C is for "Command and Colors"

Photo from http://www.mataka.org/

"Command and Colors" (yes, I know it's spelled wrong, but it is an American game so one has to make allowances) is a boxed Ancients "block" game published by GMT. It is a boardgame - though it doesn't require a board - and a wargame all rolled into one. It is set in around the time of the Punic Wars. There is a fantasy variant called "Battlelore" and there is a Game of Thrones version which I have to say I didn't care for at all. I can't even recall the name. I owned it briefly but quickly dumped it at the next Flea Market. C&C and Battlelore are keepers, however. C&C more so than BL.

You can download the rules for C&C from the GMT website.

As I said, it is a boardgame - there is a board with a hex grid used to manage movement and you add terrain using separate tiles to overlay portraying woods, rivers, hills and towns. And it is a block game in that it comes with wooden blocks in the appropriate colour for each side and with sheets of stickers with pretty pictures of the units represented on them.

I don't usually play using the board, however. I prefer to play it on a full sized wargames table with 28mm figures. I don't bother with hexes. All references to "hex" in the rules I substitute with 6". So if the rules say a unit moves 2 hexes, then that means 12". Maneuver is simple. As hexes somewhat negate the concept of flanks - it is assumed, I think, that units always turn to face the enemy - then one doesn't have to be too particular when moving your troops on the tabletop. As long as they only move 6" or 12" that is fine, and you can wheel or position them as you like.

The only thing you might have to consider is different sized bases for different units. You want to ensure that in the tabletop version that no more units can attack a single unit than in the original rules. No need to rebase; just don't allow a bunch of small units to pile onto a single opponent.

One of the best things about the rules are the command cards. These simulate the problems of command that may not be apparent to the player. Annoying for those who like to micro-manage their armies down to the last millimeter of movement or angle of facing. For myself, I think it's great. I think it is a step towards putting you on the table rather than lording over it. It means your "perfect" plan can be foiled by bad cards - ie. poor communications and obstinate subordinates. Just the sort of things that happened to real generals! :-)

I think the main thing that some people dislike about the rules is that it doesn't matter how heavily armoured you are - the chance to hit is still 1-in-6.  And I am not sure "dislike" is the correct word. Maybe people just find it odd. Shouldn't they be harder to hit? The rules go about differentiating the heavy/"battleline" infantry from the rest in a different way.

I mean, the "heavy" infantry - those that would be heavier armoured and meant to fight in the main battleline - they get 5 dice when they attack in open ground, and hit on "swords" as well. It is like arriving at the correct balance by coming in the back way. With 5 dice hitting 1/3rd the time they are pretty deadly. Medium infantry might hit on swords but get less dice, and light infantry get only 2 dice and only hit 1/6th of the time. It's like saying the chance to kill an armoured man is 1-in-6, unless you are properly suited for the purpose. Light infantry are not and medium infantry are only somewhat better. The differences between the troop types are accounted for, just not in the way people are accustomed to, is all.

In addition, it is easy to "dress up" Command & Colors with rules for Stubborn, First Strike (for pikes), etc.

B is for Barbarian

I think wikipedia will back me up on this, that the Ancient Greeks believed everyone who was not Greek was a "barbarian". That is, an "uncivilized" person, brutish, rude, and uneducated.

Tsolyanu has its tribal groups: the tribes in the Gilraya and Chakan forests, the Kurt hills, the Kraa Hills and, I suspect, the Desert of Eyagi and in the marshy flats along Tsolyanu's southern coast. Some Tsolyani might think these peoples "backward" but I don't think they'd call them barbarians.

That term they would reserve for peoples like the N'luss and the Lorun. These are two related groups, taller than typical humans on Tekumel - much taller, in fact. Some N'luss stand over 7' tall.

You can see more about the N'luss here. And about the Lorun, here.

A is for "At the Center of the Earth"

Caroline Munro, as Cave Girl...or Lorún warrior woman?

Scauwegs!

