Foundry Christmas Open Day 2

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Quirkworthy

The Saturday seemed a bit busier than the Friday and this all added to the fun. I’ll happily claim that it was because several people had come specially to play Tribes of Legend, (which was rather flattering), though it could also have been that they were leaving wives to do Christmas shopping while they rummaged through the bargain blisters.

Nigel Stillman came back with a bronze shield he’d made as well as the helmet and several people had a go trying it on. Here’s Nick’s war face. Sorry the picture’s a bit fuzzy – I couldn’t hold the camera still cos I was laughing so much đŸ™‚

Thanks to Nick for being such a good sport. He’s actually been mentioned on Quirkworthy before, sort of. Nick is a very talented modeller and was responsible for the brilliant Sedgemoor display at the Derby World Wargames show I reported on earlier.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Nick is planning another monster game for next year. This will be the 1914 battle of Mons, right at the start of WWI. Apparently this will be something like 30 feet long! Nick’s gaming buddies are all helping out with models and suchlike, but I think the lion’s share of the scale architect jobs go to Nick. Here he is working for the Lord, building himself a nice big church. In the grand tradition of such things, he even has one he did earlier to show the sort of end result you can get.

He’s already drawn the elevation of his church (using photos as reference), cut out the shape from foam, and is now scribing in the layers of brick (in case you were wondering).

While Nick was being creative, I ran several people through games of ToL with Centaurs and Amazons running about wrecking things. Anything to retain the balance of the universe. Here is an overview of the table we fought over. The huge temple is a resin piece (I think from Monolith), while the big rocky outcrop on the right is actually a kid’s playset, converted to amuse dad (Matt) when it was discarded đŸ™‚

All the battles were fairly close, though nobody managed to capture any objectives: they focussed instead on obliterating the enemy forces. This is about as close as anyone came: the scene in front of the cave is Amazons sacrificing a goat and was one of the objectives the centaurs could have taken. Note that you don’t have to try and take objectives in Tribes of Legend. It’s just one of the options.

This next one is from a different game, with the centaur heavies just checking they’re in range to pile in (which they did). As this is a family internet I’ve spared you the carnage that followed.

This last shot is Nigel again (and his hat) contemplating the battle from more of a model’s eye level. We noticed that some of the Amazon models have very similar headgear! Now you know how to paint it.

As well as Tribes of Legend, there were other games to play. I had a go at Condottiere – I’d forgotten how entertaining it was. It’s a really colourful period, in character as well as costume. Here it is, about to kick off. Note the tower on the right. I discovered later that Nigel made this too. It’s even got paintings hanging on the inside!

It doesn’t take long for the mayhem to set in with Condottiere. I think this is turn 2. Turn 3 at the latest.

I was rather too busy to follow much of the last game – a section of the Austerlitz battlefield, but it seemed to go well. There was certainly a lot of smoke by the end. This is after a single turn of movement. They’re using Matt Fletcher’s Napoleon Rules. Matt is not only running the game, but made the terrain and painted the armies too!

In the picture above, you can just see this small walled enclosure at the far end of the 10 foot battlefield. This became something of a focus for the fighting and below is how it ended up. The counters track damage on the units. As you can see the assault has been costly.

A more general view of the battlefield at the end of the game. It’s not camera shake – it’s the haze of battle. Honest ;P

On top if these games there were piles of discounted models and paints to rummage through as well as free drinks and mince pies. As Wallace & Gromit might say, a grand day out.

Posted in Events, Tabletop gaming, Terrain, Tribes of Legend | 2 Comments

Foundry Christmas Open Day 1

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Just a quick note – I’ll post a bunch more pics tomorrow.

It’s been a fun day, not least because I had a game of Tribes of Legend with Nigel Stillman (and then a bunch of us played Condottiere). For those of you that are not familiar with Nigel, he worked for GW for years, but his gaming credentials go back further by far, to authoring classic WRG publications that every Ancients gamer should know. He is, by inclination and trade, an archaeologist that specialises in the early Bronze Age in the Middle East. He’s also a very entertaining chap. He does, for example, turn up to open days with some of his latest experimental archaology in the form of a horn helmet. Not a horned helmet, mind you, one made from (buffalo) horn, much like the boar tusk helmets you see. Anyway, here’s a photo of him wearing it. A very sturdy piece of kit it is too.

Oh, and there were other games as well. Here’s a bit of the Austerlitz game to tease you Napoleonics buffs…

More tomorrow đŸ™‚

Posted in Events | 9 Comments

Foundry Christmas Open Days

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Quirkworthy

I keep talking to people who say they’ll meet me at one event or another, and I just thought I’d let you guys know I’d be going along to the Foundry Open Days tomorrow and Saturday in case you fancied a chat. They’ve got a bunch of games going on as well as all the usual bargains and offers, so it should be worth a visit. I know that they’ve been painting up armies and making terrain specially for this, so even if you’ve been before there will be new things to see.

