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!

End of August

I just realized that I hadn't posted an AAR of my most recent game of Saga. A small 4 point game mainly played to give Nate an idea of the rules. We chose a Warlord fight and with my warlord leading the way Nate killed him on the second turn. with a few hours of gaming left we continued the game from there and pretty much had slug fest until the end.

I'm still learning some of the rules and haven't quite mastered the battle board but still have a good feeling about Saga and hope to play a few more games. 

This month I was also able to get some paint on a few. Kings Mountain Miniatures that had been gifted to me. These are very nice well sculpted minis similar in size the the Perry  figures. this has reminded me of a review I did for MWAN on the available AWI figures in 28mm some years ago. Since then Perry, KMM and Fife & Drum have come out so I may need to update this. I also don't think it is available on line anymore. I'll have to find the disc first. 

Death of the Warlord Again

Halvar and his band of men went a viking into the Normans land. After a meager campaign season last month they hoped to gain some riches from the men of the west. Things looked good as the stumbled across two separate wagon trains of goods led by Rogbert a wealthy but crafty Norman Lord.

Halvar sent one group of Hirdmen and Bondi to wait in the broken ground for a wagon and it escort to approach. Mean while he and the rest of the Hirdmen and Bondi moved up the center hoping to out flank the other group of wagons. Immediately the Norman cavalry attacked the Bondi.

After a fierce combat with some back and forth the Bondi were beat and forced back. Then the Hirdmen realized the wagons were escaping and raced across the open fields to catch up. One wagon escaped but the other fell to the raiders. Halvar remained behind to hold up the cavalry. He slowed their movement but fell to the overwhelming numbers.

Over on the left the northmen advanced into combat with the Norman crossbows unfamiliar with the power of the weapons they rushed across the open ground their numbers dwindling with each step. Then the Norman cavalry arrived to assist the foot troops. 

Having seen the Bondi ridden down and getting  no help from their fellows the Hirdman retired off the board.

A fun game. I'm still not sure of some of the rules and have to develop some better tactics but I have enjoyed Saga at each outing.

Some more pictures are here on Saltflats1929

Saga; The Warlord dies again.

The second game of Saga was played last Wednesday. Even though my Warlord Halvar Skullsplitter had been killed in the last game time was short so we went with his stats rather than rolling up a new one.

The scenario was an ambush with Tostig Bloodaxe being the Ambushers and Halvar hoping to get off the board. Alive would be good.

Seven turns to move thirty inches. Seems easy enough. The Vikings move first and the Vanguard is one move closer to the edge. Halvar uses an attribute to move two units at once and the Hearth guard in rear activates twice to tighten up the column. A unit of Anglo-Dane warriors comes out of the woods just behind the Viking Vanguard. Hoping to punch through this blocking unit Halvar orders the forward Hearth guard unit to attack. Not quite prepared for battle the Vikings take extra fatigue but the Anglo-Danes are pushed back.

More Anglo-Danes are attacking on either side of the Vikings.

The Vikings rush to escape the ambush. Halvar takes his Heartguard and attempts to run off through the woods on his left. Unfortunately Tostig has arrived with his Heartguard and Halvar is forced into combat. He fends off several attacks from Tostig but can't get out of his reach. Eventually Halvar succumbs to fatigue and an overwhelming number of hits.

The other Vikings have fended for themselves and are off the board or close to the edge.

With the death of their Warlord the Vikings are searching for a new leader. Still the memory of their fallen leader is etched in the lore of his people.

Another good game. I think we missed a few things, like me losing Saga dice as units moved off the table, but most of the main mechanics were done right. I'll need to study my battle board a little more and search the web for advice on running the Vikings. 

Saga, Death of a Warlord

That would be my Warlord. After a few weeks of scheduling conflicts  we got the first game of the Saga campaign in.

It was a straight up fight between Matt's Normans and my Vikings. Scenario one in the rule book. Clash of the Warlords. I choose two woods and placed them just off the center of the table, Matt placed a hill over on his right flank. I knew the woods would protect me from the fire of the crossbows but didn't realize they offered no protection for melee.

I placed my troops behind the woods and Matt set his up with crossbows near the table center and cavalry on my right flank.

My Vikings moved into the woods where we hoped to make combat difficult for the Normans. Several times I used the ability of the Vikings to force a missile unit to move rather than fire. 

