Monday 28 November 2022

Battleground-Stockton,review.

What can be said about this show that hasn't already been said?-it was,as usual, BRILLIANT!

Leon and his family must work really hard to get this show going from strength to strength-the "footfall" seemed to be better than last year,the traders seemed to have done well,and the games were of a high standard-free entry,free coffee(for demo gamers) and free parking-what more could you ask?-well done to everyone concerned.We put on a Wellington in Indian game,which drew alot of attention,and we talked and talked and talked(as usual!)



 Just before the doors opened......................



Our table and the display at the end of it!!

Dave being interviewed,describing our game,our club and rules etc-should be on "you Tube" by now-check it out!!



Top photo shows our game in full swing,bottom photo shows Dave and Paul at the Bring and Buy tables(selling,not buying!!)

There were too many excellent games for me to photograph,no doubt other blogs will do them justice-well done to all who put on the games.

Packing up time-how quickly the hall emptied!-we all had a great day out,next time will be York! 

Now for a whinge!!!! I bought some brushes from ABC (the young lad on the stand didn't really know alot about brushes or what I was using them for(?!) the words "block colours" didn't mean anything to him) however on using the brushes on six(yes,six) figures,this was the result........



Top photo shows the dreaded"split" after only a few minutes!!! My wife always buys me Winsor and Newton Series seven brushes for Xmas,but I told her not to this year as I would buy some brushes at Stockton!!



This shows last years brush(well,one of them!) still going fairly strong,but showing signs of wear! The brushes I bought were "cheap"(£7.50 for six) and I suppose you get what you pay for,but "fit for purpose" must come into the equation somewhere-guess what I won't be buying in the future???-Whinge over,back to jovial self!!!!!












































Monday 21 November 2022

Mongols vs Koreans.

Last night I got my Mongols out(steady!!) and pitted them against a Korean army.We hadn't played with these armies for a while,so I thought we could brush off the cobwebs and have an enjoyable game-it turned into a "cracker" of a game.Paul and Graham were the Korean commanders,whilst Brian and Dave were the Mongol commanders-it was a warm return for Brian who we haven't seen for 4 weeks-same old,same old........................


 Bloody hell man,pull yourself together-where do you think you are???!!!

Any way on with the game,



Opening/tentative moves-everything was bow-armed and fast moving-how would they cope?



Top photo shows the whole board,bottom shows Brian and Paul moving ever closer to a fight.Dave was "on fire" with his light,medium and heavy cavalry against Graham's however Dave was killing Graham's officers,and on one occasion his light cavalry commander!!



These two shots show the cavalry battle-epic stuff,with light cavalry skirmishing,medium cavalry melees and eventually heavy cavalry melees-these swung backwards and forwards with neither Graham nor Dave gaining advantage,even though Graham's officer corps was diminishing by the move!!


The inevitable infantry clash(after many bow shots!) saw Brian's troops getting well and truly "pasted"-so what does he do??-hands over the command to me!!!-thanks matey!!-I did my best but it wasn't good enough to beat Paul's push and shove-great stuff.Dave eventually got the best of Graham,who gave in,so a win on the Mongol right flank and a win on the Korean right flank meant only one result-A DRAW!!!-this was a good game considering we were not 100% au fait with the rules and odd features attached to playing with the Mongols-a few more games will sort that out I'm sure.We are going to Stockton on Saturday,so won't be playing next Sunday.





























Sunday 20 November 2022

Steel Lard 2022

 Yesterday saw me off on a jolly to Sheffield with East Leeds Militaria Society Wargames Club chum Glen (Malcolm from ELMS was also there but had sensibly used public transportation).

After fun with the satnav, there was a whole day of fun to be had playing Toofatlardies games at the Steel Lard event at Patriot Games store. 


Host Richard welcomes the throng. There was an ample selection of games put on. A few photies…



A very nice looking FIW game using Sharp Practice.


WW1 dogfights.  


WW1 and 2 action on the ground. 




Colonial actions a-plenty. The quality of the games was great. 

