Wargame Design Discussion: Game Masters in Wargames

 

Game Masters you say?  Is this supposed to be about Wargame Design or RPG Design?  Game Masters are a Role-playing Game thing.  It is one of their defining traits!  

Yeah..... about that.  

Game Masters (Referees, Umpires, Control) have been part of wargaming since the very beginning.  I am not an expert on the history of Wargaming, but some of the earliest examples were Kriegspiel.  This was a wargame used by the Prussian General Staff to help train officers in the conduct of warfare after the Napoleonic Wars.  It relied heavily on other Officers to act as referees to interpret and apply orders in the game.  

This tradition stayed with wargames, and is still used in many Politico-Military wargames run today.  In 2024, the US Coast Guard ran a wargame to help prepare participants to think about US Coast Guard doctrine for the next 30 years, and it was run by a Game Master.  The same is true of many of the Wargames regarding the Taiwan Strait or the (in)famous Millennial Challenge wargame.

Readers probably also recall that Role-Playing games themselves were just a down-scaled wargame where the players handled 1-character at a time rather than units of troops.  RPGs are well-known for using Game Masters.  This was a practice taken from the roots in wargaming from early versions like Chainmail.   

In the Hobby, Miniature Wargaming market the Game Master was also a common component in the mid to late 70s and 80s.  Many of us got our start in wargaming with Warhammer: Rogue Trader.  This game heavily features a Game Master for scenario design, balancing forces, deployment, and mission creation.  They also ran NPCs, surprise encounters, and made rules interpretations and decisions during the game.  This tradition continues in Games Workshop's Inquisitor as well.        

My venerable copy of Rogue Trader

What Game Masters Bring to the Table

There was a reason that games were using Game Masters to begin with?  What were these additional folks bringing to the table?  Why were they included in the first place?  

1. Teach the game

70% of learning is doing, and a Game Master is a great way to get players stuck in and learning the game from the first moment they pick up a miniature.  The player doesn't need to know the rules backwards and forwards, they can rely on the received knowledge of the Game Master for direction on operations and focus on the fun aspects of the game.  Meanwhile, they learn as they go. 

2. Adjudicate rules disputes and make rulings

There is no system in the world that doesn't have edge cases and opportunities to break.  The Game Master can paper over these situations by making rulings.  They can also short circuit rules arguments between players by being the "final word" on how to play a situation in the moment.  

3. Play NPCs

Some games benefit from interaction with Non-Player Characters in the game.  These could be Aides-de-camp and their opinions on how things are going, captured enemy scouts, or your own officers reporting up the chain of command.  The Game Master can play these non-player characters in a game for various effects. 

4. Allow Fog-of-War

The Game Master can interpret what any player sees, and provide mis-information, confusion, or other details to a player.  This could be pre-game, during deployment, or even during gameplay.  This information allows the game to have a higher degree of uncertainty and risk than games without Game Masters.  The GM can also monitor hidden deployments, flank marches, reserves, etc.  

5. Add Complications

The Game Master can add a variety of complications that are unknown or hidden from all players, some player, or just a single player.  These complications then force players to make decisions based on limited or imprecise knowledge.   

6. Determine Outcomes of Decisions

Finally, a Game Master can determine consequences or outcomes of decisions.  If a player decides to use a narrow road, does it slow their movement?  Does it cause disorder?  The Outcomes do not have to be set or scripted by the rules, they could be improvised by the GM or just hidden from the players.  This adds more Fog-of-War, Friction, and complications when things do not always go to a calculation.  

7. Forge the Narrative

Game Masters can help in this process by making scenes, outcomes, or new developments very cinematic or narrative in nature.  They can take the random occurrences on the battlefield and help the players shape them into a larger defining narrative of the game.  

8. Be Fun

A Game Master adds additional social engagement to the entire game experience.  They can crack wise, console bad luck, and cheer along with you.  They can be a social lubricant to help the game play be smooth and fun as now it is a game of three people instead of just two. 

In many, modern, hobby-based miniature wargames new mechanics have been created to try to replicate these various aspects of what a Game Master used to do.  However, it is open for debate if these mechanics are an improvement on the human role of Game Master.  

GMs Go Home!

Despite this track record and history, modern, hobby focused miniature wargames have moved away from the Game Master model.  It is often seen as an archaic design choice.  Instead, they have been replaced by the rules themselves for dictating and arbitrating what is supposed to happen in a game, and what effects are seen on the tabletop.  Why?  

