Travel Battle - A Napoleonic wargame with 54mm toy soldiers

 Travel Battle is a boardgame designed by Michael Perry and produced by Perry Miniatures, the well known wargame figure manufacturers, it's based on battles in the Napoleonic period so Anthony and I thought we'd see how well the system translated to a tabletop wargame with 54mm toy soldiers.  Here's how it went:

As usual we started with a very simple game, without may terrain features, to test out the mechanisms of the system.  The boardgame has preformed terrain and uses a square grid for movement, we opted to use a hex grid (because that's all I've got and I prefer it!) 

Each side comprises 3 Brigades, each commanded by a mounted Brigadier and made up from any combination of the units available, which are; 2 x Heavy Cav. 2 x Light Cav. 2 x Artillery. 2 x Guard Inf and 6 x Line inf.  Either or both of the Artillery units may be attached to a Cavalry Brigade and designated as Horse Artillery, which has greater movement distance but less firing range and effect than the Foot Artillery.

The rules are simple, minimal and there is no record keeping, just how we like them but may be a bit too simplistic for some.  Players dice to see who goes first and can activate all their units, the sequence of play is: Move, Fire Artillery, Melee, Retreat any defeated units.  Then the second player repeats the sequence with their units.

Foot units (Guards, Line inf. and Foot Artillery) move 1 hex while mounted (Brigadier, Horse Artillery, Heavy and Light Cav.) move 2 hex in each turn.  All units can move in any direction and terrain modifiers apply. 

Firing is restricted to the Artillery who can move or fire but not both.  Effect is determined by D6 score: 1,2,3 no effect, 4 target falls back 1 hex, 5 target retreats back to table edge or 6 target destroyed.

Combat occurs when opposing units move into touch, in such case Artillery cannot fire but fight as an infantry unit.  Combat is decided by dice throw, with Heavy Cav. and Guard Inf getting a bonus.  Both players dice, highest score wins and outcome is determined by score differential: 1 losing unit falls back 1 hex, 2 unit retreats back to table edge or 3 unit destroyed. 

Command and Control is an interesting feature of the system, every unit in a Brigade (including the Brigadier) must be touching at least one other unit from the same Brigade, any that are not in touch with the Brigadier through the line of units cannot move but can fight if attacked (and Artillery can still fire).  So if a unit in the centre of a line is destroyed the line is broken and units beyond the break are no longer under command.  There are modifiers for the effects of moving into square to protect infantry against cavalry but make them devastatingly vulnerable to artillery fire.

The figures we used were mostly Britains Deetail with a few DSG toys soldiers from Argentina.  The Brigadiers on both sides are Del Prado Napoleonic personalities, beautifully modelled and their larger size giving a commanding presence on the table top. 

Overall I found it very easy to pick up and the action moves fluidly, the system would work very well for large battles and we could easily have controlled twice the number of units or Brigades, it would be ideal for multi player games.  With little modification it would also translate well to cover European battles of the Seven Years War. 

I particularly liked the Brigade structure and control system but not so much the Combat where the outcomes are either fall back, rout or be destroyed, there are no casualties depleting unit as you get in say Lionheart or One Hour Wargames, so it's good but it ain't no game of toy soldiers!

Woking Games Day 2025

 Last Saturday a small band of the faithful from the Little Wars Revisited group assembled in Woking for this years Games Day.  The event was hosted by Mike who offered us three games using 54mm toy soldiers including Waddington's Battle of the Little Big Horn (seen on this blog previously).  I took part in a Battle Masters Lord of the Rings game and here's how it went:

Anthony provided all the figures and umpired the game, this is the starting position with the forces of Middle Earth on the left and the Hordes of Mordor on the right.

The forces of Mordor included this rather fine Ogre, I don't know who he's made by but he certainly looks the part.

The figures used are mostly Britains Deetail knights with minimal repainting and relevant heraldry to distinguish either side, I was very taken with the quality of the basing.

The dark forces included Orcs and Uruk-hai from Britains recent metal LOTR range.

This rather nicely designed terrain matt comes with the original MB Battle Masters boardgame.  The firing system for the trebuchet on the left was fun if a little erratic. but very effective when it hit home.

The Mordor cavalry, Britains Deetail Saracens looking suitably sinister in red and black.

The Ogre is slow to get going but unstoppable once he starts, he gave my horsemen a real pasting!

Audience participation was less than hoped for.

