New rules, future projects

 As my painting and gaming mojo comes back, I have been thinking about other projects, of course!  Here are a few that are at the front of the queue at the moment:

Two very interesting sets.  

Seven Days to the River Rhine covers the Great Conflict that never was - the Cold War Gone Hot in Europe.  This era brings me back to my early days of miniatures battles, as the gaming group I was part of was writing/testing micro-armour rules for both WW2 and 'Modern'.  Decades later, it is back, with a slight twist.  The idea that I have is more akin to the movie Red Dawn instead of the book Red Storm Rising, just at a larger level of gaming.  This would not be a skirmish game.  1/285 miniatures have been acquired for this project, now known as G22.

For Whom The Dice Rolls also caught my eye when published.  Do I need another Spanish Civil War project?  That is the question, and since I have two in the works already - 20mm skirmish and 1/144 aerial - the answer seems to be, err, yes!  My original thought was to do this in 6mm, but I am thinking 10mm might be better, as the 1/144 aircraft could be used for the ground battles, and the 10mm kit can be targets/scenery for the air-to-air segment.  To my eye, 20mm would be too large for this set, but I could be wrong.  More thought is needed.

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New book

It has arrived!

Above is a pic of the book that I won as part of the huge celebratory giveaway that Jon of Palouse Wargaming Journal used to mark the passing of some major blog mileposts.  The win was a big surprise to me, and I am hugely grateful for the gift - thanks again Jon!

As there are some very big changes going on here, I have yet to pop the tome open except briefly.  Hopefully, once the dust settles somewhat, I will give the book - a surprisingly hefty one - a thorough review as I have been wanting the book for some time.


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Agenda and other issues

Well, now that 2015 is rolling along, how about another one of those posts about what might get accomplished in it???

First off, 2015 has been declared the unofficial 'Year of Tékumel', as it was 40 years ago that the RPG Empire of the Petal Throne, by MAR Barker, was printed by TSR.  In honor of that, I am going to continue to work on my Tékumel miniatures, always with an eye to completing the goal of finishing my Ruins of Thámerü scenario, someday.  I have a fair number of Tsolyáni forces waiting for the production of the bulk of their opposition, the Yán Kór, to resume.  In addition to the Thámerü forces (an element-based force), I would like to get some skirmish forces together for Tékumel as well.

Alongside these troops, the Tékumel naval project waits patiently in the background.  

Not to be forgotten is my Mesoamerican project.  This one is going to be a bit slower of a wick to burn, but there are many miniatures to choose from.  Hopefully the budget will hold up to the task.  Some progress has been made, including this:

This is the 2nd edition of Irregular Wars, a rules set based on small unit forces during the Renaissance, including army lists for European, Mesoamerican, Middle Eastern, and Asian armies.  It has only just arrived, so a more detailed review will be forthcoming.

The medieval project, based around the fine miniatures from Claymore Castings, is being put on hold for the time being.  Just too much on my plate right now.  Besides, my lovely wife is more interested in the Mesoamerican stuff...

Speaking of a plate full, I also received this recently:

The latest book from Neil Thomas.  I will flip through the pages with starry eyes, and dream of one day having yet another project to accompany the many fine scenarios listed in it!  I can almost see starting up a 10mm project for the Seven Year's War...



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Galleys & Galleons, part 1

Last weekend, my lovely wife and I sat down to give Galleys & Galleons, the renaissance-era naval rules now in playtest, a go.  You will need to forgive the pics, as I do not have miniatures painted up, and I forgot to get my blue felt out for an appropriate backdrop!

This pic was taken after the full first turn.  The table is roughly 3 feet square, and we are using counters out of the Close Action game by Clash of Arms.  We kept details simple for this first game - 3 galleons each, with equal stats.  My wife is closing fast, as she rolled very aggressively (and well) throughout the game.  At this point, two of my ships are in irons - i.e. pointed into the wind.  It is an omen of things to come!

A few more turns in, and I am trying to shake my squadron back into a line.  My ships are taking damage, and Little Miss Horatio Nelson is about to break my line!

Even though one of her ships is out of contact, things are not looking good for me.  Yes, that ship of mine got raked and will strike its colors in the next turn, and the one on the right side is about to get raked, catch fire, and explode (!) in the next turn.

Here is the next to last turn - my last ship is trying to get off the board. She agreed that if my last ship could sail off the table, that it would escape as my wife's ships would need to return and claim the surrendered vessel.  Fortunately for me, my last vessel escaped...





