ECW Game Report & Painting Update

Had a pleasant week of not much work done, as this week's big project was cleaning out the basement. But I did find time to do a number of touch ups and repairs on my Grymkin collection; not the sort of thing that justifies posting pictures, but nonetheless rather satisfying. As of this morning I've started in on twenty Dread Rots - pumpkin-headed zombie-like farmers. Hope to get them done rather quickly.

More fun was actually getting a game in with Spencer and Nathan over in Spencer's basement. He's a long-time fan of Dan Mersey's rules, and put together a quick English Civil War battle using the Pikeman's Lament. A ragged (but large) force of Royalist conscripts marched south of London to face a disciplined (but outnumbered) Parliament army on Mustering Green. I took the part of Parliament while Nathan and Spencer split the Royalist forces between themselves.

Deployment was simple; mixed pike and shot in the center with cavalry on the flanks. Well, Parliament placed a bit of cavalry on each flank, while the Royalist cavaliers were off on their left flank.

Early rounds. Failed command checks have left the Parliamentary line rather ragged.

First losses to Parliament - a unit of shot badly fails a morale test and scarpers off.

Things have gotten worse for Parliament; that pike block has seen off some mounted cavaliers, but those cavaliers got there by wiping out my own cavalry...

And now those pikes - and their accompanying shot - have been been routed. Things are looking quite grim for Parliament.

And then Spencer remembers the duelling rules, and Nathan can't resist challenging one of my commanders to a duel. He loses, his commander is killed, and the resulting morale test grants me some breathing room

Naturally, I capitalize on this by challenging all his commanders to duels on my next turn. By great good fortune, I win all of them.

At game's end, Parliament has suffered some severe troop losses and hasn't taken the field, but all the Royalist commanders are dead and their conscripts are pondering desertion.  

I believe the next day dawns with Parliament retreating in good order to recuperate, and a scant core of Royalist forces trotting back to London as their reluctant conscripts melt away into the countryside.

On the whole a pleasant couple of hours throwing dice and pushing little toy soldiers around a table. I'll have to clean off my own basement table and see if I can return the favor soon.

Painting Report: Shieldmaidens and Orruks

I've kept myself busy from the start of the year in the painting nook. Mostly cleaning and organizing the painting nook, especially transferring pot paints (Citadel and Privateer Press) to dropper bottles, though some my P3 paints are so old and chunky it may not be worth the effort... However, I've accomplished one of my quarterly goals already: the Bad Squiddo Shieldmaidens are complete to a tabletop standard!

such professional photo

I feel the shields could be fancier, but that's a matter of finding decals I like that fit them - freehanding skill is one of the things I want to work on this year, but for now I'm happy they're done. I hope to add some boys to the warband to bring it up to a quantity that can play in Lion Rampant or Kings of War, and some fantastical creatures (especially giants) for various fantasy games. But right now, they're good to go for Saga.

At the end of 2019, I splurged and bought an Age of Sigmar army: the comically and terrifyingly destructive Ironjawz. Since I enjoy assembling more than painting, they're all set for playing, if you don't mind gray plastic:

I do mind gray plastic, but I've come to realize I'm a lot more motivated to paint models that I'm actively putting on the table, or are part of armies that are seeing table time, so I'll forgive myself for it. These guys are on the painting table as a speed-painting project after I finish my Grymkin... and figure out a color scheme. Green skin, of course, but I can't decide on an armor color. Leaning toward weather steel.

Enfilade 2019 Report

Memorial Day weekend brings me to Olympia, Washington every year for Enfilade! This year was a bit different: my usual convention buddy is in Japan, brewing beer, so my wife came along for some much needed quiet, the child being dropped off at the grandparents'. Therefore, it was a bit more of a date/getaway than the usual gamer marathon, which was nice, because we haven't had many getaways recently.

But gaming is what this blog's about, so...

I actually only played in one game this year (!), a combination of a late start and not finding many of the open games appealing, and also being inexplicably terribly tired all weekend.

Mexican-American War with Reg. Fire & Fury

The one game I did play was Terry's Mexican-American War game with Regimental Fire & Fury, a system that's really growing on me. I took charge of the Mexican cavalry and the game went unexpectedly well for them - thanks in no small part to some terrible dice on the Yankee side. Not everything went so well for the Mexicans, as our center collapsed under an American assault. At the end of the period, with the Americans holding the center but the Mexicans closing in around the sides, we called it a draw.

Mexican cavalry prepared to ride down the Yankee invaders.

 I spent the rest of the convention puttering around, planning future games, chatting, and helping out at the Bring & Buy. I did snap a few more pictures, though:

Russian Civil War- the Tsarevich is on the armored train, and the Reds must capture him.

Mammoth hunting - I though this one looked very cool

All Quiet on the Martian Front - someone went all out with that tripod on the upper right.

Muskets and Tomahawks

This year left me with an odd conflict: while the convention itself was really well done, and there was a plethora of good games to be had, most of them left me uninterested in playing. The obvious solution: Next year, I'll have to put on a few games. Leaning toward some big battle ancients, Napoleonics, and possibly World War 2.

