Campaign Considerations Part One: English Civil War

As mentioned in the Game Plan 2023 (Q1), I’d really like to run some online campaigns this year. I've been thinking about this since sometime in December. It would probably be best to strike while that iron is hot and before the initial inspiration fades. As George S. Patton once said; “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week”. To this end, I have been looking for “low-hanging fruit”. Which would be the quickest and easiest to GET GOING!?

My FIRST plan was to run an English Civil War campaign using Pikeman’s Lament and a campaign system based on the old Mighty Empires. This wouldn’t be a grand, sweeping campaign of the big battles, but rather smaller scale campaign of belligerent, landowning neighbours, far removed from the main action, that are simply making use of the chaos for personal gain and seizing the land from their neighbours in the name of King or Parliament. 

I do have a LOT of English Civil War stuff. At one point I was trying to make armies for DBA-X (on multi-figure bases) AND units for the Pikeman’s Lament (and other skirmishy games) on individual bases. When I gave up on the DBA-style games (for the English Civil War, at least) I had LOADS of miniatures on hand - enough to make seven or eight companies for The Pikeman’s Lament - with options for each beyond a standard 24-point force. 

The problem is, as I got planning those initial forces, I realized that, though I HAVE all the stuff I’d need (and MORE!) a LOT of it is still not painted, and a few of the forces need entire units painted, just to be able to field a 24 point force…. And my painted has slowed to an all-time low… 

I still want to do this, but started to think maybe It’d be better look for other options to START with while I whittle away at these armies. 

This is the state of each of the forces...

(Note: the basic cost of most units - Pike, Shot, Gallopers, Trotters, Dragoons is 4 points, so I'm basically looking to have six standard units for a starting army) 

(Another Note: Though almost ALL companies HAVE a Forlorn Hope, they're not all that useful as they are 6 points each and make it harder to field a force of standard units - I would have to find and take another 6 point unit, OR downgrade a few of the standard units to "raw" to make an even 24 points)

(YET Another Note: Mounted are divided into Gallopers and Trotters. sometimes I refer to them simply as "Horse" - as I haven't really decided which to classify them as. Both are 4 points for a unit of 6) 

Blue Company

Done:

• 2x Pike (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Gallopers (6) @ 4 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 26 points

Technically enough points to start... but they don't add up to a neat even 24 points. I COULD downgrade two of the Pike or Shot units to RAW at -1 point each... or I could make one of the other units VETERAN, and drop one of the pike...? OR I could just finish up the three horsemen required to complete the second unit of Horse and lose the Forlorn Hope from the starting roster.

To Do: 

• 1x Horse (6 - 3 need painting to complete)
• 2x Pike (12 - 8 to finish) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot (12 - 11 to finish) @ 4 points

This company has been fully re-based onto the wooden discs and this is what such a  force looks like stuffed into one of my storage drawers. It barely holds this basic company of 30 points... I might need to clear up some more space for these... 

Orange Company 

Done:

• 1x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Shot  (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Gallopers (6) @ 4 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 18 points

To Do:

• 1x Pike (8 to finish unit) 
• 1x Shot (9 to finish unit) 
• 1x Dragoons (6) 

Green Company

This one is least ready to go... Not a single unit is FINISHED!? 

To Do:

• 3x Pike  (12) 
• 3x Shot  (12) 
• 2x Horse (6)  

One company that DOESN'T have a forlorn Hope!? 

I DO have an extra Forlorn Hope in the "extras" below...) 

Red Company 

Fair bit of rebasing required here... 

Done:

• 2x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot  (12) @ 4 Points
• 1xHorse (6) @ 4 Points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) @ 6 Points

To Do:

• 1x Pike  (12 - 8 to finish)
• 1x Shot  (12 - 10 to finish)
• 1x Dragoons (6)

Scots Company #1 

Done:

• 3x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Horse (6) @ 4 points
• 1x Regimental Gun @ 4 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) @ 6 points

Total: 38 points!?

This force is DONE! (well... they are on washer bases, and at SOME point, I'd like to put them on wooden discs like the rest of the collection... but that is a super LOW priority) 

Scots  Company #2

I do need to re-base most of these... At least the Pike for starters - as they are 8 to a base and need to be split up to make THREE units of Pike. 

Done:

• 3x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot  (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Horse (6) @ 4 points

total: 24 Points

It's just occurred to me that, since this force has only ONE unit of Horse, maybe THEY should get the Regimental Gun... just so each of the Scots units has a FEW options...

Highland Company 

Not sure if this will be one used in the campaign... I could borrow finished units from the Irish company, below, to make this a viable starting army...? 

Done:

• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 Points
• 1x Commanded Shot (archers) (6) @ 2 Points
• 4x Clansmen (12) @ 3 points 

Total: 20 points

To Do:

• 4x Clansmen (12)

Irish Company 

This wasn't a force I was planning to use in this campaign... but while I was doing this, I thought I'd take pictures as it is part of the ECW collection. Perhaps they could be available as mercenaries for any of the other companies, should they have excess gold to spend in the winter phase! 

Done:

• 2x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot  (12) @ 4 Points
• 1x Gallopers @ 4 Points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) @ 6 Points

To Do:

• 2x Pike  (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot  (12) @ 4 Points
• 1x Gallopers @ 4 Points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) @ 6 Points

Extras

This is MORE stuff that hasn't yet been assigned to a particular company... Some of it can be, others might remain as a pool of available stuff. 

GUNS!

It's kind of ridiculous how many guns I've acquired. I have enough that EACH english company could have TWO (well... a gun and a MORTAR - which there isn't really RULES for, but I'd just use as a gun...) 

