Stoke 20th July

The 2008 Stoke Challenge

Just a brief entry this time. The Stoke Challenge was a day of locally popular games organised into a tournament format: not a show as such, but some of the Shows North team were there, and we were flying the 'ancients' flag. Mark Fry (Armati League) and Jonathan Murphy (Stoke) had organised a Triumph of Cavalry 'one off' Armati Doubles event. There are very few Armati doubles events around, though the format has worked well with other rules sets, and multiplayer games 'at home' are commonplace. There was a little bit of jiggling on the day, as a result of which Mark played one of the armies single-handed, and there was an extra (and well-appointed) Roman Army in the mix (a Ghaznavid army having been left behind ... but that's another story ...)...

I was there to play in the Armati, but there was DBMM also, plus, out of our period, FoW and some Wings of War...(with some familiar faces ...)...

In the Armati event, Chris and I used the 'Triumph of Cavalry' period's jack of all trades army, the Abbassid Arabs, and finished a respectable somewhere in the middle - losing to Craddock and Murphy's Romans (which should have been Ghaznavid), and narrowly getting the better of Mark's Romano British (Arthur and all ...)... There were also 2 Tang Chinese armies. There were one or two rules clarifications to resolve during the day (as much because Armati players are too relaxed to have bothered reading the rules properly as resulting from different interpretations between local players and the League players ...) ... but no real complications with the format, or the extra generals and slightly bigger armies.

OK ... if you must know .... Roy Boss and Rodger Williams won using their Late Roman (Eastern) army, followed by (2nd) Mark Craddock and Jonathan Murphy - Late Roman (Western) - and (3rd) Mark Fry - Romano British.
Thanks to the Stoke organisers for a great day's wargaming. Here's some of those Romans.

Knuston Hall, 4 - 6 July

COW 2008

Conference of Wargamers

Well ... July comes round again ... and time for one of my 'best weekends' of the year ... COW ... The Conference of Wargamers. Wargame Developments' annual weekend of wargaming...

To dispel a few common myths about COW/WD: no - you don't have to be invited to join (you can click the link in the bottom right hand box of this blog for WD's website ... and you can do it all from there...); no - you don't need any special qualifications ... just an interest in wargames, game design and presentation; no - you don't have to wear a cardboard box on your head (but if you think that is the way you can capture a certain something in your game, this is one of the places where no-one will raise an eyebrow!); no, it isn't 'anti-' the Society of Ancients ... and is frequently attended by current and former Officers and activists (... Presidents, Treasurers .. that sort of thing ...)... as well as by the author of the DB WRG games, by the (RFCM) Conquerors and Kings team etc. and many of the SoA games designers ...
From big games with big maps, enabling you to tackle the kind of problem missing from many conventional games , to ....
... little games with little figures, giving a compact session's quirky entertainment, there are few wargame styles missing from the packed COW programme.

For the ancient and medieval enthusiast, Mike Elliott, co-author of 'The Battles of St. Albans' (Pen & Sword books 2007) contributed an engaging illustrated talk on the first battle (1455) - including a positive i-d of the point where the Yorkists broke through the timber buildings and stormed into the town centre - and a run through of a quick-fire WOTR rules set, 'The Sunne in Slendour'....
... details will be appended when I have them. Warlord Japan got varying treatments, from role play to RFCM's new figure game Battles in the Age of War (in which Bushido meets the bloodiest of barons ...). I contributed a development session on a card game inspired by the death of Cleitus ('Dinner with Alexander' ... more on this anon .. it may well make a Slingshot inclusion ...) ... and on Sunday morning, several of us put together an Ancients Mainstream review, discussing and demonstrating the current wealth of options the conventional tabletop battlegamer has to choose from (OK, with a nod to WAB and DBA, and a lot on Armati and FoG ... well it was our session and people were sensible enough to get us to focus on the stuff we know and like...).

