End of Year Review 2106

Well as another year draws to a close, it's time for some reflection on what worked, what didn't and some plans for next year. So with out further ado...
 
Rules Bought
Sword & Spear 2nd Edition.
Horizon Wars 
Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames 
Neil Thomas' Wargaming 19thC Europe 
Neil Thomas' Napoleonic Wargaming 
Neil Thomas' Ancient & Medieval Wargaming
Black Ops
Baroque 
Captain General 
Sharp Practice 2
The Men Who Would Be Kings 
Charles Wesencrafts With Pike & Shotte
Charles Wesencrafts Practical Wargaming  
Charge! or How to Play Wargames by Young and Lawford
D Featherstones War Games
Battlegroup by Warwick Kinrade

In the end I bought way more rulebooks than I had planned. Sword & Spear 2 was as a result of playing a game with my friend Craig. I was very impressed with the simple game mechanics, which frankly appeals to me these days. I had tried 'Hail Caesar!' but found it too complicated compared to 'Black Powder'. I may revisit these rules at some point but S&S 2 ticks all the boxes at present, including free Army Lists which is a rarity these days.

Neil Thomas' OHW book had been on my list for some time so I went ahead and ordered it. It is an interesting book that I think helps you define what you do and don't like in wargames rules. These I found too simple for my tastes, but the author makes his case very well. A perfect set of rules to introduce new gamers to wargaming and the scenarios are a great resource for future games. On the other hand his other books I think are great and fit in with the sort of games Iike to play. I look forward to trying these out in more detail next year.

Sharp Practice 2 was again as a result of a game with Craig. We had both been ultimately disappointed in Chain of Command, which although a great set of rules, didn't give us a game we enjoyed. I was unsure of SP 2 as "once bitten, twice shy", but these rules gave us a really fun game, with lots of action. Again I look forward, with luck, to giving these more of a go next year.

Having grown up in a village with limited access to town and a wargames shop, my early wargaming literature consisted of the Airfix magazine guides, especially Bruce Quarries WWII Wargaming. So this year I decided to buy the early wargames books that I missed out on as a child. An I'm glad that I did. So far they have been a joy to read (I'm still in the early stages of reading them) and I have been impressed with Wesencrafts books in particular. So much so that I may try out some of his rules along with those of Featherstone et al. 

Wargaming Books Bought
Bloody Big European Battles scenario book
Osprey Essential History of the American Civil War (belated Xmas present)
Osprey History of the American War of Independence
Scenarios for Wargames by CS Grant
The Road to Koniggratz by Q Barry
Osprey Pike & Shotte Tactics 
War Games Through the Ages: Volume Two 1420 to 1783  by D Featherstone
War Games Through the Ages: Volume One 3000BC to 1500AD  by D Featherstone 
Battle Notes for Wargamers by Featherstone 
Featherstone's Complete Wargaming
The Decisive Battle of the Western World, volume 1 by JFC Fuller
Colonial Wars Sourcebook by Haythornthwaite
Queen Victoria's Little Wars by Byron Farwell
Fight for the Throne: the '45 Reconsidered by Duffy 
Napoleonic Source Book  by Haythornthwaite
Tony Bath's Setting Up a Wargames Campaign

As with the wargames rules above, I bought way more than planned. Most as a result of wanting to read up on new periods to help fill in gaps in my general knowledge. Some, such as the Colonial Wars, to act as background reading for a future campaign using 'The Men Who Would Be Kings' rules. 
 
Figures Bought
Leven Miniatures buildings
Pendraken Goblins for Dragon Rampant 
Pendraken WWII Polish 
Zvezda 1/144th I -16 plane 
Imagi-Nations Ancients from Pendraken

Susprisingly little this year, but then given the size of my lead mountain, I really didn' need to buy anything! The release of the Pendraken WWII Polish range was a highlight, as I have been wanting to game this period for a few years now.

Warbands, Battlegroups or Armies Painted
Juraped Riders for KR -16 
RDF Force for KR -16
Additions to AVBCW Battlegroups  for BKCII
Leven Miniatures North European & Italian buildings
Additions to British WWII Battlegroup for BKCII 
Fallschirmjager Battalion for BKCII 

Once again my painting output has been rather low again this year. Depsite wanting to paint more this year my mojo just hasn't been there. When it has it always seems as if work will suddenly get in the way and then my enthusiasm wanes or else, in typical wargames butterfly mode, my attention wanders to another project or period. For example I started two forces for Dragon Rampant and The Pikemen's Lament, only for them to be based and then left in the box for months. All I can say is that I hope the forthcoming year is more productive.
 
Projects
Dragon Rampant Warbands
Poland '39 Battlegroups for BKCII

Failed utterly on these. Enough said.

Games Played 
Bloody Big Battles - 13
Honours of War - 8
Songs of Arthur & Merlin - 1 
Sword & Spear - 5
Lion Rampant - 5
One Hour Wargames - 2
Wargaming 19th C Europe - 1 
Sharp Practice 2 - 1 
KR-16 - 3 
BKCII - 1 
Black Powder - 1

Not a bad year, but more patchy than last year, due to Dave and I not being able to meet up as regularly as before. However BBB and HoW both continued to give challenging and enjoyable games. Next year I hope to get in more games of BKCII as I do really enjoy the rules and getting tanks on the table. Now that I have a Fallschirmjager Battalion completed, I have more options open to me than before.

