The 6x6 Challenge and other gaming experiences of 2017

Around this time last year Kaptain Kobold of  The Stronghold Rebuilt organized the 6x6 Challenge. The idea behind it is participants would choose six sets of rules of which they would play six games each. The thinking behind it is that it takes playing six games to really get to understand them. It sounded like a good idea and so I joined. Playing thirty-six games in the year was going to be challenge enough. The Rules chosen were; Chain of Command (CoC), A Gentleman's War(AGW), Mad Dogs with Guns, Saga, The Lion Rampant family and Sharpe Practice.

So how did it go? Ok. I felt it achieved it's goal for the games I played. I didn't get the chance to play Lion Rampant or Sharpe Practice and only played four games of Saga.

I got the six games of CoC in.  It took about four games to become comfortable with the rules. The last two games I found I was focusing more on the tactics than the modifiers and other mechanics of the rules. I'm still on the fence as far as liking CoC and will still look for another set but will happily play them. I do wonder if the two hours I generally have for a nights game is not enough for these rules.

AGW was played nine times some of them were the 19th century version others the Colonial or 18th century variant. This is my favorite set of rules. The mechanics are fairly simple. There's enough decision points and I feel it captures what Toy Soldier gaming is all about. Both the variants play well for their eras.

Mad Dogs with Guns was chosen to motivate me to paint up the figures and buildings. The rules were being published by Osprey mid 2017 and so I started with the original publication. The learning curve on these was quicker than CoC, of course having the author at the gaming table helps. These are a fun set of rules that lead to lots of banter among the players.

A campaign had been set up for Saga so it looked like this would be an easy way to get six games in. With family obligations, work and distance among the participants it didn't quite work out. I did get in four games and enjoyed them all. I liked these rules, the battle boards add to the decision making and forces a small enough that they can be built quickly and you could do more than one. I'm waiting for the new version to come out before committing more time to these though.

I see the challenge as being successful. I would think that a 3x6 or 4x4 challenge may be another approach, by the fourth game either you like the rules enough to learn more and continue playing or the system just isn't for you. Picking games others in your group are interested in helps to get the games in or maybe doing something solo would be a way to go.

I played forty games this year. Twenty-two were part of the 6x6 challenge. There were three extra games of A Gentleman's War. Several others were part of Howard Whitehouse's stable of rules, Battle Troll, Flint & Feather, Alien War and a Darkest Africa game. I enjoy Howard's rules the systems are similar but tweaked enough to capture the feel of the period that's being played. Other games were LOTR SBG used in a Dungeon crawl using Matt's beautiful terrain, The AWI rules from Der Alte Fritz of Fife & Drum miniatures, theses were easy to learn and quick to play. It took us two game nights to set up and finish the battle with Matt spending some extra time breaking down, Thanks for that. Lastly, The Portable Wargame was played using 15mm Romans and Carthaginians on a 2.5 inch grid. This is a game I hope to explore further next year. I like the grid movement and firing system.

Since no blog post is complete with out pictures here's a few from our game of Battle Troll the other night.

My men defend their women folk and beer barrels.

The Hero of the village mostly fend off blows whilst an unnamed karl does some real damage to the attackers.

Twin sisters of the attacking warband offer encouragement.

As the men folk fall back the women step up to nag the invading Warlord. 

Rather than face the women rushes off to battle my Hero.

Sub coming to his wounds my Huscarle dies.

The fight rages on until realizing it's the Hero's life or loosing some chickens and beer my men run off and the game ends.

2017 was a good year for playing games. Many exciting nights were spent in great company with nice miniatures and terrain. Over the next week I'll start to look at rules to be played in 2018 and how they'll dovetail into painting projects and purchases.
Thanks for reading!

CoC things go smoother.

It was a hot night at Hobby Town and family commitments left it to Nate and I to keep the gaming going. We decided to play a game of Chain of Command. Nate picked the last scenario from the 29 Let's Go book. Me as the Americans had to capture the farmhouse or break the Germans. This scenario seemed to favor the Americans a bit or at least not have it so difficult for them as some of the earlier scenarios.

We laid out our patrol markers and pretty much all the jump off points reached the center of the table. I was able to deploy my 50cal and two squads right off  but one was with out it's Jr leader. Nate put on a squad and his HMG. My next rolls didn't help me with more troops and I put down my Platoon Sgt with hops of getting the attack going.

Things moved a little slow as I wasn't able to get two of my junior leaders on table. I was able to break one squad of Germans and fend off an assault by another.

