New Year Greetings and Sci Fi Sideshows

First and foremost a very happy new year to one and all - let’s hope it is a peaceful, prosperous and healthy one for us all!

A classic game from the Waddingtons label - this is the 6 player version from around 1960

New Year’s Eve saw my beloved and I taking part in a two player five game marathon of the above game - how very rock and roll I hear you say - in which she emerged triumphant at 3 wins to 2. It was great fun and I am looking forward to getting more players involved at some point.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had my historical plans in place for 2020 with the focus being very much on the horse and musket period. The Napoleonic Wars will feature, as will the ACW and a smattering of the American Revolution with various Jacobite Rebellions as an occasional aside (at least once the Tricorne expansion is released). Of the three mentioned only the ACW will be exclusively figures based with the Napoleonic Wars featuring both figures and block/counters. The 18th century will be solely from board game perspective.

I would love to say that I will be spending all of my time in a monk-like state of study and meditation but am realistic enough to know that this will be impossible. With this in mind I have a couple of 'Plan Bs' in the shape of a few Sci Fi games - all of which would be good to go as is but with the option to expand them into the modelling sphere if required.

The first of this part of my collection is of course Red Alert - the Command and Colours board and miniatures games of fleet combat in space. I really like the functional look of the models with this and I own not only the base game but all of the expansions as well. the fleets are coloured in red and green and i promised myself that when I get to painting them this will become red and blue!

I also have a copy of Steve Jackson's classic game of cybertank warfare - OGRE. Again, this is good to go as is but I also have the models to go with it if required and indeed, I will be tackling them in due course.

The final Sci Fi game I own that can be pressed into emergency service is actually the latest addition to the collection and to be honest, it is a game that very nearly passed me by.

Abaddon - the game of Mech combat from the stable of Richard Borg

Abaddon is game of mech based combat by none other than Richard Borg of Command and Colours fame. The game is played on a square grid and rather than command cards one uses dice to issue commands. Combat is driven by cards and a random element is introduced by the use of ‘Wildfire’ cards - rather like critical hits although the effects can be both good and bad and can effect both players - which all adds the fun. There is a detailed review on boardgamegeek for those that want to know more but what I really wanted to show you was the Mechs (or ‘Links’ as they are referred to in the game) looked like.

There are eight of each of the above in the game - if using them in a conventional Sci Fi wargame I would look to lose the bases and would also use other infantry. Note the square grid of the game board.

They are really rather nice and are made from the same material - a rubbery type of plastic - as the ships from Axis and Allies: War at Sea. The largest stands around 6cm tall and the only thing I don’t like is the base which is used to hold the crystal power units as well as showing the unit stats. I would  look to some kind of basing alternative should I get around to painting them.

All of the above are important parts of my collection due to there ‘pick up and play’ ability which could be expanded into painted models and full blown ‘proper’ wargames usage if required. At this stage the painting requirement is very much a secondary consideration but is something to consider as and when.

The main focus for the year ahead though is very much around the historical periods mentioned and quite unexpectedly (although perhaps not surprisingly) there is something else that has crept into view....