"New nineteenth century rules: “Bloody Big BATTLES!” (BBB)" Topic

I am delighted to announce the publication of "Bloody Big BATTLES!" (BBB), a new set of rules for wargaming the Late Nineteenth Century, and of a companion scenario volume, "Bloody Big EUROPEAN BATTLES!" (BBEB). Both are published by SkirmishCampaigns.

‌BBB OFC by bbbchrisp, on Flickr

‌BBEB OFC by bbbchrisp, on Flickr

BBB does exactly what its title says. It is intended for fighting the biggest, bloodiest battles of 1850-1900 in a manageable way. Specific design goals included:
to tackle the major battles such as Solferino, Gettysburg, Königgrätz, Sedan or Plevna, often spanning several days' combat;
to fit them on a 6'x4' tabletop;
and to fight them in their entirety, in a single 3-to-4-hour session, with 2-6 players (typically 4).

BBB is not suitable for small actions of a few thousand men a side. There are plenty of rulesets that do that. But none do what BBB does, namely;
Enabling players to command entire armies of 100,000+ men ;
Fitting battlefields of up to 20km across on the table;
While still producing a fast, fun, flavorful game and a result in an evening.

Scale varies according to the battle but is typically:
Figure scale 1,500 men or 36 cannon per 1" base (organized into multi-base division or brigade-sized units, usually of 3-7 infantry bases, 2-3 cavalry bases or 1 artillery base);
Ground scale 1" per 200-250 yards;
Timescale 1 hour per turn.

BBB uses simple mechanisms and memorisable tables that fit on a clear 2-page QRC.
Turn sequence: IGO-UGO
Command and Control: reflected partly by how many generals get represented on table, partly by how units are rated.
Movement: 2D6 movement table incorporates difficult terrain, generalship and doctrine, troop quality and morale, loss recovery.
Fire Combat: calculated by adding fire points and applying a few relevant column shifts. 2D6 fire table to determine casualties, recorded by base removal.
Assault: opposed D6 roll incorporating a few relevant factors.
Night Interval rules to allow multi-day battles.

BBB is not meant for tournament games or for casual, "get-toys-on-the-table" games. It is meant for fighting historical battles. BBB and its companion volume, Bloody Big European Battles, therefore provide fully playtested scenarios for 25 of the most important battles of the period, linked into full campaigns. Further free scenarios are also available on the web.

All the scenarios fit the battles they depict into a beautiful, tightly engineered game structure. They have clear, simple, but carefully thought-out victory conditions, designed both to recreate the historical situation and to generate an exciting and balanced game that can be completed in a sensible period of time. A particular joy of fighting historical actions on this scale is that usually both sides have several different viable strategies available, meaning the scenarios are full of replay value and can produce quite different games each time.

Dr. Nicholas Murray of the Naval War College and formerly of the US Army Command & General Staff College uses BBB to teach decision making and history to US and international officers. He specializes in the evolution of warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is author of The Rocky Road to the Great War.

The BBB rulebook contains not only the rules, but also a complete campaign of linked historical scenarios for nine of the largest battles of the Franco-Prussian War.
BBB Contents:
Introduction
Scale & Organisation
Terrain
Sequence of Play
Movement
The Firefight
The Assault
Night Intervals
Scenarios, Campaigns & Victory
Franco-Prussian War Campaign Scenarios
Froeschwiller
Borny / Colombey
Mars-la-Tour
Gravelotte
Beaumont
Sedan
Loigny / Poupry
Beaugency
Le Mans
Quick Reference Sheets

