28mm Perry Crossbowmen

Here are some pictures of some Perry crossbowmen I've been painting. Two of them are based as "Unloaded" markers (BELOW).

I've changed my basing scheme a bit. I now am basing all of my Piquet units on 40mm by 40mm bases. For heavy infantry-type units, I can fit 4 figures on a stand. For missile troops and open order infantry, I can fit 3 figures per stand.

This basing gives the units a better overall look. It makes the units look deeper when they're in line formation and it means I don't have to use those ugly sabot metal bases for Piquet. I never liked the single rank look of 28mm figures when all of the bases are in line.

Artizan WW2 Pictures

I'm posting a few pictures of some 28mm WW2 figures I painted for a friend. They are made by Artizan Designs and are some of the best-sculpted 28mm figures on the market.

(ABOVE) 101st Airborne paratroopers at D-Day.

(ABOVE) German paratroopers at Normandy.

(ABOVE) British SAS saboteurs.

Shiloh Piquet Scenario April 6, 1862

"Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee River."

- Confederate General A.S. Johnston

The battle of Shiloh was the first major battle fought in the western theater of the American Civil War. Up to this point, the Union had enjoyed success at Fort Donelson and in the states of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The senior Confederate commander in the West, Albert Sidney (A.S.) Johnston was considered one of the best officers to enter the war from the pre-war U.S. Army. Johnston organized a concentration of forces that consolidated troops from all of the surrounding states. This gave him local numerical superiority over the relatively scattered Union forces in the area.

Union General U.S. Grant's army was camped on the west bank of the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing. Grant was waiting for the arrival of General Buell's Army of the Ohio which was expected any day. Grant had one division, commanded by Lew Wallace, stationed at Crump's Landing downriver from the rest of the army. The Union commanders had no idea that Johnston had massed his forces and was approaching Grant, intent on destroying him against the Tennessee River.

The Confederates moved through the thick terrain and formed battle lines near the Union positions. Early on the morning of April 6, at approximately 6 a.m., Union pickets aggressively pushed against the growing swarms of Confederate skirmishers stalking the woods outside their camps and suddenly encountered the gray and butternut lines sweeping toward them through the trees.

The Union forces were in their camps when their pickets fled back to them, pursued closely by the Confederate brigades. The howling Rebels drove the surprised Union forces back toward Pittsburg Landing. Union General Prentiss managed to organize stiff resistance near Bloody Pond and the Confederate assault began to focus on reducing that resistance. The musket and artillery fire became so fierce that the area became known as "The Hornet's Nest". This same heavy fire also claimed the life of the Confederates' commander, A.S. Johnston.

Once the Hornet's Nest was overcome, the Confederates continued their drive to capture Pittsburg Landing, but too much time had been lost reducing the strong position. Grant arrived on the battlefield and organized a final line of defense that repulsed the exhausted Confederates with the assistance of reserve artillery and Union gunboats from the river. Late in the evening, Lew Wallace's division arrived after a confused day-long march and counter-march over country roads. During the night, Buell's army arrived and was ferried across the Tennessee River. The Confederates had lost their opportunity to seize victory. Outnumbered and exhausted, they were driven back across the battlefield the next day.

The scenario is designed for grand tactical scale Hallowed Ground, a Piquet supplement. At this scale, the units are brigades and artillery battalions. The commands are corps and divisions.

ORDER OF BATTLE

The Confederate order of battle is as follows:

• Hardee's Corps: 1 elite infantry brigade (Cleburne), 2 regular infantry brigades (Wood, Shaver) and 1 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Hardee is Skilled.
• Polk's Corps: 4 militia infantry brigades (Russell, Johnson, Stewart, Stephens) and 1 regular medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Polk is Poor.
• Bragg's Corps: 6 regular infantry brigades (Anderson, Gladden, Pond, Gibson, Chalmers, Jackson) and 1 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Bragg is Average.
• Breckinridge's Corps: 3 militia infantry brigades (Trabue, Staham, Bowen). Breckinridge is Average.
• General Albert Sidney Johnston is the commander in chief. He is Average.

The Union order of battle is as follows:

• Sherman's Division: 4 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Sherman is Skilled. One of Sherman's brigades (Stuart) is detached and camped near the river at the location marked on the map.
  