Initially these were assigned to specific companies, but there just wasn't space in the drawers for each... and the one I'd done wasn't in any particular colours... so I thought I'd just keep a pool of them in a separate drawer that could be assigned to any force, as required. 

Two of the guns I have are rather on the larger side and I might classify them as Field Guns, rather than Regimental Guns.

DONE:

• 1x Reginemtal Gun @ 4 points

To Do:

• 1x Reginemtal Gun @ 4 points
• 2x Field Guns @ 6 points
• 4x Mortar

Civilians (“clubmen”) 

Like the guns, these don't belong to any particular force. My plan was to use them as extra units to help defenders were defending their home territory (land they started the game with) if they'd experienced significant losses. This was actually a suggestion of Bob Barnetson after one of the previous Hordes of the Things campaigns - allow an army, that has lost a number of Hordes (representing hastily armed locals/civilians) to join the army, so that Armies that had one unlucky game and lost half their army, couldn't just be rolled right back to their capitol and out of the game in one year. 

Defending Army AP - Number of Units of Clubmen Available

• 24+ - None
• 16-23 - one
• 12-15 - two
• 8-11 - three
• 4-7 - four

Done:

• 3x Clubmen (12) 

To Do:

• 2x Clubmen (12) 

Extra Dragoons (and Horse)

These were the latest additions to the collection and haven't really be assigned to companies just yet. The Orange and Red Companies each have one assigned already (because they both have only one unit of Horse, where the others have two), and I have four MORE!? I guess I can add one to each of the English Companies - though I'm not sure where they will be stored (currently stored in a cardboard box near the painting station as there is no room in each of the company's permanent storage drawers?!) 

To Do:

• 4x Dragoons (6) 

Extra Foot

STILL more foot - effectively four more units of Pike and a PILE of officers and another Forlorn Hope. Not sure what to do with all these... 

Actually, as MOST units have six units of Pike/Shot, and Orange only has four, I could assign two more units of pike to them... They'll have less shot then... 

To Do:

• 4x Pike (12) 
• 1x Forlorn Hope (6)

And then there is a smattering of half assembled PLASTIC pike and shot that I acquired at some point... not sure what to do with these. One idea was that if I were to ever run an IN PERSON campaign with these forces, I could have these painted up to give away to the winner...? Or if anyone local had any interest in playing, I might give these away as a starter force...?  

NEED TO DO:

Blue: Horse (3) 

Orange: Pike (8), Shot (9), Dragoons (6) 

Green: 2x Pike (20), 2x Shot (20), 1x Horse (3)

Red: 1x Dragoons (6)

Highland: Clansmen (12)

NICE TO DO:

Blue: Pike (8), Shot (11), Dragoons (6) 

Orange: Dragoons (6) 

Red: Dragoons (6) 

Green: Dragoons (6), Pike (12), Shot (12) 

Highland: Clansmen (24) 

Clubmen (24)

Irish: Pike (24), Shot (30) 

GUNS: 3 guns and 12 Crew 

Mortars: 3 Mortars and 12 Crew 

Conclusion

To field standard units, I need to finish up TEN units - some don't require the complete 6 or 12... but still ten units. Given the rate I've been painting the last year, I feel like the most reasonable rate I could assume I could do is a unit a week and that would mean 10 weeks to have just enough to start... and then I'd have to keep going and get other units finished up - in case armies expanded after the first campaign year! 

Option -Elites/Veterans

One thing I COULD do to significantly reduce the number I NEED to start the campaign, is to allow all forces to start with a significant number of Elite/Veterans. While a Company of standard units (@4 Points) requires 6 units, a Company made up of all veteran units would only need FOUR (Upgrading a unit to Elite or Veteran is +2 points - making them @6 points each). We could say a large number of those under arms in this region are veterans of the 30 Years War....? 

How would these forces look if I was including veterans: 

Blue Company

• 1x Pike (12) @ 4 points
• 2x Shot (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Gallopers (Elite) (6) @ 6 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 24 Points - DONE! 

Orange Company

• 1x Pike (Veteran) (12) @ 6 points
• 1x Shot (Veteran) (12) @ 6 points
• 1x Gallopers (Elite) (6) @ 6 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 24 Points - DONE! 

Red Company

• 1x Pike (Veteran) (12) @ 6 points
• 1x Shot (Veteran) (12) @ 6 points
• 1x Gallopers (Elite) (6) @ 6 points
• 1x Forlorn Hope (Aggressive) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 24 Points - DONE

Green Company

• 1x Regimental Gun @ 4 points
• 1x Shot (Veteran) (12) @ 4 points
• 1x Gallopers (Elite) (6) @ 6 points
• 1x Trotters (Elite) (6) @ 6 points 

Total: 24 Points - This would require painting 8 Shot, 3 Horse 

The two Scots companies are all finished painting, one company does need re-basing! Wasn't sure If I was even going to include the Highland company... so... 

So... making use of Elite and Veteran units and GUNS... I COULD get this campaign going with only having to paint eight shot and three horse to complete six 24-point Companies to start the campaign... 

I had shifted away from this idea, in recent weeks, being overwhelmed by the number of stuff I figured I still needed to do. The next consideration was the Back of Beyond Campaign - fighting the Russian Civil War in the Far East... Stay tuned for some stock taking and analysis of the feasibility of THAT option! 

Game Plan 2023...? (Q1)

(note: I wrote this a few weeks ago - along with the Looking Back post, and was in a pretty sour mood... I've MOSTLY rewritten the whole thing... twice... it starts off with echos of that downer mood I was in, but I assure you the rest is a BIT more positive and upbeat!) 

I guess the first thing is... do I bother with a blog anymore...? 

