Sunday, May 25, 2008
Gizmodo has a gallery of a curious mash-up of World War II photos with Star Wars imagery. It’s very strange, and very believable.
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Sunday, May 25, 2008
I recently finished the second phase of my 1066 Campaign project by basing and clear coating more than 300 Norman infantry and cavalry. To celebrate, I ran a large Warhammer Ancient Battles game featuring Vikings and Normans. There are some photos of the Viking, Normans and the table here.
The scenario involved a Viking attack on a Norman province. The Viking force was approximately half Hirdmen, and half Bondi, with a smattering of bows, Ulfhednar and berserkers. The Normans consisted of about 1/3 each of cavalry, knight infantry, and medium/light troops. There were also several contingents of mercenary crossbow.
The main body of the Vikings advanced behind a screen of bow and ulfhednar skirmishers. These took heavy casualties from the Norman crossbowmen, whose range was much longer.
Still, the skirmishers did their job, and the main body of Vikings advanced with little damage.
Then the Norman cavalry charged. The Viking players (myself included) were convinced that the Normans would sweep away all in their path. It didn’t work out that way. The Normans had some incredibly bad luck, and the cavalry actually lost all of the combats; they then failed their leadership tests and fled.
At this point, the beserkers in the Viking ranks ran forward and hammered a couple of Norman knight infantry that got too close. They didn’t break, but lost enough figures to lose future rank bonuses.
The main body of Vikings next came into contact with the Norman knight infantry. More incredibly bad rolling for the Normans followed, and the Norman infantry began to slowly fall back.
In Warhammer, however, the tide can quickly change. One unit of Viking hirdmen lost a combat, then blew a leadership test. Adjacent units flubbed their panic tests, and the entire left wing of the Viking army fell back.
The right wing, however, continued its slow, inexorable push. One by one the Norman knight units—both mounted and foot—fell back. They recovered, but always losing ground, and running out of table.
After several winning turns on the left, the Normans returned to form with their luck and began losing again. Two Norman medium infantry units were destroyed, as were two units of peasants.
By this time, the Vikings had a numerical advantage—not necessarily in figures, but in units. That meant that they could pin the Normans with one unit, while flanking them with others.
It was hopeless. We all agreed that at this point, the mounted knights would head for the hills, leaving the hapless foot troops behind to get slaughtered.
We all like Warhammer Ancients—its fun, but as one 30-year veteran wargamer said, “it’s very Games Workshoppy.” There are plenty of bits in the game that leave us scratching our heads.
The main complaint was with the armor saves. After rolling to hit, and then to wound, it was one roll too many. We had quite a bit of discussion about whether it’s really needed. A much more clean solution would be to adjust the toughness of the figure to reflect armor. An unarmored human for example, might have a base toughness of 2. Add a shield, and it’s a 3; light armor makes it a 4, heavy armor and shield is a 5; and so on.
Of course, the real problem is Games Workshop’s decision to base all of their games on the d6. The three different rolls are necessary to provide sufficient granularity distinguishing between troop types—especially with different races in the fantasy and science fiction games.
I’m kind of surprised that they haven’t switched to 10 or 12 sided dice. As part of their business model GW makes their old system obsolete every few years, introducing “new” rules, army lists and models. It would be easy for them to make a clean break with the d6 system and to go to two rolls (it also would cut out people like me playing with a Squat army painted twenty years ago, and still using the same stats; I’d have to buy a new rule book to play with current players).
One argument for keeping the armor save is that it keeps the defender involved. We rejected this; the defender could make the toughness roll as a “save.”
Finally, a few notes about the figures and terrain:
The vast majority of the figures in the game are Gripping Beast. The exceptions were a “horde” of Foundry Vikings that I had bought one year on sale. They’re all painted with Vallejo paints, and heavy doses of wash made from Future. My technique is to paint an area in its base color, then to apply a wash of a deeper hue.
Figures based on 1 inch washers, which are coated in superglue and then dipped in mix of several different shades of fine model railroad ballast. When that’s dry, I apply a couple more dabs of superglue and then dipped into green flock.
The movement trays were made of cardboard and magnetic vinyl. To speed play, I stuck small bits of paper with the unit’s stats to the rear of the bases.
The table is covered with carpet squares I found at Big Lots. The squares were sprayed with various shades of acrylic spray paint to give an uneven look.
The buildings are all Hudson and Allen. The roads are hand made from brown acrylic caulk. I squeeze some out on wax paper, then smear it to the proper width with wet popsicle sticks. Just before they set, I use the same sticks to put rut impressions in them, and doss on a couple of pieces of gravel and small sticks. When the road pieces are dry, I trim to size with scissors.
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
This past Saturday, our group played a World War II air combat games using the excellent “Warbirds In Miniature” rules.
Warbirds In Miniature is easy to learn and play, and yet has what we judged was the right “feel” for the period. The game is played on a hex grid, which makes maneuvering and plane facing easy. Altitude ranges can be tracked on paper, although we used telescoping stands for visual appeal and reference. The aircraft models were 1/144 scale plastic models.
The core of the Warbirds In Miniature is the aircraft control sheet, which shows the maneuvers available to each model at different speeds. The maneuvers are illustrated as hexes, showing the plane’s movement direction and its ultimate facing. The first hex in each sequence also is marked to indicate whether the maneuver can be done in level flight, climbing or diving.
The range of maneuvers, of course, varies by aircraft. Lumbering bombers, for example, may be able to fly only only one hex at a time, and perform only a few simple turns. Fighters have much greater speed, acceleration and decelleration, and can perform a wide range of twists and turns.
At the beginning of each turn, players secretly record a maneuver, and note any changes in altitude. All action is then carried out simultaneously. Shooting comes after all movement. There’s no snap fire, but since most aircraft move at 1-4 hexes per turn, the time frame is small enough that we didn’t miss it.
