For wargamers a table top, some scenery and a few models and figures is sufficient to create another world.
Enjoy your wargaming in 2022.
Categories
All the World is a stage
Categories
What is Wargaming?
I started this post in early 2021 and simply abandoned it – binned the lot.
Here goes again.
In summary it is this………
- playing games about war and through aspects of warfare
Thats it except of course that is not “it”.
Wargaming can involve any or all the following
- ballistics
- estimating
- probability
- statistics
- art
- abstraction
- arguments
- laughing
- hilarity
- geography
- writing
- mathematics
- arithmetic
- memory
- history
- science
- persuasion
- decisions
- craftwork
- competition
- painting
- geometry
- religion
- fieldcraft
- impressionism
- metalwork
- research
- fashion
- design
- imagination
- woodwork
- music
- reasoning
- rules
- reflection
- observation
- guidance
- opinion
- measuring
- scaling
- proportionality
- modelling
- technology
- language
- FUN
plus anything else you can think of (apologies if you find a duplication in the list)
I might have set this out as per a certain 1970’s drinks add and finished with “ever fizzin…..” but I might have stumbled into copyright and licensing problems. Oh, so you can add
- social media,
- image rights and
- IPR as well.
Take your pick – my abiding fascination for wargaming is its sheer variety.
So the next time your accused of causing aggression or violence point out that many sports are well ahead in that queue and quite a few other apparently “peaceful” activities as well!
Enjoy your wargaming peacefully.
Categories
That was 2021
Well I have had a quick canter back through my postings of 2021. I managed to publish over 100 which was a surprise.
I have tried to intermix one off posts with some that are serials.
“Intermission” was my idea of simply taking a break – 11 of them so about one a month. Most are nothing to do with wargames although a few touched on history.
The “Painting Pedestal” was my way of recording the fact that I was actually completing figures and basing them up. They included:
King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia 1859
French Infantry 1848
Garibaldi Red and Blue Shirts 1848
Bologna Volunteers 1859
2020 ended with Dark Ages, Vikings and Saxons in my mind, but already the seeds of a new project had rooted. So 2021 was all about the Wars of Italian Unification 1848 and 1859.
And it stayed that way till a chance purchase of an old small A5 rulebook on WW2 took me off to a side project.
At the same time I was sorely tempted to pursue another side project – scifi based.
Fortunately that has stalled and I can feel my side project on WW2 is probably reaching its natural conclusion.
So what does 2022 offer?
I think I will return to 1848/1859 Italian Unification Wars.
We shall see.
Whatever 2022 brings you – merry christmas and may all your wargame wishes come true!
Thank you for visiting the Wargaming Erratic Blog.
Lorenzo VII
Categories
Threads and Themes
My wargaming has continued to evolve. In 2021 I played more games than in previous years and created more fictitious eras for my mythical worlds. Fauxterre expanded in surprising ways. And that of course is the point about imagination – its very chaos is the atrraction. Unless of course your livelihood depends on producing it for others.
My imaginative wargaming is simply for pleasure – a distraction, an escape from the real world.
Wargaming on the other hand seeks rules and restrictions. So rulesets for many wargamers are a pleasure (!) in themselves rather than simply a necessity. The exception is I believe competition gaming where the rulesets are a necessity simply to allow the “fight” to be resolved at all and a winner declared.
In the wargaming arena “rules lawyers” are the pantomime baddy except ruining the event rather than adding to it. Perhaps the solution has always been there – make competitions more fun than theory. Less historical particulars and more game means that the lawyers have less to exploit. That said, even such family games as cards, scrabble or monopoly betray the rules manipulators!
From my perspective there seem to be far more rules published for game enjoyment even in a competitive situation. And despite a drive for simplicity the abstractions are often well thought out so the feel of the game historically is still there – a key part of the wargame enjoyment.
This is another blog post that has deviated already. On the subject of threads and themes I have been musing on the subjects of rulesets, games and imaginations.
I do like a set of wargaming rules and as rules writers have tended towards explaining their ideas ,these publications have become more readable. Even if you never play a ruleset, they give you someone elses opinion about a conflict or technology – what was signficiant when it came to the conduct of a campaign or battle.
In 2021 I indulged myself.
