According to an end of 2011 post about my intended projects for 2012 (as seen here: link ) I seemed to have about a 50% success rate if you include adding to the lead pile.
On my planned to do list was:
1/600 modern jet game - I added to the collection of planes, but didn't run with what I had. The main reason for this is I don't have a big enough table to play a decent game. Yes, the planes are 1/600 scale, but I want enough room to manoeuvre and to set up out side of weapons range.
I will revisit this IF I ever get a playing area the size I want.
18mm Napoleonic - nope didn't do a thing here with my own collection, but did play a game using my friends collection.
28mm Vietnam War - the big success of 2012 for me. I have painted ALL of my combatant forces, but still need to paint up my civilians. I do need to make some extra scenery for the game, so I intend to put this on the 2013 to do list.
28mm Modern Africa - I am glad I didn't pump any money into this one. It was supposed to be a joint project, but I would have been left holding the baby on this. I did paint up my RLI for the Rhodesian bush war, so I might get some enemy forces from Eureka to play this one solo, but I will hold off to see if any more figures in the range are released first.
I still want to do a modern African setting as I have an imagi-nation already set up. I might do it in 15mm or 20mm if I can find the figures I want.
7TV/7ombietv - I like the rules, but think it would be more fun to play with fellow gamers rather than solo, so most likely I will never do anything with this.
28mm WW2 - painted up all of my Aussies and Chinese and played a few games with them. This alternative history is on hold due to a lack of figures being made for the Chinese, so I will return my focus to Europe WW2. I have a pack of Warlord Games plastic Germans and British to build and paint, plus I want to get the Russians so I can play my alternative history 1945 setting.
28mm Wild West - I didn't play any games, but I did add to the pile of lead for my games. I want to get a few games up of 'The Rules With No Name' if I can this year, even if it is solo.
Mongoose Star Trek - I bought the rules, but the cost of the ships is a bit too high for me to play this game. That is the price of a film license I guess. I could print out my own ship counters if I could be bothered, but I would be playing the game solo, so not worth the effort.
Zombies - added to my lead pile, but didn't play a game. My main focus for 2012 with zombies was the play by blog game. I wonder what I will do with zombies in 2013...
Strange Aeons - added to the book and lead pile. I did paint up some new figures, but didn't post photos for some weird reason. I hope to get at least one game in of Strange Aeons in 2013.
Super Heroes - I purchased some figures, made some super heroes for the rules I have, but a lack of scenery stopped this one from getting any legs. I might revisit this from time to time, but it isn't a priority.
Things I did that were not on the list:
Fantasy Dungeon Crawl - this was on my blog and I actually did something with it, but need to paint more figures and finish my dungeon tiles before I can play.
Gangsters - Purchased some figures and painted them! I need to make scenery for this game before I can seriously get a campaign up and running. I really like the setting, so want to put some effort in to this.
Special Mention:
Bolt Action - A set of WW2 rules for platoon/Company level play. A lot of people bagged the shite out of this before it came out, and continued to do so after it was released. I like the rules a lot. They are very easy to play and simple enough that you don't have to constantly look up rules to know what you are doing.
And best of all, the rules are very flexible so that you can adapt them to almost any time period you might want to play. I will talk about this more in future posts.
So, that is a quick review of what I had planned to do in 2012, and what I actually did.
My next post will be my thoughts on 2013.
Merry Christmas 2012
Merry Christmas every one! I hope you have a great one and Santa brings you lots of wargaming goodies.
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| Hopefully one mission my LRRPS wont go on |
Planning my next game
Given that I haven't played a game for a while, I have prepared a 'pre-op flyby' for my LRRPs for their next mission.
The next mission is a "Sensor Placement" game. Basically the LRRPs need to place a number of movement sensors along a trail to complete the mission.
I have set up the table for the game:
As seen in the photo there is a trail, with a creek/small river behind a couple of low lying hills.
The water feature will be shallow enough to allow troops to wade through it.
The LRRPs will need to enter the table, set up a secure "harbour" and then place the sensors.
Looking at my table I feel I need more trees/jungle, and that is something I will work on next year. I might did up some more to place on the table for this game just to pad it out a bit, but I will still make more trees for my games.
I have yet to make some sensors to place on the table, but I have some ideas for that, but they are not essential to play the game.
If all goes well I will start this game on Boxing Day.
The next mission is a "Sensor Placement" game. Basically the LRRPs need to place a number of movement sensors along a trail to complete the mission.
I have set up the table for the game:
As seen in the photo there is a trail, with a creek/small river behind a couple of low lying hills.
The water feature will be shallow enough to allow troops to wade through it.
The LRRPs will need to enter the table, set up a secure "harbour" and then place the sensors.
Looking at my table I feel I need more trees/jungle, and that is something I will work on next year. I might did up some more to place on the table for this game just to pad it out a bit, but I will still make more trees for my games.
I have yet to make some sensors to place on the table, but I have some ideas for that, but they are not essential to play the game.
If all goes well I will start this game on Boxing Day.
