A few days ago, someone asked how to paint eyes on the [WAB mailing list](http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/WABlist). This is how I do it.
First off, don't paint eyes in any scale smaller than 25mm. It's just not worth it. Next, in 25mm, all you really have to do -- even for painting competion class paintjobs -- is to _suggest_ eyes. Some people try to paint fully detailed eyes, with irises, pupils and whatnot. More often than not, this leads to the _oh my god, I just saw the Pope naked_ look of surprise and abject horror on the figure. Don't do this.
After putting the shadow layer on the face, including the eye sockets (I use [Vallejo](http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com) Mahogany Brown for this), I take a 000 brush and paint a horizontal stripe in the eye socket in Vallejo Beige. Next, I put two vertical stripes in Vallejo Matt Black in matching positions on both eyes _and that's it_. Done.
The tricky part to all of this is to get the black dots/stripes to match, so your figure does not look like Marty Feldman in a dizzy spell. I don't have a hard and fast solution to this, just a tip: start with the 'difficult' eye. This is the same hand eye as the hand you use to hold the brush. For me, as I'm left handed, it's the figure's left eye, for the other 90% of the world, it's the right. This is the most difficult eye to do because to paint it, you have to have the brush reach over the figure's nose, so you can't hold it as flat as you can with the other eye. Therefore, dot that eye's pupil first, and match the other one to it. This way you get a figure that has both eyes looking at the same spot, though not necessarily the spot you intended.
For examples of this, just look through the miniature photos on [my Flickr account](http://www.flickr.com/photos/robartes).
Friday, 15 October 2004
Tuesday, 12 October 2004
DBM is not a miniature wargame
What's a blog for if you can't be controversial once in a while :) Luckily, so far the readership of this blog has not yet exceeded the number of authors, so we can poke a stick into the anthill once in a while. Todays stick is a realisation I had, which became the title of this entry: DBM, the most popular ancients wargame, is not a miniature wargame.
Of course, this depends entirely on one's definition of _miniature wargame_. If you define the term purely linguistically, as a game simulating warfare and played with miniatures, then DBM _is_ a miniature wargame, for it simulates ancient warfare and uses miniatures as a means to do so. [Wikipedia](http://www.wikipedia.org) [defines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_wargaming) miniature wargaming as
> a form of wargaming designed to incorporate miniatures or figurines into play
This is essentially the linguistic definition. However, later on in the entry, the author also adds that the main attraction to miniature wargaming is that
> many find the tactile element of soldiers and scenery on a tabletop to be aesthetically pleasing; additionally, painting miniatures and constructing scenery can be a rewarding challenge
And that is _my_ definition of a miniature wargame. It is more that just a wargame played with miniatures. It also engages ones aesthetic and creative aspects, and that is what sets it apart from board or computer games. Therefore, the creative aspect of painting, modelling etc. is an essential part of miniature wargaming, without which it would not be miniature wargaming; so that aspect is a part of the definition of the term.
And by that definition, DBM is not a miniature wargame.
Allow me to illustrate with an example. In our group, we have one player who adamantly refuses to even consider playing any other game than DBM (not that he's obnoxious about it or derisive of other games, he just only plays DBM). I had a hard time understanding this, until I realised that this player is not playing a miniature wargame, he's playing DBM. He's also an avid [Advanced Squad Leader](http://www.multimanpublishing.com/ASL/asl.php) player, and I think for him, DBM is a similar sort of game that just happens to be played with miniatures. This last fact is incidental to the game however, it is not essential in any way. As a result he, and players like him are not into the whole painting and modelling part of the hobby -- to wit, he buys his miniatures fully painted, they're part of the investment, not part of the game or hobby to him.
We can generalise this particular players' attitude towards DBM to the rule set as a whole: DBM is a tactical wargame that just happens to be played with miniatures. It is a game upon itself, not really connected to the larger world and meme pool of miniature wargaming. This explains why it is so successful as a tournament game (it is a game upon itself, with an internally consistent rules framework not tied to anything else), and also why it often draws such extreme reactions from the miniature wargaming crowd.
So, to sum things up, in my opinion DBM is not a miniature wargame as I, and I think most people who identify themselves as miniature wargamers, conceive of the term. It is a good and succesful tactical wargame system by itself, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it is not a miniature wargame.
If there's anyone reading this, comments have been activated here on [TTM](/snv/ttm), so I'm inviting you to make full use of the interactivity of the blog medium to comment on this entry!