Regular players Patrick and his son William brought along their collection of Anglo-Norman figures for the 1135-53 Civil War between King Stephen and Empress Matilda

The game was a Norman skirmish using the Song of Blades and Heroes rules, the figures are 54mm metal made Irregular Miniatures and you can see more of them on Patrick's website here:  Patricks Wargames

Malcolm III and William Rufus 1093 - Battle Ravens

Since discovering that the boardgame Battle Ravens translates so well to the tabletop for a wargame with 54mm toy soldiers we thought we'd give it another outing.

  Our first trial of the game was a standard shieldwall encounter between Vikings and Saxons, but the game also offers sets of cards to portray the national characteristics of Scots, Welsh and Normans so we decided to try something different. 

  For a scenario I chose the border raid in 1093 by the Scots of Malcolm III, in support of Saxon refugees, against a frontier outpost held by the Normans of William Rufus. 

A Frisian trader has beached his ship alongside the Norman keep and is unloading his trade goods in exchange for Saxon slaves, when the alarm is sounded!  A Scottish warband has been spotted approaching the stronghold.

The Frisian crew join the Norman garrison and form shieldwall outside the stockade to protect the ship from the Scots and their Saxon allies.

Lessons learned from our previous encounter meant that the action flowed much faster and furiously this time around, more risks were taken and the subtle nuances in the rule system became more apparent. 

The game is played from two static shieldwalls and despite the lack of manoeuvre there is still a great deal of movement as warriors are pushed back and forth to reinforce holes in the line.  

The Playmobil viking ship with sail down serves as the Frisian merchant vessel, it only acts as set dressing but adds depth to the scenario.

The Scots command group, King Malcolm with his retainers and priest.  The standard bearers here and below are conversions by Eric Kemp acquired at the Plastic Warrior Show in May.

There is a temptation to press heavily on one sector of the enemy line and attempt a breakthrough but this can have repercussions later on, in the long run it's often better to give ground and degrade your opponent's forces.  

The game plays comfortably in a couple of hours but you could easily expand it by allowing reinforcements to be fed in at set points.  It would make a great demonstration game at a convention, easy to transport, limited number of figures involved, several participants could take different sections of the shieldwall and the larger figures add a bit of spectacle for the spectators.

It was a close run thing and looked as though honours were even but on closer inspection and a recount the Normans carried the day by one point.

Those with sharp eyes will recognise figures by Timpo, Johilco, DSG, TSSD, Emhar, Cherilea, Del Prado, Jean Hoefler, Elastolin, Jecsan, Reamsa, Oliver, Conte, Fontanini, Replicants, Marx, Armies in Plastic, Starlux, and Cafe Storme.

Battle Ravens - Dan Mersey

It's been a while since we last had a game but this weekend I finally managed to clear enough space for one.  Battle Ravens is a board game designed by Dan Mersey with graphics provided by Peter Dennis, both well known names in the gaming world, the former for rules systems and the latter for his excellent ranges of paper soldiers.  The game is about combat in a Viking/Saxon shieldwall and comes with opposing 35mm armies of Peter's card mounted paper soldiers.  Anthony thought it would be good to play using 54mm toy soldiers so I dusted off the Dark Ages collection and this is how it went:

The two armies square up to form shieldwalls, each has armoured Hirdmen (Hearthguards) in the front line, unarmoured Bondi in the second line and a group of Thrals (skirmishers) behind them.  The command units overseeing each shieldwall have no role in the game but I included them to represent the players, and because they look good.

Each shieldwall is split into 6 areas, delineated here by the use of movement trays, at the start of the game players dice to see who goes first and then take it in turns to allocate tokens (Ravens) to each area of their shieldwall, Ravens are used to pay for activity in each area, either attack, defend (saving throws) or to move between areas.  

Player A selects one area in their shieldwall and pays with its' Ravens to either attack or move, but not both. To attack, Ravens are payed to buy dice throws, a score of 6 is two hits and 4 or 5 gives one hit. combat takes place against troops in the immediately opposite area, two hits will kill a Hirdman and one hit kills a Bondi.  If there are casualties Player B can now pay some of the Ravens from the area being attacked to buy saving dice throws: 6 saves two hits and 4 or 5 saves one hit.

Player B then selects an area of his wall to activate and either attack or move.

To move, one Raven is paid for each figure to be moved to an adjacent area and no more than 9 figures can be placed in any one area.

When the Ravens in all the areas on both sides have been spent it is the end of the turn and a new turn begins with both players alternating, as before, to allocate Ravens to areas in their shieldwall.

