Lazy Sunday Session - Conquest of Paradise and Bloodborne

Nic R had the house to himself (well Charlie did, he allowed Nic to stay), so a lazy Sunday session was organised.

I was keen to play Conquest of Paradise, particularly as it had been around 18 months since I last played. While Nic would be GMing of sorts and hosting, the other players (Wes, Jack G and Ara H) would be exploring the big blue. As a four player game I (as Samoa) was stuck right next to Jack (as Tonga), while Wes and Ara were further away to the east.

We played a lot more cordially than last time (not a single round of combat!), which I put down to Ara not wanting to attack as he sheepishly didn't want to ask on what the rules/mechanics were. Instead he tried to sail to South America (as you do).

Ara did successfully get there and bring back kumara (sweet potatoes), we were all cheering when he made it. That non-confrontational strategy put him in front and ultimately won him the game.

It was interesting to see the game with different players play out completely different to last time. A lot of fun. I then had a little time left before dinner plans, so I took part in a short game of Bloodborne.

Definitely a game of easily being able to stab your team in the back, but we were all still too friendly - cooperating and sending players to regenerate that were on low health when needed.

WWI Skirmish with Foch and more DBA Sumerians

The League of Ancients meeting was a week later than usual due to the Easter long weekend, and Jack G was keen to give Foch a try as we plan our post-WWI revolution games set in Eastern Europe.

Foch is a free adaptation by Pierre Aymeric for using Osprey’s The Men Who Would be Kings to game World War One (and is available here: https://lesperegrinationsdunainblanc.blogspot.com/2018/05/adaptation-tmwwbk-premiere-guerre.html).

Jack supplied both armies, where I commanded Austrians and Jack fielded a British force. As it was a training game, the units were smaller than the normal 12 (to accommodate Jack's collection) of around 9-10 men and we played around 24 points a side (the normal TMWWBK size) as opposed to the 36-48 points Foch recommends. I had three units of 9 men and an HMG, while Jack had troops with better morale, but an LMG instead of an HMG. I only remember what my leaders' traits were, two were Inspirational (may reroll failed rally rolls) and the third was a Terrible planner (limited ammunition supply). These definitely added a great flavour to the game without adding too much complexity.

Finally, the mission. To avoid a straight pitched battle, we decided to play the first scenario (Just Passing By). This forced us both to move and get me to learn the mechanics.

The game became a one-sided affair as I deployed my HMG in a commanding position on a hill and swarmed my infantry units forwards, concentrating fire when possible. Jack suffered for this (he also had a lot of unlucky morale rolls). I eventually wiped out his army.

I loved the game - was quick to pick up and I think will work for us as long as we have an HMG each and play with the minimum recommended army size of 36 points. The flavour of small-scale skirmish is definitely something that appealed to me. I also realised when I got home that a small 1914 Belgian collection I had in the lead pile was enough to field as 36 points, which was a nice bonus.

The afternoon saw more DBA games (round 4 of the GTA:Biblical campaign) with my Sumerians taking on Peter S's Philistines (I/29) in a practice game, Stephen C's Hittite Empire (I/24) and Damian P's Mitanni (I/19). I won against Stephen and lost to Damian, which meant my provinces didn't change hands.

I really need to finish off the rest of the army so I can photograph them up close. In particular I will also need to give the exposed flesh parts a brown wash - they are way too pale!

Little Wars Melbourne 2019 - Waterloo and Siege of Rhodes

Another year, and good to see another Little Wars Melbourne.

I was not really paying too much attention on what was being offered in the way of games (as they were being announced on the Facebook page):
https://www.facebook.com/events/kingston-arts-hall-985-nepean-highway-moorabbin/little-wars-melbourne-2019-9am-to-4pm/394294514710354/

So when I turned up in the morning I wandered the tables (lots of great looking terrain and miniatures) and the other sellers (including the second hand tables). I didn't take any photos and didn't buy anything, so this is just a report of the two games I played.

For the morning game I took part in Richard G's large Waterloo game using his recently published second edition of Field of Glory Napoleonic. There were a huge amount of miniatures on the table (a few thousand at least!) and I commanded a small Dutch Belgian contingent on the far left flank as a player who signed up before the day was running late. Not much action in the hour I played as units were shuffling into position (while trying to stay out of view and range of artillery). However I did get a few hits on the French infantry units facing me.

It was a game that went all day, and unsurprisingly the French had a really hard time from what I heard (could they ever win that rematch?).

The afternoon game saw me commanding the land forces of Demetrius on Ian H's lovely Siege of Rhodes (305–304 BC) table. He had designed and made all the card terrain, its visual appeal (and knowing nothing of the battle) immediately drew me to play.

We used Age of Hannibal, a rule set I hadn't used before. Was pretty easy to pick up and they flowed really nicely. Chee commanded the invading Macedonian fleet, while Ian and Dylan H were defending the city. The photos below are mainly from my side of the battle. I knew that I had to get to the walls as quickly as possible, as Dylan had artillery and archers that were from the beginning causing me issues. However, by concentrating fire, I was able to punch holes in the wall (I lost all my siege engines though!).

At this stage we called the game, as I had troops in the city and it was getting close to the end of the day.

Two great games, thanks Richard and Ian and all my opponents - what Little Wars is all about. Also a big shout out to the organisers (Nic and Mike) - appreciate all the effort that goes into getting this up and running each year.