[Who Asked This Joker]

Norm S wrote:

I find the biggest problem is quality gaming / productive hobby time, getting displaced by distraction, with it being too easy to plonk down and sit in front of a computer screen. I have started to recapture my midweek evening game time by putting a small game out on the table, but more needs to be done.

I’ve got a Napoleonic game setup on the game table.  I played through turn 1.  There it sits now for a month with the French eagerly awaiting to cross a lightly defended bridge.  😀

We can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink even if that horse is our own selves!

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I wish I were better at getting stuff done.  I paint a good bit, get maybe half the project done and then something pulls me away.  Often this leaves me permanently “away.”  🙁

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Bede probably actually knew a Pict or two.  Either they could speak a language different from English or Brithonic/Welsh, or they spoke English with a rather impenetrable accent like many might speak a second language.  Either way, it suggests that they spoke something else other than English or Brithonic/Welsh.  It also might suggest that their language blended with other languages spoken in the area much like Brithonic was a blend of the Celtic language and Latin.

I believe there is one “origins legend” of the Picts dealing somehow with the Irish.  A tribe landed in Ireland and the Picts wanted to stay.  But the Irish said they could not but could settle in lands to the east.  As payment for their help in settling this land, the Picts would adopt the Irish custom of every other leader would be a Queen instead of a King.   It’s off  the top of my head.  I don’t remember where I read it.  That this legend exists further suggests that maybe the Picts came from some place else.  Maybe they were very early Norse?  It would be hard to prove or disprove since the Northmen used Scotland as their stomping grounds at a much later date which would likely taint any evidence for or against.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Wonderful looking ships!  1/2400 scale is surprisingly easy to paint.  I have been 3D printing pre-dreadnoughts for the Russo-Japanese war.  Glad to see the pre-dreadnought era getting some love!

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

A friend and I tried to play a game of Harpoon back when it came out.  We found it horrifyingly complex and never actually played the game.  He bought the computer version and rather liked it.  I don’t know that he plays it any more.  It’s not really my area of interest so, no.  I don’t play it anymore…or maybe I should say ever. 😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Wait!  You can upload directly here?  The editing features were already a boon.  I  had no idea you could actually upload images!  Yet another reason to switch from another site that shall go unnamed.  😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Well if you got banned, clearly you did something bad.  Here’s a little music to go along with your “banning”.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUjUz_QEh48

😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I presume you mean Early Imperial Romans?  I don’t own them…yet.  I don’t think they are all that interesting of an army.  Republican Romans are far more interesting as they have a wide variety of enemies to fight.  Interestingly enough, they are not a must for the period.  Any two armies can fight one another.

WW2 Germans are a must if you fight WW2 in Europe.  I have these.

Napoleonic French Army is a must if you are fighting the Napoleonic wars.  I started historical gaming with this army.

I am coming from a standpoint where I provide both armies when table top gaming.  So naturally, if I game the period, I will have those you mention.

 

 

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Some great ideas here.

The figures are absolutely stunning.  I pretty much envisioned Middle Earth to look something like the figures you have selected.

Well done!  Looking forward to the first report!

John

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

“Is it to share your models/games/thoughts and see if others like them too?”

I’ve got this neat idea and I think the world should know!  Fantasy/LotR in 20mm for example.

“Is it to ask for feedback or advice?”

Did I get those Afrika Korps tank colors right?  How dark is the blue in a French Napoleonic uniform?  Those are the kinds of answers I seek when I post.

“Is it just for chatter with likeminded hobbyists?”

Like many hobbyists I could chat for hours about just about anything in the hobby.

 

 

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Nice write-up Graham!   My son and I have been playing the game for a bit now.  We just finished our first intermediate scenario.  As for the force field thing, I would have said that the Warlock is protected by missiles coming from the outside.  It is an expert scenario after all!  Never the less, it sounded like a great time playing!

“As for looting bodies, surely you do that only when all the bad guys are dead?”

Depends on the scenario really.  If it is a “dash to safety” kind of scenario, then you either can take the time to loot the bodies or run to victory.  There are other scenarios that are the same.  I think you can construe any scenario that specifically ends when all baddies are killed the game is over as a loot at your leisure type of game.  We played the Warlock’s tower the other night and the game ends when the Warlock is dead.  We kept playing until we looted the tower.  That included getting wandering monsters etc because it made sense that they would be a threat.

John

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

If you are hitting a plate at 90 degrees there should be very little, if any, variation.  If you are hitting a sloped plate,  most are sloped at least 45 degrees, there will be a fair bit of variation.   A shot that hits a sloped plate will effectively be penetrating more armor than if it hit the plate flat.  On top of that, the shot will tend to slide and redirect making sloped armor even more effective.  How much or how little is up to you to decide.  I am much more in favor of simple games that mimic these effects than those where you make calculations to get the exact penetration value.

