1st October. Played a Voyages Extraordinaire game with David and Karen. Science Fiction, rioters vs. police. Quite a big game (~12 police and 30+ rioters), but worked pretty well. The rioters didn’t have any objective so milled about a bit aimlessly. If we do this one again then the rioters should either have to cross the table from one side to the other or collect “loot” counters (this was David’s idea).
Made some more cavalry and skirmisher elements for Hammerin’ Iron.
4th November. To Bifrost (the SFSFW show) with David. A good day out but the show was disappointing. Not very many games and what there was were, I thought, uninspired. The most impressive was a W40K game with lots of nice terrain (some good ideas) but FAR too many figures on the table. If I go to this show again, I’ll have to run a game. Bought some more Victorian figures (British Army), some cacti, a cheap copy of GorkaMorka rules, 8 DSII tanks (for the hover army) and a few SG figures.
The GorkaMorka rules include a good idea for producing hills. I’ll have to try it. The first pipecleaner trees are nearly done. They look quite good!
4th December. Still painting.... but quite a few of the wild west figures are nearly finished as well as the British Army figures. I will use the latter for a VE scenario - hunting aliens on Hampstead Heath! Another scenario will be dinosaur hunting - David’s quite keen on this one! VE seems to lend itself to this sort of scenario based game. I’ll be glad when the painting is done and I’ll have room to run some games.
Showing posts with label 2000. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2000. Show all posts
Monday, 15 June 2009
September 2000
1st September: Tried “With MacDuff to the Frontier” (colonial rules free on the web, appear to be no longer available). Imperial troops are far too effective!! They have a 7/12 chance of killing a Zulu in CC, while the Zulu only has a 2/12 chance of killing him! Frontier Patrol II (home grown set of colonial rules, based on Featherstone) seems much better & more believable. Will drop MacDuff to work on FPII, maybe nick some ideas though.
Need to play SCWaRes sometime - needs squared terrain. Must get some FIMO to make some ships like Bob’s!
Added new combat system to “Bastogne to Berlin”. Works, but boy, is it fast! Also new combat system for Fire & Cold Steel (FCS) (very simple and small Napoleonic rules). Need to test this (ho, hum, here we go again).
2nd September: Bought some FIMO.... Thought about the squared terrain, decided that NW Frontier should be mainly a SCWaRes game but the Zulu War might be better as FPII. So I need squared terrain for NW Frontier. Got a piece of 2mm MDF 3ft * 2ft. Will cut this into 4 pieces 12” * 18” and draw 2” squares on them. If I decide to do Zulu War using SCWaRes as well then I can paint the other side of these sections green. Incidentally, Bob’s mountains will look good for the NW frontier. Rebased Pathans and Indian troops for SCWaRes. Will probably rebase all colonial figures anyway and add rules to FPII to work with multiple figure bases (using AGPs).
I am rebasing all colonial figures to multiple bases.
17th September: David and I went to Colours. It's years since I went to this show and now I know why. The Hexagon is a titchy little venue with hardly any games (I think the competition stuff is in another hall somewhere). Travelled by train which was fun (and cheap!). The “Off the Wall” shelf games were unimpressive. Bought horses and driver for buckboard, pirates and some Mexican Bandidos from Dixons, nice figures. Also ACW civilians from Redoubt, rather nice again. Had a chat with Jon and Tim. I don’t think I’ll go to this one again. Warfare is much better - and cheaper too. Looked at buying river sections but decided I could make ‘em for a lot less. Modified the buckboard model to fit the Dixon driver. Started painting the new figures and also some Naismith Zulus (3 * 18 figure units). Looks like painting is the job in hand right now...
Checking through my list of rules, I have nothing for ACW in 6mm. I will put these figs in the back eaves. For now anyway.
Well, actually... they will do nicely for Hammerin’ Iron land actions, but I need more cavalry and skirmisher elements...
Need to play SCWaRes sometime - needs squared terrain. Must get some FIMO to make some ships like Bob’s!
Added new combat system to “Bastogne to Berlin”. Works, but boy, is it fast! Also new combat system for Fire & Cold Steel (FCS) (very simple and small Napoleonic rules). Need to test this (ho, hum, here we go again).
2nd September: Bought some FIMO.... Thought about the squared terrain, decided that NW Frontier should be mainly a SCWaRes game but the Zulu War might be better as FPII. So I need squared terrain for NW Frontier. Got a piece of 2mm MDF 3ft * 2ft. Will cut this into 4 pieces 12” * 18” and draw 2” squares on them. If I decide to do Zulu War using SCWaRes as well then I can paint the other side of these sections green. Incidentally, Bob’s mountains will look good for the NW frontier. Rebased Pathans and Indian troops for SCWaRes. Will probably rebase all colonial figures anyway and add rules to FPII to work with multiple figure bases (using AGPs).
I am rebasing all colonial figures to multiple bases.
