13th November Games

Holidays, illness and work commitments reduced our numbers this week to myself, Dave K, Matt, Mark, Nigel and Steve S and we decided to re-run Dave's 'Last Night on Earth' zombie apocalypse game. Nigel and I ran the undead and the rest played characters whose task was to destroy the places where the zombies appeared from. We ran the game twice and the characters were able to destroy the 'nests' on both occasions, despite Nigel and I generating zombies at an alarming rate. Great fun all round, a good game that does require the character players to cooperate to survive.

The room we use was noticeably cooler than usual (keeps the zombies fresh I suppose); I've had a word with Scott and he's promised to put the heating for our next meeting.

Next week, I'm not sure if Andy P will be able to run either his Corespace or Dead Man's Hand games as originally planned for this week, so I'll bring Ludus Gladiatorus as backup.

See yer soon, Neil

6th November Games

Our numbers last night were increased by the welcome return of Dave K to the fold; he brought a zombie related board game 'Last Night on Earth' which involved survivors Andy P, Steve S, Eddie and Dave escaping from zombies run by Nigel and myself. Suffice to say that the survivors managed to fuel and start the truck in the middle of the table, albeit with a few tooth marks from the zombies. Paul and Steve H were trialling a new Dungeons and Dragons game, which was apparently fairly straightforward once they'd run through a few scenarios. Dave C popped in and spoke with Iveagh staff about the use of the other available room with a view to running an ACW naval game with his extensive collection of scratch built ships.

I've discussed the possibility of running Ludus Gladiatorius as a participation game for the show circuit with Steve H using the Italeri 54 mm figures I have in stock; this might take a while to bring to fruition but there is work to be done first....

Next week Andy P has offered either Dead Man's Hand or Corespace for our entertainment, and I've no doubt there are other plans afoot.

See yer soon,

Neil  

30th October Games

Greetings

We were reduced to myself, Andy P, Steve S, Eddie and Nigel for the bulk of the evening yesterday; Dave C visited to show and tell some of his scratch ACW ironclads. These are closer to the club  'purely representational' standard, but very well made and clearly identifiable as the originals. Dave has offered to run a game of his Portable Ironclads Gridded Wargame (think I got that right...) in the near future. Looking forward to that......

I ran a Ludis Gladiatorus game for those remaining; much blood covered the sands of the Iveaghan Amphitheatre before a lone survivor remained. I can reveal that it was not Maximus Decimus Merideus, but I can't  remember who it was. Will the hero not reveal himself? A quick game of Art of War (set in 16th century Japan) involving lots of dice rolls to gain control of provinces. Modesty does not prevent me from saying I won................

Next week, Andy has offered to run either Dead Man's Hand or Corespace next week. Any other offers? 

See yer soon,

Neil    

23rd October Games

Greetings

Gradually, more of the club membership are returning to the fold; Mark and Andy P attended this week, although Dave K hasn't been able to make it yet (best wishes to you and family Dave.) We played Andy's new edition of Zombiecide, which can safely be classed an non-survivor friendly. We were each tasked with collecting tokens representing 'pimp weapons' before exiting the table; whether the deck of zombie movement cards had just been shuffled to allow for high numbers appearing or that the new deck is more effective I'm not sure, but it seemed we had a zombie rush hour before long! The attached picture shows the situation towards the end of the game; two of the survivors had escaped with their weapons, one had been taken down by the zombies, and three of us (self included) were cut off mid table. The two other characters succumbed to the zombies; I was left lonely and VERY afraid, and decided to go down fighting - I actually maxed out the casualty count for my character, gained an additional skill and managed to hot foot it off board, albeit without pimp weapon. I think the zombies won.............

Next week, I'll bring Ludis Gladiatorus, while Paul and Steve H are looking at a new dungeon crawl game.  

See yer soon,

16th October Games

This was our first week at our new venue of the Iveagh Conservative Club in Southend (see bio for new club address).

Sorry not to see more of you last night, but given the volume of sickies involved I quite understand. Steve H, Matt and I were joined by Steve S and Dave C when I ran an Angels 20 scenario based on US Navy Wildcat fighters against Vichy French aircraft during the Torch landings in North Africa (based on a recent article in Flypast magazine). We ran the game twice in the evening, with honours mostly to the French at close of play.

Nothing fixed for next week as yet, but Steve, Matt and I are off to the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham for the RE Play show organised by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club. More details anon; if anyone is thinking of going let me know, and I'll supply details but a search for 'RE Play show' will probably give enough details.

See yer soon,

Neil   

4th September Games

We ran two games last night; Steve S put on a Terminator game at the request of Andy P for the bulk of those present, whilst I ran a pre-dreadnought naval game for Nigel using the DBA based De Bellis Navalis rules. I haven't used these for some time as different  systems have been under investigation, but as a starter set for the period allowing players to manoeuvre squadrons of warships they have merit. I'd made a few changes to the rules and cleaned up the layout so we could field my Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets for the first time in a while. All ships are Navwar, as produced by the late and much lamented Tony Anderson.

So far as the game went, Humanity had a very thin time of the Terminator game (and need a different script writer) while Nigel and I steered our fleets in a vaguely professional fashion; there was a lot of action with the destroyer flotillas but the big guns had little influence on the game before time was called. I have a couple more ideas about damage inflicted on ships but these are for consideration only.

I won't be down next week, but I gather another Here's Negan campaign game is planned. I've booked a table for a Wings of Glory WW1 aerial game for the following week, so hopefully I'll see more of you then.

See yer soon,

Neil

28th August Games

Still down on numbers due to holidays etc., but we had three games to hand last night. Steve S, Eddie and Dave K played Fallout (SF post nuclear Armageddon type board game), Alan and Rob ran a Stargrave skirmish and I put on my Angels 20 game for Nigel and myself. This had been planned for a larger number of players around an encounter during the Allied invasion of Vichy French controlled Syria in 1941 using Curtiss P40 Tomahawks against Dewoitine 520s - based on an actual event.

I took the opportunity to let Nigel take a Dewoitine while I handled two P40's; the French fighter had the 'bounce' on the P40s, but had to survive after the first pass. I flew the P40s as a pair and tried to give Nigel the chance to manoeuvre his fighter and explain how to get into a firing position. As expected, numbers counted in the end and the Dewoitine was duly despatched, but there had been a lot of manouevring before hand. An enjoyable game overall, and I think Nigel has a better idea of the game mechanics now ; I'll keep this scenario in hand as a training game. 

Next week, I've arranged a predreadnought game, and there is a Terminator game booked for Andy P's benefit.

See yer soon,

Neil