ECW D3 rules tryout #1

In an effort to support the interest in faster tabletop games that my youngest son wanted to have with the English Civil War minis, I took a page from Peter over at Grid based wargaming, and tried out his ECW D3 system.

It took only about 30 mins to set up the minis with new tags and on all 2" square bases.

I also used the new teddy bear fur based Parliament forces while my son used the old grass paper Royalists, so that a visual comparison could be done on the new olive green fur table cover I have.

a final shot the captured the teddy bear fur and smoke action of a pair of pike and shot units

We laid out the small table in my office (the only one I have total control over).

printed out the rules so that there was one for each of us for reference in the game

layout for the first ever battle on the new olive green fur covering - the 'rivers' mark the non-usable boundaries of the table

With each turn taking some time as we discussed the new ideas and concepts of the 'command numbers' and what they could be used for, it took some time to do the first turn.

a good eye will instantly notice the little green 'die holder' on the top of the lord commanders stand (center left)

die holder in use

I made up a set of little die holders for each unit (max is 12 for the whole army, so it was not a huge task to do 26 of them - one 'double' for each commander)

new dice holders drying on Friday for use in the game Saturday

I made a critical error ... did not save enough action 'pips' for use in an ongoing melee, so my horse had to fall back - leaving my commander totally exposed to a Royalist galloper attack!

Not one to miss such a juicy target, my son did the deed!

now recovered, the Parliament commander returned to the field and behind the lines of foot to keep the pressure on the Royalist flank

bright white smoke was used to denote a unit that had 'expended powder' (rolling a "3" in firing)

black smoke used on the cannon

 The loss of the commander function for a full turn was devastating, and the Parliament force just did not fully recover and once the commands dwindled down it was obvious that the command pips did not exceed the damages.

field at battle's end

Plenty of maneuver room with 8 units and a general in the game.

Play was really fast once we figured out how to work everything.

So a second battle was set up really fast - same terrain, different angles.

second battle

tabletop setup, Royalists to the left, Parliament to the right

good shot of the grass effects

the Royalists had a ridgeline to contend with in their immediate start area

it caused some separation of units and thus lower 'command pips' to use

more of the grass effect of the teddy bear fur in action

about 1/2 way through the second game

I really liked how this dragoon unit looks in the photo

The Royalists got trapped on the ridgeline and constantly struggling to get enough 'command pips' to take actions (casualties in the far distance (top center of image) are not in the action any more

Royalists collapsed as they lost their final horse unit and the artillery at the same time.

All-in-all a good little 'game' and makes the players think about all units and all actions (including the commander) and where units 'will be' in another move.

The youngest son liked the experience and will likely be exploring this one again.