1st-2nd February, Salford and York

The Gentlemen Pensioners York weekend

Due to the treatment we have received over the years, SoA Shows North no longer supports Vapnartak.   That usually means I would not go to the York Racecourse event.

However, the weekend is also the occasion of one of our reunion gatherings and Steve had proposed a refight of the AWI battle at Brandywine Creek on the Saturday together with an invitation for players to play in the Lance & Longbow Society's Cravant demo game at the show.

So, with two historical games on offer, Friday evening saw me heading North.

Brandywine may not be of interest to all my fellow SoA enthusiasts, but was a great Saturday game, and there are more photos if you want to follow the link (York Weekend Brandywine) ...

Last seen at Salute, Cravant is a visually splendid game, and intriguing as a scenario.  It is set up for Impetus - which I still have not played that much - so I was keen to get some more mileage in.

The battle is essentially an attempt by an Anglo Burgundian army to come to the aid of Cravant which had been besieged by the French in the opening moves of a new campaign in the Hundred Years War.

Henry V had died, and England was in the hands of a minority ... so the Dauphin saw this as the time to break the agreed peace accords and renew hostilities.

Salisbury led the Anglo-Burgundian force, and after a stand off across the river, ordered his troops to ford the Yonne.

For the reconstruction, we had three players on each side ... a compromise between allowing show visitors access to what was going on and sufficient players to simulate the allied nature of both forces - I hope we got the balance right (I am not aware of turning my back on anyone but there is always a risk).

I took the central, but weaker, Burgundian battle.  We were first to get our feet wet.   

The river was waist deep but as on the day proved to be no real obstacle.    The waist-up figures on clear bases added to the spectacle for viewers (though have no game function) ...

(Salisbury's battle crosses the Yonne)

In the (modified) version of Basic Impetus in play, my crossbowmen were significantly less effective than the English archers on either side of me, and a rule was in effect allowing casualty effects to be 'passed back' further hampering my small contingent.

Whilst the English under Salisbury and Willoughby were smashing forward, I was losing the central slogging match ... driven back almost into the river.

(in the centre, the Burgundian contingent were taking a battering)

I was obliged to fall back, but this enabled the victorious English from both sides to come to my aid (without which the Burgundians would doubtless have eventually broken)

Meanwhile, Willoughby had pushed across the bridge and, supported by archers alternately wading and shooting, had secured a strong position between Cravant and the main battlefield.  He too gradually ground the enemy down.

(Willoughby's battle, archers to the flank, the walls of Cravant in the background)

The major French successes in all this were mainly to the far flank, where they broke through the end of the line, pursuing across the river by the mill ... then turning back on Salisbury's rear.

Had the English commander not destroyed the French to his front, this minor encirclement could have been devastating - however he was able to respond and stall the attack and the reverse was really too far from Cravant itself to affect the outcome of the battle.

(Cravant: the siege relieved ... although a major fight is still playing out on the far flank, the English and Burgundians command the approaches to the town and most of the French army has fled)

A splendid game, and one which caught the eye of many a browser.

The battle was played to a conclusion, lasting about three hours, mostly before we took a break for lunch (OK, we probably needed a sign for 'resumes at 2pm').

The York show doesn't change much and remains the same mix of big figure static games, fantasy pulp and shopping.   I got some 15mm Vikings and Saxons, plus some little aeroplanes from Peter Pig, Donnington and Irregular, and some Landsknechts from Museum ... I took my camera with me when I went off duty.

There was very little of interest to ancients enthusiasts ... a Dark Age game by the Falkirk club, participation games of Crossed Lance's (and no, I've no idea why there is an apostrophe), and the Lance & Longbow game - but there was a goodly dose of hot air balloons, Martian walkers and high flying biplanes to lap up ...

(Falkirk's Slaughter of the Danes)

(a Vapnartak quickie ...)

If I can't vote for Cravant, my best of them would be the sprawling ECW display battle ... more for its convincing elaborate terrain and scenic effects ...

The Battle of Justice Mills (Aberdeen) 1644

I didn't see the game being played at all, and but for the numbers, the figures were not outstanding - but maybe every show has room for one of these 'set design' battlefields ... Just one, though, hey, Vapnartak?

York in February.  And no snow.  None at all.

