Friday, May 27, 2016

Next up: Warlord US Open Games Day


Two weekends ago I moved a pile of mulch, the equivalent of 250 bags, from our driveway to our various plant beds, one wheelbarrow-full at a time. I rewarded myself the following weekend by prepping the bases of 60 more French and British soldiers, in lieu of any more yard work, as the Great 54mm Re-Basing continues. I know; to each our own motivations.

I am re-basing another 60 soldiers in preparation for the Warlord: Open Games Day in Oklahoma City the weekend of June 17th where I'll be taking my F&IW project to play some Black Powder, Warlord's horse and musket rules. Black Powder is more of a "big battle" ruleset than skirmish-level, so I think it important to feature some straight linear firefighting between the European Regulars as well as the more expected colonial irregulars.

I found an appropriate scenario in a new Osprey book I just bought (and recommend!):


 As described within, the battle at La Belle Famille is a meeting engagement in a clearing between two predominately Regular forces and their Native allies. In the actual battle, the British arrive before the French and set an ambush from which the French can't recover. I am changing the chronology a bit so that both forces start with light troops on the table screening the near simultaneous arrival of the Regulars on opposite ends of the road. The start of the game will look something like this:



I don't have a lot of hands-on experience with Black Powder, so The Baron has agreed to be my Co-GM for the Day. Thanks, man. Road trip!

Come see us at Warlord: Open Games Day in Oklahoma City the weekend of June 17th!

 

 

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Fort William Henry Arrives!


I finally ordered the Barzso Fort William Henry playset. I've wanted it for awhile but didn't really think I "needed" it, and still don't know if I will ever play with it in it's entirety, but now have some scenarios in mind where at least pieces of the fort will play a role. Bottom line. . . it's just cool and I finally gave in. . .

It's big; about 4 foot square. It's made of foam so it's pretty light. Designed for 54mm scale plastic toy soldiers, though not quite the actual scale size of the original fort, it offers a great base for customization that should provide a reasonably authentic set-piece for gaming wilderness-style sieges and assaults. In glorious  54mm, no less! If you look closely in the photo above you can see three "hatmen" of the new John Jenkins' 60th Royal Americans defending the ramparts. Here's another shot, to provide a sense of scale.


  
Unboxing the fort was definitely a family affair. Here's Lord Percy, lazily supervising the assembly from the comfort of the fort's packing materials. . .


 while Chief Engineer Rocky inspects the finer details of the construction here. . .



Maybe we'll debut the fort at Recruits 2017. Stay tuned.



See ya!