Review Of 2023

As another year draws to a close it's time for my annual review post.

This blog has now been going for over 11 years, and I'm still finding things to post about. To be fair this year has seen the number of posts slow down though; just one of the side-effects of what has been a strange and involved year.

Aside from my 30th wedding anniversary (which we celebrated with a trip to Melbourne, a trip from which I still have photos waiting to be posted here), the biggest event this year was our moving house. We've rented ever since we arrived in Australia, but had been in our current place for the majority of that time. However the time comes in every landlord's life when they decide that they're going to be the total shit all landlords are at heart, and they decided to make life difficult for us. We decided to get out before things got too unpleasant, and ended up buying our first property in Australia (we owned our home in the UK, but used the proceeds of that to fund some stuff here when we arrived). Anyway, that meant a good few months in the early to middle part of the year were spent house-hunting, sorting out years of accumulated crap and then actually moving. Now a lot of our time and resources are tied up in getting our new house in order, but it is at least our own place to do with as we wish.

The most exciting house-move experience was the evening we moved my wife's beehive. Not something I'd care to repeat.

As part of it I did lose the dedicated gaming table I had in my office. It was that, or lose my painting table, and if I didn't have that sat there reminding me then I'd never paint anything. But we have a dining table in its own room, and it's rarely used for dining, so I still have somewhere to play games.

I am terrible at painting. I rarely feel motivated to do it, and tend to start projects and then not finish them for ages. This year I decided that rather than beat myself up for not staring, focusing on and finishing projects that I would simply do something every day, no matter how small, and just see what came out of it. Rather than set goals I'd never achieve a simple 'paint something every day' would suffice.

It actually worked - aside from a brief break when we went away for our anniversary, I stuck to it for around five months. Until we moved house, basically, at which point I fell out of routine and it all went to post. Still, I did churn out more odds and ends this year than I have n previous years, so as a project it did bear some fruit. A browse of this blog will show some of the odds and ends I did - new gladiators, new beasts for Palaeo Diet, new ships for Galleys & Galleons and even a HOTT army I'd started ten years ago.

Whilst we're on new things, was there much in the way of new games this year? Not really. HOTT continued to be a favourite, along with the Nic Wright trilogy - Galleys & Galleons, Palaeo Diet and Blood Sweat & Cheers. At the club we played Gaslands enough to keep me happy. We have started looking at Valour & Fortitude this year, which I think is my favourite new set of rules from the past twelve months. We've also had a couple of goes at incarnations of Battletech, and that looks set to continue into next year. I did play in a tournament - a few of us took part in a Lion Rampant event up in Sydney, and I got joint second place (out of eight players). Our club picked up the top three spots in fact. 

I've enjoyed all of your comments and feedback this year, and have also enjoyed looking through the various blogs I follow. 

Anyway, on we go with my usual review format; the top-viewed post from each month.

January

Lion Rampant - Who doesn't love charging knights and axe-wielding maniacs around a table? I do. Lion Rampant got a new edition this year (or late last year) and we gave it a try. And we liked it.

February

Battle of Poltava - Poltava is not an easy battle to wargame, and I was intrigued when I read a blog post about a boardgame that managed to make a playable game out of it. So I bought it. And it's a pretty good game, not only to play but in terms of components and general look and feel.

March

Nimitz - My most popular post in March was a writeup of our first proper game of Nimitz. We'd been playtesting it for a couple of years prior to its release, but it was fun playing it and being able to reference our shiny new books.

April

The Return Of Thomas - Gaslands with a gigantic steam-engine in play. What's not to like? We had some great games of Gaslands this year; we're really starting to get how to play it and people are now confidently designing their own teams.

May

'Lion Rampant' At Shirecon - My most popular post in May was, of course, the write-up of the Lion Rampant tournament I talked about above.

June

It's a (HOTT) Knockout - Episode One - I'm always happy to jump on a bandwagon, and around June there was a lot of interest in some of my Facebook groups in a simple knockout campaign format for DBA. It was easily adapted to HOTT and provided a good few weeks of games before a winner emerged. This was the first episode.

July

One Hour Wargames WWII - In which I used cut-out counters from Junior General to try out the WWII rules in One Hour Wargames. 

August

Tri, Tri, Triremes Again - One of this year's many Galleys & Galleons games was August's most popular posts. One of the things I managed to paint this year was another batch of galleys.

September

Triple HOTT - A write-up of three games of HOTT at the club seemed to attract the most attention in September.

October

Battletech - Alpha Strike - Alpha Strike is the stripped-down, fast-play version of Battletech and we all enjoyed this game which became my top viewed post in October.

November

His Name Is Steggy - I bought some toy dinosaurs. I repainted one and posted some photos. You all seemed to like it. I also used the term 'thagomizer' in a blog post.

December

Aerials For 'Galleys & Galleons' - As I've said before, December is always a difficult month in this survey because I don't have a full count of post hits. However at the time of writing - as close to the end of the month as I dare - this post showcasing some new and rebased aircraft for my Galleys & Galleons games seems to be the most popular. Which was something of a surprise.

So that's another year over. 

