RPG Design: Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies

 

If you recall my goals for 2026, you will have seen that I had been working on a game called Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies.  This is an RPG that came about after a lazy day watching Matt Helm movies on TUBI.  Who and what is Matt Helm?  Well, he is a photographer/super-spy played by Dean Martin in a series of not very serious Bond knock-offs.  I watched The Silencers, The Ambushers, The Wrecking Crew, and Murder's Row over the course of a few days.  About half-way through the third one I thought, "Self, this could make some fun and light-hearted rules-lite RPG action!"   

As an added bonus, most of these movies are now old enough to be in the Public Domain!  That meant movie posters, screen caps, and similar media would be accessible to populate my game rules!  Photos and images are always a problem, so this made it much easier and helped this game jump the queue to actually get worked on and done!  

So, before I get ahead of myself let's start by laying out the design goals, and then we can take a closer look at how I went about making the game.  The Design Goals were: 

1. Simple opposed dice rolling mechanic built into the design

2. Ease of Character Creation that intuitively creates role-play opportunities

3. Make Gadgets relevant but avoid equipment lists

4. Lean harder into the narrative than the crunch

5. Create space for various levels of "Groovy", play it straight or as wacky as you want with space to tell 1960-esque spy stories

Those were my design goals going into this project.  You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!  Let's take a closer look at how I did it! 

Simple, Opposed Dice Rolling Mechanic

Typically, when I create a rules-lite RPG I do not like the GM rolling any dice.  I prefer the players to do all the dice-rolling and the GM simply interpreting the results.  The GM all ready has enough on his plate with everything else going on, so no need to burden him with dice rolls too.  

For this game, I slightly diverge from my normal method.  However, I still want any dice-rolling to be simple with the Players doing most of the heavy-lifting mechanically.  In this game, the Players use their Attributes and other aspects of their characters to create a pool of dice called Agency Dice when they are asked to resolve a challenge.  

The Handler (or GM) determines how hard the Challenge is and that difficulty is between a 1 and 7.  This number is the number of dice in their pool called a Danger Dice.  Both groups roll their Agency Dice and Danger Dice at the same time.  Any Danger Dice and Agency Dice that match are removed.  If any Agency Dice remain with a 4+ the Challenge is passed, if more than one  Agency Dice with a 4+ remains it is Critical Success.  All other options are a Failure.  If all Agency Dice are removed and a Danger Dice remains with a 4+ it is a Critical Failure.

Therefore, the higher the Difficulty the more Agency Dice you will want to make that roll.  The Handler (GM) tells players the Difficulty before rolling.  That way, the Player can choose a different course of action if they wish.  

This mechanic is harder to put in writing than to actually use.  Therefore, it is a very simple opposed dice pool mechanic.  This mechanic is very simple and intuitive during game play.   

Easy Character Creation

All of my games focus on easy Character Creation.  The reason is so that players can get into the action quickly and start playing.  In addition, if your character is knocked out of the game it is easy to get a new one worked up and back in!

This one is not an exception, with character creation taking about 10 minutes.  There is a minimal amount of record keeping and very little math.  However, it still encourages players to round-out what makes a character a character beyond the basic profile.  It includes guidelines for new role-players about personality traits, quirks, and other things that make it easier to bring a character to life in game.  A character fits completely on 1 page with no long lists of equipment, gear, or other mundanity.  

Make Gadgets Relevant

This is a rules-lite game.  Therefore, I did not want a detailed list of 1960's specific surveillance gear, technology, weaponry, and other details.  That is too cumbersome and ties the Players down.  Super Spies always seem to have the right gadget for the job when they need it.  Therefore, in this game the Characters will always have the right gadget for the job too!  

A Character can trigger the use of a Gadget at anytime!  However, there is a cost to do so.  Doing so reduces your overall ability to manipulate scenes by expending a resource called Plot Armor.  Plot Armor can be used to use a Gadget, add Agency Dice, re-roll Agency Dice, or Reduce Danger Dice.  Instead of managing a long list of complicated and variable 1960's gear, you only need to manage your Plot Armor.   

