Review: 6x6 Tales

Scrolling through my list of blog posts, published and otherwise, I realized that there's a very enjoyable game I have yet to write something up for. Now:

Do you like rolling dice? Do you like mapmaking? Do you like following a hero along on their adventure? Do you like free stuff? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then do I have a deal for you!

I browse Wargamevault and DrivethruRPG quite a lot now, looking for deals on things I'm interested in. Some of the things I've purchased have been sitting in my library, unused but waiting for the day the print button comes for them. Not so for 6x6 Tales!

6x6 tales has been played often enough that I cannot label this write-up as a First Play. Heck, just thinking of writing about it, I've printed another to play again (though truthfully, it's been a few weeks since the last time).

What You Need to Play

- The PDF downloaded from DrivethruRPG (maybe available elsewhere?)

- Pencil

- Eraser

- 2 d6 that are distinguishable from each other (different colours; one with pips, the other numerals; whatever)

The Downloaded Package

The download provides three game sheets that can be printed differently depending on your preferences, standard and "pocketmod". I elected to print the pocketmod version. Maybe a reader is familiar with this layout, but I was not. The pocketmod essentially results in three tiny booklets that could fit in most pockets, making this is a very portable game. Both print options have tiny print, so if that's a problem, add "magnifying glass" to the list of necessities.

The first booklet is the Rules. Pretty straightforward, written in a way that you can just follow the steps as you play.

Second booklet is called the Events Booklet. This contains bits and pieces of the story all mixed up so you can't quite read ahead. Also, the there are multiple paths with multiple endings, so it's unlikely that you play the same story twice.

Third booklet is called the Journal Booklet. This is where you keep track of your hero and the story. there's the hero's stats, a map, quest log, day tracker, spells, fight tracker, dungeon tracker, and game-end scoring. This is the booklet where all of your writing goes as the story plays out.

All you need to play!

The Hook and Playing the Game

The hook is very simple. From the front page of the Rules Booklet: The King approaches you, "Welcome to our small island. We need your help, hero. Our island is terrorized by monsters, please help us..." 

I mean, what more do you need? You're gonna play the game, right?

First you build your character. Four peoples are available with a special, innate quality about them. You might be a human and start with extra gold. A dwarf or elf to start with stronger hits or more accuracy, respectively. Or be a hobbit and start with a pie. Give your character a name, draw their portrait, and fill in their stats. 

Then you roll the dice to randomly place the castle (your start point) and draw it on the map. You are now ready to adventure! 

Following the same roll and write process, you move from square to square to reveal the roads and terrain of the map. As you go along you'll discover villages, meet monsters to fight (or run from), take on side quests, level up your abilities, make a name for yourself, and find clues to progress in the main quest: learning the secret of the great evil that holds the island in its grasp and halting its terrible work.

Maps at the end of these games. Top is the one my son drew as I helped him play. Bottom left: my lesser decorated map. Bottom right: a more detailed map of the island (and completed too).

When you fulfill your destiny, whatever your fate, you add up your score and discover your ranking. Points are earned for quest completion (main and side quests), gold collected, fame earned during your travels. The total dictates your hero status; does your name take its place with the heroes of legend or will it join the legions of the forgotten. Either way, there is a space to write in the Title of your hero's journey.

Some more details from Journal Booklets.

My Take

Whether it was The Incredibly Underwhelming Adventure and Death of Jankah, a Dwarf or the famous Elfis, Slayer of the Bone Dragon, I have had a blast with this little game. Honestly, drawing up the map and coming up with a fun title at the end are my favourite parts. But all the parts work really well together for a simple, fast-paced story-telling adventure. Well, it's fast if you don't spend time illustrating extra detail into the map.

My first three character journals.

I can see the results of 6x6 Tales being some good material for an RPG game master, play the game a few times and you now have some legends with which to spice up your world-building or base a side quest on, heck one might even build a whole campaign on one of these (how about The Disappearance of Luke into the Unknown). Even something like Clara the Mango Delivery Girl is Killed by a Giant Rat, my most recent adventure, can be imagined into something to add flavour; perhaps it is a tale of warning told to children to dissuade them from venturing into the woods alone.

