The 6x6 Challenge and other gaming experiences of 2017

Around this time last year Kaptain Kobold of  The Stronghold Rebuilt organized the 6x6 Challenge. The idea behind it is participants would choose six sets of rules of which they would play six games each. The thinking behind it is that it takes playing six games to really get to understand them. It sounded like a good idea and so I joined. Playing thirty-six games in the year was going to be challenge enough. The Rules chosen were; Chain of Command (CoC), A Gentleman's War(AGW), Mad Dogs with Guns, Saga, The Lion Rampant family and Sharpe Practice.

So how did it go? Ok. I felt it achieved it's goal for the games I played. I didn't get the chance to play Lion Rampant or Sharpe Practice and only played four games of Saga.

I got the six games of CoC in.  It took about four games to become comfortable with the rules. The last two games I found I was focusing more on the tactics than the modifiers and other mechanics of the rules. I'm still on the fence as far as liking CoC and will still look for another set but will happily play them. I do wonder if the two hours I generally have for a nights game is not enough for these rules.

AGW was played nine times some of them were the 19th century version others the Colonial or 18th century variant. This is my favorite set of rules. The mechanics are fairly simple. There's enough decision points and I feel it captures what Toy Soldier gaming is all about. Both the variants play well for their eras.

Mad Dogs with Guns was chosen to motivate me to paint up the figures and buildings. The rules were being published by Osprey mid 2017 and so I started with the original publication. The learning curve on these was quicker than CoC, of course having the author at the gaming table helps. These are a fun set of rules that lead to lots of banter among the players.

A campaign had been set up for Saga so it looked like this would be an easy way to get six games in. With family obligations, work and distance among the participants it didn't quite work out. I did get in four games and enjoyed them all. I liked these rules, the battle boards add to the decision making and forces a small enough that they can be built quickly and you could do more than one. I'm waiting for the new version to come out before committing more time to these though.

I see the challenge as being successful. I would think that a 3x6 or 4x4 challenge may be another approach, by the fourth game either you like the rules enough to learn more and continue playing or the system just isn't for you. Picking games others in your group are interested in helps to get the games in or maybe doing something solo would be a way to go.

I played forty games this year. Twenty-two were part of the 6x6 challenge. There were three extra games of A Gentleman's War. Several others were part of Howard Whitehouse's stable of rules, Battle Troll, Flint & Feather, Alien War and a Darkest Africa game. I enjoy Howard's rules the systems are similar but tweaked enough to capture the feel of the period that's being played. Other games were LOTR SBG used in a Dungeon crawl using Matt's beautiful terrain, The AWI rules from Der Alte Fritz of Fife & Drum miniatures, theses were easy to learn and quick to play. It took us two game nights to set up and finish the battle with Matt spending some extra time breaking down, Thanks for that. Lastly, The Portable Wargame was played using 15mm Romans and Carthaginians on a 2.5 inch grid. This is a game I hope to explore further next year. I like the grid movement and firing system.

Since no blog post is complete with out pictures here's a few from our game of Battle Troll the other night.

My men defend their women folk and beer barrels.

The Hero of the village mostly fend off blows whilst an unnamed karl does some real damage to the attackers.

Twin sisters of the attacking warband offer encouragement.

As the men folk fall back the women step up to nag the invading Warlord. 

Rather than face the women rushes off to battle my Hero.

Sub coming to his wounds my Huscarle dies.

The fight rages on until realizing it's the Hero's life or loosing some chickens and beer my men run off and the game ends.

2017 was a good year for playing games. Many exciting nights were spent in great company with nice miniatures and terrain. Over the next week I'll start to look at rules to be played in 2018 and how they'll dovetail into painting projects and purchases.
Thanks for reading!

Blasting away at The Empire.

Thursday saw us on a distant planet in a galaxy far away. Howard suggests Empire, Matt thinks Star Wars and I pack up a model from 1968.

Matt set the game up and used Mad Dogs with Guns as the rules. they worked well for this as Pulp games mostly vary by setting. I didn't get a lot of pictures as the game was moving quickly with lots of action.

Rebel forces assault the storage bunker.

Luke skirts the village to attack the Power generator.

Jabba and crew party down in the club.

Empire HQ

Moon bus getting on the table again after 49 years.

Han Solo blowing open the door to HQ. It didn't go well.

For a more detailed report and some great photos check out Mad Wookies with Blasters, its a trap.

The Highjacking.

We met at Toy Wiz in Nanuet for a game of Mad Dogs with Guns. On the first Thursday of the month Toy Wiz and the Club Ordo Malleus hold what they call Vets Night and the store stays open late for gamers to come in to play. It was pretty crowded with about 30 people or so playing when I arrived at 7:45. The crowd had thinned down some by 10:00 but still several games were going strong. WWII and various SiFi games were being played. Two of the guys who run the club came over and welcomed us and chatted a bit about gaming. Several others came by during the night to check out the game. A nice group of people and a great place to play with plenty of tables and light.

So on to the game. Neal "Shoes" and the boys are trying to get a load of whiskey out of town before their rivals can steal it or the Feds confiscate it. Trying not to draw attention they roll down the streets of town. As they reach the center of town guns start blazing.

Despite taking several hits to the car and truck of "Shoes" gang step on the gas and head out in different directions. Neal and his gal jump out of the lead car under the hail of bullets and try to get to the last truck. 

His rival has come into the street and jumped in the truck. Four slugs in chest leaves Neal laying on the pavement wearing his last pair of shoes.

  

The moll jumps on the truck and everyone in the gang speeds out of town.

Another fun game of MDwG. It took about an hour and a half to play and we were both engaged throughout the game. This completes my 6x6 challenge for the game but I'm sure we'll be playing again. I'd like to get a few more buildings, enough to have two parallel main streets and several side street. I'm thinking a 4'x4' or 4'x6' area. A campaign may also be in the future maybe 3-5 games long.