However, Plot Armor is also your "health" meter.  Once it is expended, your Agent is out of the Scene.  Get knocked out of too many Scenes, and you fail the Mission.  

Therefore, you can use a Gadget to get a Character past a sticky situation BUT to do so reduces your ability to interact with scenes later.  It is up to players to decided when a Gadget will benefit them versus hinder their overall mission.  

If you need access to a cool car for a car chase?  No problem, spend a Plot Armor and it is there.  Do you need a grappling watch?  You got it.  A parachute with the Union Jack on it?  It is yours...... if you have the Plot Armor that is.  

Yes, THAT Tina Lousie was in it!

Lean Harder into Narrative Than Crunch

As a Rules-Lite game, the focus of the game is helping the Handler set-up a scene so Players can take actions during those scenes.  The core of the game is about how to create the Core Gameplay Loop of Inciting Incident--> Player Action ---> New Situation.  In addition, the rules discuss the most common types of scenes in the game and what Challenge Checks fit into these scene types.  Therefore, the players and Handler have a great structure for what a game of Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies looks like.  

To help all players understand, the game also comes with an introductory Mission called; The Jet-Set.  There is also one pre-made character, a blank character sheet, quick reference sheets for both players and Handlers, and an Index to give you everything you need to have a great game.  

Creating 1960's Spy Stories

Spy stories in the 1960's ran a wide range of themes and tones.  They ranged from the very serious espionage thrillers like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the adventure and action oriented From Russia With Love to the tongue-firmly in cheek stories of Get Smart.  Therefore, no two Spy-Fi films or shows were the same.  Each had their own mix of serious spying, action adventure, and comedy.  The rules written in Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies is designed to give you what you need to go from James Bond to Maxwell Smart and everything in between.  If you want to center a story around a defector from East Berlin no problem, if you want a madman with a Bikini Bomb, you got it.  You are encouraged to decide how much "Groovy" you want in any given Mission or Season.  

Final Thoughts

If you have liked my other Rules-Lite RPGs than you will enjoy what I am presenting here as well.  The focus is on working as a table to tell the story and find out what happens.  The rules are enough to help you build and overcome compelling challenges.  These rules are great for experienced RPGers looking for something quick and light for a short campaign, people new to RPGs who know the Spy-fi film/TV genre, or folks who want to have a low-intensity story-telling experience. 

You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!    

I look forward to hearing about how you saved the world in the 1960's!  

Until next time! 

 

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Wargame Design: Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys

 

You know what really speeds up the wargame design process?  Two things: 

1. Having an existing set of rules to build off

2. Having the miniatures for photos in your collection

Both of those details can be the difference between finishing a game in 1-3 years, versus finishing in 5 years.  For me, post-production is the longest part.  That is where those two points really help out.  Post-production involves making sure the game works as intended and getting all the parts to publish together.  Those parts take the longest amount of time in the whole process.  

If you all ready have a set of rules to work off of, then you know the game mostly works.  It really speeds up the process if you don't have to test the 4Ms, just the chrome.  You probably recall the Play-testing process, well building off an existing game cuts the first couple layers of play-testing off.  

The second point is self-explanatory.  Most miniature wargamers have a pile of shame they are painting through.  Buying, building, and painting models takes times and money.  If you all ready have the models in your collection then you can go straight to the photography stage, that alone can save a year in the production pipeline!  

So, that brings us to today's game: 

Odin's Ravens is a model-vs-model skirmish game with a narrative campaign element added to it. As the sub-title implies the game is focused on Norse warbands with a Hero, a Second, and up to 8 other soldiers.  The game can be played as a straight historical game, or with mythological elements added into it.  

