Club Night

Another cold and miserable journey to the club only to be met with a parking problem as it was a parent's evening at the school where we meet, how inconvenient, don't they realise Tuesdays are for wargaming.

Andrew had brought along his first attempt at a scenario, the Empire (me) had got wind of a Scum and Villainy, criminal/pirate base and decided to wipe it out as it was being used to raid the space lanes. In a surprise attack an Imperial force dropped in from hyper space and found themselves behind the enemy who were between them and the base. The S&V players each had forces of 100 points, Simon had taken two IG88 ships flown by assassin droids but had given them all sorts of upgrades, Andrew once again took the Hounds Tooth along with a Y-Wing and two Z95's. I fielded three Interceptors, two Defenders, one Phantom and brought along a Bounty Hunter, most of these ships had some kind of upgrade to give them target locks or defensive values.

The Imperials drop in.

 I kept my fleet in a tight formation but played loose with the Phantom as a flanker, keeping it cloaked as long as possible, this does not make it invulnerable, simply harder to hit. The enemy on seeing my approach scattered as they tried to turn around and put up a defence, Andrew was slow but Simon came on very quickly but left one IG88 sitting right in front of all my ships. I threw everything at it thinking it was a gift, although I managed to destroy her shields I did not do any real damage, Simon saved nearly all my hits. After this for a time I couldn't hit a barn door.
 

A very lucky IG88 attacks the fleet.

 At this point I wanted to turn on Simon and dogfight, Andrew was really too far away to help, I thought I stood a good chance of taking out the IG88's, but we were here to destroy the Scum base and I reluctantly drove my troops on, knowing Simon would get on my tail, but I needed all my firepower to take the station out.
 

The base comes into range.

 Sure enough I began to take losses, I could not hit back as nothing was in front of me and the Scum had a field day, before long I had lost four ships, however I could now fire at the base, I opened up and seemingly could not miss as one after another the four base modules spectacularly blew up. Game over.

Boom, game over.

 The scenario was a good idea but needs tweaking, we discussed several issues as the game unfolded, my concern was that originally the Imperials did not have enough points to make an attack, having to fend off the enemy and hit the base which had 20 hit points. I managed to get another 25 before the game started, I still think it should be more like 200 v 250. I initially thought dropping in behind the Scum would not be a big deal, but it did prove to be a nuisance for them as they fought for space to turn their ships around. Andrew took his Hounds Tooth and Y-Wing the long way around which helped me get in close to the base before they started shooting. I moaned about the 20 hit points for the base thinking it was too much, I countered this by saying the base should have at least one defence die. The guys agreed and we reduced the base to 12 hit points with a defence die. I then felt bad as when I did open up on it I could not miss and within two turns it had gone. I was prepared to call it a day but they gave me a minor win as I had lost more than 50% of my points in the attack.

It is a good premise for a scenario and I would like to play it again, it is also very hard to balance, the Scum could have taken more ships, smaller and more agile, my over the top shooting of the base could have gone the opposite way and I would only have managed a few hits before flying past the thing and having to turn back into the defenders. I on the other hand could have taken a bunch of Ties as escort for a few hard hitting ships. So a lot of different things to try out still.

 Elsewhere we had an AWI boardgame, another run at Cross of Iron and Frostgrave. Next week it is Muskets and Tomahawks, the week after I fancy taking along Dead Man's Hand as I have a neat idea for a scenario involving bounty hunters.
 

Cross of Iron, Eastern Front.

Brrrrr, Frostgrave.

View From The WIndow

I took a long lie again this week, I have nothing to do today but potter around, although I do believe we might be starting on clearing the kitchen for the upcoming work on the 18th, oh joy. It is dull as usual with some very wet looking grey clouds scudding past us as the wind is getting stronger, it is not as cold as yesterday but a cold spell looms. The village is beginning to dry out, the lake at the bottom end has almost gone however I believe the homes in that part will take several more months to be fit to live in again. One poor punter had only just moved back into the village to find himself underwater within days of his arrival. We have had a lot of funerals recently, it seems to happen that way here, especially in the winter, and as we ran the only shop we know most of the people, some better than others but we can always put a face to the unfortunate.

