This is a long running and continuing journey around a collection of ideas, projects, games, models and a variety of wargaming related themes from my own imagination and from others. As I have been described as having the attention span of a forgetful goldfish you can rest assured the resulting subject matter will be diverse and (usually) entertaining! "He lived in a frenzy of enthusiasm — but nothing lasted for long with him".
Saturday 31 October 2009
'Gladiators, I Salute You......' Part 2
Friday 30 October 2009
Playing Surface Blues
I am not averse to buying seascape type game mats but with finances as they are it is not an option at the moment so I will check out my local art shop for some ideas and inspiration.
Thursday 29 October 2009
Mediterranean and Black Sea Fleet Lists
As the rules have changed somewhat over the past six months it would now be a good idea to revisit the ship charts and ensure that they are reflecting my current thinking on the subject. I have added protected cruisers, old battleships, coastal defence battleships and torpedo boats so at the very least these categories will need changing. The other significant revision is in connection with speed as I am now using the method employed by Barry Carter in his excellent Naval Wargames so individual ships will have their actual speed more accurately reflected. this task will not take too long to tackle - particularly as initially I am confining my efforts to the Mediterranean and Black Sea so the Royal Navy and High Seas Fleets will have to wait their turn; as will the Baltic Russians.
Once completed, these will of course be available to anyone that wants a copy - as are the latest version of the rules.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Action in the Black Sea, 1915 - A Reflection
I pondered this and came up with a number of observations that are worth setting down; if only to remind myself why I chose the approach that I did.
- No ship damage record charts
- A gridded playing surface
- The ability to differentiate between ships notionally of the same type
- Recognisable damage effects e.g. fire and flooding
- Be easy to pick up by non naval gamers
- Be suitable for large scale actions i.e. squadron and fleet sized
From the perspective of the above list I have achieved all the aims I set myself but I am still feeling a little 'short changed', as though something is missing from the whole. I pondered this further and came up with the simple expedient of needing to prepare a comparable strategic campaign system for use with the tactical rules. Campaigns, mini campaigns or even linked scenarios are very much a personal favourite of mine - even to the extent of writing up the after action report with more 'story' to it than the game would suggest - and are something I enjoy organising.
So I need to add a campaign system to the tactical rules - this will not be a problem to design but I cannot foresee myself tackling this anytime soon!
The VSF bolt ons though are a very different kettle of fish.........................;-)
Monday 26 October 2009
Action in the Black Sea, 1915
Friday 23 October 2009
DBSA - The Great War at Sea Gridded
A Pharoah Way to Go.............
So, Mameluke, Turkish, French and British armies to consider - and an active naval scene as well - which again certainly gives plenty of variety!
I will sit down and think about the feasibility of the said armies - I always find this a therapeutic exercise - and calculate costs etc. The Turks I have little problem with although I will need to add some of the Nizam-I-Cedid troops to the existing collection. These were the new army raised by the Sultan using modern methods and training as opposed to the traditional Janissaries (who hated them with a passion!).
Much to ponder methinks!
Tuesday 20 October 2009
The Practical Wargamer
Monday 19 October 2009
Warlords of the Air
Sunday 18 October 2009
"Gladiators, I salute you...." Proximo aka Oliver Reed
"We who are about to die salute you!"
Saturday 17 October 2009
Terminator Marines - dont you just love 'em!! Part 8
Thursday 15 October 2009
Terminator Marines - dont you just love 'em!! Part 7
As I have a large chunk of this stuff already to use adding a few additional pieces is not too onerous - especially as the models are already on tap. Small, bite-sized add-ons is the way to go at the moment so the 10 figures referred to above will be a pleasant diversion from college assignments - as there are so few of them at least I wont feel guilty about spending too much time on them!
Terminator Marines - dont you just love 'em!! Part 6
Monday 12 October 2009
Late 18th Century and Napoleonic Ottoman Turks
To enter in the spirit of the age (not strictly accurate but I am sure you will get the point) I will leave the final word of the subject with a certain Mr Percy French who can sum it all up far more eloquently then I ever could.
