[Patrice]

Very nicely done, thanks for sharing.

In fact it could do for almost any period and location since pirates till modern and near future, if with a choice of roofs adapted to other places and periods.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Geof Downton wrote:

Just the right amount of rust.

Yees! At first glance I thought they had bronze weapons before noticing the closer view.

Like the shields too.

I have Goblins painted with Humbrol 30 years ago… sometimes I take a few of them and I try to improve them a bit with acrylic…

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Fascinating table and game.

…And something as much fascinating is that I am still discovering wars I had never heard of.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Very inspiring, thanks for sharing.

Embellishing MDF houses becomes an often discussed subject on forums and all ideas are welcome.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Beautiful!

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

The game organiser is always right. 🙂

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Fascinating indeed!

I fired a .50 MG once or twice while training during my (then compulsory) military service in 1980, it was called a “douze sept” (12,7) in the French Army. As an artillery observer I had one on the VAB armoured vehicle I was training in.

I was intrigued in your text by the mention of a .45 cal. Thompson sub machine gun being traded from an attached French Battalion. I don’t know much about this historical period, with a quick research I found this blog: https://www.lemondededjango.com/post/pistolet-mitrailleur-thompson-dans-larmeefrancaise. It says that the French government bought Thompson SMGs in 1940, some were delivered in March-April 1940, others were delivered… to the French Vichy government after the Armistice. So they were in service in Vichy army and police, and were still there after the war. That’s how some ended in the French forces in Korea.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

theron wrote:

The question is how to present this to the player. Which of these communicates more efficiently on a quick reference sheet?

Morale roll succeeds on 4+
+1 DRM for Elite Unit
+1 DRM for Commander Attached

or

Morale roll succeeds on 4+
Elite Unit succeeds on 3+
Commander Attached succeeds on 3+
Elite Unit with Commander Attached succeeds on 2+

Good question, and just in the right time, I’m struggling with it these days while working on a FIW & AWI short extension of my rules, which should include (optional) differences of shooting results depending on troops training and also on terrains (especially open forest where some troops are happier than others). I’ve decided that the best solution is to give both charts. A simple chart with the DRMs because that’s coherent with the generic rules, and another simple chart with pre-calculated results of the most typical situations. That may also help new players to understand more easily the DRM system.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

vtsaogames wrote:

In the example above where a D6 test succeeds on 4+, if two modifiers against the tester apply, then add 2 to the target number

I suppose that people often do this, half unconsciously, when needed. I’m reluctant to the idea of modifying target numbers because many players (unless they know the rules very well) have more difficulty to remember the actual target number of each unit if it is (apparently) modified all the time. I had a player who was a professional programmer too, and he was doing exactly this; perhaps if everyone had done the same it would have worked but in fact it was a bit confusing when discussing which target number (real, or modified) we were talking about.

vtsaogames wrote:

Whenever people apply DRMs in a game, they then do a small calculation to see what number they are trying to roll. (…) If there are many die rolls during the game and many of them are modified, that many calculations will be made.

One real problem is there IMHO. Many players ask “what number must I roll?”, then calculate (and discuss) what number they are trying to roll, before rolling, then they roll the di(c)e, then they calculate again to be sure they are right… so unconsciously they calculate everything twice and they talk about it even more.

Statistically, this example: “assume a D6 test that succeeds on 4+. Two different negative modifiers apply, subtracting a total of two from the die roll. Before rolling, the player calculates that only a 6 will succeed” …Well, in most cases he/she will roll 1 or 2, 3, 4… which obviously fails, so why hell lose all this time, before rolling dice, with so many calculations which have a great probability to be unnecessary?

I always tell players NOT to calculate anything before rolling dice, only to do it afterwards if the result seems near good.

 

 

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Fascinating thread.

Every time someone doesn’t understand something in my rules, I remember a thing I heard when doing my (compulsory) military service, the instructor telling a class of future reserve officers: “If the lads haven’t understood, it means you haven’t explained properly.”

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Jim Webster wrote:

‘accidental use of lethal force’ when the unit has a morale failure and panics.

That’s what I meant. And there are infamous examples of use of lethal force, without panic, because troops had to forbid a crowd to reach some building etc. but had not riot control equipment (shields etc.) nor training for this. That’s why I mentioned the French Gendarmerie, whose presence is now considered necessary amongst other French troops when in foreign countries (in Africa etc.) as it is both a military and police force.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Very interesting ideas, thanks.

Depending on events, some insurgents units “quality” could perhaps upgrade during the game also.

We have been using rioters in skirmish games of earlier periods, suddenly appearing from nowhere (from the local population of course) and handled by the GM or referee to complicate the mission of a player or another; for example: HYW townsfolk taking weapons to support the other side; or 1790s French Republican extremists appearing and storming a jail to murder a captive priest (which made the Royalist peasants furious in the next fights when they heard it) just when the Republican governor and most of the garrison were out of town to fight the Royalists Chouans.

You do not mention (perhaps on purpose) the possibility to have a military unit trained and equipped for riot control. It can make a big difference when facing rioters who don’t have firearms.

https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/782030/crisis-response-marines-french-gendarmerie-conducts-riot-control-training/

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

It’s nice as it is. 🙂

What you could do is paint the bottom the same colour as the sides, and add a cardboard base in some places – not everywhere, perhaps just under the largest underneath gaps – and cover it with some material to look like earth and some plants, dead leaves brought by the wind, etc. as happens under real big rocks.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Interesting. Medieval castles can be used for a variety of later periods.

