1809 Game

It's been a while since my last post - too little time due to work and other hobby priorities.

We had a nice 1809 game, with tweaks to Field of Battle 2 that I wanted to try. Turns out that the tweaks really didn't do much, which reinforces my belief that FoB2 is pretty robust already.

In the game, the French were facing an uphill struggle, as they were considerably under the initial morale point total of the Austrians. Additionally, while outnumbered in units, the Austrians had the advantage of an initial deployment in a strong position.

The French gave it a go, but ultimately ran out of morale points as they tried to press an attack on the town on the Austrian right flank. Good game, but not a close one!

Some photos from the game:

Austrians defend to the left, as the French press the attack on both flanks.

Austrian artillery defends the bridge linking the towns.

Hmmm.  Can't seem to get Blogger to upload more photos - I'll post later when I might have more luck.

Unit Labels - Old and New

In my games (Field of Battle, Field of Battle WW2, Pulse of Battle), each unit has a rating for combat and defence.  The ratings are die sizes, which are rolled competitively vs. the opponent's die to determine the outcome of combat, rallying, movement.  

While it is certainly possible to use a roster, I don't like having to refer to another piece of paper during the game.  Call me lazy.

My system uses 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch steel stands glued to the back of the command stand.  Rating labels are then stuck to adhesive magnetic sheets.  By simple changing out the label, the unit now has its rating visible on it on the table.  

My original labels are shown below:

Functional, but hardly inspiring!

I've been playing around with the label style, and eventually settled on labels that reflected the unit's uniform - tunic color on top, trouser color on the bottom, facing or piping on the left.   Rating on the top and unit name on the bottom.   Examples of the Confederate system in practice are shown below:

I think the new style is a lot more visually attractive, and conveys more information than the old, generic style.  So far, I've created Federal/Confederate and French/Prussian FPW labels.   Its not a fast process, but the end results justify the expense and effort.

2013 becomes 2014

I'm not big on worrying about what I accomplished in the past year.   I've never felt that an arbitrary time block has much meaning...unless it is to define the start and finish of an NFL season.

Other than that - big things in my life this year:

Great vacation with our motorcycles this summer.   I've lived in Colorado all my life, and have travelled all over the US.   For the life of me, I can't imagine living anywhere other than in the Rocky Mountain west region.   Beautiful scenery, unbelievable weather....unless you're contemplating moving here in which case it is horrible here and you should look elsewhere.

This year we survived our bike vacation without being run into by a tourist moron making an illegal U-turn (See 2011) or having our tow vehicle seize up (tow vehicle - see 2011 - its a good thing to be able to get home after a moron hits both of you on your motorcycles and they aren't rideable, and various injuries make it unlikely you feel like riding 400+ miles anyway;  vehicle seizing, see 2012).   A brief word to those of you who don't ride - PLEASE watch for bikes.  You're in 3000 pounds plus of cage, airbags, and seatbelts.   A moment of neglect on your part can permantly change, if not end, a biker's life.   Please, please pay attention when you drive.  That bike rider is someone's spouse, father, mother, brother, sister.  You get the idea.

We lost our Westie (Bailey) this August.  She was a great little dog.   Toby, our Jack Russell, is enjoying his role as "Big Dog" in our home.

Rekindled an old friendship with Bob Jones, thanks in part to his energizing "Getzcon".   As I'm now past the half century mark, I realize that good friends are hard to come by, and that being stubborn is a stupid thing to do.   Thanks, Bob - I'm glad "we're back"!

Part of the joy in motorcycle riding is enjoying the ride, rather than purely looking forward to the destination.   I've learned from the thousands upon thousands of miles of biking that each moment is interesting, fascinating, inspiring, terrifying, confusing, difficult, and many other things all at once or by themselves.   The point is that too often we find ourselves busy being busy, and don't enjoy the ride.   Don't keep point totals on how many figures you paint - enjoy the process of seeing your armies grow, of seeing their character change as you create them.   If you ignore the ride, you'll end up with a painted pile of lead and nothing to show other than the lead, which, contrary to wargamer's beliefs, is NOT a precious metal.

