A Father's Day gift

to me, from me.

I had some Paypal money saved up from sales of Fistful of Lead. I usually use this money to buy stuff I normally won't get out of pocket. I've been looking for a largish Fantasy skirmish set of rules for our Thursday night games, and from several reviews decided to spend my "free money" on Fanticide from Alien Dungeon.
I'll start out by saying from my research I went into this purchase knowing I would not be using Fanticide's background world Nowhere, and certainly not their goofy warbands (flying monkeys, eyeball creatures, etc). But, the mechanics sounded right for what I need.
The production value of the book is nice. Hard backed, good photos. But almost too much. Large type and big photos seem to be used as filler. The book could be half the size it is. The rules themselves don't take up that much space, which is fine with me, I need quick rules. But then the rest of the book is made up of background stuff, as I mentioned before, wasn't the draw for me.
The actual rules are fairly simple. Each unit or Homicide Squad (dumb) gets a cue card that is shuffled into a deck for card driven activation. Leaders get extra cards so a unit, could in theory, move more than once. You can add in events to the deck to make things interesting.You have leaders, shooty guys, tough guys, regulars, monsterous thing, tiny pests, etc. You have stats for all called Virtues and Vices. Give (attack) and Take (defense). Basically roll a d10, added to your Give (again dumb) and conpare to your opponents Take + d10. Beat them by more than their Soul (wounds) and they are dead. Beat them by less and they are stunned.
Simple unit to unit battles. Should go quickly even with a large group. But, nothing that hasn't been done before. Its actually really close to what I was planning myself for some rules.
They have premade warbands and rules for making your own, but they are really generic. So, alot of work to be done on that front with a vague points system that I could easily screw up.
For me, even as "free money", $55 was alot to spend for very simplified rules. In playing, I'm sure I'll get some depth I don't see in the read thru. I realize these rules were probably written to drive sales of the minis. Just not interested.
Look for AAR in the future.

One read-through reviews

Now that I have had a chance to read through some of my Christmas horde, I have thoughts and reviews.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards, Duel at My Skullzfyre
I tried this out with some of my Lunch Money gaming veterans. The play is much more light hearted but still all about killing your neighbors. You try to put together spells from the cards you've drawn. The ones with a Source, Delivery and Outcome are more powerful. Each time you get new and unique spell combos, and the artwork is great. Reminds me of Adventure Time meets old 70s Crazy and Bananas magazines. We had only a few players. Six would give even more fun and crazyiness. Great for kids.
4 out of 5 Flaming Skulls

Condottiere by Frank Chadwick
Being a set of Foundry rules made to sell their awful new Renaissance miniature line, I put this on the wish list more for the pictures and background than actual rules. In these glory days of wargaming with all the new innovation in game mechanics, Frank Chadwick has stayed very, very old school. Single figure removal and using playing cards for casualty outcomes harkens back to the Sword and the Flame. It has to be geared more for smaller battles, I don't know how you get a bigger game in, in a decent time otherwise. Glad this one was a freebie. If I had spent $40 myself I'd be pissed.
2 out of 5 pikes (only for the nice pictures, too bad they are of the crappy new Foundry line).

Dux Bellorum by Daniel Mersey
This rules for Dark Age wars grew out of Glutter of Ravens, released some time ago. I remember thinking they were OK, but missing something. The new range of Osprey wargames rules have got alot of flack for being long on production values and pretty pictures but short on substance. For $12.96 on Amazon, I think they are a great little deal. Whatever problems I had with Glutter, seemed to be fixed now. There are quite a few wargames out now for this period, Dux Britainniarum being the big one. I found Dux Brit had alot of great set up and campaign ideas, but the actual combat rules convoluted and clunky (SAGA does it better).
Dux Bell borrows some ideas from all over and puts them together nicely. Each warhost is of base sized units ala DBA, but of whatever size/make up you want, because measurements are in base-widths (ala Sam Mustafa). Each stand takes a number of Cohesion hits (Black Powder/Hail Caesar) before it breaks based on a target to hit number (again BP/HC).
The real fun part that sets it apart, is the use of Leadership Points (LPs). LPs can be used in different ways to motivate your troops, block enemy fire, or help with other outcomes. Simple mechanic similar to command points in Grande Armee or Might and Reason, but perfect for a period of history were a War Leader, or Dux Bellorum, had more influence on a battle's outcome. Best part, I can use troops already mounted for other rules for this and think it has use for bigger, multiplayer games.
4 dragon standards out of 5.

