A week and a half ago, I managed to get a game in using the One Hour Wargames rules and my own 3-hit modification. I randomly determined a scenario, which came up The Three Lines. This is a defensive scenario which has Red with an army of 4 units defending a bridge followed by a game between 2 woods and finally a hill. Blue has 6 units that enter the game on Turn 1.
Red Army consisted of 2 infantry, 1 cavalry and 1 gun battery.
Blue army consisted of 3 infantry, 2 cavalry and 1 skirmisher.
Red setup with an infantry forward guarding the bridge, the other infantry unit and the cavalry unit guarding the gap and finally the artillery occupying the hill.
Blue moved up initially with all 3 infantry units moving online across the river. The Red infantry and artillery managed to score hits on two separate units. Blue did pass the subsequent morale checks on their turn and returned fire scoring only 1 hit. However, red was equally unlucky and failed a morale check, forcing the lone red unit back a half move.
Blue took advantage and pushed units across the bridge. Red wasn’t having any of it and managed another hit. Soon the first Blue infantry took its 3rd hit and was removed from play, only to be reinforced by Blue’s last infantry. Eventually, Red’s 1st infantry was destroyed but they seem to have over performed causing a fair bit of damage.
The light infantry managed to get across the river but was hit by artillery fire and had to retreat to the river bank. It would rally and occupy the left section of woods delivering fire on the Red infantry unit covering the gap. Blue’s main line did advance but a 2nd Blue infantry unit was destroyed int he process. This left 2 cavalry and 1 infantry unit to do the heavy lifting.
The 3rd blue infantry traded blows with the last Red infantry unit but eventually quit the field first. The red infantry w soon finished off by a Blue cavalry unit. The Blue and red cavalry units clashed back and forth. One of the Blue cavalry units was destroyed before the red cavalry unit quit the field. This left the artillery in possession of the hill and the 1 cavalry attacking from the front while the light infantry positioned itself on the flank.
At this point, it was the end of turn 13. With only 2 turns left, it did not look like Blue could prevail. It was a narrow victory for Red.
So, there are two things I assumed but did not actually realize are not in the rules. First, there are no line of sight rules. The way they are written, these rules allow units to shoot through other units. I decided that this was not a possibility. I measure from the center of the shooter to any part of the target. If no unit or terrain intervenes, this is clear line of sight. For shooting over units or terrain, the obstacle must be closer to the shooter than the target or the line of sight is blocked.
Shooting into melee was the second thing that is not covered. I thought it would not be allowed. Again, the rules are silent on this. However, this meant that Blue’s light infantry and cavalry could not gang up on the artillery which seems counter intuitive. My solution is that so long as this is a new melee (first round of contact) and there is a clear line of sight, the unit can shoot. It is important in the horse and musket period as cavalry retreats if it cannot break the target unit. It is important in the ancient and medieval eras as well because units get stuck in. Archers can get 1 shot off during a charge but will tend to stand around until the melee is resolved.
It was a fun game that went right down to the wire. The scenario ends itself to solo play as most of the Red units could not move until Blue approached within 4″.
So that is all for today. Until next time, good gaming!
Rivers by Eric Hotz
Game Mat by Battle Systems
Trees by JTT
Hill by Battlefield Terrain Concepts (BTC)
Figures are mostly Minifigs 2nd gen that I started painting when I was 13 years old. There are also a few Napoleonettes and Falcon Figures.
Posted by John 
John's Wargame Page 