Hello, old friends...

Another trip back home to Glasgow to see family and keep an eye on my mum who's currently in hospital.

Usually I try and find something historical to post about, but I suspect this trip is just going to involve trips back and forward to the hospital so that's going to be unlikely.

I was also up in June and ventured into the loft in my mum's house.  This was my family home from about the age of 2 and there is all sorts of junk/family heirlooms up there (anyone in the market for a Spanish donkey circa 1972??).  In amongst old family photos and lots of tat I did come across some genuine buried treasure which I'd believed were long gone.

Back around 1978 I spotted an advert in a now defunct British Scifi magazine called Ad Astra for some new-fangled company called Games Workshop (I wonder what happened to them?)...

I don't know if I'd heard of roleplaying games already or if this just caught my attention but I bought the D&D boxed set.  It was a truly life-changing moment... I still remember the game arriving in the post and my amazement at a box containing so little and yet full of so many possibilities.  This is the 'Holmes' edition of D&D and covers characters up to 3rd level.  It leads neatly into AD&D which was the path I merrily trotted down over the next few years.

The boxed set came with the rule book, a set of dice (which I still have) and an introductory scenario... B1: In Search of the Unknown which is a proper dungeoncrawl.  The box is sadly long gone.   And finally in the pile was the 'Giants...' set of scenarios which i think I acquired on family holiday to the USA.

In these days where RPGs are a commonplace game its hard to remember how game-changing something like D&D and the other early games were... I remember the confused look on my friends faces when I tried to explain the concept to them.  Eventually D&D, along with other games like Gamma World,  led me to my local wargames club (the Glasgow & District Wargames Society) and a whole new world of toy soldiers and wargames.  So this book is the starting point that set me off on a hobby that has lasted 45 years and introduced me to lots of good friends... I must admit I had a real emotional reaction to finding it again.  

I also found my set of Superworld which we played quite a bit an Uni.  Not a bad game as I remember

Dragonquest - a role-playing nostalgia trip

 Role playing  was my first gateway into wargames, some time back around the late 1970s.  My best friend and I spent a lot of our teenage years exploring Dungeons and Dragons (when there was only 1 edition) and then a host of other games...Call of Cthulhu, Gamma World, Chivalry and Sorcery.  I seem to remember we had a particular fondness for game from FGU such as Space Opera and Bushido...games that had a table and a dice roll for just about everything.  This carried on into my uni years with a very active club at Strathclyde Uni (who were secretly the cabal that ran the students union, but that's another story!).  Through RPGs I'd also discovered historical games but these always ran a parallel but separate course for me.

After I left uni and moved south I found a small group of gamers in Surrey...remember this was in the days of cards in games shops (when games shops were a thing) or small ads in a magazine.  This lasted a year or so until work and stuff got in the way and that was that.  Many years later my son discovered my old D&D books in the loft and we've played a few games but never as part of a group.

Back in the summer an old friend from uni days posted on Facebook that he was planning an online role playing session and I decided to take a very nostalgic plunge back into the world of RPGs.  We have been playing every fortnight since June... a mix of players from Britain, Canada and the USA,  all negotiating time zones and hoping our wifi connections hold out.  

We've been playing Dragonquest... a very old school 1980s set of rules (I mean... just look at that cover art!).  The setting is an unusual middle-eastern style world... think ancient Persia... with the usual mix of fantasy races and settings but tweaked to reflect the setting.  The rules are very detailed in a way that only 1980s games can be.  Character creation includes roles for whether you are right or left handed, which birth aspect you have etc, Similarly the combat rules have a host of modifiers and tables and the magic rules seem even more complex: it could become very easy to get bogged down in this but  we have played fairly fast and loose with this and it hasn't got in the way of the game or the story... our DM is very skilled at winging it, an essential skill for anyone running an RPG.  You can always guarantee the players will immediately do the opposite of what you expect and you need someone with the flexibility and creativity to go with it and avoid the game becoming broken.

