Nearly Done!

I'm down to the last few chapters of the rewrite of Firestar. The plot has changed around a lot, there's a bit more action, and I've taken the trouble to draw out Corey's problem: how to win the war. And the key point is that while she doesn't single-handedly do that, she serves as the catalyst for those who can change the policies. That has taken a little more work than I'd anticipated.

Of course when I'm done I'll have to go back through it and see where I have inconsistencies and so on.

I think the only other thing that's new on the writing front is Little Lost Dryad, a short story in the dryad sequence that includes potential child abuse, and the revenge for that. I had a rather lame ending, but some of the feedback was pointed and direct, and has resulted in my rewriting parts of the beginning to put in more detail, and rewriting the ending completely. We'll see how it turns out, I'm not totally satisfied with it in this form, either.

What would make me satisfied? Hmm, good question. The ending has to be something that could only come about because the narrator is a dryad, that the narrator does, and is emotionally satisfying (a short story, for me, is as much about emotion as it is anything else). I did have one idea that was completely off the wall, and I may go with it just to see how it fits. We'll see.

Frederick the Great Modifications and Errata


1) A garrison granted the honors of war must be moved to a non-besieged friendly garrison of the same nationality (which may result in the splitting of the garrison, if made up of different nationalities).

2) A demoralized force inside a fortress does not demoralize a friendly force outside the same fortress, and a demoralized force outside a fortress does not demoralize a friendly force inside the same fortress. You remember that forces on a hex with a fortress aren't automatically inside the fortress.

3) The captor has the choice of which leader to offer for exchange when an uneven number of leaders are held as prisoners.

4) The river hexsides between hexes 1730-1630, 1730-1731, and 1731-1830 should not be there; consider those hexsides clear.

5) On the CRT, the "25L" Attacker result for a modified die roll result of "7" under the 66-99% column should be a "20" instead (with no leader loss).

6) The towns of Cassel (1811) and Eger (1121) are fortified. Cassel is held by the Hanoverians (well, actually Hessians, but in game terms the Hanoverians) at the start of all individual year scenarios. Eger is held by the Austrians at the start of all individual year scenarios.

7) Minden is a "weaker" fortresses. All siege resolution rolls add 1 to the die roll on this fortress.

8) The Russians have no siege train. All Russian siege resolution rolls where the Russians alone are besieging a place subtract 1 from the die roll.

9) The Russians have bases in Poland. Starting in any year after the capture of Konigsberg, the Russians may move forces from Poland. They enter the map anywhere between hexes 2136 and 2356 inclusive. If they are coming they must enter no later than Turn 6, and must exit through those hexes no later than Turn 14. Russian forces doing this draw supply as if there is a supply counter in 2436 or 2236 (but not both). The Russian player must indicate where it is upon entering. This supply counter may not be captured and has an intrinsic garrison.

10) If Konigsberg is being besieged by the Russians and Winter starts, the garrison is automatically granted the Honors of War and the Russians occupy Konigsberg.

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I've adapted Frederick the Great to other maps. This is for earlier campaigning, or for campaigning with miniatures. These rules follow.

1) Roads are two types: solid lines (rare) and dashed lines (dusty lanes). Solid line roads add 1MP and negate terrain, but that can only be used once in a movement for that force. Dashed lines just negate terrain.

2) "Fortified Lines" - these were the Non Plus Ultra Lines and the Lines of Brabant from earlier wars. These are established with "intrinsic" garrisons that do not show on the map. They cost 1 extra MP to move through, cumulative with other terrain, if regular troops are not there. If regular troops are there, they increase the strength of the defending force by 50%. "Fortified Lines" may be destroyed by an attacking force moving through them. "Fortified Lines" hexes with destroyed fortifications can no longer provide any advantages for either side.

3) Conversion to miniatures: instead of having an SP counter in a stack, there are lettered counters. Each one represents specific units, and players must note the composition of that force. For example, Counter B is foot regiments Baden-Durlach, Baden-Baden, Baden-Overhaul, Horse Brigades v. Tinkelwasser and v. Eissenessen, and an artillery park of one brigade. This is 16 SP. Losses in battle have to be traced (I'm set up for Volley & Bayonet), or 8,000 men.
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If it isn't obvious, I happen to think that for strategic warfare from 1640 to 1790, the game system in Frederick the Great can't be beat. It is an intuitive system where, after some experience, you only need the CRT chart. I've used the above modifications on other maps, and found them to work rather well. You can get a tense game with chances on either side.

