Random Thoughts

     I usually listen to Pod Casts when I am at the modeling bench. You learn stuff and you are exposed to different points of view and interpretations of rules, or how you have messed up the rules according to the rules writer. Being a snob, I listen to historical gaming sites. At the mention of Games Workshop I am gone. That is just the way I roll! How and why I am not a fan of GW is another blog post.                          Full disclosure, I am a Too Fat Lardies fan, I am hoping that the King of Lard is serious when he mentions he is looking at a rules set for the ECW. I use TFL rules for my WWII games, the mechanics are what I really like, especially in the game Chain of Command. I understand the mechanics may not be for everyone, but I do, and the people I have introduced to them seem to like them as well. . .unless they are stuck in the mechanic of IGO-UGO. Now, if that is your choice of gaming mechanic, you do you! Where am I going with this? Hold on, here goes.

    Listening to a pod cast as I was painting the ECW Dragoons and commanders. . .I hate horses. The pod host was talking to a game designer, both miniature and board games. I have heard of the games he has designed, but never played one. I have also read AAR and watched multiple demo games on You-Tube. Never pulled the trigger on them. Perhaps if more people played the games I like, I would happily buy them and play. The conversation turned to mechanics the designer did not like. They were gracious and did not mention a rule set or designer, but ripped on "random mechanics." The very thought that every player did not get an equal turn was abhorrent to him, to see people standing at the table, obviously in severe distress because they "missed" a turn they were entitled to is just too much.  The main reason this chilled them to the bone? "How can you make a game plan if you just do not know if your going to get a turn?" (? Hello!? Missing a turn has been a "mechanic" since Candy Land!)

 For many players, that may be the case, I am not one of those players. To quote Moltke:  "No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength."                 I realize that this is a game and not an actual simulation, but why would you insist a game be 'gamey' when there is a way to, yes, simulate on action? How well you react, How you put in place plan 'B' or 'C' or 'D', or even 'E-Z' makes a "game" more interesting to me. TFL uses random mechanics, cards or die rolls that determine such actions as movement are now. . .random. Forget the time honored foot moves 6 inches. The 'foot' in TFL Chain of Command my not want to move under fire, or they may be more than ready to go. . .its a random thing! What is not random is the players decision to issue the order to advance, move! or charge! (one D6, 2D6, or 3D6.) I personally think that is a real good mechanic.                  I think that random mechanics are a good way to simulate that "tension" you get in a real life situation. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.  

A quick update before I close. I have now lots of cavalry for both sides of the ECW. I purchased two Warlord ECW cavalry boxes! One of course will be Royalist and one Parliament. This allows me to actually do The Kings Guard and other specific units that fought in the early part of the wars.                 I am looking forward to putting these on the table even if it is a solo game. 

EPIC! ECW Yes please!

     While I am an American, my Scottish background has had me very interested in the English Civil War(s), or the War of Three Kingdoms if you insist. There is just something about the period, and that it was brought about by a King of Scottish ancestry and Scots having enough with his tampering in their religion, that intrigues me. When my wife and I visited Scotland and we found our way into the St. Giles Cathedral, I would like to think I, being an American tourist, had at least dispelled some preconceived notions of ignorant Americans when I asked a tour guide if they had the stool Jenny Geddes had tossed at the Bishop on display. The look she gave was worth the trip! She then smiled and went on a bit about where Jenny was and that she could not possibly have hit the man from where she was, but it was symbolic, none the less.

I am also a gamer, and when Warlord brought out the rule sets for Pike and Shotte, I snapped them up,  years later when another lone rulebook had rattled around the local game store for over five years I bought that copy too! Yet, I was perplexed at the formation of the troops, and the multitude of names for them and the debate over Dutch versus Swedish styles and on and on. As I gathered and painted the 28mm figures, it became apparent that I would need a lot more, and that all those figures would not fit on a four by six table. No mater how I tried to minimize the figures per stand. That is something that just doesn't fit in well with my idea of the look of a massive army. I did play a few games of Donnybrook, a skirmish style game that pitted small units against each other and they were fun, but they lacked that look that I sought. So I abandoned the idea, or more accurately, I put it aside.

