Wow. Best game review ever! I can’t imagine any higher praise. I was talking to Mike the other day via email. I asked him how he liked our Pirate game. He said he hated it. 🙁 Oh really? What didn’t you like?
“It’s too realistic. It’s not a game where you can just have fun and play pirates. The tension is palpable. As you approach another ship, you don’t know who they are, what they have or what their intent is. It is very stressful. This game made me feel sick to my stomach. I actually feel nauseous every time we start.”
How’s that for an accurate and realistic model for a simulation?! It doesn’t get any better than that! For us, realism isn’t tracking tons of numbers like an accountant, 1 micro step turn at a time. Our definition of realism is that you only have control over the kinds of things you could have controlled. You have knowledge only about the kinds of things you could have known. A good game puts you in the captain’s chair. If focuses on you making command decisions. Not totaling combat factors and tracking damage points.
So be forewarned. You’re gonna need Alka-Seltzer to play this game. Rum works good too. =)
In a way, Pirates! is kind of misnamed. If you are looking for a pirate game where you can run around and live out a Disney fantasy of pirate life, steal a ship, find some treasures, fight off some sea monsters, then make it back port for some rum and a dance with the governor’s daughter, this is not for you. It’s not that kind of a game.
What does it do then? It was actually based off Star Trek II, the Wrath of Kahn. A tense battle of wits for survival against an unknown enemy. That is the spirit we captured.
It’s about naval combat in the age of sail. Piecing together the whole picture off of just a few clues. Assessing risk. Anticipating what the enemy will do next. Asking the right questions. Making command decisions. Knowing when to push it and when to cut your losses and run.
This game trains you to think like a Captain, not an accountant.
Can a game be too realistic? Well, you might need Alka-Seltzer to play it, but nobody has gotten scurvy or been hanged yet. So that sounds like a perfect mix. =)
This is a crazy experiment that popped into my head yesterday. Why can’t we play Pirates! over YouTube?
I’ll be the umpire. I’ll explain what just happened in the last turn and what the basic options are going forward.
You guys tell me what you want to do in the comments. I’ll take a consensus of what most of you say, and then conduct the next turn. Kind of like a live Kriegsspiel type game over YouTube. Why not?!
Go watch the video here:
Then tell me what you would do in the comments on YouTube. Fun!
Pub Battles is used by many military schools and academies around the world. We often hear back that it is their favorite system to game. It is used in classrooms for teaching and as exercises for training.
Now the military is very sensitive about endorsing products. It would be an ethical violation for them to publicly say anything about 1 particular product or company. It could look like government corruption / favoritism, right? So we can’t say who or where, but we get many glowing reviews from military instructors and schools from all over the US, France, UK, Ireland, Denmark and Scandinavia.
Here is one we got recently:
“The survey feedback for Pub Battles …
was that it was the best game out of the 10 we ran.”
The survey feedback for Pub Battles “Waterloo: into the abyss” with all of the expansion battles and the campaigns rules was that it was the best game out of the 10 we ran in my “history in action” elective. If there is a vassal mod of the full campaign in pub battles, you should consider using it with a special communication and orders rules.
Note, the students had played “Austerlitz: One Sharp Blow” 2 lessons prior to the final class where we played Waterloo, so they had already learned the Pub Battles system with a single battle before playing it with campaign rules.
I had 3 planning rooms for the Army Commanders (Blucher, Wellington, and Napoleon) and had maps for the two wings of the campaign separated (Ney [Quatre Bras] and Grouchy [Ligny]) with strict rules not to talk to anyone on the other map without sending a letter via a runner. I also have a house rule that you can only communicate with corps commanders that are in command range (I assign a student to each corps commander, as well as the army/wing commander).
I only allowed the Army Commanders to be at the battle table where they currently were located.
It wasn’t as rich as a full Kriegsspiel, but it was enough that the players got the idea, and loved it. Had a huge impact on how they saw the campaign, and the AAR was excellent.
”I have been wargaming for thirty years and can safely say this is my top wargame system. There is a place for miniatures, hex games etc, but If I have to pick one, this is it. Fairly simply to play, yet feels like the most realistic experience of being a General during a battle. I spent 20 years as an Army officer and this is the only game that felt more like a real wargame vs. fun wargame. Coupled with the new Brigade pieces and quality of the components, this is the ultimate scotch and cigar game for me. Hurry up and get the Bull Run brigade blocks made!”
What are all the small or thin slope lines on the Antietam map? Are these hills or not?
–I wouldn’t call Cemetery Hill a ‘hill’ at all.