17th September: David and I went to Colours. It's years since I went to this show and now I know why. The Hexagon is a titchy little venue with hardly any games (I think the competition stuff is in another hall somewhere). Travelled by train which was fun (and cheap!). The “Off the Wall” shelf games were unimpressive. Bought horses and driver for buckboard, pirates and some Mexican Bandidos from Dixons, nice figures. Also ACW civilians from Redoubt, rather nice again. Had a chat with Jon and Tim. I don’t think I’ll go to this one again. Warfare is much better - and cheaper too. Looked at buying river sections but decided I could make ‘em for a lot less. Modified the buckboard model to fit the Dixon driver. Started painting the new figures and also some Naismith Zulus (3 * 18 figure units). Looks like painting is the job in hand right now...
Checking through my list of rules, I have nothing for ACW in 6mm. I will put these figs in the back eaves. For now anyway.
Well, actually... they will do nicely for Hammerin’ Iron land actions, but I need more cavalry and skirmisher elements...
August 2000
Modified “Bastogne to Berlin” (my 6mm WW2 rules) to use combat system from “Operation Uranus” by Martin Rapier. Need to try it.
Continued making 25mm Wild West town. This is the 3rd “incarnation” of these models. The 1st was 54mm MANY years ago, the 2nd was in 20mm for Airfix figures. The 20mm version was far too fiddly, so I'm doing it again in 25mm with Dixon et al. figures. I’m very pleased with the ruin and the railroad depot looks nice too (adobe walls from foamcore - different). Roofs and fences still needed.
Roofs all done now. Started making fences.
Done about 30 V&B bases, need another 20 or so.
“Bastogne to Berlin” - tried “Operation Uranus” combat system - too bloody. Have thought up another “one brain cell” combat system which I’ll need to try. Result based on a 2D6 roll.
24th August: Finished playing the “Civil War in Essex” campaign game. The Royalists won and captured Braintree. Good game, I like playing DBR. Updated campaign on computer and printed the other contact on Day 3. This should be interesting as the Royalist army only has 8 elements having been defeated previously, but the Roundheads have 14!
28th August: Resurrected “Kepi and Rifle”. This was because I want a simple system for playing ACW campaign games. Added a fatigue rule and some bits from DBR. 1 base = 1 brigade. Feels good. Need to play a full game.
Continued making 25mm Wild West town. This is the 3rd “incarnation” of these models. The 1st was 54mm MANY years ago, the 2nd was in 20mm for Airfix figures. The 20mm version was far too fiddly, so I'm doing it again in 25mm with Dixon et al. figures. I’m very pleased with the ruin and the railroad depot looks nice too (adobe walls from foamcore - different). Roofs and fences still needed.
Roofs all done now. Started making fences.
Done about 30 V&B bases, need another 20 or so.
“Bastogne to Berlin” - tried “Operation Uranus” combat system - too bloody. Have thought up another “one brain cell” combat system which I’ll need to try. Result based on a 2D6 roll.
24th August: Finished playing the “Civil War in Essex” campaign game. The Royalists won and captured Braintree. Good game, I like playing DBR. Updated campaign on computer and printed the other contact on Day 3. This should be interesting as the Royalist army only has 8 elements having been defeated previously, but the Roundheads have 14!
28th August: Resurrected “Kepi and Rifle”. This was because I want a simple system for playing ACW campaign games. Added a fatigue rule and some bits from DBR. 1 base = 1 brigade. Feels good. Need to play a full game.
Summer 2000
27th May: David and I went to Bill Leeson’s & played Kriegsspiel.
11th June: Tried “Simple Rules for Wargames” (a home grown set). OK, but perhaps lacking in flavour? A little short, but that’s probably cos I only had 10 bases a side. added rule that 1/3 losses ends the game. Don’t think leaders are appropriate to a straightforward battle (rather than pirates).
7-9 July: Several games at the Conference of Wargamers (COW). “Here They Come!” using VE worked well, fast and furious. Further rules mods for optional “group move”. Bob Cordery’s SCWARES was also good. Will be interesting to hear what others thought of the Stupid Simple Rules system. Peter Pig’s new pirates game looks promising, but I’m not sure about the smaller ships. Matrix games seemed to dominate... My “Steel Bonnets” matrix game was OK, but suffered from a lack of time to complete it and some dreadfully uninspired dice rolling (they kept getting 1s!). I really think a D10 would be better than a D6.
Good ideas from COW:
dolls house carpet for terrain boards;
buildings from FIMO modelling clay;
native huts from dolls house baskets.
11th June: Tried “Simple Rules for Wargames” (a home grown set). OK, but perhaps lacking in flavour? A little short, but that’s probably cos I only had 10 bases a side. added rule that 1/3 losses ends the game. Don’t think leaders are appropriate to a straightforward battle (rather than pirates).
7-9 July: Several games at the Conference of Wargamers (COW). “Here They Come!” using VE worked well, fast and furious. Further rules mods for optional “group move”. Bob Cordery’s SCWARES was also good. Will be interesting to hear what others thought of the Stupid Simple Rules system. Peter Pig’s new pirates game looks promising, but I’m not sure about the smaller ships. Matrix games seemed to dominate... My “Steel Bonnets” matrix game was OK, but suffered from a lack of time to complete it and some dreadfully uninspired dice rolling (they kept getting 1s!). I really think a D10 would be better than a D6.
