Sunday 20 September 2015

Review of a wargaming year


My blog has been active for one year now, and I have really enjoyed writing it. Ideally I would like more comments and discussion, but I understand why this does not happen (I rarely comment on blogs that I follow). I thought I would examine the games I have played over the 2014-15 time period and a brief summary is shown in the table below:

No Games
Period
Rules
Type
Scale
1
1
Bronze Age
Impetus
Sword & Spear
Opposed
Opposed
15mm
15mm
1
1
Classical Greek
Impetus
Sword & Spear
Opposed
Opposed
15mm
15mm
1
Gladiator
Jugula
Opposed
15mm
1
Dark Age
DBAv3
Opposed
15mm
1
Medieval
Impetus
Opposed
15mm
1
Crusades
Sword & Spear
Opposed
15mm
4
Teutonics
Lion Rampant
Opposed & Solo
28mm
5
Jacobites
Donnybrook
Opposed & Solo
28mm
2
2
Pirates
On the Seven Seas
Legends of the High Seas
Solo
Solo
28mm
5
FIW
Muskets & Tomahawks
Solo
28mm
2
2
Napoleonic
Grande Armee
Sharp Practice
Solo
Solo
6mm
28mm
3
2
ACW
Fire & Fury
Longstreet
Solo
Opposed
15mm
15mm
1
Pony Wars
Din of Battle
Solo
15mm
2
Colonial
Din of Battle
Solo
10mm & 28mm
4
RCW
Red Actions
Solo
15mm
= 41
 
 
 
 

 

This has been a strange wargaming year and this was largely due to starting this blog. As a consequence I have tried more ‘new to me’ rule sets, and therefore played more solo games than I would normally do, so that I can try out the rules. Social pressures have restricted my gaming against an opposing player; I only played 15 (!) opposed games during the year, of which I won 6 and lost 9 (win percentage 40%).

The highlight of the year must be discovering the Sword and Spear rules, which have provided many enjoyable games and introduced me to new gaming mechanisms. They have not displaced my preferred Ancient/Medieval rule set, Impetus, but I think they currently are first when using 15mm armies. Impetus will remain a favourite when using 28mm  armies, especially my Renaissance Italian Wars, but I really think it is time for a 2nd edition of Impetus to be published which would include all the modifications the writers have introduced over the years.

I have played a fair number of skirmish games, which is unusual, the best of which was Muskets and Tomahawks which always gave an enjoyable experience. I particularly like the random sub-plots and victory conditions. I thought Lion Rampant was OK and at least the rules inspired me to collect and paint some Teutonic forces. I’m still not fully convinced by Sharp Practice but I think this is my fault for not being able to get my head around the handling of larger formations (I need more games under my belt), and I would like to introduce some cavalry into the games. I remain underwhelmed by Donnybrook but can see myself using them with both my Jacobite and ECW forces. My search for a decent set of pirate rules continues; On the Seven Seas was bad, and Legends of the High Seas was mediocre and a bit dull. Adapting Donnybrook to the pirate situation also did not give what I want. Can anyone out there recommend another rule set which might meet my needs: I’m looking for a rule set that can handle 20-30 figures per side that plays fast, and that has enough chrome to give a strong piratical theme? In addition, I am also searching for a good set of Pony Wars rules (Din of Battle did not inspire me); any suggestions?

Another disappointment was Blucher because this was a rule set that I was really looking forward to (see my review article). Sam Mustafa’s rules usually hit the right buttons with me, but I am beginning to have my doubts now. I think Longstreet is OK for ACW, but only in the mini-campaign format (which I’m enjoying) and I cannot see myself using the rules for stand alone, pick-up games in preference to Fire and Fury for example. I hope to play more SYW games using Maurice, but the games I have previously played tended to focus in on a small sector of the battlefield whilst the rest of the army sits around doing nothing.

Finally, how do I foresee next year’s gaming and what are my plans and hopes?

  1. I must play more opposed games. Only 15 games in the year was just not good enough! It would also be good to improve my win percentage, but so long as the game is enjoyable, I don’t mind losing (narrowly).
  2. I must complete the Longstreet ACW mini-campaign. Only 3 more games to go. My Union army has done well so far and it should strengthen as the campaign progresses.
  3. Try and get some of my neglected armies out of their boxes. My 25mm Napoleonic armies have seen no action for over a year, so games using Lasalle and/or Le Feu Sacre would be good (Piquet Les Grognards for solo play). I would like to play a few games of Impetus, which has been slightly neglected this year. My Dark Age Saga forces need an outing, and I want to play more Lion Rampant Teutonic games. My Sharp Practice Napoleonic figures will definitely see action, and I plan to add cavalry in the near future. I am also keen to play a few games of Chain of Command. I rarely play WW2 but these rules are interesting, novel, and therefore appealing.
  4. There are no new rule sets calling out to me to try at the moment, although I have heard wargaming friends favourably comment about Daisho for Samurai fights, and Kings of War as the new go-to rules for fantasy gaming. I am primarily a historical gamer but every few years the fantasy bug strikes: I have never played Warhammer or 40K, but I have dabbled with Warmaster and Man-O-War (both of which I have enjoyed and collected sizable forces for). So, I plan to get some cheap, second-hand figures (preferably goblins/orcs and dwarves) from B&B stands at shows and have a go at Kings of War. Also, the one attraction of fantasy for me is the fact that you can give your imagination complete freedom when it comes to painting. The palette range is so wide and I will be able to use some of the more obscure paint colours (orange, purple etc.) that otherwise sit unloved in the paint box.

2 comments:

  1. I'd say that's a heck of a lot of games myself, Mark, even if the majority were solo!

    Good work on the blog; consider adding a hit counter and a followers listing, perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Gonsalvo, on everything he said.

    There are several games I would like to try out myself. Lion Rampant, Sharp Practice and Donnybrook, to name them...

    ReplyDelete