HoTTs for Ancients





HoTTs is short-hand for Hordes of the Things, a set of fantasy battle rules by Richard Bodley Scott and Phil Barker. It's a fun set of rules. In my opinion, it is better written than the companion De Bellis Antiquitatis (aka DBA). Others disagree with me on this.



The army seen to the left is the Syrian City State Army I've put together for HoTTs Historical. Its composition is listed below.


We've been using HoTTs for ancient gaming. To do that, we've had to add a little to the rules. Herewith are the changes we made.


Troop Types:
Scouts
· Foot element.
· 40x20 base, 2 figs/base
· 300p movement. Mounted can pass through Scouts, or Scouts through any friends, which are facing in the same or opposite direction if there is room beyond the first element met.
· Combat factor +2 against anyone. If the Scouts are equipped with a shooting weapon, they can support Warband, Spears, or Blades against Mounted/Aerial (+1 factor) and suffers same fate as supported unit.
· No -2 if fighting in difficult or bad going.
· If beaten, destroyed by Knights, Riders, or Flyers in good going, otherwise recoil.
· If doubled, destroyed by Knights, Riders, or Flyers in good going or by Rangers or Scouts; otherwise, flee 600p.


Light Horse
· Mounted element.
· 40x30 base in 15mm, 2 figs/base
· 500p movement.
· Combat factor +2 against anyone. If the Light Horse are equipped with a shooting weapon, they can shoot 100p.
· If beaten, destroyed if in bad going, otherwise, flee 600p.
· If doubled, destroyed by Riders, Light Horse, or Flyers in good going, or if in bad going; otherwise, flee 600p.


Phalanx - Pikes - 4 fig/stand, same movement as Spears, count 2nd rank, +3 for each rank against all troop types. 2 AP/element.

Levy - "normal" spears (i.e. not phalangites like the Greeks developed). No 2nd rank allowed. +3 against all troop types. 2 AP/element.

Changes to Rules
Warbands - only count the 2nd rank on turns they initiate combat

Stronghold - both sides have strongholds.





In historical HoTTs, suppress the supernatural elements (i.e. magic users, dragons, Gods and similar).

We've used the above for the better part of two years, and the thing we've discovered is you need a "basic" army list like you see in DBA. Players would be free to add additional elements to suit their style of play, or campaign situations. Players would have a selected list of troop types to draw from. In all cases these would include Heroes. Let's look at some typical "basic" armies.



Hittite Army: 3xHCh as Kn; 2xLCh as Riders; 4xLevy; for 18 pts.


New Kingdom Egyptian Army: 2xLCh as Riders; 2xLevy; 2xBows as Shooters; 1xAxe, for 14 pts.

Notice that I don't list any maximums. So if a Hittite wants to include 3 elements of blades, or 3 of HCh, he can. Note that the "light" troops such as Scouts aren't normally included as "mandatory".

We've also found that playing on a 32"x24" deep table actually works quite well. We've also played on a 30"x30" table. This gives both sides at least one open flank.

We've also done "largee-battle" HoTTs games. This is 2 or more armies that could be historical allies on one side vs. 2 or more armies that would be historical opponents that could be allies on the other side. For example, I recently did a Hittite Army allied with a Trojan Army and a Syrian City State Army vs. three Egyptian armies. The various armies were:





Hittite: 4xHCh as Kn; 3xLCh as Riders; 4xLevy; 1xAxe


Trojan: 1xHero (in chariot); 4xLCh; 4xWarbands; 2xBows as Shooters


Syrian: 2xLCh as Riders; 1xAxe; 2xLevy; 10xHordes; 2xBows as shooters





Egyptians: 4xLCh; 4xLevy; 2xBows; 2xAxe



In the Hittite case the contingents had to be kept separate. In the Egyptian case the troops could be rearranged before the battle started into "commands". The CiC would roll first, then could "give" pips to a lower command. The resulting battle was frustrating to the Egyptians (who eventually won) because the Syrian commander used his troops as the anchor for everyone else (brought on by his being able to bring Hordes that had been lost back to the field). The Hittite Heavy Chariots just motored over the top of everything, but got pip challenged so they really couldn't get turned around. The rules in HoTTs for Big Battles work just find.



I'm gradually putting together a "base" army for all of the ones we normally use.



By the way, none of this is to denigrate using HoTTs as it was intended: as a set of fantasy battle rules.