Scauwegs, from Slapminis.com painted as Striped Hyenas by Roy Duffy. Fantastic! :-)

Again, not Tékumel but I think they are perfect regardless! YTMV ;-)

Banth

A pair of Banth from Bronze Age Miniatures, painted by Roy Duffy. Technically not Tékumel but I am going to be using them in my campaign anyway! :-)

Stratagems in "Kérdu"

I've been tinkering away at "Kérdu" again - that is, the big battle rules for Tékumel wargaming.

One thing I have been thinking about is the various stratagems that are such a big feature of Tékumel themed battles. Or which should be in order for them to be "authentic". An example is the "Bow of Hrúgga  which is described in the "Battle of Ry" account. This stratagem employs two adjacent phalanxes separated by a relatively narrow gap. The concept is that once the phalanxes have struck home the rear ranks wheel and charge up the gap - becoming the "arrow" - to strike home, presumably with some additional effect though, in truth, it is hard for me to see what actual benefit would be achieved by doing this in a Real World battle. So the question is: do we model such fantastical ideas or not? If not, then any ancient rules would be appropriate as long as it can handle the basic elements of melee, missile fire and phalanxes. All one need do is tack on a magic system and perhaps some modifiers to account for the various races and "voila" - it is complete! On the other hand, if we choose to model these various stratagems that are part of the flavour of Tékumel-themed battles then I think we also have to allow for a little suspension of disbelief. Just as when playing Space 1889 we accept that Mars is inhabited, that we can travel across the ether and that "liftwood" exists, so to, to properly wargame on Tékumel, we must accept that certain things "work".

Comments?

Paranoia, or: the Imperium is Your Friend. Trust the Imperium!

In the Paranoia rpg, secret societies are banned and membership is punishable by a trip to the incineration chamber. Mutations are treated similarly. Of course, by default every player character must be a member of a secret society and have a mutation.

I was thinking of doing something similar for Tekumel games. Membership in a secret society is no problem. It doesn't typically have the same deadly consequences as in Paranoia, but might effect some situations. Or the secret society could be devoted to the Goddess of the Pale Bone or one of the other Pariah Deities and then could indeed have fatal consequences!

Mutations are a different matter. One could substitute the political party or power block affiliation, but that follows on from the secret society to a certain extent.

The "off the boat" starting scenario might actually be the equivalent, now that I think about it. Especially if you play with strict and deadly enforcement of breaches of protocol. Being "foreign" is just like having a mutation!

The problem is that in Paranoia the PCs have access to six identical clones. Each time they die the next clone is activated and put into play. This allows the GM to be somewhat merciless without slowing game play by having to re-roll characters all the time.

I suppose one could start the PC's in the Foreigner's Quarter and say they have a Shaman that can bring them back, but only six times, perhaps with increasing "side-effects" or "defects" as they go along. They are all members of secret societies either because they are a branch of the same temple equivalent in their home country or because they have already been poached by local operatives.

An alternative is the method of "zero level" characters used by Dungeon Crawl Classics, an Old School Renaissance (OSR) rpg based on original D&D. They advocate starting with a large number of these zero level characters and just playing a no-holds barred game. Of course most do not survive but those that do go on to become the player's main characters, being promoted to 1st level at the end of the first adventure.

I think this is actually what I am going to try out: an "off the boat" game, which I have actually never tried before, with the players all being Naqsái, from the Southern Continent far to the southwest of Shényu. They worship of the Goddess of the Pale Bone but know enough to keep this a secret. This gives them two potentially lethal handicaps similar to those in Paranoia. 

Naqsái Lands

Below Shényu (to the bottom and bottom-left looking at the map) are the Naqsái lands. They were never under the power of the Priestkings, and if one were to follow the coastline west for about 300-400 Tsán you would find the city of Dhalái. In that city the Goddess of the Pale Bone is worshiped as is the One Other. Farther along the coast is an even bigger city, Balái, and these two cities make up the core of the Naqsái settlement in the region.

 The whole purpose of this is to try and ease players into Tekumel's alien cultures. Playing it the "paranoia way" allows the referee to be uncompromisingly harsh.

But maybe that is the way most people play EPT already?