Proposed game day

I wish to game soon. Soon in this case may well be May.

I can set up a game in the basement, outside on the deck or even in the garage, whatever appeals to you, the players. What game does not matter so much as playing a game. Pulp Alley, Silver Bayonet, some other miniature game that you want to play, I just want to play.

So let me know how you feel about this.

There is a holiday in May so, worst case scenario, we could play on that day, maybe we can get together sooner.

 

If need be I will play a solo game real soon, but as strange as it may sound (for me), I would prefer to play with other people. Oh, and yes I mean play, I will not just ref as usual (although reffing may still happen) I would like to actually participate as a player.

 

Please let me know who might be interested.

 

Thank you

 

Chris

I miss the AHPC challenge, anyone want to try a challenge?

I am adrift, lost in a sea of apathy. After having gone crazy for the last 3 months painting and building as much as I could for The Analogue Hobby Painting Challenge I suddenly find a void in my life. Without a goal to strive for I find it hard to get motivated. It may be that I just needed to take a break, certainly I needed to put the gaming room back in order (which I have done) but now I need a new mission.

So maybe a mini challenge, or maybe just a plan for a game, something, anything that will motivate me to paint. Ideally setting a date for a game, and of course deciding what game to play would propel me into action. Something with weekly targets would be ideal.

So, do we think a game is possible? Do we dare to breathe the same air again? Are we prepared for all the mistakes and confusion that will occur when we actually try to remember/learn the rules? 

I say it is time to find out! (soon)

The Silver Bayonet

So this actually looks like it might be easy and fun to play. Not always the biggest fan of McCullough's games, but this one looks okay. 

To be sure it does have some of the typical gamy rules that seem to be in all of his works. In this case I specifically refer to the composition of the secondary characters. They have set weapons for the non leader characters. Want someone to have a weapon that does not show under their profile? Well it can't be done. Did you find a spare weapon during the game just lying around and you would like to give it to one of these characters? Nope can't be done. At best you might find an advanced version of whatever weapon that they started with, in that case you can replace your initial weapon, but if you started with a pistol then a musket is not in your future.

The only character with serious equipment options is your officer. They also have options regarding their stats as you can customize your officer to some extent. Your officer will take the longest to build and even that will not take too much time. Your secondary characters can only be selected from a predetermined list based on your officers nationality. 

So you might wonder why I said it "looks like it might be easy and fun to play"? 

Well it is these very limitations that will make it quick to set up and quick to play. Not a lot of time would be spent on creating your team. Few choices means less paralysis analysis. Players should become very familiar with the troops they have, any multiples of troop type will be easy as the only difference between figures might be any special piece of equipment. These simplifications should make it easy for new players to integrate into the game and with very few figures per player the price point to get into the game is low. [Mind you the book is kind of pricey as is the PDF] 

There is a campaign system so a club could gather together a number of players and run through a campaign with no problem. I do not think this is a game that will see players bogged down by the minutia of details. I also think it should be a game that can be played when one wants to put away for a while when done, but easy enough to return to after some time away. 

It also could be used in any musket era setting, so battles in North America with Native spirits/monsters are possible. There is a brief discussion about customizing existing monster stats to reflect other types of beasties.

So far it is just the one book, but this is Joseph McCullough, I am sure more books are being worked on. 

 

 

 

Reflections on the online campaign that never quite made it...

 

Back at the start, more or less, of the Covid 19 pandemic we tried to get a play by email game of Mighty Empires going, it did not work out well. It is a pity as it could well have filled in some of the gaming gap that we were feeling. Certainly not a replacement for miniature gaming, but still it had the promise of  a multi player, multi fantasy race strategic game. The hope was to provide a casual pastime with weekly turns. The hope was that being weekly it would not adversely impact on anyone's free time.

So what went right, what went wrong?

I can feel the urge, it is getting stronger it is almost...

 

 

Fantastic Battles miniature game

 

Bad picture, but good looking game. It is another open game, no predetermined world to play in rather you get to build armies based on the figures you have at hand. A note worthy aspect of this game is the inclusion of one of our more remote members as a play tester for this game (as noted in the credits)

The rules are covered in the first 40 or so pages, then they have 4 pages discussing campaigns, and finally 24 example army lists to give you an idea of what you can create with the rules. Troops are defined by traits, with 40 to chose from.Some traits cannot be combined with certain other traits, but for the most part you are allowed to define your troops the way you feel they should be defined.

I will do a bit more of a review of the game over on my ranting blog, but maybe our play testing Lord beyond the ocean will contribute some additional comments here? 

 

All is revealed!

What could have been if it had been an Undead Nation instead of a Dark Elves nation.
The lizards certainly had an interesting home realm.
Where two things are listed the first is a temporary thing, the second is that which would have replaced it after the first was done. For instance the Norse will sail away, so I was allowing a followup search once they left.

Deployment map, end of year 1 winter

Here it is, as best as I can figure out, as I still needed some clarification...