Going through a backlog of magazines

I finally found the time to go through a backlog of wargaming magazines and add them to the magazine index.

There are now approx 7800 articles indexed.

I make regular use of it myself, looking up old articles, and sometimes receive positive comments from people who do the same. So I'll keep up the work, although I can't claim completeness. But I consider this a lifelong project ;-)

Medieval Tournament (6)

Yesterday we played our "Grand Melee".

16 knights started the melee. After 4 were knocked out, the game was reset and we continued with 12 (the second toornament day). Then with 8. Etc. In the end, there was one winner emerging from the final round of 4 on the 4th tournament day.

Players got a gold piece when they knocked a knight out (1 GP), and when one of the backed knights (assigned randomly and hidden at the start of the tournament) ended in the last 5 (resp. 1/2/3/4/5 gold). The secretly assigned knights also made players guessing who was backing what knight, which was an additional element of fun.

When it was your turn, you could activate any knight you wanted, and had to choose from 3 possible actions (drawn randomly from ordinary playing cards). "Virtues of the court ladies" threw in some additional special benefits for chosen knights.

Bart took the win with a total of 10 GP, Phil came in second with 9 GP, and Eddy acquired 5 GP.

Overall, a fun game, although as usual, some rules tweaks are in order if we ever decide to run this again.

The start of the Grand Melee.16 Knights want to win the tournament. Yes, that's an original Citadel Warhammer Siege castle from the late 80s/early 90s.

A medieval game is always a good reason to bring out some old Warhammer Scenery.

The first casualty  of the tournament. Philips van Liezele is knocked out

Me taking a photograph of Bart taking a photograph.

Eddy and Bart pndering tactics. Who wil win? Barthold van Vetterling or Edward van Sterkenburg?

A bloody melee. Sigisbiduwald von Trappstein-Hohenschlieffen is knocked out, while Egon van Blauwen and Alexander de Croowaen are looking on.

The Status Board, used for identifying knights, although after some time we knew all miniature by name. Most of the names are tongue in cheek and refer to our past games or our own names.

Another overview of the tournament field.

A look at the castle.

A view of the melee field, in one of the later rounds.

One of the final combats. Egon van Blauwen vs Barthold van Vetterling vs Hubertus van d'Ardennen.

The final combat!!! Hubertus van d'Ardennen (who turned out to be one of Bart's knights) will knock out Alexander de Croowaen (who was backed by Phil).

Medieval Tournament (5)

Last night I wrote a first version of the rules for my upcoming tournament game.

The format will be as follows:

• 
  
• We will start the melee with 16 knights. When 4 knights are out of action, the tournament starts over imagine it is the next day) with 12 knights. A third round with 8 knights, and a final round with 4 knights.
• Each player will receive cards for 4 knights (random, secret) at the start of the tournament.
  
• During the melee, a player can choose any knight he wants to activate (not necessarily a knight he is rooting for), and chooses an action from 1 of 3 playing cards for that knight. The cards are from a common activation pool and replenished after each activation.
• If a player knocks out a Knight, he gets 1 gold. The last 5 surviving knights receive 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 gold for the player who holds that card. Thus, a total of 30 gold will be handed out during the tournament.
• The idea is there will be some bluff as well as to who holds what knight in his hands.
  

The melee rules follow a simple format as well.

• Hex-based.
• Within a hex: knights can be in contact or not.
• All modifiers are on die type (D4 -> D6 -> D8 -> D10 -> D12 -> ...).

Summary sheet so far:

 

Medieval Tournament (4)

Coming Friday, we will play a "Grand Melee".

The format will be that each player will be able to control any knight during his turn, but every player will also have (in secret) a number knight assigned randomly to root for (and score victory points with). Thus, there will also be a form of meta-game, trying to figure out who is (secretly) backing which knight to gain victory.

I needed cards for each foot knight (players will receive 4 card at random at the start of the game). I photographed 16 of my foot knight miniatures, and made up some medieval looking names.

Medieval Tournament (3)

I found one more item in my wargaming library:

Again, I am merely reading it for inspiration to come up with my own rules.

Meanwhile, I have started setting up the table. The big area in the middle will be the "grand melee" area. There should be enough room for hex-based movement (since I think that movement and manoeuvre is the fun in most miniature wargames). The table will get more and more detailed over the coming weekend.

Medieval Tournament (2)

Some more inspiration for my medieval tournament game a week from now ...