The Playmobil pirate ship above is perfect for 54mm toy soldiers, it was a cheap car boot find and plays no role in the game but looks great so I had to include it for a bit of set dressing.

The three bowmen behind the shieldwall are Thralls and they allow failed attacking dice throws to be rerolled, for each reroll one Thrall is removed from the board, at the start of the next turn any Thralls that were removed are returned to the game.

Each player also gets 5 bonus cards which reflect the national characteristics of of the armies and allow additional actions, just one card can be played each turn.   The basic game offers expansion kits of these cards to allow for armies of  Scots, Welsh and Normans.

The simple game system is very easy to learn and quick to play, despite this we made some inevitable errors in our interpretation of the rules and soon learned that the apparent simplicity masks some subtle nuances which emerge as the game progresses.

As wargames with 54mm toy solders go, Battle Ravens can be played in a very small area, across a dining table would be ideal, and with very few figures required.  We used 18 Hirdmen, 18 Bondi and 3 Thralls per side so only 78 figures needed in total.  

The sail billows in the wind, sending the longship scudding across the waves towards the estuary where the surf crashes against the treacherous rocks.

I really enjoyed building these Dark Ages armies and was it was great to get them on the table, using 54mm toy soldiers makes a massive difference to the visual impact of the game.  There's a great variety in the painting and poses of the figures which include Timpo, DSG, TSSD, Emhar, Cherilea, Del Prado, Co-Ma, Jean Hoefler, Jecsan, Conte, Fontanini, Replicants, Marx, Armies in Plastic, Technolog, NeTechnologist and Cafe Storme.

We both felt it was a great system for portraying the desperation of the shieldwall, the frustration of battering away trying to force a breach while urgently rushing to shore up the holes in your own wall before it collapses, now I know what it feels like being Uhtred in one of Bernard Cornwall's Last Kingdom novels.

Battle of Metauro revisited

 In the closing weeks of last year Anthony and I decided to take his 54mm Battle of Metauro game for another spin, originally this was a board game made in Spain by Rojas y Malaret, Anthony took the original board and had it blown up as a gaming mat for 54mm toy soldiers, here's how the game works: (click on the images to enlarge them)

With the German (Hausser) version of the game you could purchase additional extension packs to increase both the number of figures on the board and also the variety of troop types, such as archers, light infantry and Gallic allies.  Accordingly, Anthony has been building up his collection of DSG Roman and Carthaginian forces in line with the expansion packs available for the original game.

The game opens with troops being placed on the squares with coloured triangles (each individual figure represents a unit), each square can contain 3 infantry, 1 infantry and 1 cavalry, 2 cavalry or 1 elephant.  You can have less figures on a square but you can't exceed these numbers per square, this can have an important impact on movement and combat later in the game.

Movement distances are 1 square for infantry, 2 for elephants and 3 for cavalry.  Woods and ruins provide cover and can only be entered by infantry.  Squares with rocks are an obstacle, they can't be entered or passed over by any troop types. Infantry in cover get a bonus in combat.

A unit moving into a square adjacent to a enemy must attack, combat takes place between individual units and the attacking player decides the order of combat, both sides roll a D6 to decide the outcome.  Highest score wins, 1, 2 or 3 have no effect, 4 or 5 cause the loser to retreat 1 square (2 squares for elephants), 6 is a kill and the losing unit is removed from he board.  If both sides get the same score (including bonus modifiers, see below) there is no effect.  A unit can only take part in combat once in each move turn.

There is no bonus for the attacker but infantry in cover get a +1 added to their score.  Cavalry always get a +1 in combat while elephants get a +2.  Only the Carthaginians have elephants (obviously) but to even things up the Romans get 3 designated figures who can attack and force the elephants to retire. 
 

Rivers can only be crossed at the fords indicated by stones, the central rocky plateau (shown here in orange) counts as cover for infantry, the rocks on three sides around it are impassable.

After combat, a losing unit forced to retire must move into the square directly behind it (elephants retire 2 squares), subject to that square being accessible to the retreating unit type and having enough space to accommodate them i.e. a cavalry unit can't retire into woods or into a square containing 3 infantry, 2 cavalry or 1 elephant, but can retire if the square is empty, has 1 infantry or 1 cavalry on it already.  If the losing unit cannot retire onto the square behind, it is destroyed.  This can be particularly problematic with elephants, you need to keep plenty of retiring space clear behind them!

After each individual unit combat, if one unit is destroyed or forced to retire, the the victorious unit can choose to occupy the vanquished enemies place on his square.  

