"Honours of War solo test with pix" Topic

I've been looking at Honours of War, the new Osprey rules for Seven Years War games. It looks fairly simple but a big step up from One Hour Wargames. For various reasons the Fencibles won't be meeting for a few weeks. I decided to try the introductory scenario solo. It would be good to be familiar with the rules before I spring them on the guys. I haven't soloed a game in a long time. I still have the ability to surprise myself.

The rules are pretty figure scale and basing agnostic. The frontage of an infantry battalion is the same as musket range. There are several QRS available online for various battalion widths. I decided to go with the suggested 15mm scale converted to inches (from centimeters). This QRS is also available from the website. I decided to go for 24 man battalions because it looks nice. But if these rules pass muster we'll have to go with single rank 12 strong battalions if we want to field more than 8 or 9 battalions per side. It won't make any changes to the rules, just the way it looks.
Enough of this hypothetical stuff, on to the game. The introductory scenario looks like this.

The Prussian infantry brigade advanced on the double, except for IR 13 which seems not to have been ready yet. The Russians moved forward looking to knock out IR 26. Firing broke out.



One battalion on side retreated in disorder and needed to reform.


More volleys were traded. The Prussian dragoons came off worse in the cavalry fight and fell back in disorder. The Russians weren't in much better shape and they declined to pursue.

IR 23 broke and ran. Archangel (photo below mislabeled) fell back across the river in disorder but didn't quit the field.


These small forces break when losses reach or exceed 2 units.
The Prussians closed in, thinking they had this one in the bag. Then Freddy lurched in his saddle. An optional rule counts an officer down as half a unit.

Apcheronski regiment took to their heels.

The imminent Prussian victory vanished, like morning mists. The Prussian dragoons failed to charge the flank of the Cuirassiers. A court-martial for the colonel? I'll have to see just how well connected he is. The Cuirassiers dropped back a bit. IR 26 wheeled to face them. This offered a flanking shot to the Russian battery on the hill. The Russians duly rolled a 5 on an average die. This put two hits on IR 26, which already had 3. 5 or more hits render the unit done for.


I had really thought the Russians were about to be put out. Instead the Prussians collapsed. This being a solo test game, I decided Freddy was just lightly wounded. Otherwise we'd have to call off the Seven Years War.

The game took 95 minutes to play 7 turns, about 13-14 minutes per turn. Not bad considering the first turn saw me hunting through the Kindle rules for almost half an hour. It's a good idea to get through this phase before trying the rules on the guys.

I like the rules. They are simple but have period flavor. I like the fact that units head back to the rear in disorder but can rally and return to the fray. I prefer that to units just staying in the fight until they are removed from the table. That also happens in these rules. In this game three units retreated in disorder and three broke and ran. (one unit did both)

Looks and sounds like fun!

Lessons learned? Can an old dog learn new tricks?

It is also one simple scenario, 5 units to 4, each force breaks on the loss of the second unit.

Thank for an excellent report on a very good set of rules. It looked great too.

So, would you say the major difference to 1HW being units retreat and rally?

No, there's a lot more than that. One Hour Wargames rule are brutally simplified. While these are streamlined, they have a lot more texture. I'm sure you could use HoW to play the OHW scenarios, though they might take more than an hour to play. On the other hand, with army break points maybe one side would quit where using OHW means last man standing.

Also, some of my buddies who like OHW still chafe at not being able to charge with bayonets in Seven Years War games. You can do it here, but make sure the target is in bad shape first.

There are grades of superior/standard/inferior for horse, foot and artillery. There are simple and rather nifty command and control rules, pretty much non-existent in OHW except for odd scenarios.

There seems to be some rather deep play. The retreat and rally mechanism means that you have to find a way to keep up the pressure when the enemy starts to give way before he recovers. I've played a lot more complicated rules that don't capture that well.

The enemy gives way and you can't exploit because you don't have fresh troops on the spot? That sounds like descriptions of many battles I've read.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the report and photos. Glad you feel the rules have something to offer. Best of luck with the bigger games to come.

Keith Flint.

We just played the second HoW scenario last weekend, and really enjoyed it! Loved the command & control rules, simple but effective. As you say, it does seem to have period feel.

For the record, we played 15mm, with four stands of 40mm frontage, for a total of 160mm per unit, which I think you also did? However, we used the 20mm measurements.

I did find artillery interesting. Damage is more predictable than musketry, but guns seem quite tough and difficult to destroy. Mind you, I've only played one game, so what do I know?

What I also love about HoW seems to be the emphasis on scenarios, rather than the artificial equal points meeting engagements found in so many other rules. I've dug out my old WRG scenario books, and all my Charles Grant "Tabletop Teasers"! HoW seem tailor made for them.

Our units have a 4" frontage (100mm) with 4 bases each. Fits the 15mm QRS.

Thanks for posting this.

Good looking terrain and figures! I like the smoke of muskets and guns on the table. I confirm the statement that the rules have a distinct period flavor.

By coincidence, I'm also currently conducting a solo St. Ulrich 28mm playtest, more of a detailed protocol of sorts. It lacks the nice picture editing seen here.

Maybe you like to take a look. I haven't played to conclusion, though.

link

Looks good, you have a lot more detail than I do.

In larger games, cotton smoke makes clear who fired, along with looking good.

Just finished a second one, may post tomorrow or after. A two hour game that played for 15 turns.