Battle Report: Castles in the Sky - Club Med Adventures

 

The Austro-Hungarians are back and looking to blow-up some more British ships!  Their last face off had the Austro-Hungarians defend their borders against a British attack.  I am not sure they still count as freshly painted, but the Dual Monarchy is looking to see what their bigger ships can manage! 

After the Sudova Riviera Incident, the Royal Navy still had a bad taste left in their British mouths.  They had paid reparations, but it was the HMS New Zealand that had been lost with all hands.  This distaste made some captains in the Air Navy Service look for the chances to make the Austro-Hungarians pay.  

The Austro-Hungarian fleet was on maneuvers above the Mediterranean, clearly in international airspace, far enough away from any shores.  They had been careful to chart their path to avoid any international incidents.  However, the British Navy heard about these maneuvers and moved to shadow the Hapsburg fleet.  

On the third week of maneuvers, the British used a squall as cover to move close to the Austrian fleet.  The British ignored all attempts to communicate, and their ensigns signaled that they were intent on battle.  The Austrian admiral decided to indulge them.  

The Forces

The British

Queen Elizabeth class- Battleship - HMS Valiant- Comm 4

Duke of Edinburgh class - Cruiser - HMS Black Prince - Comm 4

Warrior class - Cruiser - HMS Ajax the Greater - Comm 3 (Green Die) 

Shah Class - Escort - HMS Trout - Comm 2

 

Austro-Hungarians

Erzhog Karl Class - Battleship- SMS Kaiser Max - Comm 3

Novarra Class - Cruiser - SMS Custoza  - Comm 4

Novarra Class - Cruiser - SMS Schwartzenberg  - Comm 3 (Red Die)

Zenta Class - Cruiser - SMS Spalato - Comm 4

Huszar Class - Escort - SMS Leopard   - Comm 1

Huszar Class - Escort - SMS Panther   - Comm 3 (Red Die)

Mission

This is a standard Patrol mission from the main rulebook.  Therefore, it will be 6 turns and use Armor Loss as the victory conditions.  

Set-up

The table is a 48 x 48 MU board with 1 MU equal to 1 inch.  This battle takes place far out over the Mediterranean.  Therefore, there is no ground-based terrain.   However, there is one large cloud bank, a left-over from the squall between the two fleets at Altitude 6.  

The Dual Monarchy is moving at an angle across the board in a general Line Astern formation between 3-6 altitude and 4 speed.  The British are coming in Line Abreast in the center of their deployment at Altitude 6 and Speed 5.  

As usual, I will be splitting the battle report into three broad sections to give an overview of the game, and not every detail and altitude and speed change.  This division will be the Maneuver Phase, the Combat Phase, and the End Phase of the overall battle.  

In addition, this will be my first game using my snazzy new Cigar Box Battles mat #105 Ocean.  I have 1-inch hexes put on it in case I use it for other games that may need them.  However, this game does NOT use the hexes for play.  This is my fourth mat I have gotten from Cigar Box Battles and I really love my fleece mats.  I have a general ground mat, a space mat, and an urban mat.  They are easy to fold up and store, light for easy transport, and stand-up to wear and tear really well.  Plus, I am in a cold region and in a pinch you can use these fleece mats as an emergency blanket!            

Maneuver Phase   

The Austro-Hungarian fleet had solid command and control.  They were able to dictate the operational pace during this phase of the battle. 

The Royal Navy eschewed subtlety in their approach and barreled forward just under the cloud heights.  The HMS Trout moved to try and get in front of the Dual Monarchy battle line.  The forward guns of the British fired at the enemy fleet ineffectively as they closed. 

The Austro-Hungarians were less eager to mix it up and tried to get the British to close into their broadsides.  However, return fire from the SMS Kaiser Max went catastrophically wrong when both main batteries jammed!  

The SMS Schwartzenburg also rocked the HMS Ajax the Greater with a barrage of torpedoes early in the maneuver phase, causing two serious hits.   

Battle Phase

The two fleets get to the action surprisingly quickly.  The HMS Valiant manages to get the SMS Schwartzenburg into her port arc.  The admiral gives the order to Fire for Effect, and the Austro-Hungarian cruiser is pounded by the big guns of the battleship for 1 hit and 5 friction.  

This means the Schwartzenburg can not fire her Torpedoes.  However, her sister ship the SMS Custoza has the HMS Ajax the Greater all lined up and fires away.  The Warrior manages to avoid the worst of it, but still is hit by three, and one finds a home.  Thankfully, they had prepared for impact and the damage was minor.

The British frigate blasted through the squall and fired her two torpedoes at the trailing SMS Spalato.  Eagle-eyed gunners manage to take out one, while the armored belt absorbs the follow-up shot.  In a similar fashion, the SMS Panther manages to hit the HMS Black Prince with a torpedo as the Austro-Hungarian escort manages to maneuver around the British fleet.   

