Wargaming A Re-Think/Planning for Isolation Games.

I've been having a bit of a re-think regarding what I need to be painting, playing and why. For reasons that I will not delve into again and as things stand re: Sars Cov 2, I am unable to get to the club or any shows for the foreseeable future. This has come as quite a blow to me as we I value my club gaming deeply and another year of not being able to get to a show is almost unthinkable. Unfortunately this is my reality for now and something that I have to come to terms with. I suspect that I am not alone in this(?).

I suspect that I am a bit late on the question of how to play games safely during the pandemic. There has certainly been a lot of virtual games played via Zoom etc. I can honestly say that if I had realised that I would not be in a position to be out and about at the club hows again, I would have jumped into that early on. However naively it seems, I honestly thought that being double vaccinated would have enabled me to be out and about again.

I have spent over a week tidying/wading through the studio space (just to give you some idea of how big the job is) and I now have room to put up my 6' x 4' table. Originally the plan was to expand the table size but for now this is what I have and the surface I have to play on.

So, where does that leave the painting? The three armies that will continue to command my attention and they are, of course, my Anglo Danes and Early Byzantines and Enemies mainly for Swordpoint from Gripping Beast (other "Ancients" sets will hopefully be played- the units are based as to make them as ubiquitous to as many rules sets as possible). 6th CE Byzantium and 11th CE England are my main areas of interest and where my passions reside at present. This is unlikely to change in the long term.

Anglo Danish Unit:

Early Byzantine Unit:

But what of being able to play games? As indicated I cannot go out to the club safely so I am going to have to do a rethink of what periods, which rules and what terrain I am going to concentrate my time upon.

Thus far my thinking lies something along these lines....

I wanted to find a set of rules for the Sudan of which I already have a the beginnings of reasonably sized collection. I have a copy of A Good Dusting, Sands of the Sudan and the Black Powder Supplement Blood on the Nile but all of these rules appear to me to play better on a larger sized table. The first meaningful set of rules for my current needs I discovered two years ago via a demo game the Iron Brigade(?) were exhibiting on a Wargames Illustrated YouTube video Kevin Calder's Up the Nile rules at The Other Partizan(7:15 in- see image above). And later another YouTube WI Up the Nile review of the rules quickly made up my mind to order a copy. I was quite enamoured by the idea of the rules centering on attrition; no base removal until the unit was "dead" etc. I ordered a copy of the rules from the publisher, the ubiquitous Dave Ryan at Caliver Books read them through once and was surprised to find that I picked up all the basic concepts quite easily! Anyone who knows me will know that my brain is a bit of a sieve when it comes to digesting wargames rules so this was a major tick in the box for me! The game can easily be played on a 6' x 4' table which was ideal.

I have has a copy of the first edition of Death in a Dark Continent for about a decade now and again, these are rules that can easily be played on a 6' x 4' table. during my five year wargames hiatus Death in a Dark Continent had been tidied up and released in hardback book by North Star so this is another natural choice for me. I have no miniatures however, what wargamer worth their salt does not like to indulge in the  pleasure of scrolling through page on the net choosing miniatures?!?

I also have an eye on getting into playing Congo from Studio Tomahawk and will be basing the miniatures I am using for Death in a Dark Continent on sabot bases so they are fit for more then one purpose. I have had a copy for years and they have never been played!

Same thing re: basing for The Men Who Would Be Kings. A ruleset that I am very familiar with. It's a  very adaptable set and can brought forward and back in time with ease.

I am also thinking of Infamy, Infamy! using Late or Middle Imperial Romans and their Germanic foes and also have a very keen eye on the Italian Wars Rich and Nick from the TooFatLardies on Twitter currently have in a playtest stage. I still have an eye on using Furioso for larger battles but as explained above, this is something I am going to have to keep in the shelf for the future.

I am also finally going have to take serious look at putting some terrain tiles together. I have a couple of gaming mats which will do for now. However, given that I am stuck at home and have most of the material needed to make some terrain boards I feel like I have no excuse to at least have a go at them. This is something that I will be turning my had to at a later date, I need to get the miniatures painted up to get the projects off the ground.

I would love to hear from anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances or perhaps those who just play solo games on a limited (6' x 4') space and what solutions you have managed. I have an email form on the right hand side of the blog should you prefer not to leave a comment and get in touch in a more private fashion.

In summary, at least temporarily, things are going to be scaled down and a few new adventures begun.

Up the Nile- Forces Thus Far

Again, with the studio out of action it has given me a little time to catch up on some photography work. To help me take stock of where I am with various projects too- and stick to the "Rule of Threes"! :>) 

These are all the miniatures were completed before I started collecting the beautiful Aventine Miniatures Early Byzantines, which, being my dream army for the last twenty years naturally sent me off at an extensive year long tangent!

The first unit for m y Sudan collection was completed way back in 2015. One of the few gaps in the Perry Miniatures Sudan range was that of the Mounted Infantry Company under L/Captain Humphreys. Thus a small degree of conversion work was called for. The Mounted Infantry models are taken from the Command and Troop packs of the Perry Miniatures British Camel Corp with their "undersides" filed out (enter the "bastard" file!) with putty work done on redefining the puttees. The horses are taken from the 10th hussars packs. 

All the imaged below are "clickable" for anyone interested in taking a closer look.

Mounted Infantry Company:

The next lots are two two units of Beja. Unlike the Mounted Infantry Company I needed to work out a way in which to paint a heck of a lot faster then I might normally do. This was achieved by the judicious use of washes on the clothing but not as one might expect on the flesh. Two of the Wargames Foundry Triads were to suffice for that job. I think it took me three or four sittings to do each unit. That is very quick by my standards! 

Beja Unit 1:

This unit was painted with a very dark fleshtone - starting with Vallejo Model Colour German Cammo Black Brown then with three layers of the Wargames Foundry Dark African Flash Triad.

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Single Bases:

Beja Unit 2:

It was not until it came to taking the pictures of the second unit that I realised that it is four bases short of where I would like it to be. It is going to be out with the mini's tonight in order to sort out the next twelve needed to complete the unit. The second unit was painted with a more of a red red tone for variation. I forget what I have used for the initial base colour (I suspect it was Wargames Foundry Musket Brown B?) but I can say the rest of the layers were done with the Wargames Foundry African Flesh Light triad.

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Apologies to the sticky paint fingers on the banner! It will be replaced as soon as I get to finishing the last few bases! 

As explained above, the project came to a standstill when the Byzantines started dropping through my letterbox. After a year and five months of literally being inside my house; I am under strict Doctor's orders not to venture into any enclosed spaces with any other human beings! I have come the conclusion that this project needs to be reawakened as it can be played solo. For the time being that is where I am so I really do need to adapt to my circumstances. Kevin Calder's Up the Nile Rules are quite simple yet elegant. In brief, the rules are based on combat attrition thus there is little removal of casualties. 

I have finally got around to sorting out the studio space, so soon I will be able to get some solo action in! I do have to get a unit or two of Brits painted up to test out the rules! Yep, more painting required!

Kevin Calder's Up the Nile Rules:

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I am very much looking forward to getting back into the swing of all things Sudan. It is certainly time to get to work on some of the British units to take on the followers of the Mahdi! So, much more to come in the coming months. I have a sneaking suspicion that by venturing back into "Colonial" wargaming I may be opening the door (wide) for more Second Anglo Afghan War action. We shall have to see. :>)