Like all my games, Odin's Ravens is scale and model agnostic.  I did this by using generic measurement units with no fixed scale.  This way it works with 15mm, 28mm, 54mm, or other scales.  All models are individually based because this is a model-vs-model game.  There is no fixed time or ground scale, as is my design preference.  The game can be played on just about any playing surface thanks to the adjustable size of an MU, but typically plays on a 36-48MU square.     

This game can be played as a Versus game, Solo, or Co-op.  There is a simple Narrative Campaign added so warbands can evolve and grow based on your Heroes Legend.  There is myth magic, mythological monsters you can fight, mythical gear to find, and several special solo/co-op only scenarios.  

Taking on a troll

The game is trying to answer the problem of Melee Yahtzee and how to add Tactical Gameplay to a melee heavy game.  In addition, it is trying to capture the idea of Heroes being heroic and special, but not game breakers.  These are all tough needles to thread.  So, how does this game do it?  

Here are a couple key features of gameplay to keep in mind: 

1. It uses facing as a tactical component to gameplay
2. Outnumbering plays a critical roll in combat
3. Winning a combat can do more than just causing damage, sometimes causing damage is not the best option so you have to decide what to do
4. Melee does not lock you, as there are several ways to escape melee
5. Heroes have more dice and activations than soldiers    

In addition, there are about 6 Versus scenarios, and 6 different methods for deployment and 3 special Solo/Co-op scenarios.  This gives the game a lot of replayability with different tactical set-ups.  In addition, Heroes, Seconds, and Soldiers can also have a variety of set load-outs.  Each hero also has a special ability granted by his god to make him a worthy hero to follow.    

A hero and his loyal warband of followers

The astute observer will notice something right away.  This is not a new game!  It is a reskin of my popular Greek Mythology game; Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys.  The core gameplay is the same and uses the same core mechanics.  The Chrome has been modified to fit a Norse setting.  For example, chariots have been removed from the game.  Instead, I have replaced it with the chance to have a mounted soldier, Hero, or Second and updated the Mounted rules accordingly.  I have also changed some of the weapons and load-outs to better match Viking warfare compared to Greek Homeric combat.  

Most of the miniatures in the book came from my existing collection.  Thanks to my Viking Age rules Fury of the Northman; I have a decent sized selection of Vikings and Dark Age warriors to choose my Odin's Ravens from.  My monsters came from my rather larger selection of HeroQuest and Reaper models.  That made post-production on these rules a snap!  

When I started the year, this game was not even on my radar.  I had toyed around with some expansions of the Homer's Heroes concepts, but it wasn't until early this year when I started working on this particular version of the game.  Maybe I will expand the core game further into new periods and eras?  Got any suggestions?  

Final Thoughts

The first step to being a game designer is to create your game and get it out there for others.  From there, they get easier and easier.  The first one is the hardest because you are building it all from scratch.  Once you have the first, you have a set of templates to build your next one.  

To get more games to market, it is easiest if you: 

1. Build off of your existing designs

2. Use miniatures and art you all ready have in your collection

The more games you make, the easier it gets to make more of them!      

If you like Vikings, you like Skirmish games, or you like Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys then you will probably enjoy recreating the Norse epics and sagas with this game.  You can find Odin's Ravens now on Bloodandspectacles.com.  

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Wargame Design: The Corinthian War - Men of Bronze Supplement

 

Find the new supplement here!

Honestly, this was really unexpected.  One day, I was thinking about the trouble I was having moving some games forward.  I was having challenges getting words on the page.  I kept hitting internal road blocks, despite working my usual system.  I was getting frustrated, and my output was suffering.  

I am not even sure what happened, but I decided I needed to pivot.  What I was doing was not working.  I don't even recall the conscious thoughts that led to this supplement for Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic to happen, but once I pivoted and started working on it..... well..... it poured itself onto the page in a matter of days.  This was not on my "To Do" list at the end of last year, so to see it now is a surprise to me as it is to anyone else.  Writing can be weird sometimes.

 

What is it?

