ESR First Playtest

After a couple of weeks of reading and re-reading the 'Et Sans Resultat' ruleset (ESR from now on!), we found the time to set the table up and go for a beginner scenario which is included in the rulebook itself. I took command of an Austrian corps while my pal Dave took charge of a French one.

It took some time to get used to the mechanics to be honest but this is normal, coming from so many years of Age of Eagles. ESR uses a command system which is entirely absent from AoE and this of itself was already a radical shift for us.  Some aspects of the rules are not entirely clear (although it has to be said that one cannot expect all on-table situations to be entirely covered by any set of rules) and we decided to post a couple of queries on the ESR Yahoo Group there and then during the gaming session itself.  Much to our amazement and surprise, the author David M Entseness replied straight away, even though it must have been the crack of dawn in the US, and voila' - our problems were sorted out ! How better can a gamer's life get? Thanks Dave!

Overall the rules play discreetly well and I am sure once they are gotten used to, the QRS should be enough to see players through most situations. We'll go through a few more small actions just to get to grips with the finer detail and then hopefully move on to larger multiplayer encounters.

All in good time........