We've been using Roll20 as a way of hosting the games... to be honest I don't really know how it all works but luckily the GM and some of the players do.  The nice feature is that the character sheets are all hosted on the system and this takes care of all the modifiers and dice rolls automatically for me 

So far we've dealt with an plague that was turning villagers into flesh eating zombies and are now delving deep into an ancient tomb full of traps, orcs (who are actually very friendly) and undead spirits.  My character, Farshad the Halfling, was meant to be a sneaky thief who would excel at sneaking and stay out of trouble, has taken on a life and character of his own and I've discovered he's actually a psychopathic Murder-Hobbit who tends to get stuck into a fight with his short sword and dagger at the slightest provocation... you can take the boy out of Glasgow...

It's been great fun and a really good return to an aspect of the hobby that I'd forgotten.

More games... Napoleonics and some role playing

More games this week... nothing last week though as we were off in Glasgow for a very hectic week for the 1st time since Lockdown.

This weeks big game was a Napoleonic scrap at Eric The Shed's (I'm sure there will be a fuller write up there soon.  EDIT - Eric's write up has now been posted HERE ).  This 3 player game pitched 2 Allied forces against the French who were firmly entrenched in a small town.  The French positions were initially concealed with a few blanks thrown in to cause confusion.   I took command of the Portuguese, backed up with the 95th Rifles, while Glen led the rather superior British troops.  Eric had charge of the French (this was all decided by dice rolls at the start of the game)

The brave Portuguese march (slowly) towards the town

My advance towards the town was pretty slow but steady but as we had a time limit this was a bit of a concern.  The town was well defended with redoubts manned by artilllery and some very effective troops who were very challenging to push out of the buildings.  The French did also have some poor militia troops but sensibly kept these out of the front line for as long as possible.

The British led a spectacular charge straight through the town which had the potential to be a game winner... unfortunately this led them under the barrels of the artillery who caused devastation.  But it almost worked...

The brave British cavalry charge through the town into a hail of musket and cannon fire

The Portuguese and French cavalry clash and, as usual, both end up exhausted and ineffective

The British throw everything at the town

There were 2 large scale fights for parts of the town, both of which were eventually won by the allies but there were still a lot of French to defend the rest of the buildings.  As our turn limit we fast approaching I threw my Portuguese straight at the main redoubt, defended by the Swiss and artillery in a glorious but not surprisingly doomed attack...

The very brave, and ultimately doomed Portuguese assault on the main redoubt

 A great game... well balanced and it could have gone either way if only we'd had better dice rolls and tactics!!!

Other games over the last week or so have included trying out Discworld: Ankh Morpork as a 2 player game instead of our usual 3 player game.  It worked remarkably well and I'd definitely try this again.

I also played in the 2nd instalment of our online roleplaying game using Roll20.  We are playing Dragonquest which is a very 1980s RPG but holds up very well.  Appropriately enough I'm playing this with a couple of people I knew at the uni games club back in the early 80s as well as people in assorted countries.  The setting is an interesting early Persian style world.  So far I have learned that my supposedly agile and nimble Halfling thief is extraordinarily cack-handed and managed to fluff most critical rolls but somehow I'm still unharmed...I suspect this may not last!

A return to proper gaming...

Gaming is beginning to return to something starting to resemble normality with a couple of face to face games.kindly hosted by Eric the Shed... his newly expanded shed is big enough to safely accommodate 4 players with a bit of sensible social distancing.

So far we've played a Napoleonic battle and a refight of the battle of Abu Klea.  There are excellent reports HERE and HERE.

I have 'borrowed' these photos from Eric's blog.

Abu Klea, before the Dervish hordes arrived

The Napoleonic game, length-ways down the table

I've also continued the Imperial Assault campaign with my son... the heroes are doing well but narrowly lost the last game which means I was able to introduce a scenario into the campaign which might see the arrival of Darth Vader... bwah, hah, hah!!!

I also took part in my 1st proper role-playing game for about 30 years this week.  An old friend from my uni days in Glasgow was hosting a game on Roll20 and I was lucky to be invited along.  We're playing Dragonquest...a rather old school system from the 80s but one which has some interesting features which still hold up well.  It was great fun and interesting to be sitting round a virtual table with players from Scotland, England and Canada.  The online system worked remarkably well and it was a real blast, even if I was getting flashbacks to 1983!

