Dispatches from the front XVI

A bit of a mixed bag this week as we enter into the third week of Lockdown 3.0 in the UK.

First up a post I should put up a few weeks ago around ammo markers and 3rd prints, Paul over 'at move along nothing to see here'  very kindly shared some 3D printed arrows after a conversation around markers for Infamy Infamy. I had some spare sabots and circular bases, so thought I would use  them up to create some nice counters for the Ancient games.

Despite first appearances they are quite resilient and once based should look quite the part.

Missing that face to face gaming and off game banter that club nights bring, I thought I would dabble with a couple of virtual games whilst not physical gaming it gives me an excuse to set up weekly gaming calls and sneak in some solo gaming with field commanders pulling the strings as it were.

The first one is a short RPG type affair based around the Water Margin and Ancient China, as it was pure fantasy, I "borrowed" the Warhammer map for Cathay which has just about the right level of detail. At the moment players take command of regions garrisons or unknown rebels looking to over throw the corrupt government. I imagine if you will TV shows of the 70's and 80's Water Margin/Robin Hood with players taking hostages, stealing jewels or blocking roads to ambush convoys.

I will be briefing players on Zoom each week, which is an excuse for a beer and a chat about all things gaming, successful missions will see the ranks of the rebels swell, failures and rebels flee the cause..

So far the rebels have picked their camps and hide outs to base their operations and the government forces increased security... more to follow.

If anyone want's to join in plenty of room for extra's and sub-plots....

Meanwhile an excuse to dig out a classic Tactics II perhaps the perfect game for Lockdown Britain the grand father of  tactical board games and with a handy grid mechanism perfect to for a daily exchange of orders, you never know I might be able to covert to table top games for the Red Phoenix Project in the weeks ahead.

Red vs Blue with the objective of securing the opponents cities. Fortunately I have two copies of the map so my virtual opponent can spend his winter evenings pouring over the map planning each month of movement. Before a call to move the regiments and corps.

The initial deployments.... equal forces on both sides... Stay tuned for the first moves.

Meanwhile another year older, without meals out or trips to the pub, I was gifted a number that I actually wanted.... blimey that was a win. OK so I did not push it asking for 'swarf' as my father used to refer to my early miniatures but lots of reading material, some fillers for Bolt Action Far East, The British in Haiti and a great read for the forthcoming Pony Wars Project.

This was an interesting surprise.... Aliens - Another Glorious Day in the Corp, A Solo or Co-Op adventure based on the movie... On face value slightly more complicated that Zombicide but minis are lovely.... more on this in the weeks ahead.

An finally a note to self don't tell a fellow gamer that my mission is to paint everything I own.... On this occasion I might just have settled on socks or beer. What on earth am I going to do with these.... 7 mini's in plastic made up of what looks like 10 parts each..... why???? - Give me Perry Plastics any day.

Despite over 35 years of gaming I have never played 40K, I suspect this is a devious trick to get me to make and paint his stuff, but will give them a go, maybe in the autumn looking at the pile of lead still on the to do pile.

Until next time....

Dispatches from the front V

It's been a busy couple of weeks since the last dispatch from the front, unfortunately painting to a ground to a halt due to real life distractions and a lack of pikes, but more on that later. 

Over at the wyverns we have been bolstered by a couple of new club members, the club always struggles in the winter months with membership dropping to around break even point and just as you begin to question the commercial sense in running in it's present form we seem to get extra's to bolster our number.

Step up not one but two new members both with an interest in Napoleonic's amongst other things. So we thought we would ease them in with a run through of Sharp Practice and very close it was to, a classic game where the turn of a card or pull of chit made all the difference, the French had been on a foraging mission, the British were slow to react and watched as the French grabbed their loot and ran before they could get their charge in.

A close run thing and everyone had a great time.

Elsewhere Battlestar Galactica was given a run out - very nice.

If anyone fancies coming along on a club night we are based just outside Worcester and meet on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month you can find the club site here.

As a Christmas present I was signed up for the Worcester ghost walk, It amazed what you can learn about your own city, from the tunnels that shipped the defeated army of Charles II to the river after the battle of Worcester, to the Ghost of King John's dancing bears.

One of the most interesting stories was the head of Oliver Cromwell on the Guildhall complete with devil horns. The suggestion was that he sold his soul to the devil for victory at the Battle of Worcester and 7 years good fortune.

He died on the 3rd Sept 1658 - 7 years to the day of the Battle of Worcester.
I had heard the story before but did not know we went as far as adding him to a civic building,  I am definitely pinching that story for the Elizabethan Zombie Campaigns.

V is back...

