Easter Project: Jigsaw - Charge of the Scots Greys - Scotland Forever

This is a fine piece of historic artwork with a slight personal touch as the father-in-laws grandfather served in the Scots Greys in the inter-war years in India (see below: 1000 pieces of blended colour fun, note the rest of the experienced jigsaw makers ran for the hills when I opened this one up): 

I literally could only keep my sanity by working a region at a time (see below, the outer frame was done first, then the red uniforms with (annoying black hats), onto the horses whilst muttering under my breath):  

Horse's heads complete I moved onto the bodies and legs (see below, the study in white and cream was a different form of madness, at least the legs helped me segment the very challenging brown earth section):  

The finished masterpiece, I do think it looks impressive (see below, shown with three missing chinks - due to its missing parts and an element f wear and tear I think its active days as a jigsaw are over. Rather than chucking it I plan to slide it onto a board, PVA it into place - then fill in the remaining two spaces): 

Footnote 1: I was mighty glad (aka understatement) to have finished it but slightly saddened about the three missing pieces, which later reduced to "two" when I discovered one in an unusual place. Either I picked it up already "short" from the Charity Shop or managed to lose two with all the holiday travels (I used one of those clever jigsaw zipped portfolio folders to transport it). I also do have a small number of 28mm Napoleonic Scots Greys I was thinking of painting up (a couple of sprues rather than the whole Warlord Box).

Footnote 2: Another lost piece turned up so I am only one down .. who knows it may yet turn up!

A Tale of Peasant Farming: Agrigola

One of the things I got from the Connections UK Wargame Conferences is a hit list of Bucket List games to get. In 2016 Nick Drage's presentation from Aleph Insight mentioned Agrigola as one such game. Therefore I am glad to announce I bagged this from a recent visit to Blackwell's Bookshop Game section in Edinburgh (see below, Agrigola - analysis of my peasant farming skill awaits): 

So far I have got as far as the unboxing, but it just goes to show you don't have to have "tanks" in a game for it to be "good" ;)

Purchase Number 2: Hero Quest Expansions

As I picked up Warlord Games Epic Napoleonic I came across a "must buy it or regret "scenario. I have acquired an original Heroquest but the revamped re-edition has also pushed out the two expansions .. and an irresistible force met my wallet (see below, no regrets .. even on the figure count it was worth it .. and there was some cool dungeon scenery bits too):  

The beasties inside need painting and I now feel as if I have enough undead zombies to chase unwary adventurers through the catacombs) .. Game On!

Xmas Jigsaw Fun

It may have been a Walt Disney family-themed jigsaw but to me it was a thousand pieces of fiendish family fun that had three generations of family [grandmother to mother to granddaughter] poring over the pieces with intense determination for three whole days (see below, especial thanks goes to Gran's patience in finding all the edge pieces for a sensible "framed"start):

For a moment at the very end we thought it was going to be an "unfinished masterpiece" as there were three missing pieces but thankfully they were found after a hurried search of the floor under the table ;) 

New Year Promise to Myself: Chill and be Kind to Yourself

Note to self: 

I am going to forget or rather ban the terrible word "project", certainly with respect to everything that is related to my hobby. Two years of lock-down has seen me make such an overuse of this simple word. I am also going to forget the concept of timescales and deadlines for "hobby stuff" I was planning for this year (too formal by far). 

Things will either happen or not. If they are fun they will definitely happen, and they will happen all the more sooner because of how "fun" they are ;)  

If I remember correctly my hobby is there first and foremost there for fun and relaxation, or rather it is a catalyst for generating many fun experiences - with me, my family and my friends. I am therefore going to concentrate on things that help generate fun for me, my friends and most of all my family. 

For example Dungeons and Dragons in lock-down has been a blast. 

Re-fighting Ramillies was a blast.

Re-fighting Waterloo was blast.

Reading about the WWII early war Western Desert Force was a blast (all new to me).

Reading about the ACW (from Paddy Griffith's perspective) was a blast.  

The Netflix "Don't Look Up" film was a really big blast and made me laugh. 

Also the world needs more games of "Exploding Kittens".

Feeling guilty over looking at a big, bad, pile of lead; thinking to myself "Have I bought the right stuff?" was 'not fun' and in the end is just plain silly, as it is all the "right stuff" .. there is no "wrong stuff" in this hobby (scale, period or rules) - just stuff people chose to spend their time on :) 

If it all came to pass that the hobby journey was without generating fun "all along the way", then there would be no point taking the first step along the path and doing it in the first place. Enjoy the little things all along the way :) 

PS: Fun does not mean winning; "winning" is a rather random concept in the first place.

