New Horse and Musket rules - snowy avalanche of test games

Game 1 Tense moment - Novgorod Dragoons spot Regiment Halsinge

With the bit between our teeth we got together again and squeezed in three test games in a single day between 2pm and 8.30pm finishing them all. This proved several things;
The games were quick, bloody and decisive.
The mechanics flowed well enough for the author and two newbies to pick them up quickly and get stuck in.
The game time in each case was somewhere under two hours.

We managed to cram in a coffee break and about 45 minutes for dinner in the available time so altogether it was an extremely productive day.

We used the snowy terrain boards made by the late Paul Trickett and his oppo Dean Whitehouse and originally constructed for their 1812 Retreat from Moscow skirmish game about 15 years ago. More on that later on the blog.

The three scenarios were all quite different.

Game 1
Narva 1700: The Russians are retreating and have to defend a small river crossing against pursuing Swedish forces.

Game 2: The Danish Foot Guards deliver a devastating volley to Ostergotland!

Game 2
Late period GNW:  An all infantry Danish force encounters a mixed force of Swedes in a stand up fight.

Game 3
Skane Province 1676: Scanian War: Danes and Swedes battle it out in the snow in the period of the Battle of Lund.

Game 3 : Danish Life Guards push back Uppland

Since the previous play test I had incorporated some of the changes which we were keen to try out. The lads were ready for some of the finer detail too having picked up the basic mechanics through our Ireland game.

All of these games used fewer units with 4 per side. In advance I had prepared some roster sheets which made casualty management and characters very straightforward. I also prepared some cards for each unit which meant we didn't use a playing card deck to manage unit activation.

Game 2: Funen rake the passing Smalands Cavalry from their hilltop position

Over the next few posts in the series I'll explain some of the game play and use photos to illustrate the kinds of situations the armies found themselves in. Overall we found the Swedes powerful and fast but not superior to the Danes in every way. The characteristics attributed to each army forced the players to use them in a historical way. Dave and Bob alternated with their use of the Swedes in the first two games and I played the Danes in game 3.The Swedes rarely shot with their infantry and moved very quickly to contact where at all possible. We had a few surprises when we used Horse as either through unlucky or lucky (depending on your perspective) throws, the Danish cavalry were triumphant!