Conquerors and Kings and Warmaster

For our August session we played Peter Pig's Conquerors and Kings (2023 edition) for the first time. Wahj brought his Romans and Carthaginians and some hills he build specifically for these rules, and we spend the afternoon working through the rules.

As expected when trying out a new set of rules, we got some stuff wrong, but I think over all we got a sense of how the game plays. I played the Romans, which I did not handle boldly enough, and by game end I had failed to occupy enough grids to win.

I also realised that the Battle Tactics are an important consideration not just during play, but also during army-building (and vice versa I suppose), since some tactics mean you can get more mileage out of cheaper troops.

I like the more abstract way combat and positioning are handled in this game. I hope to get a Roman vs Sassanid game on soon. In the mean time I have ordered some Tribal Germans to be painted (an opponent for yet another Roman army!).

For our second game FG and I played Warmaster. It's an old game which we used to play a lot back in the day (especially the Ancients version) but I am unfamiliar with the Goblins list, which seems to be quite weak. Nevertheless it was a joy playing with the well-painted figures.

I have been very busy with life and am three RPG reports behind. Various factors have caused attrition to our player pool, and I have made the decision to stop my weekly RPG sessions for a while until we have a more stable pool of players. This may mean more wargaming in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Relief of Luckpore and Alpha Strike

Martin was back in town last weekend and six of us managed to get together for a couple of games, beers, pastries, and dinner.

The Luckpore game was a little lopsided, with the British side having too much of an advantage. This is likely due to us playing it as a once-off game instead of in the context of a campaign, where the British become saddled with Fatigue and low ammunition as the campaign progresses. I will need to make some tweaks to the game to make the contest more interesting for both sides. I have ordered a few packs of Essex Mughal musketeers to paint as matchlock men for an Indian prince, so we will visit these rules again once they are done.

For the second game we played a game of Alpha Strike. Now that we are more familiar with the rules, play is faster and more relaxed.

For the game in August I hope to run a game of Peter Pig's Conquerors and Kings, and maybe a game of Deth Wizards.