Irregular Wars Wargaming

Just before Christmas we ran the last playtest of the year for the wee chariot game I've been working on, Bread and Circuses . I would suggest that with the feedback received from playtesters (a big 'heads up' to Tim for the most comprehensive reporting), the game is nearing completion. This game was a simple twice-round-the-basic-track race with six competitors. There are a number of fixed 'classes' that players assign to their chariots, allowing the game to be used in any race setting they like. With the exception of the standard class (which is ... well ... standard), each class has a unique bonus and a corresponding penalty. The starting line up. From the right/closest the camera: an Egyptian (archer), Roman (fast), Mycenaean (standard), Seleukid (scythed), Sumerian (heavy), and Indian (archer). The only extant chariot class that was not represented in this race was the 'agile'. Player order each bound is card-driven meaning that you never...

For your festive reading this week, I have been sent another great After Action Report from gaming raconteur Mark in Thailand. This time the game is  Song of Shadows and Dust , and the setting is Pattayavium, an apocryphal Greco-Roman trading post in Southeast Asia.  Mark writes: Background The Graeco Roman trading post of Pattayavium celebrates the Saturnalian festival every year, with gladiatorial games. The games are very popular, even with the many non-Roman, indeed non-Mediterranean, ethnic groups that comprise the majority of the people. The Roman and Greek expats go to watch the spectacle and think about home. The Asians place wagers on every aspect of the games. Large numbers of visitors come from upcountry and the neighbouring regions, to enjoy the festival and spend money. Everybody's a winner! Especially the Prefect who collects a skim off the bookies. I have been constructing buildings and accessories for SSD since April 2015, and this game uses eve...

Bread and Circuses , the fast and furious chariot racing rules I am working on, allows for races to be run away from the circus/hippodrome. To that end, I've started to mock-up a very simple, stylised set of buildings to allow my 6mm chariots to complete in street races. I just used a cheap box kiddies building blocks which a glued together, mostly in small 'L's of differing dimensions to create a random selection of buildings. I then used a little bit of spakfilla /wall putty to smooth over the joins.  Next step will be to spray paint everything a dark brown, and then use a light coloured, textured paint lightly over the top. With a little skill and a pinch of luck, that will do nicely... And as this is almost certainly to be the last post before Christmas, I'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday season!

Wargaming mate Mark, now a solo gamer in Thailand, has sent through another of his cracking scenarios/battle reports for Galleys & Galleons . His last account can be found  HERE . The scenario: The KhiNok islands, located in the Sondonesian archipelago, are a major source of the birds' nests so prized as delicacies by upwardly mobile members of the Chinese ruling class. No one knows how the birds feel about this. Every year local men risk life and limb in the caves on crazy bamboo scaffolds to harvest the sticky nests. The islands are controlled by a syndicate of Chinese pirates, with shady backing from the Pearl River merchants, and the resource is jealously protected. An annual convoy, heavily escorted, carries the harvest back to China. The Portuguese have long had their eyes on this prize, but lacked the means to grasp it. Now the new Viceroy of Malacca (none other than Don Marco da Pattaya, in an amazing comeback, maybe the story will be told one day) has brought ...

Having greatly enjoyed OGAM , I decided that what I really needed (truly), was an Athene/Athena model to serve as an alternative patroness for my Greco-Macedonians. Athene, daughter of Zeus and Metis (personification of forethought) was the virgin goddess of wisdom and just war - as in, the good sort of war. As such she was often thought of as the protector of cities, and the helper of heroes. In Macedon she was worshiped specifically as Athena Alkedemos, the defender of the people. Many useful inventions and knowledge came to man through the patronage of Athena - olive growing, the plow, the rake, horse taming, chariots, weaving, the flute, and even the production of fire. Although the patroness of most female arts and crafts, Athene walked the line between male and female attributes and is most commonly shown wearing a helmet, carrying a shield and armed with either a spear of one of papa Zeus' thunder bolts. She could also be shown in the compa...

Gryphons – Composite creature combining the head, wings and talons of a great eagle, with the back end of a lion. Famed for their avaricious love of gold, gryphons are never-the-less intelligent and possess the ability to drop small boulders on their foes. Q3 C2 Special Rules: Bombs, Creature, Flying, Intimidating

If ypu haven't already seen it, head on over to Tim's Battleshed Diaries blog for his thoughts on Bread and Circuses , my forthcoming chariot racing rules. Tim is one of the playtesters for the rules, and has been a great help in tightening up any loose ends. I think he's been enjoying himself; Tim writes: "In fact, it soon became apparent from my first play test with the Teenager that having an Archer loosing off arrows at my teams before they'd even started is quite expected by the Mob. By the time my first chariot had finally reached the first bend (chariots are activated randomly), the Teenager already had a team trundling slowly ahead with one of the crew, with a mischievous grin, pointing a spear in my chariots direction. "There are no points for sporting conduct, the Mob expects entertainment. And that's what you get in spades with Bread and Circuses !" Head over to his blog for a fuller picture .

This week I managed to get over to the Old Fogeys gaming den for a great introduction to Of Gods and Mortals , the mythology-based skirmish game by Andrea Sfiligoi. I pitted my Greco-Macedonians under the patronage of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, against Jim's Hiberno-Celts led by the shining god Lugh of the Long Hand. We decided to play a simple 'come get some' fight. Jim, as the defender, placed a couple of hills, a Celtic village and a field of ripening grain. Then we deployed. The forces are outlined below - I'll only give gamey details where the profiles were not taken directly from the book. The Beloved of Artemis The Greeks were led by Artemis, supported by Herakles wearing the Nemean lion skin, a centauris (Q3 C3 Long move, Dashing, Shooter: Long, Good Shot), the Kalydoian Boar (Q3 C3 Armoured, Dashing, Forester), 4x satyr archers and 8x Macedonian Hypaspists (Q4 C2 Armoured, Steadfast). The Followers of Lugh The Celts were tyranised by Lugh, a...