Thanks to the Gentlemen Pensioners for a splendid weekend and two sumptuous episodes from military history.

(eye level eye candy: more splendid ECW terrain)

5th February, York Racecourse

VAPNARTAK 2012

The snow bound trip into York for Vapnartak was something of an adventure and had I known that I would end up driving my notoriously slithery German RWD vehicle on fresh compacted snow, I probably would have bottled it (overseas readers: bottled it = chickened out/not gone).

As it was, I was tail-gunner on the Gentlemen Pensioners (Lance & Longbow/SoA) expedition and just followed where the vanguard led. And that got us into the show just about by opening time (and if some of it was achieved more by faith than judgement, I'm not telling ...)...

Saturday was an altogether sunnier affair as we had all gotten together in Salford for a big Sudan battle the day before the show (see below). What a great idea for a wargaming weekend (big battle on Saturday, show on Sunday. What's a few snowflakes?!).

(Vapnartak: York Racecourse, 5th February 2012)

Back with Vapnartak, although some Societies get pride of place, The Society of Ancients does not. Nobody will tell me why. We have loyally supported this show since back in the Merchant Adventurers' days - yet every year they find a way of pushing us even further off the beaten track. This year we were out of the show proper up amongst the competition tables. A few visitors found us but most didn't.

(wargame in a box ... tucked away in a corner - the Society of Ancients at Vapnartak)

I guess it must be because they don't want Participation Games and anything other than 28mm, but I wish they would tell us as we always try to involve people and introduce newcomers to historical wargames etc. whenever asked, they always approve (then stick us where we can't be found by any potential players! Doh!) .

(Lance & Longbow Society's simple but effective Ravenna game)

(Curteys put on this big if slightly anonymous version of Plataea)

Many evenings of work went into this year's 'Lords of the Nile' project (which will see better locations at other shows ...) so it was a pity so few saw the combination of tradition German flats with modern terrain presentation and WRG's latest trial of DBA V3. Looks splendid, don't you think? Ah, well ...

More on Lords of the Nile below. And you will get a better opportunity to see it at Hammerhead this coming weekend.

(display tables at Vapnartak)

(WWII: German columns doing what they do best)

(some nice early 20th C. soldiers in the Middle east)

Vapnartak is therefore a trade show mixed with 28mm clumsy tables and a labour intensive Flea Market. There were some good offerings amongst the 28mm stuff (though, as is increasingly the case at York, nothing much new or imaginative) ... here's a quick tour, but you are better served by visiting 28mm drool sites for this show if you like that sort of thing.

(my favourite downstairs game: Ilkley's old school game with traditional wargames soldiers)

So ... nice venue, nice people, strange priorities. I'm sure we will continue to support the show as long as they continue to accommodate us (but I'm not sure that will be for much longer as out in the car park is probably next for historical wargaming's biggest volunteer association ...) ..

Gentlemen Pensioners Big Game (day before Vapnartak) ...

This was a Sudan game played with 28mm figures and using The Sword and the Flame roughly based on the battle of Firkat.
(Firkat mounted Mahdists emerge victorious from the desert flank)

For a balanced and fuller view of the game, you might like to visit other Gentlemen's blogs ...
Fire at Will
Wargames Amateur

Now commenting on a game played using the hugely popular TSATF rules is tricky ground. The rules are extremely clumsy and characterless: slow to resolve and very arbitrary. Inevitably, as a pioneer of the use of cards, I quite like the sequencing of movement and shooting by playing card (but in all honesty, most other games that use that mechanism do it better). And using D6 for some rolls, D20s for others, isn't gaining points for elegance. Then, of course we must have saving rolls. The combat system is a triumph of tedium over efficiency.

(twilight at Firkat and the Mahdists celebrate as the Egyptians run away)

I am a great social wargamer and really enjoyed pushing the colonial toys around with friends I have known now for as much as 30 years. We could make the game worthwhile and entertaining using any old mechanism, however dubious or un-promising. But just for balance, given the misleadingly positive spin The Sword and the Flame so regularly gets, I thought it proper to record my view of the rules themselves: the worst so-called 'historical' wargames rules I play all year ... not even close on Black Powder, Science vs Pluck or PitS (or something you scribbled down the night before) in my opinion. All the things I dislike in a set of rules rolled into one package. I commanded the Mahdidsts, by the way, and we won. So don't let that cloud your judgement.