• Prentiss' Division: 2 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Prentiss is Average.
• Hurlbut's Division: 1 regular infantry brigade, 2 militia infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. Hurlbut is Average.
• W. Wallace's Division: 3 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Wallace is Average.
• McClernand's Division: 3 regular infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. McClernand is Average.
• L. Wallace's Division: 3 militia infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. Wallace is Poor.
• General Grant is the commander in chief. He is Poor until Turn 6 when he becomes Skilled.
  

Battle rosters for each side and the map are stored in the Hallowed Ground folder in the Files section of the Piquet Yahoo Group.

Infantry brigades were armed with a variety of small arms. 50% of Confederate infantry regiments can be armed with rifled muskets and 80% of Union infantry regiments can be armed with rifled muskets. The rest should be armed with smoothbore muskets. You decide.

SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES

"..the enemy was found utterly unprepared, many being surprised and captured in their tents, and others, though on the outside, in costumes better fitted to the bedchamber than to the battle-field."
- Confederate General Braxton Bragg

Surprise Attack - The Confederates achieved a remarkable degree of strategic surprise at this battle. Despite many warnings and clues that the Confederate forces were nearby in large numbers, the Union troops were totally unprepared for the sudden appearance of the Confederate attack. The Union forces were still in their camps when the battle opened and they rushed to form battle lines to defend themselves.

The Union divisions all start the battle in their camps with their division commanders and disordered.

The Hornet's Nest - A special Stratagem card should be added to the Union Sequence Deck in Turn 2: "Hornet's Nest". Once flipped, this card is removed from the Deck and the Union division closest to the Confederates' board edge makes a last stand. In the case of a tie, roll for the affected division. The brigades of this division immediately rally. From that point on, they can roll two dice versus all morale challenges and pick the highest die. Unfortunately, these brigades defend their positions and cannot make any voluntary retreats or other movement away from Confederate units. Maneuvers are permitted. If they rout, they surrender instead and are removed as if destroyed.

Union Gunboats - The naval guns of the Union gunboats USS Lexington and USS Tyler in the Tennessee River did have some impact on the Confederates as they approached Pittsburg Landing. These gunboats are represented by two heavy regular smoothbore battalions that measure range from the river's edge next to the Landing. They fire and reload just like normal artillery, but they can't be attacked.

Beauregard's Plan - Confederate General PGT Beauregard deployed the corps of the Confederate army in a column of lines. This caused a great deal of confusion during the battle because brigades from different corps were posted behind each other and as the battle developed, brigades from different corps were forced to fight alongside and support each other. This breakdown of the corps command structure was difficult for the Confederate corps commanders to overcome.

All Confederate brigades begin the game and enter the table out of command. Corps commanders can only assert command over brigades from their corps. Corps commanders can rally brigades from a different corps with an extra DOWN1 modifier.

CinC A.S. Johnston can rally units without this additional penalty but if he rallies units, he assumes personal risk at a rate of +3 per rally attempt. This accumulated personal risk is checked on each Officer Check card vs. a d20. Once the check is passed, the personal risk returns to 0.

MORALE CHIPS

Total starting strength for the Union is 11 militia infantry brigades, 4 regular infantry brigades, 2 regular medium rifled artillery battalions, and 3 militia medium rifled artillery battalions. A total of 20 units. The Union have 55 morale chips.

Total strength for the Confederates is 1 elite infantry brigade, 8 regular infantry brigades, 7 militia infantry brigades, and 3 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalions. A total of 19 units. The Confederates have 40 morale chips.

PIQUET NOTES

I determine the armament of my infantry units when I make the Troop Quality Check for each unit. I roll a d10 for each unit and if I roll a 5 or less (Confederates) or a 8 or less (Union) the unit is armed with rifled muskets.

The battle is a smaller grand tactical scale battle and I recommend using one Sequence Deck per side. The Union deck should be Poor until Grant appears when it becomes Skilled. The Confederate deck should be Average.

DEPLOYMENT CLOSE UP:

REINFORCEMENTS

Reinforcements arrive on table in any formation as follows. Reinforcements can enter within 6" of their entry points:

TURN 2:
Confederate:

• Pond/BRAGG, Trabue/BRECKINRIDGE, and Arty/HARDEE at A.
• CinC A.S. JOHNSTON, General BRAGG, Stewart/POLK, Stephens/POLK, Gibson/BRAGG, Arty/BRAGG, and Arty/POLK at B.
• Bowen/Breckinridge at C.

