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Tuesday, 2 January 2018

Six by Six - December

And that's it! The 2017 Six by Six Challenge is over!

Thanks to everyone who took part. Despite the fact that I won't be running it again in 2018, the Challenge was fun to administer and follow, and achieved its objective of providing blogged game-reports to offset the seemingly endless painting posts.

Normally I provide a rundown of what I achieved  in the month, followed by a survey of what other people did. But this month has been pretty quiet. This was inevitable, since it's a busy month for a lot of people and, obviously, if you've got to December with a lot of the Challenge left to do, the incentive to try and finish any of it is obviously going to be quite low. I entered the month with one game left to play, but with the proviso that I had to produce a new army in order to play it. This was a tall order for me since not only was I away on holiday for a third of the month, and obviously tied up with family stuff towards the end, but I'm also a lazy painter who really has to be in the mood. However I knuckled down over a couple of days, and whilst I didn't complete a completely new HOTT army, I added new elements to an existing one, and redid the painting and bases on existing elements. I then squeezed in the remaining HOTT game on the 30th December, to finish the Challenge.

In doing so I became the second person to complete all 36 games. A third person went to the wire and played their last game on 31st December. So the three Challenge finishers, in order, are:

Peter - Grid-based Wargaming
Me - The Stronghold Rebuilt
Sun of York - One-Sided Miniature Wargames Discourse

And do you know what we all have in common? We all live in Australia!

Since the aim of the Challenge was to play games, even playing one can be considered a success of sorts. But I thought I would give a shout-out to all those people who played 24 games or more. So, in order of games completed, everyone please give a big hand to:

Kevin Kearney - 32 games
Sean Gewecke - 30 games
Ski - 26 games
Natholeon - 25 games
Brian Hamilton - 24 games
Shaun Travers - 24 games

In doing the stats for this post I found that a few people had done end-of-year roundups covering the Challenge (or mentioning it). These are the ones I found:

Warwell's Wargames
Last Stand At Cairngorm
By Brush and Sword
Natholeon's Empires

And finally, the final list of games played, with a link to each an every report.

Well done everyone, and thanks for taking part.

Update:
I have found two more bogs where people were doing the Challenge. They were:

Jeffrey - Armchair Commander
Christian - Pimp My Boardgame

Congratulations to Christian who actually completed the Challenge and isn't even Australian (as far as I can tell).

Kaptain Kobold - The Stronghold Rebuilt

1 - HOTT
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
2 - Neil Thomas Pike and Shot
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - The Rampant System
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Machinas
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
5 - DBA 3.0
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
6 - Galleys & Galleons
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5  - Game 6

Pat G - Irr Wb (F)

1 - Ace of Aces Handy Rotaries
2 - B17 - Queen of the Skies
3 - Chain of Command
4 - D&D OSR
5 - Gruntz
6 - Space 1889: Soldier's Companion
 Game 1 - Game 2

Shaun Travers - Shaun's Wargaming With Miniatures

1 - When Warriors Collide
 Games 1-6
2 - Advance to Cover
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
3 - Battlestations
 Game 1
4 - WW2 3x4
 Games 1-6
5 - Fall of Rome
 Games 1 + 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
6 - Triumph
 Games 1 and 2 - Game 3


1 - X-Wing
 Games 1 + 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
2 - Dystopian Wars
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
3 - Rubber and Lead or other homegrown rules
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Starfleet Battles
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5
5 - Miscellaneous
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
6 - MLB Showdown
 Game 1

Brian Hamilton - By Brush and Sword

1 - Blucher
2 - Saga
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - Blood Bowl
 Games 1, 2 and 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Arena Rex
 Game 1
5 - Strange Aeons
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5
6 - Fistful of Lead
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6


1 - Cold War Commander
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
2 - Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
3 - The Walking Dead: All Out War
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Kings of War
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5- Game 6
5 - Imperial Skies
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5
6 - Memoir '44
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3  - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6

Michael S - ChicagoWiz's Games

1 - Dungeons & Dragons (1974 edition and 1st edition AD&D)
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
2 - Ral Partha's Chaos Wars
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Games 3 + 4
3 - HOTT
4 - D&D/5e
5 - One Hour Wargames
6 - DBA or Neil Thomas's Ancients/Medieval Wargaming

Martin Sheppard - Sheppard's Crook

1 - Squad Leader
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
2 - Ancient / Medieval Warfare
3 - Memoir 44
 Game 1 - Game 2
4 - Four Against Darkness
  Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
5 - One Hour Wargames
 Game 1 - Game 2 -  Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
6 - AD&D
 Game 1 - Game 2

Natholeon - Natholeon's Empires

1 - DBA 3.0
 Game 1 - Game 2  - Game 3 - Games 4+5 - Game 6
2 - Seven Years War
 Game 1 -  Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - Clobberin' Time
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - The Pikeman's Lament
 Game 1 - Game 2
5 - Command and Colours
 Game 1
6 - Broken Legions / Songs of Broken Legions

Kevin Kearney - Warwell's Wargames

1 - Anarendor (WISER Fantasy Rules)
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
2 - Slipstream Pulp Sci-Fi (FU-inspired Rules)
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - Spandau and Lewis
 Game 1 - Game 2Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Four Against Darkness
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
5 - Machinas
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
6 - Ticket To Ride
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4