Of course, COW is much more than the strand that is directly relevant to the SoA Shows North blog. Excluding impromptu 'bandit' games, the programme was pushing 50 sessions and part of the charm is trying new things. What is noticeable to the ancients enthusiast is perhaps the games less commonly played in our period: both the huge operational and 'mega'/multi-player games, and the individual and skirmish-style games (driven as much by role play and adventure gaming). Few eras have had the tabletop battlegame refined to the level of precision and smoothness as the ancient and medieval period. But every year, COW opens up a wider wargaming experience from which there is still much to learn and develop.

Well, 'enough of all that wishy-washy stuff' I hear you telling your computers, 'what about proper toys on the tables ... ' ... OK .. I finished my COW weekend pushing Byzantines and Turks around in a first go try-out of Impetus, helpfully put together by Fred Cartwright. I have said elsewhere that all the current 'new' games are good and work well - the writers are good at their craft, and our understanding of what the player expects from the period is well tested. The same general presumptions apply to Impetus... it clearly works ... it clearly is a thoughtful treatment of the period. It would be unfair to say much more based just on a first outing (save that all the participants seemed to feel they wanted to see a bit more of it - which is positive) - and the fact that the simplified game is available to download (here ... ) is a bonus many will appreciate.
All in all, a great weekend, plenty to think about, and a wealth of interesting games and ideas.

As for the welcome to ancients enthusiasts - well I'm very grateful to COW
organisers, Tim and Bob, for allowing a little space for the Society to leave
out some of our publications for attendees to browse .. this always allows us
to 'shift' a few games and join up a few new members.

This year, of course, our display included a new visitor to COW - the shiny
new Slingshot ... resplendent in its laminated colour cover. Thank you very
much, everyone who had a look and were kind enough to comment.

The feedback has been very positive - even those fellow travellers who
don't do ancients seemed pleased to see a (now) veteran periodical brought
fully up to date.

COW 2009 is now in the planning stages. If you've not been before ... maybe its a treat to consider next time round.

To game enthusiasts everywhere and all the WD crowd: a prompt on this theme - the Society of Ancients offers a prize for the best/most innovative new non-commercial wargame set in the ancient a medieval periods (SoA Competitions details here .... ) . We are taking submissions now. If you have a game that fits the bill (or have seen one that you think we should consider) drop the Secretary a line. If you have a game that needs a bit more development, think about booking yourself into COW next year and taking it along.

COW 2008? Thanks to everyone. It was a great weekend

Martin's 'dirty' DBA

More of our DBA outing at Phalanx

Back with the plot ... as briefly touched in the general entry for Phalanx, the entertainment we provided was Martin Charlesworth's 'Dirty DBA' (and by dirty, he means, as far as I get it ... quick 'n' dirty ...) - so no unnecessary frills ... just quick as you can, from intro to playing the game.

4 pieces of terrain are flipped into place, and the visitors get a choice of assembled armies ....

Martin ran the games, and provided standard opposition with his Later Persians.

The Greeks proved the most popular pick to oppose them, and Martin was happy to allow any number of players to command the armies - even 4 youngsters taking 3 bases each in one game! A recipe for disintegration ... yes. But actually, with bits and pieces everywhere, they won.


Well, a wargamer? Outnumbered 4:1 by kids? What chance did he have?

Anyway, I've asked Martin to send me some notes on the rules (and tweaks) which I will post as and when. Meanwhile, here's some gratuitous eye candy ...

In addition to the ever popular Greeks, to face off the Persians, there were ....

So, some subtle - some, perhaps, not...

The final score was 7 -5 to the Late Persians (the 'home team'), and it provided a constant stream of entertainment.

Thanks for a great session, Martin.

Gladiators

OK - here are the scales I like for Gladiators ....
This posting is partly to show I read the comments you send ... partly to illustrate why I'm not bothered with 28mm ... and partly just because I like gladiator figures (hey ... it's the Society of Ancients - it's allowed)...