I have a couple of theories on the move away from Game Masters: 

1. The primacy of rules

The gentlemanly rules writing style has fallen out-of-favor with many modern players.  In the old days, rules could be written a bit looser, as the GM or the players themselves were assumed to be able to work-out the details as fellow gentleman.  However, players have demanded that rule sets "tighten up" in order to avoid ambiguity and remove the social decision making aspect out of the hobby.  The Rules are suppose to be the final arbiter of what should happen in a game, rather than any other source.  

2. The rise of pick-up culture

With the rise of Pick-up Culture in gaming, the primacy of rules is critical.  Two random strangers enter a neutral, third space and play a game with no other commonalities between them.  The Rules themselves are to create that bridge between these two strangers.  If the rules do not cover it, these two strangers are at an impasse.  

As this type of gaming became more common in miniature wargaming circles, the rules themselves had to reflect these changes.  No more could writers rely on a group of like-minded buddies around a table.  They had to make sure that the rules could work if two complete strangers met up in a game store, club, pub, or the street to play a wargame. 

The wargame scene was atomizing into smaller and smaller components. 

3. I need 3 people to play this game now!   

As this atomization occurred, wargamers became much more "singular".  They were expected to meet-up and play a game.  Trying to organize three players to get in a game was much more difficult, therefore games had to cater to two player at most.  Games designed for more than two players fell out of favor commercially in the industry because it was a limiting factor to getting a game.  The Game Master became a liability to getting a game in. 

4. Competitive Gaming

Of course, many of these factors were also linked to the rise of the competitive scene in wargame, as games moved away from being a form or learning/recreation and into more of an arena of skill/sport over time.  Here again, the Game Master was a liability as the role could inject uncertainty into outcomes that were anathema to the Competitive ideology.  Certainty, known outcomes, and set statistical probabilities were essential for a competitive scene to function between two random strangers. 

Even a casual reader can see how these factors have all intermingled and grown in such a way, that the Game Master became a liability to the growth of the miniature wargaming hobby rather than a benefit.

There are probably more reasons or theories, but those are the ones I am going to postulate for today.  Feel free to add your thoughts or other ideas about why the GM has become less common in wargaming in the comments below.  I would appreciate it.  

A Game with a Game Master

Why Design with a Game Master in Mind? 

Based on why Game Master went away, I find it highly unlikely that they will return in a big-way to mainstream miniature wargaming.  The reasons they went away are still too prevalent in the market.  In fact, the market has potentially atomized even further with the rise in demand and popularity of solo-play games over the last few years.  I only see this trend accelerating as Society as a whole becomes more solitary for a variety of cultural and sociological reasons that are way beyond the scope of this little musing.  

So, if this is not the future but the past of Wargaming, then why am I even talking about it?  Well, because a lot of non-miniature, non-hobby wargames still make extensive use of the Game Master.  Therefore, the role still has a fundamental value that sometimes can only be met as a human.  Nothing yet can improve and react to a changing experience better than a Human Game Master can. 

With that in mind, a Game Master can be really important to your game and something to consider if you plan on having some of the following elements feature heavily in your game: 

1. A one-shot club or Con game

In this type of environment, the Game Master can teach the players as the game is ongoing.  The players themselves probably do not have much time or interest in learning all the nuances of a complex rule system.  They want to get in, get a feel for the game, and play.  A Game Master can help smooth over a lot of the bumps in this process by giving options, knowing the rules so players do not have to, and explaining rules only when they become relevant to the game at the moment.  

2. A high-level of role-play

If your game expects a high-level of RPG-Lite in the function of the game, then an impartial Game Master can help determine suitable outcomes and results during the game, especially when players inevitably go off-script and do something that the game itself does not explicitly cover.  

3. Fog-of-War/Hidden Actions

The Game Master can be an impartial observer and monitor for where actual units are, where they are not, and outcomes of actions well-beyond the scope of the 4Ms.  With a GM, things like Double-Blind deployment, hidden movement and set-up, unexpected battlefield conditions, etc, can all play a role in your game.  

4. Evolving Complications/Friction

If you game has escalating friction or levels of unexpected complications, a Game Master is useful to make decisions on when these situations apply, and how they apply to the game.  The intention is to make the player make tough decisions and manage the Friction.  Game Masters can apply these quicker and easier than mechanics like charts and If/Then rules and can do so only with guidelines as opposed to mechanical systems.  