- Piquet Field of Battle 1700-1900 – 2nd edition of this ruleset which likes lots of uncertainty – ideal for soloists and those who enjoy a degree of chaos when it comes to game turn sequence
- Neil Thomas 19th Century European Wargaming – post napoleonic but very much still horse and musket. Neil Thomas rules work, really work – its that simple.
- Practical Wargaming by Charlie Wesencraft – another ruleset that is coherent and in fact I have never felt the need to tinker with – well ok a little bit.
- Neil Thomas Wargaming an Introduction – not my first purchase yet some really useful rules in here.
- Mike Smith Table Top Battles – my “grid wargames” ruleset – they even gave me an easy way in to some naval wargaming – something I had previously shown no interest in.
- Battle – Practical Wargaming by Charles Grant. A complete set of simple rules for World War 2. A vintage ruleset they convey a simplicity of gaming I have since only really found in Neil Thomas rules.
- Peter Pig Poor Bloody Infantry is a grid ruleset but so much more. It is definitely a “game” and does not need adaption for me. I play it straight out of the book.
Donald Featherstone rules don’t appear but had regular run outs. The reason is simply that none of his books were in my view a complete set of rules. They were always full of rules ideas. And that means you get to tinker big time. He gets his own list!
- Battles with Model Soldiers ever popular for some simple basics
- Advance wargames for period specific mechanisms
- Wargame Campaigns – does what it says on the tin lid – ideas for campaigns
Surprisingly Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames had little look in this year. That suggests I have had more time to play each game.
The most satisfying ruleset for 2021 has been Neil Thomas Wargaming 19th Century European Wars. It gave me everything I needed for a new era with his excellent balance of simple play and historical feel. Add to that, excellent scenario generators for both historic battles and those of your imagination, This ruleset has sustained my new interest for most of the year without distraction.
Categories
Supply Chain 2021
My hobby has again been sustained by a supply chain. In my case 2021 has seen my ebay activity trail off while I have increased my buying with a few hobby companies.
Thank you to everyone (in no particular order!)
- Cronwallis – ebay supplier from Oz who provided some rare 1/72 plastic figures for my Fauxterre Napoleonic Mythical Realm. Also I secured a supply of Russian Napoleonics who will see life as my Milan Guard – one day!
- Model Hobbies supplied a lot of Napoleonic 1/72 figures and many Waterloo 1815 figures for my Wars of the Italian Unification project
- Black Forest Hobby were a source of some hard to get figures and rulessets
- Other ebay suppliers included ms-plueth (dutch/belgians), model148 (for peninsular war types) and rasweetrampwp who provided some WW1 belgians which I morphed into Neapolitan Chasseurs circa 1860.
- buchunversum supplied a very valued book – Funcken 19th century army uniforms with german text – britain/prussia/france 1815 to 1850. Crucially it shows the evolution of french and german uniforms from shakoes and breechs to pickelhaubes, kepis and trousers.
- SHQ provided 20mm metal napoleonics
- Hannants provided numerous 1/72 plastic figures mainly for my mythical napoleonic armies
- Caliver books provided invaluable titles for my new interests in european wars between 1848 and 1866. The Schleswig War of 1848 was probably my most satisfying buy – I just did not expect such a gem of a book. (see lead image for details). America in Algiers circa 1820 was a complete surprise!
- Irregular Miniatures have supplied some very useful 20mm figures for my Italian and French forces fighting over Rome in 1848 and all Italy in 1859
- Warrior Miniatures have provided 25mm troops for what will be my Fauxterre post Napoleonic forces
- Wargame Vault supplied me with “A Gentlemans War” skirmish rules in pdf format.
- Perry Miniatures provided their Carlist Wars ruleset
- Paul Meekins Books supplied a 100 year old copy of a trilogy on Garibaldi’s wars
- Games Lore supplied 5 Parsecs from Home sci fi rules
On the high street I bought figures and kits from Antics in Plymouth and Monk Bar models in York while Wonderland of Edinburgh supplied many sets of 1/72 figures including Crimean era
I managed just two shows where the following traders provided some excellent material.
- Pendraken for bases
- Colonel Bills for 20mm WW2 metals
- Dave Lanchester Books who have provided some really excellent source books most recently on 19th century sea warfare and Vichy France at War
- I have written up about Fiasco 2021 traders here and Recon 2021 show traders here.