Then came Epic. From whom else? Warlord. The American Civil war. Lots of figures in 12-15mm,(This is still a subject of deabte and will be for years to come), all packed together in tight formations. I gave it a go. At least I bought the starter set. Long ago, when we had the making of a club of historical gamers locally,  we all decided to give 10mm a go and fight an American Civil War battle. I believe it was to be Shilo. Months went by and I found, A. I was the only one that invested in any figures, and B. That the interest had waned considerably among the other members. Yes, we suffer from gamers "Oh look! A new ruleset and figures!" and Bolt Action had taken over the hearts and minds. (Sadly, the games envisioned for that never came to fruition either). But Epic! Now that looked interesting and by getting a starter set, I would be in possession of BOTH sides! Far easier to game when you supply everything. But. . .then came the Napoleonic Starter. . .and more ideas were brought out to the ever shrinking club. Again, nothing resulting in a game. Then the announcement from Warlord, the next Epic period would be The Thirty Years War/ English Civil War. Ohhhh do tell! Yet I hesitated, until finally I found the starter set at a very reasonable price and bought it. I had 'Everything I would need'! (hahaha a cruel joke that!)

So, I began to read, and look at ECW materials. I pulled my copy of the biography of King Charles and reread it, (He was not a nice man). I reread the rule sets I had bought when intending to find one for my proposed 28mm armies, I looked for more "Easy Play" rule sets and honestly bought a few. . .yet, they lacked the interest. I continued on the building/modifying of my Royalist Army while research went on, and on, and on! building/modifying? Oh, yes, that! When I started the American Civil War set, the look of figures ten across looked fine in line of battle, yet it looked, to me, odd in column. You had to turn the stand 90 degrees and that looks. . .odd. Then on the FB Epic page a gamer suggested cutting the figure stands in half, so that they would look better in column and be easier to show a reduced strength unit. . .I tried it. And it was pretty easy to cut them in half, clean the cuts up and make it look presentable. I used green stuff at first then switched to Mr. Putty which is white a bit later. It blends in with the white primer better. It is even easier, I find with the ECW stands, to slice and dice!. It is time consuming yes, but getting a regiment ready isn't really a problem, waiting for the putty to cure means work on the horse or command shot/skirmish figures. With this many figures, there is always something to do! 

I am well on my way to finishing the seven regiments of royalists. . .though I fear far more horse will be required. Horse is very important in the ECW. And guess what? I think I have found a rule set that will work! Warlord Games Pike and Shotte! With the To Kill a King supplement I have as well. Life, is good. 

Old Gamer

    

While I am not THE Old Gamer, I am AN Old Gamer. Been at this great hobby of table top gaming for over 50 years. To paraphrase: I know a lot because I've seen a lot! Including the mandatory self addressed stamped envelope that had to be included for the return of a catalog so you could order via snail mail.  

There are a lot of us old gamers around, and contrary to popular myth, we are not opposed to younger players, players of different backgrounds or lifestyles. After all, these are games, you're supposed to have fun!

So, fast forward to my sixth decade on earth and my fifth of being a gamer. For the most part, I play historical games. I am a bit of a game snob as well. I like games that make you think, and reward tactics that were used in those conflicts. They are out there. I am a huge fan of Too Fat Lardie Games, their motto: Play the period not the rules. This mine set is very good for those that like to twist rules and do things not intended to be done. The sad part of being a historical gamer, at least in the area I live in, I am the only one. So I play solo games. I try to beat the opponent, which is basically the game itself.  Right now I find I am interested in what is commonly called the English Civil War. Actually, it is The War of Three Kingdoms, England, Scotland and Ireland. Now, of course as one that plays historical games and delves into the actual history of them, you find you "branch out" into other conflicts. I find I am reading more on the Thirty Years War and further back to the Jacobite and Williamite wars. . .and then there are the Border Reivers. Obh Obh! I also find that while I do tend to play skirmish games due to the low figure count and ease of getting both sides on the table, The GRAND battles with lots of units on the table are appealing. To that mind I have gotten into the Epic Scale games by Warlord Games. These are blocks of 13-15mm figures that represent the large groups that fought in formations. Full disclosure I have all three currently offered periods, American Civil War, Napoleonic War, and the English Civil War/Thirty Years War. I am in the process of painting the Royalists for the ECW. I am looking for a good set of rules other than the one set offered by Warlord which is Black Powder. I am not a big fan of the mechanics of that and am looking for one set like Picketts Charge for ACW. The search continues!

In the mean time I am also playing a solo game of Cruel Necessity The Worthington Games English Civil War game. I am also looking at making it a Campaign Type and battling out the tactical battles with the ECW figures. 

    So, that's what I have going on. The next topic is going to concern Historical Games and how Historical should you be?