TURN 3:
Confederate:

• Statham/BRECKINRIDGE at B.
  
• General BRECKINRIDGE, Chalmers/BRAGG, Jackson/BRAGG at C.

TURN 6:
Union: CinC GRANT arrives at Pittsburg Landing.

TURN 7:
Union: L. Wallace's Division arrives at D.

Until the commander in chief arrives on the table, brigade commanders must make Major Morale tests themselves.

The scenario is 10 turns long. Union troops rout toward Pittsburg Landing. Confederate troops rout toward their entry board edge .

TERRAIN

The creeks and woods are all Class II. Both of them block LOS.

The creeks in this area were all in wooded ravines that fed into the larger creeks and the river. When a brigade pays the Class II cost for the creek, it is considered to be in the ravine. A unit can only have LOS into a creek ravine if it is adjacent to the creek. A unit defending either side of a creek from a unit inside the creek ravine is in a superior position.

The roads on the map were very rough and give no bonuses to movement.

TACTICAL TIPS

The Union player has to really choose between trading time for space. Union brigades need to be rallied, but giving up too much ground can hand Pittsburg Landing to the Confederates. The Hornet's Nest can be a blessing or a curse. It might delay the Confederate attack or it might needlessly sacrifice Union units that are needed to defend the landing.

The Confederate player has to push, push, push! Take advantage of the initial disorder of the surprised Union divisions and destroy as many as possible. If you give it time to breathe, the Union army will recover, stop, and destroy you.

VICTORY

If the Confederates capture Pittsburg Landing, the Union must give them 15 morale chips.

Subtract the Union morale chips from the Confederate morale chips.

Greater than 20=Crushing Confederate victory. A.S. Johnston is a hero, dead or alive. Move over, Robert E. Lee.
Greater than 10= Decisive Confederate victory. War ends in 1866. Great job, but the Union still won.
Greater than 0=Marginal Confederate victory. Grant's career is ended. Rosecrans becomes President.
Less than 0=Marginal Union victory. What's the plan for tomorrow?
Less than 10=Decisive Union victory. Historical result. Go read a history book.
Less than 20=Crushing Union victory. Alabama and Mississippi are defenceless. Beauregard commits seppuku after the battle. Vicksburg surrenders when it hears the news.

If you play this scenario, feel free to give me feedback in the Comments section of this blog.

Playtests: 0

Amended 01/31/2011 (Added Piquet Notes for musket armament and sequence decks)

Gateway 2011 Antietam Convention Game

I'll be running my Antietam scenario for Piquet: Hallowed Ground on February 19, 2011 (Saturday) at 9:00 a.m. at the Los Angeles Orccon 2011 convention.



If you haven't seen the game in action, feel free to check out the Battle Reports and Scenario tags on the blog.

Feel free to reserve a spot in the game by emailing me or commenting on this article. Even if you'd just like to see Piquet in action or observe the game, stop by and check it out. Minor kibitzing is completely acceptable as long as it doesn't prevent me from giving annoying and unsolicited advice to the poor players.

ALSO: If you want to play the Union, I owe you a drink at the bar, but there can be absolutely no whining or crying about the following topics:

• McClellan is a bad general.
• Where is Burnside?
• The Confederates sure seem to have a lot of good cards in their deck.
• Seriously...has anybody f%$%king seen Burnside?

Hundred Years War Casualty Markers

In Piquet, you don't usually remove stands when a unit is damaged. You just mark it for stand loss until the unit is destroyed. Each lost stand reduces the unit's effectiveness by reducing the type of die it rolls.

These are some Old Glory casualty markers I made for my Piquet: Band of Brothers games. I prefer to minimize the markers that are on the table, so I try to use as many miniature markers as possible to add to the overall look of the table. I use similar markers for American Civil War games. The markers don't take long to paint, but they're usually a big hit with the players.

These figures are from the very nice Old Glory casualties set. As you can see, the figures have plenty of character. The Old Glory medieval figure line is pretty good with only a few bad poses, and the great price means that even the few bad poses can be discarded or salvaged as markers. This particular set also includes two knights on fallen horses, but I couldn't fit them on my bases, so I'll save them for another marker. Any ideas?

I also bought some Perry casualties, so I'll use them as similar markers.

(ABOVE) Ouch! The green knight caught an arrow right in the head!

