Theatre of War - Now Available in PDF

Theatre of War, the Piquet campaign system, is now available in PDF format for $15, payable to me via PayPal to brentoman@q.com .

Theatre of War

was written to allow miniature-based campaigns that provide

linked, tactical tabletop games with a larger meaning. In itself, this is not

a unique goal for a campaign system. However,

Theatre of War is designed to

be used with miniature collections of existing, fixed sizes (no more collecting

and painting forces for the next game just in order to meet the order of battle

requirements!) and provide an entertaining background for a campaign with a

definite result. Quite often, miniature campaigns end up as an exercise in map

movement, followed by a couple of large games as all available forces concentrate

in a clump at one map location. Inevitably, the resulting tabletop games

turn out to be games with every figure each campaign participant owns, lined

up on opposite sides and marching forward into a meeting engagement! A fatal

flaw in many campaign systems is the transition from the large campaign map

to the smaller tabletop tactical map.

Theatre of War provides a system of

determining the tactical scenario, based on decisions made by the campaign

players.

 

Blunders on the Danube Scenario Book - Now Available in PDF Form

Blunders on the Danube is now available as a PDF for $15,  payable to me via PayPal to brentoman@q.com .

Peter Anderson (aka "Gonsalvo") is the author of Blunders on the Danube - a tremendous scenario book.  From his introduction in the book:

This book contains more than 20 scenarios for use with Brent Oman’s excellent rules for Wargaming in

Miniature,

Field of Battle published by Piquet in 2006. A new 2nd edition with a number of small but significant

changes/refinements is being released in 2011, more or less contemporaneously with this book. The scenarios range

from quite small (Klagenfurt) to enormous (Wagram). Many of these scenarios would be almost as useful for Les

Grognards, 2

nd edition, the Napoleonic module for the Piquet Master Rules for wargaming. With some effort, they

shouldn’t be hard to adapt for use with other rules systems as well.

My interest in both the Napoleonic Wars and Wargaming in Miniature began almost simultaneously more than 40

years ago. The 1809 campaign has long been a fascination of mine, and the Austrians were the second wargames

army I painted (after the French, of course). I wanted to do a really big project and run a slew of games from 1809

for the 200

th anniversary of the campaign. This lead to the formation of The Hofkreigsrat, our term (borrowed from

the famously interfering war council in Vienna) for the group of six of us that would run six games in 3 days at

Historicon 2009. The scenarios developed and playtested for that project form the core of this book, with many

additional ones added later. Blame the publication of John Gill's excellent three volume history, “1809 – Thunder on

the Danube”, for many of the additions!

1) Sacile: April 16

2) Raszyn: April 19

3) Teugen Hausen: April 19

4) Abensberg: April 20

5) Eggmuhl: April 22

6) Neumarkt; April 24

7) Grochow: April 25

8) Ebelsberg: May 3

9) Battle on the Piave: May 8

10) Tarvis: May 17

11) Aspern-Essling Day 1: May 21

12) Aspern-Essling Day 2: May 22

13) Gospic: May 21-22

14) St. Michael: May 25

15) 2

nd Battle of Bergisel: May 29

16) Klagenfurt: June 6

17) Raab: June 14

18) Graz: June 26

19) Wagram: July 6

20)Wagram: Davout’s Attack

21) Wagram: Rumble on the Russbach

22) Wagram: Crisis on the French Left

23) Znaim: July 11

First PDF Ruleset for Sale - PKowboys

I'm now offering the very first ever Piquet PDF for sale.   The first set that I've selected and configured is "PKowboys", a skirmish level western set. The rules include all the needed play and card sheets. 

PKowboys is available for $12, and can be purchased by sending me PayPal payment to brentoman@q.com .   I'll send off the pdf when payment has been received.



From the rules -

"Pkowboys is intended to represent skirmish combat between rival gangs (outlaws, lawmen, gunslingers, and townsfolk) in the American West between 1860 and 1900.  Players represent the leaders of different gangs, or in large battles a player may act as the leader of multiple gangs."

 

 

Designer Notes

I suspect most miniatures rules sets start out the same way – the author is frustrated with the some aspect of his current rules and sets out to fix things.  I’m an exception to this rule.  I had a perfectly decent set of “gunslinger” rules that had served my gaming group well for many years.  Instead of trying to “fix” this rules set, I decided to bring some of the concepts from the Piquet rules sets to the Wild West. 

Almost immediately I was beset with the impossibility of using the Piquet initiative system with a fast and lethal combat system.  If the opposing gangs were in combat range, one side could be completely destroyed in one single initiative run.  One of the early solutions was a variable card value system where players would play cards until they had reached their points limit.  Someone joked that if the limit was set at 21, we’d be playing Blackjack!  From this moment, our series of confused gaming sessions quickly gelled into the set of rules you’re now holding.

Here are the principles behind the design of Pkowboys.  If you find a gap in the rules, use your best judgment and follow these guidelines to resolve the dispute.

• Western combat was quick and decisive.  Gun battles lasted minutes or seconds.
• Any shot has the chance of being lethal.
• Many gunfighters lost their nerve and fled when under fire.
• Leadership was as important with gangs of outlaws or lawmen as it was in large battles.
• The Jesse James/Wild Bill Hickock Theory:  being unlucky is a bad thing no matter how good you are.
• Gunfight tactics in a nutshell:  move into a good position and shoot like mad.