Wednesday 20 December 2017

Five Tribes

Another game night with HanDan and this time they provided (really have converted them). Five Tribes is a game with multiple ways to score points and a genuine uncertainty as to the eventual winner. Initially it is a bit overwhelming with the various things that can be done and I seriously messed up my first turn through misunderstanding but hey-ho. Its happened the other way round plenty of times.
Having missed out on getting the genie (which gives you the opportunity to get more genies) I went for a strategy getting as many resources as possible. Again I misunderstood as I thought you couldn't get points beyond your first set. But hey-ho despite all this I got a semi respectable score and I can agree that it is a fun game which doesn't last too long.
My 8 Different Resources
The quality of everything is top notch and is comparable to the other Days of Wonder games we own (Ticket to Ride).

Also confirmed details for when we are playing D&D with us playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen. As such we shall have:

DB as a High Elf Wizard
JT as a Dwarf Paladin
HH as a Half-Elf Rogue

My back up character for when shit gets real is a Tiefling Monk armed with a Yari Spear.

Wednesday 6 December 2017

Everything That's Happened

I've more models to show including the Prussian Army of Frederick the Great as well as a few more Frostgrave minis. These will be on here soon along with the below village tiles when completed.

In the meanwhile I haven't played many wargames but myself and JT have a got a new boardgame couple in HanDan. Been playing a few goodies which we haven't been able to just between us such as Battlestar Galactica - bit of a brain spin for JT. Game of Thrones as gone down well and the mechanics are good - only issue is that by trying to stay true to the books/series - its made an uneven game.

Finally last night we had a quick run through of Lobositz - removing a few models and shrinking the battlefield. AE played Austrians and DB assisted me running the Prussians. It was like hitting my head against a brick wall - sunken roads are really powerful and Alex just kept subbing units in whenever I caused a minor breakthrough. The historical set up shouldn't be so bad as I'd shrunk the battlefield significantly which allowed the Austrians to gather tight and be a very difficult force to break.

One query I have for anyone who's done V&B for Seven Years War - is most cavalry supposed to be Linear or massed - they seemed really weak last night - other than the Austrian Horse Grenadiers who destroyed everything in front of them.

To come, more pictures, hopefully a game of Rommel next week and some more board game adventures!

Wednesday 27 September 2017

Last 2 Weeks

I've been back to Lancaster Wargames Club again these last two weeks and played a couple of new rule sets (Exciting!!).
Overview of board
Last week I joined in a 6 player game of Dracula's America. Set in the post American Civil War USA,the basic rules are basically Wild West (we didn't play any undead etc). I'm not sure but it did not seem massively deadly and almost impossible to actually get an outright kill. However I think this may have been due to a misunderstanding with regards save rolls. (We were saving with fails being per hit rather than the amount below the save value).
Left Flank - Nutter running across the street - survived and ran back.
With a lot of these games (this one included) there is an error in the set up of terrain - no one wants to cross the "valley of death" (or street as in this example). So it almost just becomes dice wars.
Having said that the card mechanic by which you drew 4 cards for a turn then bid with your cards for where you were to go in the turn had a good blend of luck and game theory.

This week myself and AE played our first game of Rommel. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no pictures). So we felt we could judge the rules correctly we played a scenario which was half based off the Breakthrough mission and a Spearkrieg game we played a few year ago over the Battle of Prokhorovka. Scaled down we played 1st SS Panzer Grenadiers against 52nd Guards Rifle Division.

The game worked well with the Germans having to peel a way through the defensive lines (reinforced by the "Workers to the Front" event. Maybe I wasn't sufficiently aggressive early doors (new game syndrome) and it took a while to get through. Eventually a whole appeared and I was able to widen it out. By turn 15 the aggressive use of Recce, Armour and Armoured Infantry allowed me to take an objective where we called it.

