GameTime episode 3 is now available on YouTube at the links below (embedded as well). This episode is all about Muskets & Tomahawks. In part one I cover the game components, terrain, and miniatures I use in my French & Indian War collection when playing Muskets & Tomahawks. In part two we walk through the rules and learn how to play M&T, and in part three Roy and John play through a full 400 point game.
The next quicky is up for GameTime on YouTube. In this quicky I talk through a comparison between Muskets & Tomahawks and Brother Against Brother. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTiIVepcjTk or embedded below.
I've also included a written comparison below the video as well.
A quick update on GameTime episode 3 - it will post this week, if not in the next couple of days. Parts one and two are all ready to upload, I'm just waiting to finish filming/editing part three.
A little more of a comparison of the two systems:
Dice System
M&T: D6 based. Each die roll yields a result of 1-6.
BAB: D10 based. A roll of "0" is actually "zero" and not 10 - so each die roll yields a result of 0-9.
Units & Formations
M&T: Units range from 6-12 figures as stipulated in the army lists. Army lists included are for British (F&I and AWI), French (F&I and AWI), German (AWI), American (AWI), Indian (F&I and AWI), and Civilian (F&I and AWI). Each unit, it's options, traits, talents, etc. are use a point based system to create equivalent army lists. Rules for a firing line provide benefits to regulars forming a single or double line with at least 6 figures. All units can skirmish, however only certain units (most notably Indians and most irregulars) have a scout trait (ignore difficult terrain and obstacle movement penalties). Officers are included by troop type and generally can only benefit troops of their own type (for example, a regular officer can provide benefits to any friendly regular unit).
BAB: All units are 10 figures strong. No army lists are included. No points based system. Officers are included based on the number of units in the army. Generally one officer commands 2-3 units.
Turn Sequence
M&T: Uses a deck of cards that provide actions for unit types (regulars, irregulars, Indians, artillery, etc.). Most units get 4 actions per turn, however the order in which those actions come up is randomized by the order of the cards. Actions include move, reload and shoot.
BAB: Uses a deck of standard playing cards where each card is assigned to a specific unit in the army. Two cards are resolved at a time (if conflicting in their actions, roll off to see who has initiative). Actions include move, fire, load and charge.
Movement
M&T: Each figure has a fixed movement characteristic. Each individual figure takes it's own movement and suffers terrain penalties/benefits individually. Each unit has a unit leader and models in the same unit must remain within a single move of the unit leader. Scouts ignore difficult terrain and obstacles (of man height or smaller), and treat very difficult terrain as difficult.
BAB: Each unit moves 2D10 per turn (with some potential modifiers). Only the unit leaders move and suffer terrain penalties. After moving the unit leader, all models of the same unit can be placed within 6" of the unit leader. Models that are placed within 6" of the unit leader, and within terrain, do not suffer movement penalties. Adopting a formation such as single line, column, or double line sees the unit leader unable to move, all other models form on the unit leader. Units moving into skirmish can move and adopt skirmish in the same action.
Shooting
M&T: Shooting muskets is 0-4" point blank, 4-12" effective, 12-24" long range. To-hit uses the units shooting characteristic, modified by shooting modifiers (terrain, range, etc.), and once hits are scored, the weapons firepower determines was is needed to "kill" the targets. Kills trigger a reaction test (morale test). Troops are marked with black powder markers and must spend an action to reload before being able to fire again. Models are fired individually, so it is possible to have part of a unit reload and part of it firing in the same activation.
BAB: Shooting muskets is 0-10" effective, 10-20" long range. To hit is based on a D10 system (remember, 0's are zero's and not 10's). To-hit is based on the terrain the target is in - open, soft, or hard cover - and modified by the usual circumstances. Each hit cannot be saved and results in a casualty and subsequent morale test.