The Exchange.

Hobby Town in Nanuet has closed. I'll miss the group of people who worked there as they were all very nice. Although they didn't carry much in the way of wargaming I don't think it would be possible for many stores to, they did have paints, tools and items for scenery. I did purchase most of my Osprey books from them as a way of compensating for the table time I used to play games. The team there stayed after hours several nights a week for people to come in and game. Avid gamers themselves this worked well for all involved. The other local store, ToyWiz, has gaming space but only stays open late one night a month. I'd like to have more options.

This brings us to last Thursday's game. We played at my house while my wife went to a friends to sew. I suggested a game of Mad Dogs with Guns since the dinner table was available and my set up is a mere 30" x 40" .  I set up the table, sorted the cards and then told Howard I didn't have a scenario. As usual he jumped in and quickly came up with something.

Howard would be game master and the Cops, Nate and I would be the gang members. The main event was to be an exchange between the two gangs of a bag of money for a bag of documents.

The Exchange

The game starts off with the cops sending the secretary out to get them lunch. The rival gangs pull into town and head towards the Tobacconists where the exchange was to take place.

Everyone is a little leary of the others but things seem to go smoothly as the men go from their cars to the shop.

Nate's accountant waits in the backroom as my boys walk in. We exchange bags and my guy leaves the shop quickly. All seems well until Nate notices I left my main guy behind and he's slipped into the back room.

Nate's accountant runs out the back door with the bag and bullets start flying every where else. Most of my men miss their mark but Nate's boys put three of my guys down. Lucky for me the coppers show up.

Seeing my bagman getting away with the cash Nate's man rushed over and pushed him into one of my cars and had his punk rough up and replace my driver. The cops busted into the shop and arrested the only gangster there who was still standing, Nate's man. Good thing I had paid off the only reliable witness before hand so all this mayhem will fall on him. 

The rest of mine and Nate's men slipped off while the Police patted each other on the back for a job well done.

Another great game of MDwG. The town needs to get expanded to have at least one more street pulse a few key building types. I see myself getting a restaurant, bank, grocery, clothing store and a few brownstones. 2018s project starting to fall in place :-)

Here's the new Facebook page for the game. MadDogsWithGuns

Back in the red.

Things looked to be going well. The boys were loading the truck with several barrels of whiskey and we had a rivals moll stashed away hoping to gain some cash from the ransom. That's as good as it got. No one was paying attention except maybe the cops and who would have expected that.

The town was quite as two cars pulled in and parked unnoticed along Main st. The cops were out on patrol. With the truck loaded the Boss lead the way across town hoping to sell the liquor for a tidy sum.

Then it happened. Out of nowhere a bast of tommy gun fire ripped through the vehicles. The rival gang in town to get their boss's gal back recognized the Boss and opened fire. An unplanned ambush that went surprisingly well. They killed both drivers and set both vehicles on fire. 

The cops moved in to question the gunmen about their activities and a brisk scuffle ensued. Down on the other side of town the out of towners were questioning the local reporter on the whereabouts of  the girl. They got the information they needed and headed back up town to retrieve her.

One of the boys seeing what was happening rushed over to stop them but went down in a hail of bullets.

We met at Hobby Town were Howard, Nate, Zev and I played the game despite the lack of air conditioning.  Mad Dogs with Guns is released this week by Osprey. The game comes as a hardback and the production quality is very good. We've. played several games in the past and each has been packed with action .  Though I lost badly this was still a fun game.

Lawmen prevail

We got together for a game of Mad Dogs with Guns the other night. Howard wasn't with us but Matt stepped up and designed a scenario for us. Nate and I each had a gang with a primary and secondary objective, Matt played the Cops. As usual the town appeared quiet but soon  the action started.

Dan's headquarters in the factory

Nate's hangout in town boldly placed across from the police station.

I sent the Moll along with an armed escort over to the church to bring the Priest out of town as he had been threatened. The rest of the gang piled in the car and headed down Main St. Meanwhile Nate's crew accosted a beat cop and a gun battle ensued. In the midst of the battle Nate's boss jumped out of his car and grabbed the Accountant out of the Town Hall.

Ignoring the gunfight my gang headed to Nate's hangout and attempted to rob his stash. We had to kill off a few of his men and women but entered the building and busted into the safe. As we were leaving the cops opened up taking down two of my men. the Boss wisely grabbed what he could and exited out the back door.

Nate's second objective was to break in to my headquarters and steal my stash. Although I had left my Torpedo to guard the place his man came in with guns blazing and kill my guy and stole my stuff.

It was a fun game with lots of action. Matt published an AAR on his blog with some great photos.

http://saltflats1929again.blogspot.com/2017/05/mad-dogs-with-guns-eastenders-vs-westies.html?m=1

The rules are being released next month by Osprey.

https://ospreypublishing.com/mad-dogs-with-guns

Two months in.

One of my goals this year was to complete projects so that I would have the figures, terrain and rules for 2-4 players in a given period.So how's that going? My gangster project is almost at that point. I've picked Mad Dogs with Guns as the rule set. I've 12 gangsters painted all fromCopplestone Castings with another dozen primed and ready. A little over a half dozen buildings, a mix of Plasticville and 4Ground, and a few cars.

I'm using foamboard as the base for the roads and the buildings. Switching to MDF later is probably the better choice but the foamboard is easy to work with and less expensive. The table is 29x40 inches. It could use a little green. I'm working on a park with a fountain and iron fence around it.

This puts me at about 65% complete for this project. Another dozen and a half figures, two to three buildings and a park should finish it off. Next month I plan to focus on Sharp Practice finishing up terrain and figures.