Weekend Report

For reasons I cannot discern for the life of me, I had time to play a lot of games this weekend: five, to be precise, and that's not including the multiple multi-hour sessions of D&D played with my son.

This embarrassment of riches raises an interesting question: "How many should I include in one post?"

I think we can all agree this is a first world problem, as the kids used to say.

After much thought (about 11 seconds), I realized that I don't know when I'm playing next, so I'm going to milk these games for all they are worth!

Rather than chronological order, I'm going to start with the game that accomplished something beyond game itself. It was the last game of the weekend.

 The first "game changer" (pardon me while I laugh hysterically at my own joke) is that I painted the grid you see below. I have long coveted the cream and green chess board featured in some of Bob Cordery's early grid game reports. This is my homage and budget solution - craft paints and kraft paper.

The squares are 4" and the whole thing is 24" square (which is a 6x6 grid. I only mention that for those ,who like me, majored in liberal arts and only took math because they had to). I have used a 6x6 grid with 6" spaces many many times, and while I wouldn't mind a slightly wider battlefield so flanks could mean something, I like that this 24" "board" fits on the table next to my laptop. 

As for flanks, I may borrow a page from the 3x3 Portable Wargame rules and have flanks take place off-grid.

The scenario is Take the High Ground from One Hour Wargames.The rules used were The Portable Wargame, using the two-hits option, and filtered through my memory as I couldn't be bothered to re-read them.

In my defense, I was too excited about my new painted grid.

For reasons I don't comprehend, I see the infantry as two-figure companies. The cavalry as squadrons and the gun as a battery.

 

The other notable impact of this game was that it confirmed my opinions that 1) an ahistorical 19th Century France vs England game is fun and colorful (or is that colourful?) and 2) Two large figures in a smallish grid-space gives exactly the kind of aesthetic I want in a grid game. 

I should add, as it is relevant, that I am a minimalist at heart. Or at least, I don't like having a lot of stuff. I dislike clutter (at least when it comes to storage and wargames tables. I believe when you're creating something, like painting miniatures or writing as song, take up all the space you need with all of the things). 

There's this notion of "the silent to-do list" that I find an apt metaphor. Things that I'm not using weigh on me.

Because I want to free up some storage space and Russia is slated for the chopping block for various reasons, I wanted to make sure I could still have a 19th Century European battle when desired - particularly as part of my Antarctica Lost World (if you missed those posts, it replaces Venus).

Huzzah! No need to keep the Russians or even the unit of khaki British infantry (I'm reducing the Europeans to three units plus a leader, supplemented by heroic civilian characters, often the heart of VSF gaming write-ups).

As for the aesthetics, that's a personal matter (at least in popular parlance. when i was a senior philosophy major and a grad student in philosophy, i would have been happy to argue otherwise), but as I mentioned, it's exactly the look I was going for. 

I'm tempted to try it with WWII figures, but a I tend to equate two figures with a squad. It's a me thing.

The French arrive. The battle is joined. I honestly don't recall who won.