My Collection: Space Crusade (1990)

Here is a perfect example of a fun game with a great premise. Hours of gaming joy for the young adolescent. 

Space Crusade provides it all - great figures, superb board and counters, atmospheric back story.

The box artwork is exceptional. The illustrations in the rules and missions book quite inspiring.

The cat was a deadly foe. Quite a match for the Dreadnought and far more destructive!

 

One Hour Wargames: Scenario 1 Pitched Battle Western Desert 1942

I setup on my chipboard board as an area eqivalent to the dimensions needed to field my 6mm armies for One Hour Wargames scenarios. I decided to go for the simple encounter format.

I used the activation rules I'd introduced in some earlier games. The summary chart is shown in this picture.

I always enjoy bringing out my desert forces and I think the basic terrain worked well in getting the look and feel of the environment.

 

Battle Cry: Gamonal 1808

Now to try this adaptation with the "colourful" Spanish army. I penalised their forces with greater retreat distances from flags so as to represent their fragile morale. This worked well and seemed to simulate what I saw as historically accurate. 

 

Here is how it looked using my figures and the C&C board and hex tiles. 

The Spanish commander had some unwelcome assistance from a rogue guerrilla force!

Battle Cry: Schleiz 1806

Here is the setup for a second Battle Cry adaptation to Napoleonics. The battle scenario from the C&C Expansion#4 - a skirmish between a larger French force against Prussian defenders.

The Prussians were supposed to withdraw and extract themselves. Their commander actually decided to go against this logic and advance some key units and force the French to fight for the victory objectives. This worked and he scored a narrow victory over the attackers.

It was a fun game and produced an unexpected outcome.

Battle Cry: Waterloo 1815

Because I enjoy my Battle Cry adaptation so much that I decided to apply it to the Napoleonic era to give me a quick fun game. 

I played a couple of games with my bespoke counters I'd used for Napoleon's War and as much Command & Colours components as I thought would provide an effective appearance. The first was Waterloo shown here.

It started in a similar manner to the actual battle with a narrow Allied victory the end result.

The Napoleonic adaptation plays quite nicely. It's not as period specific as C&C Napoleonics but great for an easy solo game.

One Hour Wargames: Scenario 2 Pitched Battle (2) Normandy 1944

Onto scenario 2 and this time the setting is Normandy 1944 during the Allied breakout. This has a nice setup of a motorised US Battalion against a German formation composed of some veteran units. 

The objectives are pretty clear and the additional terrain has no significant impact apart from providing a better visual representation of bocage.

I extended the Command and Activation rules I'd incorporated in the previous game. This was further refined with the introduction of a Command Level for each army which determined the base number of units that could be activated. This could be modified by a variable factor determined by the army commander's ability. I think I've now introduced the right amount of friction into my solo games. 

The rules refinements continue with further playtesting but I think I'm getting there.

One Hour Wargames: Scenario 1 Pitched Battle ACW

A long overdue foray back into figure wargaming. I wanted to start playing some wargames again, which had been sidelined by my recent board game activities. The problem I seem to have is that I've too many interests and not enough time to do them justice!

The first scenario in the OHW book of a pitched battle seemed a good way to get me back into the wargaming habit and this particular venture did not disappoint particularly with the addition of some clever activation rules that I tried out for the first time. 

Combined with the Command Event cards and my other house rules this gave a quite engrossing feel of fog of war and friction. 

I really like the rules because they are so straight forward and readily allow me to layer on additions that suit my personal taste so that I get a satisfactory gaming experience.

The period I chose was a favourite - the ACW with my 6mm armies. I do allow close combat in my ACW conversion calling it Bayonet Charge but with restrictions. The charging unit must be at least 5 hits stonger than the target. This should simulate the reluctance troops had to engage and to continue a firefight or wait to see an opponent weaken and waver. All of these can be nicely simulated with my simple addition.    

The game lasted the full 15 turns and went down to the wire with a very narrow Union victory. 

The cat assisted the Rebel cause by taking a forward position.

Tanks!: Skirmish Game

I got my copy of the Gale Force Nine Tanks game system which simulates tank v tank duels and small scale armoured skirmishes. It uses 15mm tank models and a variety of cards to drive play and provide chrome with the use of special abilities, personalities and superior equipment.

Here are some pictures of the initial setup of the introductory scenario. I need to get a 3' x 3' board - this one is 3' x 2' so it's not big enough but will do for now if I decrease the deployment zones and top / bottom areas.

A lonely Panther lurks to the south west.

The two Shermans move in from the north east and make a cautious advance. A pincer move would probably be best to prize out the German tank. 

Here are the cards that describe the Tank statistics and fighting capabilities. 

I have a few of the other Expansion Packs that provide a tank model and specific cards to use in the game. