Blitzkrieg Commander

Des's family was in town for her Master's graduation ceremonies, so that of course meant a game with her dad Frank was in order. I let the guest decide and he opted for WWII action, so I got to bust out my Odessa Campaign 20mm minis and dive in to Blitzkrieg Commander for the first time!

I was never really in doubt about BKC as a system, and I was not let down. If anything, the game exceeded my expectations. (I'll probably be picking up Future War Commander at some point to finally have some rules to go with my Reaper mechs and Pendraken soldiers.) Despite the fact that it was the first time I'd played the game at all, and that I'd only had time to give the rulebook a cursory glance to refresh my memory--having read through it maybe two or three years ago, then put it on the shelf--the game went smoothly and total time from set-up to clean-up was only about three-and-a-half hours.

My miniatures collection is focused around the Romanian slog towards Odessa in the summer and fall of 1941. I took the Romanians, Frank took the Russians. To keep things simple, we played an Encounter scenario. I snapped some shots at about the mid-point of the game (sorry about the poor lighting conditions, as usual--one of these days I'll get some proper flood lights...):

I continue to be more than happy with my Hexon II tiles. I'm finding that I'll probably need some more slope pieces, but other than that I have more than enough hexes to make for an infinite variety of set-ups. At any rate, here we see how the fighting was shaping up, centering around a small village; those Post-It tags indicate occupied buildings. We managed to divide the village in half by the end of the game.

I tested out the Flanking rules to great success--you can see my R-35s "charging" in (with all of their 10cm move) on the left, sending a unit of dismounted Cossacks falling back in a desperate delaying action.

A close-up shot of the village. Those are Paper Terrain houses. I have the whole "South Russian Village" set, so eventually those'll be mounted on bases to represent Built-Up Areas and there will even be a nifty little Church! I'm also going to come up with some house rules to determine when to go from the "intact" to the "ruined" state (dropping the Hit number by one in the process). Probably something along the lines of how Space Marine used to do it.

Now, this being our first-ever BKC game, along with the fact that I hadn't had a chance to properly review the rules, guaranteed there were a couple boo-boos. Such is the learning process. I effectively forgot about the Initiative phase by the time it would have mattered in the game, but this was balanced out by the fact that we didn't clear Hits in the End Phase. So I think the deadliness of the game was about the same as what it would be normally, but I'll have to play another game, just to make sure. Dang! ;)

Next up I'm going to make some fields and defensive improvements like trenches and wire sections. I'm also going to buy some micro dice in two colors to represent hits and suppressed hits, but I'm also quite happy with the fact that there's very little for me to do. After years of prep work, waiting, painting, and so forth, it's a great relief to finally be able to play something!

ETA: I forgot to mention that the highlight of the game was probably when I sent my unit of Combat Engineers dashing across the no-man's land of the village common (with three successive move orders!) to close assault the Soviet T-26. Thanks to their flamethrower, the Engineers drove the tank back, but were in turn wiped out when the house full of Naval Infantry across the way opened up on them. Posthumous medals for bravery all around!

In all seriousness, though, that sequence was a great example of how much fun BKC's unit activation system is. I was really sweating those last couple order rolls, hoping my Engineers wouldn't find themselves caught out in the open, exposed to fire from three different directions!

Armies of Arcana Battle Report #1

As anticipated, the big day finally came. With my Hexon II terrain flocked and ready to go, we were finally ready, for the first time in nearly two years(!) we busted out the minis and the dice and had ourselves a game.

This was our first outing with Armies of Arcana. As our new fantasy armies aren't painted up yet, we busted out our old Fantasy Warriors armies to test the system. Surprisingly, the armies came out to approximately equal points values in AoA as well, so we were good to go.

Before I get into the battle report proper, my impressions on AoA, both in general and as it applies to Fantasy Warriors.

I have to say that AoA very much lived up to my expectations. Despite being our first game, things flowed very smoothly. We had practically no need of rules lookups, particularly after the first couple turns. One of my biggest issues with FW was the way modifiers could pile up for nearly every roll. It made for either tons of chart lookups or having to keep a bunch of running totals swimming around in our heads. AoA, for the most part, has only a handful of modifiers that come up with any sort of regularity. I also liked the tactical elements of the game, such as the different maneuvers, both out of melee and while engaged.

We'll probably port some of FW into AoA as houserules, particularly the pre-game sequence of reading the omens, making boasts, scouting, etc. Possibly the time clock and Bad Light rules as well.

On to the battle (click the thumbnails for larger pics)...

Here's the Hexon tiles set up in all their glory. I have yet to get together a proper 4x6 table set-up, so this was a roughly 3x5 arrangement. The versatility and aesthetic appeal of the Hexon tiles are exactly what I've been looking for. I couldn't be happier. Turns out I've got way more terrain tiles than I'll ever need, which will be great--a literally endless variety of possible arrangements!

A ground's-eye view of the table. You can see the undulating terrain and hills that the tiles allow you to create.

Here's a view of the armies after set-up. As per the rules, we each set the game-winning objective for the other person. I set Des the objective of defeating my general, she set my objective as defeating her unit of Human Knights (lower right of the photo).

Another view of the deployment.

View from the dwarf lines.

The battle's under way. The dwarves are holding the line as the orcs advance, screened by archers in skirmish formation. Speaking of archers, that was a key difference between AoA and FW--missile fire is much deadlier! The first half of the battle was dominated by missile duels between my orc longbows and Des's dwarven crossbows.

My plans, such as they were, revolved around a pincer-like attack. Here we can see a unit of scimitar orcs coming up on the right flank as my trolls snake their way forward, sheltering from missile fire as long as possible.

And here's the left flank; my other unit of scimitar orcs and a wolf-mounted hero wheeling around the craggy hill, making for the human knights.

The missile duels over (you can see my archers falling back behind the advancing orcs with spears and the dwarven crossbows doing likewise), melee approaches.

Flash forward a couple turns. I had taken a gamble in casting Chaos Vortex from my wizard's lofty vantage point on the hill. In true orcish fashion, the Vortex drifted across both friendly and unfriendly units, wreaking total havoc in the process. The good news is that it completely wiped out a unit of dwarven spears and seriously compromised another unit of dwarves with two-handed axes--but it also took care of fully half of my own unit of spear-orcs! Here they are fleeing from the Vortex as my wizard and general look on helplessly. My center had collapsed.

That's when I decided to take a gamble. I cast Mark of Chaos on my general, hoping to get a nice little bonus for the fight I knew was coming--my general would have to hold the center against the inevitable onslaughts (my general being the victory objective and all...).

I informed Des of the odds: on a roll of 1 thru 4, my general would get a buff. A roll of 5 would have no effect. A roll of 6 and my general blows up.

I rolled a 6. 

Although Des hadn't technically killed my general, we took that as good enough for dwarven victory purposes.

Here's where the left flank stood when the general blew up. An assault was imminent, and things definitely were still very much up in the air. But dinner was calling, and I was willing to take a risk on my general. The risk didn't pay off this time. Next time...

Well, next time I'll hopefully be busting out some sweet Undead action. Oh yes, there will be a next time.

At long last...back in the saddle!

About three weeks ago I finished up my last two batches of Civil War paint-for-hire miniatures. That was it, as far as commissioned projects go. The end of over two years of having to set my own miniatures second to other peoples'. I thought I might be too burned out to segue into my own stuff, but I surprised even myself with a flood of minis-related work.

First I finished my WWII Odessa project. Then last week I took the weekend and finished up my Hexon terrain. So now we actually have proper terrain to play on! Tomorrow's my birthday, and I'm celebrating with our first game of Armies of Arcana and the new terrain. Pics will follow, of course.

(Since our "new" fantasy armies are still in progress, we'll be using our old Grenadier/Fantasy Warriors armies. I statted them up in AoA and, surprisingly, they came out equally balanced.)

Next on the list are our fantasy armies and, quite unexpectedly, the samurai armies. The reason for the latter moving up the list so quickly is that I ordered a can of Army Painter stain and have come up with a quick-painting scheme utilizing that product.

At any rate, this blog has been long and talk and short on pics for far too long, so without further ado I'm going to play a bit of catch-up now.

First, some pics of the figures I've completed so far for my Undead army.

The renegade Amazon necromancer riding an undead troll (figure by Hasslefree Miniatures):





Next, Mirliton's fantastic recasting of the old Grenadier Undead War Mammoth, with figures by Games Workshop and...Ral Partha? Maybe...?




Lastly, a Reaper Wraith figure, my general:




My vision for this army is that it comes from a Hades-like "Land of the Dead" that periodically overflows into the land of the living. Des's Amazons live on the borders of the Land of the Dead and act as the first line of defense/guardians against these incursions.

Next up are some of my zombie minis. There are eight survivors grouped into four pairs (mostly courtesy of Hasslefree):







A few of my zombies (there are about 30 to 40 total), courtesy of a mix of manufacturers:




Lastly, some of my Odessa project figures. As I've discussed before, I've mounted the figures in "fire teams" on circular slotta bases. Intended to be used with Blitzkrieg Commander, these bases should be usable with nearly any rules set short of a 1:1 skirmish game, which is the sort of rules system I'm distancing myself from anyway.

Some Romanians (plus a German pioneer section); you can see the mix of base types: large circular for squads and heavy weapons, square for command, small circle for section leaders and special troops like this Forward Observer.

Romanian R.35 tanks.

Two Russian anti-tank guns and crews.

Russian T-26 (love those early war tank designs!).

Some of the Soviet forces; you can see the eclectic mix of Odessa's defenders: naval infantry, Red Army, dismounted cossacks...

Project Updates

I think it's telling that I started this entry exactly three months ago and I'm just now getting around to finishing it and posting it. Sort of an encapsulated metaphor for the state of my miniatures gaming these past couple years: lots of big plans and schemes, then somehow time slips by and suddenly it's been months and nothing's happened. Ah well.

Now that there's finally, finally, finally a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of my ill-advised commitments to painting miniatures for hire (it's looking like I'll have everything cleared off my "to-do" pile by the end of the year March!) it's time once again to return to the world of miniatures gaming in earnest. So here's what's been knocking around in my head of late:

* First off, there are the fantasy armies Des, Alex, and I put together last year. I've talked with Des and Alex, and there definitely seems to be a bit of a collective itch for some sweet fantasy wargaming action in the near future, so I think we'll all be making a concerted effort to our armies painted up. (Update: since I wrote this in December, Alex has moved away. I'm currently baby-sitting his Dwarf army, but will sending it to him once he gets settled into his new digs. There's been talk of him painting up his army anyway; that way, whenever he visits, he can bring it along for an afternoon of gaming. That, of course, presumes Des and I somehow find the time to paint up our armies...)

I actually started on mine last year, and painted up a couple center-piece models. My pride and joy is an old Grenadier Undead War Mammoth, recast by Mirliton. (One of the things that made me love Armies of Arcana was the fact that it allowed me to put together a stat block for this guy. And a big "Hallelujah!" to the fact that it's back in production--this was one of my first-ever Grenadier boxed set purchases, way back circa 1990, and I was only too happy to be able to pick up a new version for less than an arm and a leg.) My other big center-piece is my general--a renegade Amazon necromancer, riding her undead Troll bodyguard. God, I love this miniature, and not just for the nudie bits! (Between my as-yet-unnamed general and Des's half-naked Amazon army, we're running an R-rated collection of miniatures here!) Whenever I can be bothered to get my lightbox down from the closet, I'll take some pictures and post 'em here.

