Irregular Wars Wargaming

Mark in Pattaya has just sent me another game report - this time from playtesting the introductory scenario from Palaeo Diet: Eat or Be Eaten . All in all, I think Dennis let him off rather easily!  So here we are in the Palaeolithic, courtesy of the Time Service, watching a party of spear-armed hunters (L-R Nigel, Bill, Reg, and Raquel) stalking a lone mammoth, who happens to be called Dennis. The hunters are in luck, or possibly are good shikaris, they are downwind of Dennis so he won't be alerted by their smell. Not yet, anyway. The wind is blowing diagonally from L to R, from the red to the white dice on the table in the first photograph. The hunters loped towards the small thickets, planning to use them as cover to get closer to the mammoth. All succeeded in rolling two activation dice except Bill who failed one dice. Luckily Dennis remained unresponsive to this (continued to peacefully graze).  Raquel opened discussions by moving out of cover and ...

Over at the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers , Bertie has just posted another of his epic accounts of their latest game of Galleys & Galleons . It is well worth checking out, so please do head on over !

IN THE BEGINNING … Palaeo Diet: Eat or be Eaten (PDEE)  is a table top hunting game set in a pre-historic world where our hunter-gatherer ancestors (and their hominid cousins) had to hunt and eat, or be hunted and eaten. The game seeks to model a time when humans are not yet in control of the world around them - a time when the landscape could just as easily give succour to a struggling tribe, as it could cripple a thriving people.  The game is designed to be used for solo games or for (mostly) co-operative play with up to four players.  Models are divided broadly into three categories:  1) Hunters, armed hominids activated and controlled directly by players. Hunters may attempt up to three actions per turn, although if they attempt to do too much at once, they can get a bit stressed out and mess up. There are different equipment types and a range of optional traits that can be diced for to give each of your tribe members a back-story and personality. ...

The grey beard led the tribe for many long suns, and many long darks. Now his body lies, half eaten, in the cave of the great bear. The tribe’s hunters prepare for a contest to show who can provide most for their people; who will be the next chieftain. Set up the table with two equal herds of lesser grazers, no closer than 2x Long distance of any table edge. There should be at least one lesser grazer on the table for every hunter used. Place one apex predator in the very centre of the table. Hunters may be placed anywhere within 1x Short of any table edge. A hunter who strikes the killing blow against the apex predator within eight turns will be proclaimed the new chief of the tribe. If the apex predator is still alive at the end of the eight turn, the chieftainship will fall to the hunter who struck the killing blow against the most grazers. This game is an individual challenge. While hunter’s may not actively attack other hunters, they may try all sorts of cunning ploys li...

Last week I received the following missive from gaming chum of old, and now fellow ex-pat Mark: This time I stayed up late and ran the game during the small hours, at about the same time of the night the action is set, in fact! So here is the bleary-eyed report. I say "ran" rather than "played" because both (all?) sides were given objectives but then their decisions and actions were derived from weighted options + dice rolls (decision dice). This is more fun than it sounds, as the games always diverge from what the player / puppetmaster thinks is going to happen, sometimes a lot. The role of the Night Watch in this game is exhibit 1 for this point, as will be seen. I originally only included them because it seemed silly not to have a Watch, and I handicapped them to ensure their role was on,y decorative, but still they ended up having an important influence on the game outcome. Anyway, on to the game, starting with the backstory. Salvius Prostatus (who do...

Right. Now that I have your attention - and have no doubt attracted some attention from unusual fetishists - lets talk bunnies. 28mm bunnies to be exact. I wanted to get a few rabbits to serve as 'critters' for Palaeo Diet: Eat or be Eaten. Critters are not placed on the table during setup, but there is a chance than hunters moving into or through certain landscape features may flush them out. I have ordered (so far) two different packs of nominally 28mm rabbits, but I have also identified a number of other suppliers where these charismatic wee pests are currently available. This listing may not be exhaustive, but it should get the idea across that there is a lot out there and both the cost and quality of the sculpts varies dramatically.   Warbases £1.75 for five bunnies. I ordered these bunnies for the craic on Easter Sunday. That's what started my current search because, although they are nice wee sculpts, they are definitely wee. I'm not sure how big I was...

I've just finished putting together this little pit for mammoth hunting. I neglected to take any WIP photos, but it was made by cutting a cork-backed table mat to the right shape and scraping out the cork in the center to make a shallow depression. The cork scrapings were then glued back onto the remaining cork around the depression to build it up slightly, giving the impression of depth. Sand and glue was mixed together into a putty to even up the edged of the the piece and it was all painted brown before being covered by another layer of patio sand and flock. The depression was then painted a mix of black and brown, lightening towards the middle of one side to give a suggestion of some light hitting the base of the pit. Not a masterpiece, but more effective than a plain circle of black card.

The summer had been kind and the tribe had flourished with the birth of many new members. But the very young just cry and make waste. They cannot hunt the steppe herds, nor yet provide any useful service. With winter approaching, the tribe needs more meat and skins to survive through the lean times. But the herds are on the move, away from the tribes hunting ground to distant lands with lush grasses. The tribe has set a potentially devastating trap in the valley and must do everything it can to butcher the herds before they escape.  In this scenario, we find our hunters closing in on a small mammoth herd in the bottom of a valley - there is also a herd of ibex-like sheep/goat creatures. Along the bluff of the hill in the distance, there are three precariously placed boulders ready to be rolled into the valley below.  The hunters start in contact with any base edge. Snog, Urrg and Bow started up on the hill with the boulders, Ferg started behind the mammoth herd - ...

My Sharp Practice 2 French and Indian Wars British force is more or less complete at a half company of Inniskillings plus some Indian scouts. However, almost enjoying painting 15mm again, I decided I wanted to add a touch more colonial flavour to Hotspur's expedition. I decided that a group of frontiersmen would fit with my theme, but I was going to be damned before I'd buy 30 Blue Moon colonials to field a single unit of six skirmishers so I cast my eye around for a cheaper and more sensible alternative.  Enter the Freicorp range from QRF/Total System Scenics. They sell their infantry in the customary bag of eight for a pittance (if not a pittance, at £2.70, they are only a fraction of the £13 Blue Moon bags). I ordered one pack not knowing what to expect really. At worst, I'd lost a fiver (including post). At best, I'd have a new flavour-filled unit. I hope you'll agree from the top photo, the sculpts are actually quite nice and paint up to a suitable standa...