BBEB is a companion volume to the BBB rules. It provides 16 historical scenarios. Most of these are connected to create mini-campaigns, so that players can fight through the entire course of the major European wars of this period.
BBEB Contents
Introduction
European Wars 1853-1897
Scenarios, Campaigns & Victory
The Crimean War
Kurudere
The Alma
Inkerman
The Chernaya
Risorgimento! Italian War of 1859
Magenta
Solferino
The Second Schleswig War
Dybbøl & Als
The Austro-Prussian War of 1866
Custoza
Nachod, Trautenau, Skalitz
& Soor
Königgrätz
The Russo-Turkish War
The Second Battle of Plevna
The Third Battle of Plevna
Aladja Dagh
Metchka / Tristenik
The Serbo-Bulgarian War
Slivnitsa
The Greco-Turkish War
Domokos

BBB is taking orders from dealers now and will be launched at Fall In in November 2014. To keep informed of availability, join the BBB Yahoo Group
link
or monitor the SkirmishCampaigns website:
skirmishcampaigns.com
Vendors who carry SkirmishCampaigns books will have BBB products:
link

The Yahoo Group files include:
Colour versions of the scenario maps from BBB and BBEB;
Additional free scenarios;
Quick Reference sheets;
A list of the biggest European battles 1854-1897;
Tables listing the scenario size and troops required for every scenario in BBB and BBEB;
Campaign reports.

Colour versions of scenario maps, along with more photos of wargames with 6mm figures than anyone is likely to want to look at, can be found in my Flickr photostream:
link

Chris

My gott! You read my brain damn it! Wow wow wow. Is this avaiable in PDF?

Sorry, no pdf version. Slow boat to Istanbul, I'm afraid …

But maybe by the time you get a copy you'll have painted up all your 10mm troops!

(See the Yahoo group files for the list of what you'd need for the first two BBEB RTW 1877 scenarios – about 40 bases of Turks, rather more Russians and Roumanians.)

Chris

Interesting. Recently been playing a Fire and Fury variant, developed in our club, to do just this and of course there is Colonel Bill's Age of Valor set (another development of F+F) to come out when he is over his surgery.
How do your rules compare with Fire and Fury variants/ developments? What base sizes are required?

I see.Well I did get your scenarios and will look at them. Thanks you.

What's this? First I hear DBA 3.0 was released. Then I see a rules writer give us actual information about the game he is selling. I'll bet the next thing I'm going to hear is that the Dallas Cowboys have a winning record. Sheesh.

Thanks for the info. Looks like it could be my kind of game. Simple. Has a cost been determined yet?

John

^^^ I noticed that as well. Isn't it refreshing to actually get info about rules that are being advertised?

I've joined and dowloaded the playsheet. Thanks for the heads up on these rules.

Thanks for the responses.

Cost: I believe list price for BBB will be US$ 25. Same price for BBEB also.

BBB recommends 1" square bases but has also worked OK with larger (1.25" or 1.5") square or rectangular bases. Also good with unbased Irregular Miniatures stands, placed on card sabot bases in combinations of 1", 2" or 3" wide by 1" deep. Base sizes aren't crucial, so long as both sides are based the same.

A big difference between BBB and the F&F variants AoV and the recently announced "Feuer und Furia Francese" – apart from many differences in the rule mechanisms – is the sheer scale of the game. I believe AoV is 360 men per stand and FUFF is 600 men per stand. BBB is usually 1,000-1,500 men per stand, but as many as 2,500 for Koniggratz. BBB would be quite inappropriate for gaming small actions.

Thus I expect AoV, FUFF and BBB will be nicely complementary, and gamers will be able to use the same armies with all three sets, depending what size action they are interested in and what constraints they have in terms of time, space, and numbers of players.

I hope this helps.

Chris

Thanks Chris, looks as if I will be able to use my F+F bases for several different sets, depending on the battles we want to fight. I like the maps and the detailed scenarios you have produced. Also good that you have adapted everything to 6 x 4 tables, which are probably a size that most of us have easy access to.

Chris: Will this be available at Fall-In (OMM or Brigade Games)? I definitely want to buy this at the convention!

Prince Alberts Revenge: There will certainly be a stack of copies available at Fall In. Order forms have just been sent out to the dealers. If you get in touch with OMM or Brigade Games, maybe they will reserve copies for you.