Actually, if the brilliant Revell 90mm plastics had been available all along (and if there were more than just these two, of course) ... I think there's no doubt this would be the winning general purpose scale.. they are chunkily impressive, obviously robust, and retail for under a fiver! Come on Revell - make a few more variants!


No - they're not real people, they are toys!

Even so, the little guys still have a charm all of their own - so if you go properly big for a combat game, there's still scope for a Slave Revolt army (and no real need to be too scrupulously 'purist' ... mixing a few gladiators into the ranks tells you something about the characters, even if they are no more likely to have fought in 'costume' than Napoleon's guardsmen!...)
... and so, just for fun ... here are some of those 15s again:



Enjoy.

St. Helens, 21st June

Phalanx 2008


My space vacant (yep - I'm behind the camera!), Martin (back to us) running the game.

For Shows North, 'Phalanx' was back to something like normal after the Games Expo (so me late after queuing on the M6 in atrociously British summer weather whilst the 'overnight' road works were still being lifted ... thanks for that, Highways Agency...).. but thankfully I'm just the stand for this one - Martin Charlesworth entertains the public ... and is local and able to hold the fort. Thanks Martin - the input of local enthusiasts is brilliant and priceless for the Society.

Actually, it was more frustration than disaster ... we were there by 10 ... just not in time comfortably to have the literature display up as the public were admitted. Fortunately, with the game ready and running, after ten minutes or so all was well with the world.

Phalanx is one of those excellent regional shows ... maximum convenience and helpfulness (especially if you are running late), minimum red tape and regulation. No parking fees, spacious venue, inexpensive cafeteria, helpful local support, sensibly priced Bring and Buy and a good range of traders.... Need I say more? And it always rains in mid June, anyway ...

The stand was the usual Society material, but greatly enhanced by the new-look glossy Slingshot (well done Mark and Nick) and the freshly arrived Roma Invicta game (well done Phil and Nick): and thus plenty to talk about and new stuff to browse.

To get people thinking about Ancients, introduce youngsters and entertain vets, Martin was once again running a back-to-back DBA challenge.

The Society of Ancients Challenge.

Martin takes his Persian Army ... explains his 'dirty DBA' (quick start, pick an army, lay down some terrain and keep it simple) .. you pick from a choice of challengers..


He started with a bad trot .. but pulled it round during the course of the day.

Impressively, 12 games were played in total, using all of the available armies. Most popular were the Classical Greeks and their sturdy wall of spears (refreshingly popular even amongst youngsters who didn't really know the history that made their choice so appropriate - and despite the obvious temptations of the '3 elephant' Indians!) ...

In the end (and despite some sledging from me...), Martin finished 7 to 5 ahead of the game.

I will post some pictures of the DBA armies when I've done a bit more editing.

Elsewhere, their were some attractive games for the Ancient and Medieval enthusiast ...

.. including former Slingshot layout maestro (author of Lytel Guphan, and the man who sorted out the impressive art work for Corvus, the Saxon Shores game etc. ) Tony Hughes, with a neat looking (and busy) Siege game...

... as well as good looking contributions ... wargames in progress ...

... and stuff to admire...

... and if some of that looks (shall we say) 'big' ... here's something very small: Stephen from The Baggage Train popped over to show off his 10mm Romans ... and they did look neat (and he did renew his subscription!)

well - if we can put a 28mm Roman on the cover of Slingshot, I'm sure I'll get away with a 10mm unit on the Shows North blog!
Making a weekend of it ...

Now, I did list the attractions of St Helens earlier on in this report .. well, there's more: the Gentlemen Pensioners have a well-appointed refuge courtesy of Steve and Gwen only 20 miles or so from the show, and whose phenomenal hospitality extends to accommodation and a 'biggest game of the year' Sunday... a chance for some of us showteamers to settle down and play a wargame! A chance for Steve to put up his 12x6 table and wallow in toy soldiers.