Maurice by Sam "the Man" Mustafa
Named for Marshal of France Maurice de Saxe, an under appreciated general who knew not defeat, and a true character in his own right. To me, much like Sam Mustafa's games.
Anyone who stumbles upon this blog knows I'm Sam's #1 fan. Many plays of Grande Armee and Might & Reason  have convinced me he knows how to deliver period flavor without sacrificing playability, reasonable playing times or getting too abstract. I had all but given up on Nappies until GA.
So, on to Maurice. First, it is more of a two player game. Yes, that's bad for my gaming group of 6-8, but not necessarily. The games can be short. The campaign system Succession Wars included in Maurice would be perfect for our little group. My table split 3 ways would give 3 games going on simultaneously. Let the Imagi-Nations go! I could use the campaign simply for my own Unkerlant.
Maurice's mechanics for actual combat varies little from Might and Reason, but its the turn sequence and use of Action Cards (similar to Commands and Colors) that really makes it shine. It creates a natural ebb and flow to the battle. You can push and blow a bunch of cards to get the advantage, but then have to hold for awhile as your forces regroup.
Maurice requires the purchase of the card deck to play, and the game ain't cheap. Around $50 was the cheapest I found for both rules and cards. But, the rules give you everything from random battlefield generation to random officers (Notables) to campaign play. Well worth it. I'm currently rebasing a ton of dusty 6mm Marlburians that have never seen combat for this. So day maybe even some 28s. Can't wait to try.
5 out of 5 powdery wigs.

Daddy's back

I missed you all. This will sort of be a good news.bad news thing. Let's start with the good.
The horde:

I love Amazon. They have a wish list. I put all this stuff on it, the Baroness can just hit "buy". I've been coveting Smallworld for awhile. I have played many times, but the $60 price tag always threw me off. Target had for $35.

Being a great fan of Lunch Money, Epic Spell Wars looked like the same thing with magic and great artwork, done deal.

"Maurice" I am still reading through but can't wait to try. So far, everything I dreamed of (Might and Reason meets Commands and Colors) and more. 

"Popular Front". Read good reviews on Boardgame Geek. We played last Thursday and it was a great little game. Simple but lots of strat-tee-gery.

"Dux Bellorum" and "A World Aflame" are Osprey game titles. Probably crap, but nice pictures. 

Same for "Condotierre". Frank Chadwick is pretty old school as far as rules go. Got mostly for the pictures and OOBs.

Had to get the Conan Collection book and another Renaissance title to get motivated to finish my Italian Wars armies.

Speaking of mins...

What I painted over the break:

For Pulp Alley. She just has to be named Natasha.

Famed archeologist/adventurer Arkansas Bob

Lady Virginia Dare

Spanish Pikes

Spanish Command

Those Pig Iron Fellas I been working on.

a Scientist suitable for numerous genres.

And finished the much promised library for the Baroness. She was pleased, and so much celebration in Unkerlant was had.

with it done I had time/space to organize the minis:

Now the bad. On Christmas Eve my Dad had a stroke. This pretty much put a damper on the rest of the time off. He is better, but it has been devastating to the family. Anyone who has dealt with this and the weight of a possible nursing home stay knows what I'm talking about. Parkinson's had already robbed a great man of much of his fire and this was the twisting of the knife. Thus, my lack of posting. Thanks for any thoughts/prayers in advance.

