Monday, February 8, 2021

PaperBoys - an Adventure in Paper Soldiers

Hi folks,

I have been toying with the idea of either Paper Soldiers or the WoFun plexi-glass soldiers to fill out certain periods I'd like to play, but don't want to invest loads of time and money into the project.

Since I finished writing Vauban's Wars I thought it would be fun to create 15mm armies for the WSS and specifically make them for siege warfare. This means single rank of figures on a small thin base. So, paper soldiers should fit the bill and I never had WSS armies before! I don't even need flags for this project (however, I love flags). I can also skip the cavalry for the siege games, which means far fewer figures to cut out and base.

I decided to use the War of the Spanish Succession "PaperBoys" created  by the talented artist, Peter Dennis, and sold by Helion.


Materials

I used the following to assemble the armies, and I'm only showing the first units that I have made.

100 sheets x Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte (link) ($14 USD)

200 x Litko's 1" x .5" bases (3mm thick) (link) ($29 USD) This will allow me to make 50 units with four stands per unit. This should be more than enough for Dutch, British, French, and Bavarian regiments for WSS.

PaperBoys WSS PDF (link) ($17 USD)

Tacky Glue (Michael's) ($2.50 USD) already had this. Link

Cutting blade ($6.99 USD) already had this. Link

Scissors (not used that much as the scale is too small)

Cold Grey color pen from Faber-Castell. (link)

62% scale from the PDF to get the right size. (Tried 64% but the overlap between the bases was too great). This puts the figure at about 17mm in size, which works great with my existing miniatures and terrain\buildings.

The Project

So, originally I was collecting the books from Peter, but then realized it would be better to have the PDFs as I could scale them at will and it is just a better format than a book. With the book you would have to disassemble the book, put it in the scanner (mine is not very good), the save the image and resize from there. The PDF has the miniatures on A10 paper and 28mm figures. I just did the math and tried different figures scales. 18mm = 64%, but this was too large for the 1" bases and the figures overlapped, which looks pretty cool, but then you can't align the bases that well. 

Here is an example of 18mm (64%) Bavarian Grenadiers and you can see the overlap:


Next, I tried 62% (17.4mm) and that came out just a bit too large with very little overlap. These are the Dutch Guard and I will keep the figures as they just look taller than their counterpart. Very "Guard-like"! I have decided to go with 62% scaling for this project as in the trenches and fortress walls the figures don't need to align perfectly. I like this look and will allow me to make a WSS project for Vauban's Wars on a budget. Storage should be easy too. I may use Mod Podge to seal and protect them. I'm also working on different edging techniques. Below I have used blue, yellow, and black to edge the coats. (Note: still need to flock or paint the bases)


I will complete the Dutch before moving on to the French. British will be more challenging as there is only one British Line infantry page and the cuffs are white, so I will have to print several of these and color in the cuffs to suit my needs. Could be tedious, but I'm not sure. It is sure faster than painting figures.

Future Projects with PaperBoys

Jacobite Rebellion in 15mm (62% scale). Two ranks deep on 1" x 1" stands. Here is a sample at 64% and you can see the figures hanging over the 1" bases. Looks great though. Note that PaperBoy figures come in three ranks by default, but since they are paper I just cut them the way I want to make two ranks per stand.


Irish Piquets and Jacobite skirmishers:


Casualty figures, "walking wounded", on round bases.


Punic Wars (62% scale). Two ranks deep, but larger bases for easier movement. I may go with WoFun's plex-glass figures here as this is a lot of work to cut out the figures. That is an expensive choice, but both my thumbs have arthritis so cutting out these PaperBoys is a painful challenge.

WSS full on armies. Double ranks. This will be far down the road.

On the Reading Table

Over the last month I have finished the following books:

Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montazum ... by Buddy Levy (This was OUTSTANDING!!!)

Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last...: aa: AmazonSmile: Books

Now I purchased some PaperBoy Aztecs and Spaniards! :-)

Huitzilopochtli: The History of the Aztec God of War and Human Sacrifice

Good book, more like a research paper in quality. 