I will have to get back to getting up earlier, at this time of day the missus is about, behind me I hear all sorts of distracting noises, so far she has put a heater up against a part of the living room wall which has not quite dried out properly, put a new bulb in a lamp and given me a row for not doing so, despite the fact I already tested several bulbs in it in her presence and they didn't work, why would I put a duff bulb in the lamp? Every time I hear these noises I feel that it is something I should have done but didn't and that I will pay for it later.

On the subject of getting up earlier, why does a computer take time to get up to speed in the morning? The one in the Post Office is incredibly slow of a morning, so much that I can see the customer looking at me as if to say "hurry up I can't wait all day." Surely once the magic electricity hits it it should be like a shot of adrenalin, it should be up and about awaiting my command instead of me wondering if I had actually hit the button and then do so several times again.

I was talking to a customer during the week about dentists, and it suddenly hit me that these days we are getting estimates for our dental work. When did it become normal to get an estimate for a filling, every filling must be pretty routine and they already know how much they are going to take from you, so why the estimate. It is not as if you are going to go to the guy down the road armed with your estimate and ask him to beat the price to get your business, dentists have a licence to print money, yes, it was the politicians to blame again, so why would they shave a couple of quid off to get their hands in your wallet, sorry, mouth. Why do we get 'free' treatment from doctors in the NHS but not from dentists? The point is moot here in the North anyway as you have no choice but go private as NHS dental places are as rare as hen's teeth.

I can do it cheaper for cash, nudge, nudge.

I do wonder about the modern world at times, most every day actually, in Glasgow an 'artist' has been given £15,000 to stay in the city for a year seemingly to find out how someone who cannot leave a city will be affected by career, social issues, family ties (she has no family in Glasgow), carbon footprint(?) and mental health (check the people doling out the fifteen grand). Why this should be the domain of an artist I am unsure, I wonder how many of the good people of Glasgow will benefit from this artistry during the year.

£15,000, yeah count me in.

If you are British and went to school at anytime in the past eighty or so years you probably learnt to read with Jack and Jill, I think they may have been Ladybird books, I'm not sure. My granddaughter proudly showed me her reading skills and lo and behold, Jack and Jill have been retired or simply disappeared and Naveen and Tiana have taken their place. I was a tad surprised as these names to me at least were not typical British names, I have since looked into this and they are Disney characters! Is nothing sacred, do we have to change everything for money or political correctness, even something as seemingly innocuous as reading characters.

Don't you just want to scream!

I predicted some time ago that recreational anglers would soon become a target of the animal rights people but it would seem the EU have got the boot in first. Sea anglers are now limited to the amount of Bass they can catch, I believe it is three when they normally catch much more than this as they are plentiful around Britain when in season. This has a knock on effect on the businesses of people who run boats taking anglers offshore as well as cheesing off the see-anglers, meanwhile Spanish and French boats fishing Bass can catch tons. As a recreational angler if you catch too many, say four, you can be fined around £10,000, and you just know that here in the UK some self-satisfied little apparatchik will be watching for you.

Enjoy it while you can mate.

Cheers!

Why a second post today, why not. We have no visitors, the weather is cold and wet, there is a steak pie in the oven, red wine getting to room temperature and a movie to sink into the couch to watch later in front of a lovely wood fire.

I have finished the Saxon rally point, the revellers are actually Vikings but who is going to complain and perhaps they will come in handy down the road if I ever get a Viking army. I added some barrels, a table and the chickens for a bit of colour. The scene reminds me of the night before we kick off a tournament, you know who you are under the table, answers on a postcard.

Oi! Mind your 'and Olaf.

I also had an attack of my old OCDC or whatever, I pulled out my Dark Age armies, moved the figures on to new trays, cleaned, primed and based the new figures and fit them in where applicable. I have to say that the Arthurian Saxon Miniatures pack was far better than the Anglo-Saxon one, although I still dislike the hands. I have decided to give most of the Saxons to my son and to that end I ordered up a few figures from Gripping Beast along with additions to my Dark Age cavalry, who are being changed from ten to twelve man units. That will mean that my three WAC armies will be complete, no need to add anything else, no sir.

