More "Chainmail 3ed" Playtesting - with a Princess!

Before Common Law, Before Mandated Mediation...

...disputes were settled by Sword & Spear!

This certainly cut down on the legal bills.

Today, another foray into the classic American rule set from which many other games were spawned... Chainmail, 3e.!

There's been a lot of playtesting, clarifying, writing and re-writing closely examining the original rulebook [available free online thru Archive.org...see previous posts]. I found a few things I misunderstood, and a few things that needed to be carefully weighed as possible outright changes.  I then carefully considered all changes made, and set aside a bunch for the original, so these could be as RAW as it gets!

Altogether, I believe I played this three times, modifying the rules a bit each time. Smoothing out the mechanics was very helpful and many of those little changes stayed. In one play, I tried out a significantly more lethal CRT, but went back to the original. Altho less lethal to figures, it 'feels' more real in that there weren't a lot of casualties in the actual clash of battle lines - it mostly happened after, when one side broke and was pursued. As Chainmail models this, it seems better to keep it 'as-is'.  

Overall, I'm continually impressed by how much understanding of combat the game has and successfully models!  I'm also impressed at how badly organized the rules are and how poor so much of the phrasing is. Perhaps later printings overcame this?  Just a few years later, Battle System 1e. was published, and many of the ideas of Chainmail shaped it, altho Fatigue didn't make it into that game.

For a scenario, I'll be using "One-Hour Wargames" once again. 

One that I definitely haven't played enough, #23 "Defence in Depth" 

This interesting challenge pits a larger 6-Unit force that has to go from North of the river to exit the road in the South-west edge, with at least 3 Units.  So half the force must survive the trip, which will undoubtedly demand some fortitude against whomever is skulking in the brush!  

Below, the English Marcher Lord's force:

16 Heavy Infantry                    5 Heavy Cavalry              16 Heavy Infantry Archers

12 Elite Armored Infantry        5 Heavy Cavalry              10 Light Infantry Crossbows.

[dismounted knights]

Below, the ambushing Welsh force:

2 Units of Heavy Infantry, Long Spears        2 Units of 8 Light Infantry, Longbows

1 has 12 figures, the other 24 figures

Turn 1: The English start with Initiative, and move onto the board aggressively to seize as many crossing as possible - this threatens the Welsh all along the line. 

In previous playtests, I found that giving the Welsh too much opportunity to concentrate against any one crossing created a tough game for the English.

The Bridge has HI, AI and the HI Archers advancing against it. In the Center, the LI Crossbows make for the Ford through the woods.  At the Right Ford, both Knights - combined - are preparing to cross in the face of stiff opposition.

Against them, the Welsh have the large HI holding the 'town' modeled as ruins, one Archer in the center, and the small HI supported by an Archer Unit at the right Ford. 

Both deployments are influenced by previous fights, but that doesn't mean they are the best ones!  Also, I was continuously altering the Units to find a good balance.

The Welsh cleverly managed to deploy outside of the range of the shorter English bows! Unfortunate, as the HI Archer Unit packs a strong punch. The Crossbows are serious professionals and advance quickly into the teeth of the Welsh main line, preparing to cross a Ford. Unfortunately, in order to shoot after moving a full move, they need to beat the Welsh in a roll-off [an unusual mechanic that I've only seen in these rules]: they fail losing 3-4.

As the English are Moving first, the Welsh get to Shoot First, during the English Movement Phase.  Thus, if you want to catch the enemy with an opportune Charge, you want to Move first; if you want to prepare the way for your charge with missiles, you want them to Move first.

The Welsh unleash a hail of longbow arrows, and despite the cover of the woods, manage to kill three crossbowmen with two shots!  They are over 25%, and must check morale - they barely pass on a '7', getting +1 for being in defensible Terrain. Chainmail only has two checkpoints for losses - if you pass both, you are good to the last man! There are still plenty of checks for charges, etc.

