I had a few 'spare' minutes this morning before I had to go to work, so I used them productively by preparing the next batch of Heroscape™ hexed terrain (seven triple tiles) for painting later today. I also had a chance to check the tiles I have already finished ... and I am very pleased with the results!
Work, however, was much as I expected it would be. Today's computer problem seems to revolve around the fact that the password to log on to the system was changed overnight ... but the person responsible for making the change 'forgot' to tell anyone. When you do eventually manage to log on, you then discover that for some inexplicable reason the start dates for all the courses (information that was in place yesterday) have disappeared, and now have to be entered manually. One is already beginning to wonder what tomorrow’s 'problem' will be.
It is not yet midday, and I am already fed up and cannot wait to get home to paint some more terrain. Ah! The pleasures of paid labour!
Work, however, was much as I expected it would be. Today's computer problem seems to revolve around the fact that the password to log on to the system was changed overnight ... but the person responsible for making the change 'forgot' to tell anyone. When you do eventually manage to log on, you then discover that for some inexplicable reason the start dates for all the courses (information that was in place yesterday) have disappeared, and now have to be entered manually. One is already beginning to wonder what tomorrow’s 'problem' will be.
It is not yet midday, and I am already fed up and cannot wait to get home to paint some more terrain. Ah! The pleasures of paid labour!
Good Afternoon Bob
ReplyDeleteA quick question, I seem to recall noting a post you made some time ago about using smaller scale forces and table sizes?
Like you I began with a couple of Donald Featherstone books and a large helping of airfix figures - ruthlessly converted from whatever was available to become whatever I needed - the Robin Hood set were especially useful I recall!!
We've recently moved to a house in the yorkshire Dales and my wife has generously granted a room as a dedicATED WARGAMES ROOM - SADLY THE MOST APPROPRIATE SIZE OF PERMANENT TABLE i CAN MANAGE IS 6'x4' - ANY BIGGER AND THE REINFORCEMENTS WOULD HAVE TO BURROW through the table from the carpet - or remain trapped in their cupboards. My question is - have you found a combination of rules, force size and table size that still satisfies our basic desire to command imperial - sized forces ranging across continent-sized terrain!!
My favourite periods are the ACW and the early part of WW2 ( so Poland, France and the desert really)
kind regards
Ken
Ken Hanning,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comments.
In a recent comment on one of my blog entries I think that I mentioned that my current wargames table is in fact two tables, each of which has a fold-over top. Each table has an folded top that is 3' x 2', so that when they are unfolded I can set them up to be 6' x 4' or 8' x 3'.
However, most of my solo games a fought out on a 4' x 3' area, which is small by most people's standards. My answer to the small table top was to fight higher level battles (i.e. 1 base/stand = 1 battalion) using 'Megablitz' for World War II or a variant of the 'Red Square' rules for earlier periods.
As an alternative, I might fight brigade-level actions with 1 base/stand = 1 company, using my own 'Red Flag and Iron Crosses' (for World War II) or 'Redcoats and Natives' (for colonial).
More recently I have moved to using 15mm-scale figures on a gridded surface (either squares or hexes) with 1 base/stand = 1 company.
These solutions have worked for me, and may work for you. In the end, it all comes down to a matter of taste and aesthetics.
I hope my reply has been of some help,
All the best,
Bob
Good evening again Bob
ReplyDeleteFirstly many thanks for the courtesy of such a swift and helpful response. As a new visitor to your site I suspect that i should devote some serious time to exploring your various posts and links to get up to speed.
Your point about 15mm is well made - I've started using 15mm after years of refusing to ( claiming poor eyesight etc for painting - however the purchase of a magnifying glass on a stand with clamps has made painting ok again!).
I'm keen to explore the higher level organisation idea - I doubt that my wife will wear a table up for long enough in the "civilised" parts of the house!
We recently visited an old wargaming chum of mine, a chap called Steve Sykes, and I was most envious of his dedicated room for painting etc - and if I'm honest - I spend too much time in prepping units etc - and not enough in actually playing.
The inspiration I regained from dipping intoi your blog was the desire to get gaming again more regularly - essentially solo for the most part I suspect given my rural locale.
Many thanks again - much appreciated - time to go and finalise Mrs H's evening rations preparation!!
Ken
Ken Hanning,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure to read the first comment that you sent ... and an equal pleasure to read your second.
I must admit to that I prefer 20mm figures, but for anything before 1914 it tends to be somewhat easier to find suitable 15mm figures. I still have quite a collection of old Peter Laing figures, and they were very useful as the detail had to be painted on. This made it possible to use some of his more ‘generic’ figures for a wide range of different wars.
I have also developed a painting style that would not win me any painting competitions but does mean that when I want to, I can get units onto the tabletop quite quickly. If you look back through my blog entries, I think you will find the technique that I used described somewhere.
Higher-level games give the opportunity to be a general commanding at least a brigade rather than being a lieutenant or captain commanding a company. As a result, you don’t need to get involved in the minutiae of each combat; it is the result of each combat that is important. This, in turn, means that combats can be dealt with by the use of some quite simple game mechanisms, which in turn speeds up the game.
There are several other blogs that you might find very useful. These include MrFarrow 2U (+ Jack & Amy’s!!) DBA 1500 Onwards Page (which has examples of lots of small armies that he uses to fight a wide range of interesting battles using DBA or HOTT rules) and Napoleonic Wargaming (this is Paul Leniston’s blog about his Napoleonic Wargame campaigns, which he and his wife fight at their house in Spain; his armies are quite small, but he seems to get a lot of fun out of using them!).
I hope that you continue to read my blog on a regular basis, and find something of use to you every so often.
All the best,
Bob