Sometimes you find something fun ...

Here are some new recruits I picked up earlier today in the local "kringwinkel" (roughly translated: recycling store or 2nd hand store), a store where people can leave their old stuff, and it can be bought by others. I usually pop in once every month or so (it is conveniently located right across the post office and bakery in the village where I live). Usually, I buy some old books (I quite often donate books myself), sometimes some old tools or stuff for the kitchen.

But today, I saw these old Britains Deetail figures ... so I couldn't resist bringing them home. Perhaps they might even be fielded in a 54mm  skirmish game ... 

Backlog of magazines added to the index

I added a handful of magazines to the index, mostly issues of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy. These are now up to date up to issue 130.

WSS is the only magazine I currently subscribe to, so currently this is the only magazine whose recent issues are added to the index.

Promotions and Medals

In our ACW games - our latest game can be seen here - we try to keep some continuity. Not in the form of a grandiose campaign (they have a tendency to fizzle out rather quickly), but simply by keeping track of units and officers, and giving them some additional abilities. Then, in a next game, these units and officers will appear again, and they build up their own history.

This is a very old school mechanism. The use of the "wargaming journal" in which one records the adventures of various units over a series of battle was already described by founding fathers such as Featherstone and Grant. It is also a system I have succesfully used before in other games, such as our Special Operations Scifi Antares 2401 campaign.

For our ACW games, after each battle, each player can nominate 1 unit that did something remarkable. I then have a little table outlining various possibilities, I roll a die, and the unit can get some additional benefit. I keep track of what a unit can do by using playing cards from an old Columbia cardgame, and I add little post-it notes. Such cards are a useful reference during the game. I of course also keep track all units in an Excel sheet but I'm a big fan of NOT using any digital tools during the game itself. Miniature wargaming should be an analogue and tactile hobby (call me old-school), hence the cards.

A selection of 4 units, with their earned abilities.

I do the same for the Officers. I have a stack of 12 different Officer cards for each side. At the start of the game, a player is given 3 random cards, and those are the Officers he has for that scenario (sometimes we deal 1 card more, and you can select 3 out of 4 or similar). Afer the battle, I put a little sticker (card suits) on the Officer's card, to indicate he has fought in a battle, and I also roll on a table. The table can gave the Officer extra abilities, but it could also indicate wounds, retirement, or even death!

A selection of 4 officers, with their characteristics, and card suit symbols to show how many battles they have fought in.

A last "campaign" mechanic is to add a numerical indication to units that have been routed. In our last game, the "Cornhusker Cavalry" fled the battlefield, and hence, the unit now becomes the "2nd Cornhusker Cavalry" (and loses all abilities). The use of such numbers also adds to the period flavour of ACW units.

Battle of Brawner's House

Last Friday Wim and I played an ACW game, using or well-tested and developed house rules.

The scenario was inspired by an article in Wargamers Annual 2014, which outlined a scenario for the 7YW, but was in fact itself inspired by an ACW battle, the battle of Groveton or Brawner's House, on the evening of 2nd Bull Run.

The idea is that one side travels in convoy along a road, spread out. The other side's force suddenly appears from behind a hill line, concentrated. The tactical challenge is for the convoy to deploy as soon as possible given the terrain, and for the attacking side to try to attack as soon as possible. Whoever controls the battlefield by the end of the wargaming day wins the battle.

The original article in Wargamers Annual 2014.

Here's what the initial setup looked like. Note that we use little name markers for each unit. Names are fictional and AI generated and inspired by Bourbon and whisky brands.

The overall view at the start of the battle. The Confederates attack from this side, the Union is spread out as a long convoy on the far end. We use cards from an old cardgame to indicate abilities of commanders and some units.

The Union left flank.

The Union middle.

The Union right.

The Confederate Left.

The Confederate middle and right brigades. We use mikado sticks to mark the boundaries between the various brigades. These sticks move along, but they are handy to remember what unit belongs to what brigade.

Ok, the battle is set. Wim will play the Union, I will play the Confederates. I won't give a blow by blow account, but simply show some photographs taken at various points during the battle, and usually from the side of the table where I was sitting ...

The opening move on the Confederate right. My plan was to quickly attack the Union here, before the could deploy in full force in the forest in the middle of the table.

Napoleon as our "Lucky General Mascot". Whoever has the token can reroll any die roll, but then has to hand over the token to the opponent.

Wim is trying to set up his left flank.

The middle Union brigade is trying to occupy the forest.

View after the first few turns.

Another view of the action unfolding. On the left flank the Confederate cavalry is vigorously pursuing the Union. These are results of "morale checks" in our rules, and create all sorts of little stories across the battlefield.

Cavalry action on the Confederate left flank

An overview of the left flank.

Advance in the middle!

Heavy firing from both sides in the middle.

An overview of the developing battle.

Another overview.

When the clock had passed 11pm, we decided to halt the game. Both sides were know well entrenched, and we felt we would probably spend several turns firing, hoping for one side to crumble such that the other side could exploit an opening.

Here are some pictures when we stopped the game, with all table clutter such as dice and rule sheets removed.

It was a fun game and fun scenario. We also felt the rules handled this type of scenario well, although we had of course suggestions for slight adaptations.

Next post: handing out medals and rewards!

Talking Miniatures

This 2-volume book arrived in the post yesterday.

"Talking Miniatures" , by John Stallard and Robin Dews, chronicles the early days (most notably the 80s and early 90s) of Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures through interviews of many people who worked there at the time. I already read a few of the interviews, and it brings back a lot of memories and nostalgia. It is also a nice complement to "Dice Men" (by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson), which described the very early days of Games Workshop.