In the Looking Back post, I noted that I didn't do as much here last year - and there were reasons (and other reasons)... but also often I wonder how many are actually even reading this anymore. I don't blame people, there is SO MUCH MORE out there on the internet... I mean, *I* barely read other blogs anymore!? 

Google Analytics tells me each post will gets a few views, but the numbers are way down and it can't tell me whether those are bots or real people... I do get a comment or two for each post (which I GREATLY appreciate). But for every comment notification that is a real comment from a real person, I get a DOZEN (or more) that is just spam (which gets a little discouraging... Y'know, you get that little dopamine hit when you see the notification - Yay! a comment! - and then open it up to see it's just links to penis enlargement or online gambling or dating in malaysia websites..). 

I guess I'll keep this going for a bit longer... 

Am I even going to have TIME to do this stuff, while working on ART STUFF....? 

GAMES

Challenges?

I like the idea of the 5x5 Quarterly Challenges and the 10x10 Annual Challenges - in that it kind of forces inspires one to dig a little deeper into individual games and learning the game a little better through repetitive plays... I also HATE reading rules, and having to read a new set of rules for every game (if one is playing a new game every week - or whenever) SUCKS! I also tend to get more things done when I HAVE A PLAN as there is less to think about - no deciding WHICH game to play on a given night, just FOLLOW THE PLAN. The trick is, trying to figure out WHICH games I'm going to be interested in over the next few months, let alone an entire YEAR, is a bit of a challenge as my interests and focus can change VERY ABRUPTLY - and if I have ZERO INTEREST in following THE PLAN... the plan will not be followed. 

In 2021 it worked great. I mostly completed 5x5 challenges each quarter, though I think they invariably ended up NOT being the games I set out to play at the beginning of each quarter... AND I DID complete a 10x10 challenge... mostly by looking at what I played in the first nine months, as we arrived at the beginning of the final quarter, and focused on finishing up however many games I needed to finish the 10 plays of 10 games. 

Another DOWNSIDE of how 2021 rolled out, was in that fourth quarter, we abandoned games that we already had ten or more plays of... which is what KILLED the momentum that we'd had paying Warhammer Underworlds... momentum that I couldn't get going again in the new year... and STILL haven't gotten going again!? 

Now that I've noticed that, it may also have contributed to why we have not played Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress after June of 2020... Got focused on other games for The Challenge instead of just continuing with a game we were clearly having a LOT of fun playing. 

So... do I bother with Challenges...? 

Maybe JUST focusing on Quarterly challenges and definitely NOT even bother to try with 10x10 Annual challenges! That way, I can have the SAME GAME in each of the Quarterly Challenges and end up playing it (them!?) 20+ times per year.. and if I only play five different games TWENTY TIMES in the year... That's still 100+ games!? It's even MORE focused than a 10x10 challenge!? 

So... to start... The first challenge, which is subject to change at any time during the quarter... 

2023 Q1 5x5 Challenge

1. Splendor 
2. Pikeman's Lament
3. FATE
4. One Hour Wargames
5. ...?

Games to Play

One thing that I do have SOME confidence will happen is a monthly game with Neil and Jasper. This started off a group of guys that were interested in participating in a role-playing game that Finnegan ran. We started off with a few one-shot adventures to settle on WHICH game we'd like to play a campaign of... and settled on Dresden Files Accelerated... but then Finnegan admitted that it was a bit much to plan and run a game for me and my friends... on top of the two other D&D campaigns he's running AND university course work AND his part time job AND his side projects... But Jasper and Neil are interested in continuing to get together to play once a month, so... there might be THAT, at least... for now the plan is to try and go forward with Dresden Files Accelerated, or at least some form of Modern Urban Fantasy powered by FATE

Miniatures Games... The miniature games I play are generally dependant on what miniatures I'm painting (painting inspires thinking about scenarios and games)... but painting is inspired by playing or excitement about the actual possibility of playing...  I kind of just need to get PLAYING something to get going on a game and the painting and more playing will follow... until something upsets the flow... In previous years an external deadline has also helped - like an upcoming EVENT like the Birthday Bash/Winter Wargaming weekend or ToonCon or a Campaign of some sort that I've planned... So I've been thinking about campaigns a bunch over the last few weeks... but maybe just running them online - see below! 

Board Games...? there are SO MANY I'd love to play. The trick is finding someone to play with. 

Birthday Bash/Winter Wargaming Weekend

Might be a bit late... Usually by this point I'd have a pretty clear idea of what I'd like to be doing and who might be coming. 

If I did do anything this year, it'd be something small.... like inviting a group of 3-4 people to play something like Warhammer Quest for a weekend - to see how far through a campaign we could get... or coming up with some sort of campaign that COULD be played through in a weekend over a half-dozen scenarios. 

That or a role-playing campaign that could be entirely played through over the course of a weekend. 

 

ToonCon

It's happening again... I have no plan to attend or run anything. I have a feeling I may just be DONE with convention gaming though... 

Online Campaign(s)!?

In previous years I ran miniature wargaming campaigns online - players, not in Saskatoon, played the heads of state of fantastical nations that negotiated with each other and then sent in orders for the movement of their armies. These movements then worked as a scenario generator for tabletop Hordes of the Things games that I played with friends in town. 

For a few years I've been toying with the idea of using the old Games Workshop Mighty Empires game engine to run a campaign using one of Dan Mersey's games (Dragon Rampant or The Pikeman's Lament). The strategic maneuver element in Mighty Empires is a "Banner" which consists of 500-1500 points of troops (which, when used as a campaign system for Warhammer Fantasy meant that is the point value of troops you used). I figured a Banner using Dan Mercy's games could be 10-30 points. A regular game of Dragon Rampant or the Pikeman's Lament is generally played with 24 points though it can be played with a few more or less... 