I've kept each Journal Booklet in a drawer, it's how I've had these titles to bring up as I write. Reading the titles brings back memories and maybe I will incorporate them into some future gaming endeavor as an inside joke for myself. As for right now, perhaps I can enlist Clara's twin sister Sara to take on the adventure and perhaps drive the evils scourge from this island! Because who's completely satisfied by only having played two turns before dying?

My Shipyard

I've been told that some of my ancestors were ship builders in Norway. It's possible that some of that quality has been passed down to me, at a smaller scale anyway.

I haven't posted much, but each time I post on a social media group about my scratch-built ships, someone is interested in how I built the models. So this will be my how-to post. Follow along as I make another ship.

Step 1: Blueprints

This is easier than you might think. There is a website called the-blueprints.com. First thing is you'll want to head over there. Find the "Ships" section in the database (link). Ships are arranged by classification and country, so if you know what you are looking for, this can be helpful.

For this example, I am going to make the Japanese armoured cruiser, Izumo (aka Idzumo). Click on "Cruisers (Japan)" and we get a listing of names of Japanese cruisers, through which we scroll until we find Izumo. 

Keep in mind, this listing contains all kinds of cruisers from different eras and maybe not all cruisers ever built, so mileage may vary. Also watch the check boxes on the right, they indicate whether the image being called up has top view and side view or just a side view. Both views is ideal.

So here we have top and side views of Izumo. Download the image.

2. Scaling the Image Download

I chose 1:3000 scale for these ships, but this will work for other scales, just insert the scale factor where I have 3000.

Do a web search of the ship and find it's Wikipedia entry. 

In the column on the right, you can find all kinds of info about the ship. For this, we just need length. Izumo is 132.28 meters.

Using a calculator, divide the ship's length in meters (132.28) by the scale factor (3000). We get 0.04409m, or 44mm. This is how long the model will be.

Open an image editing software, I used PowerPoint. Import (paste) the image onto your workspace. Crop the left and right sides of the image to the bow and stern tips of the boat. 

Resize the image length to the model length (44mm in this case). Make sure the image height is locked in with the length so that it scales both directions.

Repeat as desired for other ships. quite a few will fit on a letter size piece of paper. Print the ships.

3. Basic Ship Construction

Cut out the top view. Note where the superstructure rises above the hull of the ship. use the side view to help locate the extent of the superstructure. With these lines in mind, use a glue stick to apply glue to the bow and stern of the ship, leaving the superstructure glue-free. Affix cutout to a craft stick (like a popsicle stick).

Using a knife and the glued-on cut out as a guide, carve the ship shape from the stick. For these battleships at 1:3000 scale, there is generally no need to worry about the thickness of the stick if using popsicle sticks.

With the ship shape complete, use a sharp knife to carve the lines of the superstructure. As it isn't glued down, the superstructure cutout should just lift away (if it did get glued and the glue is not totally dry, it may still peel off using the knife blade and some care). Then glue superstructure piece to craft stick and repeat the shaping process. 

Finally, glue the superstructure to its place on the hull. I use Tacky glue for this. Write name of ship on the underside if doing multiple ships assembly line style. 

We could call this ship done at a couple steps above bare minimum and skip to basing...or we could delve into the land of high-fiddliness.

4. Intermediate Ship Construction (or A Reason to Use Some Special Tools)

Note funnels (smoke stacks) and masts on the ship (see side view). Find some metal or plastic rods of similar thickness. I used some worn out metal anode rods from some laboratory tool my brother uses at work for the funnels and paper clip wire for the masts. Cut pieces of rod/wire to their respective length in the side view plus the distance to the waterline (on some drawings, only the ship above waterline is shown, others show the whole boat, so watch for that). File off burs, bevel one end and flatten the other.