E.g. 3 Roman infantry move up to an enemy square containing 1 infantry and 1 cavalry. The Roman commander chooses one of his infantry to attack the Carthaginian infantryman, the dice scores are 4 against 3 so the enemy infantryman is forced to retire and the victorious Roman moves into his square, beside the Carthaginian cavalryman.  Next he chooses the second infantryman to attack the Carthaginian cavalryman, the dice scores are 4 against 5 but the cavalryman has a +1 making 6 so the attacking infantry unit is destroyed and removed, but the victorious Carthaginian decides to stay where he is and not occupy the Roman infantryman's square.  Finally the Roman commander uses his third infantryman to again attack the Carthaginian cavalryman, who can't fight back because he has already been in combat this turn, the Roman throws D4 forcing the cavalryman to retire and moves into his square.  

At the end of this move turn this leaves the 2 Roman infantry in the square adjacent to the Carthaginian infantry and cavalrymen who have been forced to retire.  It is now the Carthaginian move turn and they must attack the 2 Roman infantry units in the adjacent square, both side are effectively pinned.  If the victorious Roman units had not advanced into the vacated square during the last round of combat described above there would have been a gap between both sides and the Carthaginian units would have been free to redeploy.

The game is won by killing your opponent's General or occupying both of the camp squares on their baseline.  

Simple, quick play rules, easy to learn but with subtleties that can cause a few unpleasant surprises, the game system is very well suited for use with 54mm toy soldiers and increasing the number of units in play adds greatly to both the visual impact and tactical opportunities.

In our previous game we tended to try and occupy the areas of cover which dominate the centre of the board in order to acquire the +1 combat bonus for infantry and it became a bit of a slugfest there with the mounted units dancing around on the periphery.  In the game pictured above the Carthaginians allowed the Roman infantry to occupy the ruins in strength and left cavalry units hovering around to block any attempted breakout, effectively turning the ruins into a POW camp.

Batalla del Metauro

 From the same stable as the Battle of the Little Big Horn game that Anthony and I played back in June comes this Punic Wars game based on the Battle of Metaurus.  Originally designed and published in Spain by Rojas y Malaret, as part of a series of games called "Great Battles of the World" then subsequently produced under licence in Germany by O.M.Hausser.

This is the box art for the German version of the game, which Anthony acquired and then had the board copied onto a 6'x4' mat so that we could play it using 54mm toy soldiers.

It's a different layout to the Little Big Horn game but you can see that the graphics are the same style.  This is the Carthaginian end of the board, forces start with the river behind them and on the base line behind the river, either side of the tree, are two standards, the object of the game is to kill the enemy General or capture both standards.  Possession of the elephant should have been a game winner, sadly I proved to be no Hannibal!

At the Roman end of the board the troops start off in wooded country and have two cavalry units, pitching mobility against the greater combat strength of the Carthaginian elephant unit.  In the centre of the board there is an impenetrable mountain range with surrounding woods and an area of ruins.

Terrain features such as woods, ruins and the mountainous areas in orange are accessible only to infantry, but the lines of rocks are unpassable to all.  These features provide cover and give a combat bonus to the infantry occupying them.  The river can only be crossed at the three fords.

The figures we used were 54mm Romans and Carthaginians made by DSG of Argentina.  The dark line running across the board is just where the original board was folded, it has no bearing on the game.  

The ruins in the centre of the board became the focal point of the battle and changed hands several times.  The trees, rocks and ruins don't come with the game, we just added them to improve the visual aspect.

The Roman cavalry were put to good use running rings around the slower moving Carthaginians.  We played the game using the original rules and numbers of  figures, combat and movement are similar to the LBH game so very easy to pick up quickly.  With the original game you could also buy add on units to represent different troop types and there was also an additional rule for combat with elephants.  The game took about an hour to play and going forward we agreed that it would give a more challenging and better looking game to increase the number of figures used.

This is the contents of the Hausser box, the infantry and cavalry are 40mm Elastolin figures, they incorporated the original elephant made by Rojas y Malaret from the Spanish version.  This box has had an add on set included as the Metauro game only came with one elephant, there was another game based on the Battle of Zama, which had two elephants.  The Zama game also has a different board layout, it is played across an open area with stockade encampments at either end.

These are a couple of the figures from the original Rojas y Malaret game, the infantry (which I couldn't find when photographing this) are a bit over 54mm, the riders here are 54mm but you can see that the horse and elephant are not to scale.  The elephant is a solid one-piece plastic moulding.