DOG WARS - EVOLUTION

 

From This

And This

There was This 

And This

Before there was the Dog Wars, a fictional Seven Years War era series of games, there was Alternative Armies Slaughterloo, or Sloo for short, a Napoleonic period game. With a mind to getting these veteran figures on the table again I have switched rules from Sloo to Buck Surdu's Wars of Eagles and Empires. These are a quite different style of game from both Sloo and Honours of War/Post of Honor rules used in the Seven Years War games. The two key features are the Double Random Activation and the Army specific Reaction Table. The Activation system gives a limited amount of control as to when your troops can act during a turn. The second is that every combat action causes a reaction from the other involved players troops. By this I mean that if you fire on an opponent they could immediately fire back. That would cause the original unit to react and so on back and forth until one side retires or just stops. This means that in a turn a lot of combat can take place. The initiative system is really a two-turn affair as both sides units will activate twice before a new initiative phase begins. Ultimately this produces a very fluid game turn as you are never sure how much combat will take place, what that combat will be like, such as a long fire fight, or a single volley that brings on a close combat. This system effectively simulates higher command where you send your troops out to accomplish a general goal, but how they respond to that is mostly out of your control. For me this is a great level of command friction, where you can plan an action with a certain level of expectation on how your forces will go about accomplishing it, but not able to micromanage that outcome. 

While my Napoleonic forces are not as large as the Dog Wars, there are still a lot of them. Games will normally see about 2-3 Brigades per side, with a healthy mix of Infantry and cavalry Brigades possible. Unlike Dog Wars there are not just dogs. My forces include rabbits, rats, humans...kind of, but still lots and lots of dogs. 

I will post more details and eye candy as I work up to the first games sometime in April. 

 

A Close Up of the Infantry and Cavalry.

A Rather Aged Lord Barksalot. Best Showing of the True Colors of the Mat. 

LET SLEEPING DOGS LAY

In the final battle of the Fall '25 Campaign the Empire and United Packs Commonwealth (UPC) are in a fight to the death. Both sides have seen success and failure this season and this battle will bring a full-scale clash of their armies. 

The battlefield is fairly open but there is a dominate hill and fences that will provide a defensive bonus. Victory will be determined by which force can do the most damage to its opponent, with the loss of Elite troops, Cuirassier, Guards, Grenadiers counting greater than standard line forces. 

Empire Cavalry Advance on Their Right Flank. The Cuirassier Have Been Under Heavy Fire All the Way from the Initial Bombardment. The Von Mutts Line Stands Steady as the Empires Horse Thunders Past. 

Empire Cavalry having Defeated Their Opposite Number Beginning to turn the Flank of the UPC Line. 

The Empire Infantry Beginning Its Assault on the UPC Line. Both Sides Cavalry Reinforcements can be seen Maneuvering Behind Their Respective Infantry Lines. 

The Combined Infantry and Cavalry Attack on the UPC Line. In the Right Background can be Seen the UPC Cavalry Racing to Come to the Rescue. 

On the Opposite Flank the Empire Again is Bringing Their Combined Arms to Envelope the UPC Line. 

On the UPC's Right Flank the Second Cavalry Chash Begins as Pressure Build All Along the Infantry Line. 

On the UPC Left Flank the Empire's Cavalry Awaits any Weakness Created by Their Infantry to Exploit and Break Into. 

In a close match the Empire forces weight finally prevailed. Both sides had fought tenaciously but the UPC had again lost more of its elite forces giving the slightest edge to the Empire in a hard-fought victory.

This battle concluded the Fall '25 Campaign Season with both sides battered and needing to rebuild their strength. By the Spring both were still licking their wounds and neither able to start a new offensive. 

This concludes the Dog Wars Campaigns for a while. They will return later this year, but on the horizon a new era is about to begin. Stay watching for Dog Wars Evolution. 

BATTLE OF BATAVIA HEIGHTS

 

Sadly, records of the Battle of Batavia Heights have been lost to history. Chroniclers are unsure of exactly how the battle played out, but what is known is that the UPC and Von Mutts Allies defeated the Empire army. 

Instead, here is a bit of eye candy of the UPC garrison at Road Town on the Sugar Islands.

 

Overview of Road Town.

Fort Echo on the Outskirts of Town. 

Houndstooth's Regiment Exiting the Fort.

The Garrison Marching Through Town. 

More of these buildings will be seen on a completely different front in the upcoming Quar Wars - Battles for the Eternal City. 

Maer Braech Crusader Squads

Coftyrans Crymuster 

ENCOUNTER AT MARENGO

 

The third battle of the Fall '25 Campaign sees the UPC in a well-fortified position seeking to halt the Empire's advance. The key to this battle was control over the crossroads and the high ground.  Whichever army could achieve at least two of these three goals would be the victor.  