Locate the masts and funnels on the top view paper layer of the model (compare to side view if unsure). With a pin vice and appropriately-sized drill bits, drill holes through the model for the funnel and mast rods/wire to fit. Slowly so as not to split the wood.

5. Basing

Cut a 50mm length of a wider craft stick - mine are 20mm wide - and glue the boat onto it. Write the name of the ship and indicate which end is the front on the underside.

Press rod and wire into the holes, beveled side down. With the base there, they'll stop close to the right hight. Glue if needed. File funnel tops to the same level if applicable.

Paint or stain base if desired. The sticks I used were already blue.

Affix national flag on rear of base and write name of ship. Alternately one might print, cut, and glue name along with flag to the base. Consult underside of base to double-check which end is the rear.

And that's it! We now have a smart-looking model for wargaming.

Edit:

Oh wait! I forgot about the turrets.

Find a cylindrical object roughly the same diameter as the turrets on the top view. Things that work might be a bamboo skewer or a toothpick. a piece of plastic spru, etc. Cut a slice and glue it on. Or cut a tiny circle out of a thin bit of plastic, like a bread tag, and glue it on.

First Play: Quickfire

Another thing that's been on my mind a few years and I have now gotten to the table; some kind of pre-dreadnought game.

Pre-dreadnought type ships have almost a romantic quality all their own as they fill a relatively short gap between fighting sail and the modern battleship. Having been developed during that turn of the century heyday where discovery and invention seemed to take such frequent leaps in so many directions, the warships of the era abound in differences as theories in engineering and armament are tested, built, then discarded. I think it's why these boats fit so well into the steampunk sort of genre, if you're in to that sort of thing.

I looked into buying ships, but I ended up making my own and I quite like how they turned out. Using drawings downloaded from the-blueprints.com, I looked up ship sizes and scaled the drawings to fit 1:3000 scale on a PowerPoint slide (one can fit a number of ships at that scale on an 8.5 x 11 slide). I cut out and glued the top views of the drawings to popsicle sticks, stacking superstructure portions to roughly match the side view drawings for height. Funnels and masts are made up of metal rods and paperclips, respectively. Large turrets are sawed off ends of bamboo skewers or cut circles from bread tags. The boats are glued to tongue depressors cut at 5cm lengths (luckily, some of these I found in our craft drawers were blue). To finish things off, the ships' names are written on and a little flag glued to the depressor.

Three Japanese battleships. From left: Mikasa, Asahi, Yashima. Not pictured: armoured cruisers, Asama and Tokiwa.

Russian ships. Front to back: battleships Tsesarevich, Retvizan, Potemkin, Rostislav, and protected cruisers Zhemchug and Izumrud. 

The 11 ships mentioned in the above captions are all I've made so far, but I wanted to play with them, so I found a ruleset to use online called Quickfire. It looked like the right mix of detail and quicker play I was looking for. 

Initial setup of my game. Russians on the left, Japanese on the right. At the ship scale and the size of my table, these fleets have just come into range of each other.

I got stat sheets filled out and for the sake of easiness I decided to have the boats start single file with the position and approach angles decided at random. I didn't take many pictures or really keep track of much of the battle, so I don't really have an after action report like I've done with other games. This game would take me about a month to play out as I took a turn or two or three on days I could spare the time.

Although I deliberately chose to start with Japanese and Russian ships, I just randomly picked which ships I made, so the match-up seemed a bit uneven when I got the stats all figured out. Although it was six Russian ships vs. five Japanese, in this game the Japanese cruisers are rated almost as powerfully as the battleships and the Russian cruisers were useless for firing anything but torpedoes (which have a range of only 4 inches and even then rarely hit anything).

Mikasa is set afire early in the game as battleships head right and cruisers go left.

Around turn 7 or so, the Japanese boats seem quite organized. The Russians less so, with their battle ships splitting left and right as the cruisers race through the middle.

It's a close call as Rostislav maneuvers to pass behind the cruisers to join Retvizan.

The ships remaining after turn 20.