Things we learned:
  • Tactics and defences really help to reduce casualties; in reverse the fact that my entire force was motorised meant I could evade to reduce hits against myself. As ops dice disappear and attacks are going in by brute force, combat becomes more deadly.
  • If you can lure an attack onto yourself and pinning attack has already been used and surprise attack isn't in effect then withdraw is a really good way to make your opponent burn and waste ops dice.
  • Recce units with their free scout turns are really useful (even with a 50% success rate). I had a full battalion of recce as the Germans formed their Recce units as fighting battalions which really helped.
  • Always plan for the worst. I attacked a single infantry company with one remaining hit in the open with 3 stands. Missed and I hadn't left enough space to retreat. Up until this point these were my only units destroyed.
  • Attacking across the narrow part of the table is grim.
  • All in all the rules are simple whilst giving a seemingly historical result. Could be really interesting to battle the whole campaign although we discussed it and think we'll go for an ops sheet per division. The ebb and flow of resetting etc could be absorbing as the various attacking divisions have to pause at different times.
As a side piece I also based Schy'yrk. I'm going to do the rest of Gronne Flamme like this to complete my raiding party for Frostgrave.
Schy'yrk

Thursday 14 September 2017

Austrian Army at Lobositz

So a year plus in the making; my Austrian Army is finished! (I've run out of static grass at the moment or the Prussians would be finished too). Before I begin - making both armies from scratch for a battle by yourself is a big ask (especially alongside Family, Work and American Football).
Austrian Army ready to go
I decided to keep it simple on the bases - I had had thought of trees, fences etc but I figured that they'd look better by selves (Exception may be the Grenzers). All in all I'm really pleased with how its worked out.
The force is divided into 3 blocks of infantry, a cavalry division (which can be split in 2 between division and corps commanders) as well as an unusual formation in the advanced guard. On the defensive (which I assume it will be at Lobositz) its going to be a hard nut to crack.
FM v Browne and Grenzers
I decided to identify my command levels by bases size as well as number of figures. So the the CiC has a large base and 4 figures. I'll also have the data strips attached to the back edge of the units.
Advanced Guard
This really is an unusual formation and it feels like a weird use of some of the forces available - that is half the artillery and half the grenadiers! Backed up by a mix of cavalry, it will be interesting to see how this operates in Volley and Bayonet.
Lacy's Infantry
This is the first of the blocks of Infantry - a manageable size with artillery to back it up. The divisional commanders are just the 2 figures.
Kollowrat's Infantry Corps
This feels like a big block of a force with 10 stands of Infantry. It is a good job that the infantry all have dedicated guns because otherwise they would be awfully exposed. The Corps commander at he front (you may have guessed) has 3 figures.
Luchesse's Cavalry Corps
Its described as a corps but its made up of 1 division. I'm not sure if this will be kept as a mass or split in 2 between corps and division commander.

Sorry about picture quality - was just excited to get these up. May well retake these outside when get a chance.

For those interested in how I based these;
  1. Glue to bases in formation
  2. Polyfilla (cheap equivalent) around stands to smooth into bases, add weight as well as texture.
  3. Paint base brown
  4. Stickle paint green onto base - good opportunity to cover any spots you've missed/paint has been absorbed by plaster. Be warned you will ruin a brush doing this.
  5. Dry brush a cream/bone colour over bases.
  6. Static grass.
Nice and simple and I think gives a good result. Soon to come; the Prussians as well as a game report on Rommel at end of month.





Tuesday 22 August 2017

Oh So Close

So I genuinely am making progress and I have now just got 3 stands of cavalry left, as well as about 5 command bases. I've even cut the bases for the town sectors. Pictures will be available soon...

Also news about Morecambe Bay Storm, we finished the season 5-4-1, I've got to admit I was out injured for the last few games and in our play-off quarter final we lost to an excellent team in the Shropshire Revolution. All in all an excellent season and we hope to bounce back even stronger next year (albeit I personally need a lot of work still doing on my shoulder). If you want to give it a go then we have a rookie day on the 8th October - come try it out.

In other news I have also got arriving soon Flashpoint: Fire Rescue. This was recently on Tabletop (although they didn't seem to last very long?). SO I'll review this and show you pictures in action.