The Corinthian War is a supplement for use with Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic that were published as part of the Osprey Wargaming Series of games.  This is the 4th supplement I have done for those rules the others being: 

• Hercules Abroad 
• Revolt! The Third Servile War
• The Ionian Revolt

This one focuses on the historical Greek campaign known as The Corinthian War.  This took place about 10 years after the end of the Peloponnesian War, and after the famous March of the Ten Thousand.  The details of the Corinthian War are documents by Xenophon in his work Hellenica.  There is also additional material in Plutarch's Lives and the works of Diodorus Siculus.  

The supplement focuses on re-creating the historical battles of The Corinthian War on the tabletop.  In this way, it is similar to The Ionian Revolt supplement.  Like  The Ionian Revolt this campaign was a combined arms, Land and Sea affair.  It involved a variety of Greek City-States backed by Persia in overthrowing the military power of Sparta.  Therefore, it had a wide cast of interesting characters, unit types, and miniatures that I could use from my collection.  The campaign also had traditional big hoplite battles, ambush actions, raids, and a variety of scenarios to make wargaming it a blast!   

What is in it?    

This supplement is a condensed work of about 25 pages.  This includes the following: 

• A Brief History
• Some Line of Battle modifications
• The main Campaign
• Optional campaign scenarios

Total there are about 10 scenarios and a very brief way to score the campaign for a result.  This includes a Naval battle scenario, a Coastal Raid scenario, a Strong Point scenario, and some more traditional scenarios.  The Line of Battle modifications add Freed Helots and Athenian Marines as unit types that did not really exist before.  Spartan King Agesilaus II gets his own Line of Battle as well.  

Artwork has a few miniatures that I have painted from Victrix, some cool artifacts from the period, and a snazzy map!  

Where do I get it? 

Of course, you will want a copy of Men of Bronze/Wars of the Republic first.  You can get those wherever Osprey Books are sold.  

If you happen to be one of my Patrons on Patreon, you all ready have it!  I provided it to all my paying Patrons back in December as an early Christmas gift.

If you aren't a Patron (Tsk, tsk!) then you can get it now on my Blood and Spectacles Wargame Vault page.  

Thank you for your support!  I put all the profits I make back into the business of wargaming!  That means more wargames, more RPGs, and more content for you to enjoy on my blog, Social Media feeds, and my Patreon.      

Find the new supplement here!    

Until next time! 

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Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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Wargame Design: The Ionian Revolt

I had a lot of rules writing goals for 2022.  I had several projects that were close to completion and in post-production as 2022 dawned.  These were all intended to eventually find a home on the Blood and Spectacles Wargames Vault page.  One of the projects I was especially excited for was a supplement for Men of Bronze set during the Ionian Revolt.  When the book initially came out, I wrote an article on the Ionian Revolt for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy.  However, it never made publication as they lacked a Persian army for photos.  I had run into the same problem myself!  Thankfully, now a few manufacturers make them in plastic, so creating a Persian army is much easier now and I was able to revive my work on this topic for a supplement of my own!   

So, what makes this supplement different from the last one?  The previous one, Hercules Abroad focused on new Lines of Battle and scenarios with these forces to round out the Mediterranean Basin with the foes of the Greeks.  This supplement has a very different focus and goals. 

The first goal was create a multi-game simple campaign focusing on the activity in the Ionian Revolt.  Therefore, there are 5 campaign historical scenarios, and there are also three additional scenarios that focus on some of the interesting aspects of the campaign beyond the field battles; naval warfare and sieges!  In addition, I created rules for Solo-play that can be used in the Ionian Revolt or anywhere else you wish.  

Persian Immortals face down Ionian Greeks

In the original Men of Bronze rules I was not satisfied with how I portrayed the Persian army.  After all, the Persian army spanned a vast amount of time.  Over this timeframe, it changed with new technology, new acquisitions, and new formations.  Therefore, the Persian Line of Battle in the main rules was a bit.... one dimensional.  Therefore, I took this chance to create a deeper Persian Line of Battle to face their earliest foes, all the way to the final battles with Alexander.  