-Zee Baron

Next post: VSF mini-skirmish

PIke and Shotte Playtest

I've read the rules twice. Now, time to give them a test drive.
I suspended all preconceived notions and played the game as is. As I don't have hordes of figs painted up for this (which is odd since its my favorite period), so I made some paper armies using the foot print/stand sizes in the book. P&S doesn't tell you what size stands or how many figs in a unit, but the pictures pretty much show a 40mm x 40mm base for infantry, 3 stands for shotte and 4 for pikes.
We had 6 players controlling a Battalia a piece except for the horse who got two Battalia. The infantry commanders had 3 units/regiments/brigades each of 2 shotte units and and a pike. Using the convention that the pike and shotte operate as distinct units, that meant each commander had 9 units. That meant a grand total of 31 UNITS ON EACH SIDE. Sound extreme for a first go?
We were done in 2 hours. Two.
By turn three I had to tell some players to slow down because they had picked up the mechanics and were essentially fighting their own battles in the middle while the rest of us were still moving around.

My biggest objection to the rules had been the pike and shot elements acting independently. In practice, no one seemed to care. As thing became jumbled up, it did seem weird some shot was wandering about without the protection of the pike. This was my fault, running the Horse. Mostly likely, still smarting from an earlier sound defeat from my opponent, I was rather rash with the horse. We both went careening headlong into each other. In two turns we were both combat ineffective. Both our Battalias were broken. So, the foot was allowed to run around blissfully free of danger from marauding horsemen. In fact, only one unit the entire game had to form "hedge hog".
A good game. A close game. Next round I'd like to try something with more mixed forces, and also let players mix up the battalias.

Pros: We did a huge battle in a decent amount of time, and the battle "felt right".

Cons: Space. Below is diagram of how big the units are vs how I've got a few units based up for Victory Without Quarter. A thirteen inch frontage is huge for pike and shot formation. Especially on my 6x 8 foot table, which is a little bigger than most people's 6 x 4. Even devoid of terrai for this playtest, things were really cramped. No room to manuever. This has been a complaint about the Warlord games before. Most people don't have the huge tables of the developers. After showing the boys my how my other units are based, they agreed not a lot of playability is lost with the larger bases but fewer. In fact, the only loss of have a one base unit is that of showing a unit in column. They also brought up the paim of moving the 4 pike bases as opposed to one.
I must ponder this.
From a purely esthetic point of view, the Foundry and Perry mins I have in abundance look too spaced out on a 40mm square. The newer, bigger miniatures, not so much.

Brink of Battle and Pike & Shotte

With the great weather lately, I've skipped valuable painting time to sit on the back porch with a cigar and a nice summer beer and read. I thought I'd take a minute to give my views on a couple rule books I'm reading.
Let me start by saying I've written a few rules and published my own. They were a small set, meant for those nights when you just wannna dig out and play. They have a small, but loyal following. I've been working on their first expansion, and it's proving to be a complete pain. Not hard, just can't get into it. I say this because I respect anyone who writes rules then throws them into the aether. Wargamers are a cranky, contentious lot, so you better have a tough skin when you do this. Also, as much as anyone argues about historical wargames it really comes down to what a fellow gamer once said, "what movie do you want to play?"

First, is Brink of Battle. When I first read about a set of skirmish rules that could span ancients to modern, I was highly skeptical. How generic can they be and still be fun? The author, Robert Faust  says, "pick a single year from history, and go". Okay.
I got the pdf, printed all 132 pages, and plunged in. Wow. I kept saying this. Wow. Initially I was put off because the author keeps going into excrutiating detail on every level to make sure you understand. It can be almost like reading a legal document. As much as a pain I found it, I got it. Even a beginner to wargamer could get it. Thus, the 132 pages.
It can really be played from 5 figs to 15 a player. The basic concepts do work for multiple periods. The period specific rules (which the periods are split between ancient, early gunpowder and modern) add the flavor. I was amazed by what was accomplished in a few rolls. Faust says it's not an IGOUGO rules set because each player is involved at every step by counter-rolls and the non-phasing player gets an interrupt, but it really is I activate a guy, then you, then me.
But, as I said before, it is really impressive. I'm ready to get everyone in the group to "pick a period, and play".
Pros: Well thought out. I don't think you'll find something that isn't here. It makes a small investment in miniatures to test out all the myriad periods I like.
Cons: No sample armies. No examples of troops really. You better know your period  and go from there. For some, that's great. Make a group that you think matches your idea of how the period is. As discussed in an earlier post, this ain't for me. Don't have time.
Review: Buy these. The pdf is about the cost of a large pizza. He's working on a mass battle set, which I will buy in a heartbeat.