So far, the verdict on the rules is quite favorable.  Even my lovely wife enjoys them, and she is a hard sell on sailing ship games.



As I would rather play with miniatures than counters:

Here is the start of a fleet of Figurehead 1/2400 ships on the workbench.  The bases are just temporary until I can order some better ones.

Just arrived...

The delivery person left this for me today:

Lion Rampant, the new medieval rules from Dan Mersey, published by Osprey.  I will try and have a good look at the book soon, but two things pop into my mind immediately:

First, I am not too sure about the smallish, perfect-bound format of the rules - I am just a Luddite I suppose!

Second, the urge to get my medieval project on the table again might lead to some unpleasant side effects - orcs versus Scots might be a possibility...


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New books

A few new books occupy my shelves, new to me at least:

The newest one of the lot.  I picked this up on the recommendations of a person posting on The Wargames Website, a new forum/news source that started up recently.  There is an article in WS&S 70 about converting these from Dark Ages to Ancients - from there it should not be too hard to slot them into use for Tékumel battles!


An addition to my small set of Meso-American books:

This should be good for some background reading and illustrations.


And, two interesting prospects for new projects:

The first is an overview of the Punic Wars, and the second details the border conflicts of the Scots.  I see both of these eras as potential gaming projects, although the current CFO - my lovely wife - is most interested in the Scots.  It is kind of a win-win situation for me as either one is great!  This will not see much work until the Meso-American project gains more traction...


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Langton ancient naval rules available

It would not surprise me that I am, once again, late to the party on this, but the set of ancient naval rules from Langton Miniatures, Naumachiae, is available as a free set of downloads... at this link.  



It is in PDF format, and fairly large, but worth the download wait!

An overview of MAYHEM

There is a new entry into the fantasy mass battle game market, and that is MAYHEM from Bombshell Games (available from Wargames Vault).  Here, I am just taking a quick look and giving first impressions... please note that I have not played the game yet.

The download from Wargames Vault is a zip file, with four PDF's  -  a 21-page rulebook, a Quick Reference Sheet, an army worksheet, and the General's Compendium with sample unit/army builds.

Basing for MAYHEM is centered around elements.  The recommended scheme for standard units is 40mm squares for 6mm/10mm, 50mm squares for 15mm, and 60mm squares for 25/28mm miniatures.  Heroic units, i.e. generals and the like, should use round bases to aid recognition.  However, I believe that any basing scheme should work if the units of each side are based in a similar fashion - one could use two rectangular DBx-style bases for one MAYHEM unit.

Units have three different stats - movement, combat, and traits.  Movement and combat are differentiated by dice type - D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, and D20 are used.  For movement, the bigger the dice, the farther one can move.  For combat, the smaller the dice the more effective - low rolls are good for combat results.  Traits, such as different weapon types (melee and ranged), can modify this, and there are traits such as 'Fear' and 'Ranked Fighting' which can further modify the results and give a lot of potential for designing unique units.

Movement is based around the 'Overdrive' system, which uses Command Points (CP).  A major design feature for MAYHEM is the use of CP.  Units are not limited to one move per turn.  As long as there are CP's to use, a unit can perform multiple moves during a turn, and these moves can be in a non-linear sequence, i.e. one can use CP's to move a unit twice, conduct melee with another unit, then return to the first unit and continue moving as long as there are CP's to use.  Of course, there is an additional CP penalty for multiple moves but fortune favors the brave!

Combat is based around rolling lower than your opponent in a melee.  The unit that rolls the highest is disordered; ties have no effect on either unit.  A roll of '1' is a critical strike and eliminates the target!  Traits and weapons do have an effect on combat, typically modifying the dice type that the unit rolls, or causing the target to fall back farther than usual.

Ranged combat is based on the specific weapon type.  One rolls for a hit, then again for damage.  To hit a target, the distance is measured to the target from the firing unit, as modified by terrain and such.  A roll lower than the range is a hit.  To damage, the weapon's damage dice is compared to the target's quality, with a low roll disordering the unit (and yes a critical hit is seen with a roll of '1'!)

Almost forgot  -  in most circumstances where dice need to be rolled, the unit can use the 'default' value  -  half of the dice value, i.e. the default value for D6 is 3, the default for D20 is 10.

Magic is not dealt with in MAYHEM; probably the only omission in the basic system.  It is promised in the next supplement for the series.



(Please note that this is a very basic overview of the rules!)