Dave: Glad you like the maps and scenarios. A few man-hours went into them.

Yes, you can use the same F+F figures for a little division-sized scuffle like Villersexel, or a corps action like Spicheren, or a 380,000-man epic at Sedan. AoV or FUFF might be your rules of choice for the first two. The point of BBB is to make battles like Sedan playable in a routine 4-hour, 4-player evening – with moderate sized figure collections, on a normal sized table – rather than as a grand event at Historicon etc.

Chris

VERY interested in all of this. Great scenario maps in Yahoo; total 'free' value for money. Feel duty bound to buy this … UK based, any details?

Royal Marine: you're welcome. I've enjoyed enough of other people's free stuff, it seems only fair to give something back.

I think the printed copies of BBB and BBEB are still at the printers in the US. Certainly none have crossed the Atlantic. There are three UK vendors listed on the SkirmishCampaigns website, but I don't know if any of them will carry BBB:
link

I would hope that eg Irregular Miniatures will be interested in taking BBB as well, but depending how impatient you are, your best bet for now might be to contact Brigade Games or OMM and bite the postage bullet.

Chris

Very interested in these as I have been looking for ages for rules to game the large ACW battles using 6mm Irregular Miniatures strips.

Some questions, if I may:

How many stands would be required for the like of Gettysburg?

How many IM strips would be used per stand?

What is the smallest battle that BBB is suited for?

Alan: Irregular strips are almost ideal and have served in many a playtest.

Gettysburg was one of the playtest scenarios and is a great game (not yet polished enough for publication). I have fought all 3 days in under 4 hours – including set-up and packing away. You need:
Confederate: 53 inf, 4 cav, 6 guns
Union: 62 inf, 6 cav, 8 guns
(Inf including due proportion of command bases and a few Skirmishers)

I use 1 IM strip per base. As they are over 1" wide, I stand them loose on card movement bases of 1, 2, or 3" wide. Look at my Flickr photos for examples.

Smallest battles I have done are maybe 15,000 a side @ 500 men per base. Others have gone down to 333 a base and it works OK, it just isn't quite what BBB was intended for.

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the most helpful reply.

I have about 50 IM strips for both sides in ACW and they have only seen action once in 20 years as I have been looking for a set of rules to do the large battles. I simply did not have enough stands for large battles using Fire & Fury and the ACW is a secondary period for me, after Napoleoonics (using Snappy Nappy).

I was tempted by Altar of Freedom but was put off by the chits which seemed to follow stands around the table. I hope there is nothing like that in BBB as I hate the visual effect being marred by markers and chits with each unit, particularly in 6mm.

Will you be making an announcement as and when you sign up a UK supplier?

Thanks again,

Alan

Alan,

In BBB you do need a way to mark some unit states eg disrupted. I use plastic counters, which would be too obtrusive for your taste. But I have also seen very tasteful use of white, black and brown smoke wisps which enhance the visual effect rather than detracting.

UK supplier: orders are being handled by SkirmishCampaigns, not me. But I believe Caliver Books have now ordered a batch, so you could try them.

Some clarification about BBB and small battles. BBB only uses three formations: Line, In Depth, and Column of March. So there is no extended line, no squares, no field column or crochet, all of which players might expect and want to see in a division level game with battalions as units. Similarly, BBB does not provide low level tactical details such as combat bonuses for attached leaders, first volley, cold steel / buck & ball, etc. Of course you can use BBB for smaller battles but other rules might give you more of that kind of low level detail and flavour.

Chris

Chris,

Many thanks: I will contact those nice people at Caliver.

Alan

Yes. It will be available at Fall-In on Saturday at OMM. $25 USD for the rules and $25 USD for the scenario supplement.

Dennis

Saw this today on TMP and find the rules very interesting. I´m thinking of playing this on a map with squares as units. Like a Kriegsspiel or traditional "Hex and counter wargame".