Finally (in this fast paced piece) I am also looking to buy Rommel by Sam Mustafa when it is released. I already have a good amount of 10mm WW2 models and if it works it could be possible to build up to some of the huge battles of WW2 including Operation Market Garden, Leningrad, D-Day or the Bulge! Already looking at a grid marked battlemat (although unsure which sized squares to buy).

Friday 30 June 2017

Star Realms

Since seeing this on Tabletop, JT and I have been playing this 3 games at a time pretty much every other night. It's addictive. But last night something happened which I thought I'd quickly share:

Before I show you, let me tell you how Star Realms works. Starting with a basic deck you recruit new units to improve you deck so that you can defend yourself and attack with increasing ferocity. Each turn you draw 5 cards (this is the key point) and then recruit, attack and use any other abilities those cards my include. One of these abilities is to draw more cards, in some cases 2 cards.

Somehow JT ended up with the below as her hand on one turn:
Yes that is 16 cards 
I was on the verge of victory before this :(

In other news, I've completed the last Hussar base for the Austrians; now just got Dragoons and Kuirassiers. Hopefully will get somewhere with those tonight.

Monday 19 June 2017

Update (19/06/2017)


Its been a while. Life has taken over, and to be honest I'm getting a bit ground down by this project. So last night I had a review to see how much more I have to do. And its good news! (Blank Tiles show where units are missing).

Prussian Army at Lobositz:
Frederick's Army
Army Assets

Prinz von Preussens's Infantry Corps

von Gessler's Cavalry Corps
So I have 3 Kuirassier Regiments and a Dragoon Regiment as well as the command bases.

Austrian Army at Lobositz:

von Browne's Army
Army Assets (Grenzers)
von Hadik's Advance Guard
Lacy's Infantry Corps

Kollowrat's Main Infantry Corps

Luchesse's Cavalry Corps
So 5 combat stands here; 1 Hussar Regiment (nearly finished), 1 Kuirassier Regiment and 3 Dragoon Regiments.

So all in all, 9 combat stands and then all of the command stands. Feel a lot better now and already started planning the terrain out. Will also try and post more.










Wednesday 3 May 2017

5th (Prussian) Dragoon Regiment

So, I need to get all the Austrians out so I can show off all the Infantry I've been doing but last night I painted up the 5th Dragoons. I think they've come out alright (got to be honest I'm flagging now) and I like the alternative basing formation to identify them.

I think the colour has come out ok and the various horse colours give it sufficient variety. Only two more of these to do, three Cuirassiers and command stands and the Prussians are all painted! With the Austrians not far behind (significantly less cavalry), basing is in view.

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Not so good.

The less said about this weekends game the better. We just didn't turn up with our heads on right and Gateshead really did and gave us a pasting. Need to pick ourselves up and go again in a fortnights time.

In painting news (which is what most of you are bothered about) I have really cracked on with my Austrians and I now just have one more Infantry Regiment and they are done. The two grenadier regiments have been painted up in the colours of 3 different regiments present.

I'm also halfway through doing the three regiments of Prussian Dragoons which for some reason I've ignored up until this point.

Will try and get some better pictures up soon.

Monday 24 April 2017

Morecambe Bay Storm On a Roll

So I had fully expected to have a slightly down post today about how we'd given Terriers a good game but we'd lost after fatigue slowly set in.
Not sure about that tackling position
Photo courtesy of Steve Layfield
Well I can't say that because (despite a few nerves near the end), we got a 22-20 victory up in Ulverston and with it a 2 and 0 record heading into our 1st home game next week against the Senators. Two touchdowns by Dion Feather and one from Adam "Boo-Boo" Horrobin along with a defensive safety gave us a nervy win.

I can honestly say this was a much better feeling than the other week against Lightning - that felt like a done deal at half time. This time it went right down to the wire with Tom Smith recovering the fumbled snap to finally kill off the game so the relief led to more emotion at the end; this backed up by the fact we lost twice to Walney last year without scoring a point as well and my missus and youngest being there to support me!
Goal Line Defence
Photo by Dave Nicholls
Today I feel battered and bruised - I played all but one play at Right End - definitely prefer it at Safety but any game time is good game time and had fun. Don't think I made any big whiffs - its hard to tell if you're doing a good job if you're on contain. Couple went outside but not much, have to wait until see game tape. Game report to follow on MBS Facebook and web page.


