Noisemaker 29 Games Played pt. A

Here are the initial deployments for the British. The French are on the hill...

Here the British start to cross the river. Artillery fire rains down on them.

British crossing the river on the bridge.

Artillery fire heats up from the ridge.

The Brits get close the first time, within canister range even, but they are thrown back.

Here we see that the cavalry battle on the British right was a stalemate. Note the burning house, set ablaze by British artillery.

There is opportunity on the British left.

If the British can push, they can trap the entire French army by taking the defile...

The French realize the danger and begin to move, and the British advance on the ridge...

The French decide to try to stand against the British attack on their right, the British left.

On the British right, a second cavalry attack threatens the French artillery, left out to dry by the moving French cavalry.

The French cavalry make a foolhardy charge against a couple British artillery batteries. They are destroyed by canister shot.

The fighting on the British left. French reinforcements are continuously arriving.

The fighting on the British left stagnates, the French will get away, but not without a cost.

Noisemaker 28 Terrain Segment

Here is picture one... The 2x2 ft. section was made by using white polystyrene... It works good... Take a long look at a creek somewhere in your area to understand exactly how things work... There will generally be a bank, with some areas more accessible than others. These accessible areas will be perfect fore fords.

Here is picture two. I have painted the fields using green acrylic paint.

Here is picture three. I have flocked the green fields using dark green flock from a model railroad terrain flock.

Here is picture four. I have painted the "deep" areas of the creek with a dark blue. This is best done away from those areas where sandbars will naturally be. Again, take a long hard look at a creek in your area to see how this works in real life.

Here is picture five. I have added some light green, and I have begun to mix it with the dark blue. The dark blue and the light green will generally mix well to make the medium depths. Don't worry too much about the deepest depths, there will be a remnant of dark blue in the middle, even if you have to paint over it. If you are not satisfied, just add more dark blue after this step.

Here is picture six. I have added some yellow to the sides and mixed it with the green and the dark blue. The yellow areas are the shallowest areas of the creek. You can see that this gives a really nice sandbar effect in the creek, while still giving the illusion that there is water, even in the yellowish green areas. I really like this method of making creeks.

Here is picture seven. I like to paint the banks of the creek in an earthy tone... Perhaps there is a better color. I have not found one... Take your cues from real life.

Here is picture eight. I have added dark green areas where there will be forests. I have chosen to make the forests removable for ease of putting men there.

Ryan's Warmachine Pictures Pt 2

Here's some more Warmachine pictures.

Ryan's Warmachine Pictures

Here's my warmachine pictures. I might try and throw up some of my Romans too!

Which miniatures should I play?

So, I've been debating on getting into some miniatures games. And I'm asking for some guidance. I've played MageKnight Dungeons (it's a dungeon crawl not the massive battle one) and also HeroClix Marvel. And I have some of those figures still around. I liked Dungeons and they had some great miniatures but the ones they are producing now don't look that good. Plus, there's not too many people that play. As for HeroClix, it was fun but the rules in my opinion were really hard to understand and I hated the 'activation' markers. Also I did play Warmachine once and loved the miniatures and the play. So here's my options:
1) Make my own game rules using my MageKnight Dungeons guys (like what many others have been doing)
2) Make my own Heroes games using my HeroClix (a little more complicated with all the different hero ablilities)
3)Start Warmachine (I like the miniatures and the play)

Any other suggestions? I'm looking for something that's not too expensive, that's why I like Warmachine ($40 to start...cost of a board game). What do you think?

Return fire!

Return fire! Well...may not since I'll be talking about Euro-games which are very much non-war games. I wouldn't call them anti-war games but they generally do not have pieces being destroyed. Thank you to WargamerBert for his excellent article and I will try and respond for the Euro-games. First I want to note that I love both wargames and euro-games. After all I am the current reigning champion of Samurai Swords! Yes, WargamerBert was the reigning champion of 3 times until my sneaky ninjas came and have triumphed during the remaining three past games. But I digress. Since WargamerBert has listed his responses so shall I.

Image from Flickr: Gun by aterpeirun

1. Eurogames are quick to play. A typical game can last from 30 minutes to 1 hour. This makes it easier to play more games. Set up time takes usually only a few minutes.
2. Eurogames have easy rules (now I know that this does depend on the game but it is typically euro). This is nice because it allows an easy entry into gaming. Where many people may fear the massive set up/pieces/time and 30 page manual on how to play of wargames, they will find eurogames easy to approach. This can lead them into learning different gaming systems and then the approach to wargames will not be that difficult.
3. Eurogames do promote non-violence. Typically any pieces are not destroyed but 'pushed' or there are not destruction of pieces but gathering of resources.
4. Eurogames promote social interaction. Now all games have social interaction but eurogames promote it within the structure and rules of the game. Imagine Settlers of Catan without being able to talk to the person next to you and persuade them to trade your piece of wood for two ores!
5. Eurogames are typically inexpensive. While a typical wargame costs about $30-50; a eurogame typically costs $10-30.
6. Eurogames provide different systems of strategy. While a wargame will teach you tactics and military strategy; eurogames will teach you a variety of strategies with each game. This way you will learn the basics of strategy and this helps to increase your learning and your ability to play other games.

Well...I only have six compared to WargamerBert's nine points! But hope this brings some good discussion of wargames and eurogames. What do you like? Is there anything to add to eurogames?

Noisemaker: the Podcast

I've joined the podcasting revolution, guys! Please check it out! The show is about an hour long, and I think it holds up well. I review a book on wargaming or military history, talk a little bit about the hobby, and tell you what my project for the month is... And then you get to contact me! And you can listen wherever you have a computer or an ipod. I'm not on iTunes yet, although I'm sure that if someone likes my game, iTunes will pick me up... So, check my podcast out, and let me know what you think!

The project for this past month (August) was an ancient Trireme combat game... Enjoy!

The podcast:
www.noisemaker.libsyn.com

Ancient Trireme Rules
www.triremebattle.blogspot.com