My friend Phil from Charlotte dropped by just after Christmas to drop off a homemade cheesecake (out of this world flavor!) and to do some gaming! This time we did a modest schedule so we wouldn't be exhausted and would have time to complete the games we wanted to play.
As usual, click for larger image and open them in a new tab for the largest version.
Kaiser's High Seas Fleet
Monday morning, we played this game. It was thoroughly enjoyable and moved rather quickly which I thought was great. Game mechanics were fluid and made sense. I played the British (and allies) while Phil was the Germans. It was a British Victory.
Map and counters are gorgeous. Love the 1" counters.
My British fleet was fairly battered after this battle
Had to sneak a photo of this Italian vs Austro-Hungarian fleet battle! I like how the minor powers are involved in the game
Now to sail on to Spain!
King in the North
Monday Afternoon
I have always wanted to get some miniatures for this period, but just can't justify another collection to paint and acquire.
I have had this game on the shelf for two years and Phil wanted to give it a go.
The rules have some translation issues and we made several mistakes in the game play that made the game unsuccessful. We will have to try it again and play the rules correctly. I need to send the feedback to BGG with the rules questions and corrections in the near future.
Once again, this is a different and beautiful game. I played the Carlists and captured a reinforcement location and that effectively knocked out the Isebella forces.
I really love the graphic quality of this game. Because the forces are intermixed throughout the map you truly don't know what strategy to employ. More experience will help with this. I'll see if my local gamers will play this game with me.
Six Sojourns
Monday Evening
BGG Link - I have the Deluxe Edition from the Kickstarter.
What a very pleasant surprise this game was! We loved it. Even my wife enjoyed this! Beautiful graphics and gameplay sucked us in. Another nice feature is that you can finish a game in less than 90 minutes, so why not play twice! Phil won one game and Paige one the second game. Both were VERY close games.
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| Sea Serpents Expansion |
We enjoyed this so much we played the next evening!
Vikings vs Saxons (Command and Colors) - Battle of Reading
Tuesday morning\early afternoon
I just bought some 18mm WoFun Vikings and Anglo-Saxons and wanted to get them on the table. Phil and I have played a LOT of Command & Colors so we thought we would play this Fan-made scenario. We had a blast with my mighty Vikings eking out a narrow victory 8-6!
Battle Background
On about 4 January 871, Æthelred and Alfred brought up the main West Saxon (Wessex) army and joined Æthelwulf's forces for an attack on the Danes. The West Saxons fought their way to the town, slaughtering all the Danes they found outside, but when they reached the town gate the Vikings burst out and defeated the West Saxons with a successful counter-attack.
Among the dead was Æthelwulf, whose body was secretly carried off to be buried in his native Derby. According to a late source, Æthelred and Alfred only escaped due their better knowledge of the local terrain, which allowed them to lose their pursuers by fording the River Loddon
Map setup
I then used my 4" hex map with my 18mm WoFun minis to recreate the battle. Movement trays are 3D printed to allow for me to add a label to each one. I also use these for my To the Strongest games. I think WoFun figures are really perfect for Ancient and Medieval warfare games due to the linear nature of that warfare. A view from the Anglo-Saxon lines.
Simple, but very effective look. Now from my Viking perspective.
Here are several close ups of the figures, movement sabots, and labels.
Viking medium infantry.
Aethelwulf's command:
King Aethelred's command of warriors and medium infantry
Saxons (men of Wessex) quickly advance and disperse the Viking light infantry in front of the camps (tents). The mass of Vikings is stuck behind the walls.
The Vikings use a quick march (twice) to get their main forces from behind the walls. Red cubes indicate hits.
Hits are piling up. As the Vikings I nearly lost my Jarl twice! I was very aggressive with him.
Vikings final push before victory!
The WoFun figures (18mm) look outstanding to me when used in this way. It was a fantastic battle and a very near run thing as if I didn't seal the last Victory Banner, the Saxon dogs would have surely won.
Six Sojourns Again
Tuesday evening
This game comes with 8 different maps and about 10 expansions, and we tried out two more maps this evening.
Phil liked this game so much he purchased it before he drove back to Charlotte!
Fighters of Europe
Wednesday morning
BGG Link - Eric's House Rules Link on BGG
I've been working on some house rules to add more non-deterministic outcomes to the Fighters of Europe and Pacific game rules. I asked Phil to run through a playtest with me. I was the American bomber force, while Phil was the Germans. The Americans won this game. No blow-by-blow battle report just some photos of the game. Once again great components. I'm actually getting a larger map with 2" hexes that will better fit the planes that come with the game.
Bonus Coverage! SYW Game!
Shortly after Phil left I was able to play in a Seven Years War game pitting Prussians vs Austrians. This is Michael's fine collection of 15mm Old Glory figures and his home rules. Austrians were surprised by a Prussian attack on their camp. Still, the Austrians managed to pull out a victory!
I was the Austrians in this battle and struggled to get my cavalry to do anything but rout! Below the steady Austrian has formed up!
My Hussars plowing into the Prussian Grenadiers.
Hammer and tongs!
I really liked how Michael made casualty stands with a die indicating how many hits the unit has taken and a 10mm casualty figure on it. Clever! I ordered some dice so I can do the same.
Happy New Year!!
Good night from Oak Island, NC!
Eric
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