"2018 is behind us, men, but keep yer eyes peeled lest it sneak up on us again!"
Pretty much sums up how I feel about 2018. So far, the first week of 2019 is off to a much better start than 2018, seeing as how I'm not planning my mother's funeral or helping my wife recuperate from an emergency appendectomy! Still can't help looking over my shoulder, though, just a little . . .
Didn't get any gaming in over the holidays, though I did have good intentions. I did, instead, with just a little time off from work, give free reign to the Butterfly Brain. I repainted the John Jenkins guys in the photo above as officers of the Pennsylvania Provincials. The sergeants' green coats with red facings and gray gaiters were once red coats with blue facings and tan gaiters.
Still enjoying the NFL playoffs, especially since the Chiefs are still in! Games give me a chance to do some "mindless projecting" while I watch - for example I varnished the entire regiment of Pennsylvania Provincials last weekend:
Now I just need a warm day to spray with matte finish before basing. . . which might be awhile here in Minnesota!
Still reviewing F&IW rules with campaigning with Bayonets & Tomahawks in mind (play-testing was put on hold), and Sharp Practice 2 is still holding my attention. Will give Rebels and Patriots a look, too, when it releases later this month.
"Flitting" ahead about 700 years to Star Trek, I built parts of a 1/1000-scale Enterprise, before deciding the models at this scale were just too much work for the pay-off. I know, based on my earlier rant about scale in space, I went in the wrong direction, but I had to get it out of my system. Firmly decided to stay at 1/2500-scale now. Firmly. Yup, decidedly.
On the subject of scale, we flit back nearly three thousand years to the Punic Wars. Still my favorite historical period. . . so much so I've never been able to commit to a scale! I have unpainted armies in both 15mm (Xyston) and 28mm (various makers). Though 15mm makes more sense for massed battles, I just "like" 28mm models. The new Victrix plastic Romans and Gauls are really nice:
Then, to make this scale thing even harder for me, John Jenkins releases a new Punic Wars range! DBA would be glorious in 54mm and the only way - for me - to play a massed battle at this scale!
I
will note that Mr. Jenkins is bringing the same eye for drama and
authenticity to this range that makes his F&IW figures so
compelling. Maybe it makes more sense to play something like Lion Rampant or Saga. . . but I don't necessarily always make sense. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he!
And finally, speaking of Saga, I picked up the new Book of Battles supplement, which has rules for new scenarios, massed battles - including a multi-player format - and a campaign. I am not currently playing Saga, but I follow it.
That's enough flitting around for now - it's almost game time. GO CHIEFS!
Since I haven't been gaming lately I thought I would share a few images of a new boardgame I supported on Kickstarter. Hannibal & Hamilcar is the 20th Anniversary edition of Mark Simonitch's award-winning card-driven war game of the Second Punic War. A labor of love, the game features new artwork and updated, streamlined rules that include a complete new game of the First Punic War, Hamilcar, complete with new naval rules.
I took some photos of the game "unboxed;" then I went to the Kickstarter campaign page and saw all the great photos of the components. . . so I borrowed a few of them to show off what a great looking game this is. And it is a "transportive" gaming experience, taking players back to the time of Rome vs. Carthage and Scipio vs. Hannibal.
One cool feature of the update is the inclusion of 40mm miniatures of all of the prominent generals of the conflicts, each an individual sculpt.
Card and counter art is top-notch.
And of course I had to have some of the extras. . .
The giant playing mat is printed two sides!
Go to the link I provided above to learn more about the game if you're interested.
Bruce and I played a Big Battle game of DBA 3.0, in 15mm, this weekend. I didn't take any photos so pulled a "stock" photo out of the archives. . .
I used my Later Carthaginians (II/32a), maxing out the Libyan Spears and Numidian Light Horse options. Bruce played the early version of the Pontic Mithridatic (II/48) army, with Pikes instead of imitation legionaries as Blades. Not quite contemporaries, but very close in spirit!