I was also a little peeved at not getting an entry into the painting competition. This was mostly because it was difficult to get info about the competition, and at the last minute I was put off by word that entries had to be part of a game as well. That was evidently untrue, as at least one entry was a bust of a Templar knight, but that's the rumor mill for you. I'm also annoyed that I forgot to take some pictures of the entries, as there were some really nice ones. I'll have to try for an entry next year, regardless of the quality of information floating around.

As an aside: since I was with the wife, we did the usual exploring of restaurants. I can recommend Hash on Harrison Ave NW for breakfast, and Hops on the Hill made a pretty good (if very moist) brisket.

Painting Update: Samurai complete!

Finally got these guys finished. Pete Brown's "Brushido" article from Wargames Illustrated 355 was rather helpful. Still a pain to paint samurai, though... Also, gotta get a light booth or something for nicer photos.

Not a samurai! Hollow Holden for my Grymkin army.

Weekend Report

This past weekend saw a nice bit of gaming: the monthly Saga get together, a game at Andrew's, and a trek through a very foggy Portland to play some Warmachine at Rune & Board.

Saga: Normans v. Normans!

I figured I'd play my Crusaders as Normans this weekend, as everyone else is playing Age of Vikings and the figures are close enough. Dropped into Bob's (better-painted, better organized) Normans and pulled out a very bloody draw.

Deployment. My knights on each flank, crossbows, longbows, and spearmen in the center. Bob has two full levy longbow and three fat units of mounted warriors waiting for me.

Some initial shuffling on both sides; I backed out of longbow range, which was probably a mistake. Should have pushed more aggressively.

A scrum on the right results in horrible casualties; I lose four knights to seven of his serjeants. While I can't afford to lose a lot of men, at least I take away a Saga die from him.

Finally, I start pushing up. My archers kill a bunch of his central levy unit, while my sole remaining knight on the right bravely rides away. Over on the left, my knights are suffering bowshot.

Longbows reduce his center levy to under Saga die level, while my spearmen rush the other archers...

And a bit later, at end of game, we see that my spearmen were run down by the rightmost mounted serjeant unit. What unit, you ask? Why, the one I dedicated all my shooting to and then used my Warlord to finish off. Had this game gone another turn, I think Bob would have carried it with those undamaged warriors on the left, though....

Russian Civil War: What's Red and White all over?

Nothin' civil 'bout a civil war... This was a test game Harry's running for Enfilade, so I'll try not to spoil any surprises, but it was pretty fun. We've got the Reds straddling a railroad trying to capture a VIP on the armored train. Lots of cavalry, some armored cars and tachankas, and a rather quick-moving system (1914, by Great Escape Games). I ended up as high command on the Red side, which, as any student of the Soviet Union can tell you, is a rather dangerous spot to be in. (Nonetheless, we won...)

Table layout prior to deployment.

Brave Revolutionary naval artillerymen.

My cavalry pushing up the field....

The train approaches!

Though the front (artillery) car is disabled, the train chugs on... oblivious to the cavalry scrum on the line.

Game end, more or less.... my center and left are just about broken, but the train has been stopped...

 The system wasn't bad at all. I'm not sure it's suited to a convention, but it moved quickly and we started getting into combat right away, and the results didn't tweak my suspension of disbelief. I'd play it again.

The mat and tracks, btw, are apparently from Cigar Box.

Masters' League Game: Grymkin vs. Skorne

After much scheduling hassle, I was able to get the first game in our local Masters' League (think tournament, but stretched out over a month) in at Rune & Board with Jeremiah. He brought a Xekaar beast brick, a classic titan herd; I brought the Wanderer with my own beast brick. He won the roll and opted to go first.

As this was Jeremiah's second or maybe third game with this list, he managed to clock himself top of three, giving a result of (if I recall correctly), 2 control points and 17 army points for me, 3 control points and 9 army points for me. (I failed to write it down quickly, so that may well be off.) We then played out the rest of the game off the clock, and I won with an assassination. As usual with Wanderer, it's all Star-Crossed for the money and not much else. So, pictures!

Xekaar's second turn just beginning.

Beginning of Xekaar's third turn.

End of game by clock; Xekaar on the left hiding behind a building. I've used the Shadow Arcana over on the right with the red Cage Rager. One thing that isn't obvious is that Xekaar has cunningly applied Dead Weight to the center Skin and Moans.

End of game by assassination. The center S&M was able to kill off the blocking Titan Gladiator, and then the left-hand S&M walked around the building and just chopped up Xekaar. Over on the right we see the effects of the Shadow arcana - very cold dice meant that Cage Rager accomplished nothing.