(ABOVE) This trio is awesome. The white knight is impaled on a wooden stake. The knight next to him is pushing himself up with his sword, "It's only a flesh wound. One more charge and we have them." The blue knight is definitely "routed unrallyable".

(ABOVE) Blue knight caught one right in the throat/mouth. And finally an archer casualty at the bottom.

Antietam Battle Report #2

This is my second playtest of the Antietam scenario posted on this blog. I've been annoyed in the past by scenarios I tried that obviously weren't tested out by the authors, so I've committed myself to testing each scenario as least three times. It would also be great if any gamers who play these scenarios leave me comments or suggestions on how the battles went.

I used Piquet and the Hallowed Ground supplement to fight this battle.

(ABOVE) Turn 1 Hooker's Corps threatens the West Woods.

(ABOVE) View from the southern end of the battlefield.

(ABOVE) Union troops under Mansfield (near left) and Sumner (far left) threaten the Confederates from the eastern edge of the battlefield.

(ABOVE) By Turn 3, Hooker's 1st Corps is heavily engaged with Confederate brigades from JR Jones' and Lawton's divisions. The Confederates begin to crack as one brigade (BELOW) routs from the heavy musket fire.

(ABOVE) Turn 4 saw the Union gain a lot of impetus. Mansfield and Sumner both organized their commands and pushed them into battle. Mansfield and Hooker pushed the Rebels out of Miller's cornfield.

(ABOVE) Hooker kept the pressure up and drove JR Jones out of the West Woods. The Confederate left flank was in danger!

(ABOVE center right)) Meanwhile old Bull Sumter did his part and his giant Union corps drove DH Hill from the Sunken Road.

(ABOVE) Confederate troops fleeing from the West Woods and the Sunken Road for the safety of Sharpsburg.

(ABOVE) Lee sent Hood's Division into the West Woods to stabilize the Rebel left flank. The Texas Brigade met its match against the Union's Iron Brigade. It was beaten 12-1 in Shooting and routed. The woods were threatened by these tough Westerners (BELOW).
(ABOVE) Things were really looking great for the Union when suddenly a sharpshooter from Hampton's Legion dropped General Hooker with a long shot. Without the leadership of "Fighting Joe", the 1st Corps went out of command and its attack stalled long enough to give the Confederates a little breathing room.

(ABOVE AND BELOW) Just in time since Hooker's troops had driven both defending Confederate divisions from the West Woods and the Cornfield.

(ABOVE AND BELOW) Lee sends in D.R. Jones' Division to hold off Sumter's Corps in the center.

(BELOW) Turn 8. Meanwhile the Confederates flipped an Officer Check card and used 12 Impetus to rally most of JR Jones Division and the Texans. Although weakened, these troops were enough to slow the momentum of Hooker's Corps which was still recovering from the loss of its commander.

(BELOW) Union brigade flees from the West Woods past an artillery battery.

(BELOW) By Turn 9, both side were pretty exhausted. Hooker's replacement was prepared to push hard against the brittle brigades Jackson had rallied and sent back into the woods to oppose him.
Unfortunately for McClellan, two quick turn ends (variable turn length) quickly ended the game. Sumner and Hooker were both low on morale chips, but the Confederates were much worse off. Lee had no morale chips left and 4 of his divisions were also worn and just hanging on. Neither AP Hill nor Burnside arrived. Burnside would have been enough to really slam the Rebels since his 8 brigades would have only been opposed by Walker's two brigades and artillery. But old Burnsy was still screwing around with his bridge.

Overall, the battle was a marginal Union victory. The Union received the victory points for the Sunken Road and inflicted some severe damage on Jackson's troops on the left flank.

After two playtests with no appearance by Burnside, I've adjusted the requirements for him to appear. He should appear SOME of the time. This why I playtest these damn things. :)

Piquet Ramblings 2: Being Braxton Bragg

A quick disclaimer to start. I don't consider myself a great writer. I'm a wargamer who takes the time to share some of his thoughts about gaming with whoever might be reading this blog. I'm not convinced these articles will be well-received. My battle reports with nice pictures always seem to get good reviews, but I'm not sure how much interest there is for articles that don't have eye candy attached.

I'm also a certified Piquet Zealot, so I feel a need to spread the word about Piquet, a set of wargaming rules that have been around for a long time, but receive very little attention compared to some of the more mainstream rules in our hobby.

