Gruntz, Pike and Shotte, SAGA, and Mutant Future Weekend Gaming 11-8-12

Had a great weekend at the BArons gaming Thurs-Fir-Sat.

Thursday was a mega Gruntz game. We had 8 players and 35 units a side. And it was the first time we have played it. It was a lot of fun. We played for 2 1/2 hours and with one more turn we would have had a full conclusion. It was a simple meeting engagement. armor, ifv's, mechs, specialists, power armor, infantry. On one side, the Aliens fron the Korden Quadrant, a hegemony of vicisious mercenary worlds. On the other, The Quick Reaction Force of the Humanist Protectorate. Lots of carnage. Pics below:

A lot of fun was had and Gruntz got a lot of positive reviews from the BG's. We will definately be playing more. And based on how monster a game this was, compared to all the other examples and battle reports I've read, I was impressed that by putting gruntz on a single base speeds up play. I am based on Flames of War bases so no individual bases for us. I can't fathom moving single 15's in a game this big. No way. Figs are a mix of GZG, CMG, and DP9. Terrain is homemade, Kato, and AT-43.

Next up was Friday Night. Just me and the BAron. That never happens. It was pretty fun. We played a game of Pike and Shotte with his gorgeous Italian Wars stuff. It was quick and deadly. And fun.Pics:

Pike and Shotte is quick like Black powder so you need a ton of troops. The BAron has a ton, but we didn't want to go crazy just yet. HE is also in the middle of the great rebasing, so no finished bases.

Once we finished Pike and Shotte, we broke out SAGA to give it a whirl. Honestly I had never read the rules, didn't understand them very well, although the booze at this point may have been clouding my judgement. I think they are a good set, I need to read them. They seem like a set that rewards you mightily for knowing your troops, the rules, and the game boards. Not a pick up and go sort of game for multiple people, or those who haven't read the rules. It was fun to see my horde of Vikings finally get on the field. Couple of Pics:

Finally, on Saturday we played Mutant Future. It is the Retro-Clone RPG of Gamma World nuttiness. We had a couple of new players, so we had to fold them into the story. Hope they enjoyed the chaos. I know that most of you are not interested in tales of RPG gaming, so I won't digress too far. In summary, the group, consisting of a Mutant Anteater, A Mutant Wolf-Eagle hybrid, A Mutant Sunflower who is a badass, a mutant human, and a Pure Strain Human, rescued a Mutant Bat-Fox hybrid and released a deactivated Combat Engineering Synthetic from his slumber since the 'big one'. They detroyed a hungry, floating, gamma ray shooting, Gamma Eye that was hunting them for food. Also they got further dragged into the territorial disputes of the goose stepping, jack boot wearing, facist, hated Pig Men Cabals. Fun was had by all. 

For me, as much as I love classic D&D(red cover basic, blue cover expert, or Labrynth Lord), I find myself falling back into easy tropes while game mastering. Mutant Future keeps me on my toes. And my great love and the vision I have in my head of the Post Apocalyptic setting really forces me to be creative. Its a lot of fun if you give yourself over to it. My style is no-prep. Everything is on thefly, with maybe a few whispy plot threads dangling around. A sandbox. Go play.

So it was a fun weekend. Much gaming. I am off gaming this week and next, until schedules for basketball settle down and the rhythn of the holidays is in full force. Happy Gaming.

Pike and Shotte - quick pic

The Baron and I have been talking rules and what we want from a game and rule system quite a bot lately. His interest is focused on the Pike and Shotte rules by warlord. After several different discussions, I broke out my painted 28mm ECW to see just what I had if were going to play P&S straight up.

They have 4 pike stands of 4 on 40mm square bases. And 2 shot sleeves of 3 stands of 4 figs each on either side. (its really 3 units in the game). So 40 fig units. My figs are mounted 4 to a 40mm stand, so that works to start with. My original units were built for 24 man units(6 stands). I arranged them as 10 stand units and this is what I got:

So instead of the 7 units I had, I now would have 4 big units(Battalia I think in the rules) It still takes about 9-12 Big Units to make an army, and 4-5 of those would be cav. So We are a bit away from playing unless we do a proxy unit game. These are probably the army I will do after the Spanish Nappies are done.

A new project.


We have been play testing the Black Powder Rules, and soon Hail Caesar. I really like the rules and the spirit of them. I am really lucky that I have 2 groups of gamers who seem to have hit on them at the same time. and they both can play them for the spirit of the game they represent and not be gamey. Lucky Me!

So after a successful week of playing them, we want to stay in the period, but play another set we love but hadn't played yet. Commands and Colors Napoleonics. We love C&C Ancients and BAttle Lore. You have seen my fantasy armies for the system, but we hadn't played the NApoleonics version yet, so I brought my stuff and 15mm figs to the BAron's new Castle and had a game.

It was fun, 3 generals on each side. We played Vimiero out of the scenario book. A rough go for the BRits if they don't concentrate fire and whittle down the French attack columns. It was fun, and over in 2 1/2 hours. My kinda game.

But while prepping for the game, I decided I hated the basing my collection was on. It served no purpose for me any longer. It was for Age of Eagles, which I have abandoned as a game I want to play anymore. 3/4" x 1" stands with four guys. six stands a unit. Too small, too few figs, and barely a third of any of my painted armies ever got to the table. So I have a new project...the worst thing in wargamming...REBASING!

I hate it, but since my philosphy about what I find fun in a wargame has changed so much in the last 10 years, its time for a change.

Here they are. 6 stand units to go with Black Powder Standard Units, or they can be used for C&C Napoleonics, since base size is irrelevant. Or even in better looking Age of Eagles game, if I were so inclined.(I'm not).

I did a test on the Brits. 6 stands. Each stand is 25mm x 50mm. Same size as my C&C Fantasy mounting. Cav is 6 Stands for Lt. Cav(2 to a stand), 4 Stands for Hvy Cav(3 per stand), on a 50mm x 50mm stand, and Cannon are 1 cannon and Crew on a 50mm x 50mm stand. I think it looks pretty good. Dense and easy to see as a mass of men on the field. I also get to do what I have always wanted to. Have infantry commanders, moounted, with their units, like The Grand Manner. And for the BRits, I get to finally have the room for the Kings Colour and the Regimental Colour on the same stand.

Infantry Unit



Infantry Unit with Artillery Support

Gamers View

Lt Cav Unit

Down the Line

I will do this as time allows. I am going to finish the construction of my foam dungeons and do some doors. Finish the HiMobility 15mm guys. Then maybe the WWWII stuff thats's on the table, or the rebasing effort.

Also looming, playing Pike and Shot with Black Powder. I  have 12 units of infantryand 1 cav painted. The Baron has some as well. I need some more infantry, cav and cannon, all of which are sitting in a box, rady to paint. Its a golden age for the game, truly.