The pdf version of the Torpedoes and Tides rulebook is now available via Ganesha Games and Wargamevault.
If you prefer a physical book, this will be available in a couple of days via Amazon. I will keep you informed!
Torpedoes and Tides is a quick play miniature wargame about night actions involving motor torpedo boats during the Second World War. It puts the focus firmly on command decisions and tactics and aims at giving a fast game that mirrors the frantic and chaotic nature of coastal forces actions.
It uses an activation mechanism that rewards risk-taking and keeps the players focussed on decision making instead of book-keeping.
The book contains all the rules needed for tactical combat, 4 generic and 4 historical scenarios, a full campaign system and 160+ unit profiles covering all major and several minor countries that took part in World War II.
Although based on the same engine seen in Nic Wright’s wonderful Galleys and Galleons adapted to WW2 technology, this is a complete, standalone game. No other books are required.
My WW2 coastal forces miniature wargames rules Torpedoes and Tides are finished and will be published soon by Ganesha Games. Meanwhile, enjoy the stunning cover artwork painted by Andrea Sfiligoi with acrylics:
Another year, another end-of-year report. Again, I played a variety of games, as you can see in my Boardgamegeek statistics:
At the beginning of the year, I suddenly developed an interest in ancient Rome and an urge to create an urban gang fight project with Song of Shadows and Dust. I got figures and terrain and then stressed myself out painting them as quickly as possible. This was not a good move, and it was made worse when my chronic illness raised its head at the beginning of April. This also meant that we had to cancel our trip to Salute, which was quite a blow as it would have been my first time at Salute and I was looking very much forward to going to London.
Roman street gangs in action.
Fortunately, thing improved soon and out of the blue inspiration struck: I had a tiny collection of WW2 Coastal Forces vessels and tried several rules years ago but never was happy with any of them. Suddenly, I had the somewhat crazy idea of modifying Galleys & Galleons, an age of sail game, for this. And surprisingly, it worked rather well. When I posted some AARs, people asked me if I could share my modifications. As the core game was written by Nic Wright and published by Andrea Sfiligoi at Ganesha Games, I asked them for permission. Imagine my delight when Andrea suggested that I could make a standalone game out of it and he would publish it!
For most of the rest of the year, playtesting what is now Torpedoes and Tides (and what is subsumed under Unpublished Prototype in the BGG statistics) took up most of my miniature gaming. I had several people willing to try out the game and provide feedback. The most dedicated play tester was Alan Saunders aka Kaptain Kobold, who spotted mistakes, asked the right questions and had great suggestions for improvements. I really couldn’t have finished it without him. Playtesting is now finished and the rules are with Andrea. I am hopeful that they will be published in January.
A starshell lights up the night as a convoy is under attack.
After this, I needed a bit of a break from ships. Along came my mate Christoph, who had been spreading the gospel of Battletech all year and finally converted me. We played a couple of BT Classic games, which, although fun, were a bit too procedural and slow for my taste, and then he showed me the good stuff, namely Alpha Strike, a much more dynamic version of Battletech. I was convinced and got the starter box and officially joined the Battletechmania that is currently raging in these lands (really, it’s crazy). I’m looking forward to many more games with giant stompy robots (that are not really robots, I know – I’ve read a ton of BT novels back in my youth…).
I am very happy that role-playing is a stable part of my gaming diet. The group that was established last year finished the Warhammer Fantasy RPG campaign in typical Warhammer style: mistakes were made that will probably haunt us when we start the next campaign… We now switched to The Wildsea, which my wife is GMing for the first time. She is doing a great job bringing this strange new world alive.
I’m also very thankful for the long-running remote RPG group and I’m always looking forward to our sessions. At the start of the year, Jan ran a great Mothership adventure. After that, Martin GMed Star Trek: Adventures, where I finally could fulfil my dream and become a Starfleet captain! Finally, I ran Mythic Bastionland, which we are now going to wrap up. I’m looking forward to what adventures the next year will bring!
I also participated in a splendid play-by-email game which was run by Michael Peterson (aka The Mad Padre). True to his blog name, Michael was mad enough to give me the role of Admiral von Spee in command of the German East Asia squadron in 1914. That we did quite well was not my doing, but that of the clever commanders of the German cruisers. Great fun!