End of turn 23. Yashima is the only Japanese ship still afloat, but is adrift. Izumrud has had its speed reduced to where she cannot turn, her ability to launch torpedoes is nil. Rostislav has only her primary weapons operational, but is still in good shape for maneuvering. I ended the game here proclaiming a minor Russian victory.

I keep saying, after playing games like this, that I should be using some kind of moral check. I'd have thought the rules for this game would include something along those lines. Probably would reduce the number of turns in a game like this. As it was, I had no other motive for either side than to shoot each other up and that seemed to take quite a long time. Here's the stat sheets at the end:

Stat sheets used for Quickfire. Pretty simple stuff, considering other games I've played or seen.

It took ten turns to sink the first ship (Tsesarevich). The first two sunk were Russian, it was looking bad for them until Retvizan made an improbable hit on Asahi, triggering blast damage that reduced her speed and started fires that caused even more problems next turn. It was amazing how often Asahi was ablaze before finally sinking at turn 17. Turn 15 saw an amazing torpedo hit on Tokiwa by Izumrud, sinking her that turn. It was the only damage dealt by either Russian cruiser the whole game.

Thoughts on the Rules

I rather enjoy these rules. However, I think I would enjoy them more playing against someone who isn't me. There were times I wonder whether I targeted the right ships in a turn, thinking someone else might have acted differently, but I'd just put that into the downsides of playing solo.

An interesting part of these rules is the division in gunnery and armour. If a ship fires using primary (heavy) guns, the receiving ship uses a heavy armour rating that is compared to attackers heavy gunnery rating to decide the hit value needed. The same ships have different ratings for secondary (light) guns, which are compared against a light armour rating. The variety of ratings and rates of fire of the ships is also interesting.

The firing process is different; one d6 to see if the guns put enough shots in the air to do any damage, then if they do, total two other dice and compare to the value needed to count a hit based on the gunnery/armour comparison (on a chart), on a hit total all three dice and cosult a chart to se if blast damage occurs. I caught on pretty good and found less need to consult the charts later in the game. A cool sounding optional rule is for the player to guess the range, then measure to see if they hit (I didn't do this).

Movement seems scaled well enough, it took about half the game for ships to get into short range (which increases the possibility of blast damage and explosions) and over half the game for any ships to get into torpedo range. Moves at the scale I used are measured in millimeters, the faster ships on my table topping out at 80mm per turn. An optional rule is to double movement, which would get ships into short range and the increased possibility of blast damage quicker, might have to try that.

In any case, Quickfire turned out to be a pretty good game. Building the ships was enjoyable and I think they look good for their simplicity. 

Have fun!

D-Day Anniversary, 2021

If one has been looking at the wargaming community at all, as a wargamer themselves or as an interested bystander, I would find it hard to believe that they haven't noticed the tendency to commemorate historical battles by re-fighting them on the game table. Many I've seen will try and stage their tabletop versions on the anniversary day of the fight. And I now throw my hat into that ring.

Some years ago, during a family reunion, my youngest brother brought a copy of Axis and Allies: D-Day. I remember liking the game and that the Allied players won, but it was dang close. One die roll close.

This past year, my brother decided to get rid of the game and asked if I wanted it. Like he had to ask at all! So I now own it and last night I set it up to play solo, willingly exchanging sleep time for gaming time.

I remembered that the game was directed by cards, but I didn't realize there were optional card decks as well (we didn't use them last time). Looking at those, I added the Fortune deck, which adds the potential to slightly alter play conditions for good or bad in each phase based on a die roll. 

Turn 0: Map setup

The German forces, both deployed and reinforcements, look so formidable in comparison with the Allied forces.

Turn 1

Except for the airborne troops' first turn (which they didn't exploit very well), the Fortune dice were not kind to either side. The tide hampers landings and only one US beach and one UK beach are reached by troops. German supplies are short and they can only move out units from two zones.

Turn 2

Allied fighter coverage is reduced as 3 units are unable to deploy. However, Allied bombers both score hits and remove tanks. UK forces take control of Gold and Juno Beachs. US takes Utah Beach. Germans can only attack in two zones, but manage to push the US airborne troops out of St. Sauver le Vicomte. Germans only receive half the reinforcements they roll this turn, sabotaged supply lines are blamed.

