Following on from the previous blog entry on my Midgard preparation, I thought I would try to get as much completed from the list as quickly as possible. I have managed to achieve quite a bit in the last few days, so I will list these points below...
Gaming items:
I ordered some Midgard compatible bases from Warbases a week or two back and I have now received them...
I ordered enough to make up (hopefully) the two 300 point armies that incorporate Warriors (formed), Warriors (unformed), Skirmishers and cavalry. There will probably be a few bases left over, so if the games go beyond 300 points I will have some expansion room before needing to order any more.
In case you were wondering why the bases have little holes in each of the figures slots, that is because I will be using mini magnets to hold the figures, that are based on UK pennies and 38mm steel washers, in place. I ordered up a couple of packs of 3x2mm magnets, at £3.75 per pack including postage, from a supplier on Amazon for that purpose...
As can be seen from the top image, I ordered four types of base:
- 5x2 slots - Warriors (formed infantry) - Roman legionaries, ranked archers etc.
- 10x slots - Warriors (unordered infantry) - Celtic warriors
- 4x large slots - cavalry
- 4x small slots - skirmishers - Celtic archers, slingers etc.
Whilst prepping these items, I also cleaned up the Roman artillery crews, two units of Celtic cavalry and based them all in readiness for undercoating. I still need to work on the chariots and a few more Celtic infantry pieces though.
Campaign ideas:
On the actual game front, I have worked out points values for all units that will be involved in the game (stats for the individual units will be presented in a later post):
Romans:
- Roman commanders
- Prefect (level 3) - 43pts
- Primus Pilus (level 2) - 35pts
- Centurion (level 2) - 21pts
- Legionaries (Heavy Infantry) - 34pts
- Auxiliary archers (Formed Archers) - 29pts
- Auxiliary spearmen (Heavy Infantry with Missiles) - 24pts
- Cavalry (Light Riders) - 20pts
- Scorpions (Monstrosity: Artillery) - 20pts
- Onager (Monstrosity: Artillery) - 30pts
Britons:
- British Heroes
- Chieftain (level 3) - 47pts
- Champion (level 2) - 32pts
- Champion (level 1) - 18pts
- Druid (level 2) - 27pts
- Armoured (3) Warriors (Heavy Infantry) - 22pts
- Unarmoured (2) Warriors (Heavy Infantry) - 17pts
- Sky Clad (Skirmishers: Light Infantry) - 16pts
- Archers (Skirmishers: Shooters) - 15pts
- Slingers (Skirmishers: Shooters) - 10pts
- Female Warriors (Heavy Infantry with Missiles) - 16pts
- Cavalry (Light Riders) - 16pts
- Chariots (Light Riders) - 24pts
- Hounds (Light Riders) - 22pts
I was aiming, with the large differentials in costs per unit for the two sides, to try to get the Romans really outnumbered figures-wise on the table to give the impression of being at the enemy's mercy. I have created two 300 point armies to face each other in the first scenario. Details of these will be in a later post that I will publish prior to playing the first game.
As this is a campaign game, I have had to make a few extra rulings on how it will be run...
Losses and Reinforcements:
After each battle I will calculate actual losses to each surviving unit that took Stamina damage
- Remove figures from each base as a percentage of Stamina lost - for example, on a 4 Stamina unit...
- 1 Stamina loss = 25% loss of figures (if a fraction, round down results for all losses)
- 2 Stamina loss = 50% loss of figures
- 3 Stamina loss = 75% loss of figures
- 4 Stamina loss - unit should have been removed from table already
- For partially damaged units, I will roll a d6 for each figure lost...
- On a 6 the troops were only wounded, dazed, or had managed some other way to escape slaughter, so they are returned to either their original unit or to another unit that is understrength
- On a 1-5 they are lost
- If a unit is completely wiped out during a game, then it is completely gone - no saving roll. It can be said, for story-telling purposes (i.e. one way in which the commanders get their news of the enemy's movements), that one or two individuals survived to make it back to the main force but these remnants can be said to make up the numbers of another damaged unit, so don't have any impact on unit strengths
- If two or more understrength units can be combined to make a whole one, then they will be, otherwise they will be left out of the next game until multiples of understrength units can combine to create whole ones; for example, if two ten-man units of the same type took casualties so that five are left in one unit and seven in the other, then a whole ten-man unit will be made and the remaining two will be left until after the next battle and then combined with another unit of the same type if possible. They can be assumed to have moved on to the next battle site for a variety of reasons
Before each battle, reinforcements will be calculated (still a work in progress)
- The Romans gain an extra unit or two depending upon which Roman camp type they are nearest to
- Marching camp = 2/3x random bases until all are used up
- Auxiliary Spearmen
- Auxiliary Archers
- Cavalry
- Watch Tower = 1x base of legionaries
- In the final battle they get an onager and/or a scorpio base in addition
- The Britons gain an extra 60 points to spend on new units (any points left over are lost) - there are three villages from where to gain reinforcements
- If the Britons win, depending on their level of victory, they will gain a bonus number of reinforcement points equal to the level of victory (0-3) x10
The reinforcement totals may seem a little off in favour of the Britons. This is for two reasons; firstly, they are on home turf and are expected to be able to recruit more troops, and secondly, they are expected to take more casualties as the Roman troops are better quality unit for unit. If this proves to be a little unfair I will adjust the amount of times that recruitment can take place; maybe after battles 1, 2, 4 and prior to 6 if the numbers are too uneven.
I have also been working on a map for the campaign; it will be hand drawn as if by the Roman commander, and will show the locations of Roman outposts and fortified camps, with British villages, woodlands and hills all marked - I have also added in the sites of the battles. I may try to scan and import a proper map, when drawn, into a drawing package so I can add details as I go along. This version is my initial sketch (apologies for the poor photo quality)...
Initial sketch map of environs
There are five scenarios in the rule book which will be used for the full campaign, along with a sixth, final decisive battle that pits all remaining troops on each side against one another. Points will be awarded throughout the campaign for each battle's outcome (0-3 for the victor), and will be added together to give a running tally of how the campaign is progressing, with the final battle giving double-points to the victor. I still need to determine which scenario is to happen at which location on the map.
Still left to do:
- how are the miniatures to be presented as units on the bases
- prepping the bases for play
- create a proper campaign map
- decide the order in which the five scenarios from the rulebook are played
- work on a sixth game that is a full on battle utilising every unit left on each side
- painting any figures that have not been painted yet (but this is not going to stop me from playing)
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