One way to understand a game is to read the rules. This is a powerful way to look at a game but not near as powerful as actually playing the game. In many cases the only way to really learn a game is to play and lose it for a few games. This article is an attempt to give you a taste of what playing SvP is like. What follows is a description of a battle that never happened. The description covers what happened in this game as experienced by three different players and the referee. THE SCENARIO: "The Battle of Jebel Tarik" The situation is simple. A brigade of Egyptian troops with a small detachment of horse are sent out to destroy the Mahdist base at the foot of Jebel Tarik. What could be simpler. The players include ... A brigade of Egyptian convicts, er... soldiers (yea they're soldiers, sure they are). Poor drill - Hot blooded. A few troops of Sihk cavalrymen. Good drill - Hot Blooded. Pasha Dyer, the British Colonel in command. John Yansy, a reporter from the yellow press, Captain Hurst, the cavalry officer. Mustafa Cigarette, a Syrian slave trader, er ... guide (yea he's a guide, sure he is). The expedition starts in the small river town of Medina. The locals say that Jebel Tarik is up, er ... that way. Where you see the big mountain shooting up out of the desert, some 20 mile hence. The implied plan is simple, march to the mountain and do them dirty. WHAT THE REFEREE KNOWS What the players don't know is that the local warlord, Abdulla the Mad Mulla, is fully aware of their arrival in Medina. He also knows that they plan to march on his village and burn it. in fact he has know this information since the expedition hired those seedy looking locals to tend the camels. Consequently he has had plenty of time to prepare. Abdulla has raised about a thousand local spearmen and a force of some fifty horsemen. He has devised a ruse to lure the Imperials into a trap. His plan is to fool the enemy into thinking they are getting the drop on him. His villager will continue their daily activities and have several extra fires lit, so that the Egyptians will have no trouble locating them. His horsemen will be formed in a lose skirmish line and act surprised when the Invaders come on them. Meanwhile, the main force of Dervishes will wait behind a hill some 500 yards beyond the town. When the infidels have driven the horsemen back to the village, the people will flee. The foreign devils will be allowed to enter the village and begin looting. Once their order is disrupted, the sword of Allah will rise up and smite them in the guise of a perfectly carried out plan. So, the Mahdist horse start the game in a lose skirmish line in the way of the Imperials. The rest of the Mahdist are laying prone behind a hill. Will the plan work? That all depends on whether the Imperials accidentally flush the impatient Mahdists. PLAYER BRIEFINGS Each player is give a briefing by the referee that describes their character and his perceptions of the others. PASHA DYER You are a man in you early 40s. You are strong and good looking. They said you would have gone far if you had only come from a better family. Still you showed them! You caroused with the best of them. You've eaten dinner with royalty! Of course all that required money you did not have, but that is what money lenders are for. Damn their eyes if they do not have the grace to recognised your potential. Still hear you are, in the Sudan, trying to get out of debt. Sometimes you wonder what makes you better from the Arab scum you lead - but a few stiff drinks always helps put that thought to rest. CAPTAIN HURST You are a robust man of thirty. You have spent most of your life in India, serving in her magesty's army. Now your duty has brought you and your brave Sihks to the Sudan. This doesn't bother you too much. Still Pasha Dyer does seem rather erratic to you, and his soldiers are a disgrace! It may well be up to you to save the day should things go very wrong. JOHN YANSY You are a slightly built man of thirty-five. London Is where you were born but you make the world your home. You are here to get a lead on the state of affairs in the Sudan. They say Gordon is doing well farther up river. If you can believe Pasha Dyer.. (which you know you can't) this will be an easy days work. You speak a little Arabic (enough so as not to be cheated too badly in the market place). You are especially leery of the Syrian Guide since you are certain that it is he, who robbed your suitcase. MUSTAFA CIGARETTE You are a well built Arab merchant. Your trade has always been successful up to this time. You have a knack for provide just what is wanted when the demand is greatest; slaves from the hinterland, guns for the faithful, camels for the British, and information for all. You are not certain where the greatest profit is to be had today, but you do know that being alive at the end is your most important concern. still you would like to get another crack at that reporters bags, you are certain he has silver hidden in there somewhere. INTENTIONS: 7AM Day 1 The game begins with the players at Medina. It is 7 o'clock in the morning. The referee asks what they want to do? The players talk among themselves for around ten minutes, debating what the battle plan should be. Pasha Dyer confidently asserts that it will be an easy walk and that the column will leave after the men have had their breakfast. Captain Hurst demands that he be allowed to scout ahead with his Sihks. Yansy decides to go out with Hurst (there may be a story in this fellow, brave, a little dumb, just what the British public likes to read about). Mustafa informs the Pasha that two of the camel boys have deserted, so he will watch the others to prevent