Of course, this depends entirely on one's definition of _miniature wargame_. If you define the term purely linguistically, as a game simulating warfare and played with miniatures, then DBM _is_ a miniature wargame, for it simulates ancient warfare and uses miniatures as a means to do so. [Wikipedia](http://www.wikipedia.org) [defines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_wargaming) miniature wargaming as
> a form of wargaming designed to incorporate miniatures or figurines into play
This is essentially the linguistic definition. However, later on in the entry, the author also adds that the main attraction to miniature wargaming is that
> many find the tactile element of soldiers and scenery on a tabletop to be aesthetically pleasing; additionally, painting miniatures and constructing scenery can be a rewarding challenge
And that is _my_ definition of a miniature wargame. It is more that just a wargame played with miniatures. It also engages ones aesthetic and creative aspects, and that is what sets it apart from board or computer games. Therefore, the creative aspect of painting, modelling etc. is an essential part of miniature wargaming, without which it would not be miniature wargaming; so that aspect is a part of the definition of the term.
And by that definition, DBM is not a miniature wargame.
Allow me to illustrate with an example. In our group, we have one player who adamantly refuses to even consider playing any other game than DBM (not that he's obnoxious about it or derisive of other games, he just only plays DBM). I had a hard time understanding this, until I realised that this player is not playing a miniature wargame, he's playing DBM. He's also an avid [Advanced Squad Leader](http://www.multimanpublishing.com/ASL/asl.php) player, and I think for him, DBM is a similar sort of game that just happens to be played with miniatures. This last fact is incidental to the game however, it is not essential in any way. As a result he, and players like him are not into the whole painting and modelling part of the hobby -- to wit, he buys his miniatures fully painted, they're part of the investment, not part of the game or hobby to him.
We can generalise this particular players' attitude towards DBM to the rule set as a whole: DBM is a tactical wargame that just happens to be played with miniatures. It is a game upon itself, not really connected to the larger world and meme pool of miniature wargaming. This explains why it is so successful as a tournament game (it is a game upon itself, with an internally consistent rules framework not tied to anything else), and also why it often draws such extreme reactions from the miniature wargaming crowd.
So, to sum things up, in my opinion DBM is not a miniature wargame as I, and I think most people who identify themselves as miniature wargamers, conceive of the term. It is a good and succesful tactical wargame system by itself, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it is not a miniature wargame.
If there's anyone reading this, comments have been activated here on [TTM](/snv/ttm), so I'm inviting you to make full use of the interactivity of the blog medium to comment on this entry!
Friday, 8 October 2004
SnV Revival games
Quite a while ago (I think it was a New Year's resolution for 2003), I came up with the idea of Schild en Vriend Revival games. This was a period when we were discussing the future of Schild en Vriend (the original Leuven crowd), now that Phil had returned to Leuven's shores.
No formal decision resulted from this, but I did make a resolution to occasionally put on games in the mold of the games of the golden age. This were to be the Schild en Vriend Revival games.
These games would follow the main SnV ethos: they should be good looking (_Visual appeal is everything_) and be somewhat 'more' than a standard equal points and line'em up battle. Back then, we did not always adhere to those standards, of course. I well remember Napoleonic and other games played with unpainted Airfix plastic figures glued to cardboard, and there were the occasional evenings where neither of the two main scenario suppliers had come up with something. However, for the SnV Revival games, I vowed to strictly adhere to these standards.
Initially, I had the idea of organising monthly or bimonthly games. However, time constraints and lack of room to play at led to a significantly reduced schedule. So far, almost two years down the road, I have put on three S&V Revival games. Here's a short overview.
* Game 1: Epsilon Eridani VII - Full Thrust
This was a Full Thrust spaceship game, played at Phil's place on the Dijle's shores in Leuven. The players each commanded a fleet (Human, Gorn, Xirin) sent to the Epsilon Eridani VII sector to investigate the mysterious disappearances of a number of convoys and warships. During the game, they discovered the 'blobs', an alien species whose ships have the ability to remain invisible and seemingly effortlessly redistribute energy between their various systems.
More importantly, however, this game saw the start of renewed hostilities between the Xirin and the Human-Gorn alliance, started by the now famous words '_Get out of Xirin air space_' uttered by Graham K during the game. To be continued.