The Normans shifted the cavalry over to their right and then attacked my warriors and Warlord. Pushing back the warriors the Warlord was left exposed. Matt then attacked the Warlord with his mounted Warlord and Hearthguard. Adding a special ability gave him plenty of dice to crush my warlord which he did.

Not a successful game for me but still fun. I had missed a few attributes of my force which may have helped and forgot the victory conditions. I should have pulled back my Warlord as it was turn five and could have fought to a draw or a least not such a catastrophic defeat. 

I think that Saga is a good game that gives a number of decision points to the players. The mechanics are basic for movement and combat but the use of the battle board takes a little thought. 

Matt's telling of the tale can be found here http://saltflats1929again.blogspot.com/2017/03/saga-age-of-wolf-game-2.html

2017 The start and first check mark.

As part of the goal setting for this year I've joined the six-by-six-challenge as described on Kaptain Kobold's blog The Stronghold Rebuilt. It's a pretty aggressive goal being six games each of six rule sets but I think it's doable. The games I've chosen are;

Chain of Command.
A Gentleman's War 
Sharpe Practice 2
Saga
Mad Dogs with Guns
Lion Rampant

This last may end more as any of the games that have evolved from it such as The Men Who Would be Kings, Dragon Rampant and The Pikeman's Lament. There are few other rules I'd like to play so we'll see how that goes.

Not wasting any time last Thursday I played a game of AGW with Howard. He was looking to fine tune the cavalry rules and it was a good reason to get my newly painted Uhlans out. I was in command of the invading French cavalry while Howard defended with his British cavalry supported by Gamekeepers and The Women's League both skirmish units. 

The French Artillery watch as the British troops move into range.

The French chase the Women's League of but are attacked by Hussars and Guard Cavalry and quickly destroyed. 

 The Uhlans charge the Guards and are pushed back but not with out doing some damage.

As with most of these battle reports our correspondent became so caught up in the action that he failed to take pictures. The remainder of the battle played out this way. On the right flank the French artillery wreaked the British cavalry enough that the French cavalry were able to chase them off. Over on the left flank the French chasseurs were able to attack the British dragoons from the protection of the woods and then the Chasseurs D'Afrique charged and eliminated them. 

With several British units falling back and it being late we wrapped up the game and declared the French the victors. 

Another great game. There was some discussion on how combats would be resolved and who could decide the sequence. Group movement also came under review. I'd like to try these rules out with someone who is unfamiliar with them and perhaps less amicable than Howard and I are. 

Looking Back and Forth

As we approch the end of the year it's time for the traditional End of Year post. 2016 has been agood year for gaming. Twenty three games were played. These were largely A Gentleman's War and Flint and Feather but also included Chain of Command, Sharpe Practice, Light Bobs, The Men who Would be Kings and SAGA. This last being particulary good as it included several new gamers who have moved into the area.

On the painting front 208 figures have been painted which gets me 4 figures ahead of purchases. The year has finished in the black and there are 26 more figures close to completion on the workbench which may be added to that total. Of course 20 figures from a Kickstarter may arrive at any moment. If I don't open the box until 2017 can I keep them out of 2016s number?

Huzzah and Fall In were visted. Huzzah for a day with two games played and some shopping. Fall In for the day only no games played and very little shopping but some the purchases made fit nicely in with current projects.

Looking forward to 2017 I hope to get some more gaming in. Joining the Six by Six challange(TheStrongholdRebuilt) should provide the motivation and frame work for this goal. I haven't figured out the complete list of games but will in the next week Sharpe Practice2, SAGA and A Gentleman's War are on it.

Choosing which games to play will dovetail into what gets painted. The goal is to have the figures and terrain needed to play the games. I'll focus on four periods. AWI, WWII, NWF and Gangsters. Certainly other periods will show up but these will be the main periods. I have the figures and bits of terrain for all of these but not enough for a decent game.

New periods for the New Year. SAGA may require some new figures I have enough for a 4point Viking force but am interested in Irish or maybe Arturians for the new supplement. The Pikeman's Lament will be released in the beginning of the year and will cause the purchase of figures. I'm on the fence about which period to do. TYW or Scanian war. Maybe GNW. There's no rush as I have pleanty of unpainted lead on hand.

There's the outline of my plans for 2017. Next december will see how it works out. Here's a couple of photos from the last games played.