Battling Mr Babbage

 

In 'The Men Who Would Be Kings' rulebook there is a mechanism for solo play in which the player can take on Mr Babbage - a set of rules for generating enemy forces in response to any movement made by the player.  For a Tuesday fight night with our regular opponent, Gareth, my son suggested making use of Mr Babbage to test the mettle of two columns of British troops.  I would command one column, Gareth the other, while my son ran the system to generate opponents and roll the dice for them as required.  The British troops were drawn from elements of what might have been an intervention force in Japan in the 1860s.  The opposition were a range of units from modern (for 1860s) riflemen to Samurai cavalry, reflecting the huge diversity of troop types operating in Japan in that era.

The table was set up with a central hill on which was a shrine.  Two roads ran across the board, crossing near the shrine.  The table was broken up by a number of other hills, woods, bamboo groves and small buildings.  

Bird's eye view of the table with the shrine in the centre.  One British column would start by the houses at the top left, the other at the bottom right.

The British forces would start on the table in opposite corners.  They would gain an immediate victory if they could get at least two units with over half their strength remaining from each column to the shrine.  Their only other route to victory was to destroy or drive off all enemy forces.  Mr Babbage tests to bring enemy units onto the table whenever one of the players' units is moved - and they may appear in front of, to the side or behind the unit that has moved.  Japanese units that are destroyed or retreat from the table during play test to see if they are lost for good or can return to play.  The probability of returning to play reduces over time as units are lost permanently.  British units that are destroyed or retreat off the table are lost for good.

Each British column started with three units.  Mine had two infantry units and one of Hussars, Gareth had three infantry.  The Japanese had a roster of seven units to draw from, one of drilled infantry, two of musketeers, one each of Samurai infantry and Samurai Cavalry, and two units of spearmen.

First column deployed.  British line to the left, Hussars leading on the right, followed by Jat Infantry.

The Captain commanding the British Line was rated a "Sporting Umpire" - meaning that his men would not attack a pinned enemy unit if another unpinned target was available.  The unit needed to roll a 7+ to move or act other than to fire (all figures are from my son's 28mm collection).

The Jats were led by a weakling, so would get 1 less dice in melée.  This was offset by only needing a 5+ to move.

The Hussars were led by a "Jolly Sporty" type, giving them +2" of movement in a charge.  They needed a 6+ to act other than to make a charge which they could do automatically if an enemy was in range.

The second column formed up along the road, led by a Highland unit, followed by Sikhs, with a detachment from the Naval Brigade bringing up the rear. 

The Highland Captain was "Brave" laddie, who could remove one pinning marker automatically each turn.  His men needed a 6+ to move.

The English Officer commanding the Sikh detachment was found to be a Shirker, meaning that his unit would not fire on or attack the enemy until first engaged by an enemy!  They needed a 7+ to move.

The Naval detachment commander was a fine swordsman, adding two dice to melée action.  His unit needed a 6+ to move but was low on discipline.

Of the seven Japanese units, only three had officers with attributes that affected their performance.  One of the Musketeer units had a "Sporting Umpire" as commander.  One of the Spearmen units was led by an "inspirational" officer who could re-roll any failed rallying test.  The Samurai Cavalry were led by a weakling.  All Japanese units could act on a 6+ except for the highly disciplined Samurai infantry who needed only a 4+, and the Spearmen with the Inspirational leader who needed a 5+.

The British players agreed that they would each take turns to activate one of their units and I led off by advancing my British line up to the crest of a low hill to the left of the road.  Moving a unit triggered Mr Babbage to act.  The dice were rolled and Samurai cavalry appeared at long range in front of the advancing British.

First sight of the enemy

Gareth then advanced his leading unit of Highlanders along the road leading out of his corner.  Mr Babbage's dice were rolled again and a unit of Musketeers appeared at long range to the left of the Highlanders - invisible to them due to an intervening hill and bamboo grove, but visible to the Sikhs and Naval troops who had yet to act.

Japanese musketeers pop up on the left flank of the second column

I then chose to bring forward my Jats to form a line with the British unit, relying on the buildings to their right to screen the flank.  I didn't fancy the chances of my small Hussar unit against the Samurai Cavalry.  But, moving the Jats triggered Mr Babbage into action once again, leading to a unit of spearmen appearing directly in front of the Jats at short range.

The advance of the Jats is met by a mass of spearmen.  As the Jats have inferior rifles to the British, their short range is only 9", so the spearmen arrive close enough to charge whereas the Samurai Cavalry are 24" from the British.  

Gareth managed to bring his Sikhs up behind the Highlanders without triggering any more enemy appearances.  I then opted not to move my Hussars and Gareth used his naval troops to fire on the musketeers at long range.

First fire from the Royal Navy contingent.  They get one hit on the musketeers at long range, but fail to pin the enemy.

