Gaming goals - November update

After October's nadir, thing are looking better in wargaming terms.

In terms of playing, I got off the second game in our Chain of Command 29 Let's Go! campaign. The American platoon managed to take the enemy rearguard post with some difficulty as the attack was not very well planned or executed. Good thing the Germans were still hurting from their previous engagement.

Again many useful things were learned and maybe at some point in this campaign I get a feel for marshalling my resources. Until then, firepower will gave to provide the solutions.

And a game of What a Tanker, introducing three young ladies to the rules (one of whom who has helped to build some of the tanks earlier this year). By the second game they were quite good against their dads.

I played a few board games but nothing on the list.

Painting wise, this was a good month. Made a solid start on the 1672 project, with four foot units near completion, and a dragoon unit in the works. Those are planned to be finished this year. But there's still some decisions to be made about painting technique.

So far just basic colours and decided against a generic wash (ie Army Painter). Not sure I actually want to do shading/highlighting. I also experimented with painting horses in GW contrast paint, which I'm okay with. All that to save time and improve chances that I actually finish this project.

Also painted up a few Italian bunkers with French Renault turrets that a friend printed in 3D.

I finished my Yankee reinforcements for Chain of Command: extra BARs and a gun team.

In terms of projects: 1672 is on, with the painting started, but haven't done much reading or terrain building yet. The other participants are off the mark as well.

To keep you up to date on my mad scheme to cycle 4000 kms this year: I managed to get beyond 3800 kms. That means I'm in a realistic distance of making it!

Gaming goals - September update

A bit more modest month in terms of gaming goals.


Playing

Started a TooFatLardies pint sized campaign on the 29th Division pushing inland from Omaha Beach after D-Day using Chain of Command. I was able to achieve my objective, mostly by whacking every German that stuck his head up. It won't be so easy next time, I'm afraid.

My 81mm mortar barrage raining down on the Germans

And later I staged two introductory games of Muskets & Tomahawks. The first I only umpired, the other we played, mostly making up our own scenario around the canoes provided by my opponent. It looked fantastic and the liberation of captured hostages provided an interesting dynamic. But not sure the amphibious rules are the best part of M&T.

There was some fun boardgaming as well, but not the ones on my to do list. I'll have to prepare better to get them on the table.


Painting

My friend Dick had assembled a number of artillery guns for me from our SHQ order, which I immediately set out to paint. I also painted up the TooFatLardies jump off points.

And a 57mm AT gun that I ordered from Grubby Tanks, from which I ordered my WW2 Americans. I can't recommend them enough.

Decluttering

No stuff out of the door, but bringing in a new IKEA Ivar allows me at least to stack up my army bags rather than leaving them on the ground. Cleaned up my hobby table as well, so I can actually work on it again.

A fair bunch of hills from Total System Scenic came in, but I haven't gotten them on the table yet.

Projects

As you can see, a lot of Chain of Command stuff. Also guiding my reading.

But I've also been distracted by WW2 commemorations, such as the one at Arnhem. To come in October: Battle of the Scheldt and the liberation of Noord-Brabant.

Hardly any progress on the 1672 front as I try to get other stuff out of the way and think about the way I'm going to paint them. I have no set system yet, although I was reasonably happy with Army Painter.  But with the French grey uniforms, I'm wondering if that's the best solution. GWs contrast paint looks inviting too. So I've been testing different washes and varnishes on white and grey base coats. Not settled on a method yet, though.

And there is yet a new project popping up: a TooFatLardies day in Arnhem for October 2020! Might organise itself to a certain extent, but it will need a venue and some financial arrangement. Stuck my finger up.


PS I crashed through my 3,000 kilometer target for cycling this month. So 4,000 seems doable. A terrifying thought for next year...

Gaming goals - August update

A good month, gaming wise.

Playing

Month started good with a brutal game of Gaslands... (note the excellent 3D printed terrain!)

Followed the next day by Chain of Command. My 20mm GIs were attacked by a reinforced platoon of 28mm Fallschirmjaeger, who seem to have a harder time advancing than defending.

Then there was a game of Muskets & Tomahawks, bringing out my FIW French to introduce a club mate to the system. Mission accomplished there.

And a game of Dux, hotly contested and narrowly lost, but that proved a phyrric victory for the other Saxons.

There was some board gaming, with my 20th game of Blood Rage the most notable.


Painting

I was trying to get some projects to finish before I embark on the 1672 painting project. So there were the CV33 Italian tankettes and the monks to give spiritual guidance to my late Anglo-Saxons.