* Aye me, I've gone and added another project to my already steaming pile. Actually, this is a project that's been kicking around in my plans for, oh, almost three years now(!), but it's just recently come to fruition.

In the manner of most seasoned WWII wargamers, I eventually came around to developing an interest in the "sideshow" campaigns and armies of the war. In my case, my interest has largely focused on the Romanian army, and specifically the Siege of Odessa in 1941. I love the drama, the quasi-WWI-style warfare, the cobbled-together feel of both armies (with the Soviets employing naval infantry, Cossacks, regulars, you name it), the early war tanks (R35s for the Romanians, and the ever popular T-35 land battleships for the Reds)...

Yes sir, the Odessa Campaign has been something I've been meaning to explore for a while now. I've just never been sure how to go about it. Well, the answer has come to me rather ass-backwardsly, but here it is:

I'll be doing the project in 20mm, using primarily plastics with metal miniatures solely as needed to plug gaps in the plastics range (dismounted Cossacks, for example). (Turns out I needed quite a few metal minis.) After all the fun I had playing Fantasy Warriors, I've decided to get away from skirmish gaming for the most part--I want to mount my figures on bases. For a ruleset, I'll most likely definitely be using Blitzkrieg Commander.

As for bases, I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday that's got me really excited: use GW bases! I'm using circular bases for units  and sub-commanders and square bases for guns and commanders. One thing I really like about this approach is that it's scaleable. Thus, I could just as easily have a base be 1:1 and represent a section/fireteam (each base mounts about three figures), or a squad, or a platoon. The last couple months I slowly filled out the gaps in my plastics, found a bulk offer of circular bases on eBay, and mounted all my minis on bases. So I now have a half-painted assortment of Russians and Romanians, suitably ragtag and varied, enough to throw together a modest BKC game with options for offense and defense on both sides.

* I also managed to actually scratch something completely off my to-do list--my 28mm zombies are all finished! I've got about 40 or 50 of the shambling dead (a mix of manufacturers) and about a half-dozen survivors (all Hasslefree). The zombies had been about 80% done, so I finished up the rest, painted the survivors, and did the bases. They look great on my shelf; it's nice to have some more completed figures up there.

* The 10mm samurai are, as always, still lurking in the background. At this point, that seems like a project I'll either never get to, or else suddenly tackle in a week's worth of frenzied painting. Hopefully the latter, of course. Just waiting for the muse to strike.

* Of course, most of this is all moot until I get my Hexon terrain tiles finished up. That's something I can do in a weekend. It's just, living in a small apartment, there's no real good place to spread out and make a big mess, so I've been hesitant to get into it. But that's how it's going to have to be, so I'll just have to take the plunge.

* None of this, naturally, will go forward until I finish up the last two packs of Civil War miniatures I'm painting for a client. And that will be it! I'll collect my check and never paint another commissioned figure so long as I live.

Wargaming, Computers, and the Co-option of the "Gamer"

I couldn't decide whether to post this in my RPG blog or miniatures gaming blog, so I'm posting it in both. Furthermore, this is going to be a rather rambling post in which I spend a lot of time musing about things as they once were and generally feeling sorry for myself (while making a ton of sweeping generalizations), so consider yourself warned.

Since a very early point in my involvement in the gaming hobby, I've been a frustrated wargamer. When I say "wargames," I'm speaking of course about those boxed games that come with a 3'x4' map covered in hexagons and two or three sheets of punched cardboard counters with various NATO symbols and numbers printed on them. As I've written about before, I got into RPGs right at that cusp, that transition, from the last gasps of "old school" gaming (the end of the 80s--and yes, I know there are many out there who would argue that old school had died long before that, in much the same way that some would argue punk was dead by 1979, but let's just set that aside for now) and the "new school" as heralded by such games as Vampire: the Masqerade and AD&D 2e.

