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 2^nd 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.