This weekend I visited Recon, a local "game event" held at the Geek Partnership Society in Minneapolis and organized by Mr. George Hord (Thanks, George!) Bruce and I planned to play some DBA/HOTT/D3H2, but Bruce wasn't feeling well so I decided to just go and see some friends. Mr. Hord was playing modern MicroArmor, Mr. James was playing 15mm American Civil War with Regimental Fire and Fury and Mr. Ladd was playing a 28mm Napoleonics game with "a new set of rules with an unpronounceable French name."
Also got to watch a demo game of SAGA played between Jim (Vikings) and John (Norse-Gael). John hosted the game and provided both of the very-nicely-painted warbands. . . so I have to apologize for the lousy cell phone photo of the game above, which does not do it a semblance of justice, taken on the last turn when the game had come down to the feuding warlords and a handful of supporters. I have the rules and the dice, of course, and lots of figures waiting for paint. . . we'll see if this was enough inspiration to start applying that paint. John and Jim were both very welcoming and patient with my watching (er. . . questions). Thanks!
Still making progress on the F&IW game project for Recruits next month. Here are some "garden fields" I made from Build-A-Rama mats, which are also usable for DBA:
Here are the John Jenkins Indians and Rangers with their new basing:
I have a bit more terrain to finish up but the project seems to be well in hand now. I will post a map and a bit about the scenario next week.
Friday the Steel Fist Miniatures Kickstarter order arrived. It's always fun getting "little guys" (as Lady Amok refers to them) in the mail! Between Perry and Steel Fist we now have all the important daimyo at Sekigahara in 28mm.
The figures are quite good; well sculpted with some separate heads, weapons and banners. Even the packaging is nice - printed boxes with "matchbox" sleeves.
Steel Fist also has decal sheets for nobori and sashimonos, too. Gorgeous. A lot of the appeal of the Sengoku Jidai period for me is the graphic design. Here are some photos of the minis and decal sheets:
And, because someone I am sure is wondering how the Perry and Steel Fist minis compare, here is a photo. . . wait for it. . . comparison. Steel Fist on the left , Perry on the right.
The humans work together nicely, with similar size proportions, even if the Steel Fist minis are just a tad heftier. Not so for the horses; the Steel Fist horses are "heroically larger" in proportion, though I think one could use them with Perry models as long as they weren't next to each other on the same stand. We'll definitely see about that sometime in the future. Definitely.
See ya!
Though relegated to the basement of Tower Games for our last Hordes of the Things outing due to a cards tournament, Bruce and I soldiered on through two games.
My Undead defended in the first game; Magician General, Hordes, a Behemoth, Knights and a Lurker who never showed up. . .
. . . against Bruce's Macedonians; Hero General, Behemoth, Spears and Warbands. . .
He wanted his Warbands to find my Hordes, and I wanted my Knights to get to those Warbands first! I sent my Knights across the front of my army toward the Warbands and Bruce countered with his Hero General, while the Behemoths jousted in the center.
But the Hero General was fighting without support - very heroic of him! - and eventually fell to a "hard" flank by the Knights. Game One to the Undead.
We decided to play our second game at "double-size," or 48 points, with up to two generals, one of which was designated as Commander-in-Chief. Bruce brought out the Sea Kings, in roughly two equal commands. I didn't get a picture of the army deployed, but it consisted of a couple of Heroes, Airboats, Riders, Behemoths, Warbands and Knights.
The Undead were again defending and countered with one large command and a smaller aerial strike command of Aerial Hero General ("Cruella") with two Flyers. The large command was led by the Magician General (C-in-C) and consisted of Hordes, Behemoths, Knights, Beasts and a Hero - "Undead Larry, Moe and Curly." I anchored my right flank of Beasts in the Woods. Plan was to hold position with the large command and counter attacks as best I could, regenerating Hordes from the nearby Stronghold, while looking for key strike opportunities for Cruella.
The Sea King Airboats moved out in front, while their Heroes pressed hard on the Undead left flank of Knights and Behemoth.
The Knights and Behemoths were able to hold off the Sea King Heroes on the left flank, eventually killing both through good use of terrain and fortunate die-rolling.
Cruella was able to force the issue on the right flank, then descend on the Rider General and kill it, subsequently demoralizing the command when it failed its next PIP roll.
A couple of turns later, a PIP roll of 6 for Cruella allowed each of the three elements in her command to move individually, providing enough flank contacts and overlaps to eliminate the elements needed to break the sea King army in dramatic fashion. Game Two to the Undead. Thank you, Bruce, for two more fun games of HOTT!
One HOTT/DBA project I've been looking forward to is the painting of two 28mm 36-element Samurai armies representative of the combatants of the Battle of Sekigahara. The Steel Fist Miniatures Kickstarter I supported just made the last of the requisite Daimyos (in combination with Perry Miniatures) available. Don't know when I'll get to painting them, but I have one less excuse now!
This is Ishida Mitsunari from the Kickstarter page:
See ya!
Well. . . sorta. I bought a couple of magazines in the Narita Airport last month on the way to Hong Kong to visit a trade show. And I can't actually read them. I bought them for the pictures. I am obviously getting older; the kinds of magazines I buy for the pictures has changed!
The magazine pictured above had a great deal of coverage of what looks like a current movie or series about medieval Japan. The images I found most interesting show drawings or photos of fortifications:
The second magaze purchased. . .
. . . has a great deal of World War 2 coverage that looks intriguing, but it was a calendar featuring more castle images that really caught my eye:
I'll game the period eventually : )
See ya!
Outside of a little terrain building, which I'll post when more finished, I don't have much to show for the last few weeks. I did base a few of the new John Jenkins Indians, along with Captain Joseph Waite, who completes my 10-man Ranger unit.
I also picked up Osprey's new rules for Samurai skirmish gaming, Ronin.
Of course I haven't played them, but the book is beautifully presented and the rules are a straight-forward read. Lots of good Sengoku Jidai period flavor, with some nods to other eras, ranging from the 12th Century Mongol Invasions of the Kamakura period up to 19th Century Late Edo (as in the movie The Last Samurai). Might even tempt me to paint some of those Perry Samurai languishing in the Great Lead Hoard.
See ya!
