Monday, September 22, 2014

Pydna at Partizan

OK so this is a little late at 2 weeks after the event however this event cemented my return to miniatures.

Do you think he will notice the coffee stain?

I had been dithering over going to the Partizan show, I had been before, many years ago, I like the venue and it is just under an hours drive but the thing that tipped the balance was Mr Simon Millers call for folks to volunteer as a participant (General) in his demo game for his new rules.

Generally I have found that going to shows on my own can be a bit of a trudge. Sure I am enthused by the wealth of eye candy but I am not interacting with anyone, I have the odd chat but it is a generally solo experience while surrounded by the hundreds of others who are there. So I thought about and and then volunteered. The rest, as they say is history or in this case a re-write of history as the Macedonians won in our game.

Simon had been billing it as a monster game with thousands of figures and he was not wrong as this is the sight that greeted me on turning up.

The table laid out

This photo does not do it justice as these are all well painted 28mm figures. Thousands of 'em which may lead you to think that such a large game may suffer from being unmanageable. I can tell you it is not, certainly when using Mr Miller's rules.

On with the battle and I found myself in rather exalted company, facing the boys from Claymore Castings and standing next to Keith from Aventine Miniatures whose figures I believe were well represented on the table.

The game itself was pretty fast once we got going and the rules seemed to me to be a mixture of Command and Colours with the Activation randomness for a General to issue orders. These are both of the rules that I like. The gaming area is laid out in a grid and all movement is via squares. This appeals to me, I am not a great fan of the micro measuring of distances that some players indulge in. Maybe more of that in a separate post. Combat is simple but effective and uses a standard deck of cards. All in all a great game and a great day out, helped not least by the fact that I managed to take the winning combat, Keith having done all the actual hard work...

As it is I will be looking to volunteer to General at other games and if my painting is felt up to scratch by the organiser even contribute some miniatures.

Let battle commence

Dave looks on as Simon contemplates the next move

Hey mum they made me a General

The Macedonians get the win - Hurrah for Greece


Sunday, September 21, 2014

Back at the Brushes

Wow, has it really been two years since I last blogged.

Seems so and I am not sure really what to put this down to. I think that it is probably down to a couple of things:-

Change of direction

I became more involved with a board game group and this sucked most of my time.

Illness

In the form of a rather badly damaged knee leading to arthritis. I was warned of this when I was 16 and had an operation. They told me to stop playing rugby so I did - when I was 42. The reason I stopped was that the pain in my knee under contact was for too much. This has progressed so much so that last year I could hardly walk let alone do exercise. I have subsequently had a procedure that has given me a new lease of life - although Rugby is limited to watching I think.Family - I prefer painting and modelling generally to playing. My eldest son is the reverse and gives me a hard time about it. This becomes VERY irritating and I often find myself just not bothering. 

So What's Changed

Not sure what to put it down to but I think that the knee op has made a huge difference to me. I generally have more energy and am more determined about the things that I want to do. This is one of them.

So where to from here

In the intervening time I have not been completely off the minis and have managed to get a couple of SAGA Armies together and a some Bolt Action Germans and Russians.

Right now though I am tackling a slightly different era - the Eighteenth Century.

I am starting off with a stab at Muskets and Tomahawks and putting together some AWI troops. Was going to have a bash at Rebellion for Black Powder but when I looked at the lists it was apparent that I would have to get a lot of figures together and that would take a lot of time and sap a lot of energy. Hopefully skirmish first and then get the army together. I have made a start and more on that soon (I hope)

Also my son has graduated from Uni and is now trying to find a job - whatever, he is here again and is also one of the people I play SAGA with. Right now though he has a love affair with Game of Thrones and having bought a copy of Lion Rampant at Partizan that other week we are going to get a couple of Armies together for those rules based on GoT.

So, it's back to the brushes...