Grymkin: The Wicked Harvest: Initial collection

Last year, Privateer Press released a limited release faction for Hordes: Grymkin: The Wicked Harvest. I went all in on this for three reasons:

• I rather like the models, despite (or perhaps because) they don't quite fit the Warmachine steampunk aesthetic.
• "Limited release" means that, unlike most factions in the game, Grymkin will not be getting new models. That means I can actually finish a collection of them.
• They're a bit silly, and I think that's about how I like to treat toy soldiers.

As of now, I have a nearly complete collection (just missing a few extra beasts and a unit of Dread Rots), and here's what I have painted so far:

The whole horde

Warlocks (Child & Heretic) and warbeasts - 2 Skin & Moans, Cage Rager, Rattler, 4 Crabbits, and 2 Gorehounds

Solos - Witchwood, Lord Longfellow, and two Glimmer Imps, plus the Twilight Sisters

Two units of Neigh Slayers

Two units of Murder Crows

Two units of Hollowmen

However, I've only played three (3) games so far with them... I hope to change that soon, but it's been depressingly difficult to carve out time for Warmachine nights. Still, I'm having a fair bit of fun painting these little monsters.

Terrain Evaluation Time: Trees and Water

Ringing in my fifth decade with my first case of strep throat, so that gives me plenty of time to contemplate wargaming. In this case, terrain! Like a lot of gamers, I've focused almost all of my time on the figures, and collected a hodge podge of terrain pieces over the decades. It's time to change that, and the first step was to evaluate the terrain I already have and compare it to the scales I'm planning to use for gaming. 

After digging in the basement, I found that I had more trees than I thought, a few water pieces, and one old GW hill. I also had a fair number of buildings in varying stages of completion and painting, but more on those another day. I've resolved, and have mostly stuck with, gaming in only three scales: 6mm (aka 1:300 or 1:285, depending on the line), 15mm (1:100ish), and 28mm or 30mm (1:56 to 1:60 or so).

First, a look at the trees. I have three types: old GW, a bag of HO (1:87) model railroad conifers, and some Frontline Gaming conifers (their "summer tree" set).

6mm Napoleonic Cavalry, a 3-story building, and some GHQ microarmor next to the HO scale trees.

15mm figures next to the HO trees and the GW trees (far left and right). A Plastic Soldier Company StuG G and some Battlefront infantry and truck.

15mm ancients with the HO and GW. Essex slingers and I believe Old Glory15s Gallic cavalry. The bases are 40mm wide.

15mm ancients in among the Frontline Gaming trees.

Same as above, but giving some vertical scale.

Privateer Press 30mm Hordes Grymkin figures next to the GW and HO trees. The three models in front are standard human-sized.

Grymkin in the FLG woods.

28mm Frostgrave and Gripping Beast Crusader figures among the FLG woods.

And next to the HO and GW trees.

I'm pleasantly surprised. I'd have thought the older trees, the GW and HO ones, were writeoffs, but they don't look half bad. The HO ones will probably work ok with 6mm as old growth forest giants, while the GW ones are... acceptable. They do look a bit much like toilet scrubbing brushes for my taste, but they'll do until they get replaced with better looking kit. I need to make some area bases for stands, copses, and groves. I'd also like to get some deciduous trees, and some stuff that'll do for dense brush - brambles and the like. And, of course, some orchard trees.

One quibble I have with most wargaming trees is that they're far too short, usually for reasons of playability and practicality. On average, I think they're between 5" and 10" - in 28mm, that theoretically puts them between 24' and 48'. A respectable Douglas fir easily doubles that, but then you're dealing with 20" tall trees on the table. It's one reason I've grown fonder of smaller scales like 15mm and 6mm; you can show more of that height. The 5" tree in 15mm appears to be a good 50' tall in scale. That's a point I'll come back to when I get to hills someday...

After the trees, I took stock of my water supply: Two sets of rivers and a swamp from Wizard Kraft, and streams and swamps from Gale Force 9's Battlefield in a Box line.

6mm on the banks of a Wizard Kraft 4" river, with the GF9 stream in the back.

15mm WW2 on the GF9 stream, with the GF9 swamp behind and the Wizard Kraft swamp to the fore.

15mm ancients.

30mm Hordes figures; again, the three short models are human-sized.

28mm Frostgrave and Gripping Beast.

By the look of it, either line will do will, but I'll probably go with the GF9 stuff for now, simply because it is more easily available (and, I suspect, will hold up to rougher handling at the FLGS). On the other hand, the lower profile of the Wizard Kraft stuff is a much better fit for the 6mm figures, and I think it looks better to boot. Either way, I need to pick up some more ponds, narrow streams, and crossing points.

Lastly, few random pieces:

GF9 "Rock Outcrops"

These are nice for some scatter obstruction, but they also seem a bit fantastic, in that I'm not sure what sort of terrain you could expect to see rock outcrops like these naturally appearing in. Maybe a rugged mountain pass? They're definitely not well-scaled for 6mm figures, but they'll do all right for my other scales.

One last note: All these were laid out on a Cigar Box battlemat, and I'm quite pleased with that piece of terrain. It drapes very nicely and doesn't scatter bits of flock all over the place...