Not a lot's been happening....

So there's been a bit of a lull in the blogging activity...a combination of work and tiredness has left me a bit demotivated.  There's a half painted post-apocalypse tube train sitting on the dining room table which has been there for a few weeks with only an undercoat to show any progress [I wonder how may dining rooms have such 'interesting' ornaments!].  I  also haven't made it along to my local club for several weeks due to a mix of bank holidays, appointments and family stuff, so there isn't even any gaming to report on!

Currently on the workbench are the post-apocalypse scenery and a few Copplestone figures to go with it.  I'd bought into the Across the Dead Earth kickstarter and although the figures and rules aren't scheduled for release until later in the year they've sent out a PDF 'Living rulebook' as a taster and as a way of developing the rules.  I haven't had a chance to read them properly yet but they look interesting.

The other figures adorning the dining room are the minion set from Crooked Dice for their 7TV game... so far they've been glued into their slotta bases and need their heads fixing.  My wife's remarkably tolerant of the state of the table!!!


Occasional readers of the blog may have seen previous posts in which I've mentioned the growing collection of Role Playing games that I seem to have been accumulating.  The most recent [an most playable I think] has been Pathfinder which struck me  as a really good updating of the D&D system into something that plays simply but has as much depth as you want in a game.

I've acquired quite a few old games from Fantasy Games Unlimited and the latest is Chivalry and Sorcery... I seem to remember playing this once or twice when I was at Uni and enjoying it but it was also ridiculously complicated [like may FGU games].  My memory hasn't let me down... the three books of dense text include tables for practically everything but it does have a great atmosphere and we're looking at a  Dark Ages style setting with little or no magic [mainly because I gave up on the magic section as it's stupidly complex!]

 

 

 

 

I also picked up a set of the 1st edition of the Warhammer Role Playing System... now I missed  out completely on Warhammer when I was younger... I had a bit of a break from gaming when I left  uni and went out into the Wild World [in '86] just at the time the WH was beginning it's rise to power.  By the time my son discovered it I had become immune to the lure of GW stores although I can see the attraction, especially to younger gamers with it's whole, ready-made world and setting and, lets be honest, some lovely figures.  At 16 my son in now moving out of his GW phase so we'll see if he sticks with the hobby [or should that be THE HOBBYtm ]

I'd read lots about the RPG version of Warhammer and everyone seemed to enthuse about the 1stt and 2nd editions, but not the most recent 3rd edition from Fantasy Flight Games so a quick dabble on Ebay picked up a cheap set... it looks like a really promising system with enough darkness and squalor to give an unusual background and what looks like a good skill/career system.  I haven't done more than read bits of the rules but so far so good!

Anyway, here's hoping some motivation and energy comes my way sometime soon!!

Donnybrook

No game this week but I have made a start on the Darkest Africa figures!  More later once there's something to show... at present I've undercoated them all and started on the flesh with a few of the explorers and Askaris.

In the most recent issue of Wargames Illustrated was an interesting article/extended advert for 'Donnybrook'... the new large skirmish game from the League of Augsburg people. 

I've been seeing increasing chatter about these for a while but this was the first detailed look at them [after an interesting article in the previous issue].  Shortly after I came across the latest post from Legatus Hedlius discussing the rules which he'd just acquired and posts at Bleaseworld showing off some very nice figures being painted up for use with Donnybrook.  Definitely a sense of growing momentum then.

So with a sense of inevitability I succumbed and have ordered the rules this morning!  Once they arrive I'll do a more detailed review.  From the bits I've read though these are designed to cover the 1660-1760 period and include a number of scenarios and settings ranging from fighting Berbers in Tangiers through the WSS to Jacobite skirmishes.  The rules appear to have quite a few similarities to Sharpe Practice which is no bad thing....

Of course none of these periods are ones for which I actually have figures... that would be far too sensible!  I do however have some ECW figures which were part of a project to build up 28mm English and Scots armies until I realised that I would never have the concentration span to do much about this.  I do however have some English foot and pike and cavalry and some Scots Covenanter infantry.  I also have a box of Scots cavalry which would make very nice Mosstroopers.  These had been destined for eBay or possibly being kept for use with the excellent skirmish rules, 'Once Upon a Time in the West Country' but I'm hoping Donnybrook may buy them a reprieve! 

