As we sit here trying to slim down from the Christmas excesses, and now that the beer and pizza fest of StuCon II has passed, it is time to turn our eyes again to what is in the pipeline for war gaming this year. I've decided that any miniatures gaming will need to be defined as specific projects, and will need to take into consideration constraints of time and opportunity more than anything else.
There only remains one more battle in the Orc's Drift campaign. This is the final assault by the combined forces of orc king F'yar against the brave defenders of Orc's Drift. The last scenario is written as a multi-player event, with three orc tribes versus a disparate crew of defenders. I'm mulling over the possibility of playing this with Warhammer 3rd ed rather than Lord of the Rings, which is what we've used up until now. In addition, I might flesh out the orcs using Mantic plastics. To do it justice, the scenario will require six players and an umpire.
I'm not that far away from being able to put on a refight of the famous Zulu victory at Isandlwana, on 22nd January 1879. This game would be an all-day affair, involving five players (three Zulu, two British) plus an umpire. It would make use of The Sword And The Flame, which we've used before. The standard unit size would be eight figures, with a typical Zulu ibutho operating at 25 figures (including command). I'm just in the process of doing a quick inventory of figures to see how many more I still need to paint. Hopefully not too many!
I've acquired the Ambush Valley supplement for Force on Force, which I aim to use for the time being for Vietnam gaming. This project will need a fair bit of painting and some additional vehicles and terrain. I'm going to be starting off with a small campaign called Operation Shoemaker, which was part of an attempt in 1970 to try to take out the PAVN command structure in Cambodia. Following on from this will be the hill battles around Khe Sanh in 1967. Much will depend on progress with painting the required figures. Perhaps something for the second half of the year?
Finally, for WW2, I'm going to play-test Troops, Weapons and Tactics from Too Fat Lardies. I've been intrigued by the 'Lardiemania' which has been sweeping European war gaming recently, and am curious to try out these rules. Once again, we will be returning to the Eastern Front, as I've still not got my US Army platoon project off the ground, and am unlikely to do so in 2013 either! It will be more likely that I will either draw on the Berlin '45 campaign, as outlined in the excellent supplement from Iron Ivan Games, or generate a German platoon using Platoon Forwards. Stay turned!
That's really it in a nutshell. We are already into the second week of January, so time is flying past. This weekend I hope to get some time to reconfigure my study so that I can set up properly for terrain making and model building. I will also be setting up the next Lord of the Rings scenario in my gaming hut, with a view to getting those damned hobbits on the road to Bree!
Fellowship of the Ring
I hope to complete a few more games of Lord of the Rings, using the scenarios from the Fellowship of the Ring campaign book. We've already seen how the Nazgul have entered the Shire. Now it is time for Frodo and his friends to leave Hobbiton and head for Bucklebury, but will they make it? Still a bit of painting to be done here - e.g. Bucklebury ferry and the Barrow Wights - before the hobbits reach Bree and the safety of the Prancing Pony inn. Ideally, I'd like to play three or four games of this during 2012, taking the hobbits at least as far as Bree, if not to Rivendell itself...Bloodbath At Orc's Drift - Warhammer Fantasy Battle
There only remains one more battle in the Orc's Drift campaign. This is the final assault by the combined forces of orc king F'yar against the brave defenders of Orc's Drift. The last scenario is written as a multi-player event, with three orc tribes versus a disparate crew of defenders. I'm mulling over the possibility of playing this with Warhammer 3rd ed rather than Lord of the Rings, which is what we've used up until now. In addition, I might flesh out the orcs using Mantic plastics. To do it justice, the scenario will require six players and an umpire.
Battle of Isandlwana - The Sword And The Flame
I'm not that far away from being able to put on a refight of the famous Zulu victory at Isandlwana, on 22nd January 1879. This game would be an all-day affair, involving five players (three Zulu, two British) plus an umpire. It would make use of The Sword And The Flame, which we've used before. The standard unit size would be eight figures, with a typical Zulu ibutho operating at 25 figures (including command). I'm just in the process of doing a quick inventory of figures to see how many more I still need to paint. Hopefully not too many!
Operation Shoemaker 1970 - Ambush Valley
I've acquired the Ambush Valley supplement for Force on Force, which I aim to use for the time being for Vietnam gaming. This project will need a fair bit of painting and some additional vehicles and terrain. I'm going to be starting off with a small campaign called Operation Shoemaker, which was part of an attempt in 1970 to try to take out the PAVN command structure in Cambodia. Following on from this will be the hill battles around Khe Sanh in 1967. Much will depend on progress with painting the required figures. Perhaps something for the second half of the year?
Dystopian Wars
Dystopian Wars is something the Hove Area Wargames Society has been raving about for some time. It is a combined arms game in an alternative steampunk universe, focused largely on the ships and aerial platforms created by the rival empires, which are inspired by the 19th century great powers (with the possible exception of the Covenant of Antartica, of course). However, it also seems to include land-based and amphibious vessels. I've bought a Russian starter force, which I need to paint up before pitching them against the other fleets lurking out there in Hove.WW2 Convoys - The Gibraltar Run
Following the above naval them, I'm also seriously looking at a WW2 convoy-based campaign game over the course of the year, using Convoy from Clash of Arms. I've recently bought a sizeable collection of merchant ships and a few British warships from Duncan and will be examining ways of playing convoy actions with these. At this stage I'm not entirely sure whether I've got all the bases covered re: the required ships and planes, but I've got enough U-boats for a decent wolf pack. I'm lacking a decent sea surface at the moment for both WW2 and steampunk games, as I'd like something that will cover the entirety of my 8' x 6' surface. I've been looking at Terrain Mat, but that's over £150, even though the texture looks awesome.Troops, Weapons And Tactics
Finally, for WW2, I'm going to play-test Troops, Weapons and Tactics from Too Fat Lardies. I've been intrigued by the 'Lardiemania' which has been sweeping European war gaming recently, and am curious to try out these rules. Once again, we will be returning to the Eastern Front, as I've still not got my US Army platoon project off the ground, and am unlikely to do so in 2013 either! It will be more likely that I will either draw on the Berlin '45 campaign, as outlined in the excellent supplement from Iron Ivan Games, or generate a German platoon using Platoon Forwards. Stay turned!
That's really it in a nutshell. We are already into the second week of January, so time is flying past. This weekend I hope to get some time to reconfigure my study so that I can set up properly for terrain making and model building. I will also be setting up the next Lord of the Rings scenario in my gaming hut, with a view to getting those damned hobbits on the road to Bree!
Would love to have your amount of spare time!!! Sigh! All looks good to me. Roleplaying may increasingly become something I do less of and boardgames and war gaming could take it's place simply because they take less out of me... I guess watch that space!
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