The SMS Spalato and the SMS Kaiser Max pour damage into the little HMS Trout causing the ship to rock and flounder from friction.  In the exchange, her Rudder is jammed.  The Kaiser Max manages to clear the jam from her main guns. 

It is clear that the British are trying to cut-off the Austro-Hungarian command ship, so the admiral makes a decision and decides to Come About and plow into the Squall.  However, the British ships are able to close the gap and get into short range and line-of-sight.  

 In desperation, the Kaiser Max splits her fire between the HMS Valiant and the HMS Black Prince.  The Valiant absorbs the hits on her armor but takes Friction.  The Black Prince tries to Prepare for Impact but fails!  She takes friction and two more penetrating hits.   The British Admiral smiles wickedly, but the grin is wiped away as his command ship is rocked by the desperate Austro-Hungarian fire.  He can not Fire for Effect, but he is still confident his battleship outmatches his foe.  The big guns roar out and riddle the Austro-Hungarian command ship causing 6 friction and 4 hits.  

The SMS Leopard fires on the HMS Ajax the Greater, but the PD takes out two and the last torp misses.  The Ajax adds more to the Kaiser Max damage with two more real hits and additional friction.  The SMS Spalato targets the Ajax in retaliation but only causes friction.  The Austro-Hungarian Air Torpedoes had trouble hitting anything due to the winds from the squall. 

The fire from the Kaiser Max managed to unseat the forward Medium Battery of the HMS Black Prince, making the forward main gun inoperable.  In return, the Kaiser Max blew-up completely from the furious firepower from the Valiant and Ajax the Greater!  The detonation of her magazine is enough to engulf the three main British ships, and the SMS Leopard and Spalato.  The HMS Black Prince is damaged from the blast and has her screw fouled, however her captain decides to stay in the fight.  The HMS Ajax the Greater's bridge was destroyed in the blast as well.  The SMS Leopard caught on fire, and her bridge was also destroyed.  The HMS Valiant and SMS Spalato weather the blast unscathed.  

The HMS Trout manages to repair her rudder.  The Captain of the SMS Spalato takes command. 

End Phase   

Despite the loss of the command ship, it is still a close game based on Armor loss.  However, the Austro-Hungarian fleet is out of position, while the British are still in a solid formation.  Many of the Dual Monarchy's ships reload their Torpedoes, while the SMS Spalato Crash Dives to try and get out of the kill zone of the British fleet's guns.  

The SMS Panther drives straight for the HMS Trout and fires its bow battery at it, causing a hit.  Meanwhile, the British Admiral again fires for effect on the diving SMS Spalato and manages to tag it with a hit.  The SMS Custoza manages to sink a few long range air torpedoes into the HMS Trout as well.  However, the HMS Ajax the Greater also manages to hit the diving Spalato, but jammed her forward battery in the process.  

The SMS Spalato had its screw fouled, slowing it in its sprint to escape.  Meanwhile, the HMS Trout was crippled from the Torpedo and gunfire.  The Captain strikes her colors to avoid destruction.    The Leopard fails to put out the Fire on board.  

The SMS Schwarzenburg and the Custoza decide they are not done with the British just yet, and line up for an Air Torpedo attack.  The British HMS Valiant decides to Prepare for Impact.  The two cruisers launch a withering barrage that manage to overwhelm the point defenses of the British and hit the Battleship and the Cruiser.  The damage is enough for the HMS Ajax the Greater to Strike her Colors.  

With that, the Captain of the SMS Spalato signals for his ships to scatter and return to base.  

Conclusion

The British were left with the field of battle but took some serious damage in the process.  Let's go to the big board.  It looks like the British lost 17 Armor, to the Austro-Hungarian 13 Armor loss.  Technically, a win for the Austro-Hungarian forces.  However, the British can take some solace in destroying the Dual Monarchy Flagship and Battleship.  The late "loss" of the HMS Ajax the Greater and HMS Trout shifted the balance.  

Once again, the value of Air Torpedoes pays off.  Their ability to snipe from lower or higher altitudes is great.  The pair of Novarra class cruisers paid-off, and the Escorts were not bad either.  Too bad the SMS Leopard had a command rating of 1, so I had them on Battleship escort duty.  The SMS Panther worked great though.  The rest of the ships in the Dual Monarchy did their job but were not nearly as useful.  

The Queen Ellizabeth class battleship is terrifying to face.  Those powerful main batteries combined with the almost automatic ability to Fire for Effect can ruin any ships day.  It basically one-shotted the Kaiser Max!  If the British have one, eventually it is going to get a powerful broadside off.  It the HMS Ajax the Greater had not have struck their colors, it would have been a tie.  