Hannibal attacked Mithridates on a nearly featureless plain. Our foot troops were quite similar - Pikes, Spears, Warband and Auxilia - so fighting along the infantry lines could therefore go either way. I decided to gamble with the 6 Numidian Light Horse elements by deploying them, along with all of my Cavalry - 3 elements plus the command's General - on my left flank opposite the 3 Pontic Knights and some Light Horse, and rushed them immediately. It was scary at first, but then the Numidian Light Horse (with a second rank in support) Quick-Killed all of the Pontic Knights and broke that command. I lost 2 Light Horse during the fight, but the remaining Numidians and the Cavalry then regrouped and fell on the flank of the center infantry line, killing the General of that command and helping to break it while Hannibal himself held off the Pontic Light Horse on the opposite flank. Both of my flank commands were within 1 element of becoming demoralized when the Pontic army broke, so a well-fought contest on both sides.
DBA 3.0 is, in my not so humble opinion, the very best version of a great set of rules. They really shine in the Big Battle format with multiple commands.
My Butterfly Brain is apparent in some of the books I've added to my reading list. I'm really looking forward to wading into Dr. Matthew's hefty book on the Macedonian pike phalanx. Also of "ancient" interest are new books on Rome and Syracusan tyrants, as well as a new set of fast-play wargame rules for classical naval battles from Osprey Publishing.
Here are a couple of new books on the French and Indian War. I highly recommend the new Osprey COMBAT - it directly inspired my recent Black Powder game of La Belle Famille.
Osprey just released a new Campaign book on the Gempei War, of course by Dr. Turnbull.
The recent wargaming "glossies" have relevant content, too. This one has a review of The Baron's Fistful of Lead rules by Lion and Dragon Rampant author Daniel Mersey, as well as a mention of his most excellent blog.
All have reviews of the new black-powder-era skirmish rules Sharp Practice 2 from Too Fat Lardies, which have a section devoted to the French and Indian War. The Norman Conquest issue features some Lion Rampant and Hail Caesar! articles to help scratch that Dark Ages itch.
See ya!
Last weekend Bruce and I played our first official game of straight-up Big Battle DBA 3.0. I trotted out some of my 15mm Later Carthaginians to face Bruce's Pontics. Not quite contemporaries, but not too far off.
We played the rules as written, except we played on a larger-than-specified area; 6' x 4' instead of 4' x 2'. Since Bruce, as the defender, took the minimum amount of terrain possible and the battlefield quarters were larger than normal, we ended up with wide-open terrain.
I had two commands made up of two Later Carthaginian armies, plus a 12-element Numidian ally on the left flank. The two Carthaginian armies were divided into two commands, the center of Elephants and Psiloi and the larger right flank of Spear and Auxilia with some supporting light troops. I decided to assign the higher Pip dice roll each turn to the larger command of Spear and Auxilia, even though the elephant command required more Pips per Elephant. That decision would lead to some frustration soon enough.
Here are the armies deployed as seen from behind the Carthaginians; the Pontics have a large double-ranked command of Pikes in the center flanked by Knights and Light Horse facing the Numidians, and more Light Horse and Psiloi on the other side of the Pike.
I sent the Numidians charging forward to test the new Light Horse ability to fight with rear support. . . demoralizing the command but taking the Pontic right flank with it. The Elephant command refused to go forward, except in fits and starts, while the right flank skirmished with its Pontic counterparts.
I held the demoralized Numidians in place for a few bounds, until a low roll caused them to begin fleeing. Then the Pontic skirmishers on the right flank broke, so the Pontic pike were unleashed in the center against the Punic Spear. The new side support for spear allowed them to hold up the Pike long enough for the Elephants, who had finally managed enough Pips, to fall on the Pontic pike right flank while the Auxilia did the same on the left. Shades of Hannibal; and the Pontic army reached it's break point.
A fun game for the Carthaginians, while Bruce was a bit dismayed at his Pikes' inability to break through the Punic Spear and wondered if the new side/rear support rules in 3.0 have pulled the teeth of the Pikes.
Have a great Fourth of July!