Operation Hight Street
For some extra fun I have tried where possible to run my sideshow WW2 wargame project by buying in person at shops/traders. It has not been easy. Yet I have bought quite a bit of material from those few trips I did manage.
So I hope our hobby suppliers continue to prosper and provide us with figures, scenery, rules and other materials to enable us all to enjoy a hobby that lets you escape into your imagination.
Thank you
I am not a snow scenery person so you will have to forgive this small quirky offering.
Merry Christmas One and All!
Categories
An Unexpected Surprise
For the soloist, looking into the eyes of an opponent and not via a screen is a surprise – a nice surprise.
In this case it was a “live” wargame for a soloist. What to play? Time of the essence – it had to be quick. Although Neil Thomas is invariably a draw, it was “What a Tanker” (WaT) by Too Fat Lardies that won the decision.
I set up a congested scene after a recent solo run out of WaT had proven to be a bit too much of a target practice event.
Points tally was dictated by wanting at least 3 tanks a side playing wide across a 6’x4′ or 1.8m x 1.2m board. And with one gamer wanting big German tanks to figure, we ended up as follows.
Germans (43pts)
1 Pz VI Tiger I 21pts – armour 10 and strike value 10 with slow moving turret and heavy armour
2 PzIV E-F1 9pts – armour 5 and strike value 4
3 PzIV H-J 13pts – armour 6 and strike value 7
they were up against
British (45pts)
1 M3 Honey 9pts – armour 4 and strike value 4 Fast
2 M3 Grant 10pts – armour 4 and strike value 6
3 M4 Sherman 12pts – armour 6 and strike value 6
4 Sherman Firefly 14pts – armour 6 and strike value 9 slow mover
The British were so short of tanks the Honey had to be sent into action in bare metal (ok plastic) and some white primer!
The scene was near a destroyed bridge with a village of sorts clustered around a crossroads.
What a Tanker requires scenery classification.
The starting points were random. The tiger was in one corner. The M4 Sherman was opposite. The weaker PzIV EF and Grant were at the other flank. In middle the Honey and Firefly faced off the other PzIV HJ.
Everything was a minor obstacle except for some tough hedgerows which being MAJOR obstacles required extra effort to cross. These were my recently completed “sponge hedges”.
Victory conditions for this game were destuction of all enemy armour.
The Germans were a bit sluggish yet the Tiger took out the fast M3 Honey even before it moved. Things were not looking good for the British. The M4 Sherman (in the wide open) and opposite the Tiger had maxed out on moving (getting lots of drive dice to use in its first turn) and also rolled high (you roll dice for inches of movement). It promptly raced for the relative shelter of the village.
The Firefly was soon engaged with the PzIV HJ and stayed on the west road exchanging light damage.
The Tiger struck again and the Firefly was no more.
The odds were still stacked against the British. Fortunately the Tiger failed to get “drive” dice and the remaining M4 set about the PzIV EF1. Meanwhile the M3 Grant which had struggled to do anything useful managed to get on the north road despite halting in line of sight of the Tiger which this time failed to “acquire” dice for an easy target ( the tiger was at one end of the board, the Grant at the other – 72 inches away).
The Grant then scurried into south east wood before heading north!
Finally some better luck for the British as the M4 took out the PzIV HJ – striking at its weaker flank. Yet the Tiger was now hunting in the village.
Now the Tiger was really on the move and almost caught the tail of the M3 Grant. Random movement allowed the Tiger to then reverse back onto north bridge road to confront the M4 Sherman that had carelessly decided to chase the action.
The M3 Grant continued to skirt the east side of the village arriving at the north end of the village at exactly the right moment – what a journey!
The Tiger dice were thrown and they were “drive” dice and no “fire” dice. The Tiger simply drove straight into the M4 Sherman and then – nothing – it failed to crush the M4.
At that point the M3 Grant had completed its own circumnavigation of the village and acquired the weaker armoured rear of the Tiger 1.
At last the dice really went with the British and another lucky shot destroyed the Tiger 1.
Game over!
This game had all the twists and turns WaT offers. After the early dice rolled well for the Germans, luck ran out later on as the British crucially threw two sets of “tank destroyed” dice.
Great fun and we even gave the “oldhammer” measuring sticks a run out.
