11th Annual Wargaming Birthday Bash Weekend - 13-15 February 2015

It is that time of year again when I get to thinking about what to do for next year’s Wargaming Birthday Bash Weekend – coming up in February. With the success of last year’s skirmish campaign , I thought I’d try something similar again. This year I am thinking of a Rome-themed weekend (in part because that is what the kids and I will be studying from early January until March). There might be a Gladius or two given away as prizes... There may or may not be a toga party.... or it might just be a weekend long toga party… with miniature gaming...

So, if all went according to plan… 

Friday Night/Saturday - Song of Shadows and Dust Campaign 

Street violence in the ancient Mediterranean – Gangs of thugs representing one faction or another spilling blood in some Mediterranean city in the first century BC/BCE (or AD/CE?). I thought I'd use elements of the campaign system from Song of Deeds and Glory and maybe even have a map of the city so people can fight for control of neighborhoods...?

For the first time ever I will not be supplying forces for all the players – the players will have to bring their own Roman street gang (or similar faction). I figure this shouldn’t be too much to ask As with most "Song of" games from Ganesha Games> they will need a half dozen figures for an average faction to start with – of course they should probably plan to bring a half dozen more to add to their faction as it grows throughout the campaign (providing they don’t lose horribly in every game!). I put one together relatively inexpensively in less than a week, so…

I will be supplying the 3-5 URBAN game boards we'd need – that’s a LOT of buildings I have to make between now and then - and possibly a few of the civilians!!? Depending on the time of day there are civilians wandering around the table and react to violence in their immediate vicinity - usually running away - but sometime they JOIN one side or the other! It would be nice if others could bring along a few appropriate civilians as well…

Sunday - Conquest of the Empire (and other board games)

Another of those old Milton Bradley big box games reprinted by Eagle Games - I haven't read the rules yet, but it looks almost identical to Ikusa/Shogun/Samurai Swords – and last year’s Ikusa game WAS a whole lot of fun!

I also have a number of other Rome-Themed board and card games... Ostia, Quo Vadis, Palatinus, etc...

Another departure from previous years is that I will be holding this on the long weekend in February (13-15). Usually I like to hold it on (or at least as close to) my birthday – but a few of the out-of-towners hove suggested on a few occasions that I should hold it on the long weekend to make it easier for them to travel. So I thought I’d give that a try. (Of course that means I have two weeks less to get buildings made!)

Should be fun – hopefully we’ll have a good turn out – despite my draconian requirements of… y’know… painting your own damned figures…