Over the last month or so, I got thinking about the English Civil War option again and have been planning and organizing and figuring about what, at minimum I would need to paint to have ready to play a game with six players. 

The idea would be each player is a minor lord of some sort in a remote part of England (on the border with Scotland). None have answered the call to send of forces to support either the King or Parliament because they are all certain their neighbours will use the lawless chaos of the political upheaval to invade and takeover their lands, should they march off to war... so... low level fighting takes place between these lords - in the name of King or Parliament. 

More on this soon. 

Maybe. 

Or, perhaps I'll start with a Fantasy version of the campaign...? As I I think I HAVE full forces, ready to go! (maybe...?) 

Maybe I'll do BOTH!?

This also got me thinking about a few other ways I could use this system (and games by Dan Mersey). 

Maybe playing a short Colonial Campaign (using Men Who Would Be Kings) of European Imperialist powers carving up the very last bit of Africa at the end of the 19th Century - the region that will one day become Timbogo (anyone remember Timbogo? The fictional central African nation I invented for playing AK-47 Republic...? but then also set some Force on Force games there as well...?). French, British, German forces could be invading from different directions. They might bump into some native Africans who are less than enthusiastic about European Imperialistic aggression.  

Also a Post-Apocalyptic Xenos Rampant campaign...? Set in Germany circa 2000 (like in Twilight:2000) Using modern/cold war figures and assorted armed civilians and the new Xenos Rampant rules. Each Faction would have a base of operations and be vying for control of surrounding villages and settlements... I have Soviets and Germans, and a few East Germans, British, Americans.... Maybe they're still loyal to what semblance of civil government/military command remains... Maybe they're just out-for-themselves survivors making due in the bombed out ruins of civilization... 

I ALSO got thinking about using One Hour Wargames and and even SIMPLER campaign system (like the one presented in the older versions of DBA). Two ideas that immediately popped up where the Back of Beyond and Space: 1914.

The Back of Beyond would be in the Eastern end of Russia/Northern China/Mongolia during the Russian Civil War. I have enough minatures to put together two forces of White Russians, two Bolshevik forces, two Warlord Chinese, and a Western Interventionist forces. This could largely be done without painting a SINGLE figure. (this might end up happening BEFORE I even get to the ECW campaign!?) 

The Space:1914 campaign would involve the Colonial Powers during the Great War... ON MARS... the narrative would be extrapolating the timeline of GDW's Space:1889 game to 1914 and playing out the conflict between such powers on the Red Planet! I have a mix of miniatures that could put topgether forces for British (and the Commonwealth), France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Belgium, America(!?), as well as High Martians and Canal Martians (Oenotrians!). This would require a LOT of painting to finish up the forces... but IF I did get these campaigns going... this could be a FUN one to play... it would have a set number of turns (based on earth years), quarterly from autumn 1914 to autumn 1918 - or maybe winter, because it could take time for word to get from Earth to Mars that the war has ENDED! 

There is the Dark Ages DBA campaign option. I STILL HAVE all the armies I used for the campaign I ran nearly Eleven Years Ago...?! No reason why I couldn't run that campaign online and use those minis and DBA... 

Just a few of the ideas I have tumbling around in my head... Like I said, more on this soon. 

In-Person Campaign(s)!? 

Also, I've gotten thinking about some possibilities for an in-person weekend campaigns. This would be the sort of thing I'd have done for my Birthday Weekend... but I'm not sure I'll be ready for then. Maybe some time later in the year... Or maybe next year... 

Under-Carngard - I have a PILE of old Skaven miniatures. occasinally I think I could paint them up and use them as an Age of Sigmar army... but that would be daft... What I COULD use them for is to make up a half-dozen or so Warcry warbands and have a little campaign over a weekend - different Skaven factions vying for control of the tunnels and caverns under the ruined city of Carngard! 

Back of Beyond - the online campaign above... but in person. I played a similar campaign using a modified version of DBA a little over 13 Years Ago. It'd basically be the same campaign... but using One Hour Wargames instead of DBA. 

MINIATURES

Miniatures will probably be painted... How many...? hard to say!? Hopefully MORE THAN LAST YEAR!? 

If I were smart, I would probably just decide to NOT BUY ANY MORE MINIATURES. I have gotten better... and, looking back at last year, that SHOULD be a sign I should just STOP. I did only buy 80 x 28mm miniatures (and some terrain). That amounted to two Kill Team Boxes, Warhammer Underworlds: Nethermaze, four other Warhammer Underworlds warbands, and eight individual old metal Harlequins to expand my existing force. 

While I did manage to paint SIX Warhammer Underworlds warbands in 2022, not ONE of them was one I purchased this year - all of them were ones I was trying to catch up on from the previous year. I didn't even assemble a single miniature from any of the Kill Team boxes, let along paint any... and I STILL haven't finished ANY from the two Kill Team boxes I bought the year before!? There is NO WAY I could reasonably justify to myself buying another at this point... 

I so have a few of ideas of some miniature games I'd like to PLAY - largely for the campaigns mentioned above, but also, others... - and if I got playing any of them, that could definitely inform what I might end up painting...  Knowing how things have gone in previous years, it is ludicrous to think I could plan out anything for a year... but here are some of the games I've been thinking about lately and  wouldn't mind getting to play (and paint miniatures for!).. 

The Pikeman's Lament - I have been reorganizing, rebasing, and painting up a few English Civil War models over the last month... thinking about the ECW and this idea for a campaign thats been stewing for a year or two (see above)... I have enough that I could play one-off games. Maybe playing a few of those might motivate me to get enough done to run the campaign!?  