Those were on the historical base maps we used as a reference. We decided to include them on ours as well.
I’ve walked this battlefield. Everything from Antietam creek to the west is all up hill. The whole thing slopes up from there.
We almost considered a rule that says that if you are attacking west, it is up hill. Another approach would be to count the small slope lines. That is basically what they are trying to show: that everything west is uphill. It is a minor rise though.
So what is the official answer for the game? We ignore them. We only count the big hill slopes. We included the small ones for historical reference, so players could house rule them. I’d recommend just using the big ones.
This is consistent with Kriegsspiel. Slopes lower than 5 degrees don’t have any impact.
By that measure, Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg is also not a ‘Hill’. I’ve walked that battlefield too. I’ve walked and jogged the route of Pickett’s charge to the high water mark. I was shocked at how flat it all was. I wouldn’t call it a ‘hill’ at all. It’s nothing like the Round Tops or Culp’s Hill. Look at the famous painting: Cyclorama of Pickett’s Charge:
Yep, looks pretty much like that. Pretty flat, huh?
From a strict game modeling perspective, I would count Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg as clear terrain. That would be most accurate. We almost decided to go this route. Why didn’t we? Marketing and consumer’s expectations.
It is counted as a ‘Hill’ in almost every other game on Gettysburg. Gamers expect to see it. They look for it. Fight over it. Where is Cemetery Hill on the map? What?! It’s not on here?! It’s called a ‘Hill’, right? You expect to see it that way on the map. Imagine the howls of protest from trolls and critics: “They actually made a Gettysburg game with no Cemetery Hill on it.”
Well, it is easy to remedy. Just house rule it. Play the battle ignoring that hill. What happens then? It would be an interesting play and see how it impacts the game.
How do we play it? As shown and written in the rules. We do count it as a hill. That’s our official answer.
With the release of the new 4.0 rules, we made a few tweaks to the combat results. A number of good improvements to the game here but what if you have the old dice? No, this isn’t a scam to make everybody buy all new dice again. No worries. =)
If you have old Pub Battles Dice and want to update to the new Musket Battles design, just let us know and we’ll send then out to you for FREE.
All we ask is that you wait until you order something new. That makes it easy for us to just include them with your current order.
–Otherwise it will turn into an insane mess of us trying to send out thousands all at once by hand with thousands of more complicated emails to sort through.
How to get the new dice stickers?
Next time you order something from us, put a little note for us when you checkout. Tell us the number and types of dice you need new stickers for.
How to replace them?
Soak your old dice in a bowl of hot water for an hour. Replace the water with fresh, hot water to warm them back up for about 5 min. Then the old stickers should easily peel off. Dry and rub off any remaining residue with a dry towel, then you are good to go!
Here are the Order Sheets for all the battles in the Waterloo campaign. You can download them for FREE here. These are especially critical for hidden marching on the 17th.
All 4 maps are out now for the Waterloo campaign! We also have a new updated version of the Waterloo Scenario. These are completely revamped and include the extra rules you need to play a continuous running campaign on all 4 maps at once. You can download a copy here for FREE.
We’ve experimented with several different order writing systems for Pub Battles over the years. We love the idea of orders creating C&C limitations / time lag delaying your moves but all our attempts failed when they hit the table. They never seem to create any problems. You can still do all the things you could normally.
Last weekend, we decided to try a new experiment: Graphical Orders. Yeah I know. They didn’t do orders like that back then. True but we figured it was worth a quick test. Maybe we’ll learn something we can use in a modern era game.
Wow, were we surprised! Graphical Orders in Pub Battles are fantastic. Looking back now, it makes more sense. Formal written orders were the norm back then but those were typically issued from the Army to the Corps each night, while maneuvering on campaign. Once the battle was on, there wasn’t much need for that. Everybody is already there! Besides, during a battle, there usually isn’t time for all that. Things are happening too quick.
If you were a Corps Commander in a battle, you wouldn’t write orders to your Divisions. You’d probably just ride up to them in the field and give them quick, verbal orders: “We are going to move forward and form a line facing west along that ridge. See that clump of trees there? Anchor your right on that. Second Division will be on your left. Got it? Good. Go!”
Well guess what? Modern graphical orders turn out to be a great model of exactly that! Think of them as the Corps Commanders showing / telling their Divisions where to deploy in the field.
Now it’s going to take time for them to execute that right? Well, that’s the time from the beginning of the turn to when they actually move. In Pub Battles, a lot can happen during that time! There’s your delay. You have to plan ahead.