Combat can occur when planes are within 1 altitude band of each other (the bands ranged from 1 to 30 in our games). Horizontal range depends upon the airplane and the weapon, as does the angle of fire. Fighters shoot straight ahead—very easy to keep track of on a hex grid. To resolve fire, firepower factors are totaled, dice rolled and a chart consulted. After determining the number of hits, the attacker rolls on a damage chart to determine what parts of the craft have been damgaged, and to what extent.
Our scenario was set during the London Blitz. A German formation of two HE-111 bombers and two ME-110 fighter bombers are being escorted to their warehouse target by a pair of ME-109s. Four British Spitfires are sent to intercept.
The bombers were great, slow pigs, and lumbered on in a straight line toward their target at one hex per turn. The ME-110s, being faster and more maneuverable, broke away from the heavier craft, while the ME-109s darted forward at the ceiling to engage the oncoming Spitfires.
After shaking off their initial engagement with the ME-109s the Spitfires fell on the bombers, almost immediately damaging the engines of one so badly that it could only stay in their air by executing a long, slow dive. The other took heavy wing and fuselage damage, eventually losing its landing gear and a gunner. Two of the Spitfires stayed on them, while the other two pursued the Me-110s.
The Spitfires stayed with their targets, inflicting more damage. That, however, made things easier for the German pilots, who maneuvered behind the Spitfires while they were concentrating on their targets.
In the rules, a player whose plane is being tailed must tell his pursuer the direction he plans to turn, as well as whether he is climbing or diving. Once the Germans had the Spitfires in their sights, it was nearly impossible to shake them. One Spitfire was shot down; another lost half its weapons. German pursuit drove them off the tails of the He-111s.
The faster ME-110s reached their target first, dropping bombs and damaging the warehouse. They suffered heavy hits, however, and one was downed by its pursuing Spitfire. One of the HE-111s took more hits and went into a tailspin. The remaining still was on its dive of doom; it likely was going to reach the target and crash a turn or two later.
By this time, however, the Spitfires were running low on ammo. One had emptied its guns and left the board. Another was shooting at half effectiveness, having lost guns earlier in the game. An ME-110 killed the pilot of the third Spitfire, leaving just one.
Meanwhile, an ME-109 that had taken damage earlier was smoking and slowly falling apart. After a series of bad rolls, the fuselage disintegrated. An ME-110 also went down.
Finally, the remaining ME-110 got a lucky shot on the remaining Spitfire. Its engine was destroyed and the pilot had to bail.
The scenario’s scoring gave the Germans the victory for driving off the Spitfires and destroying the warehouses. The price, however, was high: one ME-109, both HE-111s, and an ME-110.
It was a terrific game, and we are anxious to try the system in a Pacific was scenario. It’d be a lot of fun choosing from all those maneuvers available to the Zeros.
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Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday night, the group got together for a good old fashioned Wild West shootout. The scenario had two rival gangs shooting it out for control of the town. It seems that the Marshall had gone to the next town to get married, and the hoodlums were taking advantage of the situation.
We used the Warhammer Historical Legends of the Old West rules. It’s a set that I’ve previously used for Plains Wars and French and Indian War rules, but strangely had not yet used for a basic gunfight. For those who haven’t played, the rules are typical Games Workshop. For shooting, you first roll a six sided die to hit, then your roll to see if you hit the cover, then you finally roll to wound. The game plays quickly, and new players can pick up the basics in a couple of minutes.
In our scenario, the sides each consisted of two gangs, each with a Desperado, two Kids and five Rowdies. I’ll call them North and South for the board edges they started on.
The players spent the first couple of turns maneuvering their gangs into position through the back alleys, taking the occasional (ineffective) long range shots as the opportunity presented itself. Both sides initially holed up in the buildings facing each other on opposite sides of the main street and began trying to pick off their opposite numbers.
Lots of shots were fired to no effect. Another tactic was needed. Then, on opposite ends of the street, each side began a flanking maneuver. On the western edge of the board, the North gang dashed across the street to an alley, losing one member in the move. At the same time, the South gang began trying to move across the eastern side. They managed to make it without taking any losses.
Now the casualties began piling up on both side, especially as the shotguns got within short range. The South Gang began having some luck with the dice, but the North Gang still was rolling blanks. They just couldn’t get a hit. Finally, in an act of desperation, the North Gang charged into hand-to-hand combat; that somehow seemed to work for them.
But it was really too late. They reached fifty percent casualties, failed a Guts check and fled the table.
The figures in the game are mostly Gurnsey and Wargames Foundry, with a smattering of other manufacturers mixed in, especially among the civilians. The buildings are all scratch built by yours truly, from foam core and cardboard.
All in all, a great game. I’m looking into using the Lord of the Rings/Legends system for even more skirmish games. You can see more photos of the game here.
You can leave comments and questions below:
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
It seems that back in the 1930s, the son of Edgar Rice Burroughs set out to create a cartoon series based on his father’s John Carter of Mars series of novels. Unfortunately, the series never got off the ground. Some initial work on the series survived, however, and you can see it in the YouTube video below:
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Saturday, April 12, 2008
I got this email and thought I’d pass it on:
With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, our troops in Afghanistan prove they’ve retained their sense of humor with the following,
‘“YOU MAY BE A TALIBAN IF...”
1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can’t afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon “unclean.”
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can’t think of anyone you HAVEN’T declared Jihad against.
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
9. You’ve ever uttered the phrase, “I love what you’ve done with your cave.”
10. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least Two.
11. You bathe at least monthly whether necessary or not.
12. You’ve ever had a crush on your neighbor’s goat.
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Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
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