Turn 2, on the other Flank, the knights advance slowly across the treacherous ford. Along the way, they take some brutal incoming fire from the longbows [the Welsh rolling 'up' every time!] and have to check at 50% losses!  They do pass, however, which means they are likely very angry...

Meanwhile, in the center, the Crossbowmen have gotten some shots in - at close range and with a heavy weapon, they force a Welsh Morale Check and with a '4' [needing an '8'] the Welsh Rout to the rear...

Turn 3, the Welsh win the roll-off, and take the Move to charge against the knights at the ford.

The Welsh HI don't need to roll as they are charging a flank. The knights must roll, and amazingly... roll a '5', needing a 6+ to pass [due to being Charged in Flank]... they fly back across the ford from whence they came!

Also, the Archers rally automatically. 

In Chainmail units that Retreat or Rout will quickly rally if they are not pursued - this makes shooting useful to force Units back, but they will return unless someone pursues... light cavalry, anyone? This is another unusual mechanic.  My sense says that you are more likely to rally the farther you run as you tire out and danger seems farther away.  But typically Units are running a hundred yards or more, so perhaps that's enough to feel safe?  Something to think about.

At the bridge, the Archers have let loose some arrows, and caused two hits to the Welsh in the town.  This is to soften them up for the big charge!

Princess Louisa makes an appearance, and eagerly rolls some dice.

As it is a frontal charge, the English have to check first - they pass with an 8.

Unfortunately, Louisa rolls a '4' for the large Welsh HI defending the town...Despite few casualties [2 / 24] they bolt down the road to safety near the Archers.

Interestingly, this unit did this 1-2 times previously!

As Turn 3 winds down, the English have secured the bridge and the center ford. The Welsh have driven off the knights at the farther ford.

The Welsh are in danger of losing their best melee Unit - this bodes ill as it is defending against the English exiting the board for the win...BUT, if the Welsh can win INitiative, they may rally and make a stand in the roadway - will they??

Heck no!

They lose the roll-off, and the English take first Move, Charging after the fleeing Welsh.  They have  a chance to Rally and fight back - will they??

Heck no!

They roll a '2', needing a '6'.  I decided that Princess Louisa was made such by the English, not the Welsh... who end up routing off the table.

Meanwhile, the Crossbowmen finish Crossing the Ford. The Welsh Archers get a shot in, and put them over 50% - they now have to check. Will they fail?

Heck no!

They roll a '10', and easily pass.  I'm wondering if Pr. Louisa should be this one-sided in her help...? With the crossbows threating the center, I am forced to turn the nearby small HI Unit around to hopefully destroy them next Turn with a Charge.

In Turn 5, the English again win IN, and take the opportunity to move the Crossbows towards their friends. Covered by the Archers and the HI which is now guarding the victory condition - the road exit - and the Armored Infantry which has secured the bridge, they are likely to make it to safety.  

The Welsh continue to shift their Units towards the road, as the way has been cleared and the English are getting more and more likely to escape! The English HI Archer Unit has four volleys of arrows left, and 16 figures shooting. They also roll hot and in two volleys take out 4 Welsh HI, bringing them over 25%.  Fortunately, Pr. Louisa has departed so I am able to roll an '11' for them to pass their check, as the Welsh defense won't stand another rout!The green markers tally Fatigue - I switch to yellow at 5, and red at 10 to show Fatigued and Exhausted, respectively.  The Blue markers show remaining missile shots. So the English HI is Fatigued, which reduces them to the effectiveness of Light Infantry, but there are a lot of them - 16 - and the Welsh Archers can't possibly take them on.  They have one Shot left and 3 Fatigue, so are hoping to use that last shot to make a difference to victory, somehow!

With that in mind, the Archers shoot the Crossbows, and kill 2 more!  But are now out of missiles, and reduced to angry looks and insults, mostly.

Turn 6. With a rear Charge on the Crossbows, the Welsh are eager to win IN and take the first Move... but they lose again, 5-3.  The Crossbows run to safety, while the AI by the bridge face the weak Welsh HI Unit in the field.

