2021 Re-Visit Part II

So the gaming and modeling continued through 2021.  Played a WWII Skirmish Game at Ralph's and a lot of Bolt Action and Pikemen's Lament, Wings of Glory (WWI), and other games.  

Here are some photos of the second half of the year.

A great addition to my Wings of Glory collection - A Target!!

A big Wings of Glory game at the Adlernest!  Lots of canvas and lead flying around the table!

German Tobruk Pillbox for my German Bolt Action forces.

Added a Command Stand for my British Bolt Action forces

Plastic Modern Russian troops for 7 Days to the River Rhine (7DTTRR)

A really nice WWII skirmish game table at Ralph's

Towards the end of 2021 I played a couple of games of Pikemen's Lament.  This is one of the Osprey Blue Book rule sets.  It is very fun to play, and our club has revised the rules (as we do every set of rules we use) to make them even more fun (and more historically accurate the way as we see it).

Some photos of a PL game during 2021:

Ed's beautiful gaming table and troops.  I'm a cavalry commander in war-games, but those troopers at the bottom left of the photo caused me quite a bit of grief in this game!

Pike and Shotte units in Pikemen's Lament.

Ed and AJ as we play through a game turn.

2021 Re-Visit Continued

 This is the second installment of my catch-up for gaming through 2021 and 2022.  As I did not keep a full journal of my gaming, I can only go by my available photos to recount my gaming experiences.  

The middle part of my 2021 gaming included a good dose of WWII Rules and Scenarios.  First among these games was a  version of Bolt Action at Adler Gaming Shop.  The rules set is called Bolt Action Firefight I believe.  This is a smaller scale game where each figure has a command die instead of each squad.  Here are a couple of photos from a BAF game in June of 2021:

I like BA Firefight.  The smaller scale means the table set up can be smaller and more detailed.  The game can also be quicker to play, making it a good gaming system for an evening between two friends.  I would recommend the game to others.

Along the same lines of WWII Skirmish gaming, I also revived the excellent CROSSFIRE rules set.  I have taken my 20mm British and Germans that I use for my Pegasus Bridge Scenario and mounted them individually for use with other rules such as Bolt Action or Chain of Command.  Here are photos of a game I hosted in the summer of 2021 at the Northern Conspiracy:

Although designed as a two-player game, I find that CROSSFIRE is easily converted into a nice game for four players and can even take up to six players in a pinch.  I believe that this game had four players that night.  CROSSFIRE is one of my favorite set of wargame rules ever.  You must approach the game as a real commander by planning for your movement using cover and concealment.  Moving in the open once contact is made will almost always lead to heavy losses.  One must also provide covering fire when moving in the face of the enemy, suppressing enemy forces before closing with them.

Here is another Bolt Action game that I played in at Adler Gaming Shop.  Proprietor Gordon hosted a demonstration game - Chariots of Steel.  This is set in the N. African Desert between Australian and Italian forces outside of Trobruk in 1941.  I have played the scenario a couple of times and the game is challenging and fun for both sides.  Gordon has tweaked the terrain, figures and vehicles over the years and developed a very nice looking game as well.

That's all for right now.  I will post again soon to continue through 2021.

Reboot After a Long Absence

 Ok.  Wow!  It has been more than two years.  Hard to believe all of that time has passed by.  It has been a busy time in my wargame experiences as I have branched out into several new areas and worked on completing new projects in my normal gaming areas.

I think I will spend the next couple of months sharing some photos and recollections of games that I have been playing.  I also will be reporting on my gaming experiences during 2023 on a much more regular basis.

I will begin by going back to January of 2021 and show some of the gaming/projects I undertook at that time:

The year began with a wonderful event (especially for the COVID era!).  Our son married his sweetheart.  The ceremony was small due to the pandemic.  Her dress, his uniform and the simplicity of the event gave it a WWII era feeling that was incredible!  We were all very happy!

Early in the year my gaming focus was on Blood Red Skies and Cruel Seas.  The collections grew immensely!

Among my favorites were these He-162 Volksjaeger jet aircraft.  They bring the "Jet" rule into BRS without the overwhelming force of the Me-262.  During this time I also developed a movement and firing system that used hexes instead of the movement and firing sticks for the game.  I feel that the hexes make movement and combat resolution much easier, but does not affect the feel of the game.

He-162 and Fw-190 on the gaming table.

F4U Corsairs of the Fleet Air Arm in their first game.

Also in early 2021 I worked very hard on my Cruel Seas navies.  At the same time, I took the plunge and purchased by 3D printer.  Here are a couple of photos which combine both of these.  This is a picture of an RAF Rescue Launch that I printed and added to my RN Coastal Forces.  This in one of my favorite models in the collection.

3D printed RAF Rescue Launch. I am mounting my ships on clear acrylic bases to help with movement.

RAF Launch for the top down.  Print lines are prominent, but do not detract too much.

So, this covers the first few months of 2021.  During this period, we were still pretty deep into COVID restrictions so the gaming experiences were not that great.  But I have to say, I certainly added significantly to my painted forces.  Also, I was 3D printing my heart out on the new printer.  I hope to get some additional photos up of my boats and other vehicles/terrain in the near future.  So stay tuned.