5. High Degree of the Unknown

Games with a lot of Unknown elements like guerrilla ambushes, mine fields, unexploded ordinance, and other 3rd party or ambush type factors can benefit greatly from a GM to decide when and how they come into play.  The GM can also adjudicate when players themselves try to move beyond the scope of the rules and into "unknown" territory as well.  

All of these situations are ideal for a Game Mastered game.         

Final Thoughts

Wargames have a long tradition of using Game Masters to help run a smooth game for the players, and this tradition is still alive and well.  However, the hobby, miniature wargame market has moved away from this as a feature for a variety of reasons, often related to the atomization of the hobby into smaller and smaller units of participation.  Despite this move away from a Game Master, there are times and places when a Game Master can still be an important and relevant part of a wargame's design.  

Like most mechanics, a Game Master can be a useful tool that a designer should consider and keep in their tool box.  The designer's job is to make sure they can apply the right tool, at the right time, to get the outcome they want for the game.  It is important to know how and why a Game Master can be useful.  

Until next time! 

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Review: When Nightmares Come - Osprey Games

 

An Osprey Blue Book from the writer of Zona Alfa and other Indie wargames.  The premise is simple enough. This is a cooperative or solo-game about monster hunting and investigation.   I was intrigued by this one for two reasons.  First, I had been slowly working on a similar concept.  Secondly, it seemed to straddle the line between a Role-Playing Game and a Wargame which is an area of great interest to me.  Therefore, I put it on order at my FLGS.

Interestingly enough two things struck me about this book before I got into the review proper:

1. It is 80 pages long.  This looks to be a new thing for the Blue Book Series of 80 pages where they used to by 64 pages.  I am curious if they will ever go back to the smaller size now?  

2. The book only has artwork, no pictures of minis or tabletops.  The lack of "in-action" shots of games was really disappointing to me.  I was left unsure what a typical table looked like for the game.  The art was all urban or inside buildings but at a glance I was unsure how "tabletop friendly" the premise of the game was going to be.  

That said, I was still eager to delve in and see how the game was laid-out.  The lack of versus rules was interesting to me, but Solo and Coop play seem to be the Authors strongpoints.  Plus, the pandemic made these types of rules very popular for a while. I myself have tried my hand at them a few times.  

So, grab a flashlight and your copy of the Malleus Maleficarum and let's dig in!

Things I Liked

The game is focused on a "dice pool" style of mechanic but with some twists.  You use d6, d8, and d10.  4+ is always a success.  There are modifiers and wounds remove dice from your pool.  The game has a simple unified mechanic at its core which is always a good thing.    

The game is divided into two parts, a Narrative and an Engagement.  In the Narrative section, it is a light role-play scene where a characters three dice of d6,d8, and d10 are also linked up to three attributes of Body, Mind, and Spirit.  This is a Theatre of the Mind experience, and what you do in the narration part of a game sets up key parts of the Engagement part of the scene.  The Engagement part of the scene is the Tactical wargaming part of the game, and here those three dice are an Action Pool that you can roll to accomplish tasks.  The Stats are then used to derive some stats for the Engagement Turn as well. There is a clear divide between the RP and the wargame, but both have a place in the game.  

To add some suspense, each dice type can only be used once in the Narrative turn, or once per turn in the Engagement Phase.  Therefore, as you use the dice pool in a turn it depletes.  I am a big fan of depleting dice pools in games!  It forces you to make some choices and acts as a natural limit on what a model can do. 

The most innovative piece of the game is the Narrative scene.  This is a piece of scene setting and lite RP before you get down and dirty on the table top.  There is a simple method to create an interesting Narrative scene by asking 4 simple questions: What? Where? Who? When?  There are a few basic tables to get you started, but the game encourages you to make up your own answers to these questions.  These have their own "Challenges" that the players deal with using their Attribute dice and basic RPG.  The Narrative allows advantages or disadvantages when deploying.

Each section had a short summary of the Key rules.  Plus, the game had a Quick Reference Guide.  Both of these re made possible by the longer length of 80 pages.  At 64 pages, those would have had to be cut, and the rules for various Baddies trimmed out.  

Things I Did Not Like

In a game like this, I-GO-U-GO can make a lot of sense.  The heroes all go first and then the baddies.  That means the player is always setting the pace/tone of the action.  