* Game 2: Bridges of Mechelen County - Rapid Fire
This was a [Rapid Fire](http://www.rapid-fire.co.uk) game, hosted at my place in Mechelen. It was a thinly veiled adaptation of the Arnhem battle during Operation Market Garden, but centred around the bridge across the Leuven - Willebroek canal in Mechelen. This game was very well received by the players, judging by the amount of after game discussion on the [mailing list](http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/int_brigade). This game was a narrow German victory, allowing a future game where the Germans south of the canal have to retreat across it in the face of the attacking Allied armies.
* Game 3: [Exploring the Congo](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) - Darkest Africa
This game was played last Saturday, [this entry](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) describes it well enough.
So far, the S&V revival games have been well received, and I hope the only complaint will be that there are not enough of them :) The next game will be a cooperation between Alan and myself, and features a return to the island of Little Vettusia for a single day [HoTT](http://www.btinternet.com/~alan.catherine/wargames/strong.htm) campaign. See you all there.
No formal decision resulted from this, but I did make a resolution to occasionally put on games in the mold of the games of the golden age. This were to be the Schild en Vriend Revival games.
These games would follow the main SnV ethos: they should be good looking (_Visual appeal is everything_) and be somewhat 'more' than a standard equal points and line'em up battle. Back then, we did not always adhere to those standards, of course. I well remember Napoleonic and other games played with unpainted Airfix plastic figures glued to cardboard, and there were the occasional evenings where neither of the two main scenario suppliers had come up with something. However, for the SnV Revival games, I vowed to strictly adhere to these standards.
Initially, I had the idea of organising monthly or bimonthly games. However, time constraints and lack of room to play at led to a significantly reduced schedule. So far, almost two years down the road, I have put on three S&V Revival games. Here's a short overview.
* Game 1: Epsilon Eridani VII - Full Thrust
This was a Full Thrust spaceship game, played at Phil's place on the Dijle's shores in Leuven. The players each commanded a fleet (Human, Gorn, Xirin) sent to the Epsilon Eridani VII sector to investigate the mysterious disappearances of a number of convoys and warships. During the game, they discovered the 'blobs', an alien species whose ships have the ability to remain invisible and seemingly effortlessly redistribute energy between their various systems.
More importantly, however, this game saw the start of renewed hostilities between the Xirin and the Human-Gorn alliance, started by the now famous words '_Get out of Xirin air space_' uttered by Graham K during the game. To be continued.
* Game 2: Bridges of Mechelen County - Rapid Fire
This was a [Rapid Fire](http://www.rapid-fire.co.uk) game, hosted at my place in Mechelen. It was a thinly veiled adaptation of the Arnhem battle during Operation Market Garden, but centred around the bridge across the Leuven - Willebroek canal in Mechelen. This game was very well received by the players, judging by the amount of after game discussion on the [mailing list](http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/int_brigade). This game was a narrow German victory, allowing a future game where the Germans south of the canal have to retreat across it in the face of the attacking Allied armies.
* Game 3: [Exploring the Congo](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) - Darkest Africa
This game was played last Saturday, [this entry](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) describes it well enough.
So far, the S&V revival games have been well received, and I hope the only complaint will be that there are not enough of them :) The next game will be a cooperation between Alan and myself, and features a return to the island of Little Vettusia for a single day [HoTT](http://www.btinternet.com/~alan.catherine/wargames/strong.htm) campaign. See you all there.
Thursday, 7 October 2004
A primer in cutting corners
As [I mentioned before](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000002.html), I have been able to speed up my painting of 25-28mil (the One True Scale) figures considerably. One reason for this speedup is the fact that I now cut corners when painting. This entry is about the various ways in which to speed up the classic three-layer painting technique, some ways of which are applicable to other painting techniques as well. I'll focus on painting techniques/tricks and not mention other ways of speeding up [army painting](http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/armypainting) such as the assembly line (which [doesn't work for me](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000002.html) anyway). Here goes.
* Prime black
Or a variation thereof. I prime grey, because I have found a good affordable spray primer in [Brico](http://www.brico.be), but give the primed figure a heavy black wash afterwards. Priming black speeds up your painting because you can afterwards afford to paint less of the figure: deep recesses are shaded automatically, and spots you miss are not obtrusive, so you do not necessarily have to go back and touch them up.