Is this feasible? I know it will not look a third as nice as a "proper wargame" but better than nothing.

Soledad,

No reason why it shouldn't work. Since movement and firing arcs are both 45 degrees, those should translate nicely.

In fact I have often thought it would be ideal on a 3" hex grid, but since most people (including me) don't have enough hexagonal terrain, I've written it for the traditional approach.)

If you do experiment with squares or hexes, I'd be very interested to hear how it goes.

Chris

Hello
Just wondering if anyone has now played BBB and is able to offer a review. BBB looks interesting, but I have bought a lot of rule sets that looked interesting, but which didn't survive a first reading before being discarded. That gets expensive, so any comments on BBB would be appreciated.
Regards

Hi

I got the rules and I am reading them. I will try to run a scenario from the book, though the battles are a bit too big for my current collection.

i can tell you that for the time being the movement activation rules are something I liked.

Andy,

I know that a very positive review will appear in the next edition of the Foreign Correspondent (journal of the Continental Wars Society), which I think will be out soon after Christmas.
TMP link

Review copies are in the hands of a few other reviewers as well, but I don't know when those reviews will be forthcoming.

Meanwhile I am working on some smaller "training" historical scenarios, which I will post online to help players learn the rules before plunging into the major campaigns.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

I have finally had a chance to go through the rules and scenarios. Excellent job Chris. They look very well researched.

I have to say the ability to play the large actions of these wars in an evening, is brilliant.

I need to get some Russians and Turks! :-)

Can anyone tell me what a game turn consists of? What do you do first? What's last? Is it you go I go or some other methodology? I would appreciate some assistance in order to help me decide on whether to buy or not.

49mountain, thanks for asking. The turn sequence is basically IGO-UGO, with some minor reaction (Evade moves):

First Player
Unit Movement
Generals
Defensive Fire
Offensive Fire
Assault

Second Player
Unit Movement
Generals
Defensive Fire
Offensive Fire
Assault

You can find this on the Quick Reference sheet which is in the files of the BBB Yahoo group:
link

The QR sheet obviously has a fair bit of other detail too, which might help you to assess the game.

Hope this helps. If you have more specific questions that aren't answered either by my initial post or by the QR, please do ask.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

I have just bought the rules as I have been looking for some time for a set that could handle the big 19C battles as well as Horse Foot Guns. However I was a bit concerned that although the scale is "elastic" the firing ranges are not. Depending on the size of the battle a foot can be 1500 or 3000 metres and as a late breechloader always fires a foot it means that depending on the battle a unit can increase it's rifle range by nearly a mile! This could have been easily fixed by having the firing ranges change when the scale does, but having already paid £40.00 GBP I don't see why I should be forced to amend the rules so they produce half way realistic results.

Like the fish,

Thanks very much for buying the books and for raising your concern about ranges. I can understand this may seem odd at first reading. However, please at least try actually playing BBB to see how realistic the results are. I think you'll find it works.

The reason it works is explained on page 3 of the rules, where your concern about (in)elastic ranges is directly addressed:

"These ranges are significantly further than the distances the individual weapons could fire historically. The reason for this is that the troops of a unit actually cover a much larger area than the few square inches of its base. The bases merely represent the ‘centre of gravity' of a unit, and the fire factors reflect a ‘zone of control'. Some of a unit's component subunits – infantry battalions, cavalry regiments – will in reality be posted 100s of yards ahead as advance guards or outposts, others may be 100s of yards behind as reserve. Those subunits in turn will have thrown out companies or squadrons of skirmishers and scouts 100s of yards ahead again, flank guards, and their own supports and reserves. Thus when two divisions engage at a range of 12", perhaps 3,000 yards on the ground, with rifles whose effective range was only 1,200 yards, this represents the fact that each of the opposing units' forward skirmisher screens is up to 1,000 yards ahead of the main body. As units close, they thicken their firing lines and the fire gets more intense, hence the higher fire factors at shorter ranges."