One story that comes to mind occurred between a Panther and a Sherman during the battle of the bulge.  A Panther (several really) took up position on a ridge where they spotted a Sherman near a village on a lower position about 1000 yards away.  The panther fired a round and it bounced off the Sherman’s frontal hull armor.  It fired a second round and also bounced but the shot may have gone through the Sherman’s barrel with a very lucky hit.  The third shot penetrated the frontal armor of the hull and destroyed the tank.  Three hits and the first two did not penetrate despite the height advantage which would have somewhat negated the sloped armor advantage of the Sherman.

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

This travel pamphlet in shows what they think the fort might have looked like.  h  See page 2.  Curious that they went with stone for the walls.  I would have pictured the fort as having earth and timber ramparts with a wooden gate area.  Whatever the case, the fort picture is pretty darned cool.  I want to make one now!

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Wup!  Here it is.  Bryn Euryn is the area/mound/something. 😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

“The numbers argument above makes sense to me but I have to confess – again – we don’t know.”

Yes.  This.  Probably a more sane explanation than I could deliver.  😀

I agree with you that it must have happened over several generations.  At least 3 and then some.  410 which is the “Come back Rome!” generation.  430s which is about when St Germanus visited.  450s which is the coming of the Saxons.  500 which is Mount Badon.   520s for Ambush/Battle/Rebellion of Camlan.

“I suspect the castle/fortress is the one near Aberarth – Castell Allt Craig-Arth (Dinerth) in Ceredigion not Snowdonia ”

I did a bunch of research of this many years ago so that one day I could be on the History Channel.  😀  Anyway, if memory serves, it was an improved hillfort on the coast in/near Rhos.  This place I think.  I’m not so good with detailed Welsh geography so I may be off with Snowdonia.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Yep.  Sounds like a flawed program to me.  Consider some of the concerns you raise.

If we accept 2% as the number of “warrior” burials, then we can use that to determine how many burials we might find if all things are constant.  There might have been as many as 2 million people living in Britannia at one time.  Maybe that’s high and maybe that’s low.  But lets go with that for argument’s sake.  Now, 2% of that is 40,000.  That’s a lot of dead people when you consider that most armies of the time probably measured in the hundreds.  The poem Y Gododdin says that the King of Catreath raised an army of just 300 elite warriors to fight the Saxon onslaught.  Even if there was a levy accompanying that, that would probably not be more than about 4  times that number which puts his army under 2000 men.  More likely, it was probably about 1200 Saxons (a broad brush term) vs the men of Gododdin.

Given that near contemporary sources claim many battles against the Anglo Saxons, I can only guess it was a steady walk backward towards now what we call Wales…the land of the “Foreigner”.

As for wounds, blunt force trauma would be detectable but spear thrusts would be almost non-existent to the modern forensics since the would is almost always through the flesh and not bone.

I’m squarely in the camp of Arthur being a title rather than an actual name.  There is a fortress in Snowdonia called “Din Arth” or “Fortress of the Bear.”  Arthur might have some sort of meaning of “Strong Man” so may have been their war leader, high king or warlord.  Most of the other theories I’ve heard over the years were not believable.  Products of wishful thinking.

Finally, the supporting written work on the subject can probably be examined in about 1 day.  Nennius, Bede and Gildas all shed light on the subject.  Y Gododdin , while hard to read is probably the only “detailed” source of weapons, equipment and fighting style that might have been used during that time in Dark Age Britain.

Interesting thread on an interesting subject.  One day, someone will make a good, detailed program on the subject….someday.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Bad idea.  You want ALL of your advertising to reach as big of an audience as you can.  Many people don’t FB.  That’s fine.  That’s might even be prudent.  A company needs to have mechanisms in place to allow all to buy in an easy fashion.  They also need to be able to reward ALL customers with sales, offers and so forth.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I just finished up my last 6 West End Games storm troopers.   I enjoyed the first 6 or so I painted but when you’ve painted up 40 or so, it tends to get very…unenjoyable.   White, black and blackwash are the only colors needed.  Madness I tell you.  Madness!

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Like kyoteblue, speed is generally not the issue.  Simpler is what I want.  That said…

 

Neil Thomas, has gone a step too far with his One Hour Wargames.  I think those rules are a bit too simple!  All of his rules based on Wargaming: An Introduction are great!  Simplicity in Practice is also a fine set of rules.

