Eric said "My Vauban’s War siege worked out great, but another turnout issue. I had 4, two dropped (unknown to me), then one joined in, then I got a walk-up and got Dan from the Vauban's Wars FaceBook Group to join. (I think he is the president of my Vauban’s Wars fan club! He was very enthusiastic about the game\rules) Ken graciously allowed half his units to be commanded by Dan. We called it after 5 hours (45 minutes of tutorial as Tom didn’t get any of my pre-convention emails). Rob Dean from the HAWKS group (garrison commander) slid right in like he had played before even though he registered during the convention! I was impressed with his gaming acumen. Andy and Ken anchored team BESIEGERS, and Andy’s son Sam eventually joined, then Evan joined for the last hour as folks had to drop to go to dinner. Evan ran a Sci-Fi game I played in and just happened to walk by when we lost a player and was a good sport. I believe, based on the response, that everybody had a great time. I gave away the rules (Rob) and Book (Dan) after the game. Some good news is On Military Matters sold out of all copies of VW in less than 24 hours, and PaperTerrain sold more fortresses at a convention than ever before!
Daniel Loych said: "Great game at Historicon! The English did well sapping up to the walls, but we struggled to get our guns up into the forward emplacements due to fierce trench raids from the defenders. By the end, the bastions held but with heavy damage. Eric ran an absolutely fantastic game, and everyone at the table was able to pick up the rules very quickly. "
There is more about Vauban's Wars on Eric's blog (and also here under the Vauban's Wars tag). Highly recommended!
That is one lovely looking game. The paper fortress is brill. I'm off to investigate rules and Paper Terrain.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty unique as far as rules, and the type of game that it produces. I scratch built a fortress for testing these rules, but the paper route is cheaper, faster, lighter, and more coherent.
DeleteThe paper walls are great idea and looks the part. Sounds like good game
ReplyDeleteIt's a unique but fun gaming experience. The first game it can take you a bit to figure out what you are doing on either side... not because of the rules, but because it is just a very different kind of warfare! Lots of unexpected events can happen along the way!
DeleteThank you for posting this Peter! I've been busy painting and rebasing some WWI 15mm figures and haven't gotten around to blogging my Historicon experience and games. Who knew retirement would be sooooo busy!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome - someone has to do a little promotion, LOL!
DeleteI'm still plenty busy in my decided non retirement, but work does structure your time! :-)
Sounds like an excellent game, sieges are very different from encounter battles and it seems like it went really well!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Definitely and interesting and fun change of pace.
DeleteI'd love to play in a siege game one day. I suppose we have all read enough about them but there is nothing quite like a good set of rules to bring it all to life.
ReplyDeleteSieges were common, even in the Napoleonic era - Genoa, Danzig, many in Spain, etc.
DeleteLooks like a great game - some of the figures are beautifully painted, particularly given they are 15mm!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen "the other Peter's" blog Grid Based Wargaming But Not Always - he has been experimenting with siege warfare recently - see here, for example ..https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/2025/08/english-civil-war-siege-game-report.html
Peter's blog is excellent - always some new ideas or applications!
DeleteWow now a siege of a star fort is not a game type I have seen before, fantastic to see the creativity in our hobby! :)
ReplyDeleteEric developed these rules over about 10 years; Joe and I did several play tests. A siege is a very different kind of wargame. History is full of sieges!
DeleteThanks Peter, yes I've played "assault" style medieval style games which are fun. But the engineering complications and modelling complications of a game involving siege of a star fort have thus far escaped me! Will add to my list of things to check out in the future...
DeleteTry this post to get some idea of how the rules work: https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/2019/12/siege-of-san-sebastian-1813-vaubans.html
DeleteWhew! I have caught up with all of your post-Historicon posts. What a fantastic set of games and posts they were too. Plenty of To The Strongest (of course), but in many different forms, scales and guises. I particularly liked seeing Eric's Wofun figures. They look beaut in a game, don't they? Then there were the lovely terrain features. Eric's superb fortress and associated terrain above, your marvellous Nineveh and, of course, the El Morro complete with accompanying travelogue. Fantastic all of them (and those that I did not pick out for special mention). The best of all for me though, was your Salamanca. At first I thought that you had turned down the lights for effect! Finding out the truth it was more and more enthralling the less that we could see. What a great game and a special experience for you all. One to recount for years, I'd say!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, James
Thanks, James, and glad you enjoyed them all. Salamanca was a great game, and for sure much more memorable for the later parts being fought in near total darkness! The real battle was in fact ended by darkness... but by that time, Marmont's army had already been shattered. I have one more Historicon odds and ends post to go, and then our usual Blog content will resume!
Delete