The Great Martian War: The Gathering Storm by Scott Washburn of PaperTerrain fame. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the battle between the Martians and Prey Creatures (humanity).

Posted by Eric Burgess at 3:43 PM 2 comments
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Monday, December 7, 2020

Vauban's Wars - Powder and Food Supply

This is the next installment of Vauban's Wars mechanics regarding Powder and Food Supply

You can order the rules directly here: 

Philipsburg 1688 (click for larger image)


Powder Supply

Both the Garrison and Besieger have their Powder Supply tracked during the siege. As players reload their artillery (not infantry) they track how many times they reload. The more you reload the greater the chance of losing a Powder Supply. If you reload your artillery too much the Powder Supply is lost automatically. If you explode a mine you also automatically lose a Powder Supply in addition to the normal supply check. A powder supply check is done on each player's Power Supply Check card. This means that the players won't know exactly when they will be forced to check if they have lost powder.

The amount of Powder each side has is determined by scenario, fortress size, which is then coupled with a random die roll. 

Other events like fire, Critical Damage, weather, and sabotage (via Espionage) can also reduce Powder Supply.



Food Supply

As with most tedious supply\logistics in siege warfare, I have abstracted Food Supply for the garrison in Vauban's Wars. The besieger is always assumed to have enough food for their siege. The garrison, isolated and surrounded, is assumed to have a finite amount of food for the soldiers and civilian population under siege.

The garrison player will start with X amount of food and will lose one food every turn. The amount of food they begin the siege with is determined by the type of fortress combined with a random die roll. The garrison  will lose their food due to either a Unique Event card played during the turn or if the turn ends early due to weather or tied initiative rolls. (There are reminders on the cards and charts for all these conditions) In addition, the garrison can lose food supply due to raging fires in the town, Critical Damage, and to sabotage via espionage! 

When the garrison's food supply reaches zero their Popular Support may fail and then will have to surrender. Only extremely long sieges should see the food supply reach zero, but it is something important to keep track of during a siege. 

All Vauban's Wars blog posts:

https://dinofbattle.blogspot.com/search/label/Vauban%27s%20Wars

Vauban's Wars main page:

https://dinofbattle.blogspot.com/p/vaubans-wars.html

Thanks for taking a look around!

Eric


Posted by Eric Burgess at 1:04 PM 1 comments
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Friday, August 28, 2020

Vauban's Wars - Espionage and Security

This is another installment in a series of blog posts discussing parts of Vauban's Wars rules I have released.

Rules Book, PDF, and Custom Casino Cards are now available!!

Espionage in Vauban's War

In Vauban's Wars there is a game of intrigue going on under the covers. Each player will be able to do espionage versus the enemy. This allows players, with some risk associated with it, to gather intelligence about their opponent's situation.

The chance for espionage happens when a player turns their own Espionage Card. One spy of unknown quality is given to each side for free, and additional spies may be "purchased" during the game should your original spy make the ultimate sacrifice. The quality of the spy is not known until they are sent on their mission, and the mission can't be cancelled just because your spy may not be of the best quality.

Spy quality is from "scoundrel" to "master" and is represented by a die type. The higher the die type the better the spy. For instance, the scoundrel is a D4, while the master is a D12. 


Espionage Missions

Here are some of the items that a spy is capable of doing during their espionage attempt and a few are restricted to garrison or besieger only:

  • Current Siege Morale Points, within two points.
  • Current or initial strength of a wall, bastion, ravelin, or gate section. Pick 3 sections per success.
  • Whether there is a Sortie or Assault card in the enemy’s deck. 
  • Current Powder Supply.
  • Garrison’s current Food Supply.
  • Garrison’s Popular Support Die.
  • Mining\Countermining – divulge the target, progress, and Explosive Level of one mine\counter-mine. 
  • Relieving Army Arrival. Garrison tells the besieger on what turn the relief army will arrive.
  • Sow Discontent. Turn the population against the garrison or reduce morale of besiegers. 
  • Contaminate Food – Garrison loses 2 food supply.
  • Desertion (vs Besieger only) – Success means one stand permanently lost by a regular or raw unit. 
  • Location of Garrison’s (if any) explosives placed outside of a gallery.