 

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Saving throws give both sides something to do in any combat situation, whether you are attacking or are on the receiving end of the attack.  I quite like saving throws in moderation.  My personal favorite is still that which is in Wargames (Featherstone).  A 6 is relatively unarmoed.  5-6 the man has a shield or body armor.  4-6 he has both armor and shield.  This would work great for your Dark age rules should you choose to go with saving throws.  Whatever you decide, keep it simple.  few steps to resolving combat and you will speed things along.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Troll Roller confirms…

44.444% chance of rolling a 5 or 6 on one of the dice.  55.556% chance of rolling at least one 5 or 6 on the 2 dice.

For comparison, 27.778% chance of rolling a 6 on one of the dice.  30.556% chance of rolling at least one 6 on the dice.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

5th  regiment of line, France.  There I said it.  Next question.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I play.  I game.  What I do or use really depends on what comes out of my brain first.  Oddly, I seem to do the same thing no matter what I call it.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

When it fiirst came out, I invested heavily in Space Marine.  The plastic infantry boxes (starter forces really) were well worth it at only $10 at the time.  I think their were 3-4 sprues of stuff in each box which gave you several platoons of this and several platoons of that.  Lighter forces to be sure but that was that.  Then, with the 2nd edition came more detail and a quarter of the forces for the same price.  You got 1 sprue for $10.  The blisters seemed to increase in price as well.  With the end of that product came the end of Epic for me.

Back in the 90s, I bought some paints at half price from GW because a friend worked at a store and he was able to use his discount for me.  I liked them so well that I continued to use their paints for many years after.  When the line changed to its current iteration, I slowly backed away and started using Vallejo paints.  At one point, I was desperate for some primer.  I was looking for Armoury Black primer but the hobby shop did not have it.  So I was going to bite the bullet and buy GW primer, a pretty good product.  But at $18 a can, I just couldn’t do it.

GW has been gone from my system as a gaming company for many years now.  The paint line left my system  about 5 years ago (I think) and I’ve never looked back.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Early WW2 North Africa is my favorite era and theater of operation.  Very nice looking collection.  The Caunter scheme really looks the part.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I agree with others here that the country was readily called NAZI Germany from ~1933-1945.  The army served the party in power AKA the NAZIs.  It is natural to want to call it the German army of the time NAZI, especially since the product of their conquests generally pushed the NAZI agenda.  The only reason I can think they want it changed is because the word NAZI is generally a taboo word in Germany, likely where a good many forum members call home.  Never the less, I believe it perfectly correct to call the German army of the time NAZIs.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Don Glewwe wrote:

What about this makes it distinct/worth consideration amongst the existing Pulp games? NOTE: I’m an eternal maker/tinkerer, so am with the OP from an allegiance standpoint.

It was written by Howard Whitehouse.   I’ve played several games of his and played in a couple he’s run at conventions.  Always had a great time.  I can only guess that this game will be just as fun.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

1. Pinned is a modern term but probably not a modern concept at least in general.

In modern terms, soldiers generally use cover by small units.  Fire teams and squads is the term in the US Army.  Section for UK?  Individuals and even entire squads will become pinned.  The soldier is too afraid to stick his head up and shoot back.

You don’t really get that in warfare from the Horse and Musket period on back to the beginning of history.  You do get a similar effect with disorder as men shrink back behind their buddies or even break ranks and run away.  In that sense, you do have a “pinning” effect but it affects a much larger body of men.

So the concept of softening up the enemy is certainly their but warfare is so different that “pinning” is not quite the same in modern times as it is any other time.  Even Napoleon developed tactics where he would “pin” his enemy with a limited attack and maneuver to the flank to finish the army off.  Probably the earliest example of “fix and flank” tactics but the pinning attack is more or less just a way to distract the enemy from the real attack.

2. Pinned units would remain in cover and would be limited in it’s ability to attack an enemy.  Optionally, it could potentially retreat to another position.

3.  In modern terms, a volume of fire would be required to pin a unit.

4.  Pinning is often portrayed in steps like “pinned” and “suppressed”.  Often it predictable which is not very realistic.  Other times it is resolved with rally checks to see if the unit gets enough nerve up to fight.  Whatever the case, the concept is real world and any inclusion is always welcomed by me in a modern era wargame.

 

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

PSR is a wonderful source for reviews and comparisons of all sorts of 1/72 scale figures.  If the size they measure is within 1mm of the other figures you wish to purchase, then they probably will mix well.  Many of the figures have a link to PSRs size comparison as well.  Not all figures are compared but many are.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Try this.  http://plasq.com/apps/comiclife/macwin/

here is a report done with it.  https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1293907/first-play-comic-style-report

I have nothing to do with either link but I knew something was out there that people used.  Good luck and I hope you post the fruit of your labors here.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

For the record, I also qualify what I am doing at the time by saying “Board Wargaming” or “Miniature/Tabletop Wargaming.”

