2019 in Review

As usual, I take a look back at my gaming goings-on for the year.

Lazy Gamer's Guide
Early in the year I posted a series called the Lazy Gamer's Guide. The upshot is to decide what is important and focus on those aspects of the hobby. That way you won't get bogged down or distracted. For me, playing games is the important objective; I have far less interest in the modeling side of the hobby. The Guide delineates how I, as a lazy gamer, go about focusing on the games. I adopted a strategy that I call the Three S's - keep it small, simple, and short.

MicroBattle Gaming
In accordance with my lazy gamer principles, my gaming settled into a pattern, which I call microbattle. I have all the components I need stored in a pencil box.

Currently, I am playing microbattles with generic 3mm figures with terrain drawn on dry erase boards. The figures are generic and could stand in for troops from ancient days until the 19th century.

I also have microbattle air and sea sets.

With microbattling, I achieve the basic principles of the lazy gamer. I have small armies that can fill a multitude of roles. The rules are simple, easily fitting onto 1 side of a sheet of paper. Finally, game times (including set-up and break-down) are short - in the half hour range. Thus, microbattling has greatly simplified and streamlined my gaming.

The End of the Twelve Games of Christmas
For the previous 5 Christmas seasons, my wife and I embarked on a challenge called the Twelve Games of Christmas. We set about playing 12 games during our holiday time off. It didn't happen this year. My wife worked over the holidays (she only had Christmas off) so we've been watching TV in the evenings instead (far less taxing). I played a few scattered games but not anywhere near a full 12.

A Dubious New Record
2019 was my lowest output ever. The next lowest was 76 in 2016; in contrast my record high was 126 in 2014. I theorize that there are 2 primary reasons why my output is down:

1. I've settled into a groove (or maybe a rut?) - I tend to post more when I am experimenting (different rules, new figures, etc.). As I settle into the microbattle standard I find that I am experimenting less. Thus, I have less about which to write.
2. LARP - I spent a lot of free time on LARPing this year. In April - July I was running a full immersion LARP for a few friends. Like a D&D campaign, it involved a lot of preparations. After that fizzled out I wrote rules for another LARP - this time a Christian-themed boffer-oriented LARP. This also took up quite a bit of free time.

My 2019 output is nothing to sneeze about, still averaging to over 1 post a week, but the trend is a tad disconcerting. I have a project for the new year; let's see if that helps.

Prognostication Review
I always begin with new year with a series of prognostications about my gaming expectations. Let's see how things went in 2019 (click here to see my 2019 predictions).

1. Box Sets - I predicted that I would organize my box sets. As I described above, my microbattle sets provide me 4 box sets (air, land, sea, space)
2. 6mm roleplaying - I stated that I wanted to get some figures for role-playing purposes. I did (choosing 10mm instead of 6mm though). Ironically, I haven't really played many games since getting the figures.

1. GADD - as always I've been jumping around a lot
2. Twelve Games of Christmas - this one's not coming true (as discussed above)

Free* to a Good Home - 3mm Horse & Musket and Fantasy

SOLD

My purge continues. You can have these for the cost of postage from Ft Lauderdale FL (zip 33351). I take PayPal.

Batch 6 - 3mm Horse & Musket
Magister Militum 3mm figures, organized into 3 generic armies (for imagi-nations games) - blue, white, and red.
For each army, top row to bottom row - line infantry (2 strips per stand), cavalry (3 strips per stand), artillery, light infantry (line infantry figures but only 1 strip per stand), casualties (1 strip glued on its side)

 Batch 7 - 3mm Fantasy
Magister Militum 3mm Late Romans, organized into 2 fantasy armies - evil vs. good.
Army of Evil - from top, first line = death knights (heavy cavalry and heavy infantry); 2nd line = green-faced orcs; 3rd line = light infantry orcs (1 strip per stand), leader (cavalry stand), giant spiders (from Perfect Six's 6mm fantasy line)

Army of Good - first line = knights (mounted and dismounted); 2nd line = spearmen, 3rd line = light infantry and leaders

If you are interested, please DM warwell on Lead Adventure Forum.

New Project - 15 Sci Fi Skirmish / RPG

Watching the Mandalorian has whet my appetite for some sci-fi skirmish / light RPG action. I have just decided to embark on a project.

The Miniatures
When I did my fantasy RPG project I ultimately settled on 10mm.

I would have liked to use the same scale for my sci-fi project, but I could not find figures that I liked. 10mm and 6mm miniature lines seem focused on battles (heavy infantry a la Space Marines and armor). I need more RPG-y stuff.

I've always liked the retro sci-fi vibe of Hydra Miniatures' stuff, but I don't like the size (32mm).

I thought about using paper minis. I already purchased a bunch from Wargame Vault. I used them for some virtual skirmish games a few years ago but never printed any out.

Yet I prefer metal over paper so I looked into 15mm. I found some good candidates from Alternative Armies's Laserburn line.

