Rules Review: Volley and Bayonet - 1994 version

Talk about old school gaming.

In 1998 I purchased Volley and Bayonet when I attended my very first miniature wargame convention in Gettysburg. I did not have a large figure collection and I thought it would be a good idea to research a set of rules that covered multiple periods. I wanted something simple and fun as I am not competitive. I played a game in Gettyburg and loved the rule and game flows, but then life happened. I soon relocated and changed jobs.  I had forgotten about the rules and my future project as I established a new life in a new town.

 I have only played the rules twice; most recently this year at Essington Games Day which rekindled my interest. The games are fun with decisive results and are convention friendly. I had completely forgotten about these rules as our club plays a lot of Black Powder, Lasalle, Fire and Fury. We do not play grand tactical rules sets. The rules were explained to me in a few minutes before each game and I felt confident in playing. I usually play cautiously when using a new set of rules so this was a refreshing change to be more aggressive. I know there is a new version out but the older set is as valid to day as it was in the 90's.

The book has several scenarios from the Seven Years War to the Franco-Prussian War complete with orders of battle. The rules are designed for grand strategy set so commanding Corps and divisions are possible at any scale.The book is 94 pages long but the rules encompass 19 pages. The charts and a Q&A section are on the last pages of the book.

Scale: An inch equals 100 yards and each strength point a unit possesses equals 500 men or 6 guns. One game turn represent an hour on the battlefield.

Figure Basing is straight forward.

Infantry and cavalry brigades are 3" x 3" stands
Infantry regiments is a 3" x 1.5" stand
Artillery battallion is a 1.5" x 3" stand
Cavalry skirmishers use 1.5" x 1.5" stand
Infantry skirmishers and Division commaders use 1.5" x 1.5"
Corps/Army commanders use 2" x 2" stands.

A turn sequence is easy as well
1 - Command
2 - Movement
3 - Rally
4 - Morale
5 - Combat.

Organization-A
The rules are only 19 pages and organized by turn sequence. Large print makes the reading easy on the eyes. Tables accompany the text related to the subject matter. Subject matter is relevent to the heading and is clearly written.

Examples-B
Basic examples are provided in the book but there are very few of them. Perhaps it is because of the low complexity of the rules requiring less explanation.

Support C
There is a Yahoo group established for this set of rules. A comprehensive website with free scenarios is available at http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mcnelly/vnb.htm and has lots of eye candy. Unfortunately the older version of the rules has been phased out so support is aimed at the new version. You can still find people who play so it is possible to clarify something when rarely needed to do so.  

Content B
There are a lot of scenarios in the rules. Division strengths, maps and deployment are covered for all of the 9 scenarios in the book. The rules have very little detail and don't recognize unique unit characteristics. The authors gladly sacrifice detail for a less complex and playable set of rules.

Complexity: A
These rules are basic and very easy to play. I would recommend them for convention games as players new to this system will be able to play after a few minutes of review before game time. Key points can be written on an index card for each player if needed but are not necessary.

Playability: A
You can jump right into a game. Turn sequences move quickly unless a player spends several minutes deciding what to do. You can finish a large scale battle in 4 hours and can handle 6 or more players easily. The basing of brigades to a single stand helps move the game along. These rules are convention friendly. The game is based on D6 for combat and morale. Basically you hit on a 6 and the opponent does not get a saving roll unless he is in a town or fortification.

Overall: A
I am a casual gamer and I like the social aspect of the game as well as playing. It is more important for me to have fun than recreate a specificevent in a specific period. I would recommend these rules if you have similar reasons for gaming. The older version may be hard to find but I have seen them at flea markets and Ebay.  The new version runs about $39 which is a bit steep for me and a far cry from the $14 I spent back in 1998 at Fall In. If you can find this older set on Ebay, a flea market or bring and buy it is worth the purchase. I have seen prices as little as $10 for this great set. If you are looking for a very detailed set of rules with lots of charts and statististics to recreate a specific battle than these rules are not for you. If you want to drink beer with some friends, have a chat and spend an afternoon pushing figures around the table then this set is your style of rules. Sadly my dream in 1998 to build forces to play these rules never cam to fruition, but perhaps I can change that.