As I've played wargames, I've learned that the games I want to play are those games that place the greatest focus on command and control issues. When I read accounts of battles, there are a few influential leadership factors that affect the outcome in most of them:

• rapid decision making vs. command failure/timidity
• clear vision vs. fog of war/commanders' perceptions and misconceptions of the battle events that are occurring
  
• inability vs. ability to adapt to the battlefield and unanticipated events
  
• insubordination/command failure of sub-commanders vs. initiative and decision making of small unit leaders
  

As game players and history readers, it is easy to criticize our historical counterparts. We have a bird's eye view of the battlefield. No clouds of black powder obscure our impeccable view of the battlefield. We don't have jerk-off subordinates who hate us and want to make us look like idiots. (Well ,most of us don't.) We are making decisions in a comfortable room with a ready supply of food, booze, and a good night's sleep.

Some rules simulate command problems by restricting or preventing movement, but even with these rules, the players still have a general idea that they will be able to perform a certain series of actions based on established turn phases or turn segments. Most rules guarantee you that after your opponent has moved/fired/charged, you will be given the opportunity to do the same. I understand this type of game convention is common and standard in most rules, but until I played Piquet, I never really felt the same doubt and uncertainty that many commanders seemed to experience in military history. In a real battle, you don't KNOW that you're going to get a Move Sequence.

Piquet presents the player with an unusual method to introduce the chaos and command friction that most armies experience once the bullets start flying.

WHO GOES FIRST?

Each army commander competes for Initiative. In the standard Master Piquet rules, each side rolls a d20. The high roller wins the Initiative and gets the difference in the die roll in Impetus Pips. The winner has the "Initiative". It's basically his turn. So, if Robert beats John by 9 on the roll, Robert gets 9 Impetus to use during his Initiative.

WHAT CAN THE TROOPS DO?

Each army has a Sequence Deck that consists of a set number (usually 25-30) of cards. It costs 1 Impetus Pip to flip a card from your Sequence Deck to be your active Impetus card. Your units can only perform the actions that are allowed by this active card. So, if you have an "Infantry Move in Open/Light Terrain" card active, you can move your infantry units. If a "Musket Reload" card is active, you can reload you musket-armed units. If you want to move your artillery, you have to wait for the "Artillery Move" card. If you want a unit to change formation ("That cavalry is on your flank!!! I can clearly see it approaching from my helicopter viewpoint!"), you have to wait to flip the "Deployment" card.

Some advantageous tactical situations do allow you to act without a card. For example, if you want to melee, you normally have to wait for a Melee Resolution card. Until you get that card active, your unit will stay in contact with the enemy and is only considered engaged. However, if you flank the enemy or contact a disordered enemy unit, you no longer have to wait for the Melee card and can fight a melee with him right away. It pays to turn a flank.

Unfortunately for Robert, acting on all of these cards is not free. You also pay Impetus Pips to act on the active Sequence cards. So, if Robert has 9 Impetus Pips, he has some decisions to make. If one of his infantry battalions has a threatened flank, and he flips a "Cavalry Move in Open/Light Terrain" card, he might want to fire a few units (1 Impetus each), move some cavalry units (costs Impetus), or flip more cards from the Sequence Deck (1 Impetus per flip) in an effort to find that "Maneuver" card he needs to change the facing of his threatened battalion.

Just like armies, all Sequence Decks are not created equal. Poor armies will have Sequence Deck that are less efficient than better armies. Great leaders have better cards that help their army's Sequence Decks:

• One card that reduces efficiency is the "Dress Lines/Milling Around" card. This card is basically a wasted Impetus Pip when it flips. No actions can be performed when it is active. Bad armies have more of them.
  
• Poor and Abysmal army commanders hurt their armies' Sequence Decks by adding "Command Indecision" cards to the deck (1 if Poor, 2 if Abysmal). When a Command Indecision card is flipped, it burns off all of the remaining Impetus Pips and ends the Initiative. A real attack killer.
• Skilled and Superior army commanders help their armies' Sequence Decks by adding "Brilliant Leader" cards to the the deck (1 if Skilled, 2 if Superior). A "Brilliant Leader" card acts like a wild card and can be used as any sequence card that would be available to the army. In a way, it lets the better historical commanders improvise out of the restrictions of the card sequence system.

