Review of a wargaming year (2015-16)

The second year of my blog has now been completed. I am glad to say the number of hits continues to increase, up x2.5 fold compared to last year. The majority of readers are from the USA (38%) and UK (28%), but I am pleased that significant numbers come from mainland Europe, Australia and the Far East. I do occasionally see large bursts of activity from Russia (accounting for approximately 10% total activity over the year), but I suspect these are spurious hits, so I have discounted them from my analysis (if you are a Russian reader, then I apologise for discounting you). Interestingly the most ‘popular’ posts are those reviewing various rule sets (Blucher and Donnybrook are the highest scoring), so I will endeavour to continue giving my views on rules, both new and old. I really appreciate any comments made in response, and I particularly enjoyed the comments from the author of Bloody Big Battles after my post on these excellent rules.

The games I have played this year are listed below:

	Period	Rules	Type	Scale
1 1	ACW	Longstreet Fire & Fury	Opposed (Win) Solo	15mm
1 1 1	SYW	Black Powder Maurice Honours of War	Opposed (Draw) Refereed Solo	15mm 15mm 15mm
2	Fantasy	Kings of War	Solo	28mm
1	AWI	John Bull/Patriots	Opposed (Win)	15mm
3	Ancient	Sword & Spear (Rome v German)  (Macedon v Greek hoplite)	Solo, Opposed (Win) Opposed (Lose)	28mm   15mm
1	Pony Wars	Din of Battle	Solo	15mm
1	RCW	Red Actions	Solo	15mm
2	FIW	Muskets & Tomahawks	Solo	28mm
1	Dark Ages	Saga	Solo	28mm
2	Napoleonic	Sharp Practice v2	Solo	28mm
2	WoR	Bloody Barons	Solo	15mm
1	ECW	Regt of Foote v1	Solo	15mm
2	FPW	Bloody Big Battles	Solo	10mm
~6-8	Wild West	Dead Man’s Hand	Opposed	28mm
=30+

 

I have played fewer games this year compared to last year (30 compared to 41) and, not counting my trial games of Dead Man’s Hand, I have only played 5 opposed games. My win ratio is good (3/5) and I only lost 1 opposed game! Most of my gaming has been solo which is disappointing and is due to an overly packed social diary preventing me from attending club meetings. I think this is compounded by a degree of laziness on my part, and I must do better next year! So, my main objective for the year (i.e. playing more opposed games) was not met.

The game rules that stand out for me are Sword & Spear and these seem to have replaced Impetus as my go-to Ancient rules. These rules have encouraged me to get my 15mm Ancient armies out of their boxes again. In addition, I really enjoyed playing Dead Man’s Hand as a fast, light system that can easily appeal to even non-miniature gamers. The rules highlight of the year must be the release of Sharp Practice version 2, which are a significant improvement on version 1. I want to play more using these rules. Another set of rules I enjoyed (and must play more of) are Bloody Big Battles. I now possess reasonably sized 10mm armies for the period and must get them on the table soon. My flirtation with fantasy (Kings of War) was brief (and enjoyable) but I think is over and done with for now. The fantasy scene just cannot hold my attention for some reason.

The disappointment of the year has been the fact that my Longstreet campaign against Ian has not progressed as fast as either of us would want (only 1 game played). This is simply down to incompatible diaries and I hope we can complete the final two battles sometime this Autumn, especially because Ian is out of the country next year on sabbatical. Therefore my second objective for the year (i.e. completion of the Longstreet campaign) was again not met.

Overall, 2015-16 has been a quiet wargame year for me. I really must do better. In the next year I can foresee more games of Sword & Spear and Sharp Practice. I intend to complete the Longstreet campaign. Plus I have an urge to get some of my colonial figures out and try the new Osprey rules (The Men Who Would Be Kings), plus Black Powder variant (Blood on the Nile).