With this more robust look at Persian military history, it also gave me a chance to dive in deeper on the Persian Empires foes too.  This supplement has new Lines of Battle for a variety of foes from Ionian Greeks, Lydians, Indus Valley Indians, Kingdom of Kush and more!  This expands the numbers of armies that you can field in Men of Bronze yet again!  You could have a very cool campaign featuring Cyrus the Great and his conquests.  

Persian troops repel Greeks from the Citadel at Sardis

Thankfully, there is a wide range of easily available plastic models to fill out the ranks of your Persian forces.  Both Wargames Atlantic and Victrix have come out with an excellent range of plastic forces in 28mm.  Plus, there is a variety of metal models out there to fill out the King of King's ranks.  Like all of my games, this supplement leans into the scale and model agnostic ethos so you can use whatever you got, without rebasing.  In addition, the game leans into the "Big Battles, Small Armies" focus that I am (in)famous for.   

There were very unique aspects of Persian warfare that made it very different than that of the Greeks.  This supplement explores this with new special rules that can help a Persian commander lean into the troops and tactics that made the Persian army the largest Empire on earth.  This includes mixed melee and bow units, the well-known sparabara, and of course the elite Apple Bearers/Immortals.  These features make the Persian army unique compared to the other armies in  Men of Bronze. 

Persian Troops assault a city while reclaiming Cyprus during the Ionian Revolt

Conclusion

I had been working on this supplement before Men of Bronze was released by Osprey Games.  Therefore, I am very pleased to finally have it out for the public to purchase on the Blood and Spectacles Wargames Vault page.  I look forward to showcasing the campaign and my new Persian army from Victrix on the blog in 2023.  With this released, that wraps up all of my planned releases for 2022! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

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Battle Report: Men of Bronze - Solo-Play(?)

 

As many of you know, I have been working on a campaign booklet for Men of Bronze focused on the Persian forces and the Ionian Revolt.  As part of the book I have been working on some alternate scenarios including; sea battles, sieges, and solo/co-op play rules for the game.  Today will be a dry run of the Solo-play rules.  It is important to note, that the solo-play rules are not intended to replicate an actual opponent, but are designed to keep the player on their toes and dealing with mounting difficulties in completing their objective. 

The Spartan scouts returned to camp and let the Stratego know about the enemies approach.  The Spartans had camped up in the hills, at the edge of the river.  It seemed a good place, easy to defend, and accessible to water.  Knowing that the enemy was approaching, meant that the Spartans themselves needed to prepare themselves for battle.  They would sally out of the valley, and face the approaching foes on the river valley where they could divide and destroy them .  

Forces: 

I decided to use my Spartan army for this battle.  

2 Elite Hoplites  

1 Drilled Hoplite

2 Psiloi

Mission:

I followed the rules found in the main rulebook for choosing a scenario and complications.  We rolled up Hungry and Thirsty, but all the Spartan units passed their check.  Essentially, there would be no further impact from the Hungry and Thirsty complication.  

The scenario was going to be a standard decisive battle.  Again this was essentially straight from the rulebook as well.  This battle will last 6 turns or until the Spartan collapse.

Set-up:

The solo rules have slightly modified rules for setting up terrain.  The side that I deploy on use the basic rules found in the Men of Bronze rulebook.  For that, I got a hill, a spring/pond/swamp, and another hill.  On the other side, there are slightly modified and randomized terrain set-up and placement.  However, it ended up being a Open terrain, spring/pond/swamp, and open terrain.  Instead of the spring I decided to swap it out for a river across the board with a ford in the middle.  The river was Dangerous, with the ford being difficult terrain. 

We then followed deployment per the new Solo rules.  Again, it was slightly modified.  I placed my first unit of Psiloi by the hill on the Spartan right on the opposite side of the river.  Then, a token was randomly deployed for the enemy, but not a unit.  We kept taking turns deploying until the enemy forces had 1 token deployed more than I had units.  