I’m going as a normal civilian tomorrow with no particular remit (other than rummaging through the bargain blisters), but on Saturday I’ll be running Tribes of Legend in my official capacity of person wot wrote it. However, I’ll be happy to talk about it on either day, and Hermes may even let you look at the book if you’re very well behaved đŸ˜‰

For those of you that don’t get to go, I’ll try and get some nice pictures to give you the feel for what you’re missing. The pictures here are from a previous open day.

Posted in Events, Tribes of Legend | Leave a comment

Review: Heroica (Nathuz) – What’s In The Box?

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Lots of stuff.

Mainly this is bags of zillions of Lego bits, as you’d expect. In fact I found it all slightly daunting. It’s not just zillions of bits – it’s zillions of different and very specific bits. I’m clearly going to have to pay attention to the assembly diagrams. Luckily, they are written for 8-year olds, so they are almost a brick at a time…

Nice and easy. Even the harder parts don’t look very hard, and they hold your hand all the way along.

The rules look quit busy, but are only 4 pages long.

Below are the dramatis personae, plus all the different choppy things you can whack each other with. “Weapons and Gold” – the heart of every good adventure đŸ™‚

And speaking of adventures, if Nathuz isn’t big enough for you they designed all the Heroica boxes to go together to make up this enormous dungeon shown on the poster in the box. Why do I always read that as Fortran?

But I’m rambling. I said I’d tell you what’s in the box. Well, the box contains lots of bits of Lego together with one of their DIY Lego dice. It also has an assembly guide, a poster showing the last steps in assembly plus how to join all the boxed sets together (above) and a little comic strip. Finally there is a rulebook in multiple languages. The box itself is not a traditional rigid card box, but uses a light corrugated card to get a similar rigid effect and feels nice and sturdy.

All told the box is a little over half full. However, I expect it will be useful for storing the half assembled game between sessions. Also, the game is cheap. For the money it felt like a fair amount of stuff and a good price to encourage kids to buy it themselves rather than wait for a birthday to get it.

 

Posted in Board Gaming, Review | 5 Comments

Aeronautica Imperialis – Straggler Missions

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Played some more Aeronautica at the weekend, and it was lots of fun. Bob came up with a simple scenario based on an event in WWII’s Pacific campaign. A lone, up-gunned Marauder bomber has to get the length of a 6 foot table, and 3 Ork Fightas have to stop it. It’s a variation on a scenario from the book.

We ended up playing this 5 times as it was nice and fast, but still left a few tactical options to consider. Honours were fairly even, but Bob had the upper hand in the end. The first pics show me closing in on Bob’s Marauder in the first game, firing one shot as I passed and then attempting to close up form behind. The second shot is me turning to pursue and the third is Bob being wriggly. Boy, he’s an erratic flyer. It’s a long way to get down the whole board (the Marauder has a max speed of 3 in this scenario), but he managed to escape with a single wound left.

My attempts at escaping went like this:

  1. Flew really high and was destroyed before I got half way đŸ˜¦
  2. Flew in at minimum height. Confused the Orks who were waiting for me to be high again, and got away easily.
  3. Tried to copy Bob’s erratic climb and dive mix and got away again with some scratches, but convincingly.
  4. Final attempt to perfect the jink and dodge method, and nearly made it. With my nose almost touching freedom, Bob had one last shot to get me before I escaped and with this final dice destroyed the Marauder. I could have been a contender.

This final shot is me flying the Marauder, and managing to end up with all 4 planes on the back of a blister card (on a 6×4 table). Lucky for me this is my second run and I’m miles below them đŸ™‚

All told a jolly little scenario and very simple. Bob did point out one oddity in the rules that we might House Rule, but I’ve not read them all yet and am loathe to change things before I have a proper go through the lot. I’m sure we’ll be playing it again though.

 

Posted in Tabletop gaming | 9 Comments

Tribes Of Legend – Update

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Well the time must be getting nearer as I’ve finally seen a printed copy of Tribes of Legend. The bulk of the run are still on the Slow Boat From China, but Hermes brought a copy by air for me to look at. Just a single copy, mind you, and I’ll need to let him have it back. We’ll need it at next week’s Open Day when I’m running Tribes of Legend on Saturday. All the gaming slots are full, I’m afraid, but if you fancy coming along and having a chat it’s always possible we’ll be able to get some more games going. It’s fast and brutal and I’m sure we can fit an extra rumble or two in if we try đŸ™‚

Looking at the book in its finished form, it’s interesting to see all the extra stuff that’s been added around the 3 sets of rules I wrote. Martin Buck has done some background sections on who’s who in the world of Greek Heroes and Gods; Kevin Dallimore and Jez Griffin have done several articles between them on painting different bits of the range; Matt Fletcher has taken a moment out from building Napoleonic tables to do a nice article on making rivers. The whole comes together rather nicely and is heavily illustrated by the whole new range of models.