Gratuitously off topic, here is a snapshot from the 4,000 figure Shako refight of Borodino: OK, we didn't quite finish it (!), and maybe Shako (which did work quite well) isn't quite abstract enough to handle quite the levels of forces ... but as the expression often has it .... it was fun trying!
Well, that was my weekend. Thanks to everyone for putting so much into it. Same again next year? I hope so.

Thanks for a great Show, Spartans ...

Thanks for a brilliant weekend of hospitality, Steve ...

And thanks for putting on the DBA games, Martin (a collection of photos will follow shortly)..

Birmingham, 31st May - 1st June

UK Games Expo 2008


OK ... I know - no ancients content in that photo at all - I just wanted to give you a feel for the event. This was not a regular wargames event - but a more general games fair ... so although, amongst the magic, dragon chasing, and gangster cleansings, a FoG event was being played (and Flames of War on the Sunday ...), the venue was full of families, suited-up roleplayers and self-confessing boardgame geeks ... not quite the general public we meet at Milton Keynes - but still a refreshingly diverse mix of people who don't yet know they want to play historical ancients! Edgebaston's extensive Clarendon Suites are the elegant venue for this sprawling event: lots of rooms, lots of traders, lots of demo tables and even more visitors...

So not a lot of space left over. This was our first visit to the Expo, and very much an exploratory outing. The organisers had provided us with an 'information' stand ... so somewhere on which to lay out Slingshots and games (the guts of what the Society of Ancients does ...) but no linked gaming or demonstrating table (which was OK, as, forewarned, I was covering the event solo..)..

The Expo is very much about playing, and joining in. The organisers' preferred style is for rooms centred around games to try out, with trade and information stands surrounding them - preferably sponsoring the tables in front, and selling the games being hosted on them (so the show is like a vast 'try it and buy it' bazaar...): so, a great idea, though not a model that exactly matches a non-commercial association like the Society of Ancients. Needless to say, I would have loved to have been able to set up the full 'Shows North' participation version of Gladiolus, and I think it would have gone down very well.

Remember them? They certainly draw visitors in.... They take 4' x 4', though - not an option, even if I'd had them! Fortunately, as well as 'the big fellas' I have some 15mm Gladiators (which, of course, actually fit on the board that comes in the Society Game Pack ...)..

These allow a Gladiolus game to go almost anywhere - and so I was able to set something up, and show interested browsers how the game works. Of course, I'm a big fan of the 15mm scale - and even though they are small, I still think they look OK...

Good enough to merit a few gratuitous photos, anyway. Gladiators are such a great subject for pictures ... For those of you that are bound to ask, I think these were a mixture of Museum Miniatures and Outpost(?) ...

... then mucked about a bit by me so the equipment is a reasonable match to the descriptions designer Andy Gittins gives for the (6) specific gladiators built into the game (but its a while since I did them). For 15mm figures, I think they have photographed up nicely ...
The Expo? an enjoyable weekend, and the Society's range of games proved very popular. I think sometimes we don't make a big enough play of the diverse selection of games written by our members and published by the Society of Ancients over the last 15 years: from these Gladiators to the Medieval Tournament, from Ancient naval battles in 'Corvus' to the re-issue of Paddy Griffith's rampaging 'Aquitaine' ... and in the middle? Dynastic politics, Dark Age skirmishes, battles for the lordship of the Steppes, and the innovation of Graham D Evans and the De Matrica Bellae 'matrix' game. Oh, yes ... and more gladiators ...
You can get all of these from the Society - they are listed in Slingshot, and Peter tells me the shopping option for them will soon be up on the website - but I'm wondering if here, or somewhere like it, isn't where you should 'find out more ...' I'll see if we can't get a bit more supporting material up somewhere ... the games are such a great resource.

The Expo? yes - I hope they will invite us back next year, and I hope we can play a fuller part. I understand the Field of Glory mini tournament went well - so perhaps there will be more of an ancient/historical flavour in the vibrant mix, next year.

