DANES V PRUSSIANS: CHOCOLATE BOX WARS PLAYTEST

 

The perspective from behind the Danish Command in the Center of the field.

Greetings, dear reader. In this post we report on the second playtest of the Chocolate Box Wars  (CBW) rules system. After playing during the first playtest  using the ersatz print and play troops (no report), I quickly followed up and had two players come over (AJ and Mark D) to play a second game in which I  facilitated and took notes.  Although the first playtest was productive (and fun), I consider this one to be the first "real" playtest of the system: I find that some playing is in order to get a first hand feel for a system, but after that, it is better observe and facilitate to see how players manage the system and to get outside perspectives.  Given the "milestone" of getting this on the table with figs for the first time, I wanted to see my first two CBW armies on the table: my 1st Schleswig Holstein Wars Danes and my Prussians. So I decided to break out the figures and terrain from storage. As usual, in this post you may clix pix for BIG PIX. 

The CBW system is an "army in a box" concept, playable in 4'x6' with a small figure/stand count.  This table was a 5' x 6' (to give you some perspective), so in the ballpark for the system. I used the "tournament" set up system in the rules, in which each side sets up in a zone on its side of the table (marked out above). Given the extra width of the table, the setup zones each were 12" deep (as opposed to 8" in the rules).  

 Looking down the Prussian line (left) and the Danish (right)

Prussian Hussar Squadron and Dragoon Regiment, Awaiting Orders. 

For this game, each side had the basic force: four line infantry battalions, one light battalion (deployed as two independent company units), one guard battalion, one auxiliary infantry battalion (volunteer rifles), one field artillery battery, one line cavalry regiment, one light cavalry squadron, and one headquarters. A grand total of 42 infantry figures, six cavalry figures, three gunners with one gun, and a headquarters vignette. Yet the table did not look empty (I'm happy to say). 

I also tested out some new tools that I had created to assist with play.

                        Spacers:       1   Stand Wide             1"  Between Units 

Fire Zone (One Stand-Width to Each side) 

In the CBW system, units must maintain a 1" distance to other units. Rather than fire arcs, units have straight ahead fire zones described by a rectangle extending from the front face of the unit to one stand-width to either side, and forward out to the maximum range. These spacers, one stand-width wide and 1" deep, turned out to be very handy, making unit handling much easier. 

Vintage 10 Pfennig Coins (2nd Reich, circa 1871 to WWI). 

I've already described my scheme for using vintage 1 pfennig pieces for activation markers. While picking batches of those up, I also wound up getting a good number of nickel/silver 10 pfennig pieces (they are about twice the size of the 1 pfennig).  I used these as exhaustion markers (half of stands lost equals defeat. In this game, each side had 18 stands--so each had 9 of these 10 pfennig exhaustion markers).  And now, on to the pix of the game.

The players completing setup: ready to go!

AJ (left) played the Danes. The Danish Line advances. The 1 Pfennig activation markers, seen behind the units, worked well once again.

Mark D (left) played the Prussians. The right end of the Prussian line advancing.

A synopsis of the action (as seen from the Danish side of the table). AJ had the initiative (was the first active player) and pushed hard on the right, spending his activations there while refusing the Danish left. This gave the Danes an early local numerical advantage against the Prussian left. Mark D (whose dice were hot to start, but then completely abandoned him), countered by maneuvering forces to reinforce his left.  This is where most of the action took place.  The Danish guards were the spearpoint of the advance, facing off against the Prussian guards (who were eliminated). AJ had some very good rally rolls which allowed his heavily committed units to recover hits and continue fighting--while Mark's rally rolls went AWOL, so his engaged units withered under the pressure. 

A closeup of the action on the Danish right. The Danish auxiliary volunteer rifles have cleared the orchard of their counterparts (the Prussian auxiliary volunteer rifles, who had been defending the orchard), while the Danish dragoons work their way (bit by bit) around the end of the line, where the Prussian Madgeburg hussar squadron is waiting to counter them. 

In a day of disappointing outcomes, the bright spot for the Prussians was the performance of the jager company on the left, who held the key village, which anchored the position. They can be seen fending off a Danish infantry battalion that they had reduced by fire and were about to deal another whack to (battalions are one stand when reduced). 

The view from behind the Prussian command in the center of the position. The bearskinned unit in the distance the Danish guard, who have just come out on top in a firefight with the Prussian Guard (who had been in the empty space in front of the Danish Guard). The Guards exchanged blows, but the Danes managed to rally off their hits (AJ's dice were as hot as Mark's were cold), while the Prussians didn't. Meanwhile, the Prussian artillery wasn't shooting well, either, so didn't make up for the deficit.  After that, only a reduced Prussian infantry battalion remains to block the Danish breakthrough.  At this point, we called the game, which was more about proofing the system than winning or losing. In that regard, General Dice's performance notwithstanding, the outcome was a success.  There lessons learned informed some minor adjustments, that we'll be testing out in the a playtest coming up in the next week.  

Excelsior!