Turn 3

German forces catch a lucky break and shoot down 4 fighter units. US takes Omaha Beach, but loses Utah Beach. UK forces split, some moving to help the Americans get to St. Lô, tho others massing to attack Caen.

Turn 4

Despite losing more tanks before they even reach the landing zones. The British assault on Caen is swept away by German defences. Utah Beach sees more fighting and the Germans won't give up easily there either. Germans dig in at St. Lo as US and British forces move toward it.

Turn 5

Oops, I think I messed up. I have no record of Turn 5 and may have moved the turn marker two spaces instead of one.

Turn 6

US gets to redirect forces from Omaha landing zone to Utah landing zone, taking control for good. The Offensive on St. Lo begins.

Turn 7

British troops headed to St. Lo are ordered to Caen in a move of desperation, it's the only hope of capturing the city.

Turn 8

The lone German unit in Cherbourg is eliminated by a bomber unit and US troops move in unopposed. US troops move on St. Lô. UK troops battle for Caen.

Turn 9

US forces enter St. Lô, but can't keep it. British forces having a hard time of clearing out Caen, too. Things do not look good for taking the two objectives in time.

Turn 10

Axis forces manage to keep St. Lo and Caen out of Allied control, thus winning the game. With a little more time and better luck with the tides at the outset, things might have been different.

Afterward

I think the delay on landing on the first turn handed the Allies a great disadvantage right at the start, basically a missed turn. If I also missed Turn 5, that's another tough break, but it may not have really changed much; maybe could have let the Allies take a second objective, but probably not with the way I was rolling.

I still like this game after a second play. It's pretty quick by A&A standards, maybe took 2 or 2.5 hours to finish solo with a brush up on rules and time taking pictures. Makes me want to dust off Fortress America sometime soon.

Vanguard: Seeking Sanctuary - Chapter 8: Sanctuary

End of the road. The small band approaches inn that marks the trail to safety, as one of Ivor's scouts has reported that a large army lies just beyond and over a rise. What they had not counted on was a horde of monsters lies between. Among the horde; the biggest of any monsters seen to date. Surely, such a discovery is rare. It seems to wield some form of magic. Perhaps this is a chance to deal the blow to stop the monster problem for good...

Another oddity the group had come across - a strange duo living in the forest. The first, a man named Byron, explained that he and a large wolf had been the subjects of a crazed wizard's experiment. He is human in every way but his appearance, his skin being covered in short reddish hair and having claws and beast-like fangs. The wolf had grown, as a result of the experiment, to the size of a person, though it hunched over as though it would just as easily take to all fours as it fancied. Unseen was a mental connection between the two, where Byron could issue a few basic commands and the man-wolf would obey, however Byron would also experience any physical sensations the man-wolf felt. (Having lost my Rogue last chapter, I'm trying out Beastmaster, a mercenary class Kai posted to the Vanguard facebook group).

Byron and his companion had been safe from the monsters thus far, staying hidden in the deep forest. He had also seen the destruction they left in their wake. It took very little to convince him to join with the mercenaries. He was most welcome as the band had lost seven citizen warriors at the monastery (I decided on two per monster that got out).

Setup:

Game set-up. Rolled a random 20 monsters: 1 boss, 6 elites, 13 grunts. Rolled random placement for all but what I'll call the megaboss.

The megaboss: I figured that he, as the commander, should be near the inn (though why would he care?).

Turn 1:

Wizard William managed to knock down on grunt. Byron sends the man-wolf in to finish it off, after which it moves on to knock down another grunt.

A grunt hidden in the bushes gets a bead on Ivor and knocks him down!

Ranged grunts fire enough times to overwhelm Tombstone and knock him down.

Turn 2:

Man-wolf continues to rage in charge mode, killing the boss in a rush of claws and fang!