And yes, I'd happily do it all again (as the whole thing was a great game despite the rules) ...

Lords of the Nile (DBA V3) at Vapnartak ...

I'll say a little more after the game has its second run at Hammerhead. Phil Barker kindly emailed me the latest trial version of V3 a couple of days before the show and we played the game through a few time both with seasoned DBA enthusiasts and complete newcomers to the DB system.

(DBA V3: close combat in the lands of the Pharaoh)

Of course, it worked very smoothly and cleanly in all the games and V3 generally seems both to work better than 2.2 and to give a more intuitive and cleaner game (less 'gamey'/easier to play). The movement is in basewidths and seems to work better than the older system. Rear Support and consequent losses are much simplified giving a more authentic flavour and better balance. The games themselves took about the same time to play as previously (despite an expectation that the games might be a bit quicker) ...

Those people who were able to find the Society stand at Vapnartak seemed to enjoy seeing the game played with these refurbished veterans of yesterday's wargaming and they are, indeed, a pleasure to play with. They have the size of 28mm with none of the clumsiness - in a different world they might even catch on :O)

(The Egyptian army's lone element of Psiloi heads for the security of the Teddy Bear fur)

York, 6th February

Vapnartak 2011

Vapnartak at York Racecourse marks the beginning of our shows season, and our first recruiting opportunity of the 2011 membership year.

We had an excellent and timely trip up and got some good parking near the loading/unloading access.

This year we were back on the upper deck near the 'flea market' room (formerly 'Bring & Buy', and subject of much debate on other forums ... Vapnartak? A car parking and bring & buy topic, mostly ... well for us our first show of the year, great facillities and nothing much to winge about).

That said, I hope they rotate this 'upper deck' berth: we take participation games, and so benefit from accesss to most of the showgoers, not just the 'second hand' punters and those who seek us out specifically.


Given the 'wall to wall' 28mm static displays all over the ground floor, surely there is room for a bit more variety and a bit more 'participation'?

I think the 28mm sameness of the display games is the only real criticism of this show (and one I've picked up elsewhere - it isn't just me ...). And it can be easily fixed.

We were doing 'Greyhounds in the Slips', a year on from the project test, which was at Vapnartak last year. It has come some way ... Last year's 'The Hedge at Poitiers' was a public test of the movement and combat concepts designed for GitS, was 54mm and was portable in a smallish box.

It worked, and proved easy to play both for participants and presenters.
'Greyhounds in the Slips' has 90mm figures, a full layout, custom built masonry, and the integral set of Shakespearean speeches.

'Greyhounds in the Slips', of course, will be published by the Society of Ancients this spring in an Anno Domino games volume along with Graham Evans's 'The Elephant In the Room' (for an update, see Graham's blog) ...

We got a few good games in that busy window (a little short, up top, of course) between when the public reached the upper floor, and the mid afternoon petering out.
After that, there was time to visit the busier ground floor, do some shopping, and browse the 28mm monster tables (of which some were huge, of course ...).. Most of them were static, unmanned, and not very well captioned. (Mortimer's Cross, as presented by the Lance & Longbow Society)

An exception was the Mortimer's Cross game by the Lance & Longbow Society, nearly bang on the 550th anniversary of the battle (2nd or 3rd Feb 1461).

It was fought using Poleaxed.

Steve Ayers takes up the story ...

' ... We used the troops and terrain as set out in the Poleaxed Source Book vol 1.

In both games the Yorkist line held its position and the Lancastrians advanced (as per the book). In the first game the effects of Yorkist archery and troublesome manoeuvering unsettled the raw levy/peasant Lancastrian left wing which was further dismayed by the appearance of the Yorkist cavalry on its flank.

With their low morale rating and Will's dice rolling, they quickly took to their heels. This allowed the cavalry to sweep on into the exposed flank of the main body, with similar effects. One-nil to the Earl of March.(the Yorkist line, with the Lancastrians approaching)

The second game saw the Lancastrians remain to engage the cavalry (albeit briefly) and helped their cause (temporarily) by getting the horsemen to chase them from the field! The rest of the left wing did manage to charge home but (not surprisingly) got the worst of a mismatched engagement. ...'

Thanks for the narrative, Steve ...

