It was a small but focused group that came together at Miniature Market Rock Hill for our Retirees Group this September Thursday.
Setting aside our usual eclectic assortment of games our most experienced GMs have for these weeks turned their attention to going over and preparing games for the GMs that will head to St. Charles Community College in October to present scenarios for Mark William’s History 102 class.
The topic of the day was the game of the Boxer Rebellion in turn of the century China, “55 Days at Peking” by Steven Kling and The Historical Game Company. Similar in underlying system to his “Attack on Cahokia” and “Battle of St. Louis” we expected to have a basic understanding of how the game worked. So it was just a refresher on the game system and getting used to the setting.
Jay once again took some superb notes along with helping with the rules interpretations and playing a member of the Western forces so we will turn the narrative over to him….
“Minister Claude MacDonald re-read the order from the Empress Dowager Cixi demanding all diplomats and foreigners depart Peking under guard of the Chinese army within 24 hours. MacDonald snorted. That wasn’t going to happen. He had no faith in the Chinese army to protect them even if they decided to move and he pretty much thought most of the other diplomats would agree. A meeting was scheduled with them in an hour and he would know for sure. Either way, things were beyond getting out of hand with the Boxers and MacDonald felt a lot more blood would be spilled before it was over.”
“The Thursday semi-retired crew got together to try out author/game designer Stephen Kling’s 55 Days at Peking game run by Steve L. This game is set during the siege of the legations in Peking. Instead of the standard game, a huge blown up map was used along with oversized and improved counters. DJ did most of the graphics and print work with Kevin organizing it. Kevin has been working on “upsizing” several board games with big maps and big counters. This makes it far easer to see what is going on from a distance and is certainly an eye catcher. It also makes it handy for many people to watch and observe a game in progress that they otherwise would not be able to see very well. DJ has done great work on these and the map and counters look really good.”
“Ravi, DJ, Steve and Kevin took up the Chinese (Boxers) while Gregg and Jay took the foreign side. Each turn, a side will draw a card that will let them know how many units can move and attack. In addition, there might be a special perk on the card that gives a combat advantage, extra movement, or bring an eliminated unit back into play. Combat is fairly simple with each unit having attack and defense ratings along with a range. Infantry, rifle and machine gun units all have a range of 2 while the Italian artillery unit can shoot out to 4. (The artillery unit is in Italian colors, but was nicknamed the international gun because the barrel was British, carriage Italian, ammo Russian, and the crew American). Most of the Boxers have a range of 1. Having multiple units attack the same hex confers a bonus on the attack while walls and buildings help the defense. In addition, after the Boxers move, there is a defensive fire phase before the Boxer attacks are resolved. The objective is for the Boxers to take over 10 of the 13 Legation houses. There was a wrinkle to that we found out about later.”
“With that, Gregg and Jay get their defenses set up. The Boxers came running in only to be driven back by the English machine gun and 1 unit outright killed by the Austro-Hungarian (AH) machine gun. The subsequent Boxer attacks failed. The Japanese and AH infantry manage to kill another Boxer unit while the Russians, Americans and English hold on their side. The Boxers then draw a very good card and launch a heavy attack that results in the exposed Italian and AH compounds falling along with destroying 3 infantry units.”
“The foreign contingents look to regroup and drive back several Boxer units, but don’t eliminate any. The Boxers move up again, but scorching hot dice in the defensive fire phase see 3 Boxer units eliminated. (Yes, rolling 3 straight 6’s make Gregg and Jay look like geniuses). The ensuing Boxer attacks are ineffective. The following turn sees the French, Germans, and AH units counter attack and retake the Italian compound. A combined Japanese and English attack destroy another Boxer unit.”
“At this point, the game comes to a stop. While the foreign contingents had thinned out the Boxer units, we found out that the legation buildings must be occupied by a foreign unit at all times or it counts as one of the legation buildings controlled by the Boxers. Ooops. Not knowing that, the foreign contingents had pulled troops out to deal with the Boxer units coming in and were able to be more aggressive with their units because they had more available to move and attack. At this point, it would have been difficult to “fix” the game situation and some players needed to head out anyway, so we chalked it up as a learning play-through. Overall, there was a lot of positive feedback for the game. ”
Thanks to Jay for his great report and to all the players who came out to enjoy a nice Thursday afternoon of gaming. We would also like to add our ongoing appreciation to Miniature Market Rock Hill for their continued support.
Remember to shop local!
Big Muddy Historical Game Alliance of Greater St. Louis
Our public educational demonstrations including rules and game evaluation sessions use historical miniature and historical board gaming to explore military history, historical decision-making, and the people, places, and events of the past.
Historical Gaming in Action is a public educational program presented by the Big Muddy Historical Game Alliance of Greater St. Louis.
Using miniature figures, terrain, maps, historical research, and guided play, our games explore military history through the decisions faced by commanders, soldiers, and communities. Visitors can examine the table, ask questions, learn about the historical setting, and—when space and time permit—join the game.
Our scenarios are based on historical sources. While game rules simplify some details for practical play, each event is designed to encourage discussion of historical events, geography, leadership, logistics, strategy, and the human experience of conflict.
Historical gaming can be both enjoyable and educational. Big Muddy provides public educational demonstrations, seminars, and convention programming that promote historical miniature gaming and military history.