My deployment was Psiloi, river, Elites, Drilled, Elites, and Psiloi on the hill.  

Across from us on the left was a single token in the center, two in the middle grid coming up the center, and three on the left grid square deployed forward.  

Turn 1: 

The Enemy force will win initiative unless I big 1 Arete point, which I decide to do.  The opponent then rolls a d6, and that is how many units I can move before it will try to interrupt.  

I move my right flank Psiloi forward, using a Arete Point to skirmish.  I am close to getting the markers into Line-of-sight, but can not reveal them just yet.  The Psiloi on the other side also move up onto the hill on that side.  Then, my Spartiates start to march forward.  

Before the Perikoi can move forward, the Enemy attempts to interrupt but fails.  I finish moving up.

With all of my units moved.  My make-believe foe and rival moves all their tokens forward.  This reveals a Drilled Hoplite unit in phalanx approaching both hills on my flanks.  The one on my right is also supported by a Psiloi unit.  

The tokens I just revealed are recycled back to the baseline in a random location as they will be follow-on forces later.    

Turn 2: 

As the Spartans, I again decided to bid 1 Arete point to go first.  I started by moving my Perikoi drilled hoplites forward and formed into Phalanx, and they revealed two units of the enemy approaching me.  One was a unit of archers, and oddly a unit of Militia Hoplites was coming down the rive in Phalanx formation!  The enemy tried to seize the initiative, but failed!  Next, I moved up my Spartiates on the right flank near the hill, and also put them in Phalanx. 

This time, the enemy managed to seize the initiative and started to move forward.  The started on my left flank and moved across the board with revealed units first.  The Drilled Hoplites there pressed tot he base of the hill, still in formation.  The Militia Hoplites moved up into cover, still in the river.  So far, they had not lost any courage due to the terrain.  The Archers were not in range to shoot, so moved forward as well.  Finally, on the right side the Drilled Hoplites broke ranks as they started climbing the hill there.  

My Spartan Psiloi used Arete to seize the initiative and throw their Javelins with the last Arete point.  Despite being out of formation, the Drilled Hoplite shrugged it off.  The Psiloi fell back, but not very far as they did not have the Arete to skirmish.  

On the left flank, my psiloi also fell back and moved towards the river, looking to cross when they had more Arete points and to avoid the incoming Drilled Hoplites.  The last Elite Hoplite unit moved up towards the ford, but were not in formation yet! 

With the last unit moved, the Enemy took over again.  The last Psiloi unit moved forward to the base of the hill on the right.  Then, from left to right all the remaining "blips" moved forward.  Looking at the force arrayed against me, perhaps recycling blips was a tad too many foes?  

Turn 3: 

I again decide to use an Arete Point to go first.  I decide to get aggressive, and my Perikoi charge into the enemy archers!  This triggers the Militia Hoplites in the river, who counter-charge in to support the Archers.  The Perikoi have 8 attack dice vs the enemy 7!  However, since the primary unit was archers, the Perikoi easily blast through the enemy forces with the loss of 1 courage.  

The enemy forces are turned around, and this puts them in a position to reveal two new enemy units, which are more Militia Hoplites in Phalanx, and a unit of Greek cavalry.  

I then move my Elite Spartiates to the ford, and form Phalanx.  The Enemy steals the initiative from me at this point.  They begin by activating revealed units on my left.  The Drilled Hoplites clamber up the hill after the Psiloi.  The Cavalry and newly arrived Militia hoplites move forward.  

The Drilled Hoplites on the right hill start to move to attack the Spatraites at the foot, but they are far too slow.  The enemy Psiloi though easily clamber up on the hill, and toss Javelins at the Spartan Psiloi.  The Spartans lose 1 Courage.  

As additional follow-on forces begin to move up, a Peltast unit is revealed moving towards the ford.  In addition, on the far right, a unit of slingers is revealed nearing the hill.