I hope this helps, and that you'll feel your 40 pounds was well spent after all.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

Yes, you need to keep in mind what your model represents. In the case of BBB it represent not just the core unit itself but the skirmish lines, scouts, avant garde etc. I.e ranges do not represent a unit firing but the points at which components of the units began affecting the enemy. I.E range does not represent technical but tactical elements. Breech loading armed troops that fight closely packed without skirmishers will affect the enemy at a shorter range, than muzzle loader rifles that deploy significant skirmish lines.

At the level of command that BBB plays, technical characteristics take a secondary place to tactical ones. As it should (As your brigade might be made up of troops with diffrent rifles with different ranges)

Thanks, Kostas, well put.

I should add a bit more explanation myself as well. The words 'zone of control' in my previous message are quite important. The area over which a brigade- or division-sized unit can exert its influence depends on time. In BBB scenarios a larger ground scale is generally accompanied by a larger time scale. So what looks like a 3000 or 4000m rifle range may reflect the fact that a game turn is 90 minutes or two hours, rather then the 30 or 60 minutes for a smaller battle; and that in that time the firing unit may have pushed whole battalions forward to close the range.

There is a limit to how far this logic can be pushed – if pushed too far it could make artillery seem like airpower. But all the BBB and BBEB scenarios have been designed carefully and playtested repeatedly, and I am confident that they work and produce realistic results.

Chris

Thanks for your replies guys, I guess it comes down to what level of abstraction a player is prepared to accept. The thing that separates this period from others is the rapid leapfrogging of technologies that allowed armies to dominate each other – Minie, Dreyse, Chassepot, Krupp came to define the armies using them for good reason. It was an era where battles were won and lost because one side could decimate the other due to an extra few hundred yards range. If a player accepts the argument that at the larger scales battalions are pushed forward to increase the range then why are they not doing the same in the smaller scale battles?

Even if we accept that infantry can somehow project its firepower at the larger scales by deployment this cannot
apply to an artillery line. For example rifled artillery at Inkerman can fire 3000 metres(1.8 miles) and in the Nachod/Trautenua/Skalitz/Soor scenario it can fire 9000 metres (5.5 miles). This from an identical static gun line with no opportunity to "extend it's zone of control" or "throw forward companies" or other abstractions

Other players may well be happy to to accept this level of fudging and abstraction but I am afraid it is not for me.

Ltf, let me answer in detail first, and then in general.

You mention the Nachod etc scenario. Good choice. Look at Scenario Rule 11: "Maximum visibility is 12" throughout, because of the hilly terrain and the large ground scale." So an Arty unit can only fire 4500m. Also the terrain on the map is very dense so LOS is often very restricted. Both these things are deliberate, to avoid exactly the kind of distortion you're concerned about. Furthermore, the Nachod scenario uses a large troop scale: 36 guns per unit. Inkerman is less than half that, 16 per base. So one Nachod unit = 2 Inkerman units, and one Nachod unit can cover about one and a half times the front of an Inkerman unit (4500m vs 3000m). Inkerman turns are 1 hour; Nachod turns are 2 hours, in which time gun lines totaling 6 batteries – which aren't necessarily all in a single line to start with – could certainly redeploy a couple of them.

So to the general response. You're absolutely right that the technological asymmetries are very important in this era. In BBB those asymmetries are very much present, regardless of scenario scale. It's all in proportion. You ask why units aren't pushed forward in the smaller battles as well. Of course they are, but maybe it is a regiment or brigade pushing forward a few companies or a battalion in the course of 30-60 minutes, whereas in the larger ones we may be talking about divisions pushing out whole regiments in a 2-hour period, with consequently greater distances involved. (Nachod infantry units, again, being about twice the size of the Inkerman ones.)