The game uses the venerable "Locked in combat" for melee.  You can not just leave it without taking penalties to do so.  Basically, a free attack with a reduce saving throw.  

A solo/co-op game requires a lot from the players, as they also control the monsters.  This game avoids a lot of AI rules and keeps things pretty basic.  There are not a lot of charts and graphs.  Most different monsters are assigned a different d6, d8, or d10 with a Free Move of 6, and up to two actions.  They can also have special rules to differentiate them a bit.  The big boss is more like a Hunter themselves.  There is a good variety of monsters, but they seem more "swarmy" than I would like due to the basic AI rules.  

In general, the rules for the engagement phase are pretty straight forward with the bare bones of what you would expect.  However, the tactical elements come from choosing which dice in the Pool to roll when.  Beyond that, there is not a lot of tactical depth in the Engagement Phase.  The game will need good terrain placement, scenarios, and fun Narrative phases to keep it fresh and engaging for a longer series of encounters.  

I think this game would act a lot better with a Game Master controlling the baddies, setting the scenario, and introducing challenges/complications during the game.  I have a pretty good idea why they didn't do that, but the game would be 100x more horrifying with one.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

The game uses 36 miniatures to play.  5 Heroes, 1 boss monster, and the rest are minions and the like.  This is a "modern, horror" game.  I think terrain might be harder than the miniatures you need to play if you want urban terrain.  Thankfully, the play area is only 2 x2 so this is a kitchen table game for sure. 

To tie into the "investigation" theme, the game uses Clues as a resource you can discover and then use in the campaign phase of the game for various goodies.  

To help differentiate each model a bit, there are three classes.  This allows them to basically be fighters, wizards, or gadgeteers. Each class has some class specific abilities and such to make them unique, and where you put your D6, D8, and d10 impacts these abilities as well.  When you are done, each model is somewhat unique.  

There is a decent list of equipment, spells, occult items and gear.  This game is played on a 24in x 24in table so it is close and dangerous.  Most firearms can fire across the board. 

The book has a very basic "Setting" in Deacon Falls.  This includes some high-level district locations and NPC groups you may have to interact with/have favors with during the Narrative Phase of the game.  The lightest of sketches, as this is supposed to be any town, any place.  This reminded me a bit of the Hard City RPG from Osprey, but this one is even more basic.  

Every Engagement Phase has two Victory conditions.  The first is to search the Points of Interest randomly placed on the board to find two Clues, and the second is to shutdown the Nexus where the bad guys are coming from.  You can not locate or identify the Nexus until 3 out of 4 Points of Interest are searched.  A Nexus is different from a Portal where the bad guys actually spawn from.  These can be shutdown too.  

Finally, there is a simple campaign system to link 6 games together into a Case.   It has the usual stuff like advancements, the bad things that happen when your minis go out-of-action, equipment upgrades, etc.  Very simplified to make it fit the book.

I do not recall the rules talking about pre-measuring at all?  

Final Thoughts

I'm kind of torn on this game.  It has interesting ideas BUT I feel like the 80 page length has left it a bit under-served.  The Tactical Combat is Underwhelming, as is the RPG elements.  However, if feels like great bones that you could build a really interesting set of house rules and details out of as a group.  As the basic chassis, this has what you need..... but it left me a bit wanting.  I think it mechanically needed more HORROR but the space ended up being a limitation.  It fit in everything it could into the space, kept it generic for maximum model/scale agnostic, but ultimately couldn't make it horror enough.

I can't put my finger on it, but something similar happened in my forays into this space as well.  The attempts to make it generic, also ended up making it feel much more hollow.  In addition, the replayability seemed to come all from the Narrative aspect, but the Engagement section felt like it would become repetitive very quickly.   

I am a bit bummed, as I wanted to gush and love on this game!  Ultimately, it had some great ideas and some great ways to simplify ideas.... but I was left wanting more.   

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Review: Against the Ogre Horde - Hasbro

 

Those following along since Christmas know that I got the Heroquest boxed set for Christmas of 2023.  One of my Goals for this year was to get it all painted up.  I did not allow myself to buy any expansions until the original box was all ready to be played.  Thankfully, I managed that task! 

Therefore, I went to my FLGS and picked up my first expansion for the game.  I was lucky because they actually carried some of them on the shelf.  I decided to pick-up this one first.....

I chose Against the Ogre Horde as my first expansion for one major reason.  It introduces the concept of ranged enemies.  This was a new idea that I have never seen in Heroquest before.  The other sets seemed to be mostly be new monsters, spells, and heroes.  This one is not remarkably different, but the ranged guys intrigued me as new foes.  