Good ideas from COW:
dolls house carpet for terrain boards;
buildings from FIMO modelling clay;
native huts from dolls house baskets.
Feb-Mar 2000
6th Feb: Tried “Afterglow” with David. Fast and deadly!
6th March: Tried “Voyages Extraordinaires”, solo. Haven’t got any VSF figures, so tried it with “X Files” characters. Mulder, Scully and 4 rednecks vs. half a dozen Little Grey Aliens. Very interesting! Fudged a bit, but good fun, fast and made me think about who to activate. In the end, the aliens managed to get Scully transported to their ship at a cost of 3 dead and 1 wounded. Fairly deadly due to total lack of terrain(?). Seems to have applicability to a variety of periods, not just VSF. Much better than “Afterglow” so will scrap that. Rules are easily modified for things like cover and range attenuation. Quite liked it.
6th March: Tried “Voyages Extraordinaires”, solo. Haven’t got any VSF figures, so tried it with “X Files” characters. Mulder, Scully and 4 rednecks vs. half a dozen Little Grey Aliens. Very interesting! Fudged a bit, but good fun, fast and made me think about who to activate. In the end, the aliens managed to get Scully transported to their ship at a cost of 3 dead and 1 wounded. Fairly deadly due to total lack of terrain(?). Seems to have applicability to a variety of periods, not just VSF. Much better than “Afterglow” so will scrap that. Rules are easily modified for things like cover and range attenuation. Quite liked it.
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Early 2000
This is the first part of the old Wargaming Diary from 2000:
Quatre Bras is a set of rules I modified from an original set by Stuart Asquith published in a wargaming magazine. I doubled the scale to use 40mm wide bases instead of 20mm for AWI. ~20 elements a side on 24” * 24”. Worked well.
Napoleonic, Tiny scale using Fire and Cold Steel (modified Quatre Bras version). It worked at last!
Aristia is my (very long running) ancients campaign game using DBA. DBA using
my GCS campaign system. Short and sweet.
FMA (Full Metal Anaorak, the skirmish game from GZG, as yet unpublished) with David. Good game. Alex Stewart’s vehicle movement system worked well.
Stupid Simple Rules (by Chris Engle), 6 element / side (an element was 2 bases). ACW game. Used cm. instead of ins on 24” * 24” board. Hmm. Never attack a position frontally across open terrain without prepping with artillery first! Attack got slaughtered. Terrain too open for ACW? Need to try this with other periods.
AK47, standard game with my 2 standard armies (Religious Movement and Colonial Power). Good fun game. Inconclusive result. Some minor updates to playsheet. I like the game end mechanism.
“Operation Brevity” ( a free set of wargames rules, seem to be no longer available) playtest. Didn’t like combat system and turn sequence. Simplified turn sequence and modified combat system. Retained the idea of “fire at all targets” - don’t know why it works, but it does.... Doesn’t seem to need morale rules. A 3 to 1 attack usually succeeds.
Think I’ve finally solved the Volley & Bayonet strength point problem for 6mm Napoleonic. Each (20mm square) base = 1 strength point. Where a brigade has more than 4 strength points, the additional SPs are represented by AGPs (and are removed first). Morale is a fixed value for a brigade and so does not need to be represented on table.
Quatre Bras is a set of rules I modified from an original set by Stuart Asquith published in a wargaming magazine. I doubled the scale to use 40mm wide bases instead of 20mm for AWI. ~20 elements a side on 24” * 24”. Worked well.
Napoleonic, Tiny scale using Fire and Cold Steel (modified Quatre Bras version). It worked at last!
Aristia is my (very long running) ancients campaign game using DBA. DBA using
my GCS campaign system. Short and sweet.
FMA (Full Metal Anaorak, the skirmish game from GZG, as yet unpublished) with David. Good game. Alex Stewart’s vehicle movement system worked well.
Stupid Simple Rules (by Chris Engle), 6 element / side (an element was 2 bases). ACW game. Used cm. instead of ins on 24” * 24” board. Hmm. Never attack a position frontally across open terrain without prepping with artillery first! Attack got slaughtered. Terrain too open for ACW? Need to try this with other periods.
AK47, standard game with my 2 standard armies (Religious Movement and Colonial Power). Good fun game. Inconclusive result. Some minor updates to playsheet. I like the game end mechanism.
“Operation Brevity” ( a free set of wargames rules, seem to be no longer available) playtest. Didn’t like combat system and turn sequence. Simplified turn sequence and modified combat system. Retained the idea of “fire at all targets” - don’t know why it works, but it does.... Doesn’t seem to need morale rules. A 3 to 1 attack usually succeeds.
Think I’ve finally solved the Volley & Bayonet strength point problem for 6mm Napoleonic. Each (20mm square) base = 1 strength point. Where a brigade has more than 4 strength points, the additional SPs are represented by AGPs (and are removed first). Morale is a fixed value for a brigade and so does not need to be represented on table.
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