Monday, 9 March 2015

Fallen Victory


These are some shots of the game we played on Saturday. I've been write a wargame campaign that could be played by non-wargamers, set during the Boudiccan revolt of 61-62AD.  It is named Fallen Victory after the statue of Claudius in Colchester that supposedly fell over just before the revolt began.

The campaign day broke into two parts. During the first, the two teams, in separate rooms, manoeuvred across replica antique maps of Roman Britain. This proved to be very exciting, as for almost the whole two and a half hours, neither team had very much of an idea what the other was up to. I umpired the Roman team which reacted to the growing crisis with considerable stoicism; no tears were shed even when II Augusta perished to a man. Below is the British team; after a somewhat shaky start, they rallied and burned a broad swathe of destruction right across the width of Roman Britain.


When the two armies met (near a burning Cirencester) we transferred the action to the tabletop, and fought it out using my miniatures and To the Strongest! rules.  The Britons formed up in a huge mass with chariots to the wings and the laager to their rear.



Above are the Romans, and below the revolting Britons.  Most of the players were novices, but there were four gamers mixed in.



Above, a flanking move by one of the British chariot wings.  Below, other British chariots that had launched an unexpected flank attack, sweep around behind the Roman lines.


Because of time limitations, we only had around an hour-and-a-half to play the game, and consequently didn't get to finish it. Some of the non-gamers picked the rules the rules up well, others found them challenging to master in 90 minutes. I am currently writing some even simpler rules that should enable the same game to be played by non-wargamers in under an hour.

Below is my favourite shot, from behind the British wagon laager.  I'll take proper photos of the laager in a few days, when I have more time.


With time running out awarded a marginal victory to the British, largely for not having lost to the far superior Roman legionaries!  It was a splendid day of gaming; I am sure I shall repeat it.

Sunday, 8 March 2015

Meeples and Miniatures 140 - To the Strongest!


I was recently interviewed by Neil Shuck and Mike Hobbs of Meeples and Miniatures Podcast fame. We talks a great deal about why I wrote the game, how it works, and the potential merits of substituting Vodka shots for Victory Medals. It was a lot of fun!

The interview can be downloaded from here:

https://meeples.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/meeples-miniatures-episode-140-to-the-strongest/

I shall be downloading it shortly, and will probably be wincing for much of the rest of the day.

The lack of posts this week has been due to the preparations for a campaign and large wargame yesterday. This was unusual in that it was aimed at (and largely played by) non-wargamers, and observed by a team psychologists. It went very well indeed; I'll post some pictures tomorrow.  In the meanwhile, here is one to be going along with!


Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Flocking day

I've just spent two-and-a-half hours flocking minis using my Heath-Robinson static charger. At one point I "crossed the beams"; there was a terrific zapping noise, an element flew up into the air, and the distinctive smell of burning hair. I was a little more cautious after that.


This evening, once everything is dry, I plan to add tufts and other foliage.

This week I've been working on some army lists for To the Strongest!, notably Franks, with the assistance of Paul Caspell. It's been very interesting; they are an army I knew little about.  Another army for my "to do" list!  n.b. they won't be posted for a few days as they need to be checked first. 

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Demo game of To the Strongest! in Abergavenny this Sunday

Meeples and Miniatures Podcast host Mike Hobbs is involved in a new venture.
As part of the new Abergavenny Community Centre’s open day this coming Sunday, March 1st, he and regular gaming opponent Mark are looking to drum up interest in a new wargames club.
They will be running demo games of To The Strongest and Open Combat all day.  Details are as follows:

Rumours that Mark and Mike will be also dancing in Welsh National Dress are, no doubt, greatly exaggerated.  But if you can  make it along please drop in and say hello!  

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Monopolis


A modest digression from 28mm; I have raised the city of Monopolis from a set of Monopoly houses and hotels, and a couple of Brandenburg gate pieces taken from EuroMonopoly sets. The temples are converted from hotels using plasticard. With a little suspension of disbelief, I reckon the buildings are a good size for 2-6mm minis.

Friday, 20 February 2015

Laager ladies


Over the last three nights I've added a flesh highlight to the fifty-odd minis Nick painted for me, and inked and varnished them.  I've cut the pins down to short stubs.  This weekend I'll start experimenting with basing them.

The Copplestone German civilians are stunning sculpts, especially the women.  Very expressive!   The carousing German men are very good, too.  Better photos will follow once they are based.

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Shiny, shiny

This week I've added "victory medals" to my shop; these are the same replica Roman coins that I use for my own games.



They are cast in lead-free pewter, and the gold ones are gold plated!  Initially I've purchased Caesarian and Late Roman coins, but should they prove popular I will add dark age and medieval coins, so one can theme medals to a particular army. They can be found here:


Of course, one could also use the chocolate coins as we did recently at the Benson tournament... 

In other news, this week I've been very busy working on v1.1 of "To the Strongest!" This will be a free update of the rules for those who have already bought them, and the basis of the print version of the rules which I hope to have published before Salute.  The rules will be very similar to the current version, but I'm adding additional examples, diagrams and some new troop types (war wagons!). I am keen to run these past people for comment (and to spot errors); if you are interested in seeing them, please drop me a line via my email address on the blog.