anymore from getting away. Hurst and Yansy look at Mustafa in a doubting way but Dyer lets it pass. The referee considers what the players are trying to do. They are miles from the enemy so the next critical event will likely be the column being ready to leave. So he sets the length of the turn at two hours. During the turn the Cavalry scout out five miles up the way. They meet no one but do spot smoke rising from a point on the mountain where a village would seem to be. A messenger comes back to inform Dyer of this find. INTENTIONS REVISITED: 9AM Day 1 Pasha Dyer confidently says to the other players, "Well, there it is. All we have to do is go out and burns it." Hurst and Yansy urge caution. Mustafa attempts to be ignored by not talking. This fails since part of the caution recommended is to send out the guide to see what is up ahead. Pasha Dyer grudgingly accepts the cautious approach and orders Mustafa ahead. Yansy volunteers to watch over the camel boys while Mustafa is away. (For which service he earns a snear from the disaffected Arab). Hurst says he plans to let the infantry column catch up to within 3 miles before heading off again. The Infantry formation is formed into four groups of loose lines that can formed into a square easily. This means it moves at line speed, 50 yards a minute. The referee decides that the next critical event is likely to be when the infantry gets within 3 miles of the cavalry. A little number crunching shows that 50 yards per minute is a little over 2 miles per hour, so the next turn is set at 1 hour. During the hour, the infantry slowly advances. The cavalry holds its position, and Mustafa rides out in front of every one at a trot (175 yards per minute = about 6 miles). SCOUTING: 10AM Day 1 Pasha Dyer's intentions for the next turn are to advance the formation forward at a march (50 yards per minute). The cavalry maintains its distance to screen out ambushes. Yansy stays with the camel boys, and Mustafa scouts. The referee asks if the Pasha plans to stop his men for lunch. "Why no, of course not. Let the bloody wogs feel the grip of hunger on their bellies. it will make them march all the faster." Consequently the next turn lasts 5 hours! The referee takes Mustafa aside and asks him how he wants to spend his time scouting. "I ride out in front real fast and with a flourish, which the western devils can see me. Then I cut off from the path and go in search of natives to question. I prefer old men without guns." The referee continues with Mustafa and describes several encounters that he has with natives. Mustafa consistently plays it safe and avoids contact when ever there is even the hint of trouble. The net result is that he make two good deals on camels, learns that the smoke up on the hill really is from the village of Abdulla, and encounters NO enemy scouts. Mustafa rides back into the formation leading two new camels. He reports that the natives are friendly in the immediate area and that it looks like the Mahdists do not know we are coming. When Yansy questions this assessment, Mustafa points out that he saw no enemy scouts so they must not think they are in danger. Yansy takes the referee aside and asks him what he learns from the camel boys about this Mustafa fellow. The referee says (in a psuedo Arabic accent) "My oh my he is a wicked man! He beats us unmercifully. He steals from the commissary and he cheats at cards." Yansy informs the Pasha of his belief that the Arab is not reliable. He ignores the newspaperman's report, since the qualities that call him into question are just the qualities for which he was hired by Dyer. "What use would an HONEST Arab merchant be to me?" The formation advances 10 miles over the next 5 hours and is almost to the edge of the playing board. The cavalry screen encounters nothing, except that the village is now only around five miles off. Because the Pasha drove his men hard throughout the day, the referee decides that the infantry must take a reaction check. This check is failed because the Pasha rolls a 1. The Egyptians become excited but since there is no enemy to fire or charge at, they stop. STOP FOR THE NIGHT: 3PM Day 1 Captain Hurst counsels the Pasha to stop for the night. "It is too late in the day to fight a battle. And it will be even later when we arrive at the village." Pasha Dyer accepts this advice and orders the infantry to be rallied and the to build a defensive zeriba. He forbids the setting of fires, in case the enemy is unaware of their presence, and orders Mustafa to go ahead and see what the village looks like. The referee knows that the enemy will not attack so he sets the next turn to last until 6am the following day. Mustafa again steps off with the referee to role play out his scouting adventures. This time his intention is to be even more cautious that in the past. What he finds though is surprising to him. The Mahdist do have a picket line of cavalry about 2 miles out from the village but they are not at a very high level of alert. In fact they seem down right lax! The villagers seem to be going about their business as usual with only a slight edge of nervousness. What is most remarkable is the complete absence of Mahdist infantry. Mustafa reports that the enemy seem to be unaware of our presence. He tells the Pasha that Abdulla's army is not to be seen. He offers the suggestion that they are busy elsewhere raiding or something. Hurst and Yansy express doubt of this Interpretation except that this is no excuse to let security drop. THE ADVANCE: 6AM Day 2 The next day starts with the camp waking from a restless nights sleep. The men are hungry and thirsty. They can go for another day without being watered