As an aside, the spray primer I talked about used to be the [Bricobi](http://www.brico.be/catalogue/pages/nl/popup.asp?ref=1553052) one, but they reformulated this primer some time ago, resulting in a smoother finish without enough tooth to be useful. Luckily, the giant [Stop](http://www.brico.be/catalogue/pages/nl/popup.asp?ref=1553581) cans of grey primer (the link is to the black paint spray can, the primer does not appear to be listed on the website) seem to contain the older formula. Happy me.
* Use as big a brush as you think you can. Then use one bigger than that.
Bigger brushes hold more paint and cover more area in one stroke, so you're both loading your brush less often and using less brush strokes. For an individual colour, this might not seem to be much, but it quickly adds up in time saved at the end. These days, the smallest brush I use on my rank and file miniatures is a number 2 (OK, I use a 000 for the eyes, but that's only five seconds' work), as opposed to a 000, which was my staple brush before. As long as the brush comes to a good point, you'll be amazed at what size brush you can get away with.
* Don't correct every error
Only correct the really obvious ones. On a rank and file miniature, no one is going to notice that the colour of the tunic bleeds over onto the breeches, or that the underside of one arm has been forgotten. As long as you are not entering the wargame model in a painting competition, no one -- not even yourself some time later -- is going to notice these kinds of errors. Of course, a broad red brush stroke across the face should be corrected.
* Be less precise
Do not agonize about getting every brush stroke in the right location with the right thickness etc. Just paint as fast as you can, and if it looks OK at first glance, it will be fine. Although I do not recommend this, bad lighting helps in this regard (but will kill your eyes, so don't bother) :).
* Use less layers
Less layers means less to paint, obviously. On some areas of the figure, you can get away with less than three layers. Prime candidates are belts and straps, which I now usually paint in only one layer (simple leather colour on black).
* Use other techniques
I went through a period where I layered _everything_, including prime dry brush candidates such as fur or hair. These days, I'm far less hung up about this: when an area lends itself to drybrushing or washing, than I will do that when it is quicker than straight layering. Fur, hair, armour etc. are good candidates for drybrushing.
That's about all I can think of now. Individually, all of these tricks do not add much, but taken together, they mean the difference between getting a figure painted in three hours versus less than one hour (the [Celtic warrior](http://www.flickr.com/photos/robartes/644967/) in the sidebar took me less than one hour, including the shield), to a quality that is more than adequate for a wargames army.
* Prime black
Or a variation thereof. I prime grey, because I have found a good affordable spray primer in [Brico](http://www.brico.be), but give the primed figure a heavy black wash afterwards. Priming black speeds up your painting because you can afterwards afford to paint less of the figure: deep recesses are shaded automatically, and spots you miss are not obtrusive, so you do not necessarily have to go back and touch them up.
As an aside, the spray primer I talked about used to be the [Bricobi](http://www.brico.be/catalogue/pages/nl/popup.asp?ref=1553052) one, but they reformulated this primer some time ago, resulting in a smoother finish without enough tooth to be useful. Luckily, the giant [Stop](http://www.brico.be/catalogue/pages/nl/popup.asp?ref=1553581) cans of grey primer (the link is to the black paint spray can, the primer does not appear to be listed on the website) seem to contain the older formula. Happy me.
* Use as big a brush as you think you can. Then use one bigger than that.
Bigger brushes hold more paint and cover more area in one stroke, so you're both loading your brush less often and using less brush strokes. For an individual colour, this might not seem to be much, but it quickly adds up in time saved at the end. These days, the smallest brush I use on my rank and file miniatures is a number 2 (OK, I use a 000 for the eyes, but that's only five seconds' work), as opposed to a 000, which was my staple brush before. As long as the brush comes to a good point, you'll be amazed at what size brush you can get away with.
* Don't correct every error
Only correct the really obvious ones. On a rank and file miniature, no one is going to notice that the colour of the tunic bleeds over onto the breeches, or that the underside of one arm has been forgotten. As long as you are not entering the wargame model in a painting competition, no one -- not even yourself some time later -- is going to notice these kinds of errors. Of course, a broad red brush stroke across the face should be corrected.
* Be less precise
Do not agonize about getting every brush stroke in the right location with the right thickness etc. Just paint as fast as you can, and if it looks OK at first glance, it will be fine. Although I do not recommend this, bad lighting helps in this regard (but will kill your eyes, so don't bother) :).
* Use less layers
Less layers means less to paint, obviously. On some areas of the figure, you can get away with less than three layers. Prime candidates are belts and straps, which I now usually paint in only one layer (simple leather colour on black).