So, let's delve into this dungeon.....

Things I Liked

First off, I have been consistently impressed with the miniatures that have come with this game.  They are chonky and have taken paint well.  The level of detail is also very good, especially for a board game.  The Ogres in this set are no exception and are suitably HUGE compared to the Heroes.  Love this additions to my miniature collection.  I have all ready been using mine as miniatures for my RPGs and Fantasy Model-vs-Model style skirmish games too.

The Quest Book introduces the idea of "Unthreatened Movement".  In this case, the players can treat each Red die they normally roll as a result of 4.  They can do this IF no monsters are on the game board.  I was toying around with giving each Hero a set movement rate, but this seems like a good alternative.  It keeps the uncertainty for when it adds value. 

The Ranged Attack monsters are of Orcs, Skeletons, and Goblins.  The GM can use them OR a close combat monster as they wish.  Ranged monsters can attack any square they are not adjacent with as normal, but adjacent squares they only get 1 Attack dice.  Simple and easy, as Heroquest should be.  These guys will really change up the basic dynamics of the game.  

At the end of the Quest book, they give you a blank map and some symbols for monsters and other terrain that you can use to make your own quests.  I have not looked, but I hope that the App they advertise has this online so you can make them electronically and share them there.  Even if you can't, having access and implied permission to do so is a great addition to the game. 

Things I Did Not Like

Another new addition I am less sure about is Mind Points.  These are like Body Points only they measure mental ability.  If you go to 0 Mind Points, you enter a "stunned" state.  This reduces your movement dice and other stats.  You are the walking wounded.  There are some If This Than That rules that apply to Mind Points and being at 0 Mind Points.  I would also like to point out, most healing spells only effect Body Points and not Mind Points.  I am not sure this was needed for this game.  

Since the game now has Mind Points, it also adds some Dread Spells that impact the Heroes Mind Points.  There are 3 new Dread spells.  

This game also adds a Tournament for Heroes to take on the forces of Zargon in a battle arena. This feels a bit video gamey- but could be an interesting way to get people into the game.  In fact, the Ogre Quests start with 3 of these tournament style battles.  I am sure with a very small bit of effort, you could even make these Hero vs Hero teams if one was inclined to do so. 

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Interesting, the Quest Pack goes out of its way to make sure you know that the Ogres are not evil.  They have a society where the Strong rule over the weak.  That means some are good and some are bad.  Sometimes, their rulers are benevolent and sometimes they aren't.  The Lord in the Quest has fallen under the sway of the Forces of Dread.  

The new Hero card is a Druid.  The Druid is a spell-user that does not use metal armor.  They have three spells, and one is a pretty good healing spell, a detections spell, and a glass-cannon shape-shift spell.  I am not 100% sure about their utility at this point.  

This lays the groundwork so Players can hire Ogre Mercenaries to help them on their quest!  In addition, if you have less than 4 heroes, you can get animal companions as well.  The rules for both of these additions are relatively simple and straight forward.  

The Quest Book has 10 more quests, with the first 3 being of the Tournament Style.  The last 7 are more traditional.  Interestingly, you are not always looking for the spiral stairway out.  Sometimes, it is a doorway, and sometimes there is a different objective you need to complete before you can leave.  The quests look pretty tough.  Ogres themselves are pretty tough with good stats.  I think you will want some experienced players for these quests.    

Final Thoughts     

Overall, I am glad I picked up this one next.  The Ogres make for some high body, tough threats and have some interesting models.  In addition, the new Ranged enemies is a great new touch for the game and adds a new dimension that did not exist before.  The new art and cool minis are also a big plus.  I feel pretty satisfied with my purchase and look forward to painting it up and playing it. 

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On The Painting Desk: HQ Core Set Complete!

 

As you all recall loyal readers, I have been working on the Heroquest core box I got for Christmas.  There was a decent amount of miniatures in the box, including heroes, baddies, furniture and doorways.  I made myself two promises when I saw the boxed set at Christmas time: 

1. I would not play until it was all painted! 

2. No new expansions until it was all painted! 

Therefore, I had incentive to paint it all up.  However, as you know this was a daunting task.  Thankfully, I had some Armypainter Speedpaints ready to go.  That would make the job a little bit quicker and easier.  