Play reverts to me, as I decided not to interrupt.  I have 3 Arete left.  I spend one so the Psiloi on the left fall back to safety across the river with a skirmish move.  The ones on the right charge at the enemy Psiloi, who try to evade.  It is not enough, and the Enemy Psiloi and Drilled Hoplites get pulled into the fight! I roll 4 dice, and so does the enemy.  I get three hits, and use my last Arete point to re-roll.  It is enough to route the enemy Psiloi and Drilled Hoplite!  In return, I take 2 courage loss, and am reduced to 1.  However, I do not waver! 

With my flank now secured, I move up my last Spartiate unit.  

End: 

I remove 4 enemy units from the board.  This triggers a several wavering tests.  The Militia Phalanx and Cavalry begin to waver! 

Turn 4:

I again decide to hold the initiative by spending a precious Arete Point.  

My Psiloi on the right throw their Javelins at the Slingers, but fall just short.   Disappointed, I have the Elite Spartiates on my right charge the wavering Militia Hoplites, and the wavering cavalry snaps to their flank in support.  With 10 attack dice, I have a terrible roll and need to use 2 Arete Points to get 1 hit on the Enemy unit.  However, they push back the enemy far enough to reveal another unit of cavalry that immediately snaps into the melee!   

The Perikoi see  that the decisive action is swirling in front of them with the Spartiates and cavalry fighting up close.  They use the last two Arete points to break formation, re-align, form up and charge in.  The attack drives home, and causes the Militia to be reduced down to 1 Courage, with no loss in return.  However, the Militia holds on by passing their Wavering check.  

The last Elite Spartiate loses formation as they begin to move across the ford.  The left Psiloi follow along with them.  

Play turns over to the Enemy Greeks.  They always begin on their right (my left) and move across from there.  Drilled Hoplites who have successfully taken the hill, turn and begin the slow march towards the ford.  The Peltasts charge into the Spartans in the Ford, and catch them flat footed.  Since they all ready chose to move, they can not fight back.  However, thanks to the terrain, the Spartiates shrug off the attack.  

This leads to the Slingers on the right, who fire at the Psiloi on the hill and in cover. It is enough, and the Spartan forces there are routed!  

After all the revealed enemy units have gone, the blips move next.  A quick check shows that on of the blips on the Spartan right is revealed to be a Drilled Hoplite unit in Phalanx.  This causes another blip to be removed and recycled on that side of the board. The Spartans really need to shut that entry point down! 

End:

My Spartan Psiloi flee the battle, but no one is around to see it.  They are not enough points to trigger any Collapse tests.  Thankfully.  

Turn 5:

I eagerly pay the 1 arete point to go first.  I need to clean up the center of the board fast!  I will have drilled hoplites coming onto my flank very soon.  Looks like the enemy will let me activate all my units before trying to interrupt this turn.  That is a relief! 

My remaining Psiloi are in a position to support my Elite Phalanx in the ford, however I instead decide to have them start going across the back of my lines to help on my collapsed right flank.  Maybe next turn they will be in a position to take some of the heat off.  

Next, I decide to resolve the huge melee in the center of the board with my Perikoi and Spartiates fighting two units of cavalry and some Militia Hoplites.  The wavering status of the enemy makes a big difference as the Perikoi are able to route the enemy with no losses of their own.  The pushback is strong enough to reveal the last two units on the right are another Drilled hoplite unit and an archer unit.  

In the Ford, the Elite Spartans manage to push back the Peltasts out of the river, but not enough for them to cross.  With the use of all the Spartan Arete points, they reduce the enemy to 2 Courage, but they do not start to waver.  They suffer no losses.  This also reveals the next enemy troops on their right, more peltasts.  It also recycles another blip! 

With the Spartan effort spent, play turns over to the Enemy.  

