November Update

Six by Six Challenge
I'm back! Not sure if I'm going to complete it, but I'm giving it a try. A couple of developments got me back into the challenge:

Machinas
A confluence of factors got me interested in post-apocalyptic car battles. First, Osprey announced the publication of Gaslands. Then there was an intriguing post on the Wargames Website. Alas, none of the rules seemed like they would work for me. Then I remembered Machinas, the subject of numerous wonderful posts by Kaptain Kobold. What interested me in these rules was that cars don't move on the board; instead they move relative to each other. This is a perfect approach for small gaming spaces.

I gave them a try and like them. There is room for some tweaks, but the core mechanisms are solid.

Anyway, Machinas has me playing with minis again. As a result, I decided it would replace DC Rivals on my 6 x 6 list.

Here is what I played in November:

• Game 1
• Game 2

Slipstream

I played 4 games of my pulp sci-fi campaign, but then ground to a halt because the next scene in the Slipstream Plot Point campaign was sooo boring (it's just a straight fight). As often happens, however, game creativity in one area seems to spawn ideas in another. As I was messing around with Machinas, an idea struck me on how to make the scene interesting. I changed it into a dungeon crawl. The Slipstream campaign was back in action.

Here is my November tally:

• Game 5
• Game 6

And with that, I have finished the challenge for Slipstream!

Just a note that FU did not really work for me. They are too open-ended, which may be good for a creative group, but I prefer a bit more granularity for solo play.

Synopsis

I lose 2 games because I dropped DC Rivals but I replaced them with 2 games of Machinas and then added 2 games of Slipstream. That leaves me at 30 games played with 6 to complete in December. A tall order, but I'll be on vacation for the last week of the month. I have a shot!

Super Simple Horse and Musket

My experiments with Manoeuvre (e.g. this) have inspired me to work up some rules for some really quick and simple horse and musket battles. I have been pleased with my early trials, such as this battle.

Unexpected Values

Have you ever bought a hobby item, intending it for one purpose only to find it insufficient. But then you find a new, and even better use for that item?

That has happened for me with the Pathfiinder battle mat.

I originally purchased it for Four Against Darkness using miniatures.

I found it clunky and shelved the mat. Later, it suffered some water damage. I then cut it into 8" x 10" sheets and am now using it for various projects: