Roman Praetorian Guard

My painting output always slows way down during the summer, this year even more than most. I have R/C flying, camping and yard work all to compete with the painting table. It doesn't help that I'm still getting almost as many games in as I do during the colder months! This is a small batch of Roman Praetorian guards. They're from Warlord's Cesarian line, and include one command pack of lead figures, one sprue of plastic command and one sprue of legionaries. I've tried to choose heads that look the most 'republician' since these figures are really meant for the tail end of the period. In Hannibal at the Gates, these will be used with two soldier stands (extraordinarii) to make up a Roman elite division.

Next up on the painting table, some additional Carthaginian mounted officers. My Carthaginian army has become large enough that my original batch of mounted officers can only command a little over half of the troops! First world problems I guess.....

Bolt Action WWII at Adler Hobby

Yesterday I stopped by the Adler Hobby Boardgame Cafe to do some shopping and visit with my friend Gordon, the owner. Adler Hobby is a full board game and wargame hobby store and also has a gaming cafe, where you can play board games and war games. While I was shopping and visiting, Gordon had a couple of customers come in and request to play his "Italian Steel" Bolt Action scenario. Gordon offered me a spot in the game, and since I had the afternoon free I accepted.

This is a fun scenario, and surprisingly, the small infantry force of elite Australians actually has a fair chance to win against the all-armored force of the Italians. For this game it came down to the last Italian tank available on the last turn to destroy the Australian fortress. Luckily for us, it succeeded. A narrow victory. You can see from the photos below the carnage as tank after tank got knocked out by the plucky Aussies with their anti-tank grenades.

Northern Conspiracy August 2016 Game Night

Last Friday, the club got together for our August game night. Although it was a beautiful summer evening, we still had enough players to run all three games. 


Mark D. and Ross played a game of Axis and Allies WWII ships. 

Mike Coppinger ran his annual "First Man of Rome" mini tournament. This year it featured historic scenarios on each of the tables with scenario victory conditions and in some cases unbalanced forces. I'm not sure who won, but last I heard first-time DBA player Dr. Dick was doing very well (as is the tradition at these it seems). The photo at the bottom of this section may have been the final pivotal game of the tournament, based on how many spectators it had.

I played in Greg's "Chain of Command" early war WWII skirmish game. These rules intrigue me similarly to how Field of Glory ancients did. There are a lot of innovations in it, many of which I don't fully understand. I played on the German side and did well for a while in my sector. In other areas of the battle we were doing well, until a series of rolls allowed the British to have three turns in a row. During this run they rallied their center and used a mortar barrage to destroy ours. The German players morale was crushed possibly even more than the tabletop forces, and the Germans capitulated.

Even with the crushing loss, I went home and purchased the rules. I have to admit, they are fun, even when frustrating.

Greg's game also featured the debut of his early war Germans, which I had the pleasure to have good views of all game long. They're beautifully painted.