2019 Autumn Miniatures gaming

Not a lot to report on the miniatures front, although that is about to change.  Over the summer I played a half dozen different SAGA games, and at Call to Arms (the October wargaming convention in Williamsburg) I was able to play a game of SAGA.  That game, I was playing my friend Stephen from the ODMS club, and he was running Pagan Rus.  I was running (for the first time) plain old Vikings.  I managed to eke out a win, and I suspect my reliance on large units (a lesson I learned while running my Anglo-Saxons) helped -I had two 12 man units of Warriors.  Plus a 12 man unit of Levy, and a 4 man unit of Hearth Guard/Berserkers.

Saga at Call to Arms - me on the right, with Vikings

Previously I ran a game at Guns of August (at the Virginia War Museum in Newport News).  My game was a 28mm skirmish game of Romans vs. Germans, a follow on small skirmish after the Teutoburger Wald forest battle.  The figures were an assortment of different Foundry barbarian types, and the Romans were a mix of different manufactures.  The rules used were the Song of Blades and Heroes, using just historical troop types.  It wasn't my cup of tea, but I admit I should try the rules again.  I am inclined to think I would much rather play something like an adaptation of Lion Rampant, or even Warhammer historical.

Our club, which historically had been a Thursday night club, now has groups that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Tuesday cadre has a dedicated group that plays Warrior 15mm ancients every week.  The other part of Tuesday nights are boardgamers - Settlers of Catan, and that sort of thing.

American Revolutionary War - Battle of Freeman's Farm

Now, coming up I have two miniatures games planned.  The  first will be a 15mm version of Freeman's Farm (part of the Saratoga Campaign, 1777).  I had thought of using Black Powder for this game, which I enjoy, but instead I am going to use the much easier Neil Thomas rules.  There is an excellent fan version of his rules (based on the Napoleonic version, but with more concentration on Linear Tactics), covering 18th century, with some lists of troop types for the American Revolutionary War.  I will use those rules, although there is a peculiar feature of them.  That is, formed infantry cannot charge other formed infantry, unless that target unit is smaller.  This rule exists in several of the horse and musket era Neil Thomas rule sets, in order to push the idea of the musketry firefight.  Two units that approach, have to stop and exchange firepower with each other, before one goes charging in.  Pretty historical, but different from what most wargamers expect.

For the scenario, I am consulting a couple of wargaming sources I have - the scenario guide for British Grenadier, and also the battle description in the 1st edition Black Powder rulebook.  For historical sources, I am looking at 'A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution' and some internet sources such as British Battles.

There is a Freeman's Farm scenario for Tricorne (the Commands & Colours variant for AWI), that I might play before I run the game (solo, probably). Just to get some more insights into the battle, but a Tricorne scenario is at a different level of abstraction/scale than a miniatures battle.

The portions of the battle I want to focus on are Fraser and Burgoyne on the British side, and Arnold, Morgan's minutemen, and Dearborn's lights on the American side.  I will probably omit Reidesel, although the Hessians would make an interesting part of the scenario, they don't show up until late in the day, and might present a balancing problem for the scenario.

Denbigh Fusiliers in the Sudan

The other game I have planned, is a game of The Sword and the Flame in 28mm.  This will be held on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. The battle is a company of British regulars (the Denbigh Fusiliers) moving through some territory where British and Egyptian friendly villages have raised a small makeshift militia to defend against the Mahdists that are overwhelming the region.  Almost like a "Magnificent Seven" or "Seven Samurai" type scenario - but instead of 7 heroes helping the villagers to defend themselves, here you have two platoons of Tommy regulars in Khaki helping to fight off the Dervish attack.  The scenario is called "Friendly Territory" and is the first battle of the "Denbigh Fusiliers" mini campaign.  It should be fun.  More as the game approaches.

Miniatures gaming update

I recently got to play in a few miniatures games, which I had been absent from for some months with the busy time at the end of fall semester, over the holidays, and heading into spring semester.

At the Williamsburg Muster in February, I got to play in a Frostgrave game, very fun.  I forgot my own wizard and his stats at home, so I used a "loaner" wizard (actually my friend John D.'s wizard), and I did well enough.  I retrieved a single treasure, but did get to kill (using the spell "Bone Dart") my friend Jon K.'s wizard (Jon set up and hosted the game, and I repaid him with Bone Dart).

Also I got to try out Impetus again, using Late Romans vs. Sassanid Persians.  Fun game.  I played against Stephen P.  We had a good time, and have enjoyed these rules pretty well.  Looking forward to trying some more armies.  The Romans did well and were performing very nicely in terms of points, at the time the game was called, but the Persians had just broken through with an encircling move on one flank, and it wouldn't be long before Roman Collapse.  Still, a very fun game.

Over the holidays, I got to play in a large 1809 game using the Shako II rules (with the D10 modification).  Very fun.

