Field Days - enhanced Battalion rules for Funny Little Wars

Warning!  This post includes non 54mm toy soldiers

Here at FLW HQ - central - it is very hot!  

When writing Funny Little Wars, the aim was to keep the spirit of the Wellsian original, but add some tweaks to make it more playable.  HG had alluded to these ideas at the end of Little Wars and these featured in Garden Campaigns.  

I have been thinking about how the rules could be more nuanced for a smaller game - in which less toy soldiers are deployed, but an extra level of complexity is added.  But, not too much complexity ...

At the heart of FLW are the volunteer soldiers of the pre 1914 world - and these units would exercise every year in 'Field Days' to test out their military skills - especially marksmanship and fire and manoeuvre.  Can we replicate these exercises in a game?

The answer has been to hold some Field Days here - which in 1913 were played from the Australian deserts, to Salisbury Plain to Ontario.  Army Red and Blue are the teams, but Army Brown and White also appear in the real war games of the era, and Southland and Northland.

The first playtest is being played with 1" figures, which HG suggested were permissible for an indoor Kriegsspiel - please see Garden Campaigns.  

Attacking - Red/Infantry

1 x Battalion - 

Defending - Red/ Light Horse - dug in.

1 x Company - 

To date, the defenders have won three - nil.  The attacking battalion C/O and RSM have to choose where to place themselves.  It's tricky ...

I also think there should be Bugle calls in FLW.  This is a challenge.

And here is the real thing...

and to reassure everyone in toy soldier land, some proper scale miniatures kept an eye on the proceedings, which will move outdoors at the next opportunity.