As part of a world-wide Wars of the Roses event, we contributed by playing Towton. It was down to us to see which side - Yorkists or Lancastrians -- would take the prize of the crown. Well...it was the Lancastrians!
The event was held outside and was one of the first games we had payed as a group since Covid restrictions were imposed some 7 months earlier. It was great to see everyone and push lead.
We used a house-set of rules and it played really well.
Here some shots of the battle:
Well it looks like a game is on the horizon. Partly due to changes in public policy and partly due to better weather, we are going to play a large game outside. I am delighted. We have been doing zoom games and meet every week for a gab-session, but it will be delightful to actually see the crew around a table pushing toy soldiers around. I know that those of you in the US and UK have had this opportunity for a little while already. Happy gaming, all.
I have not posted anything in a long time....obviously. I have painted and built terrain, but without a game to report on it seems less important to post. I hope this changes very soon. Locally the health authorities are allowing small groups of people to gather outside. As the weather improves this will mean outdoor gaming. Last summer we did a multi-game mini-convention in our group.. It worked so well that we plan on doing it again regardless of Covid restrictions.
So, just a quick post to say that I am still around and looking forward to gaming. Spring is emerging and hope is on the horizon. Here are a couple of old shots of the past and one for
We played a cracker of a Shako II game using a new scenario by Michael Hopper. Set in Spain, it featured lots of my building sectors crammed together to make a substantial hill town. Fond memories and now with the vaccine being administered there is hope that we will all be able to get on with life, including the madness of toy soldier battle games.
Grand manner gaming means big armies. I know this is relative and I see collections on the web that make my collections look small, but compared to where it used to be my collections are getting quite large. Regarding my ancients to early modern collections, part of the motive here is a house set of rules that I am developing that requires much larger armies. I have about 20 armies that cover this very broad period and all of them need expansion. To give an example, whereas I used to have 16 stands of Marian Roman legionaries (each of 8-9 figures) which suited Armati, I now have 40. Not all of my collections needed doubling, but many have become significantly larger. I must say that this has really inspired renewed interest in all of these armies. While it is a lot of work that will take me years to fully complete (notwithstanding significant increases in my colonial, Napoleonic and WWII collections) it is all part of the fun.
One important point: I don't have to do this alone. While I have a solid collection of some 15,000 painted figures (and about 400 WWII 20mm vehicles), I am blessed with a group of fellow madmen who meet every week (these days in smaller groups with masks on...) who have massive collections too.
So,while I am chipping away at my expansion plans, they all have armies that can fill-in and provide opponents on a grand scale.