And the last few Prussians that belonged to the lot that I sold earlier this year.

And then I finished a bunch of 1:72 tanks and M3(A1) halftracks for the Chain of Command and What a Tanker forces.

Decluttering

Not really, eh? Although those Prussians will leave the house at some point.


Projects

Chain of Command is going to turn into a pint sized campaign (29th, Let's Go! in commemoration of D-Day). Although I have quite a few support options already, in these pint-sized campaigns the support options can be quite specific, so I have ordered some additional men and materiel.

And the 1672 miniatures have arrived (plus some books...) offering me the opportunity to join the ranks of Turenne! First goal: four units this year and another before a first demo game in February of Sharp Practice tuned to the 1672 period.

But I also need to get back to the Big Project, so that limits my hobby time for September. This may have been the high point of this year.

Gaming goals - July update

Painting

In terms of painting I got off to a good start to paint my 47mm and 88mm Italian anti tank guns for my 15mm Italian desert force.

Testing which colours best match the spray painted base coats plus highlights

I also did some good work on my allied 20mm tanks but the decals are still on their way, so not finished yet.

At the same time I started to paint some more Italians but decided that I don't like to paint charred bodies of burned tankers and to have those on the table, so I'm going to give those away to somebody who enjoys that more.

Also started on a few Dark Age monks to finish off my 1066 Anglosaxon force for Dux Brittaniarum.


Playing

A bit of a catch up month in terms of playing miniature games! There was a game of Dux Brittaniarum which went down hill very fast and is surplus to the goals set for this year.

My FOW desert Italian force also didn't fare too well despite the newly added AT capability. It might have had something to do with attacking...

Then there was a big battle of For Reign or Ruin that went quite well. My skeleton cavalry made a big initial impact, but the rats were able to claw back their way into the fight due to superior leadership. At the end I held the advantage with uncommitted reserves in hand, but those weren't shock troops.

And finally an evening of What a Tanker with Harald's new entries: Valentines and M13/40s and two JS II, which were pitted against Michiel's King Tiger. The JSII are the first tanks that could actuallz take on the Tiger II with some chance and they did well in that respect. It means I've reached my goal of WaT games for this year.

There were some board games as well, including Mr Jack and the travel version of that game that I played with Nick for the first time. Good fun. None of the stuff on the goals list though.


Decluttering

Well, rather the opposite with an order out for the new project.

And I received some late but excellent birthday toys: Renault R35 tanks by my self printing friends. There's enough to build an Italian 1941 and a French 1940 platoon!

Also some additions came in for my Chain of Command yankees. Especially some support options. I hope to paint a few of those before I embark on a pint sized campaign this autumn.


Projects

So, the die has been cast on the new project so I can reveal what it actually is. We're going for a 1672 version of Sharpe Practice by TooFatLardies. It focusses on the petit guerre of Louis XIV's Dutch War from 1672 to 1678. I've gone for the French side, inspired by John Lynn's Giant of the Grand Siecle and their surplus of dragoons. That will be a major addition to my lead mountain.

My aim is to finish (mostly) some of the other projects before that time, such as my 20mm tanks for What a Tanker and Chain of Command, and Italians for Flames of War. It also means the Skavendome and Space Hulk plans are on the backburner.

Gaming goals - May update

Another busy month working. My 8 months at the institute of military history is now finished. Not sure that means back to normal service but it will mean some more gaming time. But in May, it was still very little.


Painting

Again nothing. At all.


Playing

There was one game of  CIA vs KGB, so that's hopeful. Fun game that probably will see a revisit.

And an evening of What a Tanker with the guys. Mich brought the King Tiger I made for his birthday. We had two T34s taking him on but it was no contest really. Heavier stuff will be needed to take that one out.

There was also a game of Machi Koro with a birthday boy, so that was cool.


Decluttering

Nope.


Projects

Nothing done, but I'm being drawn into a new one. Oh dear.


But it's not all gloom: on another goal I've reached the half way mark in my attempt to cycle over 3,000 kms, so that's ahead of schedule.

Summer painting seamlesly devolving into beer and games

This is what I did for our club's Summer Painting Challenge (inspired by Curt's). Ran from late June till halfway September. I set myself 400 points to paint, although I felt 200 would have been more  realistic. In the end I ended up somewhere above 300 points, so setting the goal probably made me more productive than I'd otherwise been. That's a good thing I guess.

This was the main bit: a bunch of 18th century civilians, some scenery and goodies for scenarios and Frostgrave. And a bunch of farm and pack animals for the same purpose.

