7th May Games

There were a few more of us onsite last night; Steve S, Mark, Dave K and Andy P settled down to play a game of the fantasy Venetian skirmish game Carnevale, while Nigel hosted myself, Eddie and Steve H with another fantasy skirmish game of Sword Weirdos. 

I didn't see much of the Carnevale game as I had my own band of adventurers to lead (sourced from a batch of figures originally painted for Frostgrave), while Eddie had a band of Dwarven warriors, and Steve a band of Skaven. We were all after treasure tokens located around the board, and we also scored points for eliminating specific races also on the board. I started from the bottom left hand side of the board, and while Eddie and Steve went about ethnically cleansing one another, I was able to scoop up enough treasure and eliminate two Skaven (plus a Dwarf who resented my taking some treasure he considered -wrongly - to be his) and found myself coming out on top. A rare event in truth....... 

It has been suggested that we should run a further test of the Tanks in Normandy game prior to its debut at Broadside on the 14^th of June. I will hopefully have an anti-tank gun to add to the German forces before next week when we'll run the test game.

See yer soon,

Neil 

30th April Games

We were a bit thin on the ground last night. Local traffic conditions prevented some of us getting there, and Nick had asked me to run a pre-dreadnought game which also affected Nigel's proposed Swords Weirdos skirmish game. The Steves, Nigel, Mark and Andy P played Zombiecide as a game they could all join in with, while Nick and I set up a small scale action with my 1/3000 scale Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets (picture attached). Lack of time prevented a full fleet action, but a squadron each of battleships, cruisers and destroyers provide enough to show Nick how the rules worked. Gunnery for both sides could have been better, but Nick made friends with my dice and got the better of some of the firing. Nice to see the ships out again after a long lay off due to our change of venue. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the Zombiecide game as this finished before I could take any. I was able to get a finished version of the encounter table for the Tanks game checked by Steve H, and a couple of corrections noted.

Current plans for next week include Nigel's Sword Weirdos game and a further run out for the Carnevale fantasy skirmish game.

See yer soon,

Neil.

16th April Games

We had a selection of games underway last night; Steve H ran a card game which I didn't get the name of for Andy P and Mark, while Nigel and Eddie played Sword Weirdos, which is a fantasy skirmish version of Space Weirdos which Nigel and I have experimented with previously.

I was involved with another of Dave C's Portable ACW Ironclad naval games with Nick, Dave K and Steve S. The scenario we played bore a passing resemblance to the River Plate action in 1939, but with Union ships USS Wabash (commanded by myself as senior officer present), Dave K in USS Watchusett and  Steve S in USS Kearsage, tasked with stopping CSS Stonewall commanded by Nick from escaping off table. Stonewall was a tough nut to crack,  she having rammed the Wabash and escaped the effects of a full broadside at close range (my dice rolls are back to normal), she then took damage from the other Union ships, and finally sank after ramming the Watchusett and taking damage in the process. I gather Dave C is pondering a possible rules amendment to cover this unusual eventuality...... Great fun nevertheless.

Steve H has suggested that I run a trial of the TANKS in Normandy game I'm looking at presenting at the Broadside show in June over in Gillingham. All are welcome to participate and feedback would be welcome; the game runs well but this version needs polishing before the public are let loose on it.

See yer soon,

Neil 

23rd April Games

Attendance was down last night; myself, Steves H & S, Dave K, Andy P and Nigel were involved in a play test of a scenario I'd prepared ahead of running a TANKS participation game at the Broadside show in June. TANKS was originally devised as a purely armour based game for WW2, but I wanted to try and bring in some infantry action in a limited anti tank role without over complicating the game for the public. I devised an encounter table whereby a troop of Sherman tanks were tasked with exiting the far end of the table, with scattered but significant German opposition ranging from an individual landser (German squaddie) armed with a one shot panzerfaust up to armour including the inevitable Tiger tank. The Allied tanks could spot these forces and then attempt to remove them from play while completing their mission. 

The first game was predictably a bit of a mess, and following discussion some changes were made and the second affair made the Allied advance more of a challenge. Some work on the encounter table and the terrain remains, and a further play test before the show will be required, but I'm pleased with the overall result, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Nigel's offered to run a Swords Weirdos skirmish next week, details of any other games awaited.

See yer soon,

Neil

2rnd April Games

We had two decent sized games running last night; Andy P ran Dead Man's Hand Western Gunfight for Mark, Nigel, Steve H and Paul which eventually ran out as a very bloody draw, while Dave C ran a larger test game for his ACW Ironclad rules for myself and Dave K as the Confederacy and Nick and Steve S commanding for the Union. 

The Union were tasked with forcing the passage past Fort Unately into Static Bay (names provided by Dave C....), and the Confederates with preventing this, having the fort and two gunboats, an immobilised ironclad and a smaller ironclad ram to do so.

As commanding officer Confederacy, the initial dispositions of my ships were not of my choosing (blame the umpire as usual), so I put Dave in command of the fort and the immobilised ironclad which was moored directly below it, and I proceeded to launch what could only be called a death ride with the gunboats into the heart of the Union fleet in the hope of inflicting sufficient damage to deter their attack, or by sinking a vessel in the middle of the passage and blocking entry to Static Bay. The fort was able to sink a large Union vessel, and I was able to inflict sufficient damage before one of the gunboats was sunk to decide the action in our favour. It appears my dice have Secesh tendencies as I rolled more 6's than was healthy and much to the dismay of the Yankees! Thanks to Dave for setting things up for a most enjoyable game.

Next week, a further game of Carnevale has been planned. I've something in mind but this will depend on who is available.

See yer soon,

Neil        

26th March Games

Reasonable turnout last night; Steve S, Dave K, Mark and Andy P ran a more detailed game of Carnevale (a skirmish game set in a alternative version of Venice). The rules can cause issues of interpretation; it was apparent from conversation this was an issue, but apparently it all ended well.

I ran Ludis Gladiatorus for myself, Eddie, Nigel and Steve H, which proved as predictably messy as ever; Steve and I ended up slogging it out at the end, with Steve coming out with the Maximus award for the evening.

Next week, Andy P will be running an Dead Man's Hand game, and Dave C is hosting a further Portable ACW Ironclad game for myself, Nick, Steve S and Dave K. 

See yer soon,

Neil 

19th March Games

Bit quiet this week; I ran a Ludo style boardgame 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' based on the characters in the first of the Hobbit film trilogy. Steve S & H, Nick, Andy P, Mark and myself played various of the members of the party, gathering skills and equipment before challenging the monsters in each second. A fast paced game led to Steve S as Gandalf wining by completing the sectors first. Just the one image taken at the start of the game for flavour. As far as I can recall, we haven't played this since before the pandemic, so it was nice to give the game another runout.

Next week, a further game of Carnevale has been scheduled and we'll organise some backup games.

See yer soon,

Neil