Wargames Shows Attended
Salute 
Reveille II  
Blast-Tastic

Certainly a quiet year on the show front. I had wanted to attend Colours, but family commitments prevented me. Also these days I find I'm less drawn to attending shows for a variety of reasons. I'm not alone in this as it has been discussed to varying degrees on the few forums that I visit. Broadly speaking when I go to a show I would like to see:

• A good mix of games. I know 28mm makes for good eye candy, but it would be nice for the show organisers to try and make sure that there are a broad range of scales on show.
• Actually see games being played with information on the game and for people to talk to about the game, scenario, rules etc.
• A good mix of traders, that like the first point above, is not all 28mm and MDF buildings.
• Personally I like to see some re-enactors at a show as it breaks things up a bit.
• The ability to park easily. Warfare is a case in point where, frankly, it is a nightmare.

Now I know that I'm in a minority in gaming 10mm and smaller, but others have expressed similar points, so I'm not alone. Next year I may attend Salute if helping out on a table and my friends and I plan to attend the Derby show as we have been meaning to for several years now. Colours is on the list as always, so let's hope family commitments don't get in the way.

 
End of Year Thoughts
So looking back on the year it seems a bit of a funny one, with my gaming being very stop/start due to the reasons outlined above. Certainly I noticed that I painted very little and somewhat irregularly. Finding the time, talk less of the energy, in the evenings has been hard this year. The one burst of painting I did have was when I had a week off and the house to myself during the day that allowed me to finish off my Fallschirmjagers. Sadly I do not have a dedicated painting space, so have to wait until the kitchen is clear before I can move in.

Next year I want to try and spend more time painting, if at all possible. Most likely on fairly small projects so that I can complete them in a resonable time. I have some planned Imagi-Nations forces in progress for use with Sword & Spear 2 that I hope to have finished fairly quickly, so that I can start a mini-campaign with them. It would be nice to finally get a German Battalion sorted for BKCII so that I can do some Early War games, which then might spur me onto the Poles. As always, so many plans, so little time...

So Happy New Year to one and all and looking forward to 2017.  

A Clash at Kutzdorf - A Black Powder Napoleonic AAR

Being able to meet up for a game over the past few weeks had been a bit of an issue for Dave and I, which seems to have become a bit of a theme this year. However last night we were able to get together and we decided upon giving Dave's newly painted Napoleonic Prussians a bit of a run out as it was all a bit short notice. We plumped for 'Black Powder' as the ruleset, mainly because we could set up a simple game without any real pre-game prep. In terms of scenario Dave came up with the good idea of using one from the 'Honours of War' ruleset. The 'Clash at Kutzdorf' offered a nice sized game so we settled for this and simply used the OOB pretty much as written. Victory conditions were simply drive the enemy from the field. Simples.

Both sides deployed as per the scenario, with the stream delineating the table edge. The French were designated as the Attackers and therefore got go first. I did not have the time to make notes during the game, so some annotated photos (sorry for the poor quality but I forgot to turn on the flash!) will hopefully suffice.

Both sides deployed for battle, with the French on the left, the Prussians the right.

The French push forward, as do the Prussian cavalry. The Prussian Brigade on the bottom hill fail their order when they really needed to get moving.

The French advance.

The French have stormed forward ready to assault the units on the top hill. The Prussians finally move off the bottom hill, albeit rather slowly.

Both sides exchange artillery fire, with a Prussian unit taking a hit and becoming Disordered.

The French Guard cavalry Blunder forward.

The French assault the top hill, whilst the cavalry admire each other and the Prussians struggle forward, somewhat aware of the two rather nasty guns facing them.

The French assaults go in across the hill, but first blood to the Prussians as a French Guard unit breaks and flees the table.

The Prussian cavalry gain a moral vicotry as they break a Guard cavalry unit. However on the hill things are not looking too rosy.

The Prussian cavalry gain the upper hand, but the Prussian infantry brigade find it hard to advance in the face of the French guns.

Prussians all lined up but no where to go.

Two thirds of the Prussian Brigade breaks and flee down the hill. Not good to say the least.

The cavalry continue to knock the living daylights out of each other, whilst the infantry battle continues.

As the cavalry continue their grudge match, the Prussian Brigade tries to advance, but achieves little.

The remnants of the Prussian Brigade must fall back, but do so in good order, despite being persued by the French, who in turn are Shaken.

The Prussians, seeing that the game is up, start an orderly withdrawl.

The Prussians pull back.

A view from the hill towards the wood that divided the battlefield.

Post Game Thoughts
Well for a quickly set up game, we had great fun and it all played out pretty well. Apart from the Prussians losing of course! So as always a few thoughts on the game:

• To be honest we were both a little unsure about playing 'Black Powder', as previous games hadn't been too much fun, compared to the likes of 'Honours of War' and 'Bloody Big Battles'. We were both pleasantly suprised at how well the game played and had little recourse to the rules. We may have got a few things wrong, but to be honest this didn't bother us during the game.
• We did make a few house rules, which may have led to it being a better game. Quite simply at the start we decided to use alternate Brigade activition and rolling for Fire Inititative as per 'Honours of War'. This worked really well and made for a much better game and added a nice level of friction to the game. Hats off to Keith Flint for these and he is to be commended for these simple yet effective rules mechanisms.
• The scenario worked well but the wood between the two hills effectively split the table into two areas, which allowed the French to defeat the Prussians in detail, or at least that's how it felt. At least the Prussians we able to retreat in relatively good order, as the French, despite being in command of the field, were somewhat bloodied which would have made pursuit more difficult.

So that's it for Dave and I gaming this year, as we both head off towards our respective 'Winter Quarters'. Next year we plan to kick things off with the same scenario, but using 'Bloody Big Battles' as the ruleset. It will be interesting to see how these work for a smaller and non-historical scenario. Our gut feeling is that they will work perfectly well and hopefully lead to some smaller scale games such as this in the future. I still hope to get in a few more games, whether solo or with friends before the New Year, but only time will tell if I'm able to achieve this.