Modifications could be the addition of outside bastions (16th, 17th, 18th C.) to protect the old walls; modification of the upper battlements for musket slits (17th, 18th, 19th C.); addition a couple of flak guns on the towers (WW2); addition of modern thingies (modern, Alien invasion, post-apo, etc.)… 😉

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

I generously mix: glue, acrylic wall coating, and cheap acrylic paint.

The mixture glue + wall coating is solid enough, and with paint in it it does not appear too white underneath each time a small bit of the surface falls off.

However I mainly use it for larger surfaces (terrain boards, hills). For walls such as yours it would need to be very thin not to fill up the wall details.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

  Thanks for posting!

I visited Cardiff Castle a long time ago …um it was in 1989 I think…

I don’t remember this… but perhaps all of it was not already there; or I was more interested in Roman, Dark Ages, and Medieval things than in Napoleonics at the time, and I was also trying to learn some Welsh grammar and to compare it with Breton.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Thanks. 🙂

The things on his shoulders are pteruges I think. The barrow is real stones with a thin light grey wash …and the gorse bushes in the foreground are cut from Scotch Brite.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Superb painting!

And yes this bridge looks interesting.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Glad to hear it. 🙂

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Nice. 🙂

Ali Dogan Sayiner wrote:

What do you think what shall I add more ?

If you really want to add something… Perhaps small stone stairs in one corner next to the tower? So at high tide, people in a small boat could come directly at the tower without walking up the large ramp.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Andrew Beasley wrote:

A lot of these though are closer to 10mm figures in the U.K. and have a very very thick (1-2cm) base that’s a nightmare to sand down on a belt sander.

Perhaps you could put 3 or 4 of them together as a village, on a polystyrene hill and make holes in the polystyrene for them to fit in, it would be easier?

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Good AAR and nice table with useful and practical terrain elements, well done.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Superb work, fascinating!

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

I’m not worried too much about skeletons disparity in a fantasy context where there would not be size requirement when recruiting undeads   some could be humans of different sizes, others half-ogres or whatever. It may be sufficient to swap equipment (shields, weapons etc.) between them to give a good overall impression?

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Superb! I was wondering where the figures were from, then I understood they are 15mm.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Excellent. Such terrain elements are always very useful.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Nice little game and good story, thanks. 🙂

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

craig cartmell wrote:

if I were to define the term ‘narrative’ in a way that avoids simplistic categorization, I would say it is a game where afterwards the players do not talk about dice rolls, but the decisions and actions their units or figures took in emotive terms (heroic, tragic, doomed, glorious, sad, amazing etc…)

I like this. 🙂

and that’s also what I call a good game.

(…only if saying “characters” instead of “figures”, figures are inanimated bits of metal or plastic which can’t do anything).

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Thanks for the link!

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

The French like to believe they did – at least in a movie (at 0:47 in the video).

http://tvmag.sudouest.fr/programme-tv/programme/week-end-a-zuydcoote-f540633

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Thanks Mike.

With the pandemic there were less game festivals and less games …so more time to exhume and to update many drafts of the rules which had not been finished since years…

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Hi,

The Sengoku Japan reference sheet and extension for Argad (a mix of RPG and skirmish rules) has been updated (a translation from the most recent update in French).

It now includes an optional table for arquebuses firing in salvoes, and more explanations, suggestions, and ideas (10 pages).

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/pdfs/sheet-en-japan-sengoku.pdf

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

I think it’s normal to change rules when needed – or at least for some details, without modifying the overall system: that could create problems.

Another condition is that the changes do not add long processes which will take more time to resolve and to play.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Mike Headden wrote:

In my experience the authors have gone through so many iterations of the rules that they know less about them than anyone!

It’s quite true. Some of my usual players know better some details of the latest versions of my own rules than I do when these details have often changed.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Patrice wrote:

The 2020 Argad generic rules has only one page devoted to cavalry. A new 8-pages document is now online, it contains explanations, suggestions and examples about cavalry and mounted troops: http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/pdfs/argad-en-cavalry.pdf

The generic cavalry supplement mentioned above (in May 2020) was a bit too dense and some details were not clearly explained. A new one (16 pages) is now online at the same address, it contains more useful examples, pictures, and ideas.

Next works to be soon finished are a new document for Sengoku Japan including a table for arquebus units shooting in salvoes and some more suggestions (already online in French); and a reference sheet and extension for the FIW and AWI (the FIW reference sheet which had been online in the past having been withdrawn a few years ago as it was no longer coherent with newer updates of the rules).

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Thanks, I’ll share the link.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Benjamin Cato wrote:

Very hard to use if you are playing solo.

There are dice to do it.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

As others have said, the decision to take risks or not can be considered as being part of the skill.

If you (I mean, your general) are willing to take the risk to enter the melee at the end of the battle, it’s a bet. You take it, or not, depending on the overall situation or on your will to accomplish a great feat of arms. If you are killed… then your glorious death will be remembered (and perhaps more remembered than if you succeed) so it should not be frustrating …and anyway you are dead so you cannot feel frustration any more.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Superb!

It must be a real pleasure to be sacrificed on this.

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Patrice]

Superb, and unusual. 🙂

http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/

[Author]

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