The end of the 80s didn't just herald the passing of a certain phase of RPG gaming, it also brought about the final effective death, I think, of an even earlier facet of the hobby, the granddaddy of them all, wargaming. The mass-market board wargame we know today was developed in the 1950s by Charles S. Roberts; his first game was called Tactics, and it sparked the creation of a whole new hobby that hadn't existed before (sound familiar?).

It was, of course, out of wargames and the associated hobby that RPGs and miniatures games grew, and it was the wargaming community that allowed folks like Gary Gygax, Don Kaye, Dave Arneson, Ken St. Andre, Greg Stafford, Rick Priestly, etc., etc., ad nauseum, to network and grow the nascent offshoots that later eclipsed wargames.

It's interesting and worrying to me that D&D and RPGs followed a similar trajectory to wargames: start with a small, self-published game that spawns an entire hobby; said hobby quickly grows from a small cadre of dedicated enthusiasts to a much larger phenomenon; phenomenon leads to all sorts of new blood coming in to hobby; said new blood takes hobby in strange new directions; hobby eventually shrinks back to its original size as the "grognards" keep carrying the torch forward and the new blood takes their new interpretations elsewhere, particularly into the world of computers, where the hobby is reborn in an even bigger fashion.It's that last bit I find a bit worrisome, and it's why I'm ultimately somewhat prejudiced against CRPGs and MMORPGs.

Like I said before, I was a frustrated wargamer. I bought Tactics II on sale at a mall game store (The Gamekeeper, if anyone remembers those places), and bought several more games over time for years after that. This at a time when you could still find wargames in a mall--hell, when you could still find gaming stores in a mall... It immediately spoke to me. It appealed to my interest in strategy. It appealed (very much, obviously) to my interest in military history, and my interest in "what if" scenarios. It appealed to that slightly OCD side of me that liked seeing serried ranks of squares and hexagons laid out like a military map showing main lines of resistance, breakthroughs, routs, and so forth. Yet, try as I might, I could not get my gaming friends interested in 'em. They just didn't see the appeal of pushing a bunch of cardboard counters around a paper map when computer wargames would do the same thing and offer better graphics and take care of all those fiddly rules for you. Now, my friends (Philistines that they are) aren't the best representatives even then, because they were never really interested in computer wargames either--they were much more of the "Warcraft/Starcraft" school--but I know that computer wargames in general sort of what put the nail in the coffin of the board wargame hobby (which had been in decline anyway).

This is why I'm a bit wary, as I said, of role-playing iterations of computer games, especially since the RPG hobby seems to still be following that wargames trajectory. Add into this the co-option of the term "gamer" by video game players (a huge pet peeve of mine), and you've got a recipe for a cranky young grognard. I know these are hardly new or revolutionary sentiments. And I know that wargames map to computers much more easily and readily than RPGs ever will (and even moreso for miniatures). But still, I worry--will I one day have to clarify what I mean by "RPG" ("Games you play in person with other people, involving dice and books...") like I did for "wargames" at the outset of this post?

I guess it comes down to the fact that, just like a feel a bit sad over the fact that I just missed out on the old school era of RPGs (as I define it), I also feel sad that the age of wargames had passed me by as well. Even sadder is the fact that I've recently come to realize that I simply no longer feel the urge to play wargames. I guess you can only carry a torch for so long. Like so many others, I scratch my wargaming itch with computer games these days.

(And for what it's worth, I have played board wargames online via the various "gamebox" applications one can access (VASL, Aide-de-Camp, etc.); it's just not the same as the real thing. Nor is solo play, which doesn't hold a candle to those few times I've managed to cajole a friend or two into playing. Also, interestingly, every time I've resolved to start playing more solo wargames, I've gotten a girlfriend or my social life has gotten suddenly much busier soon after, as if the universe is saying, "No, I won't let you go down that road--here, here's a bunch of stuff to keep you otherwise occupied.")