One Hour Wargames - I've been thinking about this a lot again over the last few months. the ONE period I have stuff that could readily be used for this is the Great War (or Industrial Age Wargaming - as it is called in the game). I'm not sure how great it would work for trench warfare... but some of the battles at the beginning and end of the Great War - and elsewhere (Russia, China, Africa, MARS!?) could easily be played out with these rules. 

I've been thinking of putting together a little narrative campaign to play out parts of Canada's Hundred Days - following elements of the Canadian Corps through the last 100 days of the Great War, kicking off at Amiens, then actions at the Somme, the Scarpe, Canal du Nord, Cambrai, the Selle, Valenciennes and finally Mons. 

Nothing NEEDS to be painted here... though if I DID get playing, it might motivate me to paint up the rest of the early war French and Belgians and finish rebasing and reorganizing the Warlord Chinese. Also, as I was preparing for the big Vimy game that never happened... to cut time I painted up understrength German units - I wouldn't mind finishing up all the German units to their full strength of 15 

Warhammer Underworlds - I am not buying into the new season - Warhammer Underwoods: Gnarlwood - It looks REALLY COOL... but, it's just gotten too expensive, and I have SO MUCH that I haven't even PLAYED yet!? I would like to finish up the warbands I have and get playing again. It's a game that I'd really need to play with some regularity, so I can remember what all the cards do and how they interact with each other. Looking at the Warhammer Underworlds Warband List, I still have 16 warbands to paint up! I do have 20 that I can play with any time, maybe I need to start with that... which might motivate me to paint the others... but maybe NOT try to put the pressure of HAVING to finish a warband for each new game (as I was trying to do in 2022-Q4)! 

Warcry/Age of Sigmar - If I got playing enough of the Warhammer Quest games or Warhammer Underworlds, it wouldn't be hard to segue into expanding some of those warbands into Warcry warbands or finishing up some Age of Sigmar forces to continue the narrative into larger scale actions - no new minis needed, I have SO MANY that i could paint...  I also have a PILE of Skaven... Occasionally I think about painting them up to build a (small-ish) Age of Sigmar army... But I think the smarter thing would be to paint them all up and make, like 6-8 Scurrypacks for Warcry that I could use to host a little weekend tournament!? It could be the Battle for Under-Carngard. Do I buy into the NEW EDITION, though...?  

Epic Apocalypse - I had gotten excited about this a few months back and hammered out a whole bunch of Epic 40K minis in hopes of using them in both a Wrath & Glory RPG and some 40K Apocalypse games... I have SO MANY more I COULD do, if I got going on the game... 

Kill Team/40K - I mean, I was interested enough in Kill Team I bought FOUR of the box sets... so much terrain... so many minis I could paint for those... all of which could be expanded into small forces for 40K... (or ADDED to existing forces for 40K - that might be the smarter move...). Early in the new year the 9th edition Astra Militarum codex should be released and I'd like to pick that up and reorg my Guard forces and get them worked up to PLAY some 40K... whether I get around to it or not... I don't have much that needs to be painted for the Generic/Cadian Guard force of my Guaiacan Jungle Fighters... I have LOADS of Tallarn that could still be painted... 

Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress - did not play a single game all of 2021 or 2022... In fact, I have not played it since JUNE of 2020 - we played 23 games of it between February and June of 2020 - right at the beginning of the pandemic with NOTHING else was going on - and it WAS a fun game! I do have a bunch of stuff for it that we've never played. I really liked the game, I'd love to get back to it and finish the other campaigns! There is a fair bit I could paint up for this (like the miniatures for the last three expansions - Escalation, No Respite, Deadly Alliance, and Ascension... but there is loads I could play with RIGHT NOW! Maybe starting with that might motivate me to finish off the rest of it! 

Warhammer Quest: Cursed City - bought this when it was first released because I'd so thoroughly enjoyed Blackstone Fortress... but never even got the stuff painted up for it. I got SOME of it painted... I don't have THAT much that I'd need to paint up to get a started game going, which then might get me motivated to paint more so I could play more. it's a game I could just play with Amanda.

Other Warhammer Quest Games - Finnegan also has Silver Tower and Shadow Over Hammerhal. He assembled the minis and played through them both with my Dad, years ago. I had started painting the minis for him, thinking I could get him to play it again and/or with Amanda. There is quite a bit to paint... but I THINK I've painted a few of the heroes... and most of the opponents for one of the games is mostly disciples of Tzeentch, which wouldn't be TOO hard to paint up... 

Hellboy: The Board Game - got in a few games at the end of 2022 after having not played since early 2020. I went ALL IN on the Kickstarter, so I have a LOT of stuff for the game... so it'd be nice to chip away at the minis and at least play through all the scenarios once or twice... I have enough to play at least the first three scenarios, maybe more... getting going on some might motivate me to paint up the rest. 

Xenos Rampant - I was pretty excited when this was released a month or so ago... I'm not sure it will replace 40K or anything. I thought it might be fun to use with some of the other sci-fi miniatures, but then realized I'd have a fair bit of painting to do to play a game... What DOES seem more likely, is to use it for something a little more modern - presented in the book are options for weird wars (Great War and WW2 - both of which I have LOADS of stuff ready to go at any moment) and modern/post-apocalyptic/near future which I also have PILES of stuff that could be used... just need to settle on ONE to start with and get PLAYING!? 