Thursday 20 April 2017

Hunting Plans

For those you don't know (and need to know), Baccus' prices are increasing on Monday so now is the time to buy. Its not unreasonable for there prices to increase and I'd rather Peter be still trading than for him to be run out of business in a couple of months time.
I got my order in at start of this month with enough (I hope) to finish off my Lobositz project. More Austrian Infantry, Prussian Kuirassiers, some generals and a pack of Jagers. I don't technically need Jagers but I wanted to add some onto some of my command bases and I will paints them up to break up the cavalry and infantry masses I still have to do. In a similar way I have excess Hussars for both sides (will make sure I have 2 Regiments each) as well as a couple of leftover Austrian artillery officers.

Anyhoo, with the remaining Jagers I have plans to do a couple of Frei Infantry Battalions. I have a spare Prussian Infantry Battalion so will take 2 stands for each of 3 units. Each unit will have a linear base as well as 2 skirmish bases. I intend to have the standard infantry and 4 Jager models in the main line as well as 2 more in open order. The lined up models will be painted as Fusiliers with the skirmishers as Jagers. The skirmish bases will have 1 base of Jagers and 1 of Fusiliers.

I have looked and intend to do 2nd, 7th and 8th Frei Battalions, so 3 linear bases and 6 skirmish bases with 6 spare figures.

In the meantime, 2nd game of the season for the Storm away at Walney Terriers this Sunday.

Monday 10 April 2017

Update

Still advancing through bits and bobs (any painting this week will be reward for study time on Driving Theory). I got one of the 2 Hungarian Regiments painted (still awaiting colours) and it looks good; with their red trousers they really stand out compared to the Austrian units.

I also did some more work on Sch'yyrk. Painted the base black (think I'm going to make a rubble base?) as well as repainting his shirt and breeches black which I think looks good. His boots and gloves will darken as well when I wash them in brown, whilst I'll be less heavy on the green wash on the cloak.


Any feedback is appreciated :)


Morecambe Bay Storm 1st League Game (And Win!)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

www.morecambebaystorm.com
Sorry needed to get that out - still absolutely buzzing (albeit with sore muscles, joints etc) from a fantastic day yesterday. Travelling up to Northumberland to play the Lightning in our first competitive game. I won't give too much of a game report as I'm sure others will do it better but instead I'll give a tale of my day (be warned this is our longest away day this year).

Previous Night: Got Kit ready

7:30: Up, showered, put bags together, feed kids breakfast.
8:45: At pick up point (the actual pick up point!)
9:05: Impressively coach running on time! Coach journey is talking scheme and trying to relax  - welcome break at service station (coach seats not designed for 6'3" height)

After this I get fuzzy with times

12:30: Arrive? Really starting to hit home now, where we are and how far we've come.
1:00: Kit on, walk up to pitch. Start to warm up throwing balls around - absolutely beautiful day. Personally, I did a few drills using sideline as a ladder to try and get feet moving.
1:30 ish: Team warmup - our usual warm up with claps for timing right on point.
2: Kick Off - we're returning. I'm not starting on Defense (being a utility player is a disadvantage in that regard) but am on kick off return and kick off.

1st Quarter - Team is on fire. Defense starts with 3 successive 3 and outs backed by Chris Aldred with some perfectly timed whilst offense roll and before we know it a 1 yard QB sneak by Chris Mayne converted on a run by Joe Patterson is followed by 2 further passing touchdowns (Dion Feather and John Littlejohn) with another 2 point conversion. 22-0

2nd Quarter - Offence keeps rolling with 2 more scores (sorry concentrating on defense briefings) whilst Lightning get on the board after starting 15 yards off our goal line. Matthew Berrington should have had a pick 6 but called off due to an illegal block in the back (TBC who the culprit was). 34-6

HT comes, carbs loaded up on as well as fluids - its still hot. Stretch off for second half.