The Royal Navy sense of pride had been satisfied as they sent the Austro-Hungarian fleet scurrying back to port.  Their control of the skies over the Mediterranean was confirmed for all to see.  However, close analysis by the Admiralty after the fact revealed the truth.  The Royal Navy had not covered itself in as much glory as they had hoped.  

At the Concert of Europe, the other powers looked upon them as the aggressors.  The Italians in particular were displeased with this show of forces in their desired sphere of influence.  The Foreign Office had hoped to pry them from the Triple Alliance by humiliating their traditional foe the Austro-Hungarians, but doing so over the Mediterranean only made the Italians suspicious of British intentions in the region.  

For the Austro-Hungarian point-of-view, this helped rally their balkanized people behind a united front.  National pride had been hurt by the aggressive British moves towards them.  The Dual Monarchy was more united than ever, and their ties with the Italians actually improved, despite territorial disputes between them.  The loss of the Kaiser Max had been a terrible loss of life and air naval power, but the boost in unity may have been a fair trade.  The crew became post-humous National heroes.

Until next time!

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RPG Review: Adventures in Rokugan- Asmodee/Edge Studios

 

I have always enjoyed Legend of the 5 Rings.  The 3rd and 5th edition books for the core rules are in my collection, well they were until my pigs got loose and ate them.  The 5th edition I quickly replaced but I have not been able to track down a good price on 3rd edition yet.  However, there is something about playing a game with a strict set of social rules, established culture, and where the characters are supposed to represent and uphold that order.  It is a very different experience than playing in a rough frontier setting.         

A few years ago, I ran a game and wrote out the module that I used to introduce my players; One Year in Rokugan.  It went well, and my players enjoyed it, but not enough to revisit the setting.  One of the primary reasons was that the game required a decent amount of system and lore mastery that they did not want to take the time to learn.  They were used to Dungeons and Dragons 5E and its tropes and had a hard time adjusting.  Plus, they felt that third edition was getting a bit creaky with age and the mechanics felt a bit... dated.  

I still want to go back to Rokugan, and when it is time to pitch the next campaign, I wanted to be ready with a Legend of the 5 Rings pitch.  If the move away from D&D 5E was a challenge, this seemed like a good way to bridge the gap.  I knew the Legend of the 5 Rings - 5th Edition rules would be a bridge too far for some of the members of my group.  This seemed like a good compromise that would make my pitch more likely to be accepted.  

With that said, strap on your Daisho, tune up your shamisen, and prepare to face the forces of the Shadowlands!

Things That I Liked

This book does a good job introducing you to the very complex world of Rokugan in a few short sections. I had a better understanding of the different Faiths in Rokugan than I had after reading both the 3rd edition and 5th edition books.  I had a better feel for the geography too.  Rokugan history and cosmology also clarified things very nicely for me.       

Backgrounds in this game are much more relevant in this book compared to traditional D&D 5E thematically and mechanically.  They are tailored to the world in and around Rokugan.  This includes guidelines to help create some "quick-builds" of classic archetypes in Rokugan.  This includes custom feats, ability score preferences, and details on which class and level benefits to take when.  I think some example or pre-gen characters would have been helpful here as well.   

There is an excellent section on motivations in this book.  Each character is expected to have two.  This will help with the role-play aspect of the game as they focus on duty, fear, ideals, desire, bond and regret.  In the GM section, they also have some ideas about how to tailor your campaign to fit with the desires your characters choose.  This is a good way to help the group make interesting characters to will fit with what the GM is looking to explore.  

There are a ton of unique techniques, invocations, and background specific feats.  These were clearly designed with a tactical battle map in mind.  This is a strong contrast to Legend of the 5 Rings - 5th Edition which leans into a narrative approach.  Martial characters like Bushi and Duelists earn Focus points to pull off Techniques, while Invocations (spells) use Favor to attract spirits.  Magic in Rokugan is not as powerful as in core 5E.  

There is also a unique take on magical gear.  It is a low-magic setting.  However, everything has a spirit and your weapon and armor spirit maybe awakened by triggering events to act like magical weapons.  This is a change from the GM handing out a ton of magical gear, a common trait of D&D.  

Things I Did Not Like

The Bushido Code is really downplayed in this game.  This code and the society around it is very unique and compelling.  It is the "secret sauce" that makes the L5R experience unique to other settings.  However, I think that flavor is lost in this book let.  I know Bushido is kind of verboten and linked to Japanese Nationalism and Fascism, but what they offer around here is the "Code of Akodo" just feels really watered down and uncompelling for the proper role-play in this setting.  They also play down the role of ritual suicide to maintain honor, and ask players and GMs to avoid using it as the topic is fraught with cultural and psychological land mines.  The game also went out of its way to make it accessible to players who did not want to be part of the Samurai class more than I have seen in other versions of the game.  