* Use other techniques
I went through a period where I layered _everything_, including prime dry brush candidates such as fur or hair. These days, I'm far less hung up about this: when an area lends itself to drybrushing or washing, than I will do that when it is quicker than straight layering. Fur, hair, armour etc. are good candidates for drybrushing.
That's about all I can think of now. Individually, all of these tricks do not add much, but taken together, they mean the difference between getting a figure painted in three hours versus less than one hour (the [Celtic warrior](http://www.flickr.com/photos/robartes/644967/) in the sidebar took me less than one hour, including the shield), to a quality that is more than adequate for a wargames army.
Tuesday, 5 October 2004
Renegade free postage
Just a quicky this time - [Renegade Miniatures](http://www.renegademiniatures.com/) is extending their [free postage weekend](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000013.html) to a full week. Any orders placed between Oct. 4 and Oct. 11 are post free, to anywhere in the world. Tempting, indeed.
Command and Colors
Last Friday, I played with a long-time wargaming friend "Memoir 44". This is a game designed by Richard Borg, who has also designed "BattleCry", using the same game engine, but set in ACW instead of WW2. Rumour on the net has it that he is also working on a Napoleonic and Ancients version. Both games use a common engine, which works very smooth and is easy to learn.
This game engine is known as "Command and Colors". I have to say I really like this engine, because it is so simple, yet allows for a wide variety of tactics. Suddenly it came to me that this engine could also be easily transferred to the table-top, without using a superimposed grid of hexes.
Imagine all units on a standard base, and using measurements in units of 10 cm (or 4" for old Imperial types). Every 10 cm (or part thereof), would count as 'one hex'. Since visibility and movement can be considered to be taken place from hex-centre to hex-centre, the same can be done for the centre-point of the unit. In other words, the unit is its own hex (which has actually the shape of a rectangle, if you are still with me).
Why am I rambling about this? I have been looking for a good set of fantasy rules for years. I have over 3000 fantasy figures, so you understand I'm not going to put all that lead away to play games with a handful of Darkest Africa figures instead :-). My vision of fantasy is massed battles. It has to be finished in a few hours at most. Multiple figures on a base. Zillions of different troop types. Heroes and wizards! And the rules for all that on the back of a post-card.
I started with Warhammer in the eighties, then drifted to HOTT, Fantasy Rules!, Martin Hackett's rules, modifications of TACTICA (Te Wapen!), etc. None of them really satisfied me, but I have a strong feeling that using a Command and Colors based system, for miniatures on the tabletop, might do it!
The basic framework is already written out. Now I only need to find some playtesters and we're ready to go ...
This game engine is known as "Command and Colors". I have to say I really like this engine, because it is so simple, yet allows for a wide variety of tactics. Suddenly it came to me that this engine could also be easily transferred to the table-top, without using a superimposed grid of hexes.
Imagine all units on a standard base, and using measurements in units of 10 cm (or 4" for old Imperial types). Every 10 cm (or part thereof), would count as 'one hex'. Since visibility and movement can be considered to be taken place from hex-centre to hex-centre, the same can be done for the centre-point of the unit. In other words, the unit is its own hex (which has actually the shape of a rectangle, if you are still with me).
Why am I rambling about this? I have been looking for a good set of fantasy rules for years. I have over 3000 fantasy figures, so you understand I'm not going to put all that lead away to play games with a handful of Darkest Africa figures instead :-). My vision of fantasy is massed battles. It has to be finished in a few hours at most. Multiple figures on a base. Zillions of different troop types. Heroes and wizards! And the rules for all that on the back of a post-card.
I started with Warhammer in the eighties, then drifted to HOTT, Fantasy Rules!, Martin Hackett's rules, modifications of TACTICA (Te Wapen!), etc. None of them really satisfied me, but I have a strong feeling that using a Command and Colors based system, for miniatures on the tabletop, might do it!
The basic framework is already written out. Now I only need to find some playtesters and we're ready to go ...
Sunday, 3 October 2004
Exploring the Congo
Yesterday, I managed to put on [Schild en Vriend](/snv) Revival game number 3 after an abortive attempt two weeks earlier. The S&V Revival games are games intended to relive the best parts of the Schild en Vriend [golden age](/snv/about.html), set up in the tradition of the best games of that period.