I got started after finishing up my Battle of Kadesh forces.  To make matters more interesting, the seasons were changing and summer time it is much harder to paint.  My family is out of school and suddenly they want to do things with me!  Plus, the heat can make painting a bit more challenging.  However, I got to work and managed to hammer through the miniatures.

Now, it was time to move onto the less interesting pieces.  Furniture and doors.  I won't lie, it was tough to get started on these.  I mean, how excited could I get about painting a chest, a stone archway, or a desk?  Well, I girded my loins and got to work.  After all, this was a quest for HEROES not lesser beings.  

I tackled the furniture first.  I used my usual tricks to prepare the undercoats and then got to work on the Speedpaints.  I thankfully had a few types of brown.  I had Hardened Leather, Dark Wood, and Sand Golem for most of the heavy lifting.  I wanted to make each piece somewhat unique so those three main colors helped a lot. For stone I tended to use either Runic Grey or Gravelord Grey.  I also used Zealot Yellow when I wanted a more "golden" look to a piece.  An Armypainter Light Tone wash finished the look off.   

Those darn bookcases took forever and a day!  I knew that these were going to go back into the "gripping" plastic tray so gave them a triple coat of Matte Varnish to help protect them.  They were going to be up against some serious wear-and-tear from use and storage. 

Then, I turned my attention to the doors.  There were a lot of doors, with a surprising amount of details.  Much cooler than the old cardboard door frames from Classic HQ.  Each one had a bunch of vines on them, and a little skull thing in the stone.  Therefore, I painted the vines with Malignant Green and the stone skulls with Palid Bone to help them pop a bit.  The rest got painted with Gravelord Grey.  The closed doors got Zealot Yellow hinges and Hardened Leather surfaces.  Then, another coat of Light Tone wash to finish it all off.  

So, who has two thumbs and a fully painted Heroquest core box?  This guy! 

My FLGS owner pointed out that Hasbro had a starting quest online called .... "The New Beginning" or something.  Therefore, I went and downloaded that.  Afterall, I had a fully painted set so now I could start to get playing!  

 Here is a mock-up shot of one of the rooms from the new quest.  I have not had time to play it yet, but I knew I wanted some "action" shots with everything all painted up!  

As I organize a time to get playing with my family and friends, I have been able to use my painted Heroquest (and others) in my weekly RPG games.  There we use an overhead projector to project an image onto the tabletop.  Then, we can place the minis on the projection. The key thing is that these minis have all ready seen a decent amount of use! 

Anyway, until next time! 

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Review: With Hot Lead and Cold Steel - Osprey Games

 

This came out in early 2024 (or was it late 2023?) as part of the the Osprey Blue Book series.  I was happy to see another Historical themed entry in the series!  I tend to prefer the more Historical focused games as they seemed like a nice way to springboard me into a new genre of wargaming in a way that the Sci-fi/Fantasy Blue Books don't manage for me.  A bias for sure!  Anyway, the ACW has been one of those genres that I had some mild interest in, but did not want to invest a bunch of money in thick hardbacks and games only to learn that it didn't do much for me.  Therefore, I was eager to get my hands on this game.  Despite this eagerness, I was delayed in picking it up.  My FLGS seemed to have a hard time getting it into my hot, little hands.  Eventually, I managed to snag a copy.  Better late than never! 

It is with some pride that I note this is an 80 page book.  I tend to think that my work with Castles in the Sky opened up Osprey to the idea of having the Blue Book series expand from 64 to 80 pages.  That left more room for a rule set to breath, add some needed details, and leave some more room for art and charts.  However, that added size also means they are now a few dollars more as well.  I am interested to see if Osprey continues this trend of 80 page books, or goes back to the 64 page of the earlier series.  I can see benefits to both approaches as a gamer, a designer, and as a buyer.  

With that said, these rules are intended for use at the brigade and/or divisional level engagements.  That gives it a large scope for various battles of the American Civil War.  The game design notes indicate that the rules are intended to be streamlined and quick-play, but with appropriate historical details, and with a view to using Miniatures.  That sounds good to me!  

So, let's move double time to the sound of the bugles, and rally around the flag as we drive forward into these rules!  

Things That I Liked

The first thing I noticed as I just flipped through the book was that this book has some very large diagrams of play.  Nothing major, but it serves to help illustrate a lot of key points.  I hope Osprey continues on this track as the Blue Book series often shies away from this type of illustration as they take-up a lot of space, are not easy to produce, and cost extra cash.  However, they are very helpful in illustrating key points of the rules.  