Thanks, everyone
(for more on the UK Games Expo ... click here)

Newark, 25th May

Partizan '08 Kelham Hall, Newark, 25th May

Thankfully, I forgot to take my camera to Partizan ... so showteamer, Chris, made sure he got some pictures for us with his camera (which is better than mine!)... Excellent.

For Partizan, we returned to the Poitiers theme, and my developing DBA scenario.... 'Froissart's Poitiers' (so styled, because it features a really significant hedge and ridge - just as Froissart describes)...

Basically, the game is a part-way DBA Big Battle ... the English have a standard DBA army, but a position magnifique (to borrow, appropriately enough, from the French ...).. The French have 2 DBA army sized battles (+ the Marshals as supernumerary elements not counting for losses ..).. representing the first and third parts of the army... with which to assault it.

The whole of the French army is deployed on foot, with the exception of the two Marshals of France, Clermont and D'Audrehem. The Black Prince is provided with a foot or mounted element, and chooses which to be when he first moves in the game. The second French Battle commanded by the Duc D'Orleans did not participate in an organised way, so is not represented.

I will include a full scenario when the experience of a few more shows has refined it down - fighting two battles (in both senses, really) is a precarious balance ... it makes the game take longer than DBA really should ... but most of the teams presenting games at the battleday seemed to reckon this was the most legible way to do Poitiers...


This shows me removing the defeated Prince of Wales from the first game of the day (losing all ends up to a red hot youngster - becoming a speciality of mine, it seems). Aficionados of the game will well understand that once in combat, you might get overlapped, and an overlapped Knight General can end up fighting on a 3 against an overlapped Blade on a 2. This creates that situation where the battle can be immediately lost if you roll 1 and the youngster rolls a 6. There is a rule of wargaming which predicts this will always happen.

The pictures show the first evolution of my new terrain, replacing the commercially pre-flocked boards we used at Triples earlier in the year. It was a partial success. I have tried to copy Mark Craddock's 'rolling foam' idea which looked so good at the Society of Ancients Battleday (remember these ...) ... but my colouring was far less lush, and my foam was lifting a bit at the edges .... Version 2 will be much better!


The whole thing was constructed inside a pasting table (so folds out quickly when arriving at a show ...) and was the right shape for the battlefield once I switched the hinges around. I think it's a good idea, and I love the way it folds away to go back in the car (no more bits of broken polystyrene!)... but this is just the first go at it ...

Returning to the scenario, I've dealt with the Captal de Buch's outflanking manoeuvre by borrowing some bits from HOTT: if the English roll a 6, they can use it to allow the Captal and his detachment to slip away from view (behind the hill, as it was, historically) ... if/when another 6 is rolled, the concealed force may reappear anywhere on the table edge. This has worked very smoothly to allow the English their outflanking stratagem.

But overall, did the hugely advantageous English position allow them to survive having to fight two French armies, one after the other?
Well, we played through 4 times ... and given my excellent combat skills when taking the English army (charging the Prince of wales in, and rolling' one's!), there were 2 French wins and 2 English. Perfectly balanced, but more by incompetence than actual design, maybe. Of course, historically, the English win ... and then some...

Ah well.

Thanks to the Newark Irregulars for their hospitality, and to Dave Lanchester of the Lance & Longbow Society (with who we team up for this show - and who is very forgiving of my idiosyncrasies!)... Thanks to the players for making it fun.

We will be in Birmingham next weekend, at the UK Games Expo... We don't have a full 'wargame' space, but I will take along Gladiolus and some of the other SoA games (if anyone wants to try them out). I would love to hear from Society of Ancients members who might be able to lend a hand over the weekend (at the Expo, or any of the scheduled events - we could always do with more). Don't hesitate to get in touch.

(figures in the pictures by Graham Fordham, photos by Chris Ager)