Five Parsecs from Home?! Modiphius had a Black Friday sale and I picked up Five Parsecs from Home as a PDF. I've been looking at it a while back as something that looked interesting for some sort of small-scale sci-fi miniatures campaigning. It's a solo game, I'd been looking at Solo games either in 2021 or early 2022 at some point when I was really feeling the desire to play some miniature games but was having a hard time finding anyone to play with... Amanda would play just about anything, if I asked... but sometimes I feel like it might be interesting to try out solo gaming, if I could find something fun and simple that doesn't take a lot of time...This looks like it needs very few minis to play with, so I would have loads I could start with - and so many more I could paint up to add in as new characters, once I got going. 

Dragon Rampant - Lion Rampant - I did pick up the new edition of Lion Rampant last year when it came out... might be fun to try, I have two generic European medieval retinues I could use. I have a third, plus crusader and Islamic retinues I COULD finish up for Lion Rampant. Same goes for Dragon Rampant - I HAVE lots i could use to get started... getting started means I might get to painting up some more. In the last month I started reorganizing my Legends of the Five Rings: Clan War miniatures for Dragon Rampant - including rebasing and painting up a few things... 

Rangers of Shadowdeep - as with Five Parsecs above, I bought this thinking about trying some solo gaming... but never got around to trying it out... maybe THIS will be the year!? As with Five Parsecs, I think I only need a few generic fantasy minis, of which I have LOADS to get started with... maybe it might motivate me to get working on them on a larger scale and finish up UNITS for Dragon Rampant. 

I'm sure if I thought long enough I could think of MORE games I'd like to play and miniatures I already have that could be painted for them (all the Ganesha Games - Song or Blades and Heroes, etc). I've let go of the idea of playing Frostgrave or Stargrave or the Silver Bayonet any time soon... 

Ugh... that's enough for now... I think I have a vague, general idea: Play some games, paint some miniatures... 

ECW - Highlanders

 Could probably be passed off as highlanders from 17-18th century - showing up in either English Civil War forces OR Jacobite rebellion forces... 

It's English Civil War that I've been thinking of most, lately, so... I'm calling them English Civil War highlanders. 

Seven newly painted Highlanders. I think most are from Old Glory...? The archers in the back might be Warlord Games...? 

Iv'e actually been on multiple massive rebasing sprees lately - 40K figures being rebased from metal washer to proper-sized plastic bases, and a mix of historical and fantasy minis being rebased from washers or multi-figure DBA/HOTT bases to individual plastic bases or wooden discs. 

The ECW stuff is going onto wooden discs - and organized into units of 6 or 12 for The Pikeman's Lament.  

I'm trying to get SIX (or seven!?) different forces completed. Scotts lowland/government, Scotts Highland and four English companies (in red, green, blue, and orange uniforms, respectively). The Scottish lowlanders could easily be TWO forces, I have so many of them!? 

the Highland Company, so far... 

• 1x Forlorn Hope (6), Aggressive (in the middle there, the Laird and his closest pals)
• 4x Clansmen (12) 
• 2x Commanded Shot (The Skirmishers up front) 

This adds up to 22 points, and a standard force is 24, so I could upgrade one of the commanded shot to "veteran" for two more points to make it 24... Maybe the ones with bows....? 

There they all are again... 

I did the bow-armed figures on slightly larger bases to put a bit more space between miniatures - to show they are skirmishers - even when in base-to-base contact. The other unit of Commanded shot are on the "standard infantry size" because I though they were part of a larger unit that hasn't been finished yet... upon recounting, I have enough OTHER shot to make three full units, and these are extras... At some point, when I get to painting the others, I'll do six of them on the larger bases - to make clear that they are different from the surrounding units of shot. 

I have loads more to do... Enough that it could be two separate forces. I Highland company and an Irish company (both of which fought together under Montrose). 

I have a unit or Irish shot and a unit of Irish pile that are also painted, but are still on washers. I have two MORE units of each to finish up and that would make 24 points right there - for an Irish mercenary force. 

I have one unit of horse - probably Gallopers - that are on the workbench having recently been rebased (they were on DBA-style multi-figure bases). Most were full painted, but I'm touching up two of them and a sixth mounted figure is being painted to finish off the unit. I could conceivably downgrade ALL of the Irish pike and shot to Raw units and add in the unit of horse and make them elite...? OR just down grade four of the Irish units and add a regular unit of horse... OR downgrade ALL of the Irish pike and shot units and add the Mounted unit AND a unit of commanded shot...? I have enough Irish to do that! 

I also have enough Clansmen to do 2-3 more units of them.. If I had SIX units of Clansmen, the one unit of bow-armed commander "shot", and the Forlorn Hope - that would also be 24 points... I guess I should get working on those last two units of Clansmen! It would be nice to have one more drawer that is FULL of COMPLETELY PAINTED miniatures... 

Now.. WHY am I suddenly working on English Civil War units, suddenly, you may wonder...? and WHY SIX different forces!? I've been thinking about campaigns again and organizing something loosely based on the old, old GW Mighty Empires game... involving a number of minor nobles in a remote part of England (on the border with Scotland). For centuries they have been rivals and fought over who controlled this pasture or that village... None of them necessarily have any strong allegiance to king OR parliament and when they hear the call aren't particularly motivated to send troops - especially when the chaotic situation may mean their neighbours would use their absence as an excuse to take back or take over lands they figure is THEIRS... 

When and HOW will I run this campaign? No idea. Ideally sometime next year. Likely I will run it online - with the players doing the diplomacy via email and submitting moves for their armies once a week (or, every other week?). If an conflict takes place, I play out the battles here and post the results with game reports of the battles and we start all over again...

It may or may not happen... I have a LOT of English that will need to be finished up to be ready... mind you... If I was okay with NOT having the English forces all being in a uniform colours, I could probably use the mix of what I DO have finished to start any time... 

Hmmmmm... 