3rd Quarter - Games a bit tighter - offense isn't scoring as frequently - still playing well but a bit more conservatively - no need to try anything stupid. Defense being stretched a bit more but not breaking - Rob Bainbridge with some huge hits whilst all 4 of the starting DBs getting picks - (Jim Mawson had 3 on the day but really should have had 4, dropping the easiest chance he had :p). There should have also been a long passing touchdown which was called off due to a completely unnecessary penalty (block in back/roughing?) on the cornerback who was never going to get anywhere near the play.

4th Quarter - Some more aggressive hitting and the steam really is out of this one, the 35 point barrier was broken which means the clock is running and a couple more scores result including an impressive leaping catch by Dion Feather who had 3 TDs. Rick Schuttenbald also chipped in with a fumble recovery returned to the house to cap a great game for the D. Game ended with a bit of an ugly spat but overall the game was played in good spirits. 46-6 for the Storm's first win

Post game handshakes and cheers are much better when you've won.
Team Photo
Personal note: playing 3 positions (Plus 2 special team positions) is hard, especially when most of the time you are out of your comfort zone. For the first probably 3 quarters I was splitting my time between D-End and weakside linebacker, it was only when our Free Safety went off injured I got to go back to my most comfortable position at Strong Safety and made one decent tackle which really popped. Bit hard to argue with not getting in mind when your competition is grabbing 3 interceptions.

It might not last for long but for now can genuinely say we're top of the league!
5:30: Showered, dressed, laughs
6:00: Really good food laid on - chilli in soft tacos with cheese and salad. Along with cheap cider - lovely. Good marks for that Northumberland!
6:30ish: Back on bus. Bus journey full of laughs, new nicknames (here's looking at you Multipack), and a bizarre back road detour.
9:30ish: Home - collapsed on sofa and bed. Yes I'm old.

All in all an awesome day! 2 weeks time we go to Walney Terriers in our only meeting this year for the Battle of the Bay!

Thursday 6 April 2017

WIP - A Certain Drow Rogue

So I've posted a couple of times about Sch'yyrk Revan'tyl - well I've finally started with a fig for him (which I will also use as an Assassin in Frostgrave). The model came in the Nickstarter for the Barbarian expansion for Frostgrave and I've converted to be a bloke and also to be holding a shortsword rather than a wand. Still needs washes and highlighting as well as basing but here it is so far,

The mottled cloak with wolf pelt above - may have overdone the dry brushing on the pelt - or it might be the picture
I might repaint the under layers a darker colour - maybe even black. The sword will also be darkened when I apply some gunmetal.

I'm going to go through my Frostgrave/DnD minis and see if I have enough for a couple of 4 point warbands for SAGA - me and JT are really enjoying The Last Kingdom; Episode 3 really was epic - and it might be an excuse to get her into something different.

I've also completed a couple of Grenzer skirmish stands - more are following as well as Hungarians and Grenadiers.
Banal Grenzers
Austrians so far
This Sunday is the first league game for Morecambe Bay Storm, hopefully (signal permitting) you should be able to follow the score here.


Tuesday 4 April 2017

New Season Ahead

So as I've said previously, I'm not currently affiliated with any club due to the fact that I am focusing on American Football with Morecambe Bay Storm and the season starts this weekend coming. As such I will probably be slowing down on here (can it get slower?) so that when I'm not training or playing I can spend time with kids and JT. If you want to follow us live the scores will be on ScoreStream (signal dependent) and I'd imagine on twitter too.


Even still I will keep plodding through with the armies I have and trying to get them done - terrain might be a job to do when we have "messy time" with kids. I have some ruined buildings I want to get painted - some for Frostgrave, others for Italy/Sicily.

Yesterday I received my FeldHerr carry case I've bought for my Bolt Action Force - fits all of what I've got with space left in my figures row as well as over half the space left in the vehicles row. My rulebooks fit in the front so all in all very happy. Also frees up a really useful box which I can use for my Russian 10mm Regiment.