Fun does mean getting completely lost in the narrative of the game, rather than any sort of worry of "am I doing it right?" Making sure the game works!

 

Best wishes to everyone in 2022!

May your paint flow freely and your dice bounce untidily in a truly random fashion - enjoy it all the more for it ;)

Now if you can excuse me, I have to understand why these "Babies are attacking Bears" (See below, is this really a 'family game' my responsible wife bought to play with the children?):  

To be continued ... with fun ;) 

Good Old Fashioned Board Game Fun: Stratego

Well, this was a 'second chance impulse' buy. I first saw it in a local "Yorkshire Store" shop, one sells all manner of goods, with a rambling toy section [sometimes useful for picking up cheap "counters" and the like for games] - I had it in my clammy hands but put it back down. Driving home, I regretted it, though I was in a little bit of a quandary as to what it actually was (and for £20 was I going to just get a pile of "plastic tat?"), A fortnight later I was in the same store looking up at (probably) the same box and it was a case of "green for go in my head" <the sound of the cash register follows or rather a "beep" in these modern times> - done deal, item bought (see below, I opened it up and was well satisfied that it was not the feared "plastic tat" but a nicely presented, mounted board, with good plastic playing pieces, simple instructions and even better, "something" that could be extended in traditional maverick Wargames Design fashion): 

But who would play it with me "out of the box"? My youngest son (11) started but he then aborted after a few moves, sad emoji. Next I tried my "old sad puppy dog eyes" on the wife and much to my surprise she acquiesced and we played a couple of games, in the wings my eldest son (16) eyed events with interested curiosity but it was my (14) daughter who took up the gauntlet - egged on by the wife ("you go beat him" [I gave no mercy in my games with the wife]) and I'll be damned if she nearly did and took me to the wire (I was facing a "female team" at this point). Great fun, great fun, so it looks like the dark nights will be partially filled with more than a few battles. Thank you Yorkshire Store and Jumbo Games ;) 

Update: The daughter expressed an added interest to move onto chess :)   

Airfix 1/48th Scale Spitfire Hanging From Ceiling

I finally got round to doing this for my youngest son, hanging a Spitfire from his bedroom ceiling (see below, question black cotton perhaps but at least it is airborne [alongside a Star Wars TIE Fighter which makes a strange bed-fellow]):  

Yes it is in a rather steep dive. Shade of my bedroom ceiling as a boy ;)  

Bucket List Item: Accomplished - Catan (The Settlers of)

It was bought, but yet to be played. Then it was played and really enjoyed (see below, the game I saw Chandler play in The Big Bang Theory and knew, just knew I had to play. Also note, the nearby "Nurgles" were an unrelated simultaneous painting project): 

Not only was it played, it was played over three generations. My son, his father (me) and the grand mother! It was enjoyed by all and .. even better .. there are expansions!

Five stars rating .. even though my son beat me!

Note to Self: Have you played a game of Uno yet, if not why not?

With plenty of time coming to hand, time to challenge the old and young kids alike for a game of Uno (see below, a deviously simple but addictive little game): 

Note to Self: Remember not to cry when the kids beat you!

The Nights are getting Darker .. which means the Season of "Family Games" Approach'eth ... Winter is Coming!

Game, game and more game to come out of the cupboards. From the 'crowd pleasing' (see below, "Beat the Parents" - the grans and granddads can be quite smug at this one):

To those games that teach important 'life skills' - like learning to lie convincingly to friends and family (see below, "The Pretender"):

So important in fact it is usually played at least twice at Xams (see below, moving from dining room to kitchen table): 

Then there are the specialist "themed" games .. such as "Escape from the Dark Castle" (see below, collaborative play at its best - selfishness gets you killed): 

Edging along from tense encounter to tense encounter until the final "boss fight (see below, by this time the "party" of escapees are usually very battered and bruised - a good game rule though being "all out alive" or no win, except that is for the survivors of the "boss fight" - but eternal shame on those who try to hang back [they will miss dessert!]):  

Conversely if you want to learn "how to lose friends" then "Munchkins" is for you (see below, nervous clenched fists reveal all - mothers and fathers are turned on their sons and daughters): 

Then there is also "Pandemic: The Cure" which is the theme of the year for the whole world (see below, the ideal end game position - four deadly diseases cured - we could do with those 'good dice' just now):  

There are also tense "bad dice" moments too (see below, that is definitely not a "cure" roll - even by teh scientist):

All in all a very clever game or rather series of games (see below, nice game mechanics that always seem to mean a tight game that is touch and go until the last turn): 

Cometh the hour cometh the Scientist with pipette and test tube .. is there a cure for the forth disease on the final turn (see below, "arghh .. we're doomed!"):  

Family "bubble time" approaches, you have been warned!

