Call Out the Militia!

I completed 3 units of 10 British Colonial Militia this July Fourth weekend. I hope my fellow Americans practiced "Safe Celebrating," and perhaps even took a little time to contemplate what could be the real moment for meaningful societal change that we may be. . . yeah. Sigh. So, as I was saying, three new units of Militia are ready to defend the Colonies. The first unit is shown above.

Here's Militia Unit #2:

The third unit is the most desperately called-out, including even women and children!

"I ain't your scout. And we sure ain't no damn militia."

Ahhhh. . . makes we want to watch the movie AGAIN!

Switching genres, Too Fat Lardies released their new Ancient-era small-unit skirmish rules, Infamy, Infamy! which uses their Sharp Practice 2 engine. Infamy! focuses on Late Republican and Early Imperial Roman conflicts with their "barbarian" neighbors: Gauls, Britons and Germans, etc. The Lardies are promising a Punic Wars-era supplement soon, so of course I have to check it out. I'm reading the advance PDF now. . .

See ya. . . sometime.

So long, 2018!

"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!

 

Hannibal & Hamilcar

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. 

 
 

If One Magician Is Good, Two Should Be Twice As Good!

We played a double-size game of D3H2 (DBA 3.0 with HOTT elements and rules added) this weekend at Village Games - Undead vs Gauls. It was a story of quantity - the Undead - vs quality - the Gauls. Bruce changed up his army construct; 2 Magicians and 4 Heroes with Warbands, Cavalry and Light Chariots in support. The Undead's larger command was led by a Magician with Hordes, Behemoths and Knights. The second command was all aerial, led by an Aerial Hero (Cruella, of course). I decided to field DBA-style Hordes - the kind that don't regenerate a la HOTT - as they cost less in points and are actually pretty tough on their own. As it turned out, the Hordes were not among the casualties. . .

The Gauls defended and laid out lots of terrain, which forced the fight to the open center of the field. The Undead Behemoths formed the center of their line, to face the Gallic Heroes.

The Undead had good PIPs early in the game; enough for Cruella and her Flyers to separate and assist in several combats, leading to the deaths of 3 of the 4 Gallic Heroes. Then Cruella made a fatal mistake, regrouping her command while in the bespelling range of the two Gallic Magicians. And just like that, The Magicians encsorceled her (hence the "little bat" marker in the photos), which demoralized the command!

Of course, that's when my Pips dried up, so I couldn't keep the Flyers from fleeing the field. Though the front Gallic command broke soon after, the Undead reached their army break point level first, just ahead of the Gauls. Victory: Gauls!

As the sun sets on the field, the Undead quit the battle. . .

Next to us, George and friends were playing Cold War-era micro armor. . . Challenger 2000, I think. 

See ya!