Categories
Recon at the Double part 2
Having done a quick tour of the show in my last post, this post gives a little flavour of the Lance and Longbow Society game.
The imaginary battle of San Giovese 1499 allowed two roughly equal forces of infantry and cavalry to fight for control of land around a priory.
Using modified Lion Rampant rules to handle base elements rather than single figures the game was run against the clock (60 minutes). In theory both sides had a slightly stronger right flank although in both games I joined the outcome was decided by total losses rather than a flank being swept away.
Essentially 2 or 3 players per side were assisted by an Umpire.
These were good and quick games to play, face to face and in a relaxed way.
So thanks to the Lance Longbow Society for running this game.
Categories
Recon at the double
After a two year break I attended Recon in Pudsey (between Leeds and Bradford), run by the Wakefield Wargamers. In between I have managed to visit just one other wargames show – Fiasco (last month).
Recon is what I guess people would regard as a regional show. This type of show is essential for the hobby to function. This year despite all the problems with COVID and an Autumn show congested calendar, the show was fine. Numbers were probably down – not a surprise, there were plenty of games available to play and a variety of traders. The bring and buy was a lot quieter and that is the indicator that tells you footfall was lower than in previous years.
Durham war gamers put on a large 28mm Vikings and Saxons game – visually attractive with longships beached up.
KB Club showed off smaller scale 1/144 modern warfare on hex plus a sci fi starships game.
6mm was on show with James Mitchell’s Sudan game.
The Lance & Longbow Society put on a 28mm Italian Wars game.
I had some good buys at the bring and buy as well as Dave Lanchester books. More on that at the end.
The other traders were a good mix selling figures, scenery, paints, brushes and rulesets as you would expect. I picked up Anarchy by Chris Peers published by Pen & Sword from “The Little Corporal”. Given, I was tempted there by Wargaming for Grown Ups Spanish Civil War rules – it was a surprise purchase!
Iron Gate Scenery had a good display as did Baccus 6mm and Eagle Miniatures 28mm.
I bought an FT17 by Hat from a trader who it appears was a late arrival so I cannot name them! They were between tables 20 (MaideinUK 3D printer) and 21 (Blastwall – mainly scenic).
My other purchases were all books
This last book was a pure indulgence. Having really enjoyed Ironclads I could not resist this book which deals with south amercian wars in the late 19th century. The paintings are fascinating and all the more interesting for being watercolours. Again Dave Lanchester Books was the supplier.
This South American war is one of those crossover wars where old and new technology combined for a moment and then continued on their respective journey.
A very good day out so put it in your diary for 2022.
So unexpectedly I had a scenery moment (or maybe a senior moment?). I had just invested in some stone walls even though I had intended to make my own.
And then I considered that I simply had no hedges. None – as an Ancients/Medieval come Early Modern gamer you only need them to hide ECW dragoons at Naseby I think……
Well as much as I like Last Valley and other off the shelf hedgerows I suddenly remembered a recent acquistion – Operation Warboard. In it Gavin and Bernard Lyall give you a lot of info on fighting WW2 battles and also putting together the game as a whole. No time to waste on scenery though – just a stick with some chopped washing up sponge does for trees.
So I thought as part of my Operation Highstreet I might try some homemade hedges. What did I have to lose.
I then did nothing. And then on a quick whizz through a corner shop I spotted a pack of 10 sponges for 100p or 10p each. Job done.
As it happens I have also been collecting tea – yes tea in tea bags. Now this particular minimalist technique I have not used since as a kid I used dried tea to save money for buying figures. I still have some D&D and Vikings figures with dried tea coated bases – imaginatively coloured brown tea colour – talk about tight fisted on spending!
Well this time I was pushing the boat out – no brown winter hedgerow here. It would be spring green this time.
Each sponge yielded two modular hedges – I reasoned this flexibility would help give variety.
I gave each a double dose of PVA glue – the first to fill up airgaps and the second to take the dried tea which I just rolled the sponges in, pressing carefully.
The dry brush of three coats going from blue green to a more yellow green worked for me. At every stage I let things dry out completely so not much time in each stage but the stages were spread out over a week.
And that is it. Very very quick if a bit brutal but in the spirit of Operation Warboard.
Now they just need to find a table top battle………………
The Wargaming Erratic 