Now available to ship! This makes a very nice expansion to Brandywine. A full on battle using the same blocks. The map is much bigger. The maneuver options are much more open. The British are on defense here. The possibilities are endless.
Attack Upon the Chew House
The game with an open setup here at Germantown is endlessly fascinating. We’ll be doing a Blog and new video on how to do this.
Do I need the Update Kit?
Here is an easy way to tell. Look at your Brandywine blocks. Do you have a ‘Smallwood Militia’ included? If you have that piece, you do NOT need the Update. You are good to go!
If you’re like me, your eyes aren’t getting any better. I know. I hate it too! :/
We are testing out a new style of dice stickers. It is a cleaner and sleeker design: more graphical, fewer numbers, bigger easier to read font.
Big Print Edition Dice
I’ve been testing them out. I like them better. I guess the downside is that they look a little modern. They don’t have that old world, period look to them.
Standard Dice Now
We’re not sure yet if we want to make them available. What do you guys think? Do you like them better? Would you rather have these?
They are easy to change. The trick is to soak the dice in hot water for awhile. Then you just peel off the old stickers and wipe clean with a towel.
In the Art of War, Sun Tzu talks about Dying Ground. It is a fascinating factor, but one I’ve never seen accounted for in a wargame.
Most soldiers in war do not actually fight. Accuracy on the firing range doesn’t translate into casualties on the battlefield. Why not? At first, you might think the adrenaline rush of battle might being throwing off the marksmanship. Psychologist have determined that the real reason is, that most people don’t want to kill somebody. Even the enemy, in a firefight. -Fine, I’ll serve. I’m not a coward. I won’t desert. I’ll stand with my unit, but you still can’t make me kill someone.
Most soldiers from the Civil War would pull their shots: intentionally fire high over the heads of the enemy. Another trick was to not pull your trigger. Load, level your musket but don’t actually pull the trigger. Just keep reloading and act like you are fighting. That’s why they would find many muskets after a battle that were reloaded 10 times but never fired.
The number of men that actually do shoot to kill in war is very low. Down around 10%, as I remember. Imagine if you could get all the men in a unit to actually fight! This brings us back to Sun Tzu. This is what he called, Dying Ground:
When you cannot press forward or retreat; when you will survive if you fight quickly and will perish if you do not –It is said “Put them on dying ground, and then they will live.”
What would that look like in a wargame?
Dying Ground –Optional Rule
Before resolving a Combat, check to see that your units have an open route to retreat. If their route is blocked by impassible terrain and enemy units, they are on Dying Ground.
Units fighting on Dying Ground get a +1 combat modifier.
They will also ignore a second hit retreat result. They will stay in place and keep fighting. The third hit they take will destroy them as usual.
I have no idea what this will do to the game. It may result in all kinds of trouble. It also adds complication and extra rules to
remember. With Pub Battles, we always
try to keep that to a minimum. So I don’t
expect to see this as an official rule later.
Try this out and let us know what you see. Is it good?
Does it work?