Phil Saunders - A Game of Bones / Democratic People's Republic of Philtopia

1 - Black Powder
2 - Team Yankee (6mm edition)
 Game 1 - Game 2 -  Games 3 + 4 + 5
3 - Blood Bowl
4 - Deadzone
5 - Rogue Stars
 Game 1 - Game 2
6 - Dragon Rampant
 Games 1 + 2

Peter - Grid-based Wargaming

1 - One Hour Wargames (OHW) and Others - SciFi Variant
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Games 5 + 6
2 - Galleys and Galleons
 Games 1+2 - Games 3+4 - Games 5+6
3 - Hundred Years War - Lion Rampant
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - Dark Ages with Dux Bellorum
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Games 4, 5 and 6
5 - WW2 Naval (Pz8 rules)
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Games 3 + 4 - Games 5 + 6
6 - 19th Century ImagiNations
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6

Sun of York - One Sided Miniature Wargames Discourse

1 - Impetus
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
2 - Saga
 Games 1 + 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - Napoleon's Battles
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
4 - DBA
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
5 - Wings of Glory
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
6 - Songs of Drums and Shakos (will also count Songs of Blades and Heroes).
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6

Ricardo Nakamura - Fantalonia

1 - And a Bottle of Rum
2 - Clash on the Fringe
3 - Mercenary Air Squadron
4 - Morale Napoleon
5 - MOTH - The Ion Age
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
6 - Star Trader

Kenneth van Pelt - The Penny Whistle

1 - DBA
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
2 - Blue Max
 Game 1
3 - The Great War
 Game 1 - Game 2
4 - 54mm Collection
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3
5 - Carrera GO Formula 1
6 - Rogue Stars
 Games 1 and 2

Dan Foley - Last Stand at Cairngorm

1 - Chain of Command.
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
2 - A Gentleman's War
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
3 - Sharpe Practice 2
4 - Saga
 Game 1Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4
5 - Mad Dogs with Guns
 Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6
6 - Lion Rampant (and variants)

Jay - Numbers, Wargaming and Arseing About

1 - 1914 Opening Moves (Minden Games)
2 - Remagen Bridge (Minden Games)
3 - Flying Eagles (High Flying Dice Games)
4 - Courage under Fire (HFDG)
5 - Manoeuvre (GMT)
6 - Poltava

JWH - Heretical Gaming
Attempting the full BGG 10x10 Challenge

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations to Peter, Kaptain Kobold and Sun of York for completing the challenge. Well done to all involved. It was a lot of fun!

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  2. Thank you for putting forward the 6x6 idea and following through with monthly updates of people's progress. I certainly discovered some new and interesting blogs through this challenge.

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    Replies
    1. I think we all discovered new blogs via the challenge, and I certainly picked up plenty of inspiration for games.

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  3. Thankyou for the 6x6 challenge idea and it is fantastic that some participants finished. Well done to everyone really! I feel now the results are in that, as an Australian I should have tried harder to complete the challenge.

    I did lay a few more games than the 24 I did for the challenge, but obviously I have trouble staying on track :-) I also hit a rut in November/December when I lost interest in playing solo games where I have to make decisions for the other side. It has happened before and should pass in a few months. It does not stop me writing rules or tinkering with existing ones, just playing!

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    Replies
    1. I also played plenty of games outside of the challenge. One of the hardest parts was anticipating what I was likely to want to play during the year. Machinas, HOTT and DBA were good picks in that respect. Other original choices were less so, and I would have had an easier challenge if I'd chosen different games; I could probably have completed Maurice without too much difficulty for example, and if I;'d have picked Mighty Monsters I would have certainly have completed that.

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  4. Thanks Kaptain for running this competition. You put a lot of work into it and it is much appreciated.

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    Replies
    1. It was a pleasure. I never felt it was a competition though, unless you count competing against yourself :)

      Thanks for taking part in the challenge.

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  5. Thanks Kaptain Kobold! Your dedication to showcasing everyone's effort is inspiring. Now I'll have to go check out all the session reports :-)

    Also a big thanks for Sean Gewecke for tipping me off to this challenge. Thanks again from the US!

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad you jumped in and great work completing the challenge.

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    2. It was a pleasure, and my apologies for not finding your blog until the last minute.

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  6. As others have said, Thanks for the challenge and keeping tabs on all of us. While I didn't meet the goal, I did play a lot of games that I might not have otherwise.

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    Replies
    1. I think that was part of the fun of the challenge, as well as the fact that playing a gem six times should give a pretty good idea of how it all hangs together. We should all be a better player in at least one game :-D

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  7. Thanks for the challenge Kaptain. It was a great idea and did lead to many more games being played.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for taking part, especially as you were one of two people who picked a set of my own rules as one of their games :)

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  8. I put too much weight on the bar for this one for sure. However, it was a wonderful idea and made me really think about what I wanted to get to the table for the year. I should have blogged all of my DBA games with links because that was the only choice I was sure to finish. I actually play DBA every other Monday night but I didn't blog and link all the games to 6x6. Thanks Kaptain Kobold for the suggestion. I think I will go again on my own.

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    Replies
    1. Blogging the games was a key part of the challenge. I'm sure that all of those figures I see being painted on other blogs are getting plenty of use in games, but we often don't *see* that. One of the aims of the challenge was to see people actually using their pretty toys.

      In my case I had one game - HOTT - where I could easily play and blog games, but set myself the challenge of painting a new army for each entry. So the challenge has seen me do *more* painting than I would otherwise have done.

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