First Game at Castle FusterCluck

Okay, so it's more of a basement than a castle, but it is dedicated gaming space with a permanent 5' x 9' table!

A couple weeks ago when playing Galactic Heroes at The Baron's, he asked what game I planned to be the first on the table in the new digs. I replied that I thought it would have to be a French and Indian War game, of course. I have been working on some woodsy rough terrain I started back in Minnesota in anticipation of said game.

During that game of Galactic Heroes someone mentioned Commands and Colors: Red Alert (fleets of spaceships); turns out Jay is a fan, too, and showed some photos of the game's miniatures he'd painted. I like this game for space fleet warfare and plan to use 1/2500 Star Trek models with "shield markers" in place of the game's units of multiple ships per hex. More here.

Where is this going? Well, a couple days after the Galactic Heroes game, The Baron said he wanted to play some Red Alert, so I invited him over for a game. Turns out the first game at FusterCluck would be the introductory scenario of Commands and Colors: Red Alert. 

Simple line-up: first player to eliminate 13 points worth of enemy units wins. Unit values range from 1 point for a Fighter up to 8 points for a Flagship.

 

I played the green fleet, The Baron red. I drew first blood with my Fighters but The Baron was flush with Star Tokens and good Combat Cards and soon the score was 12 - 10 in The Baron's favor - he just needed one more kill. That's when our Flagships went head to head and Fortune (the dice) tipped in my favor. My Flagship survived and the 8 points I won for destroying his ended the game.

 

We will definitely play more Red Alert. The game has a lot of depth and replay value including the supplemental unit types and scenarios from the original Kickstarter.

See ya! 
 

Red Alert: Commands & Colors in space

Even though a fan of Command and Colors: Ancients, I was surprised to learn about the Kickstarter for a "Space Fleet Warfare" version of the game. Seemed like it might be a "stretch" for the system. So I downloaded the rules from the Kickstarter site and quickly saw that not only wasn't it a stretch, it was actually a pretty good way to portray the "relative positional" nature of what I think battles between capital ships might look like, as opposed to gaming them like "dogfighting" smaller, fighter-type ships. Could this be the way to play with my Star Trek models? Maybe. . .

I jumped in with both feet and got all the unlocked supplements, too. There are lots of reviews and "unboxing" videos on the web, so I won't go into detail, but I will say the components are very nice. . .

The supplements are impressive, too. More ship types, terrain tiles and additional rules. And dice!

 The board - mat, in this case - is nice and big. Fills up half the ping-pong table we play on.

 And it works with my 1/2500-scale Star Trek models.

Rather than play with multiple models per hex as provided, I'll play with a single model with multiple "shields" instead.

Do you have your ticket yet for the Wiley Wargame Weekend? Whatcha' waitin' for?



See ya!

 

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!

 

Red Alert! I'm back!

Red Alert! I'm back! I'm back? You didn't notice I hadn't posted for a couple of months? Well, the Red Alert isn't for me. . . more on me at the end of this post. First, the gaming content.

Richard Borg and PSC games launched a Kickstarter for a new space fleet game, and I'm all in: Red Alert. It uses the tried and true Commands and Colors board game system that started with the American Civil War, then moved into WW2, Ancients, Napoleonics, WW1 and now to what would seem an unlikely genre, space fleet combat. I am a fan of
Commands and Colors: Ancients from GMT Games and have played a lot of games using 15mm miniatures. I also own and play Commands and Colors: Samurai Battles by Zvezda.

So, does this system work for "space combat?" The kickstarter actually posts the complete rules for download. 

I really like the "fleet" aspect and emphasis on "positional" warfare as opposed to "dogfighting in space" like WW2 airplanes. My plan will be to exchange the multiple miniatures per unit to track losses with the individual 1/2500-scale Star Trek miniatures, tracking losses with "shield" markers instead of additional ship miniatures. That will mean about 12 ships (plus fighters) per side. The game ships in March 2019, which should be enough time to build the models, but we'll see!

Here are a few images from the Kickstarter. Hurry, if you're interested, it closes in about 40 hours.

So where have I been? Getting new knees. Or, at least getting the first of two partial knee replacements. Hereditary osteoarthritis and years of martial arts training finally made the replacements essential, at least if I want to be able to walk for more than 15 minutes at a time! Surgery, rehab exercises and a full-time-plus job is cutting into hobby time. Plan is to get the second knee done in the fall.

I decided NOT to leave you with a Cluck-Amok-style selfie featuring my new scar : )