It's Been A Little While. . .

The last time I posted was on the eve of the Chief's first regular season win of the 2020 season, and here we are now hours after their one-sided loss in Super Bowl 55. The Chiefs had plenty of heart, they just didn't have the tools. Repeating is really hard. . .

So why the lapse in posts? Well, not playing any games for almost a year hasn't exactly been an inspiration, and I haven't had a lot of free time, either. Thankfully, I have been very busy with work, and when I had hobby time, I spent it building terrain or reading new rule sets. LIke what, I hear you ask?

I finally built some corn fields. Can't really play wargames set in North America without corn fields, and they'll be useful for the Aztec and Conquistador project waiting in the wings, too. I started with the Britains corn models and then repainted and added greenery to the bases.

 Also working on some more woodland terrain, featuring some rock outcrops to fight "around."

Still flirting with skirmish gaming in other, more ancient periods, so have been reading some new rule sets. Really like what the SAGA folks have done with Age of Hannibal; I think the "factions" have real character. 

 

Finally a plug for a board game I am excited to finally get my hands on, Bayonets & Tomahawks. I posted about it previously after getting an opportunity to do some play-testing. It will make a perfect vehicle for campaigning with the French & Indian War, if we ever get back to that kind of gaming! The "period" map is just stunning. Here is the link to the author/designer unboxing his production copy of the game.

 See ya.

The 47th Regiment of Foot arrives!

The hatmen of the 47th are ready for action, joining the Grenadiers from last post. They've been patiently awaiting the completion of their bases for a couple years and it feels good to have them done at long last!

 

Benjamin Martin, fictional Revolutionary War pacifist but French and Indian War "hero" is ready to take on the French, supported by various family members.

Finally, here's a teasing glimpse into another project slowly "collecting". . .
 

Be safe!

So What's New?

Well, I'm working more hours than I do normally, so I have no great stories about all the hobby projects I'm finally getting completed. . . Not playing any games, so the basing goes on. Above is a photo of the British Grenadiers from the 47th Regiment. Working on the "hatmen" still. No photo, but I also finished up 3 French and 3 British artillery crews.

Been tinkering a bit with solo rules for both DBA 3.0 and Commands and Colors: Ancients, but really most free time I have right now is going toward completing bases.

I did pick up 2 new rule sets in the last month or so. I supported the Kickstarter for Clash of Spears, a skirmish game set in Ancient times, in particular, the Punic Wars.

They had me at "Punic Wars." Scale is small-unit; around 6-12 soldiers per unit. I really like the deployment system; it reminds me a little of Sharp Practice 2. It's different but also uses a concept of "deployment points" that is a fun alternative to the "line up and go" of some Ancients games. The rest may seem familiar. . . roll to hit, roll to save, lots of traits and customization possible. Haven't played it yet. Lots of pretty eye candy.

The other set is Muskets & Tomahawks 2. 

Another very pretty hardback book. Same basic game as the original version, but with some streamlining and clean-up. The command system has been re-vamped; the optional hand management system from the original version is now standard, and an interesting additional system of command points has been overlaid to provide more tactical flexibility. Like Sharp Practice 2, Muskets & Tomahawks 2 is a broader volume covering all theaters of "black powder" warfare, not just the colonial wars in North America. To get the army lists and specific rules for said North American conflicts, a second softcover book is required: Redcoats & Tomahawks.

Not sure that this will ever replace my "go to" Muskets and Mohawks, but I am sure I will at least give it a test-run.

And while we're talking about small-unit skirmish rules (I just realized we have a theme going now), check out Wiley Games' new Fistful of Lead offering:

Stay Safe!

Reading about Romans and Prepping for Recruits

I recently read three new-ish books on Ancient Rome (mostly) I really enjoyed. First up is Early Roman Warfare: From the Regal Period to the First Punic War.

 From Amazon:

Here Dr Jeremy Armstrong traces the development of Rome's military might from its earliest discernible origins down to the First Punic War. He shows how her armies evolved from ad-hoc forces of warriors organized along clan lines and assembled for the city's survival, to the sophisticated organization of the legions that went on to dominate all of Italy and then (after the period covered) the entire Mediterranean world.

Makes a good case for a little "warband-type" skirmishing a la Warlord's new SPQR game.

Next up is Swords and Cinema: Hollywood vs the Reality of Ancient Warfare. 

Again from Amazon:

The battles and sieges of the Classical world have been a rich source of inspiration to film makers since the beginning of cinema and the 60s and 70s saw the golden age of the ‘swords and sandals’ epic, with films such as Spartacus. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator led a modern revival that has continued with the release of films like 300, The Eagle and Centurion and HBO’s mini-series Rome.

While Hollywood interpretations of Classical battle continue to spark interest in ancient warfare, to casual viewers and serious enthusiasts alike they also spark a host of questions about authenticity. What does Hollywood get right and wrong about weapons, organization, tactics and the experience of combat? Did the Spartans really fight clad only in their underpants and did the Persians have mysterious, silver-masked assassins in their armies? This original book discusses the merits of battle scenes in selected movies and along the way gives the reader an interesting overview of ancient battle. It should appeal to the serious student of ancient warfare, movie buffs and everyone in between.

Was fun to hear someone else echo all the same complaints of "wrong helmets!" and embellished history that I've made while watching historical movies (just ask my daughters!)

Last up is a book I thoroughly enjoyed: Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World.

From Amazon:

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder, and with overlapping shields, they presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. It was the phalanx that allowed Greece to become the dominant power in the Western world. That is, until the Romans developed the legion and cracked the phalanx.

In Legion versus Phalanx Cole weighs the two fighting forces against each other. Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280--168 BC), he looks at each formation in detail--delving into their tactics, arms, and equipment, organization and the deployment. It then examines six key battles in which legion battled phalanx: Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC)--battles that determined the fate of the ancient world. Drawing on original primary sources, Myke Cole presents a highly detailed but lively history of this defining clash of military formations.

Mr. Cole does an outstanding job of bringing these epic clashes to life, describing the sights and sounds and smells - all of the experiences of the soldiers on the ground. Recommended!

Recruits is coming up the end of this month! Since I missed last year due to knee surgeries, I felt compelled to bring some new terrain this year. . . here's a look at an early stage.

 

If you want to see the completed models in action, you can either come play with us at Recruits or wait for the AAR here. We'll be playing a scenario called Revenge. . . 1759-style! using Fistful of Lead: Horse & Musket from Wiley Games. Hope to see you there!

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.