They allow you to play non-human and non-Rokugani types.  This is a pretty big departure from the Rokugan, and human-centric L5R.  There is a lot of information in the backgrounds about playing folks from the other nearby kingdoms and non-humans.  The book also goes out of its way to tap down on the xenophobia of Rokugan.  

The book also goes out-of-it’s-way to be inclusive.  In old versions, players could choose disabilities like missing an arm, blind, etc.  This book, has a side bar about how such disabilities would have no effect mechanically in the game.  In addition, if you have a language you know how to speak it, write it, and sign it.  Listen, I know American English pretty well but that does not mean I know ASL (American Sign Language). 

Many of the ways to best represent the Great Clans in Rokugan require a good deal of multi-classing.  I know not all of my group are into that.  However, most of the Rokugani character types make extensive use of this to get the right "feel" and abilities for the backgrounds.  Not a fan of this approach, and it makes an all ready rules heavy game extra clunky as you are layering on special rules with more special rules.  Ugh.  We really need a Powered By The Apocalypse version of this game with a ton of simple playbooks.       

There does not seem to be any mention of the corrupting influence of the Shadowlands.  This is a big departure, probably to allow a more hack and slash approach to dealing with the Shadowlands.  Plus, the name has since become problematic; the Taint.  The sample adventure takes place primarily in the Shadowlands further reinforcing that they want to make the Shadowlands simply a place to go "A-venturing" as opposed to the corrupting and insidious realm of chaos it is in other versions of the game. 

The Dueling rules are a bit scattered and do not make a lot of sense to me.  Also, it looks like they expect all duels to be to 0 HP, which makes even less sense.  Like the Duelist is going to square up against a monster and fight it, while everyone else does something else?  Duel rules have always been a bit of a challenge but they do fit a big part of the setting.  Here, they are still struggling to make them work in the D&D-5E rules structures.  I mean, these rules are just not as lethal or attritional as this system usually is.     

  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

I was happy that I had seen every movie that they recommended watching to get a feel for what this game was trying to capture.  I must be the target audience for this game! 

This game glosses over the Yasuki moving from the Crane to the Crab.  The Mantis are also not a Great Clan at this point either.  This aligns closer with 1st edition and 5th edition L5R lore, so they ditch some of the everchanging and living L5R lore.  Probably a good idea to help people transition from D&D into L5R.  The background used to be tied to the results of big tournaments for the Living Card game so it could get pretty complicated.  

As always, they bring awesome artwork for this book.  It is really evocative of the setting and makes it jump off the page.  Again, its background as an RPG, Wargame, and CCG help greatly in this regard.  I am sure some of this stuff comes from these other sources, but much of it was new to me.  

The book has an adventure for 3rd level players and above set in the Shadowlands.  This game was an adaption of a previous L5R adventure (at least I think it is from some of the blurbs in the book) but it feels very D&D in its lay-out and goals.  I am honestly not sure I like it as an introduction to the setting at all as it is very hack and slash focused, go slay the obviously evil dudes, and takes you away from Rokugan civilization and into the Shadowlands.  It seems to lean away from what makes Rokugan great in the first place in an attempt to be just another semi-generic D&D "solve all your problems with violence" type module.        

Final Thoughts      

Wow, this was not what I was expecting at all.  It is basically a new game that just uses the d20 D&D core mechanics as a base.  About all it keeps the same is the very basics.  The backgrounds, fighting styles, and classes are all new and different.  It still keeps the combat-oriented RPG approach that D&D has, and downplays some of the societal restrictions and social aspects of traditional L5R.  However, it is a mistake to think this is just a re-skin as it goes much, much deeper than that.  In a sense, this is L5R 4.5 Edition! 

If my players felt the rules and lore mastery for L5R was too much before, I am not sure this book makes that transition any easier.  Sure, the basic dice mechanics are the same, but the way the classes, techniques, and backgrounds interact make a completely different experience.  It is not like a Bushi is just a re-skin of the fighter class.  Shugenja are not just a re-skin of clerics.  They are all new and unique classes, abilities, and special rules, with the same learning curve about how to use them in the game.  I think Renegade Studios G.I. Joe: The Role-Playing Game might be a closer re-skin to D&D 5E than Adventures in Rokugan and that game uses the Essence 20 system! 

I am glad I picked this up because I love Rokugan and the setting around it.  However, I am not sure this product is the bridge between D&D 5E and Legend of the 5 Rings that it wants to be.  The transition will still be a difficult one.  Rokugan is not for newbie GMs and players, and this book touches on exactly why.  There is a lot of nuance, lore, and detail to this setting which is partially why I really love it.  It delivers an RPG experience unlike many others.      

Until next time.            

 

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