During the enemy action phase, Mr Babbage again comes into play, with a D6 roll determining how each unit behaves.  The possibilities range from slinking off the field to advancing at the double towards the nearest enemy and attacking them if possible.  Units get a +1 on the roll if they are able to contact the enemy if they move and -1 if the nearest enemy outnumbers them.  On the first Japanese action phase, the musketeers advanced into the bamboo grove, heading towards the Highlanders and Sikhs.  On my side of the table, the Samurai Cavalry advanced but the spearmen acted with caution and went to ground.  This would make them more difficult to hit but removed any immediate threat to the Jats.

Samurai cavalry advance to close range with the British Line while the spearmen go to ground.

The second turn began well with my British Line firing on the Samurai Cavalry with devastating effect, killing six out of the 10 horsemen.  The Jats also did well, hitting two of the spearmen despite their having gone to ground and pinning them down, too.  Again, I did not move my Hussars to avoid the risk of yet more enemies appearing around my column.

Accurate fire crashes into the Samurai cavalry and pins the unit

The Jats show they are no mean shots themselves

While things were going nicely over in my corner of the field, all hell was breaking loose around Gareth.  A further advance by his Highlanders saw Mr Babbage produce a unit of spearmen within charge range of their front.  Since the Highlanders had already moved, they could not shoot.  Since the Sikhs were directly behind them, they could not shoot at the spearmen either.  They opted to move out to the left, to the top of a small hill from where they could fire in the next turn either on the spearmen or on the musketeers in the bamboo grove below the hill - provided that an enemy kindly shot at or attacked them first in order to break the effect of their officer being a shirker.  This was not a good position for the Highlanders as the spearmen stood a good chance of charging home before the Scots could act again.  To make matters worse, the movement by the Sikhs led to the rattle of Mr Babbage's dice once more, which led to a ferocious band of Samurai appearing to the left of the Sikhs, putting them within charge range of the Naval contingent.  The sailors fired on the Samurai but missed!

Crisis for the second column.  Spearmen poised to charge the Highlanders at the top, Musketeers advancing through the bamboo grove on the Sikhs, who cannot shoot until someone attacks them, and Samurai at the bottom centre arrive arrive on the flanks of both Sikhs and sailors.

Enemy activations went well for the forces facing Gareth's column.  The Spearmen charged in against the Highlanders, the Samurai against the Naval Brigade.  The only unfortunate result was that the Musketeers stopped to fire on the Sikhs rather than continuing to advance.  They killed a couple of the Sikhs but failed to pin them, leaving the Sikhs able to start firing in the coming turn.

Savage spearmen fall upon the Highlanders.  The Scots fought bravely, killing five of the enemy, but six of the Scots were skewered, forcing the survivors to fall back.

The Highland line is looking thin.  They can disregard the pinned marker for losing the melée as their Brave commander has survived and can automatically clear this at the start of their turn.

Samurai charge in on the Naval brigade men.  Despite the fearsome swordsmanship of the Naval Officer, the sailors get the worst of the fight and must retreat.  As they have never got beyond the edge of the table, they are forced off and removed from play.  Their only consolation is to take 3 of the samurai down with them.

All looked to be up for Gareth's column - and his losses meant that the possibility of the British getting a victory from moving sufficient men from both columns up to the shrine had evaporated.  A win now depended on destroying the enemy entirely.  While the Highlanders managed to pin the spearmen down with a quick volley, the Sikhs fired on the Samurai but missed.  Who would be the next target for the blood soaked katanas?  No-one actually.  The Samurai activation roll required them to slink off the table!  Phew!  The Musketeers, however, continued to advance through the bamboo grove towards the Sikhs.

Reprieve for the second column.  The Samurai have slipped away, the spearmen halted by fire.  Only the musketeers remain free to act.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, accurate fire from the Jats has reduced the spearmen facing to a single officer and man...

...but the British Line has been horrified as the smoke cleared from the slaughter of the last of the Samurai cavalry to find that another contingent of horse had appeared behind them - when a unit is destroyed, Mr Babbage rolls to decide whether the unit is destroyed permanently, returned to the pool of units that can appear after enemy moves, or, rarely, to reappear on the field immediately, as it did in this case.

The immediate return of the Samurai cavalry was a surprise, but one that the British took in their stride as their volley fire proved insurmountable for the gallant samurai who were quickly reduced to a single officer, wildly waving his katana and shouting incomprehensible imprecations against his foe.  When he fell in the next round of fire, the dice were not so kind to the Japanese and the unit was removed permanently from play, followed shortly by the spearmen in front of the Jats.  Each Japanese unit removed permanently increased the chance that other units would be removed permanently rather than return to play, so the balance was shifting back towards the invading British columns.  Encouraged by this thought, I decided to bring forward my Hussars.  This immediately triggered the appearance of a band of Samurai close enough to charge the cavalry.  Since the Hussars blocked the line of fire for their Line infantry they could not try to pin the Samurai down.  Would they press the attack?  Mr Babbage's answer was a resounding yes!