Ivor recovers and issues commands to Katya and Red Hulk. Katya joins Tombstone and Val to meet the monsters on the right flank. Red hulk moves forward. Emeralda creates an armour buff for Byron.

Tombstone falls to the onslaught of two elites.

Turn 3:

Man-wolf strikes again at some approaching elites, ripping one to shreds.

Ivor joins Red Hulk in battling the approaching megaboss. In the background, William has conjured a fireball and drops a grunt. Emeralda casts an armour buff on Ivor.

Just another shot of facing off with the megaboss.

Megaboss kills Red Hulk and an elite kills Ivor (megaboss had cut through the magic defence)!

Turn 4:

Emeralda rushes to Ivor's side and takes Springblade. As she lifts the enchanted sword, magic swirls from it, reviving Ivor to full health. Red Hulk is less fortunate and will not rise again.

An elite successfully blocks the man-wolf and knocks it down while the grunt behind it kills Byron.

Val comes to help Ivor. Emeralda fails to cast any protection spells. William is killed by incoming projectiles from the right flank (image left). Elan manages to a hit on megaboss, as does Val.

Turn 5:

Emeralda takes Springblade back to William and he is revived. He stands up to cast a fireball at the megaboss, managing to kill the grunt beside it. With his connection killed, the man-wolf goes into "guard mode"; staying near Byron's body, but that megaboss happened to be just within the 5" radius of the guard attack circle. Megaboss revives one of his own.

After he and Val each manage to wound the megaboss, Ivor is knocked down again.

Turn 6:

Off in Katya's corner, her defence re-roll is keeping her on her feet and she kills a grunt finally.

The team-up of Val, Ivor, and man-wolf wears megaboss down to one action die.

But he's still got fight left in him, keeping Ivor busy. Some grunts manage to knock down the man-wolf.

Then William is shot again and killed. (Lucky that Springblade is still close-by.)

Turn 7:

William is (barely) revived by the Springblade and casts a fireball at megaboss, managing to knock down an elite. But the combined efforts of man-wolf, Ivor and Val wear down the megaboss. Val strikes the killing blow! The day is won!

Afterword:

Their leader killed, the monsters immediately burrow down into the earth. For many years they are not seen and this chapter of the Svartvalt passes into legend and then into myth. Could something like this ever happen again? Stories of the brave mercenaries and citizens of Ivor's Company grow more incredible through the ages.

William and Emeralda continue the work William was doing before the monsters came. They make a startling discovery linking the monsters to a large and strange device that appeared to have crashed into the ground from the sky. They also marry and raise three children.

Katya uses her share of the king's reward to buy the inn. Occasionally, she contributes her services to near-by sheriffs needing help to keep the peace.

Elan refuses her share of the reward, giving it to some citizens who had started an orphanage to take care of those children who survived the monster invasion, but lost their parents. Elan returns to her people and is never seen again.

Ivor retires from the life of a sword-for-hire, buys a mansion and vineyard near the capital and settles down with a local widow.

Immediately after the battle, man-wolf picks up the body of his "twin" and disappears back into the forest. For many years the locals claim to hear him howling in his grief to a full moon.

The incredibly lucky Val, having her whole life ahead of her, travels the continent in search of monsters. While she battles some terrible beasts - and uncovers some elaborate hoaxes - she never sees the likes of those she cut her teeth on. It is rumoured that she married a pirate and sailed to far off places in search of adventure.

Some other words:

A full disclosure here, this scenario was tough. I had to replay it as I lost badly the first play, then lost again. In those, I had forgotten about the Springblade from Chapter 7! As you can see, having it in this scenario made all the difference for me!

As I hang this one up to try out some other titles; this game has been a pleasure to play and fun to write up these reports for. Thanks to Kai for his help and input as he followed my reports, it was fun to tell people I was talking with the game's author!

I know my blog is not frequented by very many, but I'll still say thanks to any and all who read my reports from playing this game over the last few months! If you are a solo skirmish wargamer or would like to be, I encourage you to try out these rules (hey, they're free).  I found them easy to learn and to play and I found the story engaging as well.