Melee
M&T: Any unit can use a move action to engage one or more targets in melee. Units must take the most direct path, maximize both attackers and defenders, and may use thrown weapons prior to engaging the target (throwing "tomahawks" and charging can be done in a single action). Up to 4 models can engage a single model if there is room. All attackers in base contact and all defenders in base contact roll attacks (need to score >= aggressiveness to score a hit). Once hits are determined, the defence value for each unit is used to determine saves. Side suffering the most casualties must take a reaction test. So long as units remain engaged additional rounds of melee are fought until one side prevails. Additional rounds of melee allow for figures from the engaged units to move/maximize/consolidate models between rounds of melee.
BAB: A unit leader must be within 6" of an officer to declare a charge. Attacker must resolve a morale card before being allowed to charge. If passed and contact is made, defender must take an immediate morale test an apply the results. If passed, attacker moves models into contact normally. Up to two models can fight a single enemy. Each engaged model is resolve individually. 2-on-1 melee is fought with a "free hack" from the second attacker, who needs to beat the score rolled by the defender on the "first" melee roll (all D10 based). Higher score wins, lower is removed as a casualty. Melee continues on ties. Melee is fought on an "individual" model basis ... figures that become un-engaged can take other actions as normal, or re-engage other enemy models still in melee.
Morale
M&T: Morale is represented by a reaction test. The result needed to pass depends on the unit type (regular, irregular, indian, millitia, civilian, etc.). Potential results are ok (test pased), recoil (unit makes a full move away from the enemy, remains facing enemy, activates as normal), flight (unit makes a full move away from enemy, faces away from enemy, unable to take actions for the rest of the turn, automatically recovers at the end of the turn), rout (the unit is removed from play).
BAB: A generic morale deck is used to resolve morale tests. Units required to take a morale test pull a morale card at the beginning of their next activation. Potential effects are thwacks (unit leaders or officers are killed), or units test on a D10, subtracting either all or 1/2 of the remaining number of figures in the unit. A 0 or less is a pass, anything positive is a failure. If failed, the number failed by results in that many figures "skeedaddling" (essentially being removed from play). For example, I roll a 9 and subtract my 7 remaining figures, the result is 2. 2 figures are removed as they "skeedaddle" away (there are also rules for these models running away ... with the potential to rally them later). Random events are also resolved by the morale deck.
Extras
M&T: A great selection of scenarios is included, side plots add a lot of flavor to the game (side objectives for an officer on each side), talents for officers allow customizing your leaders, and the many traits of units (options) allow unit customization. Additional rules cover buildings, boats, weather, hidden movement, and more.
BAB: The primary rule set is written for ACW, but appendix rules cover AWI and F&I. Officers and leaders can be customized with special rules/attributes. Additional rules cover forts, boats, and ambush.
Overall Results
For me, M&T is both more accurate to the period of the 18th century, and far better written (I'll note that BAB is older, being released in 1997, whereas M&T was released in 2012). I do enjoy the games of BAB I play in, but given the choice I would always personally play M&T. The Studio Tomahawk forum provides excellent support for M&T - from rules clarifications, FAQ, additional scenarios, battle reports, alternate lists, and more. I have not found the same level of support in existence for BAB.
Winner = M&T.
100th Post - yes, this is my 100th post on my blog (and closing in on 100,000 page views, yay!) ... seems like I just started the blog last week but it has been 18 months since I started this blog. I have to really thank all of you who read my ramblings and follow my blog, and GameTime --- thank you all very much!!
Quicky #2 just posted up to YouTube and covers converting a B-Wing from the Star Wars X-Wing miniatures game. The conversion makes the OOB static pose fully rotating, including the cockpit! Check out the video!
GameTime is back with an all new episode on the Ogre boardgame! The 3 part episode just posted up today to YouTube and is now available to watch. I've embedded the videos below as usual. Note that they are all available in HD (1080p) for the highest video resolution (although YouTube doesn't default to that quality - you'll have to select it).