I am a bit impressed with MAYHEM.  For your US$7.99, you get an interesting system that has a lot of potential for the design of unique units and unique armies.  The 'Overdrive' system can be used to set up some very intricate maneuvers, if given enough CP to accomplish them.  The traits and weapon categories are varied enough to provide for a lot of variation, while the system is simple enough to not slow one down.

Hopefully, I can delve more deeply into MAYHEM soon with a view to make a more Tékumel-flavored set-up.

A new book

Well, new for my library!

I was able to pick this up for $8 recently.  It has some great reviews and the price was right.  I intend to read through it with an eye for converting it to a more Tékumel-style game, but it could be useful for the oft-threatened ancients project...




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Getting re-organized

After having taken a 4-month break from this project, the first item on the agenda is to get re-organized.  The rules dilemma for the skirmish games is still milling around and needs to be seen to.  I have an idea that the blending of Ganesha Games' Song of Blades & Heroes and Song of Drums & Shakos would work for small scale actions.  SBH would have material for the nickers and SDS for the troops.  I now realize that I have copies of both of the rules although I do not remember getting SDS (!), and with the long week-end here in the US I should cobble together some minis and try it out!

Speaking of minis, there is a post on the Grimsby Mariner blog about more WSS minis coming out soon.  I have to admit I am not too interested in the new Foundry range - although if some nice infantry vignettes are produced I could change my mind.  There is a new range of minis coming from Ebor Miniatures - check their blog post about WSS minis.  Very nice!



And the ships - I am working on replacing the masts - originally made of plastic, to be replaced with brass.

Projects

It has been a little quiet here at this mini-shipyard, so as an aid to get back into gear I'm listing the current naval projects:

1. 1/2400 Armada - The discovery of some long-lost Hallmark ships was a pleasant surprise, but I have not done anything else to them since. The two small squadron packs contain plenty of ships for now, but I am thinking of spicing them up a bit. I discovered just the trick for that - Tiny Tin Troops has a set of flags for Armada-era ships, so that has been placed on the To-Buy list. After that, just some paint and a set of rules then I'm set!

2. 1/2400 Ironclads - Ten Italian ironclads have been mostly finished, and there are 8 Austrian ships - 5 armored, 3 unarmored - waiting. I'm hoping to try a variant of DBSA to start once some Austrians are done.

3. 1/3000 WW1 - Still work to be done on these Baltic squadrons. Rurik and Novik are still not finished, and most of the German ships are only partially complete. These, however, have been stashed away since my recent move, but just a smidge of work would get this project afloat. DBSA will be the starter rules for this project as well.


And now for the 'other' naval projects I have been puttering around with lately:

4. 1/600 Tékumel naval - Fantasy gaming in the world of M.A.R. Barker - follow this link for a little bit of info.

5. 1/1200 Half-Continent naval - Also known as Monster Blood Tattoo or The Foundling's Tale, this set of novels details a blend of the fantastic with alchemy and the 18th-century. More information on my take of the story here.


Apologies for the lack of pics, and thanks for all the votes and comments on the previous post!

Slow progress

Small steps toward getting the first battalion done!

1. The minis are about half-way done with painting. I am finding that, for the mainly darkly-colored units, white primer is not such a good choice. The second battalion will be using black gesso for primer.

2. Bases - I forgot about the bases when I placed the order for the minis. So, I sent off an order with Litko - hopefully they will arrive later this month.

3. Rules - The delay in ordering bases corresponds with my indecision on a rules choice. In the end, I am going to try a modified Impetus set. Miniatures Wargames #322 has an interesting article on a conversion of Impetus to the AWI, which I am using as a starting point.


I'll post pics when I get something done!

Thoughts on rules, part 4

The following is what I had previously posted about rules...

I think that I have finally made a decision on the rules to use for mass battles. After some thought and a few practice games - using just some old metal bases as units - I have decided to use Fantasy Rules! by Chipco. I think the benefits of the quick play and unique army control system, the Morale Clock, outweigh the non-linear basing. I will do some tinkering to FR!, as I think the missile ranges are too long and some of the bases, for ambuscadiers (skirmishers) especially, will be rectangles instead of squares just for appearance's sake.

I will post my rules mods here as I go.

I still have not really made a decision as I am now plowing through a series of AWI (American War of Independence) sets to see if they are compatible. The lack of cavalry in both the AWI (and even War of 1812) and the Half-Continent is a surprising commonality, as is the variety of units possible. So, I continue searching - it will end soon as I am almost ready to base up troops!

Many thanks for The Baron for his suggestions!

