
Greetings also to the Pretender King,and also to my gallant team mates who put up the good fight.....
signed
William-R................
PS has anyone seen my white horse.......................
biomed
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by Adam Hayes » Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:11 pm

Thanks to everyone involved for a great weekend. A terrific game and excellent company.

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One of many memories: My plucky Danes fighting to the last to hold the redoubt thay had captured until the supports were brought up by General Wurtemburg (sadly killed soon after by a dastardly French sniper.)

We had our own private battle on the flank, an all Eurpean affair with honours just about even at the end between Danish and French contingents. My patient and good-humoured opponent made the game a real pleasure to play. (His only character shortcoming - trying to kill my general with a CANNON!, I blame Gerry for :D )
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by Gerryjd » Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:27 pm

Just wanted to add that I had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend again. Figures were excellent, gaming was superb, and the company was just spot on.

First game on Saturday morning was a laugh, cards were a bit over the top in the first game but it had the desired effect of breaking us all in I think.....although I think they just broke Mr Wallace.... :D

Would suggest that the King has three cards per turn that he can play in the game, but that they can't all be played in the same sector. Pretty sure we had one or two instances where both the kings cards and one from each side were played on our table. Certainly skewed a few results in my opinion. That said, it meant that the cards were given a very good play through and in the whole I think will add to the game.

Might also suggest that the Highlanders only get their highland charge +6 once in the game, a bit like the first volley. Pretty sure mine and Andy's Highlanders got in about the govt troops at one point with only a single stand with 2 or 3 figures left on it and got a +6....... Not that I was complaining :lol: ......but the upset it caused Jim.....then meant he went on the rampage with his Dutch boys in the big game!!!!!!!

@Adam.....Kieran will snipe at anybody with a Cannon or the biggest gun he can find.....he has form for this.....ask Jim Wallace!!!!!! :wink: :shock:

Highlights of the weekend for me......Jims face when the card was played limiting the shooting ability of his unit because of the masses of gunpowder smoke billowing across the battlefield from all the......erm.....other shooting.....that his units had done......erm......should I mention that none of his other units had actually fired........probably not!!!!! :shock:

, finding out that Kieran had been taking potshots at opposition generals with small calibre weapons!!! :D ,( that's not how he's been brought up!!! :D )
having my brigadier change sides when he went to try and persuade the opposition brigadier to switch sides( Can never accuse Barry of bias one way or t'other on that score!! :wink: :lol: )

Cheers

Gerry
You may call it sarcasm........I, on the other hand, prefer to refer to it as a humorous observation!!! :-)
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by ColinN » Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:04 pm

Just wanted to add my thanks to everybody for another great weekend.

I'm a bit late to the thread and I don't have too much to add. Like everybody else I thought the cards were fun but too prominent and agree with the idea of limiting them to the Kings. Perhaps a sort of joker would be fun too - a card played on the opposition when they play a card which turns the effect on them!

Fun, colourful period and thanks to the heroics of the Huguenots a desire has been kindled to start a force of my own, no doubt to the detriment of my cupboard space and bank account!

Cheers,
Colin
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by barr7430 » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:43 pm

I have uploaded 12 shots from the weekend game here
http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/gallery ... 9-391.html#

Hope this brings back some memories or perhaps nightmares. I think the shots already posted by players are really good 8)

Glad to hear the weekend inspired some of you to delve into the period further 8)
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by Matt 1805 » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:52 pm

Got back at last, work today seemed slightly unreal - I kept wanting to play an event card and roll a dice to resolve things. Now that would be a way to determin a planning application! Many thanks to Barry,Adrian and Bob for the hard work setting it up. Not an easy task but superbly well done and you all kept cheerful despite my daft laddie questions.

On the cards - they added real flavour to the game but at certain points became too useful and got me (and others) out of occassional sticky situations. Too many in use I think but in limited number a good tool. For big games I would let the generals have a 'hand' of them to use at their personal discretion - this would be a neat representation of the effect of a commander in chief - perhaps gifted commander could have more and plodders have less. For smaller battles perhaps each player get one - to use when they see best. I would agree with Gunter about them being very specific to that particualr army and campaign. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it adds flavour. But it might make them less useful for other games. How about a booklet of events for various campaigns - on the same 52 format in the rule book. Just a thought.

My favorite moment? Possibly exchanging 'spin' with Jim in the final wash up session - in true 17th Century fasion, alternativley destroying his Blue Guard with my 'zero' regiment who got enough card upgrades to turn them into stubborn elite heroes with 2+ moral . Jim - you're a gent and I greatly enjoyed playing opposite you. However for drama it has to be Alan's cavalry charge that routed two squadrons by catching them side on, distupted two others and blunted the Williamite thrust 'through the middle'.Worst moment was carefully lining up a regiment and saving their first shot for the last possible moment and then realising that they were all pike (despite the models) and then they refused to charge for two turns before being shot to pieces. Ho Hum.

I had a fabulous two days and it was a real pleasure to meet you all for real.

cheers - Matt
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by barr7430 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:16 am

I was slightly disappointed that Colin didn't extend his reputation for getting general officers killed during the game. Gerry started a new trend which was about getting general officers captured or changing sides. He went at that with great gusto. In a period when many officers on each side actually knew each other personally it was almost inevitable that a 'ride across to the other side for a chat' was going to result in not riding back!

I was seriously thinking of handing out small bags of plastic money next time as ransom collateral.
So, at the check in you'd get your orbat and your cash! :wink:
Side with most cash gets victory points :lol:
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by andy thompson » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:14 am

That's a splendid idea. It's just reminded me that that was another topic of conversation at some point on the Sunday.

I'm lead to believe :oops: that some Generals on each side were approached and offered various inducements to change sides. As these were by necessity vapour-ware inducements, there wasn't really much chance of it happening.

Now, if they actually had an impact on the game...

Andy
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Re: Derby October Grand Alliance/WSS

Post by barr7430 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:04 am

Plastic coinage in Aldi carrier bags can be easily procured
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