Not Impressed

I opened up my packs of Saxon Miniatures last night in order to get them based for painting and up close I was disappointed, the photos on the website are terrific and the painting is impressive, but now that I had them out of the pack and getting ready to base I am not satisfied.

Considering these are fairly new figures there are a lot of mold lines on them, and the metal used is that crisp stuff which I haven't seen in ages, the stuff that you dare not bend too far as it will crack, you can hear a distinct clink as you pop them back into the bag. The King Alfred figure especially has large pieces of metal holding his leg and cloak to the base, and you can't just cut it off as it is so thick, thankfully this is a figure I do not require.

I do have a complaint about the hands, they are tiny and my usual 1mm diameter spears look like large logs in them, they are also not well disposed to take weapons and I have had to take a modelling knife to ensure some kind of fit.

There are some nice sculpts in the packs but there are also just as many which are pretty average and I bought the 'hero' packs, I also noticed that some are fairly chunky while others are much slimmer. I am putting my own shields on the Arthurian figures and I have no doubt they will paint up fine and fit in with my Gripping Beast and Musketeer units, perhaps my expectations were too high after seeing the photos.

Light Artillery for the Twelfth

I think that's it for the Romans, I have just completed two stands of 'light' artillery to join the large siege ballistae in the baggage train. Someone asked Keith at Aventine to do manuballistae and he did, he also recommends they be used the same as Scorpio's which suits me fine as it puts a talking point and an unusual one at that on the table. I have put three to a base as that is what is recommended in War and Conquest as a crew. I think if you were hit by one of these you would know it.

The photographs are not terrific but we have not had natural light here in the North for many a week and today is no different.

I am now at work on the Saxon rally point which I should have done by the end of the weekend after that I am going to up those Dark Age units as I have already received the figures from Saxon Miniatures along with some more transfers from LBMS. It should not take too long to do this so I may help my son with his Western Franks with the spare painting time.

I have sent off another map project for the author to check, it is 20+ maps of the Western Desert campaigns and terrain, I have tried to put a bit more thought into these maps, a bit more design and I am pleased so far.

Club Night

 The first visit to the club in 2016 and I have caught up with that Sudan game I missed due to my birthday. As you know I am not a huge fan of the BP and Hail Caesar type of game but it seems to work with this and every game is a lot of fun, and I have to say in both the Sudan games I came away having the impression that they gave an historical result. We are also lucky in that Rob, who runs the games never fails to put a lot of work in and the resulting battles show this.

The Mahdists approach.

Without further ado I took command of the Scottish Brigade which contained the Black Watch, Seaforth Highlanders and the Highland Light Infantry with a gun and some elite British cavalry, Paul, my companion also had a brigade but not as keen as mine according to Rob. Rob and Ian had hordes of Mahdist cannon fodder, Ian, facing me had the most fanatical.

We had to escort an archaeologist to an important desert site and keep him alive while we did it, Paul formed brigade square while I remained in lines and would attempt to take the village to my front while Paul moved up the road protecting our left. The Mahdists went first and the fanatics moved swiftly on my lines, only just failing to contact, I threw my cavalry in on a misjudged charge against some camel mounted enemy and managed to fall back to my start point, this eventually suited me, the camels were not to become a problem on my flank as they eventually had to retire, so not an unhappy result.

The enemy charge in.

My firepower failed to stop the enemy charging and in they came, after several turns of desperate fighting I lost the HLI but managed to cripple Ian's Mahdists enough for them to retire from the fight, the Black Watch were the heroes of this fight, the Seaforth's only just managed what was asked of them.

 Over on my left I watched with trepidation as Paul's square was assaulted half a dozen times and each time only just held, the fighting and bloodletting around the square was horrendous.

Desperate fighting all along the British lines.

 As one brigade disappeared Ian was handed another and it too now headed for the square apart from a wild cavalry charge against the Black Watch, which was despatched by some outstanding volleys.
 

The Square under pressure.