Thoughts on rules, part 3

Settling in on a set of rules for this project seems to be a real problem for me. Just when I thought I had it sorted out with Fantasy Rules!, little pieces of the puzzle appear to not fit as well as I had hoped. As I continue to search, I am realizing that there is an important underlying factor. Units in the Half-Continent seem to be based primarily on our own 18th century history, which was a time of linear formations in combat. Thus, the main appearance of units in my version of H-C battles should be linear. Now, scale limitations preclude an accurate depiction of units - they are much much more wide than deep - one should have a semblance of a linear formation.

Fantasy Rules! is primarily a 'fantasy' game, partially based on early medieval formations in my estimation, where units were deeper than the lines of the 18th century. Bases for the units in Fantasy Rules! are squares, 1 base for each unit. Here are some close approximations:



These are some Ottoman Turk Janissaries - my first completed 15mm unit (more pics here) - waiting patiently on my desk. The width shown, 60mm, is what I had been planning to use for my FR! units, although I would have only used 3 ranks instead of the 4 shown. The unit is not very linear in appearance.

Now, compare the above to this:



Twice as wide and half as deep - much more linear in appearance. I think that this would be more appealing on the tabletop than the squares of FR!. Please do not get me wrong - FR! is a fine set of rules, very flexible in their composition and easy to use, but a bit too deep for this project. I do intend to imitate many ideas from them to supply the next rules set with special rules, especially for the characters that might appear in a Half-Continent battle

Finally some activity...

Today, I have ordered the first of the minis I hope to use for the mass-battle games for the Half-Continent.

Not knowing exactly which ones to use, I ordered three different 15mm sets from Minifigs - Dutch, French, and Russian musketeers with tricorne, in the classic March/Attack pose. A pic of the Russian minis is here. I am hoping to be able to use all of these, perhaps as differing factions in my battles.

Also, I have back-tracked in my choice of rules. Previously, I had wrote of a desire to use a historical set for the mass battles, but I have switched back to using a fantasy set, namely Fantasy Rules! by ChipCo. It is a simple yet flexible system that does need much for rosters or markers. If this fails I could always use a variant of Command & Colors, provided that I get a suitable hex grid...

Ancient Naval rules

Lorenzo at Dadi & Piombo has a new set of rules for ancient naval battles - Impetus Navalis - for large scale actions. The PDF download is here. A brief scan of the rules indicates that you might need a copy of Impetus to use them. Some interesting concepts in there!

Another, much older set of ancient naval rules is De Bellis Navalibus - based on DBA they are simple yet subtle. I hope to give them a try sometime, or better yet convert them to a more Renaissance-era style...

Thoughts on rules, part 2 - Imagi-nations?

After quite a bit of deliberating, I have come to the conclusion that the mass battle system will not be based on a fantasy ruleset. In fact, the concept of having mass fantasy battles is being eclipsed by a desire for 'Imagi-nations' style table-top conflicts. It will not be hard to organize these alt-history battles, as the nations of the Half-Continent are organized and equipped very much like their historical, 18th century counterparts. I would just need a simple way to throw in the oddities like scourges, lahzars, and even the odd nicker or gudgeon.

A set of historical rules is needed. I intend to start by looking at the Free Wargames web site...

Thoughts on rules, part 1

Part of the run-up to getting anything done with this project is finding appropriate rules for each gaming subset. There are a multitude of wargaming rules out there to pick from. Pick from, meaning that I am going to find a ruleset and most likely modify it to suit the specific needs of gaming in the Half Continent; I do not intend to write my own.

I think that the mass battles ruleset will be the easiest to start, as the system will be used for Imagi-nation battles at first. Caution must be used, however, as the system must be malleable enough to accept the alchemical and the fantastical additions that will be needed. I do find myself asking if I should use a fantasy system, such as Fantasy Rules! and modify it towards a more historical feel, or find a historical system and plug in some mods for scourges, lahzars, monsters, etc. The fantasy system will have the fantastical feel built right in, but the historical rules will have the proper framework for what I see to be the underlying structure of the battles I want to create... decisions, decisions. In either case, I am looking at having the battalion, roughly 300 to 500 troops strong, become the smallest independent unit on the mass-battle tabletop.

As for skirmish rules, I think that something in the Song of Blades & Heroes family will work - simple, fast, and detailed enough for bring the flavor of the myriad of different types of people and monsters out. The finding of suitable minis will be the key point for skirmish battles however.

Naval battles might be based on a suitably simple system for galley battles, or even (more likely) American Civil War ironclads, although the ships involved would dwarf anything found in history prior to 1875! More on that aspect later...