Watch for details in the new year. 

Whit's Fur Ye'll No Go Past Ye

My friend Bruce and I have been trying to get together weekly to play games. He's generally free in the late mornings/early afternoons as he works shifts starting in the late afternoon. WE've mostly been playing board/card games.

I'd suggested Necromunda at one point. He's played Kill Team (with his own Genestealers!) but he said he found GW games "tedious" as you have to roll so many dice - roll to hit... then roll to see if you wound... then the target gets to roll to see if they save... then you may need to roll to see how much damage you do (in the case of a weapon that does more than one damage per successful attack against a target that has more than one wound) and then, if it's Kill Team (or Necromunda) and the target has lost all of it's wounds, roll to see if it's out of action, seriously injured or has a flesh wound... I guess I can see that...? I don't really think it's all that MUCH more than D&D, which he plays a lot of, but whatevs... didn't bring it up again.

Earlier this week, when he contacted me about playing a game, I suggested Dragon Rampant - a miniature skirmish game (albeit, slightly LARGER skirmishes...) that is fast playing and rolls a set amount of dice (six or twelve d6s, depending on the status of the unit) and check for hits, compare to stamina of target unit, remove appropriate number of dudes.... all in ONE ROLL!! I guess if they do lose guys a second roll is made to see if they fail morale... He said he'd be interested to try.

I thought about what forces to use - standard medieval fantasy stuff (humans, orcs, elves, etc.)? Or maybe some of the recently reorganize Legends of the Five Rings forces (Phoenix Clan and Lion Clan)? But then last night I had a stroke of brilliance - Bruce is a Huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft and Call of Cthulhu AND Solomon Kane... So I thought I'd try a mash-up of Pikeman's Lament and Dragon Rampant (mostly just using Pikeman's Lament, with a few fantastical elements from Dragon Rampant!)

So I set to work - between last night and this morning I came up with an idea for a scenario and then sorted out some units and picked them out of storage and hauled them all upstairs along with all the terrain and set it all up and printed off some unit cards and wrote out some other unit cards... It was all ready to go for 11am when he was to show up...

And then he bailed....

I feel like this is starting to become a bit of a trend around here...

(I don't mean just Bruce... all the necromunda games that have been planned and subsequently cancelled, the game weekend, the Dominion campaign, etc...)

It's really beginning to get me down...

So what then...? Spend yet MORE time putting it all away again - for nothing!? Press gang one of the kids into playing with me!?

In the end I decided to play it out solo-style to see... well... how it would have all played out...

And so here is how it all played out...


1666, Scotland

The Infamous Witch Hunter, Ezekiel Erasmus Eisenhauer, found himself in Scotland tracking the rumour of a remote village that had taken to worshipping dark entities. He gathered around him some stout Scottish Government troopers - hardened veterans of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms - to march on the village and investigate these rumours!

They arrived just in time to witness a debased cult in the act of trying to summon some dark entity!


SCENARIO

The Cultists are trying to summon a Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath. To do so the Cultists must successfully pass six ritual activations - at which point the Dark Young appears and joins the cultists side.

The Witch Hunters need to stop this by killing all the Cultists - or, failing that, kill the Dark Young!


FORCES

Witch Hunters

Ezekiel Erasmus Eisenhauer - Commander
Gallopers - Agresssive, Elite - 6 points

Scottish Horse - Gallopers - 4 points

Scots Pike - 4 points

Scots Shot - 4 points

Scots Shot - 4 Points

Total: 22 points

(whoopsie... I'd meant them to have 24-26... should have included a second unit of Pike - or replaced one of the shot with a Forlorn Hope of dismounted cuirassiers or some such...)


Cult of the Black Goat

Forlorn Hope - 6 points

Clansmen - 3 points

Clansmen - 3 Points

Cultists - 2 points

Clubmen - 1 point

Clubmen - 1 point

Total: 16 points

(How did I screw this up too!? I'd meant these guys to be 20 points - less than the Witch Hunters - but with the potential to summon MORE... math is hard, I guess... ah well...)

Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath
Greater Warbeast (+ Cunning, + Terror - like fear, but causes -1 to all morale tests for enemy units within 12" AND all enemy are -1 to activate when trying to attack the Dark Young) - 10-ish points..?

THE GAME



Ezekiel Erasmus Eisenhauer and his band of protectors surmount a hill and spy the degenerate locals involved in their depraved ritual!



Along with the infamous Witch Hunter, a company of troops from the nearby garrison marched to aid in halting these evil proceedings.



The debased locals worked up into a frenzy around the ringleaders of the cult.



The inner circle of the tainted cult preform their perverse ceremony.



the battle lines are drawn...



Ezekiel Erasmus Eisenhauer and his band of protectors lead the charge down the hill - followed by all the Scots.



Whoopsie! The Forlorn Hope of Highlanders tried to shoot at the Witch Hunters... and failed... ending their turn (at least the cultists had already performed their ritual - always the first things I did - after checking for any Wild Charges or Rallying....)



Oh, it's going to be THAT sort of game, is it...?

(rolling for a Command Blunder, the Witch Hunters received -1 Honour... as I wasn't really tracking Honour - it's kind of an all-or-nothing sort of mission - it didn't really matter...)



As the Witch Hunters galloped ahead as evil and foetid mist flowed across the battlefield, from the nearby marsh, obscuring and confusing the Scots that followed. They faltered in their advance and left the Witch Hunters alone and exposed.



So very exposed...

Out of the mists, one of the units of clansmen wildly charged them from the flank.



Caught by surprise, two of the Witch Hunters men fell from their horses. The rest cut down three of the highlands and sent them scarpering back from whence they came!