How to Use Graphical Orders
We printed a simple conference map on a letter sized page. You can down load a copy for free here. You have our permission to print off extra copies for your own personal use in playing the game.
The Conference Map is exactly 1/3 the scale of the regular map. So you can use the same Pub Battles sticks & Chains on it. A full move on the Orders Sheet is 1/3 of a move on the sticks.
You’re also going to need some clear transparencies from your local office supply store. While you’re there, pick up some fine point dry erase pens.
Example 1
This is turn 2 at Gettysburg, Day 1. Reynolds wants to march up to the Seminary. You draw the ‘order’ like this:
Because he is marching on the road, he can move twice as far. So that is 2 sections on the chains.
The Difference
Ok so the problem is, Hill moves first. Instead of driving on Gettysburg, he makes an unexpected shift to the right and marches south.
In a regular game, Reynolds could just scrap the plan to march north and instead move west to block Hill. Now he can’t! His column has to march as ordered: up to the Seminary:
Now what?!
Example 2
Ok, now let’s back this situation up. Let’s assume for some reason that Reynolds just stopped for Turn 2 and didn’t march.
What happens now for Turn 3? Reynolds wants to get off the road and form a line on Seminary Ridge, directly to the west. You would draw that order like this:
Notice that you are just ordering the Corps as a whole. You don’t go into detail for each block, their exact move, rotation, etc.
Ok now if Reynolds moves first, that is fine. He’ll get up there along that ridge (mostly) before Hill does. If Hill orders to occupy the same position, then Hill will automatically launch an attack to take Seminary Ridge. You have to throw the enemy out, before you can occupy and defend it right?
Same goes for Reynolds. If Hill gets there first, Reynolds must attack uphill to take it!
What can you do as a Corps commander?
You do have discretion over which divisions to put where and when to rally them. It is also up to you to decide how hard to fight during combat. Maybe you were ordered to attack but how hard to you push? Do you attack with only Fresh units? Do you add support? Do you fall back after 1 round of fighting to minimize casualties? Or do you keep pushing with Spent units in additional rounds, with an all-out effort to take the ground no matter what? This is left up to the Corps commanders to decide as it unfolds; NOT put in the orders.
If you don’t hold the ground, you are expected to advance and attack to take it. If you do hold the ground, you must defend it. If you are repulsed back, you must counterattack to get it back.
You are not allowed to move to another location without orders.
Note that the orders define a line that you are to hold and also the direction that your Corps faces.
Example 3
Alright now instead, let’s say Reynolds decides to just play it safe. He doesn’t want to risk losing troops in an uphill assault against the enemy. Instead, he decides to form his defense along the ridge in the Peach Orchard. He draws his orders thus:
Nice, except that these are Hill’s orders:
So the turn ends up like this:
Hill’s Objective is Devil’s Den and Little Round Top. -but Reynolds doesn’t know that yet.
Let’s say Hill moved first here. In a regular game, Reynolds could just move south to cover Devil’s Den and the Tops. Now he can’t. Those aren’t his orders! He MUST move into Peach Orchard, facing west as shown.
Next turn he can issue new orders to shift his Corps south to cover that ground. Fine, but who will move first? If Hill moves first, Reynolds will be having a very bad day.
Example 4
Ewell just attacked on turn 7. There is 1 more turn left of daylight.
On the left, Rodes was flipped and repulsed. There is 1 Federal defender left on Culp’s Hill but they are spent also. One more push might blow them out.
On the right, Early attacked Wadsworth on Cemetery Hill. Half of Early’s men ran. The other half are hanging on to Cemetery Hill but just barely. They are spent, so it won’t take much to throw them back. Wadsworth was repulsed too. Lots of hard fightin! So who won? It depends on what happens next turn. Right now, Cemetery Hill is up for grabs!
So what do you do next turn? Ordinarily, that’s easy. You just sit back and hope you get pulled to move first. If you do, you rush forward, firmly occupy Cemetery Hill and sweep Culp’s Hill clean before nightfall. If you don’t get the first move, roll to jump ahead. If that fails, ok. Just back off and setup camp for the night. You can deal with it tomorrow.
The Difference
Ok but with graphical orders, it’s not so easy. You aren’t sure who will move first next turn but you have to write orders now. If you order an attack but the Feds move first and solidify their line, you still have to attack! The losses could be devastating. Attacking prepared defenders in good terrain with spent divisions could very easily destroy 2/3 of your Corps! Is this attack worth the risk?
This should give you a good feel for how to use these in your games. Try it out and let us know how it goes. Do you like it? Did you see some issues with it? Do you see some ways to make it better?