One Hour Wargame - Ancients "Take II": Revenge of the Padawan

And so it came to pass that the little Padawan said "Master, that army had no archers, that is why it lost." The old Master looked up from his iPhone, "How so, my little joystick twiddling fiend, was not your advantage in cavalry sufficient enough?" "Pah! Horses are for girls .. give me an army with archers and I will show you how it is done, you old fool!" A raised eyebrow followed by silence .. "Here is your army master Robin Hood." (see below looking down from the Acropolis, Padawan on the left and Master on the right, that's [2 Horse, 3 Infantry and 1 Archer] versus [1 Horse, 4 Infantry, 1 Skirmisher]):

The Padawan moved his central infantry forward and flung both flanks of cavalry deep while leaving his precious archers on the hill (see below, the one cavalry of the master is with his skirmishers on "his" right): 

The Master in reply and refuses his left flank (see below, "let the unarmoured horse impale themselves on my spears" he thinks to himself): 

The Padawan continues his onward rush, contacting the Master's line of skirmishers [ow, that hurt] in front on his horse and he finally moves his archers off the his to support his slowly advancing infantry (see below, so far the Master thinks he is in control of the situation): 

The Master retires his skirmishers as they pass through his horse and charges in turn .. that why they can be the first to do damage in the cavalry battle, meanwhile he pushes forward with his infantry and angles them at a 45 degree incline (see below, the Master has sprung his trap .. or so he thinks): 

The young Padawan commits his cavalry to fight spears (not a good idea) and engages will some but not all of his infantry .. meanwhile the skirmishers have pulled back and the Master's cavalry are fighting well, he sits back contentedly (see below, take care for "hubris" is a Greek word): 

Thinking the old adage of "hitting first" is best the Masters takes the spear to the Padawan's last remaining un-engaged hoplite unit (see below, he senses no danger, but that does not mean there is not one): 

It is now the turn of the Padawan to smile (see below, to his horror the Master now sees a threat approaching, an group of archers and a hanging hoplite flank): 

Crunch-time (see below, archers are much more of a threat than skirmishers in these rules and they begin chewing the Master's hoplites):  

Casualties mount as most units are now "locked in melee" (see below, the red dice may look unsightly but they keep track of casualties, fifteen being the magic break point): 

The Master has the first successes (see below, the Padawan is now bereft of his cavalry): 

But the Master is soon to lose his first heavy hoplite infantry unit (see below, "pop" and teher is a big whole in the line ready to be exploited): 

The Master's skirmishers are out of position to intervene and the hoplite and archer combination works again to good affect (see below, once committed to fight the enemy hoplites the Master's hoplites have what you call "a hanging flank" the archers are all too keen to exploit) 

The Padawan succeeds in removing another hoplite unit (see below, top of the photo, but the victorious Padawan's hoplite unit has its own "hanging flank" exposed to enemy cavalry):  

Pop goes two "Padawan" heavy infantry units and he has a moment of crisis, but fleet of foot archers swing round to attack the victorious but battered hoplites of the Master (see below, desperate times call for desperate measures):  

Before the Master's cavalry can intervene both hoplite phalanx of the Master crumbles, in desperation the Master chargers home with his battered cavalry (see below, the Master's skirmishers have been laggards and have not made their presence felt for over half the game - an oversight): 

Although taking damage the Padawan's archers are winning (see below, the skirmishers again are "out of it" when they should at least be "doing something"):

Alas the Master's brave cavalry fall and with it last hope of winning (see below, two units to one is a foregone conclusion and despite their javelins taking a few last hoplites down the skirmishers are about to "run for the hills"):  

It all end horribly for the skirmishers or rather the game mechanics perhaps reflecting the "goodnight and thanks for all the fish" fleeing skirmisher monologue (see below, game - set - match to the Padawan): 

And so it ends and a stillness descends on the battlefield. "Well done Padawan", said the former Master, "You have shown an old dog a new trick, or rather that no one is immune to a temptation of a short-term advantage that turns into a long-term disadvantage! You have learned well!" He bows, "Now tell me more about your Geography homework!" (see below, not much remains of both armies but the Padawan has the field, if not a completed Geography assignment): 