My tanks came up in support and was able to knock out Nate's pak 38 before being stopped by the panzer schreck. I ended up bring on my other senior leader and was then able to apply more pressure to the Germans.

We stopped the game after about 2.5 hours of playing. Another round or two would have seen me play a CoC die to force a Morale check and perhaps break Nate's force.

I think the game went well. Very little looking up things in the rule book. Placement of leaders is important and remembering command ranges helps in maximizing their value. I'm still somewhat on the fence with how much I like the rules after six games. They do give a good result, reward correct tactics and all that but it seems that games take about 3 hours to play out to a firm conclusion. I guess I looking for a game that can be played out in the 1,1/2-2 hour range for nights at Hobby Town when 2,1/2 hours is what you have all together with set up and breakdown.

Check out Nate's report at addicted to lead

29 Let's Go the assault continues.

We got another CoC game in tonight. This time I played the Germans along with Howard. Nate and Matt were the Americans. Once again it was tough going for the Americans. They were rolling well on the command dice and firing dice.

My well placed LMG came under heavy fire and was pinned almost immediately  and then broke.

Howard moved in to defend a farmhouse only to find the far wall didn't have windows. He then spent a turn or so breaking firing holes into the roof and walls.

Although he took some heavy fire he managed to hold off the assaulting Americans. 

In this scenario I think the Americans would eventually break the Germans. My sections were broken up and I lost both junior leaders. Most of Matt's platoon was in good shape. We stopped due to time but another phase or two would have seen the German units break further.

All in all a good night of gaming.

29 Let's go back and get some more support.

Nate and I met at Hobby Town for a game of CoC. We played the second scenario out of the 29 lets go campaign . Once again The Americans were tasked with attacking the Germans and looking capture a jump off marker at the rear of the table.

I remember what had happened the last game and felt I had adjusted my tactics to meet the challenge. A couple of good rolls let me bring on most of my platoon and some support. It was uphill from there. My attempt to advance quickly with advancing fire was crushed by Nate's HMG and the squad in the field consistently rolling five hits each activation Kills and shock started to pile up. I brought up the tank and brought on my Senior leaders to help stop the crumbling of my front line but to no avail. The Sherman was unable to do any damage, several Junior leaders were lost and finally the Sherman was knocked out by the Germans.

I think that I should have brought all my 30 cals on early. Choosing a 50 cal would have been better than the mortar. I'm thinking about the advantage/disadvantage of attaching leaders at long range. Also a little Patience setting up the attack may have helped.

All in all a good game. I'm looking forward to playing again and may even do a practice solo game to work out some ideas.

A few more shots of the action and more detail of the game can be found herehttp://www.addictedtolead.net/2017/03/17/29-lets-go-scenario-2-delaying-action-at-arthenay/

La Cambe, Chain of Command

We got together for a four player CoC game. Nate and I were the Americans while Matt and Howard played Germans. The Americans were tasked with pushing the Germans out of their positions in the town.

The Americans moved on to the table quickly but then the assault started to stall. On the left Nate was able to move up and engage with support of a Sherman but it was ambushed and destroyed.

On the right my troops came under a heavy suppressive fire and the troops hunkerd down behind a wall stopping their advance and only returning fire.

A second Sherman moved up in support but that was taken out by off table 88s.

The Germans stationed in the farmhouse pour a devastating fire into the Americans as they moved across the open fields. The US attack had stalled on both sides and the hour was late so we called the game. 

It was another enjoyable game of CoC. Once again I left the table thinking of what I could have done better to achieve my units goals. Spending some more time reading the rules will help and remembering some of the special rules for my army is key also.

This was the third game of CoC for the 6x6 challenge and I can see how playing games close together and consistently help improve the experience. 

The end of the month dispatch

Not looking to rush the year along it's time to recount what i did this month.

I managed to finish twenty AWI British which are based as singles to be used in Sharp Practice also two skeletons for Frostgrave moved off the painting bench. A shotgun house from 4ground was built even though I missed a couple of pieces it still looks good.

The big success for the month though was getting five games in. The first was a game of AGW, then came CoC with a game on Thursday night and another on Sunday both exciting games.

A break from the 6x6 saw a game of Howard's Alien War .50 being played. We had done a few games of this years ago so when Howard was given/lent an Post Apocalyptic urban set up he pulled the game out again. The game was a blast. I was a squad of marines attempting to recover a satellite and he was a group of mercenaries with same goal. Things didn't go well for me from the start and although I was able to put some damage on his group it wasn't enough to achieve our mission so I was forced to fall back.