A quick trip round some of the other exhibits.

I can't give a full explanation of most of them: captions and explanations were a bit thin on the ground at Vapnartak - so like most visitors, I haven't much of an idea what half the games were meant to be (check other blogs also ... the public were mostly left in the dark ...)..

(the naval end of an enormous but largely anonymous static display)

That said, many of the games did look splendid - and in some case, the brush work was good too.

(Thirty Years War - the battle of Lutzen)

Well, I'm sure the organisers of Vapnartak know what they are doing, and, in general, it is a very good event.

They get a good, friendly atmosphere and are very welcoming.
I do think this year that the 28mm brigade let them down a bit, though.
(an early 20th cent. fantasy African layout .. I think ...)..

Massive (needlessly massive) games, mostly a bit samey, and never really clear what the game was doing other than showing off large collections of toys, but without the pizzaz that makes that work ... meanwhile, on the upper deck, we had two participation games side-by-side, where only punters looking for a Bring & Buy bargain were likely to find them.

Well ... different priorities, I guess.

I wonder what the other feedback is like (I only read the 'progressive' blogs, not the gushy 28mm frothing ones, so I don't get an objective view ...)..

We managed to distribute an average number of memberships, but otherwise were a bit down, due to the low traffic location. A bit of a change from, say, SELWG, where, with a central location, a prize-winning GitS had players queueing for a slot for significant periods of the day ...

We will be trying Hammerhead next week ... the C.O.G.S. show at Kelham Hall - with a reputation for Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and a venue known for its sprawling 28s ... I wonder what that will be like ...

See you there, I hope ...

York Racecourse, 7th Febrauary

Vapnartak 2010

The first show of 2010 for us ... and great to be back on the road even if it is only 6 weeks or so since 2009 wrapped up at Wargamer .... It must be the horrible 'White Christmas' winter - the wargamer's nightmare.

Excellent trip up - thanks, Graham F, for driving (rare day off for Phil), plenty of traders attending (even if the Peter pig stand had been move 10 metres of so - so it took me a silly amount of time to track them down ..)..As well as the usual gear, for this show we did a trialed a multi-figure development of Graham Hockley's Anno Domino medieval combat game (as featured in the Society of Ancients booklet 'Let the Dominoes Decide' ... available from the Society website (website: games section) using 54mm individual figures. this was an attempt to try some add on rules for players to be assigned additional figures to their control - a bit like the extras in a movie (so you get to play your own character, but in the midst of a cluster of other figures which you control).

We kept it pretty simple for this run of course.

The game was 'The Hedge at Poitiers' - revisiting a theme from a recent Society of Ancients BattleDay (the Poitiers Battleday blog) ... and looking at another way to simulate the fierce man-to-man fighting Froissart describes. Ultimately, I plan a game base on the Harfleur scene in Henry V - but this was a modest attempt to test the multi figure idea.

The figures are 'middle period' ('80s to '90s) Britains - just about the nastiest they ever did, but with the heavy 'deetail' bases that are useful for wargaming. Yes. OK - I do have some 1960 swoppets Knights ... but they stay in the cabinet I'm afraid. Painting up the basic figures proved the 'less is more' point with bigger figures, I think ... A gunmetal wash and some primary colouring in ... much quicker than, say, 15mm ... but a nice effect ...

We played twenty or so games during the day - against visitors of all ages and experience level. Everyone seemed to find the game quick to pick up and exciting to play. A good introduction, I think.
Elsewhere, there was the usual diverse range that make Vapnartak a fun show to zip round. And there's always some newer stuff to look at. From Lake Tanganyika war in the air ... And quite a good variety of game mechanisms on display (not just the Society of Ancients and its dominoes!)

The detail on the terrain in this Antietam game contrasted with the broader brush treatment I pictured at Warfare last year (see the Warfare entry here ...) - unfortunately, Burnside's bridge would have been off table in this treatment ... one of the penalties sometimes paid when working in exacting detail ...

(the 15mm Antietam game: in the background, the cornfield has individually modelled corn stalks ..)

... and being Ancients on the Move, we like to get some more naval stuff into the blog - even if it isn't exactly ancient ...


A very enjoyable start to the 2010 shows season - thanks, York, for the invite ... and thanks to everyone who stopped by ...