It helps that I already have some 15mm sci-fi figures.

Rules
My vision is to run more RPG-like encounters, akin to my Kate and Kip adventures. I want a party of 2 heroes who are members of the Space Patrol and who battle bad guys across the galaxy. I was having trouble coming up with ideas for adventure plots so I did some searching. I found some simple adventures under the Hero Kids line. (Hero Kids is a light RPG, for kids naturally).

What rules to use? I looked into Hero Kids before but dismissed it because it uses a dice pool mechanic. I'm no longer fond of dice pools and would prefer something different. I may use Everywhen RPG, which uses a 2D6 mechanic.

Another candidate, albeit using a dice pool, is Tiny Frontiers. I like it because it seems very easy to set up encounters.

Anyway, stay tuned for more ponderings on this project.

Free* to a Good Home - Aviation

SOLD

I am beginning a clean-out of my unused miniatures. You can have them for the cost of postage from Ft Lauderdale FL (zip 33351). I take PayPal.

First up are some of my aviation miniatures.

Batch 1
An assortment of Irregular 2mm WW2 with a few 1/600 (either PicoArmor or Tumbling Dice, don't remember which). They are painted for an imagi-nation project.

The blue/yellow are P-26s, the red are I-16 (1/600), white are Irregular generic biplanes, silver fighters are Irregular generic WW2 fighters, and several Irregular bombers with a smattering of 1/600 bombers.

Batch 2
Tumbling Dice WW2 (1/600 scale)

 From top, B-17s, P-47s, P-51s, FW190s, and Me109s.

Batch 3
Some 1/600 Korean War - Sabres and MiGs

Batch 4
A few 1/300 scale WW1 planes - Camel, DH4, Fokker Dr I and DVII, and an SE5a. Not sure of the manufacturer as I got these in the 1990s.

Batch 5
Some Aeronef fixed wing aircraft.

If you are interested, please IM warwell on Lead Adventure Forum.

Merry Christmas!

 "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11 (KJV)

May the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you now and in the new year.

The Short War

As in times past, Redgrave and Bluderia find themselves at war. This time Redgrave invades the Bluderian-occupied Duchy of Fenwick.

Inspired by the War of the Emperor's Balls (which I finished recently), I wanted to do a quick campaign. Furthermore, I wanted to see if I could complete one in a single sitting. I pulled out my microbattle rules and went at it.

Battle 1 - Farnsmworth
Redgravian forces march into the Duchy of Fenwick. Their first objective is the village of Farnsworth (upper left).

The defenders manage to wipe out one unit of attacking infantry.

But Redgrave wins the cavalry battle on the left and reinforcements drive into the village.

Battle 2 - Goldcrest Ridge
Redgrave continues to march into Fenwick. Bluderia sets up an ambush at Goldcrest Ridge.

Led by cavalry supported by artillery, the Bluderians drive back the invaders.

And then rout them.

Battle 3 - Feldman's Farm
The Bluderians pursue and the two armies clash at a nearby famr.

The Redgravians counterattack.

Despite severe casualties, the Redgravians break the Bluderian right.

Destroying all but the Bluderian artillery. With no support, the artillery must flee the field.

Thus the war ends with a Redgravian victory (victory in 2 out of 3 battles).

NOTES

• Using my microbattle rules, I was able to play 3 battles in about 1.5 hours. Not bad.
• I still have some ideas for streamlining the rules (largely based on Simplicity in Hexes). Will need to do some more experiments.

Drive to the Border

"Well, that was a close run thing." the Marquis des Aix-En-Pains stated to his aide-de-camp as he surveyed the battlefield of Hook's Crossroads."

"Indeed Excellency," the aide averred. "Thought I doubt that the Duke will want to tangle with us again."

"Which is why we must strike!" the Marquis stated emphatically. Pass the word that we shall advance at once!"

The aide hesitated, surprised by the Marquis's precipitancy.

"Well go on." the Marquis prodded him. The aide rushed off. Within the hour, the army of Aix-En-Pains was marching to its border with Bad Schmaltzberg.

It has been a while since I played a scenario in the Emperor's Balls campaign. I played 2 of 3 scenarios about 6 months ago but (as is typical) never finished. This weekend I decided to play a horse and musket scenario (prompted by my completion of new artillery stands). I figured I may as well complete the campaign.
_________________________________________________________________________________

As the Marquis's army (red) approaches the border, they are met by infantry and dragoons. The Marquis's infantry advances, supported by artillery fire.

But they are destroyed by the dragoons. The Marquis launches a cavalry attack to no avail. Reinforcements arrive for the Duke's forces.

Again the cavalry attack but are driven off.

The dragoons and fresh infantry cover the retreat of a spent Ducal batallion.

Another unit of the Marquis's infantry falls.

 The Marquis brings up his guns and unleashes a barrage against the Ducal line. The dragoons fall.