As per the Abba song, "The Winner Takes It All"! The Padawan has undone his Master ;) 

Ancients - "One Hour Wargames" an excuse for some 15mm Family Fun

It came to pass that in the land of ancient Greece, a city state whose name has now been long lost in the annals of antiquity, fell into dispute with its local neighbour over access rights to a local temple and gathered together a force of hoplites, skirmishers and a band of mercenary archers to do battle (see below, three infantry, two skirmishers and a troop of archers): 

Within sight of the sacred grounds of the ruined temple a battle was to be fought to settle the dispute once and for all (see below, the "Corfu airport travel shop" surrendered this little beauty for me, a perfect 15mm DBA camp if ever I saw one, I thought to myself and with "last few Euros" of holiday money well spent, it began its trip to England - note the two temple attendants are from Essex [Miniatures] and are probably my oldest "ancients" miniatures - holding up well but I might be tempted to add a layer of modern "wash" over them):   

The invaders obviously came from Thessaly, bringing two powerful contingents of horse, plus three heavy infantry and a band of skirmishers (see below, the armies are yet ti form into their distinctive hoplite lines of battle as they deploy from their respective camps):  

That soon changes as the battle lines of bronzed hoplites masses in the middle of the battlefield and a relentless heavy push of bronze begins. The system is not grid based (like Lost Battles for instance) so although the movement comes in pleasant "big chunks" combat overlaps can easily occur. However only one unit can fight each other frontally (like Impetus if I remember correctly) so I did not force "lining up" to avoid DBA/DBM movement geometry to spoil the ebb and flow and lt units scrum together naturally (see below, I was using Neil Thomas' "One Hour Wargames" rules to blood my teenage son into the hobby. as he has familiarised himself with the complex mechanics of 5th edition D&D, this should be a breeze - but I wanted a "fluid" game noses out of the rulebook if at all possible - Note dice are damage points accrued, get to fifteen and the unit goes "bang", which I liked): 

The unarmoured horse suffer badly (as they should) as they try and push their way through a solid hoplite block (see below. there is a nice mechanic in the rules that armour halves damage which seems to work very well representing ancients) 

The horse unit "cracks" (if I had thought on I could have had them scattering away fro the picture) leaving a whole in the line that the victorious hoplites wish to exploit (see below, the attrition caused by the combat system slowly builds to a "busting point" which again I quite like, creating moments of dreaded tension): 

The horse was the first unit to fall, but the unit of archers is lost making an equally unsightly whole in the line, however the hoplites that vanquished the horse are the quicker to turn and bear down on the flanks of their hoplite cousins. The challengers are about to lose their heavy infantry at teh end of this turn (see below, another feature of the rules is the relative ineffectiveness of skirmishers against heavily armoured troops - they can bother but they do not kill, see far left as despite being on a flank a unit of skirmishers is merely tickling the hoplites locked in combat with another hoplite unit):    

That said, as it was often the way with hoplite battles the "rights" of both sides 'win' and a swirling/wheeling motion occurs. The last unit of exhausted heavy infantry do indeed fall to the outrageous slings and arrows of the skirmishers (so much for my ""nothing to worry about" write-up in the last picture):   

What remains of both armies turn for the final face-off. Two relatively untouched skirmishers, but the heavy infantry looks more menacing than the battered horse (see below, I suppose at this point "morale" should click in with a reality check - with all the heavy infantry gone .. would the horse and skirmishers really slug it out? On the other hand they have come all this way and there is really no way back):    

After a brief "pivot" dance the bloody end-game battle commences (see below, no one fancies the chances of the skirmishers against the armoured hoplites, but the battered horse versus the "still fresh" skirmishers is harder to call) : 

In the end the horse perish, they were obviously too tired from their previous exhortations to pull this one out of the fire (see below, the temple attendants can now safely return to their duties as nothing has changed - apart from a field full of dead and dying Greeks, which means plenty pf work for the temple):   

All in all a very good game. A simple set of rules. yet circumstances arose which were not covered and were met with more "mutual agreement" that "rules lawyering". A competition set of rules it is not (and thank gawd for that") but a nice set you can modify from sound beginning and add flavour to suit, yes. Already after one game it have made a good "Return on Investment" (ROI). It already had bloodied my son's interest, brought some toys out of the loft and started my grey cells turning. The other set of rules I have been reading was Piquet which stands on the opposite extreme compared to these. I cannot wait to try out more scenarios and play with other periods.