I'm not sure how easy it will be to adapt these...I'm guessing it should be fairly straightforward: a bit of tweaking for less effective muskets and more emphasis on pike but hopefully nothing too taxing. 


On an unrelated note I recently picked up a ruleset for Pathfinder... the fantasy RPG from Paizo publishing..  These are essentially D&D 3.5 edition but produced by a different company following some kind of schism in the assorted companies that were producing them [which I didn't really understand!].  The rulebook looks really nice and seems a real improvement on my last set of D&D rules [2nd ed.]





I've also just noticed that my post count has ticked past 20 000!  Many thanks to everyone who's popped by!!!

RPGs and Toast Toppers

Occasionally in the blog I've mentioned that my son and I have been playing occasional Role Playing games.  He came across my old copies of AD&D up in the loft and convinced me to run a game and much to my surprise I rediscovered how much fun they can be.

Since then we've tried out the games I had and I've gradually been acquiring second hand copies of games . I've now realised that this is turning into a bit of a collection, especially of a particularly unwieldy genre of games from the 80s...ladies and gentlemen I give you the stat-fest that is Fantasy Games Unlimited!

More on them in a minute...so far other games we've played include....

2nd Edition AD&D:

2nd was a system that I never really played much and I always preferred 1st edition.  I've just acquired a 1st edition Players Handbook and DMG off eBay and suddenly it's 1979 all over again!

Call of Cthulhu:

Fantastic game and the Cthuhu by Gaslight supplement doubles as a really handy rsource for In Her Majesty's Name.  Probably one of my favourite RPGs but a hard one to run 'on the hoof'... you really need to have prepared scenarios well.  With D&D etc I always found it much easier to bluff my way through the plot as a GM.


Star Wars: Edge of the Empire:

Gasp!... a new game that doesn't date back 30 years!!  Actually very good once you get your head round the weird dice system


There are a couple of games that I've found lurking in a box which we haven't got round to as yet:


I played in a Fantasy Hero game back in the late 80s when I first moved down to Surrey and it was one of those really memorable campaigns that sticks in the mind...quite dark and violent as I recall.

Gurps is a system I always liked but for some reason, apart from the basic rulebook, the only supplements I have are really rubbish... Ice Age and Riverworld!   I don't remember actually buying them so I can only guess I picked them up cheap somewhere in a moment of madness.

So... Fantasy Games Unlimited...

FGU games seem to have a certain 'reputation'... often words like 'unplayable', 'overly complex' and if we're being generous...'deep'... seem to get used a lot.  Actually these are the games I remember best from my 80s role playing days.  If you've never played them, they tend to have a points based system for building characters, a shed load of derived stats worked out by quadratic equations and lots of unnecessary rules [the Space Opera rules for trying to catch something which has been thrown to you, which seem to go for pages are a good example].

Despite this they do produce games that enable you to produce an in-depth setting and that can be tailored to the world in your head [...or at least the world in my head...no idea what's in your head!!!].  The individual mechanics vary from game to game but each reflects the setting.  A good example is Bushido's balancing act of violence and swordplay alongside a clever honour system that means characters have to think carefully about how they're behaving.

So far we've picked up Space Opera [mentioned elsewhere in the blog and generally viewed as being unplayable but one I've always had a soft spot for],. We've played a bit of this and despite the complex character creation it works well [if you ignore half the rules].

Bushido [lovely setting... haven't played it in 30 years though so who knows!]...

...and most recently... Aftermath.  This is a particularly grim post-apocalypse RPG which I played a couple of times at Uni and loved.... think very gritty Fallout.  You're characters are likely to spend most of the game on a quest to acquire a few tins of beans only to all die of radiation sickness before they get them, but I seem to remember it as being great fun.