The Marquis's cavalry rashly rush into the gap.

Which gets plugged by a second dragoon unit. The cavalry is shattered.

Having suffered severe losses, the Marquis calls a retreat.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Later that year, the Marquis and Duke met at the Emperor's Yule celebration. The Marquis crowed about his "resounding victory" over the Duke.

"Resounding victory?" the Duke scoffed. "You must have been miles from the battlefield or else you would have seen your troops fleeing across the border!"

"And how did I get to the border anyway? By thrashing your invading army!"

"Thrashing?! Goodness, you must be ill informed . . ."

At this point, the Emperor strolled by. "Please, gentlemen, this is a season of peace and good tidings. Let us put away all rancor."

Chastened, the lords reluctantly agreed. And as the Emperor departed, he added "at least until the next campaign season."

Notes

• Overall this has been a wasted week. I've been off work all week and hoped to get in multiple games, but I had things to do around the house and then succumbed to a bad cold. At least I was able to get in one game.
• And thus ends my first go-round with the War of the Emperor's Balls. It provided a very pleasing campaign. And as I mentioned before, the accompanying Simplicity in Hexes rules set works quite well.
• I was able to get my new guns in action. The red guns performed sterling service; alas the blue guns were stationed in the village and never fired.
• I did a very quick job on them, mounting one gun and one strip of artillerymen. I suppose it would look better if I cut the strips in two and mount half a strip on each side of the gun. I was lazy though and just stuck the whole strip on the base.

• I must say that guns are much nicer than Magister Militum's old artillery.

Christmas Gift List

Just jotting down some my Christmas wish list.

Interested in a couple of video games:

and

I also would like some more medieval garb

I'd like to get the padded coif (S/M size) that this guy is wearing (from Medieval Collectibles).

I also want this helmet from Norton Armouries. I just don't know what size I need. I have to measure my head with the coif on, so clearly I need to get the coif first.

EDIT: While I still like the helmet, I now have another in mind. My updated LARP wish list is on my Way of the Wardens blog.

Finally, I could use a spare pair of tights (also from Medieval Collectibles size L). I already have a pair in brown but I would like a pair in black.

Relic Bearer

After making away with the sacred relic of St. Ukkert, the invading band of goblins, reinforced with orcs, tries to escape to the mountains. However, a company of King's troopers intercepts them.

The goblins (in black, on the right) need to cross a river to escape. The King's men are blocking the bridge across.

A band of goblin scouts (upper right) cross a ford and engage the militia spearmen.

The militia drive the scouts back across the river. Meanwhile, a lance of Guards takes a stand on the bridge. The Guards are attacked by 2 goblin bands.

The Guards wipe out one of the goblin bands. To their surprise, they find that the band was carrying the stolen relic.

The goblins counterattack, inflicting serious casualties on the Guards.

The Guards retreat. The militia and rangers cover their retreat.

One militia lance is scattered by the arrows of the goblin scouts.

The rangers destroy a goblin warband but the remaining militia is eliminated by the orcs. The Guards take refuge on a hill.

The rangers are destroyed.

The orcs assault the Guards on the hill.

But the Guards destroy them.

Goblin scouts set up to pepper the Guards with bow shot. The Guards charge down the hill and scatter them.

At this point, the last band of goblin scouts flees from the field. The sacred relic has been rescued!

Notes

• This game was based on the Ringbearer scenario in Dragon Rampant. That scenario, however, ends when the ring bearer unit is destroyed. In my test, I decided to make the ring (relic) bearer to be random. I rolled a D6 when a goblin unit was destroyed with a 6 indicating that it had the relic. Well, I managed to roll a 6 on the first unit. Game over. So I decided to play out the rescue, with the Guards trying to escape with the relic. This turned into a rather tense affair as the goblins/orcs mercilessly swarmed the Guards. Fortunately, I had given the Guards an extra hit point (elite status and all), allowing them to (barely) survive the encounter.
• This is my latest test of my "paladin" rules. 
• Once again I enjoyed the game, with it being a tight affair.
• Still, there are opportunities for improvement. For example, units are assigned a level from 1 to 5, indicating their experience and toughness. When 2 units are in combat, the difference in level is a modifier to the attack roll. Well this turned out a bit fiddly, as I did not remember the levels off-hand and had to consult a roster then do the math. I'm thinking about streamlining it to give the unit with an advantage a 1 or 2 point bonus. I can eyeball this in a flash without having to look something up.
• I also want to modify my retreat rules. Whenever a unit took a hit, I rolled to see if it retreated. However, the odds of a retreat were extremely high. Ironically, automatic retreats probably saved the Guards, as they were forced to retreat in the first of multiple attacks. This prevented the later attacks from occurring. I want to increase the odds of a unit standing to fight. I am also thinking of performing all attacks before testing for retreat. Or if a unit is about to be meleed and is forced to retreat by missile fire, then the meleeing unit pursues.