I was a real GW junkie during my early gaming days. I bought the 1st edition of Warhammer when it was first published, and it opened a whole new gaming world for me (before that, I played mostly board wargames, I had'nt even played an rpg yet :-)). So many of the events and games and miniatures described feel very familiar to me, although I never knew or met any of the GW/Citadel staff. But I was an avid GW gamer (these days are long gone, I'm not the target audience anymore), and still have quite a lot of those early games and books and miniatures.

But anyway, after reading through a few of the interviews, I realized a couple of things:

• Although I didn't feel like that at the time, as a gamer I experienced a period in the history of fantasy gaming that was still very close to the early days. So perhaps I was a pioneer without realizing it ;-)
• It is stated several times that the Warhammer books (and especially the 3rd edition book) created an ideal to strive for as a wargamer: photographs of spectacular gaming tables, which were the dream of many starting hobbyists. I do indeed remember me drooling over many of these photographs, thinking it was something I could never achieve ...
• Something else which struck me, but I also never gave much thought, is that the slottabase was a very clever invention. It allowed for miniatures to be manufactured with less metal, but it also allowed for regiments to be formed in neat blocks without having to cut out one's own bases.
• Rick Priestley (one of my wargaming heroes!) mentioned that Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd edition was quite unplayable ... which I found very odd, because this is the edition I played many battles with., and which I felt was perfectly playable at the time. But anyway, thanks for letting us know! :-)
  

An enjoyable read, and a must for all GW/Citadel fanboyz, past or present ...

And here are some of my early credentials ... (my 1st edition box is gone, all 1st edition stuff is in the 2nd edition box ;-)).

The Sword and the Flame

Last Sunday we played a colonial game. It had been a long time we set up a game with a colonial theme, but JP was so kind to host a game, using the well-known The Sword and The Flame rules.

Eddy and I were the players. The fun part was we all had a different copy of the rules, with apparantly slight differences for some rules. But since we're not the rules-lawyering type, it didn't matter that much.

Eddy took the British, who had to defend a compound, I assaulted with the Pathans. Near the end, as could be expected, al units had converged on the compound and it became a numbers game. The Pathans prevailed.

Here are some of the pictures (more pictures here):

 

I wore my lucky Napoleon socks.

JP and Eddy overlooking the table - still empty.

Briefing of the scenario.

The first casualties.

Pathans closing in.

More Pathans approaching from the other side.

The approach continues ...

Pathans attacking the compound.

The British defending the compound as best as they can.

Rules discussions going on :-)

Lots of casualties on both sides.

Near the end.

Overall, it was a fun game. However, we agreed the scenario could have been better. Having a single focal point (the compound) on which all units converge, means for a cramped game area-wise. It's amazing how we all know this, yet often make this same mistake when setting up scenarios.

TSA Bring&Buy Encore

This weekend there was another "wargaming B&B" organized by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp. As always, there was a good atmosphere, and it was a joy to talk with wargaming friends from other gaming groups you typically run into during these events.

So what was my loot?

Nothing too much this time.

• 2 old Avalon Hill games. Perhaps I might even play them sometime.
• A few old wargaming booklets.
• 2 volumes of the Funcken uniform guides from the 60s - always handy to have around as a painting reference.

As usual, a wargaming Bring & Buy always triggers conversations about the meaning of it all. "Aren't we simply shuffling old stuff around, as a merry-go-round?", "Will anyone ever play this stuff?", "What percentage of wargaming stuff bought is actually being used?" Etc.

But the best conversation I had was about the nature of wargaming rules. The number of rulebooks and supplements, big and small, old and new, simple and complex, ... that were on offer was staggering. So many rulesets that are sold 2nd hand without ever having been used ... These days, I don't bother anymore buying myself into the next "hot new ruleset". The illusion I once had that all rulesets were thoroughly researched and playtested before being published is long gone. I prefer writing my own rules, tuned perfectly to the needs or our own group. After all, aren't all the rulesets ever published not someone's houserules, written up as a booklet, and being offered for sale? And if so, it's much better to write your own ... :-)

Romano-British vs Saxons

Yesterday we played an Ancients game. The scenario involved a Saxon convoy, which was attacked by a force of Romano-British troops. Rules used were Hail Caesar - depending on who was looking up what rules in what version of the book, we used a mix of 1st and 2nd edition rules.

Bart D. and Bart V. (acting as plumpire) commanded the Saxons, while Eddy and me commanded the Romano-British.

The first half of the game consisted of the usual manoeuvring, before the close combat clash happened. Two rounds into the close combat we decided to abandon the dicefest and declared the game a draw.

Edit: Eddy has posted a report on BGG as well.

The usual pre-game activity: shooting pictures and drinking beer!

The Saxon forces.

The watchtower was quickly conquered by the Saxons.

The Romano-British village.

A view of the table, as seen from the Romano-British side.

The approaching Saxons.

The Romano-British village.

Manoeuvring around the bridge in the centre of the table.

Bart D. and Eddy discussing finer points of ancient infantry tactics.

Another view from the Roman-British lines.

More scholarly discussion about ancient warfare.

The lucky general - no not Eddy, but the Napoleon 54mm soldier in front. The lucky general is our meta-mechanic: you can reroll any roll of the dice, but then you hand over the lucky general token to the enemy.

The final clash!

The situation at the end of the game.