One of the key features of this game is a Command Point system called an Aide-de-camp.  These guys were essentially messengers that tried to get orders from the commander to the units.  The game abstracts them into a dice roll, to represent how many orders or commands a General can send to his units.  The way these ADCs are used is to either enhance your score on the initiative roll, or to give bonuses when giving orders to units.  It is possible in this game for a player to get a "double turn" thanks to the Initiative roll and use of ADCs.  

 I always love a terrain system that is streamlined and simple to apply!  

Movement and formation is a critical component of these rules and where much of the focus of the game is.  Shooting and melee are secondary to maneuver.  I approve this approach.  There are a lot of good, details for deployment that don't seem to bog down the game like I frequently see in other Horse-and-Musket games.  

Shooting  or Melee is rolling a D10 and trying to get a 6+ with various modifiers.  There is not a huge chart of them, but a Quick Reference sheet is a good idea.  Also, choosing the right type of artillery ammo to fire and when makes a difference in this game.   

Things I Did Not Like

Of note, the game is written in a very "Gentleman Playing a Game" way.  If offers a lot of suggestions and tools for the game, but it does not mandate there use or adoption.  You can see this with their Fog of War rules, Victory Conditions, etc.  I have no problem with this friendly toolbox format, but I can see others not liking the approach.  The game is very clear that this is not a competitive ruleset, but all these suggestions instead of rules may confuse some folks on what is and isn't suppose to take place in a game.   

This game uses base removal.  Each damage removes 1 model, but typically you only remove a full base at 6 wounds.  This means your big units of 24 or so models will slowly get smaller as their effectiveness is reduced.  It also means that in addition to your big table, you will need a side board for casualties.  I typically prefer no base removal and using damage markers or tokens.  I spent a lot of time painting these boys up, so I want them on table!  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

This game is intended for large games.  It is designed with 28mm models and recommends a table at least 6ft x 4ft.  It does cover other scales briefly.  However, 2 Brigades is considered a small game in this system.  2 Brigades is 4 to 8 Regiments of troops.   Be warned, you might need a decent amount of figures to play.  

Of note, pre-measuring is NOT allowed in this game. 

Pictures of miniatures in action are really great!  Thanks to Perry Miniatures for the photos.  They set a pretty high standard for what these battles should look like!   

The game uses an interesting Turn Sequence.  It starts with Rallying units, moves to Artillery attacks, giving Orders, Movement, Shooting, and then Melee is last.  Then play goes to the opposite side.  I have been contemplating how turn sequence and order of operations can impact the way a game is played, so seeing a slightly different order of operations was interesting to me.

You will find a lot of rules familiar to Horse and Musket period gamers.  Things like formations, command radius, and Officer Competency/traits, types of artillery fire, etc.  These are required to have a good game of Horse-and-Musket.  However, they do a good job of tailoring these to ACW formations that you read about in the field.  It also has one-level of formation deeper than most rulebooks go.  How many times do you see Obligue Movement details! 

There are three scenarios.  1 is a "generic" open battle.  The other two are actual engagements of various sizes complete with an Order of Battle and specific victory conditions.

There are about 11 pages of "advanced rules" in the back that help flesh out the character of an ACW battle.  Things like Commander Traits, Trenches, Army special rules, etc.  

Final Thoughts

Honestly, this game feels like Black Powder but better for ACW.  A lot of the core rules will look pretty familiar with those who have played Black Powder.   I mean, it has a failed command table which is a sure give-away! However, there is enough extra flavor, differences in turn sequences, and the ADC system to make it fit the period and give it some improved mechanics for Command-and-Control.  

This game leans into the "historical" side of wargaming and less the "game" side of wargames.  Therefore, if you are familiar with the expectations of a historical wargame of this period, these rules deliver.  The ADCs are a nice added twist.  

If you are looking heavier on the "game" side of historical wargaming than these rules may prove a bit more frustrating for you.  There are no "army lists" or generic scenarios to pick-up and play.  If you want to fight a battle, you will have to put in some work.   

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On The Painting Desk: Back on the Quest!

As most of you know, I have been working through my Heroquest boxed set I got for Christmas 2023.  I resolved not to get any expansions or even play the game until it was all painted up!  There is a surprising amount of miniatures in that first set, and that does not even include the furniture.  