But I also finished a unit of British light infantry for AWI. This is them still glossy because I didn't get them sprayed with matt varnish before the received their baptism of fire.

Ten wargamers got together in September for a Wargame Beer and Game session, with me hosting Rens and Henny for a practice game of Sharp Practice 2, and seven other guys doing a Big Chain of Command game. Beautiful table!

And a very good dinner was had afterwards.

Blog recommendation: How to kill a rational peasant

Just a notice that Brian Train put a very interesting post on his blog. It brings together three strands of interest for me: theories about rational peasants that I encountered during my PhD research, Adam Curtis BBC blog, one of the most fascinating documentary makers I've come across and Brian Train himself, a game designer whose approach and integrity I admire. If you are interested in counterinsurgency, the war in Vietnam, or even just the small part that gaming played in it, then this is a must-read/view

Another bunch of books

Having been gifted a few book coupons, I ordered a few books off my wishlist. The book on the Grande Armée in Germany has been on the list for over a year. Based on numerous first hand accounts and archives I'm interested in the way the French behaved as an occupation force, but also on it's relations with the population.

And with the coming of Project 217 (the as yet still mysterious project about ancient warfare around 217 BC), I decided to finally order the 3rd edition of the De Bellis Antiquitatis rules for ancient warfare. I still think that it is a very innovative rule set that regretfully developed in the wrong direction.

If I return to ancients wargaming, it will be in 6mm using DBA. I just don't have the time for painting another large army and learning a complicated tactical rule set that feels more like recreating Napoleonic warfare than ancient.

And it was just a bit to easy to just add the newest edition of Hordes of the Things, the fantasy version of DBA. By the way check out this fantastic blog that shows how incredibly creative people can be in designing their HotT armies. Or have a look at the HotT facebook group. Pure joy.

I had also ordered a book on maroons in North America, after reading a very interesting article on the maroons in the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia.

And as I went to pick that up, I just happened to look at the new Ospreys just in and I was kind of spineless.The campaign book on the Battle of the Thames is a kind of a no-brainer since it covers the Indian part of the War of 1812.

I am also quite fond of the work of Sean McLachlan, who does thorough historical research and occasionally combines it with interesting fiction. I was happy to pick up his combat series instalment on the Apache warrior vs US cavalryman. An interesting contest and it seems McLachlan has done a good job on both sides.

That said, the third booklet will be the proof on how the combat series is doing because King's African Rifles vs Schutztruppe Soldier might expose the weaknesses of the series by pitting two similar troop types against each other, but might also show interesting differences in their deployment by their colonial masters. Anyway, a much understudied topic in itself.

Return to Dux

It had been a long time since my first game of Dux Brittaniarum, and I was glad to get another go last Saturday. My knowledge of the rules was rusty and although I picked up the basics soon enough, I didn't get the finesse of card hand management.

Dick and I set up a campaign in the kingdom of Caerwent, where former Saxon auxiliaries had turned on their former Roman employers around 550 AD. In spring my Saxons under lord Artelric ambushed a Romano-British waggon train. And although I successfully distracted some good enemy units with some warriors, I always found myself one step behind in a tit for tat with the rest of the enemy. It had been a pretty chaotic raid, and by the end Artelric's men were slowly rounded up in a small area. A last ditch attempt to capture the wagons failed and the remnants of his force fled.

Later that summer the rejuvenated warband returned to raid a village but just as his men started to search the houses for loot, the Romano-British appeared out of nowhere. Again, I was on the receiving end and despite some serious retribution again Artelric's men left the field empty handed.

By now Artelric's nickname The Martyr has raised some suspicion among his following about his chances of success in the future. Getting wounded every time surely doesn't help although his willingness to get into the thick of the fighting stands him in good stead. It is to be hoped that he and his devout henchmen One-Eyed Aelfwyn and Ine the Pious will be able to turn around the series of bad luck, because there is little time until winter and payment to king Cwichelm is due...

Won by the Sword and more

So after my last lament at getting so little gaming in, this has been a good catch up. Managed to play Won By The Sword. As a recent arrival with limited length of rules I decided it was best to get it to the table instead of something else.

It took us an evening to get through the first month (ie 5 activations of 5 armies each) of the 1632 scenario including a major battle and a small siege. The manoeuvring was a lot more hectic than I'd thought it would be. By the end we felt reasonably comfortable with the rules (there's not a lot of them but some of it is complex).

