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| Brandywine game |
At the start of February I mentioned I was ordering some games from Command Post Games. These were from their Pub Battles games series and all were about battles during the American Revolution. They are called Pub Battles because they are designed to be set up quickly and play in an hour or a little more. They are command level in scale in that block represents about 1500 to 2000 troops and is usually a Brigade. The rules are fairly simple and the maps you play on incredibly detailed. I order Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. In addition I also ordered the battalion level Brandywine game. This is a slight departure from the others in that the map is very large (twice the size if the others) and each small block represents a battalion or combined battalions of about 450 men. An addition to the rules for battalion level is included. I will be giving a general review of what you get and what the games are like. As a follow up I will review each game I got.
Why are they called Pub Battles? Because they are easy to set up and can be played anywhere. The rules are relatively simple but still provide a interesting game. Think early Avalon Hill games before the arrival of SPI. The games are shipped in a clear plastic tube. You get a map of the battlefield, three red and three blue dice, a measuring device and a set of rules (mine are version 3.2) and scenario guide as well as the blocks to represent troops and stickers to put on them to identify the units. Some games have more items some less. As an example with the Brandywine game you get all the blocks you need for both Germantown and Monmouth. So if you order those games you need to have bought Brandywine. The maps are reproduction of period maps and ate little works of art. They come printed on canvas or a less expensive version on paper. Maps range in size from Brandywine at 24" x 17" to Germantown's 28" x 24" to Monmouth's 8.5" x 16". The Brandywine battalion level map is really big at 24" x 48". Scale of the maps run from 8000:1 for battalion level Brandywine to 16000:1 for the other maps.
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| British army at Monmouth |
Blocks represent infantry, cavalry or artillery. Each has a pre printed sticker (which you need to afix) that tells you what type of unit it is and if there is a special ability. These could be elite or militia and effects how they fight and take hits. In addition there are detachments which represent smaller units and have no markings. And baggage trains which are your supply and have a really big effect on play and victory.
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| The Monmouth game |
How do they play? Lets run through a typical game turn. Again I am using the 3.2 version if the rules here and following a rules tutorial on the companies website. Usualy one side or the other sets up first. I will use Monmouth as an example. The game represents Lee's blotches attack on Cornwallis' rear guard. The British set up on the extreme right side of the map with the Dragoons block and Cornwallis counter only. Lee marches onto the board, in road column on the upper left side. Lee gets to move twice (2 turns) before the British do. Units in march column move twice as fast but it takes a third of a move to change from road column to line. Movement is measured by the measuring device and is broken into foot and horse movement and further divided into thirds. Since terrain penalty us usually a third of a move this is helpful. So the game really starts on turn three and the Americans get a chance to enter the board and set up.
Turn sequence and movement: put the small command blocks into a cup and pull one. Lets say you pull Lee. His command can move. But, lets say Cornwallis wants to go instead. He has to roll his command points (printed on his stand) or less on a d6 and if he dies he can move instead. Not so fast! Lee gets to roll to see if he gets his move back. But his points are 2 and he fails so Cornwallis goes. Its a neat little system which builds in fog of war and uncertainty. Sometimes its best to go first, sometimes not.
So Cornwallis moves first. To move you place the measuring device on the map and move your block. A infantry or artillery block can move the foot movement rate and cavalry and command cubes move horse. You deduct a third of your move for terrain penalty. You get a free change of facing once per turn and then it takes a third of your move. Pretty easy. Because units do not match up completely with map symbols it us suggest that wherever terrain the majority of the block is in or on is what terrain it is in. I would also recommend you state clearly what terrain it is in. Come on don't be that guy in a game.
Note that artillery if it does not move can bombard. It fires out to a full infantry move and traces a straight line to the target. It rolls three dice and effects are right then and there.
Both sides get to move before combat. If you move second, and the enemy has moved up to fight you you can move out if combat range.
Fighting: After all movement is complete you fight. Blocks must be in contact and you line up blocks evenly. If attacking or defending you can have a block directly behind as support. Both sides get to fight. Lets look at a fight between two blocks which have support.
Defender rolls first. They roll a 2-5-6 which translates to two hits. The first hit flips a block over so its name is upright. It is disrupted. The second hit forces it to retreat. If there was a third hit it would have destroyed the block. Now, if the defender had been under cover it is hit on a 5-6 only.
The attacker rolls. They get a 4-5-6. The defender is destroyed. Now the defender gets to choose; does the support move up and continue the fight? Or it best to retire and leave the fight. If they stay the attacker gets the sane choice; keep fighting or retire.
If you have an elite block it ignores the first hit. On the other hand a militia block doubles its first hit.
Detachments ate considered small units. They have no unit designation and in combat only roll one dice. If hit they are gone. But, because the other side cannot see what the designation is they do not know what is in front of them. Again the fog of war.
Baggage trains are an important part of play. These represent not only supplies but head quarters and all the support your army needs. Once you unpack the baggage train it can rally any unit within A move. If the unit us shaken it can be restored to full strength. Great! But you cannot repack the baggage and if captured you have list the game. Interesting little way of representation of supplies and such.
Ok, so that is a rundown about the games. A brief explanation if his to play and what they are about. In my next posts I will run through each of the games and his they play. If you want a little more details or a visual explanation if play here are links to some videos that explain it better then I did!
Videos to help play:
How to play Pub Battles:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_aB6szOMDLc
Thanks for this review Mark and the maps are a joy to behold. The game mechanics sound interesting and will check out availability of the games over here in the UK.
ReplyDeleteVery happy you liked it. I do not know if Command Post games has a UK distributor. It looks to be a smaller company so not sure if they do.
DeleteLooks like a great little game Mark.
ReplyDeleteIt is. Reminds me of the old Avalon Hill games from the 1970's
DeleteThat’s a neat little way of deciding who goes first. I might steal it… 😎. Cheers Mark!
ReplyDeleteSteal is such a sad sounding word. I prefer to think you are "borrowing" it. There, that is better...
ReplyDeleteInspired by… 😆 It will go seamlessly with my AWI command rules.
DeleteWhich I look forward to seeing!
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