It’s also interesting for me to re-read this after almost a year of doing other things. When you get get something printed (and there is now nothing you can do to fix it) there’s always the niggling worry that it may be somehow fatally flawed, though that’s probably just my paranoia showing. It reflects too on the discussions about murdering your darlings and less is more in my design theory articles: are there darlings I should have murdered? Does the gap of time allow me a less clouded view? Have the editors murdered them for me, or have they slain innocents by mistake? Often there is no definitive answer: one man’s darling is another man’s innocent victim. Still, an exciting time.

Oh, and I’ve picked up a few of the new Greek models to show you as well đŸ™‚

Posted in Tabletop gaming, Tribes of Legend | 7 Comments

Review: Aeronautical Imperialis – First Contact

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Those daring young men in their flying machines. In space đŸ™‚

Yes, I had a game of Games Workshop’s Aeronautica Imperialis. It was Bob’s fault, naturally. Like the Epic. He was kind enough to let me win though, shooting down his six Ork contraptions for no loss among my noble Imperial Ă¼bermensch. Well, that’s not entirely true. I fluked my “save on a 6” for the one fighter that was hit, and he flew one of his into the floor all on his own, so I didn’t shoot them all down.

It’s a fun little game, and not a bad price. We had a fair game with just half a dozen models a side, so no vast investment required. Might have another go next week, and when I have a proper read of the rules I’ll comment in more detail.

Posted in Tabletop gaming | 25 Comments

Things You Should Read: Number 1

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Quirkworthy

In no particular order, I thought I’d do a post or two on sites that I find intriguing, amusing, and make me think. First up is an occasional blog from a veteran of the gaming hobby: Tom Meier.

Tom’s a sculptor of insane talent as well as having something of a dry wit. The blog is as worth reading for the humour as the discussions on model scale, details of Theoland and Noraland, and insights into why models get sculpted as they do. He also includes many pictures of current projects, and the images below are what have made me particularly attentive over the years it’s taken for this project to bear fruit.

WWII goodness, Tom style đŸ™‚

The pictures speak for themselves really. The models aren’t out yet though I’m told that they’re getting close now and the prices I’ve heard sound fair (though he asked me not to tell). They’re being made for Fox Miniatures in 1:48th (35mm) scale and they look gorgeous. Do want.

Plastic model kits for WWII look great for vehicles in 1:48th, but the infantry lacks that certain something. Mainly the available options are just rescalings of Tamiya’s rather dated 1:35th stuff, and that’s probably it in a nutshell. These look like they’ll do very nicely, thank you đŸ™‚

Oh, and detail? The mind boggles. The coin shown below is a US cent. Remember that these are all 35mm models.

Posted in WWII | 7 Comments

Review: Gears of War – First Contact

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Quirkworthy

We played the Gears of War board game again last night, and actually survived this time. The first evening of this we played 2 player, and got obliterated repeatedly. I think we played 4 times and never got to the end. With 4 players it seemed much easier, though we ended up between us having less lives in total than a single one of us had to start with. I had no ammo left for anything, and no order cards either, so it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

I’ve not got a copy, so I can’t do a full description. However, initial impressions are perhaps worth noting. It’s getting a lot of good press right now, and it’s well put together and deals with some of the key features of the video game well enough. The miniatures are very high quality and the components nicely done. The rules themselves seem reasonably clear and roll along fine after a few turns. However, this is a co-op board game rather than a video game, so the frenetic pace of the original gives way to a much more considered and “talky” experience. I might see if I can borrow a copy at some stage to see how it works solo. That would be yet another different type of game.

Do I like it? Sort of. Ambivalent and undecided are perhaps the best words to describe how I feel. It is all done competently or better, I was engaged during the game, but somehow it doesn’t quite come up with that magic something for me. Maybe I just need to play it more. I would, however, encourage people to give it a try as cooperative games can be a fun change of pace and pose a different set of challenges from the competitive norm.

Posted in Board Gaming, Review | 9 Comments

It Wasn’t Me

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Looking at Beast of War’s account of the Warpath Open Day reveals this interesting little bit of information:

“This is all of course setting up Dwarf Kings Hold…In Spaaaaaaace which is planned for Warpath. Corporation Vs ’8th Race’ in the confines of huge asteroids mined out by the Forge Fathers, both in pursuit of the same precious resource. But that is for another day…”

When the aliens invade, just remember not to put Ronnie in charge of covert intelligence for the Resistance.

Posted in Dwarf King's Hold, Events | 13 Comments