In a final act of bravery, the Archers decided to charge the Crossbows whom they can just barely see.  They don't need to check as they are not charging their front.  The Crossbows fail their morale, needing a '10' to pass, and Rout towards the Bridge.  There is still one left, however!

The Welsh HI in the field had nowhere to escape the English Archers, and took a volley into the rear as they attempted to retire pushing them over their next check point, 50%. This time they fail on a '5' and Rout, almost leaving the table.

As Turn 6 ends, the English are looking strong to win.  They are shifting their remaining knights towards the bridge that they hold in strength with dismounted knights and one last volley from their Archers.  The road is being held by a fresh HI Unit, and the Crossbows - well, Crossbowman with one left - will recover as no Welsh are pursuing him.  The Welsh have a weak HI, a weak Archer with no shots left, and a strong Archer Unit with three shots left heading towards the central woods.  But they've nothing to challenge the English HI on the road.

Turn 7, the Welsh finally win IN, and allow the English to take the first Move, as they want the first shot! The English shift their positions to better secure the road for the crossbows and the knights. The Welsh take a long shot... and kill the last Crossbowman!  Now the English MUST get the Knights or their archers off the table, along with the two foot units on the road, to secure a win from this perilous ambush!

The English Archers respond, but they roll poorly and with a '1' only kill one Welsh Archer, not enough to make them check morale. Their Knights race across the bridge, following the dismounted knights on the road.

Turn 8, the Welsh again win IN, and again allow the English the first Move so they can get the first Shot in. The Knights make their final gallop to safety and the Welsh Shoot!  Unfortunately, they only kill one more, needing two more to put them at 80% and cause a Morale Check. The Knights will escape!

Turn 8, there is no hope for the Welsh. The knights and then the Infantry will escape. Just to see what would happen, I roll for the small Welsh Archer unit to make a frontal Charge against either English Foot Unit, and they [wisely] decline the honor. 

Out of curiosity, I roll the check for the Knights had they lost two and been over 80% - they easily pass with an '8' so that wouldn't have worked out, anyway.

It was a tight game despite the large Welsh HI Unit going to pieces and basically failing to stand their ground twice.  Had they passed morale, they would have mauled the English HI in the ensuing melee, and possibly have routed them.

Interestingly, Fatigue wasn't as significant in this scenario. Both sides, being separated by a river, were able to take time and recover without much of a threat.  Also, the Welsh didn't have the right Units or enough Units to chase after the English.

The - quite realistic - limit on missiles that I added seems to work well.  Archers are just barely able to affect the course of the battle, but are usually not decisive, as it should be.

At this point, I feel like I have the Chainmail rules where I want them. The only significant change is reducing the power of Shooting by around half, and also introducing a limit on missiles.  Most of the rest are just little tweaks to clarify movement and Fatigue.  

The rules deliver a game that has good feel.  This really surprised me, as I figured their age [pushing 50!] would make them both clunky and a bit unrealistic.  What I found is that Gygax and Perren must have read a lot of history books [if not Strunk & White's "Style Manual" for coherent writing!] and made a game that concentrated on morale and fatigue instead of the small, largely fictitious differences between various troop types [a fad that followed them and which continues to this day].

The concerns of Chainmail Commanders are Morale, Fatigue and Ammo - a lot like commanders today!  And the victory conditions, of course.  

Maneuver is important, and the game has "old-school" long move distances. But the Move / Counter-Move turn sequence provides critical opportunities for either side to take some risks and exploit some opportunities, so the game rarely plods. 

However, if both sides play well, keeping their units in close support and managing fatigue and ammo, the battle will likely be decided by Morale, one place where armies in this period are usually weak, historically. I'm OK with that: if both sides are played equally skillfully, then the dice will decide.

I'm excited to continue big battle games with Chainmail, and look forward to painting up some more and better heroes and their retinues to use the Individual Combat mechanics more.  There is already a January date for another Welsh adventure with the same gaming group that played Orewin Bridge, so stay tuned!