Revival game number 3 was _Exploring the Congo_, a revisit of Darkest Africa. It featured a very basic campaign system, where players move around on the dark continent, with the aim of visiting a small number of key areas representing the uncharted regions of the Congo river, and getting back alive and in one piece. Each area visited resulted in either a decision to make by the player (_should I carry my boats overland to bypass the cataracts, or leave them behind_) or a tabletop encounter. These last proved to be the most challenging and dangerous for the players, even if many of them featured only a large amount of rustling in the bushes :)
The game played fairly well, if the players are to be believed, that is. The game was played at Stefan's place, and present to explore the Congo were Stefan himself, Alan, BD and Patrick. Here's how they did:
* Stefan
The winner. After a scary and uncertain passage through the Haunted Forest, where his party was beset by arrows shot from a dark and gloomy forest by a seemingly invisible enemy, he somehow got declared God by a tribe of awed natives, and went on to speed down the Congo on a boat that previously belonged to another player. He arrived safely on the West Coast and was the first to report his results to the Royal Schild en Vriend Geographical Society, and thus win the honorary title of Fritz von Trappstein-Hohenschlieffen, governor of the Royal Schild en Vriend Congo Region.
* Patrick
The runner up. Patrick was unlucky, reaching Cairo and setting off back home only days behind Stefan, after a somewhat safer passage through the Continent. His finest moment was when he entered a native village in the middle of a heated battle, arriving by boat and proclaiming his presence by shots fired from a cannon mounted on his boat. After suitably aweing the natives, he stepped down from the boat and presented himself, at no small risk to his person, in all his glory, to the chief of the village, and arranging free passage and food for himself and his party.
* Alan, aka Sir Arthur Morton, First Reverend of the mission of the Isle of Wight
The unlucky one. Alan fought his way across the continent armed with faith and the bible. This went well until he came into close contact with BD, in the midst of a another raging battle involving three explorers and a rogue party of French. Alan made a valiant effort to pursuade the native chief that was also involved, managing to gain free passage for himself (his expedition being, by now, mostly dead), only to be shot at close range by BD, who apparently had other ideas. Alan's finest moment was when he offered the bible to a bunch of pygmees, only to have it thrown back at him from the jungle some time later, slightly gnawed at the edges.
* BD
The ruthless. BD was unlucky in the beginning of his expedition, when an attempt to find extra food on the shores of Lake Victoria resulted in a prolonged fight with a bunch of natives, forcing him to retreat back to Zanzibar to lick his wounds. Undeterred, he set back out into the heart of the Dark Continent, to end up in the battle referred to above. He came out the winner in this encounter (unfortunately, he was obliged to kill another expedition leader -- such is the way of life on the Dark Continent), and remained in the Nyangwe region when other expeditions set off back home. By last accounts, he has set up a very successful ivory and African curiosa trade.
Stefan was presented a figure of Fritz von Trappstein-Hohenschlieffen as prize for winning the game. Well done, Stefan!
On a final note, I received a book, "Kleiner Deutscher Kolonialatlas", signed by the players at the end of the day as a gift from the players. This was totally unexpected but I was touched and very pleasantly surprised. Thanks, guys!
On to S&V revival game number four, which will feature a revisit of the island of Little Vettusia in a one day HoTT campaign.
Revival game number 3 was _Exploring the Congo_, a revisit of Darkest Africa. It featured a very basic campaign system, where players move around on the dark continent, with the aim of visiting a small number of key areas representing the uncharted regions of the Congo river, and getting back alive and in one piece. Each area visited resulted in either a decision to make by the player (_should I carry my boats overland to bypass the cataracts, or leave them behind_) or a tabletop encounter. These last proved to be the most challenging and dangerous for the players, even if many of them featured only a large amount of rustling in the bushes :)
The game played fairly well, if the players are to be believed, that is. The game was played at Stefan's place, and present to explore the Congo were Stefan himself, Alan, BD and Patrick. Here's how they did:
* Stefan
The winner. After a scary and uncertain passage through the Haunted Forest, where his party was beset by arrows shot from a dark and gloomy forest by a seemingly invisible enemy, he somehow got declared God by a tribe of awed natives, and went on to speed down the Congo on a boat that previously belonged to another player. He arrived safely on the West Coast and was the first to report his results to the Royal Schild en Vriend Geographical Society, and thus win the honorary title of Fritz von Trappstein-Hohenschlieffen, governor of the Royal Schild en Vriend Congo Region.