Holding the Central Gap are the Stoic Von Mutts. Arrayed Against Them are the Empire's Well Disciplined County Troops.  

The UPC Forces Holding the Southern Gap, While Beyond can be Seen the Formal Defenses of the Crossroads. 

The UPC's Southern Hill Defenders and Behind the Crossroads.

The Head of the Empire's Elite Column Flanking the Northern End of the Allies Line.

All Across the Front Empire Forces Begin Their Attack.

The First Assault by the Empire Against the Southern Hill. 

The Slow Advance of the Flanking Force.

Empire Forces Pressing in Against the Gaps. The Von Mutts Having Needed to Pull Back to Faceoff Against the Oncoming Empire Flanking Forces.

The First Empire Hill Assault has Been Beaten Back. The Empire Southern Flank Begins Repositioning Its Artillery for the Next Assault. 

The Empire's Flanking Forces Continue to Mass but Unable to Build Their Attack Momentum. 

On the Southern Flank of the Key Hill the Empire's Assault is Making Progress.

Meanwhile in the Central Gap the Empire is Being Effectively Held Back.  

The Extremely Slow Progress of the Flanking Attack has Still not Engaged. 

Stymied by Stubborn Resistance by the Light Infantry in the Woods and a Lack of Addition Reinforcements and Artillery Support the Empire's Hill Assault is Checked.  

At the Northern End Little Progress has Been Made with Most of the Empire Forces Only Finally Getting into Range. 

Out Numbered and Battered the Southern Assault has no Choice but to Withdrawal. With This Loss the Empire Chooses to Break off to Lick Its Wounds.

An unexpectedly one-sided battle. In the first to battles the Empire had well thought-out plans, but here nothing seemed to work. Their flanking force formed into line well out of range and could not gain and momentum from its officer throughout the battle. On the Southern end indecision of where to position the artillery effectively removed it from the fight.  All across the lines the Empire seemed hesitant to advance, which simply allowed the Allies to dictate where and how the battle was fought. This victory gives time for the Allies to rest and organize themselves for the next battle.  

RETREAT FROM NILES

 WOW!!! This took a long time for me to get back to the blog. I was hampered by my phone's refusal to email pictures to my computer, or anyone else's. Now that I have got that fixed, I will be back to regular posts. While the post have been delayed the games have continued. With that said, on to the report. 

With the Empire's success at stopping the United Packs Commonwealth and their Von Mutts allies at Niles, it was time to turn a tactical win into a strategic victory by destroying the retreating forces. With the Empire army in hot pursuit the UPC was forced to turn and fight. The Allie's goal was to save as much of the army, especially their artillery and Elites forces as possible. 

UPC Cavalry Holding the Right Flank Against the Approaching Empire Forces 

UPC Infantry Holding Along the Road to Cover the Retreat as Empire Cavalry Advances. 

Empire Cavalry Leads the Elite Infantry as They Storm Down the Road in Pursuit of the UPC. 

The Awaiting UPC Cavalry. 

The Empire Forces Beginning to Array Themselves for Battle. 

Seeing the Direction of Approach of the Empire's Main Attack the UPC Infantry Moves to Take up Defensive Positions Screened by Their Light Cavalry and Infantry.  

The Empire is Using the Road to Good Effect as Their Forces Reposition to Assault the Center. 

Cavalry From Both Sides Begin the Battle.

Empire Dragoon's Meet the UPC's Cuirassier, with Both Sides Supported by Cavalry. 

In the Center and UPC Left the Lines Begin Their Deadly Work. 

Both Sides Cavalry is Fully Committed with Heavy Casualties Building Rapidly.   

Wherever the Empire's Cavalry Breaks Through it is Meet by Fresh UPC Infantry.  

The Cavalry Clash has Horses Scattered all Over the Field of Battle and Both Sides Infantry Intermixed with Them. 

On the Opposite Flank Both Sides Infantry are Slow to Commit. 

Empire Infantry Assists in Mopping Up the UPC Battered Cavalry as the Empire's Own Cavalry Begins Reforming. 

Late in the Afternoon the Infantry Battle is now in Full Swing.

The Valent Vonn Mutt's Hold the Right as the Empire Surges Forward Again, 

The Victorius Empire Cavalry Having Successfully Driven Their UPC Opposites from the Field and Singlehandedly Won the Day.  

While Still Holding a Strong Defensive Position the UPC has Lost to Many Units, Especially from Their Elite Branches. Demoralized, they Begin Withdrawing in Hopes of Making it Safely Back to Their Homes. 

A stunning defeat of the UPC. The cavalry fight was long and hard and while both sides gave as well as they took, the Empire cavalry was having great success at reorganizing, while the UPC could not. With the heavy loss of the Elite Cuirassier the strong defense was brought low by these.