I've gotten to play a few Saga battles here and there, very fun.

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Coming up - projects I am working on, to run soon, are:

An 1965 scenario between Pakistan and India, using Cold War commander.  To get ready for this, I am doing some 1:300 scale Asian terrain.  The battle I am doing featured some flooded rice fields, so I am doing rice paddocks (and I am trying to straddle the line for pieces that could be used for 1:300 or 10mm or 15mm).  Also, some villages.

Using Piquet: Field of Battle to play a Russo-Japanese scenario.  There are things I like about Basic Piquet, and some things I don't like.  I believe that FoB preserves the good, and patches over the bad, so I want to give it a try.

Mexican-American War - looking for a new ruleset.  I may try Field of Battle if the above game goes well.

Japanese Medieval - Will be basing my Japanese on 80mm wide bases.  I'm pretty sure I will be doing two Samurai armies.  Will also look into doing the Koreans.  Looking to play "To the Strongest" with these armies.

Gaming over the Christmas Holiday 2018

One of the things I enjoy most about being employed by a University, is that my work schedule is more or less similar to a student's schedule, which means I get a break over Christmas every year.  This is (as reported on in previous years here at Gaming with Chuck) a time for family, friends, and in our house - gaming is one of the ways we spend time together.  This year was no exception.

The gaming we did was of three varieties.  First, there was a lot of board games and card games.   These were done at home, with either the immediate family, the extended family, or with friends so close they are practically family.  More on what we played down below.  Second, there was some miniature wargaming.  With my reduced schedule, I actually got to play some wonderful miniature wargames - I usually try to host one (as the referee) over the holidays, but not this year.  Instead I got to play in a few (again, details below).  Third, there is roleplaying. We did not do a lot of RPG gaming this year over the Christmas break, but did manage to get one day of gaming in, right around New Years, which was a smashing success.

So, first, the board gaming.  There are a couple of board gaming activities that take place at our house over Christmas time.  Every year we participate in the Boardgame Geek Christmas Card Exchange.  This year was no different - we were able to send out some great cards to gamers all over the planet (we signed up for 12 gamers to send cards to, and received random names from a list).  I try to read the profile of the person getting the card on BGG before sending the card, and writing a note about their type of gaming, and any ways it intersects with ours.  Also, every year at Christmas time we try to have a few boardgame days at the house, where we host people with lots of Christmas treats, music, drinks, and boardgames.  A great time.  This year was no different.  We had friends over several times.  Finally, every year around Christmas time, we try to get some new boardgames to play as a family, and spend the spare time of the holiday break playing them together.  Some great breakout titles this year have been Sagrada, Queendomino, and Railroad Ink: Blue.

As gifts there are some games we got but haven't tried yet.  That includes (finally) the Toscany addition to Viticulture, and Anita received Between Two Castles.

For miniatures gaming, chiefly I got to play in three games.  First, I got to play in Saga - the Viking Age skirmish game.  I got to run out my Anglo-Saxons against the feared Jomsvikings.  Great game.  Practically speaking it was a tie, but I hand the victory to the Jomsvikings.  In that game I tried a different commander for my Anglo-Saxon force.  Typically, I use a regular (generic, non-named) Warlord, but this time I used Alfred the Great.  He has some (according to the rulebook) abilities in the game as a playing piece, and I love the history of Alfred, but it just wasn't my playing style.  Second, I got to play in a fantastic game of Shako II - 15mm Napoleonic rules.  The battle was an 1809 battle between the Austrians and French, and I was on the French side.  Loads of fun even though our side lost (as it did in real life).  The third game was a battle of late ancients, with Late Romans fighting Sassanid Persians.  We used the Impetus rules for this one, and it was a lot of fun.  A bit strange with so many new players, but we agreed the rules (now 10 years old) were very good, and deserve a rematch.

Finally, we played an RPG session.  Our last RPG series, which was a dungeons and dragons game set in the World of Greyhawk, saw a big break coming up for the players, as they prepared for the next part of their quest.  Taking advantage of that natural pause in the campaign, we this time played with a new set of players, having a city adventure, protecting a shipment of wine, arriving in the city of Niole Dra during the midwinter festival week of Needfest.  Lots of fun, as invisible thieves, evil knights, and goblins tried to spoil the winter festival.  The new adventurers uncovered a much bigger plot than the simple theft of fine wine, and the game will no doubt continue in the future.

I will end by saying that one of the highlights of the Holidays was getting together with my Brother's family, which is almost always a chaotic affair, but this year it included some gaming.  We taught them how to play the Christmas card game, 12 days of Christmas (not the one pictured above, but rather the one from Dr. Gordon Hamilton, published by Eagle-Gryphon).  It was a lot of fun, and I think my brother's family are almost recruits into gaming.


God bless all who read this, and I hope we all have a great 2019.