On the purchase front, my endeavors were mostly focused on scenery as I bought terrain pieces for my pending projects. Lots of buildings, trees, hedges, and bridges now sit in tubs in my gaming room waiting for their triumphant debut on the table. There's been a lot of building, gluing, sealing, and some painting (much of which has been highlighted on this blog), but I'm generally pleased with the results. I've also backed a few Kickstarters, ordered a large World War II collection, and picked up a few packs of unpainted miniatures.
Most importantly, I have finally been able to form a semi-regular gaming group. We started off strong, meeting weekly to play either a minis game or some type of strategy board game, but as two of our number are ministers, the holidays slowed us down a bit, but we're hoping to hit the ground running this month.
Currently, our gaming options include:
- SAGA - This has proved to be a crowd favorite and the interest inspired me to pick up a Saracen warband from Footsore Miniatures a few weeks ago (a review to come soon) and has made at least one of my mates consider buying his own. I'm excited for next month's release of the second edition of the rules, which promise to breathe some new excitement into this old favorite.
- Force on Force - As I mentioned in my first post, this was the ruleset that really got me into serious miniatures gaming, and so I'll always have soft spot for this game. It's a fun one to pull out on occasion, but as often happens, the actual gameplay has gotten a little stale for me. I've occasionally used my 20mm modern warfare collection for games of Skirmish Sangin, but that system has never really excited me. I haven't run it for the new group yet, but I might in the future if we want some variety.
- Andy Callan's Paper Soldiers rules - In an effort to fly the flag at some of the local shows for Helion & Co., I was gifted a set of American Civil War paper soldiers by Peter Dennis (the illustrator of Helion's great paper soldier series). The figures came with two simple rules written by Andy Callan. We've played one game so far and had a lot of fun, so I can see us setting up some more games in the future. I might just have to pick up the AWI book...and perhaps the upcoming Jacobite one, too!
We also have a few irons in the fire, that should sprout into real games soon:
- World War II skirmish games (Chain of Command/Disposable Heroes 2) - Many, if not most, of my blog posts have referred to my drawn-out build up for a World War II game. I purchased enough figures to play through two of the Chain of Command pint-sized campaigns in September 2016 and gave them to a friend who has previously painted all of my minis. His own wargaming business and some unexpected real-life issues have delayed his progress and I'm still waiting for the Tommies and panzergrenadiers to return to the depot. In the meantiem, I put in a large order with Britannia in November for some painted miniatures and vehicles and expect to receive my GIs, British paras, and Fallschirmjager (which will allow me to play another five pint-sized campaigns) within the month.
- Blood & Plunder - Several months ago, I backed the Kickstarter for the expansion for this hugely popular game. I had missed out on the initial release, but had heard nothing but great things about the minis and rules from some friends and when I found out the expansion would feature the Dutch American colonies (which I spent a large amount of graduate school researching), I was sold. The figures were supposed to arrive in March, but we're now expecting a May arrival. The few turns I played of the game at Historicon really impressed me. It's a simple, yet elegant, game filled with well-researched period flavor.
- Song of Ice & Fire - I backed this game on Kickstarter and the modest pledge came with a massive amount of well sculpted figures (in colored plastic...which at least won't mean I have to rush to the painting table). Though what I've seen of the gameplay for the included rules have not impressed me much, I'm willing to give them a try. Just in case, I've also purchased a copy of Dan Mersey's popular Dragon Rampant rules and enough extra minis to play a proper game with that system.
- Star Wars Legion - Since the rest of my new group members are new to historical gaming, I've been trying to find more game options that will have a wider appeal to all. The Song of Ice and Fire game will certainly fit this bill (and also to leave the magic aside for some generic medieval warfare if we'd like), but when I first heard of the upcoming Star Wars Legion game, I knew it would definitely be another great gateway project for my novice gaming friends (all of whom are Stars Wars fans). I've pre-ordered the starter set and now just need to get some terrain pieces sorted!
- Flintloque/Songs of Drums and Shakos - Lastly, I've recently gotten back into one of my most favorite historical conflicts - the Napoleonic Wars. Waterloo was the first battle I ever really studied and the era has fascinated me off and on since. Besides burying my nose in a few new Napoleonic books, I've also been keen to get a Napoleonic game on the tabletop. A few weeks ago, I picked up copies of the Blucher and General d'Armee rulebooks, but I don't think I really have the time or, most especially, space to undertake either of those projects at present, so I figured I needed to turn elsewhere to scratch my early nineteenth-century fix. Considering the limitations of my schedule and gaming room, as well as the interests of my club members (none of whom are particularly interested in the Napoleonic Wars), I decided to return to the first miniatures game I ever had - Flintloque. Set in a world which mixes fantasy races and the coalitions against Napoleon, the miniatures are fun and full of character, and the game's narratives are always light-hearted and entertaining - all in all, great ingredients for a casual weeknight game. I've played all three editions of the Flintloque rules, and while they are serviceable, they are very chart heavy and can be a bit cumbersome in some of the mechanics. After poking around some other blogs and at conventions, I've heard of people using the Flintloque miniatures with Ganesha Games' Songs of Blades and Heroes and Songs of Drum and Shakos skirmish rules (or some home-brewed concoction of those fantasy and Napoleonic sets), so I picked up copies of both and have been rather pleased with my readthroughs. They present quick, but exciting games and should fit Flintloque exceeding well. I've also gone ahead and ordered a few units of figures pre-painted direct from the manufacturer - a service that made the game even more appealing. I'm hoping that once my collection is built up a bit further, that we'll be able to move up to larger battles using Dragon Rampant or some other ruleset.
Lots of plans floating around, but I'm excited to make them realities and to share them in this space.
Stay tuned!