I'm going to put up for sale a few of my bits and pieces - this includes my Dystopian Wars German Fleet plus Zeppelins. and depending on funds raised this may go towards opposing forces for something I've got or something new.

As such, was just looking at Age of Sigmar purely out of curiosity. I like the idea of it all but then I saw the price of the models and was really confused by how you make up your army? As in points value etc? Am I missing something? Minis do look stunning though.

Lobositz is still the focus - still going at this unit by unit - now got 6 Austrian Infantry Regiments done as well as a Grenzer skirmish base. I also would like to play in a DnD campaign - but unless someone is willing to come and DM at my house I really can't see that happening.

Thursday 30 March 2017

Sniper!

Been a while since posted; away at the weekend and still trying to recover stuff from flooded shed. Ordered a new carry case for my Fallschirmjager from Feldherr which should be with me Monday (should give me motivation to at least get 750 points worth painted).

Speaking of Fallschirmjager I've got a couple of squads half done and I finished off my Sniper team. Pictures are crap - couldn't get camera on phone to focus properly sorry.

Jeez, they look even worse on here - in reality the bases have come out really well with variations of colour - have to get my actual camera out at some point.

3 More Regiments
Last night I also did a bit more work on my Austrians once the kids had gone to sleep; my plan is to split each session I get now in half - some on my Lobositz forces and the other on either my Fallschirmjagers, Frostgrave or Vietnam stuff just to keep me going.

I've also ordered a couple more bags of bits from Baccus before their price rise towards end of April, get your orders in fast!

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Sch'yyrk Revan'tyl

I've finally got a mini for Sch'yyrk and his back story has changed a little so here it is.
Converted Mini from Frostgrave 
This was a mini I got in a Nickstarter for the Barbarians Frostgrave set - I'm regretting choosing it for this in some ways - it looks like I wanted Sch'yyrk to look except it was a woman who I've modded (with a craft knife). Now I don't care too much about that except I've got so few female minis for Frostgrave or DnD that converting one probably wasn't sensible - I'll just have to find a pack of female adventurer's online. I've also converted the (I assume) wand into a pretty vicious looking shortsword. This mini will represent Sch'yyrk out of the sun (I will be keeping my eye out for a similar model but with a heavy hood up.

The mini will have dark skin with dirty white hair, the cloak will be grey/green mottled with tan boots. A snow wolf pelt hangs around his neck.

He is now a Rogue using the Criminal background (in reality a Spy, who will evolve into an Assassin).

Sch'yyrk was brought up under the Weapon Master of a minor house, specializing in stealth and subterfuge. He always queried the way of things (for which he has received many bruises and scars) but excelled in his training.

The "Drizzt"incidents set in motion the events which have led Sch'yyrk here. Sent out to find the "traitor" and any others who  have followed the same path, Sch'yyrk discovered an abandoned camp of Drow who had fled and found teachings of the goddess Eilistraee. This discovery as well as finding the surface world to be totally unlike that taught to him back in Menzoberranzan, have led him to turning his back on the teachings of the Dark Seldarine.

Tale of Three Armies

So I've currently got 3 Forces that I'm working on at the moment although I'm also going to go through my 10mm stuff and see what I've got there too, due to the shed flood issues.

Got a few bits done last night but I'll show some more pictures of these once I've got a decent amount finished. Closest to finished is my Prussian Army - just short commanders and some Kuirassiers and Dragoons.
Prussian Army
I have also started on my Austrians to oppose these, and I've already got all of the Artillery done - ALL OF IT (2 stands).
2 Regiments of Austrian Infantry and the 2 Units of Artillery I need.
Finally I have my Bolt Action force. Everything to the left of the armour is done so I reckon I'm about a quarter of the way through.
Although its not a priority, I had a bit of a go at my StuG last night (getting nowhere near a 750 point list), heavily washed in brown and I'm going to give a light green too I think. Decals go on and then its going to be sand glued to tracks and road wheels before a lot of drybrushing.

I then need to get myself a decent carry case.

Next up - the return of Sch'yyrk.