And certainly not to be overlooked is the Denver Broncos magical season.   I cannot express my joy in watching the consumate professional Peyton Manning as he has virtually single handed changed the culture and personality of the Broncos.   Oh  yeah, and he's helped them win a boat load of games too.

And, while last in this blog entry, but first in my heart - my unbelievable wife Lisa.   My best friend and bike partner.  The absolute best thing that has ever happened in my life.  THAT is what makes each day special. 

I wish you all the best for many, many, years to come.

Franco Prussian War Game - And a New Period Project!

We got together for a game last Saturday afternoon/evening to play a FPW game using Field of Battle, 2nd Edition.

French Command Team (Left to Right):  John, Bob, Chris

Prussian Command Team (Left to Right):  Ed (Advisor/Observer), Terry, Greg

Rather than a blow by blow game report, I'll instead do a quick summary....the Prussians mopped up the table with the French!   I think a couple of things (Krupp grand battery rule, ranges relative to unit frontages, French "special" cards) made the game practically impossible for the French to win.  However, they lost with style!  Both sides planned a "left hook" flank attack, but the Prussians got theirs in first, and combined with heavy artillery support from the hill (at the bottom of the photo below), they pummeled the French defending the town and center - effectively destroying the French will to fight (their Army Morale Points hit 0 when the Prussians still had something like 21 out of 24 original points!).

Some photos from the game:

As for the new period project - I'm painting English Civil War!   I'll post more about that project in my next post.....which hopefully won't appear with as much space between it as has happened between this post and my most recent previous post.....



Pulse of Battle Cover!

Thought I'd make a quick post and show the front and back cover for the very soon to be released "Pulse of Battle", the new ancient era, Field of Battle based set of rules.

We'll also be offering playing card quality sequence decks for those who pre-order, and then at intervals after that.   A sample of the sequence cards:

The final card back will not have as much shadow around the title, and the title will either be in white or blue.

Goodbye to a Dear Pet and Companion

August turned out to be a bad month.   Our dear little West Highland Terrier, Bailey, passed away in the very early morning hours on August 19.

Bailey was a sweet, energetic, curious little dog.  As a pup, she delighted in digging holes across our backyard, and catching the occasional sparrow.

Bailey suffered through a variety of health issues in her 12 years, 11 months - 2 knee surgeries for torn ACL's, skin allergies and shots, arthritis, and digestive issues.

However, even with those challenges, she never was aggressive or snippy, ever the happy little dog to greet us when we returned home.  

Bailey delighted in being around people, and was always an enthusiastic observer at games at our house.

Bailey on my lap, intently watching a Pulse of Battle playtest game

As I explaing some fascinating rule concept, Bailey looks down at Toby (our Jack Russell terrier) as if to say "there is NO way you're getting this spot"

The last few weeks have been trying for my wife and I as we deal with the loss.   But - we're to the point now where we can laugh about all the goofy things Bailey did over her beautiful life.

RIP Bailey.   We miss you tremendously.

Back from Vacation

After the last two years of incidents and accidents while on vacation, it was really nice to have a great vacation at Sturgis and in the Black Hills (South Dakota) that went smoothly.  Two years ago, a clown made an illegal U-turn at the entrance to Mt. Rushmore and hit both my wife and I on our bikes.   That took over a year and a half to resolve the health and legal issues.   My advice for any rider out there - make sure you immediately get a good lawyer involved.   You won't be sorry.    Last year, we decided to trailer our bikes up to the Black Hills - in case some moron hit us on our bikes we'd at least be able to get the bikes home!  Well.....all was going great until our tow vehicle seized up - a complete failure of the oil pump and resulting main bearing failure.    It's a lot of fun to buy a new vehicle while you're on vacation.

However - this year went flawlessly.   No vehicle problems, no incidents or close calls on our bikes.   Great rides in the Black Hills, and out to Devils Tower.   Some photos below.

Devils Tower, in Wyoming

 

My bike at Devils Tower

 

 

The Badlands

 

Next up is to finish off Pulse of Battle and get it to the printer.   I'm planning on that getting finished in September.