Test Games for my New Project

 I played not one, but two games tonight! I tried out Chainmail by Gygax and Perrin, using the quick reference sheet from my last post. It played fast and fun once I started to understand the rules easily. Watching Jon Mollison’s YouTube playlist of gameplay definitely prepared me! The link is here for your viewing, if desired:

Joy of Wargaming: Chainmail Playlist

The first game saw Sir William Jean (due to his dual English-French parentage) defending the border of his county from invading forces.

Defenders are on the lower end of the field. Sir William’s unit of knights, a unit of longbows, and a unit of heavy infantry (spear and shield). Invaders have a unit of knights, a unit of billmen, and a unit of mercenary crossbows. The game uses a 1:20 figure to soldier ratio, so the bills and longbows are pretty hefty.

Cavalry charges can be devastating in Chainmail, and the end of turn 1 saw the archers of both sides routed from the field. Turn 2 found Sir William’s knights turning about-face at the top of the field, while the invading knights prepared to charge the flank of the battered spear-men.

Turns 3 and 4 saw the spears routed and the invading knights slain. It was now down to Sir William’s unit against the bills.

Though charging with a 4:1 combat ratio (4 dice for 1 figure), Sir William’s knights only inflict two casualties on the stalwart bills that hold their ground and slay them.

Sir William is captured, and the invading force advances into the land!!!

Game 2: The invaders have setup a foothold at the border and begin to raid outlying villages. With Sir William-Jean being captured, the defenders have rallied under the leadership of a charismatic Yeoman named Robert of Lockwood. They now attempt to mount a stiff defense at the crossroads near the Abbey of St. Gregory.

The invaders, led by mercenary knight Hans du Champ, must rout the enemy and capture the Abbey, and force the Abbot to make a statement supporting them (as well as accept a monetary donation to show the church’s “support”).

Archers can be powerful against enemies that are not in full armor! On turn 1, the defending longbows (supported by a bonus to their roll by Robert) took out 3 figures of the advancing bills as well as the enemy crossbows.

The defender’s spears then finished off the stand of bills, but took casualties themselves, and failing a morale roll mildly, were pushed back in good order.

Turn 2 starts, and the defenders once again win initiative. The longbows deal a full measure of casualties to the bills, and then, on their second missile phase, finish off their foes (including Hans du Champ) via pass-through fire. Small games happen very quickly with Chainmail, it seems. It’s exactly what I’m looking for right now in a game. Although, I’ll be the first to admit that I also haven’t used all the rules yet, as I am still learning them and I don’t have sufficient tools to keep track of things like fatigue (markers, etc). I will soon though.

Post-melee morale checks involve a moment of quick arithmetic, but are relatively easy to resolve once you get the hang of it. They also have a lot of possible outcomes. For an almost 50 year-old ruleset, they play very well!!! 

Perhaps Hans can be traded for the safe return of Sir William-Jean? Who knows what the next game holds! I’m also currently working on my remaining 15’s to furnish the forces more.