So I’ve been Musing on the Vulture’s Feast, a Thirty Years War version of my Populous, Rich and Rebellious Campaign for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Most of the flavour of the campaign comes from the Campaign Cards. I’m not sure which ones I’ll end up with but I thought I’d share the possibilities. Please comment if you have endorsements, tweaks and/or new suggestions.
Thirty Years War
In 1617 the fiercely Catholic, Ferdinand of Styria, was elected by the Bohemian Estates to become the Crown Prince of Bohemia and the heir to the throne. In May 1618 a group of Bohemian Protestants in Prague seized Ferdinand’s representatives and threw them out of the palace window. This event started the Bohemian Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War. The conflict soon spread across the Holy Roman Empire, and then the whole of Europe, involving Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden, and a number of other countries. The war ended in 1648 with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, part of the wider Peace of Westphalia.
Musing on the Vulture’s Feast – A 30YW version of Populous, Rich and Rebellious
We’re really joying Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War. But people keep asking me, what about the Thirty Years War? (Most recently Peter Godden.)
Musing on resolve – commander rally at a distance
Commander rally is a key element of the morale rules in Tilly’s Very Bad Day. To rally a unit the commander has to attach to the unit. Should I soften this and allow rallying at a distance?
Musing on resolve – horse and pike+shot in difficult terrain
We really like the resolve mechanism in Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Bundling all morale factors into one number and using that to simulate combat, reaction to the result of combat, and a commander’s ability to rally. We think it one of the things that makes Tilly’s Very Bad Day unique. So I wondered how to take it further. One possibility is to weaken resolve when moving in disrupting terrain.
Musing on distance distortion in Tilly’s Very Bad Day
A couple of people have commented on the seemingly distorted distances in Tilly’s Very Bad Day with ranges being overly generous compared to unit frontages. I thought I’d respond. The truth is, I deliberately distorted the distances to enhance game play and they’re actually not as wrong as folk seem to think.
This post is part of my musing on Tilly’s Very Bad Day.
S12 Fighting Across the River – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1
I persuaded Adam and Chris to play my S12 Fighting Across the River Scenario for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Although this is a generic scenario, the armies were from the Thirty Years War. Chris was the Blue player, the attacking Swedes. Adam was the defending Red player, with the Imperialists.
Contested river crossings in the Seventeenth Century – Musing for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Recently we play tested my S12 Fighting Across the River scenario for Tilly’s Very Bad Day (which I’ll post about soon). After the game Adam and I got to talking about the premise of the scenario and Adam encouraged me to take a closer look at some 17th century battles that feature a river crossing. In this post I look at four such battles and look for patterns in four factors: (1) crossing points; (2) forces present; (3) forces engaged; and (4) the battle result. The nature of the river crossings includes whether the river was fordable and how many crossings there were. A lot of men might have been nearby but only a minority were actively engaged, which suggests whether these battles were ‘nasty fights’ or ‘grand battles’. The result of battle is on the list because the defenders of a river crossings had a habit of ‘retreating once things get serious’.
Steven’s Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Army for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Last year I collected a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Army for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. They are what got me interested in the Northern Wars. Actually it was the Gustavus Adolph’s campaigns against them that got me interested – he formed his military ideas in the Livonia fighting the Commonwealth before sailing to German for the Thirty Years War.
I thought I’d share some photos. Rather than have a separate painting guide I’ll give painting guidelines here.
Generic 30 Years War Army List for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
The rules for Tilly’s Very Bad Day include a generic Army List for the Thirty Years War. I wanted to explain the army list a bit so copied it here. And having copied it, I couldn’t resist tweaking it. This list applies to all western and central European armies i.e. those of Spain, the German Catholics (Bavaria/Catholic League, Austria/Imperial), the German Protestants (Palatinate, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Saxony, etc), Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and France.
S01 Attack on Prepared Position – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1
I invited Chris and Adam over to play test my version of S01 Attack on a Prepared Position Scenario for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. This is an adaptation of a scenario from “Scenarios for all Ages” by Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith. My scenario is Thirty Years War with Spanish attacking entrenched Swedes in high ground.
Summary: Short and intense. A much better game than any of us anticipated. It was a close run thing with Swedish (Adam) breaking the Spanish army (Chris) just as the Spanish horse broke past the Swedish line and were going for the baseline. We all agreed it would be good to play again with some minor tweaks.
Musing on Commander Ability in Tilly’s Very Bad Day
I like the way John Fletcher (2005, 2006) assigns explicit abilities to the generals of the South American Wars of Liberation. In Liberators QPR generals are classified on a five rating scale from abysmal, through poor, average, good to excellent. And then he gives come generals extra abilities e.g. improved initiative. So how would that work in Tilly’s Very Bad Day for the generals of the Thirty Years War?
Battle of Grantham – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report
Malcom Dove sent through a battle report of the Battle of Grantham, his 2nd Solo Game Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and the first game of his English Civil War Campaign. Most words are Malcolm’s.
Battle of Schlossmuele – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report
Malcolm Dove shared an after action report for his first solo game of Tilly’s Very Bad Day. He calls it, the Battle of Schlossmuele. All words are Malcolm’s.
Snakes and Ladders Campaign for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Peter of Grid based wargaming has sparked some interest in using the children’s board game Snakes and Ladders as the basis for a wargaming Campaign. The snakes become tribulations and the ladders are campaign successes. So I have made up a board for a Tilly’s Very Bad Day Snakes and Ladders campaign based on Peter’s board for the 18th Century.
There is no skill in playing this campaign system as, like the children’s board game, random dice rolls lead to success. If you are lucky, you will win. For me this makes a Snakes and Ladders Campaign most suited to solo play where the goal is to provide narrative for the game. I’m not really a solo player myself, but I know some Tilly’s Very Bad Day players do play solo and I hope this will appeal to them.
S140 Dominant Hill – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 2
Jamie and I thought we’d have another go at S140 Dominant Hill – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario. Our first play test was a blast and we both had ideas for how to play it differently. Once again Jamie was Saxons as the Red Army and I was Imperialists as the Blue Army. Tilly’s Very Bad Day of course.
Summary: Another great game. Five game turns. 1.5 hours game time. Tense and gritty, with a decisive result. We will play it again.