Bolt Action - atlernative history skirmish game 2
A couple of Thursdays ago, my Mate and I played another Bolt Acton Skirmish game set in my alternative history setting.
Having limited figures for the setting didn't stop us including a couple of mortars and an observer (two observers in fact, one of which was an air liaison officer.) in the game. We just allowed for them to be deployed hidden or out of line of sight for the game.
To balance the extra Australian forces, the Chinese were given prepared earth work defenses, and some barbed wire.
Added to this, the Australians had to cross a river using a fallen tree. I mistakenly gave my Mate the option of placing the tree anywhere along the river, something that turned out to be a game changer.
I made the river and the earthworks especially for this game, but made them generic enough that I will be able to use them for other games.
The earthworks are still a work in progress, as I didn't have enough of the same colour paint to paint over the sand.
To speed up the game, we allowed for soldiers to be activated in groups of two or three until such times as combat actually started.
This was at this stage of the game the 'game changer' kicked in. The Australians were out of range of 70% of the Chinese in their earth works. As a result, and due to bad dice rolls, I was only able to pin two Australians with my initial fire, and they shrugged that off with a successful rally test.
After rallying the scouts crossing over the bridge, the mortars fired some smoke to give cover to the troops crossing the river. This blinded the 30% of Chinese that were in range.
Figuring this game would be lost quickly, I moved some Chinese out of the earth works so they could get into the fight.
In an attempt to out flank my position, one of the Australians was taken out of the battle with one of the few shots that actually inflicted damage.
Time for playing was running out, and my Mate remembered he had a Beaufighter on call.
As we had added the use of indirect fire to our game, it was simple enough to use air support as well.
As with the mortars, the Australian's had some jolly lucky dice rolls, and the fighter bomber came in when and where it was needed.
Even with the earthworks, the Chinese suffered heavy casualties and all that was left was for the Australians to clear the trench and check to their wounded.
Again we were very happy with how easy the Bolt Action rules are.
One thing that is important is to keep the normal BA rules for air support as they are, and not adjust them to skirmish games. Otherwise planes are too powerful.
We did have some questions about the indirect fire rules which I intend to ask about over at the Warlord Games forum.
As mentioned, the lack of figure for this setting makes for very limited games - I can get plenty of extra Australians, but I can't get any heavy weapon or support figures for the Chinese.
As a result I will dust off my 20mm Australians and Japanese for a historical Pacific campaign, as well as work on my alternative history Europe '45 setting.
Having limited figures for the setting didn't stop us including a couple of mortars and an observer (two observers in fact, one of which was an air liaison officer.) in the game. We just allowed for them to be deployed hidden or out of line of sight for the game.
To balance the extra Australian forces, the Chinese were given prepared earth work defenses, and some barbed wire.
Added to this, the Australians had to cross a river using a fallen tree. I mistakenly gave my Mate the option of placing the tree anywhere along the river, something that turned out to be a game changer.
I made the river and the earthworks especially for this game, but made them generic enough that I will be able to use them for other games.
The earthworks are still a work in progress, as I didn't have enough of the same colour paint to paint over the sand.
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| The Chinese set up |
To speed up the game, we allowed for soldiers to be activated in groups of two or three until such times as combat actually started.
 |
| The river the Australians needed to cross |
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| Looking towards the Chinese positions |
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| The Australians start their approach. I am particularly pleased with the reflections of the scenery in the river. |
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| The Australians get within range of the fallen tree. The mortars are setting up behind the hill to the left |
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| Crossing the river |
This was at this stage of the game the 'game changer' kicked in. The Australians were out of range of 70% of the Chinese in their earth works. As a result, and due to bad dice rolls, I was only able to pin two Australians with my initial fire, and they shrugged that off with a successful rally test.
After rallying the scouts crossing over the bridge, the mortars fired some smoke to give cover to the troops crossing the river. This blinded the 30% of Chinese that were in range.
Figuring this game would be lost quickly, I moved some Chinese out of the earth works so they could get into the fight.
In an attempt to out flank my position, one of the Australians was taken out of the battle with one of the few shots that actually inflicted damage.
Time for playing was running out, and my Mate remembered he had a Beaufighter on call.
As we had added the use of indirect fire to our game, it was simple enough to use air support as well.
As with the mortars, the Australian's had some jolly lucky dice rolls, and the fighter bomber came in when and where it was needed.
 |
| My Mate finally remembered he had air support |
Even with the earthworks, the Chinese suffered heavy casualties and all that was left was for the Australians to clear the trench and check to their wounded.
 |
| The Beaufighter heading back to base. |
Again we were very happy with how easy the Bolt Action rules are.
One thing that is important is to keep the normal BA rules for air support as they are, and not adjust them to skirmish games. Otherwise planes are too powerful.
We did have some questions about the indirect fire rules which I intend to ask about over at the Warlord Games forum.
As mentioned, the lack of figure for this setting makes for very limited games - I can get plenty of extra Australians, but I can't get any heavy weapon or support figures for the Chinese.
As a result I will dust off my 20mm Australians and Japanese for a historical Pacific campaign, as well as work on my alternative history Europe '45 setting.
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