Another Dinosaur

Back on November I found some plastic toy dinosaurs that were basically the right scale to use with 15mm figures*. I have since been looking out for others to add to my collection. Indeed I'm fairly sure that there's a couple of viable candidates tucked away in one of the many boxes of random figures and stuff that are down in the garage. However I also check out any toy-shops or museum gift-shops I go to as well.

Last weekend I went to the Australian Museum to see an exhibition of Ancient Egyptian artifacts linked to Ramses II (it was OK, but not outstanding), but in the gift-shop they did have some nice model dinosaurs. Most were too large for what I need, but I did find this chap - a Brachiosaurus.

It's a lovely model and I thought it was probably about the right size. You can see it based up. I didn't bother with a repaint; he was good enough to use as is.

However, like the massive nerd I am, I checked the size and found that in 1/100th scale my Brachiosaurus was 50% too big. Brachiosaurus is a big chap, but not that big. Here it is with some 15mm hunters.

Not to be put off I did some more research (lots of Googling) and ended up falling down a sauropod rabbit-hole. When I was a kid dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus were the biggest of the big. Since then, of course, a number of species have been described and discovered that make it seem pretty mediocre. And my model fits at least one of them in both size and appearance.

So he's a Brachiosaurus no longer. He fits the size and shape of the epic Sauroposeiden. And it's going to take a lot of effort to hunt. Plenty of meat on it though.

And just so you can get another view of the size, here's my newly christened Sauroposeiden with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Rex looks pretty small.

The observant among you will notice that the base widths for both dinosaurs are 40mm, so they can be drafted into my HOTT armies if required.

*For the smaller stuff I'm going to have to go with commercial wargames figures. Memo to Self: Have a look and see what's available.

More Memoir '44

Caesar came over yesterday to help christen my new Memoir '44 toys. As I'd had a go with the Mediterranean set the day before I got out the Pacific set to use the Japanese army figures. Rather than use the scenarios in the book, I dug around in the Memoir '44 archives and found several scenarios set prior to 1939, covering the war in China and the disputes with the Soviet Union.

I set up the Defence of the Sihang Warehouse scenario (part of the 1937 battle for Shanghai), as it looked like it would give an epic game. On an urban board a small force of Chinese infantry have to defend a block of four buildings against increasing numbers of Japanese attackers. They can score points for pulling back their troops off the board, but risk conceding points to the Japanese for control of the crucial warehouse. The Japanese start with few troops on the board, but get to introduce a new unit each turn, so they have to let their forces build up and then decide the best moment to attack before the Chinese simply disappear.

In the first game I took the heroic Chinese defenders, whilst Caesar was the Japanese.

The outlying Chinese defenders put up an epic defence and cost Caesar a few casualties.

But they were eventually pushed back to the warehouse complex and attacked. The Japanese troops have a number of abilities that make them relentless in close combat, and are very dangerous, especially at full-strength.

It was a close fight, but the Japanese stretched their units just a little too far and the Chinese, down to their last couple of units, picked off enough casualties to score a narrow victory.

We swapped sides. Caesar pulled back his defenders fairly rapidly, giving me chance to build up my forces.

My forces assemble for the attack.

And in they go. By this stage I'd lost a couple of units to a bold counterattack and Caesar had evacuated one unit as well. But things were looking good for me.

Alas, victory was not to be. Once again it was close, but the Chinese defence managed destroy enough units to win, plus Caesar managed to sneak another unit to safety off the board as well.

So we ended the afternoon with one game each and equal on aggregate points. It's a very close scenario with challenges for both sides, and I think is set to become one of my favourites.

In the evening I set up another scenario based on the 1938 Battle of Lake Khasan, which pits the Japanese against the Russians. The Russians are defending a strong ridge-line position, but the Japanese are attacking at night, allowing them an opportunity to get close in before they assault.

Daylight came quickly leaving the Japanese attackers exposed, and they took a lot of casualties. They pulled back with a strong attack on the Russian right, well-supported by armour, and the game went to the last unit. The Russians just clinched a win though.

Happy Christmas

It's almost the end of Boxing Day here. Hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa (or equivalents) added to your collections in some way.

Me? I was very mature and decided that i didn't need any more figures or books cluttering up the house, especially since I'd spent a lot of time earlier in the year getting rid of things when we moved. However family eventually insisted that I had to ask for something, so I decided to complete (as far as I am concerned) my Memoir '44 setup by getting the Mediterranean and Pacific Theatre expansions.

I got some time yesterday evening to have a quick play with the Mediterranean set, using the British figures in it. I had a go at the first two scenarios - Hellfire Pass and Sidi Rezegh.

As the first scenario in the book, Hellfire pass has quite a big setup, and uses several of the special rules in the game. The German and Italian troops are well dug- in on ergs (like hills, but they slow movement), and are protected by wire and minefields. The attacking Commonwealth troops have no artillery support, but do at least have Matilda tanks, giving them four-figure armour units.

The Allies made a strong attack in the centre and on their right. The attack in the centre was stopped by artillery fire and by a German armoured counterattack. On their right, however, the Allies did OK, taking the German positions and pushing beyond them.