I got a good start painting up the Heroes, the Dread Warlock, and the Goblins, but there is still a lot of miniatures to go.  I had decided to start with the forces of Dread and the Greenskins first.  Here was my progress so far...

Thankfully, I had a lot of mins still undercoated and ready for paint.  So I dove right in.  The next on my agenda were the Orcs.  I decided to use a lighter tone for the skin on these guys than I normally do on my Games Workshop versions.  I think it was the right choice, as these folks are much less cartoony and a bit more humanoid in proportions.  Otherwise, not much to say about them as I used all Speed Paints.  The biggest challenge was to make the duplicates look unique, but not too unique.  They are just mooks after all.  

Before tackling the Abominations that replaced the Fimir, I decided to tackle the "Dread Warriors" next as they seemed like a relatively quick job to paint the four of them.  I decided to lean back into their heritage as Chaos Warriors.  I decided to paint each one as dedicated to a different "Dread" power.  I painted one themed around each Chaos power to make them distinct.  I used Armypainter Inks for the armor, then speedpaints for the contrasting color.  When the block colors were done, I hit them all with a Dark Tone wash.  Then I based and finished per the rest of the Heroquest figures. 

We have in front left to right; Fate Smasher, The Flayer, Maggot Lord, and Cacophonius

After basing them and giving them a spray, it was time to think abut my Abominations.  These guys look much more Lovecraftian Fishman than the old Fimirs.  That suited me fine, but I didn't think a green like the Orcs was suitable.  I took a peak at my old Hellboy figures to see how I painted them before deciding on these guys.  Thinking about it, those could make a really cool set of baddies for a custom Heroquest adventure!  

I painted there heads and "scales" with a standard Armypainter Paint first.  I think it was Orb Green?  This had a slightly iridescent color to it.  Then, I used the SpeedPaint Absolution Green to paint over the edges and the rest of the flesh to give it that "two-tone" look.  Of course, I finished all up with a Light Tone wash and standard finishing techniques.   

Finally, I went for the Big Bad Evil Guy himself, the Gargoyle.  This was going to be the last guy from this batch to paint, and I went with a fairly simple scheme.  I decided to go with the "Stone skin" style Gargoyle rather than the very common and popular Bloodthirster/Demon look with red skin.  That was pretty easy as the Priming left a pretty good base to build off.  I basically just painted up the weapons, hit a couple spots with Runic Grey and gave it a 50/50 Dark Tone and SpeedPaint Medium mix wash.  I finished it off the same way I finished off the rest of the Heroquest guys.  

Grrr!  Rawr!  I am Evilz!!1!

   

With the Living Baddies done, it was time for the Undead to get their time on the painting desk.  I painted the Mummies, Zombies, and Skeletons all in little separate groups.  The Mummies were actually the easiest.  I painted the base skin with Malignant Green, and did a few details on the face.  Then I simply gave the whole thing a Dark Wash.  The Dark Wash became a sort of theme for the Undead units.  

The Zombie I painted their flesh with Malignant Green as well, but I also then gave the flesh a Green Tone Wash.  Then, I painted the details from there.  I really wanted the skin to look mottled and rotten, but very different from the Orc skin tones.  The pants also gave me a chance to make them really look different form the living baddies and each other.    

Finally miniatures were the 4 Skeletons.  Of course, Pallid Bone was going to be the "go to" color for these baddies.  I also decided to give them each a different color-theme to their clothing.  However, their armor was going to be all Gravelord Grey, with Runic Grey blades.  That would make them look cohesive, but also with different colors to make them easily identifiable as individuals if needed. 

So, here is what I have so far all painted up.  The Heroes and Baddies are all painted up.  All that is left is the furniture.  I would say about half of the core set is done now. 

Bonus Content

I had four cats, two black ones, a tuxedo, and a cream colored, cross-eyed, 6-toed abomination.  They frequently like to "help" me paint.  My Tuxedo will sit on a chair next to me and watch, sometimes climbing up onto my shoulders.  My older black cat will try to sit in my lap while I paint, but sadly she passed on when I completed this project.  My younger black cat will just try to lay down on the table within arm's reach.  My abomination will want me to play with him and just hinder me.  They can make it really hard to paint sometimes.  

Here are some photos of them "Helping" me.  

 My younger black cat.....

My Tuxedo cat, helping me.....

My older black cat..... now sadly RIP..... I miss you! 

The abomination against God blocking my light! 

Until next time!    

 

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