Of course I realise I'm looking at this with 30+ years between me and the last game and there's a real danger in going back to old favourites... I'm still haunted by a return trip to Saltcoats in Ayrshire: to me it was a childhood paradise of beaches and amusement arcades... when we went back a few years ago it a depressing run down seaside town that was effectively shut!  Similarly there's a tin of Toast Toppers in the kitchen cupboard that I'm frightened to try in case it ruins another wonderful childhood memory!!

 

“No man ever eats Toast Toppers twice, for it's not the same savoury snack and he's not the same man.” Heraclitus [if he'd ever experienced the wonder of toasted ham and cheese...]

It hasn't escaped me that what I'm actually doing is rebuilding the collection of RPGs and games that I had in Glasgow in the 80s... probably for some nostalgic middle-aged reason.  Oh well... I can think of worse things to collect and it's cheaper than going out and buying a sports car!

Star Wars and Samurai

There's been a bit of a lull since my last post. 

Since the Force on Force game at Guildford I've re-played the scenario in a game vs my son, who to be fair can usually kick me all over the park! The results came out much the same... a bloody tussle between both sides before the Rebels nicked the trucks and drove off into the sunset.  As he pointed out [not entirely unreasonably!] the forces need a little bit of tweaking for it to be a more balanced scenario and certainly the rebels preponderance of RPGs needs reducing.  Possibly because of that the game [and round 1 at Guildford] ended with burning vehicles everywhere... I really haven't got the hang of them!

Since then I've also played a very enjoyable Star Wars themed game of Stargrunt.  I last played these rules a few years ago and, despite some of the mechanics remaining a bit murky, they do seem a good rule set which reflect well games where there  are very different troop quality and tactics.  In this case the solid, reliable drilled forces of the Empire vs the rather flaky Rebels.  We decided to approach the game using 'historically accurate' tactics for the Stormtroopers [I know!].  In true George Lucas style this meant marching steadily towards the enemy in the open while failing to shoot anything... I like to think I played [and lost] with a lot of authenticity!!!

Keeping up the Star Wars theme...

Periodically I've mentioned how my son and I have been dabbling with Role Playing Games.  So far we've rediscovered AD&D [...ok...], Call of Cthulhu [... very good...] and Space Opera [...good, but long winded...].

Recently we came across adverts for the latest Star Wars RPG game, Edge of the Empire from Fantasy Flight Games.  There's been a Beta set of rules kicking around for a while which had passed me by and I discovered the new 'proper' rules were about to be released.  In a moment of madness I ordered the rulebook [not cheap although comparable with other RPG rules it seems].  The book itself is pretty hefty at 440 odd pages long and is a really nicely produced tome.

Character generation is pretty straightforward... choose a race, choose a class, allocate points to skills and buy equipment.  There are 8 races to choose from [including Wookies and Droids] and 6 classes, each of which has specialisations.  The emphasis seems to be on creating a game that is 'cinematic' in the way the story unfolds which is true to the films and suits the type of game I like.  The setting is during the 'proper' Star Wars films and events take place just after the destruction of Death Star I although I think people have set games in the earlier Episode I-III setting.  The game also includes some really nicely produced background fluff for the SW universe and rules for starship combat which I haven't got round to yet but which again appear to be very 'cinematic'.

The defining feature of the game [and the one I'm still trying to get my head round!] is the range of special dice which are used.  There are a selection of opposing dice which are rolled in order to succeed in actions.  At a basic level these are opposing skill rolls based on skills and characteristics but extra factors [and dice] can then be added in or upgraded or downgraded to reflect things like environmental factors [a passing cloud over the moon casts a deep shadow...], setbacks [... a twig snaps under your foot...], etc.  The resulting pool of dice give an indication of whether the character has succeeded but qualify that so that the result may mean, for example, an action succeeds but raises suspicion and so makes it harder for following characters.  There are a whole load of factors involved here and it does potentially seem overly complex but it does allow for the GM to give his or her own interpretation to the dice and use these to steer the story.  There are also Destiny Points which allow players and the GM to directly change results [... naturally it's all down to the Force]... the neat feature here is that if the player uses a Light side point to positively influence  a result, this is then changed to a Dark Side point which the GM can then use to bugger things up so there is always a balance.