Pike and Shotte. I have a feeling this one is going to hurt. I preordered this probably two seconds after it was announced. A couple of reasons. Black Powder and Hail Caesar (both by Warlord) were a revelation to me. This is how I always wanted to play a wargame, and with the right group are a ton of fun. I love Fire and Fury. It is my go-to set for ACW. For years I have played with friend at his house. His games are notorious for being huge affairs with tons of beautiful minis. They also never get done. We play all day with no result. We tried the same forces with Black Powder. Two hours later we had fought to a real conclusion. Everyone had a look of shock, "did that just happen?"
Sold.
Hail Caesar did the same for me when I playtested them with Renaissance era forces. They're not really written for this, but to me the Italian Wars are Ancients with guns.
Second, PIke and Shot is MY period. I can't explain it. Big pointy sticks (paging Dr. Freud!), crude firearms and the death of the knight on the battlefield. It all calls to me like Nappies do to other players. This book was gonna range from from the afore mentioned Renaissance to Early Lace Wars. It would hit all my favorites between.
I waited and waited for the book. I followed the discussions on the Warlord boards and Yahoo Groups. There were things I was not liking.
Talk of Pike and Shot being separate units. I know this is technically how they operated, but at the scale for the tabletop, this seemed odd. In later times, skirmishers operated ahead of the troops that was their parent, but few rule sets model this. The rules I read about handling this seemed cumbersome for being written by the Black Powder guys.
A month went by. I finally figured out they sent to the wrong address (thank you Paypal). After I straightened it out with Warlord, I got the it in a week.
Wargamer porn at its finest. Nice hard bound book. Tons of color pictures and photos. Well written (except the flaw that all the Warlord books have, really hard to track down specific rules).

Used w/o any sort of permission. Don't those formations look like a pain?

After playing a few games of "Victory without Quarter" a really fun quick set of rules for ECW, P&S has its work cut out. I haven't finished reading yet, so I'll give a full report later, but Initially I'm sad. Formations have too many figs or not enough. Renaissance Swiss formations were HUGE, yet they're the same size as musket sleeves. Trying to control separate pike and musket units that are part of the same Battalia, upon reading sounds like a mess. Guess I'll have to try it. Luckily, I have a 4 day weekend coming up.
Pros so far: Beautiful book.
Cons: the rules themselves. I may change my mind but.....

On a side note, the Basement Generals are playtesting Scott Pyle's latest rules for Fantasy, and they are great.

Best $7.50 I've spent in a while

Like more than a few wargamers, I started in Role Playing Games. D&D specifically back in its hey day. Painting miniatures for the game led to painting armies. We still play D&D, as you can see by my Beyond the Wall blog.
So I still pick up the occasional RPG related work. I read great things about Barbarians of Lemuria. I have a soft spot for the true Sword and Sorcery stuff like Conan, as opposed to the high fantasy of Tolkien. BoL fits into this, but is more than just a great background setting. The illustrations are really nice for what should be a cheapo pdf download. It's a really nice set of rules. Very simple. Very elegant. It emphasizes the story telling and not the mechanics.
At the heart of it is a career mechanic. I've played dozens of RPGs where the entire back of the record sheet is the mammoth list of skills my character has acquired with their numerical value.
BoL just has you pick four previous careers. I was an escaped slave who became street urchin, who became a sailor, who turned to piracy. Done. Now, in the unfolding adventure, if i run into a situation that I think one of these careers would help me, I just let the Game Master know, and he/she decides if it indeed applies. For example, the last little excursion didn't pay off, so I need some cash while in the big city. My previous time spent as a street urchin taught me how to pick pockets. GM concurs. It's that easy.
After a long lunch yesterday with Lead Addict, we discussed what we want and don't want out of wargaming. I was one of those guys who spent many a late night drawing dungeons and building worlds. I don't have that time anymore. Even if I find a set of rules that works for me, I don't have time to stat up entire armies from scratch. Especially since my group can have 6-8 players every week. Not saying you have go the GW route and have the entire thing spoon fed to you and you can't operate outside of cannon, but don't make me work so hard.
In summary, if like RPGs, pick up Barbarians of Lemuria. And I need to focus.