January Gaming + CanCon 2019

Great times with good friends

Looking back on my January hobby month I was struck by the variety of games I have played, many of which were new to me, and all of which were big, multiplayer games. And also that I kept getting invited too :-)

General d'Armee (2 x 2 players) French vs Anglo-Spanish
My first foray with these rules, hosted by Aled and his father Dean, which I really enjoyed.  Slowpainter John and I ended up facing off on an action packed flank and it came right down to the wire.

Slaughterloo (3 x 3 players)
This fun game is a tongue in cheek Napoleonic big battle in a fantasy setting - good fun but also very god rules which would work equally well for historical games. All sorts of mixups and mayhem, and we converged on Slowpainter John's Orc Guarde in the Centre with a singular purpose - and tough buggers they were too!  Postscript: John has never played in the central position since!

The Battle lines are Drawn!

The Advance to contact!

The last stand of John's Orc Guarde - sandwiched between my Flank attack and Marty's Cavalry charge

Dragon Rampant (4 x 4 players, but with a twist!)
A return to our Foulwarren fantasy campaign when I hosted the guys at mine for a big 4 v 4 player Battle Royale on a 12 x 5 table.  But one of them was a traitor, and just didn't know it yet...  I'll write up and post the scenario later but it was an awesome 'toys on the table' mega game

Three Quarters of the table (and players!)- I had to take this pic through the window from outside

The wearing of Hawaiian shirts and a fez earned players additional army build points!

Kaiser's Pirates
We played this GMT game at the club a few times actually.  The theme is really well executed and the resource management is quite dynamic. With 3 or 4 players this really hits a sweet spot.  Now to find my own copy (its OOP).

Congo
I enjoy Studio Tomahawk games and their innovative mechanics but hadn't tried this before. Cub mate Mac shared his lovely terrain and figs with me for an introductory game one club night and I really enjoyed it (and not just because my Tribesmen War Party cleaned up his cursed Zanzibari Slavers!).  I really liked the multi-layered resource management that the game uses bu without slowing play pace, and most of all it felt like an adventure not a scenario.  A game I am definitely interested in playing more, and maybe making a warband for.

And then to top it off, a bunch of us did a road trip to CANCON and had a cracking hobby day out. Good times indeed!

Working Hard vs Hardly Working!

The fourth Annual catch-up: thanks for organising Barks!

So thanks indeed to all the club lads and lasses for their companionship, time, and sharing their wonderful toys.  A most memorable summer of fun gaming.  It comes at expense of AHPC painting time, but I'll choose gaming with friends over a brush any day :-)

AHPC9 - Panzer IV Specials

A challenging week but I was determined to submit something - anything really - to keep the mojo engaged and the run rate ticking.  So here are a couple of long barrelled Pz IV F2/G models.

Pz IV 'Specials' after the battle of El Alamein

Dubbed Pz IV 'Specials' by the Allies, the high velocity L/43 gun with muzzle break significantly increased its anti-tank capabilities and made a big impact in the desert war.  As a result, any long barrelled enemy tanks became priority targets for Allied crewmen. However, the German supply lines could never muster them in large numbers, though some were present at El Alamein.



These are from the PSC Pz IV boxed set, and crewed with Battlefront tank commander figures -  I really like the casual pose on the commander of Panzer Hull #3. Painted up using my habitual 'way too many layers and washes that you can't even see' method :-)

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/01/saturday-ready-from-paulog-panzer-iv.html

AHPC 9: 'Sport' Bonus Round

Studio Tomahawk's Jugula is a game that I quite enjoy, though it is quite a different style of Gladiator game. It has excellent resource mechanics and its building tempo feels like an escalating spectacle entertaining the Arena's mob crowd. I have also historically (and uncharacteristically) won more often against Dux than not with my Ludus Caeruleus (or Blue School) which helps a fair bit too...

So my Sports Bonus round entry is a minor addition to my gladiator barracks with a bow armed Sagittarius, who as a missile armed fighter will add a new dimension to the early stages of the combat before the Gladiators get to melee distances. Fig is an old West Wind model from their Light Gladiators set.

As all Sport needs an audience to jeer and cheer, I have also painted up a characterful spectator figure by Crusader Miniatures. I will use him as my marker for Vox Populi, which in Jugula is a measure of the crowd supporting your Ludus in its endeavours (which adds to your gladiators' performance).

Any likeness to Dux himself sans beard is surely accidental...

...or is it? :-)

2 x 28mm Figs for this Bonus round, totalling 60 points

https://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com/2019/01/sport-from-paulog-gladiator-sagittarius.html

And I was thrilled to get another Honourable mention in the voting- that 2 for AHPC 9, my equal best with AHPC 8!
https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-sport-theme-results-are-now-up.html

CANCON meet up this weekend

2019 Aussie Bloggers CanCon Catch-up this coming weekend - now in its fourth iteration!

If you run a wargaming blog then come along and say g'day, meet old friends and new, tell us what you've bought and lament your dice rolls.

Sunday 27th January 2019
11:30am
Coorong Pavilion (Top Hall) by the Bolt Action tournament

See you there!