Cold Wars playtest

Norman helpfully provided a couple of friends yesterday for a test of the Cold Wars medieval skimish scenario. I hope to have a more complete report posted this evening...

Tonight's skirmish in progress...

A Busy Day

View of the computer at the conclusion of our second Skype game

My work schedule and the federal holiday schedule have combined to give me a four day weekend this week, so there has been some time to devote to hobby pursuits.  In fact, today has been quite a busy day across the household.

I reported recently on a playtest of the latest revision of the Rough Wooing simple Renaissance rules that Ross hosted over Skype.  We came back for a second try today, with a scenario built from the "black book", Programmed Wargames Scenarios, by C. S. Grant.  Ross graciously agreed to host the game again earlier in the week, when it was uncertain as to whether we would have the time to set the gaming table back up at this end.  The situation (#10 from the black book) involved up to four players with individual interests, so both of my sons agreed to take a hand.  As it turned out, I ran the attackers against a defending coalition of Norman, William and Ross.  Today was the day for my luck to turn; most of my rolls, for a change, approached the expected value, and the kids were unusually cold, so I managed a rare victory in about two and a half hours.  Ross and I hope that we will be putting on some Renaissance games at Huzzah in Maine in a couple of months, so it was good to feel that the rules were working more or less as intended.  I hope that he'll have a battle report with some pictures shortly...

William's new personal Medieval Mayhem figure

William working on a mounted standard bearer, composited from two Accurate figures

William has working on a personal figure for Medieval Mayhem, which was finally finished today.  He's following it up with a standard bearer, hoping to have it finished by Cold Wars, now just three weeks away.  Personally, I like these low pressure projects: it'd be nice to have, but it won't break the scenario if it hasn't been finished in time.  High pressure projects tend to make me freeze up.

After a couple of months without the table, it's good to have it back.  We got it set up Friday, cleared it enough to lay the ground cloth back on it yesterday, and then re-cleared it today.

Somewhere in France, a quiet village is blissfully unaware of the approaching storm

Having gotten that far, it wasn't hard to find the inspiration to put down the scenery for what I hope will be tomorrow's game.

Here are a few more detail shots from the layout.  I didn't dig out my close-up supplemental lenses or a tripod, so they are all still rather broad.  Perhaps tomorrow ...

The scenery, mostly assembled in haste in 2003, seems to be holding up.  A scenery upgrade is on the agenda as a possible emphasis for this year.

Peasants are revolting

As my teaser shot earlier today showed, I had some time to work on miniatures this afternoon, and chose to invest it in finishing up two peasants from my recent order of Irregular Miniatures. While rather larger than the Accurate figures making up the bulk of my project, there are limited options in 54mm, and I'm hoping that the overall look of the table will be acceptable.

A little bit of work...

Nationals

Wargaming will be on hold for a few days, while #2 son William skates in the US National Championships...

An Experiment: Rough Wooing Playtest over Skype

Skyped in on the MacBook, initiative cards in hand, rules called up on the iPad...

Consistent with my New Year's plan to work on 54mm medievals and 40mm Renaissance, Ross and I have been discussing some Rough Wooing rules updates.  Unfortunately, getting together for a playtest game, with 1400 miles between us, has been an issue.

We decided that we'd try joining the 21st century, and run a game on Skype.  With my game table still down due to renovations, Ross volunteered to do the physical hosting of the game.  After a brief discussion of the latest changes to the rules, Ross set the camera to show the relevant section of the table, and I started flipping the initiative cards.

The scenario chosen was The Wagon Train, one we've used many times before, from one of C.S. Grant's scenario books.  To ease the description difficulties, I took command of the train, which meant that most of my moves would be along a road, and most of the escort could easily be described in relationship to the wagons.  At worst, a little "No, a little further back and angled to the left..." sort of dialogue settled things quickly and the game moved right along.

It almost felt like being there, including the side conversations as my sons wandered in to observe.  The bad news was that my dice were as cold as usual, and the attacking force (which could be scattered all over the board) was randomly arrayed by my son Norman in a near-perfect ambush.  The game ran 8 turns, with the convoy being entirely destroyed.  As a game, it went well; as a playtest, we'll need to go back and try again soon with a scenario emphasizing the parts of the rules not exercised this time.

I trust Ross will add a proper battle report presently, but, in the meantime, I'm glad to have gotten the gaming year finally kicked off!