Episode 2, Part 1 (of 3): Ogre Introduction
Direct link: http://youtu.be/RfT1uRNCDTk
In this part we talk about upcoming episodes (Muskets & Tomahawks and Game of Thrones) and we go through a complete unboxing of the Ogre boardgame box.
Episode 2, Part 2 (of 3): Ogre How To Play
Direct link: http://youtu.be/E1O4L5DwGpc
In part 2 of the Ogre boardgame episode we do a walkthrough of the rules of the game and show you how to play.
Episode 2, Part 3 (of 3): Ogre Full Game
Direct link: http://youtu.be/M2iVazRh7r4
In the final part of episode 3, we play through a full game of Ogre on a GEV map to show you how it is all put together. We use 30 strength of infantry and 40 strength of armour per side, hidden deployment (done prior to starting the video), and play through a raid scenario.
I hope you all get a chance to watch! See you next time for episode 3 that will be about Muskets & Tomahawks!
Hello everyone!
Just posted up a "quicky" update for GameTime. For all the people who are following my blog, thanks for joining me this past year. I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and have a great 2014! I certainly have lots of plans for this coming year around gaming. I just ran some Muskets & Tomahawks demos at a local game store (posting pictures/report in a separate post later today).
You can view the Game:Time quicky update by clicking here or via the embedded video below.
Note: All of the Game:Time videos are filmed and uploaded in HD. YouTube does not generally default to HD unless you have it set to do so in your YouTube settings for playback. If you click the little cog in the lower right of the YouTube screen you can select 1080p (if you have a good internet connection) for a higher resolution.
I've been building 4Ground buildings and getting my Bolt Action stuff up and running. I've also very interested in playing through a couple of games of Chain of Command to compare and contrast the two "popular" WW2 platoon level rules. I'm also interested in the hybrid of the two (stealing the patrol phase from CoC for BA ...).
Looking back I've had a great year. Although work has taken up a bunch of time in the 2-3 months, I've managed to get in a few games. I ran a Wednesday night Descent campaign (16 games!) that concluded successfully just before Thanksgiving. We'll likely start up again in the new year as we've had a lot of fun with that game. I've been playing small games of Muskets & Tomahawks and some other games, but haven't been able to get blog posts done about them.
The next episode of Game:Time is very near completion and we'll be filming an episode on the Game of Thrones boardgame that will be fun as well. Looking to do Muskets & Tomahawks for the next miniatures game episode ... so stay tuned!
I know I promised a post or two in the last couple of weeks, but I have some news to share. I'll of course still be posting on this blog as I complete projects and play games, but my group and I have also decided to do some web videos about miniature and board gaming. I'll be posting the episode links as they become available on this blog. We are planning to do a few episodes for now and we'll see if anyone actually wants to watch. If so we'll continue producing new videos. I'm by no means an expert video producer but I think what we've created is definitely watchable.
So here you go, episode 1!
GameTime
Episode 1: Dead Man's Hand
In this episode we talk about the Viking Horde Papercraft Kickstarter, take a look inside the massive Ogre boardgame box, and play a couple of games of Dead Man's Hand. Please find the links below to the videos that are posted to YouTube:
Episode 1, Part 2 (of 4): Dead Man's Hand Overview (15 minutes) - in this part I take you through a look at the terrain, counters, and miniatures I use in my Dead Man's Hand collection and also we walk through a typical game turn as an example of how to play Dead Man's Hand.
The plan for episode 2 is the play a game of Ogre (alternating between miniature and board games). We'll are looking to do SAGA, Muskets & Tomahawks and Bolt Action on the miniatures front and Game of Thrones, Zombicide, and Kingsburg on the boardgame front (plans subject to change of course).
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the episode so we can keep making more :-)
Some pictures from the game and setup are below.
If you do take the time to watch, please let me know if you think this is a worthy endeavor or if I'm just wasting my time. Cheers and merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you observe, if any) everyone!