but they will suffer for it. The players hold a council of war to decide what battle plan to follow. After a lively debate they decide to put a cavalry screen out 1 mile ahead of the Infantry. The Infantry will advance in their loose line formation and go into square when they near the village. They plan to march right into the village and once there to burn it to the ground. The Imperial zeriba is some 8 miles from the Mahdist village so the referee decides to set the turn at 2 hours. The cavalry screen moves out a mile ahead of the infantry and then on another 3 miles toward the village. They encounter no enemy but they do see that the village seems to be going about its regular routine. The players Intentions have not changed so the referee sets the next turn for 1 hour. At the end of the next turn the Imperial troopers find themselves face to face with some very surprised Mahdist pickets. They make a reaction roll which tells that their status raises from prone to stand still. Since the Dervish plan calls for -the pickets to retreat before the enemy they do so, rather than stand still and be massecred. The players at the Infantry formation can literally see this take place. There is no sign of any Mahdist troops except for the skirmishers so the players begin to wonder if maybe they do have surprise. THE PURSUIT: 8AH Day 2 Hurst states that he plans to press the retreating skirmishers with his cavalry screen until they get resistance. He wants to see where the enemy want to draw the line. The Pasha calls for his men to follow up the cavalry at their present pace and to be ready form square at once. Yansy begins to take notes for the battle report he will be writing before the end of the game. Mustafa returns to his position with the camel boys, who welcome him back to their number and give him many compliments on the 2 new camels he bought. The referee sets this turn at 1/2 hour. This builds the tension amongst the players since it shows them that they are getting closer to danger. The cavalry press the enemy pickets back to within 1 mile from the village. They trade some ineffective fire (1 minute from the Mahdists, 2 minutes from the Sihks). Meanwhile the infantry march up to 2 miles from the village and remain in their open formation. All the players can see that the villagers are now aware of their presence and are fleeing from thie village with all that they can carry! The referee sets another 1/2 hour turn. The cavalry succeeds this turn in pressing the enemy horse men all the way back to the outskirts of the village, without any stiff resistance. More fire is exchanged, again with little effect. The Infantry are now only 1 mile from the village (some 36 inches by the game scale). The figures are all placed on the table now which makes the game look much like other miniatures games. The Pasha changes his intention at this point. He tells the referee that he want the infantry to form up into a square, and to advance into the village. Captain Hurst opts to continue to skirmish with the enemy horsemen and try to drive them out of the village. The referee sets the next turn at 20 minutes. The Infantry advance to within 1300 yards of the village Potentially they could stop and fire at long range. The cavalry presses the enemy horse back through the village but not yet completely out of the village. No one's Intentions change. The referee sets another 20 minute turn. The Infantry are now only 800 yards from the village and appear to have nothing in their way. The cavalry push the Mahdist horsemen out of the village at which point their resistance begins to stiffen. Captain Hurst informs the players with cool deliberation that the Mahdist main force is just beyond the hill some 500 yards on the other side of town. The other players ignore his observation since it seems based on no observable information. The referee sets another 20 minute turn. The skirmish continues with the Mahdist giving away not ground. The Infantry are now only 300 yards from the town and can see how much wealth was left by the fleeing Arabs. The referee makes the Egyptians make a reaction test to see if their greed overcomes their fear. The Egyptians fail their morale, and become excited. Independently of their commander, they charge into the village to come to grips via cold steel with cold cash! THE DISASTER: 10AM Day 2 A cry of anguish rises up from the players. "What are they doing? I didn't want them to do that! Stop it." But they do not stop. Hurst reminds the Pasha that he is charge so he must rally them! The Pasha agrees and states that his intention is to follow his men into the village and to rally them back into square. Yansy goes along with this to aid in the rally. Hurst continues the skirmish. Mustafa makes himself useful by rallying the camel boys. Not only does he keep them in order but he will take on himself the responsibility of moving them to a place of safety (ie the rear). The referee sets a 3 minute turn. The Egyptians charge in open order the remaining distance to the village. The skirmish continues without any great effect (save to expend another minute of the Sihks ammunition). Now a native reaction roll is needed to see if the Mahdist trigger off their attack now. Their present status is prone and the check is made under the column "close order within 700 yards of the enemy." The roll Is a 7, modified to a 9, which means the Mahdist's status went up to "advance at a trot." So the Mahdist horde makes a half move at a trot (225 yards) towards the village. The Arab horsemen let the crazed wave sweep by them. The cry "emergency reaction" is immediately heard from Captain Hurst. "I want to evade this charge by running