As we approached home time it was clear that despite many valiant attempts to destroy it the square would hold and the Mahdists had had enough, whatever was found at the site I hope the British Museum realises it cost a lot of blood to get.

So a nice start to 2016, elsewhere we had the usual boardgame but I am unsure what period it was, a Bloodbowl game and a large Franks vs Lombards 10mm Sword and Spear battle, nothing much seems to happen in a game, large numbers of troops sit around waiting, I think this has something to do with the activation mechanic rather than the generals. On the last table there was a trial run of Cross of Iron from Great Escape Games, I hope to get a shot at this at some point. Next week Andrew wants to try out an X-Wing scenario he has written, as I am the Imperial player I hope to get a chance to field some of my little used ships for some fun.

Movies etc.

I was asked in another post what I thought about Star Wars and the simple answer is it was OK, I remember being awed by the first movie but perhaps we have just had too much of a good thing and dare I say it is a bit dated? It doesn't help matters that I am not a fanatical Star Wars fan and my interest was badly affected by the 'Teddy bears' in Return of the Jedi and completely killed off by Jar Jar Binks and the dreadful accents, acting and storylines of the prequels. As we all know now this is basically a remake of the first movie and I have heard all the reasons as to why, but I think they are excuses and it was easier than coming up with a real story. For me it did not live up to the hype and it was OK as movies go.

I will add in the films defence that I am notoriously happy to please when it comes to movies etc. When I worked offshore if people came into the cinema and saw me sitting there they rolled their eyes and moaned because if I wanted to see a film then 98% of the crew did not. It was also part of my job to order the movies, so I subjected those poor people to The Seven Samurai, Battle of the River Plate and anything with Bop Hope and John Wayne in them, I am not sorry.

Before I go any further how is it that an evil Galactic Empire can't hire troops who can actually hit what they shoot at, how can you conquer a galaxy if you can't kill anyone, how evil is that? Also how do you find a company that can build you a Deathstar or dig out a the insides of a planet without the project going over budget, being delayed indefinitely or even scrapped. And why do they always leave that weak point which someone in planning notices and passes on to the enemy?

So, onto Legend, the Kray brothers, those nice east end lads who were always nice to their mum and neighbours and that poor Reggie who really wanted to go straight or rather straightish but mad Ronnie put an end to that. It was so much better in them days, you knew them that would stomp and torture/murder you and them that wouldn't. Absolute tosh, I've read about those two and I for one would not have liked to have been anywhere near them, the movie left mountains of stuff out about them and despite Tom Hardy's excellent job playing both it left me cold.

And on the subject of cold, The Revenant, a beautifully shot movie with a great start and a spectacular bear attack on the main character. I had a clash myself with a black or brown bear in the Smokey Mountains when one nearly took the face off my youngest son and once he had left the area at the speed of light the thing was about four feet from me, but that is another story. I can only admire those men who pushed into the vast American wilderness with almost nothing except what they carried. Perhaps the movie was a tad overlong, but it passed an evening.

Long movies, The Hateful Eight, almost nothing seems to happen in the first hour or so but when it does it jolts you out of your seat. There is a lot of talking and you eventually get the full story through flashbacks, which you don't really need as it is not difficult to work it out. I was tempted to give up on it but I as soon as it got to the mindless violence, which I enjoy now and again, it was fine.

The Martian, another long movie which could have been boring but wasn't, our hero being trapped on Mars and seemingly years from death or rescue. The political goings on on Earth were interesting as a backstory and extremely believable, to me at least. There was a lot of sugary feelgood stuff in it which if dumped would have made a better film, but it is worth a watch.

I am only now just getting back to catching up with the telly, I was saddened to read on another blog that Jekyll and Hyde will not be back for a second season, a real shame as it was a very intriguing show. I have enjoyed Dickensian and despite myself watched the Detectorists Christmas special, a charming, harmless little show but did it need a special, I think not. I have still to get around to Sherlock, that's next when I get spare time.

Before I sign off, if you do not already watch Gotham, you really have to, I am biased as I like and forgive most things taken from the comic universe, but this is in a class of its own and the second season is pure gold.