* Patrick
The runner up. Patrick was unlucky, reaching Cairo and setting off back home only days behind Stefan, after a somewhat safer passage through the Continent. His finest moment was when he entered a native village in the middle of a heated battle, arriving by boat and proclaiming his presence by shots fired from a cannon mounted on his boat. After suitably aweing the natives, he stepped down from the boat and presented himself, at no small risk to his person, in all his glory, to the chief of the village, and arranging free passage and food for himself and his party.
* Alan, aka Sir Arthur Morton, First Reverend of the mission of the Isle of Wight
The unlucky one. Alan fought his way across the continent armed with faith and the bible. This went well until he came into close contact with BD, in the midst of a another raging battle involving three explorers and a rogue party of French. Alan made a valiant effort to pursuade the native chief that was also involved, managing to gain free passage for himself (his expedition being, by now, mostly dead), only to be shot at close range by BD, who apparently had other ideas. Alan's finest moment was when he offered the bible to a bunch of pygmees, only to have it thrown back at him from the jungle some time later, slightly gnawed at the edges.
* BD
The ruthless. BD was unlucky in the beginning of his expedition, when an attempt to find extra food on the shores of Lake Victoria resulted in a prolonged fight with a bunch of natives, forcing him to retreat back to Zanzibar to lick his wounds. Undeterred, he set back out into the heart of the Dark Continent, to end up in the battle referred to above. He came out the winner in this encounter (unfortunately, he was obliged to kill another expedition leader -- such is the way of life on the Dark Continent), and remained in the Nyangwe region when other expeditions set off back home. By last accounts, he has set up a very successful ivory and African curiosa trade.
Stefan was presented a figure of Fritz von Trappstein-Hohenschlieffen as prize for winning the game. Well done, Stefan!
On a final note, I received a book, "Kleiner Deutscher Kolonialatlas", signed by the players at the end of the day as a gift from the players. This was totally unexpected but I was touched and very pleasantly surprised. Thanks, guys!
On to S&V revival game number four, which will feature a revisit of the island of Little Vettusia in a one day HoTT campaign.
Friday, 1 October 2004
Phil's History
It's always fun to think back about "the good old days" when wargamers carved their own miniatures out of ivory tusks, from a freshly slain woollen mammoth, in the snow, and had to rely on the Gods to throw the dice. Nevertheless, some personal history and anecdotes are, in my humble opinion, always fun to read. So, I'll take a shot at it, and hope that others will follow.
I first saw a proper miniature wargame in action when I was 11 or 12. This was somewhere in the late seventies, when a local club had some demonstration tables set up in the walkways of a shopping mall (Some years ago ago, I learned that this was the club run by Rudi Geudens in Sint-Niklaas, renowned veteran Belgian wargamer). When I came back home, I wanted to do the same.I do remember trying to recreate some of the look-and-feel of what I had seen by using plastic toy soldiers and plastic vehicles from the game Embuscades that I owned, and had played so many times.
Help came when one of my friends did get a board wargame for Christmas.The game was called Tank Commander. It had little plastic tanks, trucks, bridges, and a big square-gridded board. You could only move 2 tanks a turn, and a tank was destroyed when you had an enemy tank in the direct line of fire of two friendly tanks. Very simple, but fun.
This game inspired us to make our own variants (Embuscades on sea, using wooden ships we glued together), culminating in the grandiose "Who Conquers Europe?". We produced a hand-drawn map of Europe, gridded with squares, and measuring something like 120x150cm. I drew this map on blank computer print paper (when these were still chained together), conveniently borrowed from my dad's computer facilities at the university. The game used plastic soldiers, plastic tanks (from Tank Commander), plastic ships (from Sub Search, an MB game), and later we even added things such as oil pipelines, oil ships, mountain troops, etc. The first player to conquer 5 countries had won.
The game was an amalgam of all kind of different mechanics, borrowed from games we knew. Tank combat was as in Tank Commander, but infantry soldiers eliminated each other by overrunning each other's squares. Submarines would shoot using the spinner from Sub Search, and so on.
This phase of designing our own games continued for a little while, always using the same 'engine'. I remember a D-Day game (using LEGO bricks for buildings), a Battlestar Galactica game, a game that involved trading routes across the oceans, ... . Sadly, I don't have anything left from this period (Update: see this blogpost for an early variant of Embuscades). A pity, since we actually produced real rulebooks to go with our self-designed games, typed on a classic typewriter.