The Hussars about to get their comeuppance for an injudicious advance.  Five of the saddles were emptied by Samurai spears and swords.

While all this was going on around my column, how was Gareth faring?  The Highlanders were gradually wearing down the spearmen pinned in front of them but the Sikhs were having an interesting time against the Musketeers advancing on them through the bamboo grove.  Sikh fire was ineffectual but return fire from close range muskets dropped a couple of the Sikhs.  On testing for officer casualties, Gareth rolled snakes eyes and lost the commander!

The dice toll for the Sikh officer.   The unit now needs to test for any action, including firing, and needs 8+ to act.

Adding insult to injury, the brave Japanese musketeers make an uphill charge into the battered Sikh line

The uphill advantage of the Sikhs proved too much for the musketeers who fell back.  They were unable to rally in subsequent turns, eventually leaving the field and being permanently removed when they did so.

But what of the Samurai who had beaten up my Hussars I hear you ask?  Flushed with success, they rolled on, unsettling the British line.  The previously deadly aim of the British deserted them, failing to pin the Samurai and exposing them to hand to hand combat!

Samurai shrug off the British bullets

Shockingly the melée leads to a massacre of the Samurai, but the British do take losses and roll another snakes eyes for Officer losses.  Their best leader falls in the front line! (Picture taken after the roll but before removing the deceased hero)

The British avenged the death of their gallant officer by shooting down the last of the Samurai. On testing for the destroyed unit, it was returned to the pool for reuse, an ominous sign.  This was offset somewhat by the Highlanders finally wiping out the spearmen to their front and seeing the unit removed permanently from play.  This meant that the Japanese pool was reduced to only three units, the Samurai, and a unit each of musketeers and riflemen, neither of which had yet come into play.

I sent my remaining Hussars out to my right to try to flush out an enemy unit for my rifles to fire on.  Mr Babbage ignored me.  Gareth sent his Sikhs towards the shrine, leaving the Highlanders to give fire support if this action brought an enemy reaction, which it duly did, Samurai again appearing within charge range of the hapless Sikhs.  The Highlander elected to form close order to improve their firing chances and strength in combat, assuming that the Samurai would make short work of the Sikhs and then turn their attention to the Scots.  This left the Samurai free to pounce on the turbaned warriors and their die roll did not disappoint.

Samurai on Sikh action

The Samurai wipe out the Sikhs for the loss of only 4 of their own number

This further proof of Samurai metal was all for nought.  The implacable Highlanders pinned them with their next volley and destroyed them in the following turn.  This time Mr Babbage failed to save them and they were removed from play altogether.  

On my side of the field, an advance by the Jats caused a unit of musketeers to appear in front of the British Line, which promptly pinned them down. Combined fire from the British and the Jats in the following turn wiped them from the field permanently.

Japanese musketeers given no mercy by the British rifles

Another advance by the Jats finally brought the Japanese riflemen onto the field.  Once again they came on at long range in front of the Jats, but this placed them within range of flanking fire from the Highlanders, who failed to hit!  However,  all the factors were stacked against this last Japanese unit and its action roll led to it  slinking off the field and being removed permanently from play.

A last wave of the flag by the defenders of Japan's sacred soil.

So, a hard fought victory for the British, with only the Jats remaining without loss by the end.  The Highlanders earned most valuable player status for their shrugging off their initial massive loss and standing firm while all else went pear shaped around them.  

As we consumed cakes brought back from Japan we shared thoughts on the game.  We all found it most enjoyable, the utter unpredictability of what would happen next giving a completely new flavour to a game whose rules that are now familiar to all of us.  Playing time was well under two hours.  The objective for the British - reaching the shrine - made it tempting to move, overlooking the risk that this would trigger enemy appearances.  For Gareth's column, the random position of enemy appearances created enormous problems.  I was much luckier in that all my enemies appeared to my front.  In overall balance, it probably ended up being weighted too much towards the British.  In the rulebook it is recommended that the player's side has a force of 24 points (usually 4 or 5 units), but we had 32 points to allow each column to have 3 units.  While the Japanese were also given 32 points worth of troops, the probabilities in Mr Babbage work better for smaller forces.   A better balance might have been achieved by giving the Japanese another unit or by reducing the probability of units being removed permanently.  As it was, after a couple of their units had been removed permanently, the chances of others following suit increased so much that the swift end seen in this game was almost inevitable, despite the heroics of the hard working samurai.  Still, a great evening, with thanks to Mr Babbage whom we heartily recommend to you all.