What I liked about Won by the Sword was that it promoted historical strategies, like laying waste an area so you make it more difficult for your opponent to attack you; and splitting off a separate cavalry column to forage.

Although it is a main part of the game, the foraging feels clunky, mostly because you make about 30 dice rolls in a turn just for that (no kidding). Too much looking up. I understand the wish to randomise but with this many rolls, the results tend to the average. 

Oh well, no judgement till I've played a bit more

Yesterday we were supposed to play a game of Civilization but changed our minds. We had a very tight game of In The Name Of The Rose, where Diederick scraped a just few points less than Michiel and me, even though I saw through his little trick!

Then continued with Love Letters. Michiel finally got most letters through. Love Letters was perceived as okay but not as cool as King of Tokyo which we played next. And again. And again. Absolute hit I guess!

Brutal as always I think we all won one of the games, and I won the last, very unlikely, with one health left. Epic, n'est-ce pas?

And in terms of New Years Resolutions this means one more unplayed game scratched off!

Boardgame Invasion

Well I was supposed to get rid of games rather than acquire new ones, but I had time stacked against me. Yesterday I received Won By The Sword, a GMT game on the southern German campaigns of the 30 Years War. 

I had pre-ordered it so long ago I had actually forgotten about it until I got a note saying my credit card had been charged. No disappointment really, because what I've seen of it so far bodes well. The game is of medium difficulty so I could get it played reasonably easily. And I'm looking at it from the point of playing double blind. Perhaps...

Also, earlier this month I got my share of the inheritance of Frank van den Bergh, who died almost two years ago. His books and games were auctioned to raise money for a charity of his choice. So last year I bid with a good conscience and I don't count them towards my non new games limit.

S&T Austro-Prussian War (1994)
S&T Byzantium (1996)
S&T Khan: The Rise of the Mongols
Air Assault On Crete/Invasion of Malta: 1942 (1977)
1809: Napoleon's Danube Campaign (1984)
Risorgimento (1997)
Risorgimento 1859 (2000)
Cactus Throne: The Mexican War of 1862-1867 (2005)
Guerra a Muerte (2008)
Chinese Civil War (1979)
Barons' War (2004)
Napoleon at Bay: The Campaign in France (1978)
Napoleon at the Crossroads (2006)
The Struggle of Nations (1982)
Balkan Wars (1993)
The Egyptian Campaign (2008)
Ataturk! (2003)
Montebello: First Step to Freedom (2003)
Solferino 1859 (2004)
Pour Dieu et Pour le Roy (2005)
Les deux Bretagne (2007)
Libertadores 1810-1824 (2003)
Car Wars Expansion Set #4, Armadillo Autoduel Arena (1983)
Car Wars (1981)

A good moment to remind you all that if you have a large collection of miniatures, books and games, it might be helpful to have it sorted out and catalogued before you die. I've seen several cases over the last few years where the execution of wargamers' inheritance became a task involving months of work for remaining friends (also see Chris Stoesen's and Bob Cordery's experience ). On the other hand, it will make sure you'll be remembered, if not always positively.

Of course, knowing that this was coming up made it easier for me to be strict on the No-New-Games-This-Year (except Essen) resolution.

The Mechanics of Violence

Interesting outcome. New research links aggression after video games to the mechanisms rather than violent content. So it´s the designers fault?

Could this also be true for analogue games? Are wargamers happier after a bout of crisp Black Powder and aggravated after a spell of Barkerese?

Do people feel less aggressive after playing an 'elegant' Knizia design and driven to rage by the disorganised, misspelled and obtuse collection of half sentences that the publisher of Luna Llena calls the rulebook?

I wouldn't be surprised.

New Year’s Resolutions

So much to do, so little time. Which means making choices and focus! Which results in the following resolutions:

1. I’m going to write the book. Everything else is secondary/tertiary etc to that

2. I won’t buy any new games, but play what I’ve got. I’ve registered all my games on boardgamegeek today and found that I have about 240, of which I have played only 120 at least once. I will raise that percentage by playing at least 12 of those this year (one each month seems doable) and shedding 24. Not buying new games will be tough, though.

3. I won’t buy new figures. I might buy some more vehicles for Chain of Command. And maybe some buildings. I will shed some 5% of my lead pile.

4. I won’t buy new books except about Napoleonic warfare. Second hand books under 10 euro/pound on other topics, maybe. I will shed some 5% of my books. Although I have no idea yet of how many I actually have.

5. I will blog once a week. But it's not going to be big thoughts, and not written well.

6. Just to remind myself: I won’t start any new projects. All non-book projects are on hold.