I probably have more stuff lying around, we'll see what else we can dig up.

Medieval Tournament (1)

Next week the plan is to run a medieval tournament game for my gaming group.

I always had a fascination for medieval tournaments (see some previous photos of my heraldic knights here), but they're not always easy to turn into a good game. The typical joust (only one part of a tournament) always struck me as being too much rock-paper-scissors. Although a number of games have been published that recreate the medieval joust, it's unclear to me whether there are enough interesting decision points for the players to make.

So, it will not be a joust, but rather a "melee for all". A quick look into my magazine collection turned up some useful inspirational articles. A very useful one was published in Miniature Wargames (with Battlegames), issue 363.

The idea is that we start with 16 knights, and every knight is backed (in secret) by a player. We will fight several melee events (with elimination), and whoever survives in the end wins the tournament. I will of course hand out some additional victory points throughout the tournament, but I still have to come up with a good set of skirmish melee rules. I have some ideas already ...

But for now, I have time for some more historical research. Yesterday evening, I spend quite some time reading my TASCHEN copy of the Freydal Tournament book. Inspirational stuff!

TSA "Bring and Sell"

Sadly, as an aftereffect of Brexit, the Belgian wargaming convention scene as we knew it has  more or less collapsed (Crisis gone, Warcon gone, ...). So it's back to small scale club days.

One such event took place yesterday. Tin Soldiers of Antwerp organized a "Bring and Sell" event, an ideal opportunity for everyone to dump their old stuff.

The clubhouse was packed, a lot of people showed up (more pictures here).

This was my wargaming loot (I also picked up some old roleplaying stuff, but that's of less intererst for this blog):

I also met some of the old Belgian wargaming guard (going back to the late 60s or early 70s), which triggered me into making a blog or something about the history of wargaming in Belgium. We'll see.

Wet Paint: 3D Printed Jagdpanther

 

This big cat already featured in an earlier game in a slightly more embryonic state (let's say it came straight off the factory floor). It's a 3D printed Jagdpanther, printed on an FDM printer. Because of the nature of FDM printing, you do see the individual layers this model is built up off, and they are even more pronounced by the drybrushing finish on the model. For mid to late war German vehicles, this is something I can live with, as it gives a finish somewhat reminiscent of the zimmerit anti-magnetic coating usually applied in that era.

The Great Northern War revisited

 Yesterday we played a game of Black Powder, using Bart's extensive Great Northern War collection (see also out Crisis 2010 game on Poltava).

It had been a while since we played a game using the Black Powder rules (pre-Covid). We don't care that much about 1st or 2nd edition, using a mix of rules as we remember them. It's a game after all, and it's the tactics that count, not a modifier more or less on some die roll.

The scenario was based on a scenario we played before, a great river crossing. The Russians could cross using a ford, a bridge that had to be repaired, and some pontoons.

Eddy and Wim took the side of the Russians, Phil played the Swedes, while Bart was umpiring. At the end of the evening, it was more or less decided that there was a minor Russian victory: the Russians had succeeded in crossing the river, although the Swedes had held them up for some time.

Here are some photos (more photos and a report written up by Eddy to be found here: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1387808/article/41703990#41703990).

This is how the table looked when I entered Bart's wargaming den. No deployment yet, although the toys were already out.

Eddy and Wim pondering about the Russian deployment. How will they cross the wide river in front of them?

Initial Swedish deployment, focusing on known crossing points on both flanks, leaving the centre unguarded.

The Swedish left flank - the ford. Russian troops are stuck in the mud in the middle of the river. Eddy will later claim this was all part of the plan, pinning a large Swedish contingent such that the bridge on the other flank could be crossed.

The Swedish Beer Garden.

The Bridge as seen from the Russian side, heavily defended by Swedish troops. An initial attack was repulsed. A first pontoon crossing has also already taken place.

Overview of the entire river.

The Swedish left flank again. No movement, just some shots exchanged back and forth.

Heavy fighting on the Swedish right flank. More Russians are crossing using pontoons. Swedish cavalry are preparing themselves to charge - but this will turn out to be a disaster. Due to hammering by the Russian artillery, an failed command rolls, the Swedish cavalry will rout a turn later.

Another view of the Swedish right flank, moments before the Swedish cavalry routed.

 A very exciting game! As usual, we had a post-game discussion about what worked and didn't work in the scenario. And we also discussed the state of wargaming affairs in Belgium, the world, and the universe!