I'm still trying to work out how practical this dice system will be in practice.  We haven't actually played through a scenario yet but have tried out a few examples to try and get it straight in our heads and it does feel as though it could work once you get into the swing of it.  This does mean, of course, that you need to shell out for some special dice with appropriate symbols on them.  The rules do give a method of using ordinary polyhedral dice and there is a download available to print stickers.  Inevitably though its easier just to buy the special dice!  There is also an App available for your tablet or iPhone which is actually quite neat and can also roll dice for the Star Wars X Wing game as well as 'ordinary' dice.



the SW dice App

FFG appear to be planning a whole range of supplements for classes etc but there is also, as you'd ecpect, a whole load of stuff appearing online to add to the game, including extra races [Ewoks... boo!...and Jawas...yay!!], scenarios etc.

It's probably still too early to say if this is 'the' SW game but there are some interesting mechanics which could work if they haven't made it too complex [and I say this as someone who liked Space Opera :)  ] but even so, the book's a very nice thing and would appeal to Star Wars fans generally.



Giving in to temptation....

At some point I plan to review the list of projects that I produced at the beginning of the year but I already know I've failed miserably to stick to a plan [like that's going to surprise anyone who knows me!!].  My latest moment of weakness...apart from the Edge of the Empire rules... has been pre-ordering the new Ronin Samurai skirmish rules from Osprey and 2 of the factions from North Star.  Yeah... like I really needed to dabble in something else!! 

My son has also pointed out that I got really frustrated trying to paint Samurai in 15mm so how is it going to be any easier in 28mm?  I'm hoping it will be but I have a feeling I may have set myself up for a fall!  Of the sets I've ordered are monks so at least there will be lots of Saffron Robes instead of intricate lacing!!!

The Bushi and Sohei factions which I've rashly pre-ordered...will I never learn!!!!

In Her Majesty's Name and other stuff...

Normally when  I've been to Salute or another big show I buy a few bits and pieces which then languish in a box or in the loft.  Eventually I might get round to painting them up and, who knows.... actually playing with them.

This year having bought the North Star, In Her Majesty's Name figures I was keen to actually make a start and get something painted.  I bought the Servants of Ra and the Scotland Yard set as well as the rules and decided to have a go at the Egyptian cultists.

Having looked at the box art I decided to stick largely to the red robes (it somehow seems appropriate for your traditional Cultist].  I decided the Eye of Horus on their chests looked a little too ambitious for me though and left their robes plain.

I'd been less sure about painting the group leader Akhenaton as the combination of a black suit and eye shadow seemed a bit daunting but the shading worked well on his suit and I decided to ignore the eye detail as it would have ended badly!

Eeek... a Mummy!!!

Sairah, the drug crazed Hashashin daughter of the groups magical professor [no stereotype left unturned here!!] was also a bit tricky... lots of silky clothes and a slightly flimsy foot joint which I'm still not convinced about... but worked out ok too... The robes looked kind of washed out in the photo due to the lighting but are actually a light turquoise.

Sairah...

...and her father, the improbably named Professor Abdul Abulbul Abir

I also acquired a large steam mole burrowing machine-thing from Ironclad Miniatures which doesn't quite fit with the Egyptian theme but is a really nice model....

...it'll go much better with Callum's Ironclad underground people or possibly some mad scientist types.

And finally I've made a start on my new Peter Pig ACW Ironclad ships....

CSS Virginia

The Virginia and the USS Monitor

On a different topic entirely, we've been rediscovering RPGs [there's a post on it somewhere from last year]... Call of Cthulhu has been a big success including the Cthulhu by Gaslight variant which all ties in nicely with the steampunk theme [or is it VSF...and what's the difference??]

Our latest venture is Space Opera, the old FGU game. 

Those of you who've played it are probably sniggering by now but I had good memories of this from many, many  years ago...in fact I have a soft spot for most of the FGU games from the 80's.  The game is, according to most reviews, pretty unplayable but I always felt it had a really nice flavour and is broad enough to let you play anything from the Star Wars high fantasy type game to a more gritty Traveller style campaign.  So far we've established it has a mind numbingly long character creation system but does include a 'Wind Factor' stat for characters [stop sniggering]....