Blog discription

What will you find here? Ramblings from an aging gamer-miniature painter. When I first started out in this hobby computers were in their infancy and finding other gamers could only be done by going to conventions or as in my case bumping into somebody who happened to see me reading "Panzer Leader" on the school bus. Look how far we have come! The internet has allowed our small community to be able to connect on a level I never dreamed of when I was but a small lad. What I do hope you will find here is something interesting from one wargamer/miniature painter to another. I paint miniatures somewhat decently, so I will be posting some pictures of my work, and perhaps a review or two of games and/or miniatures. Most of all this is just about having fun and anything I post here is meant to be for that reason.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Multi report - ECW - Pikeman's Lament - Infinity

Welcome to my multi report blog post where you will need a multipass to read further!


Don't leave home without it!

So I have been busy of late and thought I'd catch up the ole blog and the happenings of said business.

First I did finish my final Cavalry unit for the small force I was doing of English Civil War in time for my friend's visit. This was a major undertaking. I don't like being under a time constraint (30 infantry and 12 Cavalry completed, pretty fast for me), but I must admit had I not been they would have never gotten done. Sadly the humidity here just won't quit and I haven't been able to put on a coat of dulcote to take the shine off the gloss I place on the figures first. But it's proof I wanted to show, so here are some pictures before I proceed on to next subject.



Definitely taking off the shine will help greatly in seeing the colors better.

Okay my friend Skip flew in to have a visit with me over this past weekend where we played lot's of miniatures games. It was almost like being at a gaming convention.

First on Friday we went over to our friends house to play Pikeman's lament and played two games with our freshly painted English Civil War armies against the dreadful Turks. For a report check out my friends blog  antonswargame for pictures and such. By the way his site is awesome to check out for all the crazy scratch building terrain projects he does. They will blow you away.

Saturday had me hosting a mini Saga tournament based off the Age of Crusade army book. We had three players who played Saga 1 before but no one had played Saga 2 yet (other than myself). There were two Crusade Armies, Eastern Princes, and a Spanish army. I set both boards up exactly the same way and let everyone play each opponent. In the end Anton came through and like a beast unleashed (his first time playing any Saga) he tore up the competition. My friend Skip came in second though, with my other friends bringing up the rear.

Sadly I was so busy being the gamemaster, making sure things ran smoothly, that I completely dropped the ball on taking any pictures. Everyone said they had a good time and left with smiles on their faces, so I felt that I had won too.

Sunday, Skip and my last day together was spent playing Pikeman's lament using Samurai figures and then a game of Saga.

In the Saga game I played Skip's Spanish, and he played the Mutatawwi'a. After watching Skip play with the Spanish the day before I had a good idea of how to make them take advantage of their battle board. Skip falling into the "I remember how the Mutatawwi'a worked in Saga 1", was surprised by how different they are in Saga 2. Needless to say he took a hammering. Which of course made me smile ear to ear, but then sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't let me win..... naaahhhhh.

Next the Pikeman's lament game was a blast. I'll just show our setup first below.

My troops are at the bottom of the picture with Skip's at the top. The three six man foot units you see in the upper left hand were Skip's Samurai and we counted this unit as Aggressive Forlorn Hope, the unit next to those are Ashigaru Pikemen (the long Yari's), and then echoloned to the rear are a group of ashigaru shot (bow armed).

My troops from left to right are Ashigaru Pikemen (the long Yari), Ashigaru shot (bow armed), then in the super cool movement stand Anton made are some Ashigaru Command shot (armed with Teppo). What you don't see are my two 6 man Samurai Cavalry that are off board. We treated these as Aggressive Elite Gallopers. Oh and the one man you see between my large units is a prisioner of the enemy that Skip is trying to rescue without loosing half his troops.

[Above another picture of start positions]

[above my two Cavalry units arriving off board]

I won't go through all the details, but let's just say the battle was brutal and we lost lot's of figures on each side with me squeaking out a victory by turn eight. In Pikeman's Lament you dice for each unit to be able to do something. If you fail then your turn ends immediately, regardless if no other troops have moved or not. We played exactly like this, but at conventions this would suck as people want to play, so we normally just say that unit can't do anything and they can keep trying with other units until they've all had a chance to do something. I mention this because around turn five both Skip and I pleebed our first rolls and did absolutely nothing for that turn. But it's still a fun game to play. Simple and easy to learn. 

Here is the last picture (below) of how the game ended. My last few cavalry smashing through his depleted ranks. Ahhh, it's good to be a Samurai Lord taking my opponents heads for trophies!!!

We've reached the last part of the article. I drove Skip to the Airport on Monday, both of us completely exhausted from gaming. But we had a grand time gaming and visiting. Georgia is a long way off, so getting together once in a while is a good thing. 

This week being pretty much burnt out from all the gaming and painting that I've done the last four weeks, I did do a little painting on some bases for Infinity that I plan on mounting my Yu Jing on. 



Otherwise it's been sitting on the couch and vegging, and I couldn't possibly tell you what I am watching on the TV because my eye lids get droopy and I fall asleep.

Cheers
Kevin












14 comments:

  1. Sounds like you were a great host, Kevin. The pictures of the fabulous game prove it.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dean and I hope so. More important to me being a good host than a gamemaster or player.

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  2. Great movie reference in the first shot.

    Kevin IS a great host, he just needs to run a bigger series of games.....maybe a whole weekend!!!!!

    I enjoyed learning SAGA; it was a testament to his patience and careful instruction that somebody as thick-witted as I could pick up the rules quickly enough to do as well as I did.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Anton the Great (since you won the little Saga tourney), and one day with everyone over is enough thank you very much;)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  3. That's what it's all about! Great stuff!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aaron, now if only I could get you to fly here for a weekend;)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  4. Well written. You can tell it took a lot out of you. What a weekend of gaming. Not everyone gets to experience something like that. Sounds like you have some great gaming buddies.

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    Replies
    1. I sure do! Oh, and including you MP;)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  5. Lovely looking unit of horse! Great looking game of pikemans lament, samurai hmmm, maybe after I've finished some Napoleonics!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. Both are colorful, but I would choose only one and stick with it, it will drive you nuts otherwise.

      Cheers
      Kevin

      PS
      Oh and thanks

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  6. Twas an amazing weekend! I enjoyed myself beyond words. A great host and a really good gamer. At Saturday's Saga gaming Kev had his wife buy Subway for everyone. Subway... Mmmmmmm!

    Now, about those shinny mounted.......... MY EYES!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Which is probably why I crushed you in both games. Must remember to keep my figures shiny when playing Skip;)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  7. All looks very nice and it's great when you can get in a full on gaming weekend!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you sir, and I agree, it was a blast.

      Cheers
      Kevin

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