Sequence Decks can include cards that allow special strategies or battlefield effects that reflect the strengths or weaknesses of the opposing armies.

If you have no more cards to flip from your Sequence Deck or the Initiative die rolls tie, the turn ends immediately. This creates a built-in variable turn duration that can leave players gambling if they have to achieve battlefield objectives by a certain turn.

THE STRESS OF BATTLE

Another cool aspect of the Piquet Sequence Deck system is how losses on the battlefield degrade your Sequence Deck. In some rule sets, your Army of Northern Virginia fights just as well on Turn 1 as on Turn 8 when half of the army has been destroyed. Most of us can agree that an army probably doesn't respond as well after it has suffered what my old battalion commander used to call a "significant emotional event." In Piquet, you shuffle your Sequence deck between turns and pull out cards for the following reasons:

• 1 card for each routing, routed, or destroyed unit
• 1 card for each killed sub-commander
• 1 card if Command is Poor
• 2 cards if Command is Abysmal
• 1 card if commander-in-chief is commanding a command group himself
  
• 2 cards for a dead commander-in-chief

The removed, useful cards are replaced with the aforementioned "Dress Lines/Milling Around" cards. So, as your army suffers stress and damage, its Sequence Deck becomes less efficient. You lose cards that would have let you actually do things on the battlefield and they are replaced with cards that waste your Impetus.

The final card that is inserted into the sequence deck is your Major Morale Test card. Whenever your army has a unit destroyed, routed, or routing between turns, this card is permanently added to your Sequence Deck. The card sits in your deck and forces a Major Morale test, basically an army morale check, when it flips, but since the turns end irregularly, it is not guaranteed to make an appearance.

IT'S FRUSTRATING TO BE IN COMMAND

So, you understand that your deck might be good or bad.

Maybe you can accept that, but the hardest part of the game for players to accept is that they are not guaranteed to win Impetus back after their opponent wins it.

In the lame example I gave, Robert won Initiative and had 9 Impetus. Robert might win Initiative again. And again. And again. Meanwhile, John stares with disgust at his Initiative die and watches Robert flip cards and move units with gleeful abandon.

You aren't completely helpless during your opponent's Initiative. Each player does get a few Opportunity Impetus Pips that he can use to make opportunity charges with cavalry or fire in his opponent's Initiative, but the supply of these Opportunity Impetus Pips is limited and can only be replenished when he regains the Initiative.

It's difficult to have a plan and deployment for your forces and then watch your opponent's cavalry dart around your flank and set up a flank charge. But disasters like that happened a lot in military history. Maybe your corps commander never saw the cavalry coming because of a dip in the terrain. Maybe he ignored your orders because he's nobility and you are the son of a farmer. Maybe the courier you sent was killed by an unlucky cannon shot. This shit happened all the time.

Own that feeling of frustration and then you can maybe end a game and say, "Wow, Being Braxton Bragg really sucks."

The key is understanding that eventually the tide will(might) turn in your favor. Every time your opponent spends Impetus, he can't be sure that you won't win the Initiative on the next Initiative roll. In the long term, the die rolls should even out.

This type of simulation isn't going to be for everyone. Some players don't want to be Braxton Bragg. Some players won't like the irregular and uneven action that is generated by the combination of Impetus and random card draws. However, few rulesets can take two players and make one into McClellan and one into Lee the way Piquet can.

In all fairness, I use the poker deck system for Initiative which replaces opposed d20 die rolls with draws from a standard poker deck. One side gets the black cards and one side gets the red cards. Face and 10 cards add 10 to the following cards if they have the same color. This gives Impetus results of 1-19 with Jokers ending the Turn. The poker system at least reassures the player whose ass is getting kicked on Impetus that there are some cards in the deck that might throw some Impetus Pips his way.

The opposed d20 die roll is hardcore Piquet. No guarantees.

A great advantage of this unpredictability is that the Piquet system is also a great ruleset for solitaire play. Since you don't know which card is going to come up or which side will win and keep the Initiative, it's easy to play both sides without subconsciously favoring one side over the other.

So, I recommend checking out the rules. Piquet master rules are only $5 on the piquet.com website! Rules questions are answered on the Yahoo Group with a response time that would make a fire department proud. Once you read through the standard rules, you can then decide if you want to invest in a supplement for your favorite period. Did I mention it's only $5? For a printed rulebook? Okay, I'll stop now. $5!