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Author Topic: FOCUS ON..........Horse and Musket (H&M)  (Read 45208 times)

LetsPlayHistory

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Reply #90 on: October 28, 2021, 01:28:23 PM
From where did you buy your copies ?! ( if you own any physical )

I only have the PnP files from WargameVault so far.
I plan using my 3mm armies for the game, maybe with C&C board or so (the hexes might be a bit too small, though).

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t341

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Reply #91 on: November 23, 2021, 03:23:26 PM
 Sean Chick fan,  Have all of his "hold the Line" games and some earlier versions like Clash for a Continent designed  by Matt Burchfield, Grant Wylie, Mike Wylie.  Bought all the original Horse and Musket series and recently purchased all the upgrade materials  and a second copy of the original game to get a second map tile set and  a second upgrade map.  I am playing through all the scenarios from the first box and concurrently the IV edition scenarios.  I have noticed some of the games are historical replays and are certainly lopsided with one side having little or no chance of winning.  It's a great series with optional rules that enhance the game.



bob48

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Reply #92 on: November 23, 2021, 03:32:43 PM
 :bigthumb:

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


besilarius

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Reply #93 on: November 27, 2021, 04:39:37 PM

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side."   Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.


bob48

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Reply #94 on: February 18, 2022, 05:42:48 PM
I've just been playing the 'Malplaquet' scenario again - I had forgotten how good it was.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bob48

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Reply #95 on: February 20, 2022, 02:02:24 PM
I've recently found myself drawn back into playing H&M (Vol I), taking the opportunity to visit some of the scenarios that I had previously not bothered much with. I'm using just the basic rules at present in order to get back up to speed with it, and it all flows along very nicely with out much recourse of having to consult the rules.

The system is actually quite clever in the way that it can encompass battles of many sizes using only one map plus the overlays through the use of slightly different CRT's and movement rates, etc. Thus we have 'small, normal and grand' battles. Obviously, we do accept some abstractions here, so don't look for ground scales of detailed unit sizes. We can assume that unit represent bodies of troop that range from a few battalions to a few regiments. In any case, unit size is represented by a morale number rather that a number which represents the number of troops, and this works well within the game context.

The first of the many optional rules are those for formation and facing, and whilst these do add some 'realism' into the game without much additional complexity, they do add a little to playing time.  When combat occurs, we cross reference the stance of the attacking unit with that of the defender to yield a possible DRM.
there isn't a handy PAC to cover this, you must instead glean what you want from the rules, although strangely, there is one with the Vassal mod. I therefore decided a while ago to produce one, which I did, and made it available on the games BBG page, and to prove it, here is the link;

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/191669/formation-modifiers

Now, this got me thinking about how relevant this is given what the unit counters represent. I did consider if that within such an obviously large body of troop, they (the sub-units) would not all be assuming the same frontage or formation. I'm thinking of things such as refused flanks, and reserves in column and so on.

OK, they are after all just optional rules, the whole point being that you use them or not at your discretion, but I thought it would be interesting to see what other players think.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bob48

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Reply #96 on: February 23, 2022, 05:46:43 AM
Well, that went down like a cast-iron Zeppelin.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


mcguire

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Reply #97 on: February 23, 2022, 04:41:49 PM
I haven't played Horse & Musket enough to get good feel for it, but I expect the formation rules are just making the simplistic assumption that everything in the unit is in the same formation, although (given that formations are an optional rule) it could be that it means most of the sub-units are in the given formation. I think (did I mention that I haven't played it enough to decide?) that in the former case, being in the wrong formation or orientation would be catastrophic while in the latter it would only be pretty bad.

I would like to note that Phil Sabin, in his simplified conversion explicitly got rid of the formations optional rule.

"Man...knowing how to use the cards properly certainly changes how I play the game" -- judgedredd


bob48

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Reply #98 on: February 23, 2022, 05:10:06 PM
I have played it quite a bit using the formation & facing rules and I really can't decide if they have a sufficient impact on the battle outcome to justify the extra effort involved.

My feeling really is that its not relevant for such large scale battles, and where the size of the body of  troops is pretty vague, but there again, this may just be me making excuses for being lazy.

I have in the past played a number of Vassal games with Doug, and he, as developer and scenario designer for some of the game modules, will only play with just about all of the optional rules plugged in.

This is why I was hoping for a bit more feedback on the subject, but I am grateful for your thoughts on the subject.  :bigthumb:

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


mcguire

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Reply #99 on: February 24, 2022, 02:52:36 PM
You don't need excuses for being lazy. Lazy is a virtue unto itself.

"Man...knowing how to use the cards properly certainly changes how I play the game" -- judgedredd


bob48

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Reply #100 on: February 24, 2022, 03:16:59 PM
^ I suspected it was thus, but its nice to have it confirmed :-)

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bob48

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Reply #101 on: March 04, 2022, 04:47:55 PM
For those interested; the new edition, well, September 2021 anyway, of the core rule book is available to download on BGG.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/145951/horse-musket-rulebook

Its much clearer and well worth getting if you play the game.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bbmike

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Reply #102 on: March 31, 2022, 08:58:42 AM
Just arrived. I place the blame squarely on Bob.


"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
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My Own Worst Enemy


bob48

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Reply #103 on: March 31, 2022, 09:32:05 AM
Wonderful - brimming with gaming goodness :-)

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bob48

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Reply #104 on: April 08, 2022, 07:03:06 AM
I just noticed that the Vassal mod for the 'Fleurus' scenario is missing some terrain items - there are only 2 hills shown instead of 5. I have no idea how to edit a Vassal map.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'