Hi everyone;
At one of our local games stores here in Maryland, 3 of us have gotten into gaming the Renaissance period.
We each purchased a copy of the Maximilian! rules from Scale Creep Miniatures.
Meanwhile one of our group (Les Mansir) happily gave myself and Dick Caldwell each our own, beautifully painted and based Renaissance Army in 15mm.
Wow!!
Last night (Monday) at The Arena, Dick and Les faced off with a battle featuring Dick's Venetian Army against Les's French Army.
I was there playing FoW, but kept an eye on the action and then e-mailed them both, asking for their impressions of the game.
Below is my e-mail and then their responses…
Hope this will help any other new players and generate some feedback.
Both players are veteran gamers; with years of experience under their belts.
My e-mail:
"Hi guys;
As always it was very good to see the both of you again.
I also thank you deeply for the additions to my Renaissance Spanish-Kingdom of Naples Army.
So; you got to play two games compared to my one game of FoW.
BTW; My Hungarians were victorious in holding off the Russians, thanks to a stubborn defense, good dice rolls by young Joe and I, as well as bad dice rolls by Keith.
Anyway; I'd like to see some sort of battle reports from the both of you of your games of Maximilian tonight.
Who won?
How did it play out?
Did the rules make sense?
Did the game flow well?
Did both games have a historical feel or are they too abstract?
Dick mentioned that when an army gets to a breaking point, there's not much a general can do to stop it.
Enquiring minds want to know.
Thanks
Joe"
Les's response;
"Joe: Glad you could make it last night, and congrats on your victory! Kieth is a
very tough opponent particularly with his Russians.
I enjoyed Maximilian quite a lot. It is a game in the same vein as the DBX
rules, so yes, it is a bit abstract compared to Gush, but it does work and does
give you a definite feel for the period! It moves fast, and when you pass the
"magic" percentage lost – your Army is going to be leaving the table! I believe
that for most Armies the percentage is 1/3 to retire, 1/2 to rout; a lower
amount for Mercenary Armies.
The rules are vague in a couple of key areas, so Dick and I are going to
re-review them. However, I don't think we missed anything. We will probably have
to create our own "definition" or house-rule in these cases. The big one was:
the -1 for not being lined up properly in melee. Does this apply to the
attacker, the defender, or both? Easy enough to decide on for a house-rule.
I think the problem is the rules are there, there is just not enough text, or
explanation, of the rules and modifiers! The examples must be carefully reviewed by all
players, as there are definitions or interpretations in the examples of play
that are not in the rules themselves. It makes it kind of tricky.
Anyway, these are minor things that are easily fixed! I'm still more than ready
to keep on with them. I love the Renaissance and these allow us to game the
period. Which was a problem for me. I've played the Renaissance for so long
using other rules, that I kept trying to do things that are not in the rules, or
didn't do other things that Maximilian allows but Gush does not?!? I'll get it.
I'll get you another command stand so you have the proper 2 sub-commanders.
Leslie"
Dick's response;
"Hi Joe,
As mentioned we fought two battles. In the first I was holding a strong position flanked by difficult going on both sides. I managed to cause enough losses to Les' troops to cause a general retreat. I lost my general and for fout turns tried to get the army back under control. However, Les tried to do some further damage but bad dice rolls for command points lost the fight for him.
On the second battle, it was a complete rout for me. Les' heavy cavalry swept right through my line before I could stop them. I was down to one pike unit and my general and they were wiped out. We enjoy the speed of the game and need to create some house rules for situations which are not clear in the rulesI will try to get some feedback from the rules author to help clarify points. There is probably some very simple answer.
Les, Can you give me a list of questions?
Historically, the French attacked aggressively and did so in both battles. We worked cooperatively to figure out what the outcome would be when we had some complex melee or firing situations. In that respect Les is a great sportsman. In the first battle the artillery were effective. In the second they did almost nothing.
Les,
Thanks again for two great games.
Cheers
Dick"
So; I hope this post will be of interest to other Ren-Gamers and maybe get some answers to the questions posted by my two friends.
Good gaming;
Joe
ponders nirvana.
