Off the Painting Table (Sept 2018)

I have long enjoyed playing Napoleonic skirmish games using the excellent Sharpe Practice rules by TFL. I have reasonable forces for the Peninsular campaign but lack any Spanish Guerrilla figures. I finally obtained a bag of 12 from Eagle Figures whilst at the Attack show in July.

The sculpts are slim and simple. There are 3 unique characters (a priest, a woman and a gent) plus 3 figures each of 3 other generic poses (kneeling and standing firing, and advancing). I must admit that I would have liked more variation in both pose and dress, but I have found a surprising lack of suitable figures from any other manufacturers. Maybe I just have not looked hard enough! Could any reader of this blog suggest a source I may have overlooked?

Anyway, despite my reservations, these figures will hopefully plug the gap in my collection and provide an interesting addition to work with my British regulars and rifles.

Review of the wargaming year 2017-18

The fourth year of my blog has now been completed and the number of hits seems to have reached a plateau, only 90% compared to the previous 12 month period. The USA remains the leading source of hits, followed by Russia (but a lower amount than last year), then the UK, France, Ireland, and Australia. There is a good worldwide distribution from many far flung places, but I’m still seeing bursts from Russia (which I assume are spurious ‘fishing’ hits) and this confuses analysis of the blog. The most popular post was my review of the rule set ‘For King & Parliament’, with that for ’10 Essential Boardgames’ in second place. I still would like to see more comments but overall I’m happy with how the blog has gone. My main purpose is to keep a diary of my activities for my own record, and I’m happy that others may find this interesting.

The games I have played this year are listed below:

	Period	Rules	Type	Scale
2	Gladiator	Jugula	Opposed	28mm
1	Old West	Dead Man’s Hand	Opposed	28mm
1	WW1	Square Bashing; French v German	Opposed L	15mm
1   2	Ancients NKvHittite Ancients TurkvHung	Sword & Spear	OpposedL   Solo	15mm
1 1	ACW Riverine	Hammerin’ Iron	Solo OpposedL	3mm
1	Medieval	Lion Rampant Teutonic v Pagan	Solo	28mm
1	Samurai	Impetus	Solo	28mm
2	Napoleonic	LaSalle	Solo	28mm
2 1	ECW	For King & Parliament	Solo OpposedL	15mm
1	ACW	Fire & Fury	Solo	15mm
17

 

I have played many fewer games compared to last year (only 17 compared to 47) and have only played 7 opposed games, most of which I have lost. Most of my gaming continues to be solo which is disappointing and is due to an overly packed social diary preventing me from attending club meetings.

It is difficult to pick out wargame highlights for the year, but I think the release of ‘For King & Parliament’ is clearly one. I missed out on the ancient version (To The Strongest) but had heard good things about the game, so FK&P gave me the opportunity to try the system, and it did prove worth the time and effort. I’m not sure it will become my favourite ECW rule set but it will make it to the table in future. I also liked the release of Saga v2 but have yet to play any games. I plan to get the Crusader listings to use with my Teutonic armies. In relation to actual tabletop games I think the most enjoyable experience was Hammerin’ Iron; I really want to play more games using the system.

In summary 2017-18 has been a very quiet and disappointing year. I must play more regularly next year. I don’t have any specific plans in mind, which is unusual for me, but maybe I will get some inspiration following the upcoming Colours show in Newbury.

Boardgame session; 19Aug18

In the latest session we started by playing ‘Parfum’, the game Elaine particularly liked and bought at Games Expo this year.

As previously discussed this seems to be a simpler version of another game, ‘Fresco’, using similar mechanisms with a different theme. There is no limit on resources so the decisions revolve around choosing turn order and judging the potential availability of both fragrances and customers. The rules are quick and simple, so game play is fast and enjoyable. Chris won the game and the scores were evenly spread out; I trailed in last place (the Dice Gods have yet to forgive me!).

Next we played a couple of games of ‘Roll for the Galaxy’. This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision for me which meant that I had to explain the rules in an ‘off the cuff’ manner, and on reflection I could have done it better. As a result I think both Elaine and Val were a bit unclear about the game and its objectives to start with. This is a game I really like, whereas Elaine is a bit put off by the SciFi theme, and I was pleased when all players wanted to immediately play a second game after they began to understand the game flow. Chris immediately picked up the game mechanics and won both outings! I think the trick is to ignore the theme (it is not that strong) and appreciate the simple mechanics and the combo’s available as your empire builds. Once you get going the game plays fast, almost to the point that it could (almost) be considered a ‘filler’ game. I would like this game get to the table more often.

Off the Painting Table (Aug 2018)

I have completed painting another batch of 28mm Gladiators from Black Tree Design which I picked up at the Attack show. I did not really need these figures but getting 12 for only £8, it is hard to resist. Unlike the larger 24 figure pack, these are slotta-based which do not fit well on the MDF hex bases I use. Therefore I abandoned the plastic bases and improvised a slotta system using glued matchsticks and Tetrion filler. It worked well and the models were firmly held.

The sculpts are clean and detailed which makes painting easy. The only challenge is the metal work and trying to introduce a range of shades to prevent a too homogenous look. I must resist buying more Gladiators but there are still a few types I’m short of, so may be......?