around to the rear of the village." He rolls for the entire unit all at once and succeeds, but at the cost of gaining 1 disorder token per stand. Pasha Dyer cooly relies on his troops rallying at the end of, the turn to save his bacon. But alas, he only has a 1 in 6 chance of that happening, which, given his luck to date, is not likely. Yansy, feeling the need to be nearer to the rear, states his intention to flee from the fighting. Mentally he is already writing the story about how Pasha Dyer is responsible for this defeat. Yea ... It will sound good. "Unlucky at cards unlucky at war. Colonel Dyer meets his end along with his men along the upper Nile..." Captain Hurst says he wants to rally his troops so as to cover the infantry's withdrawal. Dyer bravely stays with his men and orders them to prepare to be charged! Mustafa quietly tells the camel boys to follow him to safety... far away from the battle field. The referee settles on a 1 minute turn. The Dervishes move 75 yards closer while the Egyptians fire on them. Casualties are of course scored which cause another Native reaction check. The result is that the Mahdists increase their speed to a charge. Thus covering 100 more yards before the Egyptians again try to rally. The Mahdists have passed within 300 yards of the Egyptians which causes them to take a reaction test which results in their reaction status becoming nervous. Which means of course that they don't want to be here. With the Mahdists only 100 yards away, the Egyptians try one more time to rally, as do the Sihks. The Sihks succeed but the Egyptians again fall. Meanwhile, both Mustafa and Yansy are making their ways to the rear and safety. The Pasha decides to stand with his men in the coming close combat. While Hurst tries to move out onto the flank where his cavalry might be able to roll up one of the Dervishes sides. The other players leave their intentions unchanged. The referee sets a 1 minute turn. The Dervishes close into melee before the Egygptians can move away. The Gypers fire off a rather effective defensive fire, but not enough to stop a charging horde. The Sihk cavalry is able to move (100 yards) away from the enemy. A orgy of dice rolling occurs. A d6 roll shows that the melee lasts 3 minutes. The Egyptians have a -2 on all their dice rolls so this will be a quick bloody encounter. Many of the Gypers are killed outright. Those that are left are pushed back. They check a melee result roll which makes them excited (except that since they are already nervous, does not happen). They then check their reaction which causes them to become panicked. The next turn consists of the Mahdists mopping up the remaining Egyptians. Captain Hurst beats a hasty retreat to link up with the camel boys, if he can find them. Only Mr Yansy is left by himself, to retreat to the river by himself on his own horse. The Pasha dies with his men. But the referee assures him, "You took 10 of the blighters with you, though, before they cut you down!" AFTERWARD The referee now tells the players what happened during the game. He explains the Dervishes plan and points out the signs of it. He commends the players who did well (whether they lived or not), and reassures those who did not do as well. Once that is done the referee asks the reporter to read the players the story that he will send off about the battle. John Yansy, never at a loss for words, describes a nightmare battle which was lost due to the incompetence of the senior officer. Pasha Dyer is an easy mark since aside from not have a powerful family to defend him, is dead. The numbers of troops involved is wildly exaggerated and all but the grossest fact of the battle are ignored in favor of having a good storyline. With that the battle is done. THE EXPERIENCE SvP plays different from other miniatures games. Because of the variable length bound and the way players are asked for their intentions the flow of events causes players to think more like leaders and less like micro managers. The guide gets a game experience much like an adventurer in a role play game. The military commanders have an experience like a miniatures game in which the commraderie amoungst the players makes any out come a group win (this is obviously aided by the fact that all the players are on the same side). And finally their is the reporter, whose experience is as a participating kibizer. Each experience s fun. And the game is very much worth while. Over the space of three years or so, D&D established a core of referees that have since disseminated their skills to a wide audience of up and coming "Game Masters." As a corallary benefit to the hobby, a blue million other RPGs could now spring to life since the skills, once learned can be applied to any game. But does this prepare a person to run SvP? SvP, a free kriegsspiel, does require the referee to use many of the skills a "Game Master." But more is required than that. Even 150 years ago, free kriegsspiel required that the referee make decision on the out come of encounters based on their knowledge of real war. Most wargamers lack this kind of hands on knowledge (a good thing too!) So it is much harder to learn how to be a good teller of military tales. As with D&D, SvP will have to develop a stable of good referees before it will be able to take off. Referees are asked to make a shift in their thinking about games. No longer will the rules tell the players what will happen next. Now the referee will. If he be a good story teller, all will go well. If not, the game will flop. Free style gaming is a unforgiving mistress, enter at your own risk. Back to Experimental Games Group # 14 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com