Christmas Game 2010

Ah! the Annual game Vs Graham in my Gaming room . This year, Samurai again using Field of Glory Rules. Plus I have added the Warrior monks to the mix.

Graham thinks on the first move. Yes, those are reptile vivaria behind him! Graham had brought his Chinese and Mongol army to take on my Japanese.

My new Warrior Monk Abbot, on a cart, with Skilled Fighting monks in foreground, and Battlegroup of "Other Monks" on the crest of the hill in the background.

Grahams Light cav Xbow Mongols advance over a hill, the massed horde arrayed in the plain to thier rear.

The armies clash, with cavalry slugging it out in the fore ground, and my Bushi whaling on some chinese peasants in the background!

The battle goes well for the japanese on the right flank near the town, as can be seen in the top picture, but the Mounted Bushi with supporting Monks find it harder going against the Mongol cavalry, slowly breaking off and fleeing one battlegroup at a time. soon the Mongols manage to break through and the Monks try to muster a defence on the hill, as seen in the bottom picture.

Grahams Chinese and Mongols soon wrap up the game for him, but it was a close run thing. These are usualy the best kind of game, as both sides can see the possability of victory untill the last move of the game.
 Great fun. We plan to have another game some time before next Xmas, but think that the next Xmas game will involve Vikings, and maybe Saxons..or Normans!

Board Games

Been a bit busy with work again of late...nights now, would you believe, Ye gods! Anyhoo I had time to pop over to Wargames Workshop http://www.wargamesworkshop.com/ in his new Northampton Location on opening day. I met up with some of my mates from Rushden Phoenix club, and we had a great time checking out the wares in the shop. I came away with a card game I heard reviewed on D6G a while ago, and had always meant to get. Space Hulk Death Angel

This was as good a game as I had heard, and as it allows for single player, I gave it a run through. It basicly runs the Space Hulk scenario, squad of Terminator Space marines fighting through a derelict space ship, but using some nice card mechanics to spawn 'nids . There are options for multiple players up to 6 in one game, and I can see this being a great multiplayer game. It certainly works very well solo.

I also recieved my copy of Ultramarines the 40K film.

For 40K fans who are already versed in the fluff, this is a must, I think. I certainly enjoyed it. But when Lyn, my wife was invited to vew it, she didn't enjoy the experience. She said the plot was a bit weak, and she couldn't empathise with the characters,especially as she couldnt make out who was who under the power armour. Also the main plot twist is a little obvious. Maybe. but as the first official 40K movie it is a great beginning and I hope they make lots more.
 Tomorrowv it is back to club, and a game I purchased a couple of years ago but didn't really play much afterwards. Tannhauser, by Fantasy Flight. There has been a revised issue of the rules, incorporating all the expansions to date, with a much clearer explanation of gameplay. I had purchased this V2.0 rules back in June and so we will see how this plays.

ON the painting table at the moment are lots of Samaurai Monks for the traditional Xmas game with my good chum Graham. so Field of Glory action to be reported on in a few weeks.

For the King!

12th December 2010 saw the ECW gmae I have been working towards played out. It certainly was a great site to see so many models on the table, and nearly all my ECW 28mms in all thier glory.

Here we see the commencement of battle, with the phoenix lads (plus one Gladiator) on the right, defending the village, and my army on the left by the river. The basic scenario was that the Royalist forces (my minis) are to press forward an attack on the parliamentary army in the town, and the Northern Army commanded by Prince Rupert ( Barry Warner's minis) are expected to arrive on the main road leading to the bridge in support.

Astleys foot and one of my Cavalry regiments advance on the rebels!

The Gentlemen Pensioners,and in the distance, His Majesty with Sir Edmund Varney,and a man of the cloth. No doubt His majesty is at prayer before giving battle!

Parliamentary Dragoons, from the collection of Carl King, take position in an enclosure.

The Parliament presses forward with it's attack. Prince Rupert was a tad tardy in urging his forces to the King's aid, and parliament makes good use of the delay surging forward to attack the numerically weaker Kings army.

Parliamentary Cavalry emerges from the woods.........

The King's forces advance to meet the challenge.

Prince Rupert's troops of the Royalist Army of the North, finally begin to arrive, but is it too late?

 The bitter contest in the centre, the weight of numbers beginning to tell on the Royalist foot.

Cavalry engage on the Flanks, whilst the Push of pike continues in the Centre. Eventually darkness falls, and the Kings army is Beaten, retreating as best it may across the River.

 A great game, using Black Powder rules, adapted for use with the English Civil War. We must do this again some time!

Achtung Panzer !

Well, you have seen some of my ECW minis, and  Malifaux. As people who know me will know, my interests in wargaming are varied, and the next entry demonstrates this! After purchasing the Tank Suppliment for Rate of Fire, and having a read through, I am keen to have a try out of the rules. The Infantry skirmish rules, as I said are very smooth, and have the feel of a 40K game, or FoW but not using any of the mechanisms. You do throw lots of D6 though!
 Anyway, the recent products of my painting table, have been the StuG 3 and Pz 4 I picked up from the Bring and Buy at Colours.

The StuG 3 with a nice easy paint job, based on the Fallschrimjager platoon I already have.

The Panzer 4 with the same paint job. I feel this gives a uniformity to the army and brings it together.
 The scheme is simply, base coat in Black, then using Vallejo paints I applied German Camo Beige all over, then using foam left over from a pick and pluck army box, apply a stipple effect of German Brown, then the same in Luftwaffe green. Tracks and so on in natural Steele. I then used a GW wash. This one is a must and should be in every ones paint box, Devlin Mud. Finally a look through my bag of transfers found suitable decals that were then applied. It is always a good policy never to discard any decals or transfers you acquire. you never know when they will come in useful!

I also painted my three SdKfz 251 Hanomags made by Bolt Action from Warlord Games.
I like the way these go together, the base has the track and wheel sections on it, and you just glue the hull to them, then the MG42 and gunner, nice and simple.

The interior is nicely detailed too, with all kinds of stowage moulded into the shelves inside.

And next my last FJ squad to add to the platoon. if there is one criticism, it is that there are lots of  StG44's
and not enough rifles. It would have been better to have the blister with Rifles then buy extra StG44 armed figures if you wanted to go down that route.

And lastly the complete FJ platoon,ready for action. The only thing I may get for them now is the PAK 40 from Warlord. Obviously the first game with these will be reported on here!