ABDUL ABULBUL AMIR
byPercy French
The sons of the Prophet are brave men and bold
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah,
Was Abdul Abulbul Amir.
If you wanted a man to encourage the van,
Or harass the foe from the rear,
Storm fort or redoubt, you had only to shout
For Abdul Abulbul Amir.
Now the heroes were plenty and well known to fame
In the troops that were led by the Czar,
And the bravest of these was a man by the name
Of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
One day this bold Russian, he shouldered his gun
And donned his most truculent sneer,
Downtown he did go where he trod on the toe
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.
Young man, quote Abdul, has life grown so dull
That you wish to end your career?
Vile infidel know, you have trod on the toe
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.
So take your last look at the sunshine and brook
And send your regrets to the Czar
For by this I imply, you are going to die,
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
Then this bold Mameluke drew his trusty skibouk,
Singing, "Allah! Il Allah! Al-lah!"
And with murderous intent he ferociously went
For Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
They parried and thrust, they side-stepped and cussed,
Of blood they spilled a great part;
The philologist blokes, who seldom crack jokes,
Say that hash was first made on the spot.
They fought all that night ‘neath the pale yellow moon;
The din, it was heard from afar,
And huge multitudes came, so great was the fame,
Of Abdul and Ivan Skavar.
As Abdul's long knife was extracting the life,
In fact he was shouting, "Huzzah!"
He felt himself struck by that wily Calmuck,
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
The Sultan drove by in his red-breasted fly,
Expecting the victor to cheer,
But he only drew nigh to hear the last sigh,
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.
There's a tomb rises up where the Blue Danube rolls,
And ‘graved there in characters clear,
Is, "Stranger, when passing, oh pray for the soul
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir."
A splash in the Black Sea one dark moonless night
Caused ripples to spread wide and far,
It was made by a sack fitting close to the back,
Of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
A Muscovite maiden her lone vigil keeps,
'Neath the light of the cold northern star,
And the name that she murmurs in vain as she weeps,
Is Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
Alternate verses:
The sons of the Prophet are brave men and bold
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
They could jockey a stallion, ambush a battalion,
And blow the froth off a beer
But needing a man to encourage the van,
Or harass the enemy's rear,
Or storm a redoubt, they would always send out
For Abdul Abulbul Amir.
Shakespeare it is not - but great fun all the same!
Sunday 11 October 2009
...And now, the end is near.................
Friday 9 October 2009
Terminator Marines - dont you just love 'em!! Part 5
I have also received the scan of the Colonial Marines in Space Hulk contained in the Ragnarok Compendium from Mark Kitching to whom I extend my most grateful thanks. This are even better than I remembered and so I will have plenty of inspiration for 'Aliens' style games going forward. Aside from the normal Colonial Marine hardware (pulse rife, pistol, SMART gun etc) there is also some suggested rules for Sentry Guns which I had forgotten about and so was delighted to see.
Thursday 8 October 2009
Space Hulk Part 2
For the record, the marines won the scenario - we played 'Cleanse and Burn' and managed to get away with losing only 3 marines. Much muttering was heard from the various Genestealer commanders at the continued quality of the marines dice rolling.......................;-)
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Space Hulk
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Boot sales, Assignments and Tai Chi
Friday 2 October 2009
A 'Risky' Business Part 2
Thursday 1 October 2009
Lepanto - 1915 Part 3 and 100 Not Out
I will need to clarify the turning rules a little as they caused a degree of confusion in their execution - nothing major - just a tad reworking. Also on the hit list will be LOS implications when using destroyer screens as well as firing arcs for DDs themselves.
I will need to consider the inferior/superior nature of particular vessels as now the dice roll has been removed from costed turns and speed I need to think about how to factor this into the rules.
Overall I am quite satisfied with the core mechanics for this set - it is just a case of fine tuning to make them a viable alternative to more traditional sets.
This post is also a milestone of sorts as it is my 100th. I am really enjoying the whole blogging thing and it has given me much inspiration and welcome support for all of my varied endeavours. With this in mind I should like to extend my warmest thanks to all that have contributed or even just browsed through - cliched I know, but I really could not have done it without your continued and most welcome support.
Here's to the next 100!!