10th January Games

We had rather more activity this week; Steve S, Mark, Andy P and Dave K were playing a D&D game which developed as the players moved through the dungeon, meeting assorted gribblies on the way, Alan and Rob were playing a further game with the SF skirmish set used last week, while I set up my Anglo-Saxons and Norse collections for a Lion Rampant game which Steve H and Nigel took part in. Nigel’s track record was slightly better than last week’s Men Who Would Be Kings game in that he lost his leader, but was able to withdraw much of his Norsemen off table by game’s end.

 

Next week, Mark wants to run his ever popular SWAT game, Andy has a Dead Man’s Hand game lined up, while I intend to introduce Nigel to the delights of Napoleonic naval warfare.

 

See yer soon,

Neil   

3rd January Games

Good to be back after the festive bacchanal; Steve S, Andy P, Mark and Dave K played Zombiecide (and may have survived), while Rob and friend were playtesting a set of SF skirmish rules he’d found online.

I had set up a Zulu War confrontation for the benefit of Steve H and Nigel, who is making a return to the hobby after a decades’ long layoff. The British column of three infantry and one mounted infantry units were tasked with a punitive raid of a Zulu kraal whose inhabitants had developed an unpleasant habit of ‘borrowing’ other people’s cattle from the British side of the border. The Zulus were unsurprisingly not willing to cooperate; Steve was playing the Zulus using the Mr. Babbage rules from The Men Who Would Be Kings (the rules of choice for this game) which meant their movement and actions were controlled by a roll of dice.

This got very messy, very quickly. The Zulus deployed immediately on three sides of the British force, wiping out three of the four units within three moves. Zulu losses were also high when the British got a chance to shoot, but by game’s end the British were reduced to four figures from the 24^th Regiment (how appropriate!) while the table was ‘littered’ with Zulu casualties. Nigel was grinning all through the game, so despite his losses, I believe he enjoyed the game. 

 

Next week I’ll run a Lion Rampant based Dark Ages game, and I understand that there are board games planned as well.

 

See yer soon,

Neil

6th December Games

Having missed last week’s meeting due to family commitments, I’d hoped to run a game this week. Unfortunately, I have been blessed with the Pre Christmas Cold which is doing the rounds at present (I note Dave K has retired hurt with a similar infection, hence no Here’s Negan game as planned) so attendance was low this week. I popped over to deliver some Christmas cards and booked a table for next week. Andy P, Steve S and Mark were setting up a Zombiecide game when I left early for a warmer environment.

 

Current plans are for an Angels 20 game, probably Pacific theatre as I have recently obtained a reinforcement of models from Dave C, a large proportion of which are usable for the Pacific; I have a specific scenario in mind based on some of the backup material also supplied by Dave. More anon.

 

See yer soon (if I survive)

Neil, Champion of Nurgle   

22rnd November Games

We were down on numbers again last night; Dave K ran a Bolt Action games for Mark, Andy P and Steve S, with some armour turning up; a Panther for the Germans and a Sherman for the US forces. No apparent arguments so they must be getting the hang of the rules.

 

Rob and Alan were engaged in separate Blood Bowl games nearby. Rob reportedly lost his game but was able to ‘beat up some Orks’ as he advised me. Alan was playing against Skinks but no details of the result have reached me as yet.

 

Steve H and I were engaged in a further play test of my DBA derived ECW rules, using my collection of WoFun flat figures. I’d made a number of alterations to the rules following our last game, and we were also using sub commanders as well as a commander in chief to give some extra flexibility. Steve drew the Royalists for his force, so I found myself in the position of being right but repulsive on ‘1066 and All That’ terms as the forces of Parliament. We fought to a bloody but honourable draw (although Steve took out a couple of my infantry units in the last move to have a slightly higher kill rate than myself), but overall the changes and use of sub commanders speeded up the game considerably.

 

I probably won’t be down next week due to family commitments, but there is a further Bolt Action game arranged.

 

See yer soon,

Neil

 

15th November Games

Good turnout but we were spread around Wayland last night. Dave K, Steve S, Paul, Eddie Andy P and Mark played Here’s Negan; not sure of the outcome but it was probably messy and involved lots of zombies. Alan and Rob played Dystopian Wars naval; Alan’s dice were not his friends and it almost ended in tears. Steve H and I played a further Dark Ages Lion Rampant game, this time playing The Fugitive scenario. My Norse had to rescue a VIV (Very Important Viking) who had escaped Anglo-Saxon custody and was reported to be hiding in one of six different areas of rough terrain on the table. All I had to do was enter said areas, roll a d6 needing a score of 6 reducing by 1 for every area checked that was unoccupied. How hard could it be?

Very, as it turned out. My dice went on strike for searches and movement, combat rolls were ok but with time running out and the remaining areas behind Anglo-Saxon lines, I made one last all out attack with my leader’s unit against Steve’s commander; we both lost one figure in the combat....then I rolled a double one for the Courage test. The cloud of dust left by my leader ‘retiring’ is still settling. A deserved win for Steve, but great fun for both of us. 

Next week Dave K is hosting a Bolt Action game, and I’ll bring my WoFun ECW collection for a further test of the DBA derived rules I’ve been working on.

 

See yer soon,

Neil    

8th November Games

The Here’s Negan game was rescheduled to next week; Dave K, Paul, Mark and Steve S played a Cold War board game instead. I am not aware if anyone pressed The Button as there were no apparent thermonuclear blasts at Wayland last night. I hosted a trial game of the Lion Rampant 2^nd edition for Andy P and Eddie, commanding my Norse warband while Steve H commanded the Anglo-Saxon forces. I acted as umpire and assisted the Norse as neither player was familiar with the rules (and in fairness, neither Steve or I had played this variant of the rules recently). The pace of play was necessarily slow but by the close of play I think we’d got the measure of the basic rules. Alan and Rob were nearby playing a Dystopian Wars naval game; I’ve attached pictures of their game as well as the others.

 

As noted above, the Here’s Negan game will go ahead next week, subject of course to the usual strictures of life, the Universe and everything. In similar vein, Steve H and I will be running another Lion Rampant Norse vs. Saxons game for anyone else attending.

 

See yer soon,

Neil     

1st November Games

Good turnout last night; I ran two Angels 20 games for Steves H & S and Mark set on the Eastern Front, while Andy P ran a Core Space Sci-Fi game for Mark, Rob, Dave K, Eddie and Bob. This was by all accounts a success – I suggested looking at the boards from the Star Saga game I passed on to the club recently for a change of scene.

My first game pitted two Finnish marked Morane 406’s and a Brewster 239 against three Polikarpov I-16’s and a Yak 1 in a Winter War scenario. The Russians were even more outclassed than I had allowed for in this scenario; modesty does not allow me to celebrate three kills in a Morane 406 on this (one) occasion. I redressed the balance by supplied the aggrieved players with Fw190’s while Steve H and I flew La5N’s for the Rodina. We got our arses kicked. ‘Nuff said.

 

Next week I’ve arranged a Lion Rampant game on a Dark Ages theme for various members who haven’t played the new 2^nd edition. Possible issues on attendance on my part due to onsite decorators will be resolved as necessary. There’s also another Walking Dead campaign game arranged for those involved.

 

See yer soon,

Neil