The highlight of this year was the annual summer gaming event. Not only was the regular group of friends present, this year we also had my mate Jan from Germany (who is also a member of the remote RPG group) with one of his kids as well as four of my ex-students. As there were too many people for one single game, we had four tables: Martin ran Sellswords & Spellslingers, Christoph ran Guards of Traitor’s Toll with his magnificent fantasy town set-up, and I ran a Roman gang fight with Song of Shadows and Dust. Additionally, my wife oversaw the little tavern brawl game for those who wanted to relax in between the bigger games. In the evening, I also celebrated my birthday and even more friends and family arrived. What a great and memorable day!
As usual, I don’t make plans for the next year, as my obsessions tend to be unpredictable. I hope that Torpedoes and Tides will be published soon and I want to support it by regularly publishing free scenarios (I’ve already prepared a couple). Battletech will probably be on the menu, especially with the new Aces expansion that allows to play cooperative games with Alpha Strike. Apart from that, I’ll just go with the flow – this blog is called The Raft for a reason. But wherever it leads me, I’m really grateful to have friends I can share my love of gaming with.
Torpedoes & Tides will also include campaign rules. Alan Saunders is already busy playtesting them (you can read all about it on his blog), and I have also started my own campaign.
Mine is inspired by one of the less-known coastal forces units, namely the 23rd MTB flotilla, which was made up of Free French officers and sailors. Meet my flotilla leader Capitaine de Corvette Léon Abras:
This is a mock-up and not the final version of the campaign sheet.
As you can see, everything you need fits on two A5 sheets. To the left is your character and to the right your flotilla. The character has three stats which are used for campaign events. They bring in a bit of variation and thereby increase replayability. Characters start with a reputation of 0, which means no one really notices you. The reputation can increase, but it also can decrease, so watch out!
The flotilla is mainly made up of Vosper 72′ MTBs with two BPB 72′ MGBs. Historically astute readers will know that flotillas almost exclusively used the same type of boat and MTBs and MGBs would never be mixed. For game purposes, I justify it by saying they are loaned from a British flotilla…
I’ve already played two convoy scenarios, with the second one also including a “surprise” encounter, which is a mechanism to make sorties a bit more unpredictable. Sufficient to say, capitaine Abras barely hung on to his neutral reputation. However, at least some boats acquired experience, which is very important as I started out with mostly green crews. You can start at a higher level, which decreases the overall difficulty of the campaign, but I wanted to climb my way from ground up.
The last mission I played was a False Nose Job, which, in coastal forces slang, refers to a covert operation. The flotilla had to drop off agents on the Dutch coast. Abras took his own MTB 90 with agents embarked and drafted both MGBs to deal with surprises, which appeared in the form of two R-boats and a small armed trawler (Kriegsfischkutter). During the initial clashes, MTB 90 took some heavy damage, but managed to limp to the rendezvous point and started to land the operatives. Things looked quite dicey for a time. The first good thing to happen was when one of the R-boats was shot up by the MGBs, which made its skipper lose nerves and slink off into the night. Unfortunately, MGB 84 managed to run aground on the Dutch shore (this was a stupid manoeuvring mistake).
In one of the cool reverses that can happen in such games and that make especially campaigns such a rich narrative experience, a new hero emerged: Lt. Fred Winkles of MGB 86. First, he covered the retreat of Abras, who had finally disembarked the operatives and whose boat was heavily damaged (it was incredible luck that it was not sunk from all the critical hits), with smoke.
Although there were still two German vessels left (the R-boat was slightly damaged), he decided not to abandon his comrade Lt. Gastrell in MGB 84. Engaging both German boats, he first sunk the R-boat and then blew up the trawler!
Having dealt with the Germans, he fixed a towline and got a sheepish Lt. Gastrell off the shoals.
What could have ended as a disaster for the flotilla was turned into a triumph! Not only had they accomplished the mission, but they also sunk two German vessels and returned with all boats. Abras’ reputation increased by one level, and his name is now recognized, at least at the base. I also rolled for a campaign event, which resulted in the officers throwing a party for Abras. The SNO (Senior Naval Officer) was also invited and appreciated the fine French wine, so he now likes our protagonist. Good times!
The Raft 