Success Hangs on a Knife's Edge

The Spy's quality die is rolled versus the enemy's Security Die (normally a D8). I will discuss the Security Die in the next section.

If the spy wins the roll his\her espionage is successful and the other player must reveal the information they want or the action they are seeking to do. If the spy doesn't beat the Security Die the results could be they escape and live to spy again, become captured and executed, or they can be tortured or swayed with promises of fortune to give up information about their previous benefactor. :-) 

Below: Polish army manning the walls of Praga in 1794.


Security in Vauban's Wars

Security (and the Security Die that represents them) is how I have abstracted several situations in Vauban's Wars that would need localized forces without representing them as units on the table. Security in the town is considered to be both the garrison's infantry on patrol and local constables keeping the peace around town, the counter-espionage team to catch potential spies, and for trench raids they are local guards protecting sappers and artillery units. The Siege Die is used in three places in the rules: 

Besieger\Garrison vs Espionage

Garrison vs Coups de Main

Besieger vs Trench Raids

The Security Die is normally a D8, but could be adjust up or down one die type per scenario if required. Another option is to adjust the Security Die for just one of the three options above and leaving D8 for others.

Below Austrian Grenadiers on a Trench raid. These sappers would be protected by the Security Die, which can be further modified in the sappers favor, but  additional infantry units nearby.


Well, I hope you enjoyed this installment for Vauban's Wars!



Posted by Eric Burgess at 2:48 PM 5 comments
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Monday, August 17, 2020

Vauban's Wars - Available for Pre-Order!!!

It is with great joy that I can announce the availability of Vauban's Wars to be pre-ordered from Piquet Inc. The link below will take you to the website to order a hard copy of the rules and the very nice casino cards to enhance your Vauban's Wars sequence deck. The rules and PDF versions will be available to purchase directly on the week of September 14th, 2020, which nicely aligns with my birthday! :-) Note that the book (hard copy) comes with sequence deck cards on thick card that can be cut out and sleeved. The custom casino cards are an enhanced version of those cards (see photos below).

Once again, you can pre-order the hard copy along with custom casino cards now.
On the week of September 14th, those pre-orders will ship. 
On the week of September 14th you can order and download the PDF versions if you rather have electronic copies of the rules.

More info and pricing can be found later in this blog post.

Pre-order Rules Book here: 

Pre-order Custom Casino Cards here: 


The rules cover sapping, mining, countermining, weather, disease, unique events, coups de main, powder supply, food supply, espionage, trench raids, etc.            

Front Cover





Back Cover



Hard Copy ($40)

Includes:
1 x Rules (97 pages) 75 pages of rules, and if you don't do any mining in the siege the rules are only 63 pages. Spiral bound and full color.
2 x Quick Reference Sheets (double-side, thick card)
1 x Turn & Weather Track (single-sided, thick card)
1 x Powder Expenditure Track (single-sided, thick card)
6 Pages of Sequence Deck cards to cut out (single-sided, thick card that you can cut out and sleeve)

Electronic Copy ($25)

Set of five PDFs: Rules, Quick Reference Sheet, Powder Expenditure sheet, Turn & Weather sheet, and Sequence Deck cards.

Optional Casino Cards ($14.99)

Standard Poker deck with 54 cards. (2.5" by 3.5") These just give you a very nice set of upgraded cards along with a couple blank cards that you can use to add new events or siege ideas. These have unique card backs for each side in the game.

28 x Garrison Cards (including 5 blank cards)
25 x Besieger Cards (including 5 blank cards)
1 x Proof of Purchase card




More information about Vauban's Wars see this page in my blog:

http://dinofbattle.blogspot.com/p/vaubans-wars.html

For discussion, you can join the following sites:


Cheers!
Eric



Posted by Eric Burgess at 10:48 PM 1 comments
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