Force on Force - Rules Review

Force on Force is a set of rules from Osprey Publishing that covers modern conflicts. They were developed and distributed by Ambush Alley games who have a strong and loyal customer base. The fire combat is based on shifting dice, so a D6 is worse than a D8, a D10, or a D12(best). Dice are shifted depending on the circumstances. Insurgents may have a D6 firepower which really bad, but may be a D12 morale as they are fighting for their cause against an invader.A typical US infantry unit is uses a  D8 or D10, with Navy SEALS using a D12.

I have played these set of rules about 6 times now and feel comfortable enough to rate them. The rules are based on gaining initiative and the person with intiative can perform actions one unit at a time. The person losing initiative can react fire or react move to a unit that takes an action during its inititiative. By the way Insurgents never get the initiative, a true assymetric engagement.

Organization: C+

The rules are organized by the sequence of play but do have some problems with organization, especially related to reactions. There are rules regarding movement, fire, and morale throughout the book several sections apart making it difficult to put all the pieces together.

 Here is an example:

On page 69 the rules state, "Remember that units lose 1 die of firepower and 1" of movement for each reaction after the first".

Well I checked the movement section on page 31 and there is no mention that a unit loses 1 inch of movement per reaction. The reference should be made under the Movement section as well.

I think the authors tried to cover reactions as a seperate section but since reactions can be movement or fire they influence movement and fire rules in other sections of the book. During the last game I played I was flipping back and forth so much I got frustrated and developed an outline. The organization of the content is my biggest problem with this set of rules.

Examples: A

There are a lot of eamples in the book for specific rules. There are examples for passing and failing dice rolls to help clear up any confusion. Some diagrams would help but the rules are supprted by a strong forum at Ambush Alley.

Support: A

The rules are supported by a forum on the Ambush Alley site. Rules questions and clarifications are frequently listed. Now one may state that a well written set of rules does not require a forum and you may have a case. I have found that every rules set I own has some gray areas that need clarification or some sort of house rule without exception. The website is user friendly and free down loads.

Complete Content: C

I have been flustered by missing content that is included as an addendum online. When playing out a game against insurgents I attempted to clear an unoccupied building. Page 115 refernces the section on how to clear a building of insurgents and refers you to the Building Clearing table. I went crazy trying to locate the table that was mentioned and failed to find it after a long search. I started twitching and cursing as I flipped back and forth reading the same lines over and over again expecting to see a table magically appear out of no where. We eventually skipped the rule completely and moved on. The following day I went on the forum and discovered that the table was accidentally left out of the book during printing. The table is given as a down load on the Ambush Alley website. Another issue is that the optimum fire bonus is not referenceed for vehicles on any QRS I could find. Even though vehicle weapons are always in optimum range so the bonus should be listed on the QRS as a reminder.

There are a lot of pictures included from Osprey books. This can help as a painting guide and understand the variety of troops you can use. I never knew there were Lebanese Marines....hmmph. Sadly there is little eye candy but oh well.

Playability: B+

Movement is very simple and rolling for fire and resolving combat is very easy. The complexity comes in rounds of fire and reactions. You have to remember how many times you fire as you lose fire dice and 1" of movement in every reaction, so an active unit will finish their move short of the intended location if it reacts multiple times. It doesn't hurt to use a players sheet for infantry and vehicles either, I developed my own but you can probably find one on line. The more you play and resolve reactions and chains of reactions the more confident you feel.

Overall a solid B+

You don't need a large investment in figures or terrain. After playing a couple ot times I really like these rules. A game can be played in 2-3 hours and the rules are scalable to involve whole platoons of infantry if you want a gmae that big. The rules are worth the purchase, just be sure to run a small game and build confidence. If you want to play a counter insurgency game then for F*%#s sake get the building clearing table from the website first.