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

21st August Games

The holiday season reduced attendance again last night, so my planned Angels 20 WW2 aerial game didn't go ahead. Andy P ran one of the Zombiecide variants for Eddie, Mark ,Nigel and Steve S; Andy's friend Rose (who has been visiting from the Philippines) graced our gathering with her presence and also took part. She is returning home shortly, and we hope her visit to the UK has been a pleasant one. I've attached a picture of the game early on when the various characters are hoping to avoid zombie contact; it was necessary to attain certain objectives along the way, but I don't think they were able to reach all of them.

I've offered to run Angels 20 next week with a scenario set in Vichy French-controlled Syria when a patrol of British Curtiss P40's were bounced by French Dewoitine 520's. They appear to be fairly closely matched aircraft and it should prove interesting. We've also booked a table for another game if numbers warrant this.

See yer soon,

Neil

14th August Games

Reduced numbers this Wednesday still allowed us to run two games; Alan and Rob set up a Star Wars: Legion game with Separatist forces against Republic clone troopers and Mandalorian forces, while Steve H ran a new game called Dungeon Karting for myself, Eddie, Mark and Nigel. As the name implies, players drive karts around a track strewn with hazards - there were a few errors in play due to a first time out, but great fun and the opportunity to do unto others before they do unto you is always enjoyable. Nigel and I have had a chat about some tweaks to Space Weirdos which I'll take a look at asap. 

Next week, Andy P has offered to run an (as yet unspecified) game, and I'll bring Angels 20 as backup.

See yer soon,

Neil