The game went to the wire, with both sides one medal from victory. But German artillery attacks in the centre gave them a narrow victory; on their next turn the Allies could have potentially existed troops from the Axis baseline to give them a win.

Sidi Rezegh is a tank battle, which uses the extra Desert War follow-up rules, making for a fast-moving and deadly fight.

In both games I played the Germans were able to press the British close to their baseline, making retreats harder and destroying units quickly.

The Germans won both games. But I can see how this one is could be very much influenced by the cards; in the first game the Germans got the armoured Assault card, which is very powerful in this set-up. If the British had got it instead, things would have been a lot different.

I was pleased to see that Days of Wonder have the Memoir '44 Scenario Archive back up and running, so I will be looking through it for fun battles with which to try out my new toys.

We did play a couple of games on Christmas Day. Catherine added to her collection of cat-themed games with Fat Cats (a trick-taking card game of little skill) and Cat Crimes (which is a set of logic puzzles with nice components to help you visualise the situations. Neither were great games, but they do have cats in them.

Bussaco With 'Valour & Fortitude'

We gave Valour & Fortitude another go last night, now we're feeling a bit more confident with how to play it. It was a simple scenario based on a section of the 1810 Battle of Bussaco; a horde of French would be attacking a thin red line of British and Portuguese up a long rugged slope.

This is the flocked area is the slope, with its highest point (and the British/Portuguese) in the foreground and the French in the distance at the foot.

The British had three small brigades on the ridge, with a larger brigade of reinforcements due on the right flank. The French had several large infantry brigades.

The French discuss their plan. March up the slope seemed to be the best option.

And here they come. As they advanced they sorted themselves out into an imposing line of attack columns.

The two armies were soon in skirmish range, and the firing began. Both sides took minor hits.

Over on our right we looked a bit vulnerable, but our reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to form and line and offer resistance to the French. On the left though we were looking very thin on the ground compared to the advancing enemy. The French closed to musketry range and started to take some proper hits. But they had a lot of units.

The French attack! Our unit on the far left was hit by three supported units, and very much outmatched. Darren had made cunning use of an event card to ensure that all of teh attacking units were fresh as well, so we were really up against it.

As it was, we had cards in or hand too. We lost the fight - badly, I might add - but used a card to automatically pass the following morale test. That kept us in the fight for another turn, in which we used a card to rally off hits and avoid being shaken. We lost the fight again, and only had good die-rolls to save us from rout. But good die-rolls are enough. Elsewhere Darren's large brigade was starting to crumble.

At that point we called an end to things. The French may well have pushed through on our left, but elsewhere they were looking pretty weak; attacking up a rough slope into deadly musketry had really taken its toll.

I think we had a good handle on the rules this time, and were even able to make clever use of the event cards as well. It was a simple scenario that allowed us to focus on the basics, and that really helped.

Thanks to Ralph for putting everything together.

Anniversary HOTT

No, not any particular anniversary here. But last month saw the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who. I finally got to watch the three specials last weekend, and thought that since I hadn't played HOTT in a while I should drag out my Dalek and UNIT armies for a quick game.

UNIT defended, and fielded 6 x Shooters, 1 x Hero general (The Brigadier), 1 x Artillery and 1 x Sneaker (The Doctor). Their stronghold was a castle because the usual country-house I use is down in the garage and it was pouring with rain.

The Daleks have a few options. They attacked with 1 x Airboat general, 2 x Flyers, 2 x Shooters (Mercenaries), 1 x Artillery (Special Weapons Dalek) and 5 x Blades.

And here they are, all ready to fight. The Dalek advance was out of some woodland, towards a village that UNIT would obviously occupy with their soldiers.

The Dalek flyers provided a nice distraction, zipping into UNIT's rear.

UNIT advanced to make best use of the village. The Daleks advanced slowly so that they could reorganise and expand their line.

The artillery for both sides was soon in range. UNIT's mortars destroyed an element of Dalek mercenaries.

Meanwhile teh Brigadiers moved out of reserve and took on the Dalek fliers, pushing them back.

The Dalek command saucer destroyed UNIT's artillery.

On UNIT's left they kept up a steady, but ineffective, fire on the advancing Daleks, whilst troops in a Land Rover turned the Dalek flank.

The Daleks got a good run of PIPs. The fliers were able to overfly the Brigadier and move into the rear of UNIT's line as their main force moved into contact.

Attacked from land and sky UNIT's right collapsed in an orgy of extermination. Not good at all.

The Daleks pressed their attack, but couldn't break into the village.

The Brigadier rushed over from where he'd been fighting the fliers that had evaded him  but was pinned and then driven back by the surviving mercenaries preventing him from attacking the Dalek command saucer.

And that gave the Daleks more time to press forward, attacking The Doctor himself.

The Doctor was destroyed (he'll be back), and that was enough to break UNIT.

UNIT lost three shooters, their artillery and The Doctor for a total of 12AP. The Daleks only lost an element of easily replaced mercenaries.

I think when I played this setup for the 50th anniversary the Daleks won as well.

As an aside, I loved the specials. Much more straightforward and fun than the over-complicated and poorly written offerings we've had for the past few years.