Most folk played one game in the morning and another in the afternoon. Glen was hunting down a Napoleonic spy in the morning…


Despite shooting Glen’s miniature version on the tabletop in the face, the spy is captured! Hooray!

In the afternoon Glen was off helping Robin Hood…



My morning was spent hauling anchor, splicing the main brace, etc. in an entertaining naval engagement…





A French and a Spanish squadron sail out of port. I command the Spanish from my flagship El Chongo. We’re no sooner out at sea then two British squadrons are heading to intercept us!



The British head our way whilst… what the what?! The French squadron cuts through my line, cutting my two other ships off from their flag ship. With friends like these…



The action is immediately underway and the Arbusto has lost its mainmast!


The French flagship Bouffant ploughs on through, all plans and thoughts of coordinating efforts between the French and Spanish forgotten. I think that my French counterpart had been at the Port…!





It’s punishing stuff! Both sides are taking a hammering. With the Arbusto damaged and trying to break away and head back to port, I successfully tack with El Chongo. Not only does the game look great, but the rules play well.




Wider views of the engagement. My recommendation: don’t join the navy!


Hmmm, that looks like a bad dice roll…


It is VERY bad! The magazine on the Bouffant explodes!!!


The Arbusto seemingly safe out of harm’s way (that didn’t last - it lost all its masts eventually) with all Hell going on in the background.




It’s a confusing battle. Ships are on fire all over the place. Including my flagship El Chongo!



We try and decide who isn’t badly damaged as two British first line ships are coming into view spelling the end of the game. The umpire Charlie decides that it’s a narrow Franco-Spanish victory as the Pompadour has taken HMS Mullet as a prize. Great fun. I was really taken by the rules. Three out of the four players had never played Kiss Me Hardy before and we all picked it up easily. With Charlie’s help. Big thanks due to him and the other 3 players, Andrew, Simon and Simon for a great game.

A change of pace and setting for my afternoon game…



Using rules that have been adapted from a set at least a year from being published - With Flashing Blades - it was katana slashing action all the way as our Clan seeks to recover our murdered Master’s sword from the despicable Clan that did him in. 

Appropriately beautiful terrain for a Japanese skirmish game…



Loved the pond complete with Koi Carp and turtle. The training Sumo (check out his tattoos!) didn’t mess with anyone unless they messed with his Zen garden!




Battle is joined as the goodies try to retrieve the sacred katana before it is reconsecrated by the baddies (no bias here!). Above you also see my three figures and their stat cards, complete with fate tokens for those worthy enough to have any. The figures are just as lovely as the terrain. 


We tried to kill the two monks - picking up dishonour for doing so despite one of them being clearly armed - but they got away and one of them has started the reconsecration ceremony!!!


There’s single combats all over the garden. To be supported in a fight is also dishonourable. 



Having killed one of the enemy, our best fighter is then decapitated by a bloke that frankly looks like the village idiot! 




Whilst warriors are killed on both sides, puddles of  blood marking where they fell, Lord Akiyama’s katana has been reconsecrated and is being wielded by the enemy clan Lord with devastating effect. The katana gives him extra dice in combat and drains his Fate tokens. After two combats his Fate is drained and he is cursed!!! But it has been worth it for the extra dice. 



It wasn’t just Lord Akiyama’s katana that was special! Check out some of the bad guys’ dice rolls!!!



The bad guys had pretty much won by accruing victory points (our victory points were nothing to write home about!), but both sides’ morale was low enough that each side had to test whether they broke off each turn... A few turns went by with morale tests passed by both sides… then we failed ours needing 2 or less. Darn! Victory to the baddies and their now daemon lord (I forget the other clan name).  Really entertaining stuff and I look forward to trying With Flashing Blades when they come out. Special thanks to umpire Sidney, goody Jack and baddies James and Kevin for an exciting samurai adventure.

Whether you’re a Toofatlardies vet or new to their games - neither me nor Glen had played the 4 rule sets we played before yesterday  - these (Blank) Lard event days are great fun and I highly recommend them. Loads of the players go for beer n grub afterwards to round off the day (my pass out didn’t extend to that lol).

Less than a week to Stockton! See some of you there. Thanks for reading. 

Cheers

Chris