Rally Round the King / Warring States Test Game

To see if Rally Round the King could work for my Warring States campaign, I playtested the system this week with the cheapest of materials. The battlefield was a blanket, and the miniatures and terrain were made from paper. The most expensive element on the board was the freeloading cat that kept periodically coming by offering unsolicited advice.

"That's where you're putting your mounted skirmishers?
Really? So, you're trying to lose, is that it?"

The armies were derived from the Merchen/Chinese list in the RRtK Army List guide. Both sides received the same Basic Army and a leader in a chariot (my choice), but the remaining 200+ points of units were determined randomly as per standard rules.

The color of the paper I had printed the enemy on was a light green that reminded me of the outside of a melon, so I called the enemy the "Xiang Gua" (the muskmelons). They didn't mind.

Dice rolls decided that the Xiang Gua army was the attacker. Terrain rolls revealed a large hill, some woods, and an impassable area. A final roll determined the Xiang Gua strategy - "Penetrate Center." Troops were deployed accordingly.

The invading Xiang Gua are set up between a large hill and impassable terrain,
but, since they plan on a center attack, it helps their flanks.

Here's a quick synopsis of my first full game...

Turn 1: The Xiang Gua held their "hillside" and "woodside" flanks and sent a light screen of foot skirmishers down the center to harass my frontline levies. The attackers were easily chased off, and I then committed a body of Horse Archers to try to disable the Xiang Gua's hillside flanks.

Is a hillside assault my best course of action?

Turn 2: The Xiang Gua center cavalry charged my levies and routed the entire frontline?!? This was a devastating blow to me so early on. Though my remaining line of levies charged the Xiang Gua cavalry to rout or retire their units, my center was seriously weakened. Rather than reinforcing it, I dispatched my cavalry to attack the Xiang Gua's woodside flanks.

Seconds before the roll that wiped out my front line...
Had I played correctly? See Question 1, below.

Turn 3: The Xiang Gua's woodside cavalry defended the flank, and their reserve chariots wheeled to support the hillside flank. Meanwhile, I pushed the center, hoping to clear away the remaining Xiang Gua cavalry. Though bloodied, I was gaining ground!

Turn 4: The Xiang Gua chariots and cavalry did a much better job securing both flanks than I had expected. I tried to change up my strategy by redirecting my own cavalry, but I quickly realized this was a maneuver that was two turns too late.

Sure, I've gained more ground, but at what cost?
That body of Xiang Gua infantry remains untouched...

Turn 5: The Xiang Gua chariots chased away my Horse Archers, utterly defeating my hillside advance. My cavalry's attack on the Xiang Gua levies failed. Things were looking bleak for my defense of the homeland.

Turn 6: The Xiang Gua final assault was engaged! Their formidable body of levies pushed forward and confronted my levies while their chariots wheeled toward the center. My levies countered, but the end result was a broken body of separated units.

"You suck."

Turn 7: The Xiang Gua cavalry wheeled to join in the central battle. Though their levies failed to charge my remaining troops, their chariot units succeeded in routing my isolated soldiers. I had no choice but to blow the big horn of retreat. It was over.


Takeaways
Though I'm late to the RRtK party, I'm glad I showed up! Shaun was right about everything he had reported in his blog. The system works very well in general for solo play, but, specifically for my Warring States objectives, it really captures the flavor of that period in a neat package of streamlined mechanics. It even addressed some of the flavor of my recent considerations of Sun Bin's strategies. Additionally, it comes with campaign rules that make managing nationwide wars fluid and hassle-free. It will be difficult for another set of rules to top RRtK, but I'll keep my options open for a while longer before I commit to a campaign.

Questions
Can anyone help me with two issues that came up during play, but were not addressed in the rules or on the THW Yahoo site?

1. I always thought a 6 was an automatic fail on a Reaction Test in THW games, but there was no mention of that on the melee or missile test charts, nor is it noted at all within the respective sections of the rules. During Turn 2, I rolled 6,6 for my levies' reactions to the Xiang Gua cavalry charging attack, and their modified Rep at the time was 6. I ruled it was a 0d6 pass and they routed, radically changing the game for me. Did I make the right call?
2. When a unit fires a missile attack at the flank of another missile unit, can the target return fire? The target would not have line of sight at the time of the attack on it. There are rules for when a unit is charged to the flank or rear (it takes a special reaction test, pg. 41), but there's nothing about missile attacks. I ruled that the targeted unit could not return fire, despite the 2d6 reaction chart result.

Thanks!