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Wargaming.  One word.  Not two.  Small distinction, I know but since you deemed this debate pointless anyway, I thought I’d throw that in.  😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Guy Farrish wrote:

Well generally I agree, and modern ways of business sometimes leave me speechless. However – what did he/she mean by ‘meh’ ? Was it a comment at perceived poor workmanship? Was it a comment on the promotion of such work through kickstarter? (I have serious concerns myself about the methodology, too tedious to go through here but with worries about the affect on both the potential manufacturer and the supporter/investor). Or was it some other facet of the promotion about which we know nothing? Now, I would agree the comment was pretty useless, because it tells me nothing about what ‘meh’ means in general to the individual making it, or in this particular case to what it was referring. It may have been a rude, pointless and uncouth dismissal of another manufacturers work. On the other hand it may have had some validity, but either way I can’t tell. Brevity is great but not to the point of being completely opaque.

I’m not really sure the what exactly was meant is all that useful.  Meh means, essentially, “Mediocre” or “Underwhelmed.”  That, in itself, is enough to show that the person was trying to be insulting.  at that point you can just stop listening to what the person says.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

I once dealt with a book seller face to face and was very rudely treated. I used to make it a point to buy a book from them when I went to shows and was set to spend $100 which consisted of 1 game and 1 book.  Of course I set my purchases down, walked away and never purchased from them again.  I don’t even give the booth a sideways glance.  Finally, I returned the “favor” 10-fold by telling 10 people about the incident.  Strangely, at least five of them had similarly been treated rudely by the same company.

So to answer your question, name and shame 10 fold is what you will get out of it from me if you cross me up like that.  😉  That is how rude treatment would work anyway.  I probably would be more like you, Mike, and just put that company on the ignore list for shilling negative comments like that.

 

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

The average 3 banded rifled musket “could” shoot accurately to 500 yards.  However, you are limited to the optical range of the MK-I eyeball.  300 yards is about the beginning of firefight range, usually.  Strangely, that has not changed in a 150+ years.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Mike wrote:

Some nice terrain sir. Do the rules actually reflect being in the snow and cold? Or could they easily be used in any setting?

Honestly, it’s just a theme.  The games my son and I played have always been in more temperate climates.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Norm S wrote:

No idea why my post looks like that (or why I couldn’t get the link to go active), Gremlins at work!

I think you are just showing off. 😉

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

As mentioned above, demographics of the area you live will determine the makeup of your group.  In middle and High School in the late 70s and early 80s, my gaming group consisted of all nerdy white males.

Once I got to college, I joined a role playing group that initially consisted of white males and 2 white females.  Soon after I joined, 2 black males also joined.  Within a year, the small group of RPG’rs had a nice mix of males and females but people of color were lacking other than the two mentioned above.  It was fine.  Nobody really cared one way or another.  Should anyone want to join, no matter who they were, they likely would have been allowed to join.  I suppose if they were somehow particularly distasteful (racist, sexist etc) they would have been shown the door.  But that never happened.

The group I game with semi-frequently consists of white males and 1 white female.  Occasionally the wife of one of the members of the group would sit in and play one of the NPCs.

Conventions are usually diverse.  I suspect this is because people come from all over the region.  I don’t think we have 50% of the gamers as females (not close really) but there is a good many there.  There are varying amounts of people of all colors but, again, probably not representative of the population at large.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Those do look nice.  I’ve been through WGV a few times and saw those were added.  It’s always good to have even more options on the market and 6mm is a good scale to do buildings like these.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

[Who Asked This Joker]

Whirlwind wrote:

For my education on this battle, why would/did the Imperialists put all their irregular/hussar-type cavalry on one flank and all their cuirassier type units on the other?

While “we don’t know” is a good and probably correct answer, there is a tactical reason behind loading up one side vs the other with heavier/better cavalry and it seems to apply well to this battle.  The Imperialists opened the battle with a flank attack directed specifically on the Saxons.  Swedish left or Imperialist right.  Assuming the plan was to turn the Swedish flank and catch them in a vice by holding the center and Swedish right/Imperialist left, it would make sense to load up the Imperialist right with better troops able to carry out a shock attack and break the enemy quickly.

Whether this was a planned maneuver or not is anyone’s guess.  Certainly, the Swedes spotted the danger and adjusted accordingly.  Also interestingly, the Swedish cavalry on their right made very short work of the Imperialist cavalry opposing them, turning the battle into a revolving door battle.  Kind of suggests that the Swedes not only had numbers but a qualitative advantage on that flank.

John

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

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