Now that I think of it, I always "designed" new games, ever since I was a kid. I remember making an extended version of Monopoly; we also ran games using toy cyclists for running our own Tour de France; we had car racing games using matchbox cars - simple variants of rolling the dice and moving so many squares. I also often made existing games "better". E.g. I had a map for playing RISK, much bigger than the one in the original box, with many more territories.
This whole phase sort of ended when we discovered our first Avalon Hill game, Afrika Korps when we were 14. This must have been in 1980 or 1981.
To be continued ...
I first saw a proper miniature wargame in action when I was 11 or 12. This was somewhere in the late seventies, when a local club had some demonstration tables set up in the walkways of a shopping mall (Some years ago ago, I learned that this was the club run by Rudi Geudens in Sint-Niklaas, renowned veteran Belgian wargamer). When I came back home, I wanted to do the same.I do remember trying to recreate some of the look-and-feel of what I had seen by using plastic toy soldiers and plastic vehicles from the game Embuscades that I owned, and had played so many times.
 |
| Embuscades provided me with plastic vehicles to try out my first wargaming experiments. |
 |
| The game Tank Commander. Simple, but fun. |
 |
| The plastic ships from Sub Search provided excellent ships for "Who Conquers Europe?" |
This phase of designing our own games continued for a little while, always using the same 'engine'. I remember a D-Day game (using LEGO bricks for buildings), a Battlestar Galactica game, a game that involved trading routes across the oceans, ... . Sadly, I don't have anything left from this period (Update: see this blogpost for an early variant of Embuscades). A pity, since we actually produced real rulebooks to go with our self-designed games, typed on a classic typewriter.
Now that I think of it, I always "designed" new games, ever since I was a kid. I remember making an extended version of Monopoly; we also ran games using toy cyclists for running our own Tour de France; we had car racing games using matchbox cars - simple variants of rolling the dice and moving so many squares. I also often made existing games "better". E.g. I had a map for playing RISK, much bigger than the one in the original box, with many more territories.
This whole phase sort of ended when we discovered our first Avalon Hill game, Afrika Korps when we were 14. This must have been in 1980 or 1981.
To be continued ...
Another Armati annihilation
Bart came over to my place on Tuesday for another shot at armati. This time we chose, or at least I decided on, two mounted armies - Ottomans and Serbs. This would make an interesting contrast with the previous game between Bart's barbarians and my Picts.
The main contrast in the end was that Bart won this game even more quickly than the previous one. When I deployed my crack Guard cavalry in such way that they could not move (or at least not without turning round (one move), retiring (second move), turning back round (no surprise that this is the third move) and etc etc etc ) I suspected it would be a difficult encounter.
It was. Bart charged his Knights and Heavy Cavalry in two waves - impossible to do in dbm by the way. And these rapidly rolled over my Turks.
He deployed well and played with elan, so well done, Bart. And he only drank tea, refusing my offers of 9% beer or wine. That was another sneaky manoeuvre.
A good rule set, that plays quickly, without the more idiotic quirks of dbm and one that does not depend on fiddly, cheesy moves to win and certainly does not feature tiresome millimetre perfect measuring. Well, actually, it could if it wanted too, it's just that Bart and I play in such a gentlemanly way, I suppose.
The main contrast in the end was that Bart won this game even more quickly than the previous one. When I deployed my crack Guard cavalry in such way that they could not move (or at least not without turning round (one move), retiring (second move), turning back round (no surprise that this is the third move) and etc etc etc ) I suspected it would be a difficult encounter.
It was. Bart charged his Knights and Heavy Cavalry in two waves - impossible to do in dbm by the way. And these rapidly rolled over my Turks.
He deployed well and played with elan, so well done, Bart. And he only drank tea, refusing my offers of 9% beer or wine. That was another sneaky manoeuvre.
A good rule set, that plays quickly, without the more idiotic quirks of dbm and one that does not depend on fiddly, cheesy moves to win and certainly does not feature tiresome millimetre perfect measuring. Well, actually, it could if it wanted too, it's just that Bart and I play in such a gentlemanly way, I suppose.
New authors
As of today, [Tiny Tin Men](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm) no longer is a single author blog. Welcome to Alan and Phil, two [Schild en Vriend](http://www.nirya.be/snv) stalwarts as new authors on this blog.
Expect more authors showing up soon.
Expect more authors showing up soon.
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