In the end, I know that liking or disliking a given ruleset is a matter of personal taste, and if BBB doesn't feel right to you, then I'm sorry. But it would be a pity if you didn't at least give the game a fair chance and actually play it before rejecting it.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

Well even if you do not like the rules the scenarios shuld be adjustable.

My FPW stuff is on 90mm bases -will this work . What would happen to the ranges and movement distances?

mashrewba, it is workable, but I suggest in this way:

Some of my armies are based on narrow strips 100mm wide by 10mm deep. I have used these happily for BBB, but in effect they are just unit markers. To show the actual area and formation of the unit, I use an assortment of simple card bases in 1", 2" and 3"x1" sizes.

You can see the armies on parade here:

‌Crimean War British 2 by bbbchrisp, on Flickr

And in action, with the card 'sabots' underneath them, here:

‌7 Infiltrating up the ravines by bbbchrisp, on Flickr

(Look through the albums and you'll get the idea.)

Hope this helps,
Chris

Are there different sized units or does the 3x1 base representing three 1" units together.
I understand a unit is an inch.

All bases (in game terms) are 1"x1".

All artillery units are 1-base units (1"x1").

Cavalry units are typically 2-base, sometimes larger up to 6.

Infantry units are normally 3- to 7-base units, occasionally 2-base.

My card sabots are in multiples for ease of movement. I made them originally to carry my armies of free-standing Irregular Miniatures, so a 3"x1" piece of card would carry three Irregular castings and would represent 3 bases.

In the photo in my previous post you can see two 4-base Russian infantry units back to back. They are surrounded by two 2-base British infantry units (this is the Inkerman scenario in which the Brits are really stretched thin), and a 1-base artillery unit supported by a 3-base British infantry unit. To the left is a Russian general with a few figures ready to be allocated to one of his units to mark that it has Skirmishers.

Does that clarify sufficiently?

Chris

Got it -cheers Chris!!!

Happy to have helped!

Chris

Hi Chris,

Any chance these rules work for the Russo Japanese War?

Cheers

Happy Wanderer

Hi Happy Wanderer,

Every chance. I am sure that you could fight RJW actions with the rules as written.

Having said that, in response to popular demand (i.e., a few people have asked for it) I am tinkering with rule mods to scale it up still further for WWI and Balkan Wars. I think these might be appropriate for the huge RJW battles as well. I have posted a first draft of the rule mods, and a draft scenario for Le Cateau (which is about to be revised somewhat), in the files of the BBB Yahoo group.

Hope this helps.
Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

Yes please to the RJW, 2nd Boer War, and Balkan Wars.

Anton has been working on 2nd Boer War, though I haven't seen a progress report for a while.

Balkan Wars: scenario for Kirkkilise is close to playtestable version, for use with WWI rule mods. The rule mods should get their first playtest next week.

Chris

Sounds good. I won't be running an elective this year but plan on one for next year. I might look at running something that covers the Crimea through to the opening of WWI.

The opening battles between the Turks and the Bulgarians might possibly be linked. Not sure on the scale, but if they are then it would be awesome to do a withdrawal from contact to a new position.

So where can I purchase these in the UK? None of the links lead me to the product.

BBB and BBEB are available in the UK from Caliver Books
caliverbooks.com
and Irregular Miniatures
link

I think last week Caliver were temporarily sold out but expecting more copies imminently.

Chris

Any plans for an ACW dedicated set?

BBB as written works just fine for ACW, so there won't be a dedicated ACW version of the rules. If you mean a dedicated set of scenarios: there are about 15-20 big ACW battles that deserve BBB treatment, which would fill a nice scenario volume, but I don't have any definite plans to create such a book.

However, there are already scenarios freely available online for Shiloh, Gettysburg, and First Bull Run, and others will no doubt become available as they get written, either by the BBB team or (as with First Bull Run) by enthusiastic BBB players.

Hope this helps,
Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link