The Big Freeze Starts Here

Monday  18th  December 2017 - WDW

Yes..I know that was some time ago but I do, as of 23.12.17, have some details of what went on:

Sikhs v Brits (re-fight of the previous game).
A boardgame - Andrew & Co
DBM - don't know which armies were involved though.


Sunday 24th December 2017

Finished the Dr Who book - "The Story of Martha" - which I picked up in Hebden Bridge at the end of last month.  A rather disjointed story - or series of stories.  It probably seemed a good idea at the time but I don't think it quite comes off.  Average.


Monday 25th December - BBC1

I watched the 'changover' Dr Who episode - not impressed.  The music was too loud and the voices too quiet.  Leaving with a cliff hanger is OK but having to wait until the autumn is a bit much.  Seen a lot of criticism online - kind of agree at this point.


Tuesday 26th December 2017

Working my way through Slingshot 315:

"Kidon a mace? I'm beten on it" (Guardroom) - nitpicking.  In the old days (eg WRG 6th) rules were weapons based.  The world has moved on.  Whether Goliath had a mace or short sword no longer matters.

"Is Goliath a Distraction" - after reading 2 paragraphs my brain switched off.  Maybe not a distraction but certainly a soporific.

"A Bit of Fun with Phalanxes" - I actually woke up for this one - it was more interesting than I expected. Comparing 7 different rule sets (admittedly some were ancient editions) did not look promising. Credit should go to the author (Chris Hahn) for his worthwhile efforts.



Wednesday 27th December 2017

More Slingshot 315:

"The Battle of Hearclea" - part one covers the background and local politics giving an insight into why certain things happened.  Part two is on tactics - interesting.

Thursday 28th December 2017

Suddenly realised it was Thursday - too easy to lose track during the festive season. 

The electrician turned up today and sorted out most of my ring main - all except the power to my central heating system.  The gas man cometh - but not until Saturday - to deal with the pump. That will be the eighth day since the breakdown. 

Tried to buy some heaters in B & Q only to find that the Barnsley building is empty. Wickes had nothing either.  Oh well!  Nil Desperandum.


In spite of all that I do wish all my readers A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Montezuma 1: Morgan 0

Saturday 16th December 2017 - WDW

I really wanted to be there but Montezuma had other ideas.  After downloading, printing out the main section of the rules and even reading them I was, like Cinders, not going to the ball.

Fortunately I received a battle report:

"Only one game this Saturday - a fictional Roses battle using "To the Strongest" rules, in which the Lancastrians smashed the Yorkist centre, with King Henry Looting the Yorkist camp.

The battle ended dramatically with Percy's bill men defeating  a Yorkist Mercenary pike block.  Inspired by this, Percy and household took on a neighbouring spear unit, driving it from the field. The battle mad Percy now turned his attention to a mounted retinue which had been immediately behind it, and charged that too. Unfortunately, it proved to be King Henry on his way back to his own lines...Percy blamed the incident on the lack of a standard, identifying the group.

Henry survived the assault on his dignity; but will Percy? Tune in for our next thrilling instalment of the saga in the New Year!"


Monday  18th  December 2017 - WDW

Again I wasn't there - and no reports received!  Will have to wait for the new year to find out.


Wednesday  20th  December 2017

Whilst mouldering at home I watched two new DBA v3.0 videos from Tony Aguilar and Co:

Early Armenian vs. Pergamene w/Kappadokian allies DBA 3.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atKJ49YTXIc&feature=youtu.be

Scots-Irish vs Picts DBA 3.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_udcTvaaoMA

These two games were uploaded on the same day after a bit of a hiatus.  The 'break' was caused by some adverse criticism on the DBA Fanaticus forum.  I have learnt a lot from watching these battles and yes there were mistakes but what the hell we are all human!  If you put your head above the parapet  some non-contributor will shoot it off.  Glad to see that TA & Co have decided to continue.


Thursday  21st  December 2017

Just received the latest copy of Slingshot (315) so have only given it a quick look.  Will reserve judgement until the next blog.

Another Short Entry

 It's just the way things go...feast or famine.  Let's hope that next week there is more of (wargaming) interest for my readers.



Monday 11th December 2017 - WDW

Sikhs v British - "The Men Who would Be Kings"

British v Vichy French WW2 - Andrew's rules

DBM - Early Northern Barbarians v Sargonid Later Assyrian - CJ got the list wrong so had to adapt at short notice.  That meant we had masses of Wb(F) plus some Cv(O) and Cv(I).  The Assyrians put their powerful command on our left - it didn't look good.  After a series of 6:1 and 5:2 dice rolls we were triumphant - a well deserved win (NOT).


From DBA Fanaticus Forum:

(1)  Another DBA v3 report from TA:   Early Imperial Romans vs. Early Germans DBA 3.0
                                                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyif3W22r9Y


Footnote:  I have been carrying out some, initial, research on Napoleon in Egypt (and Syria).   I will put it all together asap and publish it as a separate entity. If you have any info please let me know.

Recon..and all that!

Saturday 2nd December 2017 -RECON @ New Pudsey

Well...the journey started off strangely - the train arrived 8 mins early at Fitzwilliam but reached Leeds 5 mins late !!!!   Just missed one connection but only 15 mins to the next.  Cold but not as bad as two days before. Recon was the usual boor and numbers were down.

Only purchased 1 bag of (8 metal) 'Fantasy Samurai' (from A.J.Dumlow) that I can use in a HotT army (it's about time I built something to face my Garden Gnomes).

Return journey was a 'piece of cake'.


Sunday 3rd December 2017 - Gt. Houghton

Tried out a game of DBM 200 - Northern Dynasties Chinese v Patrician Romans.  Ian was 'rusty' so it was not surprising when I demolished his cavalry command.  He was about to concede when, on a whim, he decided to have just one more round. You can guess what happened....I couldn't get the last two elements I needed to kill off his army.  The dice gods favored the Romans so that one of my commands broke.  Unfortunately if you have equal sized commands it only needs one extra element to exceed army break point. 

Casualties count for a lot more under DBM 200 - if you are going to lose a command make sure that it is the smaller one. Expensive troops like Reg Kn(F) @ 11 ap are not cost-effective - you need more 'filler'.

With time to spare we played a DBA v3.0 game using similar armies.  True to form I started off well but soon perished.  Oh Well!


Monday 4th December 2017 - WDW  

Another sparsly attended session.  Only two games going on:

Near Future FUBAR - Police v Insurgents - victory went to the rebels (why do I have Star Wars playing in my head?).

DBM - Huns v Northern Dynasties Chinese.  I went for the all mounted option with Jurchen-Chin allies.  Andy had an  Ostrogoth ally which looked remarkably arab.  The result was a draw - we had lost 7 elements (including 4 for a BUA) - they had lost none.  Not exciting.

Purchased 2 x Han Chinese 4h chariots from CJ.   Two standard Essex chariots with crew and canopy.  Except for these two figures that is - don't know what they really are - any suggestions? 

Thought about painting the canopies so did some research.

From the discussion on TMP [http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=466280] it seems that only commanders had these brollies.  Given the emphasis on lightness the heavy discs supplied, formerly, by Essex seem inappropriate.  The canopy shown above is clearly not much more than a sun shade.  For earlier chariots I need to scratch build something and paint it in more muted colours.

As I slowly replace my dual-purpose 4h chariots with 'proper' Chinese models the early Carthaginians will, eventually, get sole use.