The final game of the month was another of AGW this time using the 18th century variant and Howard's collection of 30mm flats. These are the toys that were sold on the back of comic books in the 1960s. I was the gallant Patriots and Howard played the oppressive British. His mission was to destroy my command. As his force advanced I was able to get my cavalry on his flank and destroy one unit of his cavalry. He pressed my center hard and moved his first nation allies up on my flank but after some fine firing by my riflemen my cavalry was able to destroy the rest of his cavalry and threaten his center. At this point the British realized they wouldn't complete their objective and fell back to regroup and fight another day.

I'm pretty happy with my hobby activity this month. Purchasing some Bolt Action figures and some Battlefront minis didn't help with The Pledge but I did keep the number I'm behind low. Getting five games in was a big plus. 

I joined a Saga campaign as Vikings and at the moment am waiting for my set of rules to arrive. There should be enough figures in my collection to build a six point force but I may still pick up a few new figures. 

CoC and 6x6

The January update.

On the 12th we played a game of Chain of Command. This is on my list for the 6x6 challenge so a double plus. Nate set the game up and did the patrol phase in advance as time is short when playing at Hobby Town. Howard and Nate were the defending Germans and I attacked with the Americans. Nate started with a triple activation and was able to bring on much of his platoon. Howard then brought on two squads. A decent roll by me brought on a squad and some supports. The attack struggled to get off the ground but started to threaten the German left. Unfortunately for the Americans the German right quickly advanced and flanked the Americans.

We played for about 2 1/2 hours. I'm not very familiar with the rules which is why I put them on the 6x6 challenge. Nate has a good command of the game and guided us through.

Realizing that the challenge would be difficult I jumped at the chance to play another game with Matt at his house. Garrett joined us for an Attack/Defend scenario. The roll for support was much better today giving the Americans two Shermans. We did the patrol phase which is bit of a game in itself that I need to study and practice more. The Americans moved on the board quickly and set up a fire base in the farmhouse. The Germans brought on a FO who although did bring the artillery as desired did occupy the  Americans who where trying to knock him out.

More troops arrived and an aggressive firefight ensued. The Germans used a CoC die to bring on their panzerschreck with knocked out one of the shermans. The American assault bogged down then while they waited for the other sherman to arrive. It arrived and after avoiding damage from a panzerfaust and the returned panzersckreck it eliminated the team holding the German left flank.

The game was much more exciting than my report let's on. Each phase brought both side closer to collapse. Garrett is well versed in the rules and Matt though not having played much had a solid knowledge of them.

This week was a great start to the New Year. Two fun games with great people. I'm three games into the 36 need for the challenge and have improved my knowledge of CoC.

2017 The start and first check mark.

As part of the goal setting for this year I've joined the six-by-six-challenge as described on Kaptain Kobold's blog The Stronghold Rebuilt. It's a pretty aggressive goal being six games each of six rule sets but I think it's doable. The games I've chosen are;

Chain of Command.
A Gentleman's War 
Sharpe Practice 2
Saga
Mad Dogs with Guns
Lion Rampant

This last may end more as any of the games that have evolved from it such as The Men Who Would be Kings, Dragon Rampant and The Pikeman's Lament. There are few other rules I'd like to play so we'll see how that goes.

Not wasting any time last Thursday I played a game of AGW with Howard. He was looking to fine tune the cavalry rules and it was a good reason to get my newly painted Uhlans out. I was in command of the invading French cavalry while Howard defended with his British cavalry supported by Gamekeepers and The Women's League both skirmish units. 

The French Artillery watch as the British troops move into range.

The French chase the Women's League of but are attacked by Hussars and Guard Cavalry and quickly destroyed. 

 The Uhlans charge the Guards and are pushed back but not with out doing some damage.

As with most of these battle reports our correspondent became so caught up in the action that he failed to take pictures. The remainder of the battle played out this way. On the right flank the French artillery wreaked the British cavalry enough that the French cavalry were able to chase them off. Over on the left flank the French chasseurs were able to attack the British dragoons from the protection of the woods and then the Chasseurs D'Afrique charged and eliminated them. 

With several British units falling back and it being late we wrapped up the game and declared the French the victors. 

Another great game. There was some discussion on how combats would be resolved and who could decide the sequence. Group movement also came under review. I'd like to try these rules out with someone who is unfamiliar with them and perhaps less amicable than Howard and I are.