The Highland Forlorn Hope then blasted a volley into the Witch Hunters, taking down another two of their number! This left only Ezekiel Erasmus Eisenhauer and his trusted lieutenant, Sulaiman Khan (a witch hunter from the East that Eisenhauer met on his journeys through the lands of the Ottomans). The pair kept their cool, but things were looking very dire for the Witch Hunters indeed.



Eisenhauer and Khan weren't going to just sit their and get shot to pieces! They charged the fleeing Highlanders, cutting down a few more.



AS they fled further, they followed on cutting down more still!



The muffled sounds of desperate battle and the cries of dying men filtered their way through the mist and the terrified Scots looked at each other and wondered what they should do.



The remaining four highlanders retreat turned into an utter route and they fled into the hills.



The barely heard triumphant cries of the Witch Hunter and his Lieutenant spurred the Scots into action and they advanced into the mist...



Some of the mist cleared around the ritual sight and the Highland Forlorn Hope caught a glimpse of the Witch Hunter and his Lieutenant and fired another volley of musketry... and arrows...?!



Sulaiman Khan fell from his horse and Eisenhauer was quite certain he was dead...



Eisenhauer was feeling distinctly alone and exposed and overwhelmed...



... so he galloped off into the hills.



The Scots continued their advance on the ritual site - only to find, as they came out of the mist, that the Witch Hunter they followed was nowhere to be found! (when I tried to rally him, he failed spectacularly and routed!). The Scots morale wavered a moment, but then they pressed on!



The sudden appearance of all the Scots made the remaining group of clansmen question their whole part in this (actually it was a command blunder the previous turn which cause them to waiver... and they just kept failing to rally...).

The Scottish Horse charged the debauched local Laird and his Forlorn Hope, but were brutally repulsed!



Then suddenly the Witch Hunter reappeared atop the hillock they'd started on!? where had they come from?! Was their whole charge and seeming demise all some sort of unfathomable ruse!?

(I'd rolled a command bonus that allowed me to bring on 4 points of reinforcements - returning units that had been lost - So I brought back the Witch Hunter. Apparently, they'd only suffered minor wounds - bumps and bruises from being unhorsed - they rallied beyond the hills and returned to the battle - though with a little less exuberance - as it was only 4 points I dropped their Elite/Veteran status... and also ditched the Aggressive upgrade - to make them seem a touch more recalcitrant - like they were returning with their collective tails between their legs!)



Having failed to stop the ritual, the cultists successfully summoned one of the children of the Black Goat of the Woods....



I tried moving some of the Highland clubmen out of the way to give the Dark Young a path with which to advance upon the Scottish government troops.... but failed a few times ending turns before the Great Beastie could move - giving the Scots a chance to maneuver and form a battle line... of sorts...



Eventually I decided I just needed to move the Dark Young AROUND the stupid (petrified?) villagers.

Fire from the unit of Scottish Shot saw off the Highland Commanded Shot.



The terrifying beast lumbered towards the Scots, just as the Witch Hunter rejoined the fray!



Yeah, it was a pretty epic scene.... Not sure how this was going to go down, but it was pretty exciting!



The beast charged... the Witch Hunters counter-charged!



The Witch Hunters lost two of their own to the one Strength Point they'd knocked off the Dark Young and were thus obliged to retire.... The Dark Young followed on!



The otherworldly horror stuck down two more of the Witch Hunters and then paused as they galloped away!



ANOTHER Command Bonus bringing reinforcements back on the table - this time for the Highlanders! I guess they weren't routing after all - they were just going to fetch more of their brethren from the pub!



Desperate, the Scots cavalry charged the unholy terror! They were utterly destroyed.



The Witch Hunters charged in again, and were likewise destroyed!



The profane creature of the abyss then crashed into a unit of Scottish Shot, killing many and scattering the few that remained.



It followed on into a second unit that was prepared to give fire.



It seemed to injure the beast...



... but their own casualties compelled them to retire into the marsh!



The Beast followed them...

Meanwhile the returned Highlanders charged the block of Scottish Pike!



The two groups utterly savaged each other...



But it was the clansmen that broke and withdrew!

The Shot in the marsh executed a fighting withdrawal, blasting the greatest with shot as fast as they could...



With the Clansmen out of the way, the Highland Forlorn Hope unloaded a volley on the Pikemen, still unsettled by the ferocity and violence of the clansmens charge. Losing a few more of their number was just too much and they dropped their pikes and fled the field of battle.

The last few Scottish shot in the marsh came to the conclusion that they savage supernatural fiend was not stoppable by mundane arms such as they had at their disposal, and the few that remained faded into the mist...

(In fact it was down to it's very last Strength Point... they just happened to fail one last morale test and left... so close!)

...

This turned out to be a really exciting game - LOTS of back and forth, so many times I thought it was going downhill for one side, only for them to rally and recover and take it back to their foes! I LOVE this about all of Dan Mercy (and Michael Lack)'s games!

In retrospect, I probably should have made the Ritual Activation a 6+ - regardless of how many cultists were left (or made it -1 to the roll if they were less than half) and said they could only do it if they were within 1" of the standing stone. If I were to run the scenario again, that's what I would do...

Also I could possibly have treated the Dark Young as a completely separate force that did a wild charge at the closest unit - of EITHER side - Who can truly control these otherworldly beasties  (damn those peasants in the way! as if a Dark Young would politely go around them!). Maybe it wouldn't attack the priests unit (or the Forlorn Hope) representing SOME measure of control from having bound the creature...?

I wish I had enough Seven Years War miniatures to try out Rebels and Patriots! (Hmmmmmm... If I did a little rebasing....?)


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

MOAR Necromunda stuff!!!