The Drilled Hoplites finally get off the hill, and form phalanx at its base.  The new Peltasts charge in to help their buddies at the Ford, and cause the Spartiates to lose 1 Courage from the unexpected ferocity of the enemy counter-attack.   

On the other flank, the newly arrived Enemy forces reform up on the Spartan flank and prepare to attack next turn.  However, they will be seeing a lot of their comrades fleeing in the End phase.  The last blip moves forward.

 

End: The Enemy Militia Hoplites, and two Cavalry units flee the field in full view of much of the Enemy army on my right flank.  However, they all pass their Discipline tests and stay firm.  

Turn 6- Final Turn

Well, I pretty much have to spend the Arete Point to seize the initiative or my goose is cooked. I do, leaving myself with only 3.  I have to use 1 in order to reshuffle my Spartans that are exposed in the center.  I then use another to charge.  The enemy is close, so they counter-charge with two units snapping into support.  Another huge melee kicks off!  A terrible roll gives the Spartiates 0 hits.  The counter-attack.  It sends the Spartans reeling back 3 MU and down to 2 Courage!  They also start to Waver! Ouch! 

The Enemy also tries to seize the Initiative! Thankfully, they fail!  I decide to countermand the Psiloi's previous orders and they rush back and begin to support their allies in the ford.  I use my last Arete Point so they can charge in to help.  This is the difference and the Peltasts are pushed out of the ford and routed! 

The enemy again tries to steal the Initiative, and succeeds this time.  The Drilled Hoplites at the foot of the hill near the Ford charge into the flank of the ongoing rout.  This is the last turn, and they will be routed in the End phase, but they are going to try to route the Spartans in the process.  Normally, the AI has to wait until the rout is over, but I made an exception for drama reasons!  As the player, I can do that!  The attack causes a momentary pause in the pursuit, and causes the Spartans to lose 1 Courage.  However, it is not enough not stop the rout.  

On the opposite flank, the slingers attack the exposed Spartans and pepper them with sling stones.  They also lose 1 Courage, and the Perikoi start to Waver from the attack! 

The last blip on my left moves up and is revealed to be Psiloi. 

End: 

The enemy forces on my left flank rout away.  The Psiloi see it, but do not waver.  

Conclusion: 

With that, the Enemy pipers and trumpeters sounded the retreat.  The day was waning, and the Greeks needed to withdraw with enough time to gather and mourn their dead, and allow the Spartans time to erect their trophy.  The Spartan forces were battered and exhausted, but they had held the field.  

Wow, I think I used just about every non-Macedonian Phalanx unit I had for this one.  I even had to dive into the Macedonians for some stand-in Hypaspists and Heavy Cavalry for Militia and Cavalry units respectively.  I guess I have an excuse to paint up some more regular Hoplites now, and a reason for why my Persian force is going to be so large!  

Well, it was nothing like a "real" game of Men of Bronze.  The AI was making decision that an experienced player of the game would not make.  The biggest example was when the Drilled Hoplites kept trying to climb hills, and supported a Psiloi unit.  That helped clear a flank of pressure early.  Their were also strange combinations of units and deployments players would not make.  

The Spartans plowed through a lot of enemy units, and only lost one.  However, if you look at the end table I started with 5 units but at the end; lost 1 unit, had 2 wavering, and had lost 10 of my starting 23 Courage points.  I was on the breaking point.      

However, the goal is not for a solo-game of Men of Bronze to play like a game against an opponent.  It is designed to keep the player of the game on their toes and surprised on the battlefield.  That was true for me.  I kept having to make decisions through out the game of how I was going to counter enemy positions, if I was going to push to seal of deployment zones, who was going to support and where, and how to get the best unit vs. unit combinations.  

The game taught me a lot, and I made I jotted down a few notes to update the rules and streamline game play.  You can expect the solo-play rules to come out with the release of the Ionian Revolt supplement on the Blood and Spectacles Wargame Vault page.  You might want to keep your eyes peeled.  

Onward! 

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