Ok it's a re-run of the follow up TV series which was seriously short of budget and used much of the stock footage of the original mini-series but hey it's a good watch although it does tend to drive everyone else out of the room when it's on.

You can catch it on Forces TV if you have satellite or free view.

We also gave Zombicide Invaders a run out, some interesting mechanics beyond Black Plague. Iam not sure it moves the gaming experience on much. In it's desire to shorten the game play it seems to have lost something along the way, you are straight into super weapons and a serious number of infected... the beauty of the earlier editions was the build up of tension as you went and the need to build up your armoury... still it was good to give it a try...

The pikes from Foundry finally turned up yesterday I ordered them in their New Year sale but there was a stock issue. I can now crack on with the pike units for February's painting challenge, but what's with the packaging?

Surely an envelope would have been enough?

Right back to the brushes....

The last post of the year.

Welcome to the last post of 2018.

It's now traditional in the blogosphere to throw up a review of the past 12 months efforts but more of that in a later post, the last 3 months seemed to have slowed to snails pace on the gaming and painting front, a new job closer to home which actually turned into less free time rather than more, coupled with a few DIY projects which curtailed much of that painting and gaming time, so hopefully 2019 brings a bit more free time to get some hobby time in.

I did manage to sneak in a couple of games over the Christmas break which all seemed to have an undead feel to them.

First up a zombie horde chased off a band of Elizabethan Spanish looking to fill carry out a short run to fill a bucket of water.

 

It all started so well bring the oxen out and keep quiet, the last thing you want to do was awaken the dead from their plague pits.

You definately don't want to fire a musket in the middle of the table and awaken everyone within 100 yards of you and your water party. Looks like the trip to the river bank will have to wait.

Meanwhile on Boxing day whilst most people were sleeping off yet another large lunch and far too many chocolates. a few valiant souls were intoduced to Zombicide.
 

This should have been an easy scenario but the turn of the cards and some bad decision making turned into a nightmare. Running down a blind alley and finding their way blocked by a nasty wolf thing... they watched as the undead kept on building into a swarm.

Our heroes were taken down by sheers numbers, not sure how many Zombicide virgins will be back for more, but my new doors looked nice :-)

The wife and kids did me proud on the present front amongst the usual offering of socks and ale. (what do people think I do at weekends?) was a copy of Warlords latest offering Cruel Seas, it looks like a fun system and perfect for a quick evenings gaming without the need for masses of terrain which will need packing away. The boats look great, I am seriously tempted by an armed trawler...

It takes me back to my childhood of reading commando comics at the local newsagent but when did they become £2.00!!! They were 10p in my day.

So what for 2019?

I would like to think I can get a little more game time in, I have plans for a Haitian campaign at the club which should spur on the painting activity, I stll have several gaps to fill and have committed to putting on a game at Hammerhead so no time to waste.

The Pirate adventuring has been fun and with Northstar releasing tribal warriors that could make for a few evenings entertainment, the Irish need a few more extra's for Dux and then their are a couple of projects which I am being tempted by once I have cleared some of the back log.

Have a great new year all....

Fantasy Old and New.

It's been a strange couple of weeks, I had great plans to crack on with some extra's for the Haiti project but the hot weather has made that rather difficult, with the paint drying before it had barely touched the figures.. so a chance to go adventuring instead.

First up something new - The first outing of Zombicide Green Horde.

I am a fan of Black Plague but have to say for me Green Horde is a step to far, I can see why it will appeal to the diehard fan, but it is to gimicky for me, Bowie, Freddie and Jimmy as adventurers right through to the super Zombie Dragons who look great as models but fill the table and unbalance the game play.

I am sure many will be happy with this latest release after all who does not want to fire a trebuchet at Zombies but in it's attempt to add in a raft of extra zombies its lost some of it's initial fear factor and sense of pending doom as the zombies at the door build up and you creep about in doors looking for an alternative exit.

The quality of workmanship is fantastic and with more spare time would love to paint up the mini's but in the attempt to supercharge Zombicide Black Plague something has been lost along the way.

Let's see what Zombicide in space brings.....

Then back after a gap of only 30 years.

D&D Basic - The famous Red Box is back.

I have not played D&D since school and was persuaded to take part in adventure last Sunday, flicking back through the rule book, OK PDF brought back some great memories.... I opted for a Level 1 Cleric and joined Dwarf and Human fighters to clear the guard house which had been taken over by Skaven.

Paul had done a great job of turning the rooms into physical terrain, which added to the adventure as we cleared the barracks and tunnels looking for the Were Rat leader...

A very different experience to slash and cut of Zombicide and a far more relaxed afternoon where you had to really use your grey matter to avoid the cunning traps of the dungeon master.... Great fun.