Off the Painting Table (July 2018)

The on-going heat wave has put a dampener on both my gaming and painting efforts, but the visit to Attack last weekend has encouraged me to start again.

I want to further jazz-up my Samurai table top. So, I bought a mdf Torii gate and lanterns made by Blotz, and a Buddha statue produced by Ainsty. Construction was very easy and they painted up OK, maybe the red is duller than I intended.

I also purchased an Arab dwelling from 4Ground. I really enjoy putting these kits together, and this building was no exception. The double thick mdf of the main walls means they are sturdy, and applying the thin third layer on the outside gives a nice contrast between the brick and plaster work. There were no fiddly bits, and the door and hatch open/close well. I thought the stairs may prove difficult but they went together surprisingly easily. When I finish a 4Ground model I just immediately want to do more, so an order may be placed at the weekend if I get lucky on the horses (I’m off to Newbury races on Sunday).

Show report: Attack 2018

My ‘local’ club in Devizes held its annual show, ‘Attack’ this weekend. I might be biased but I really enjoy this type of show; there is an OK range of traders but it does not feel like a manic shopping experience. The number and range of demo/participation games was slightly disappointing this year but none were too flashy and most were within the ability of many gamers to replicate. The best presented was ‘Gettysburg, the first day’ by The Ex-Herford Wargammers, using the ‘new’ brigade level Fire & Fury rules in 15mm. I enjoyed seeing how the action developed over the show. As usual there was a nice Wings of War game (Chris Haigh) running. The most popular participation game seemed to be ‘What a Tanker’ (Boscombe Down and Amesbury club) with many players, young and old, taking part. In addition there were a range of friendly, well attended competition games and the overall attendance was not too crowded, so getting to see and speak to traders was not a chore. I’m always surprised about how little thought some traders put into marketing their wares: simply relying on racks of poorly labelled blister packs with no ‘hook’ to pull punters in! In my experience wargamers are ‘magpies’, so investing in a few displays of well painted miniatures would work wonders, and linking the ranges to popular, established rule sets would also encourage interest. A demo-game utilising your figures would help if it can arranged. It strikes me as bizarre that a trader can put obvious energy and passion into producing figures etc. but pay no attention into selling them and then whine about poor foot-fall and sales! With a little more customer-focus I’m sure returns could be drastically improved. I was shocked that a seller of boardgames had no knowledge of some of the games nominated for awards at the up-coming Essen show, even though these games have been ‘hot’ on Boardgame Geek for months! It behoves traders to keep up to date with what is happening in the hobby, to think about what the customer wants, to display their wares in an attractive manner, and work in a more ‘professional’ manner. Rant over!

On the purchasing front I managed to buy most of what I planned, plus a few impulse buys. The only omission was I could not find a copy of the new Saga Crusader book and battleboards (these will have to wait until Colours in September). I mainly bought odds and ends to add flavour to my games; a few Japanese terrain items, including a Torii Gate, a few civilian figures etc. I could not resist buying a few more Gladiator figures from Black Tree Design. Rather than take a photo of my loot, they will appear on future posts as they get painted.

The B&B at Attack is always excellent, not too crowded with a good range of objects for sale. The only downside is the first floor location gets very hot and sticky when the weather this is sunny. This year I managed to sell a few odds and ends, and the money raised covered all my purchases and left me with a small profit, again! I managed to chat and catch up with many friends, including Graham, who was over from Belgium and playing in the FoW competition (he came 1^st, again!).

At the beginning and end of the show I spent a few hours helping to set up and take down the tables etc. I think gamers and traders should more appreciate the amount of effort the organising clubs put into holding such a show; it is not simply a money raising endeavour. I feel more recognition should be given to the organisers and club volunteers who put in so much effort. So, my thanks go to all fellow DDWG members and I look forward to next years show!

Boardgame session: 15July2018

World Cup final day and France are playing, so we visited Val (French) and Chris for lunch. Val had received a few new games for her birthday, so we started by playing ‘Ra’.

  

This is an auction game with the objective of collecting various sets of tiles. It is played over 3 ‘epochs’, scoring at the conclusion of each epoch, plus some end-game scores. The theme of ancient Egypt is irrelevant, anything would do as well, but it does provide for some nice artwork and is OK. Normally I’m not a fan of auction games but this one works quite well; each player only has a limited range of bids and can only make 3 successful bids in an epoch. There are some negative tiles which you want to avoid, but players bid on the whole batch of tiles available so choosing when and whether to bid is key. I tended to bid aggressively early in an epoch, getting tiles I wanted but missing out on potential opportunities later on. This tactic seemed to work because I won the game.

We planned to leave before the football kick-off, in time to collect Snowy from doggy daycare and get back for the match. So rather than play a new game, we decided to give Century Spice Road an outing. This is a superb game; fast and simple, with just the right amount of thought required. I’m sure this will become a classic go-to game for many years to come. I cannot think of any faults or additions that could improve this game, but we’ve not yet played the second game of the series, Eastern Wonders, so my views may change. Anyway, Chris won by a good margin but time over-ran so I missed the first 30 minutes of the cup final. Congrats to France and I’m sure Val will be happy for a long time to come!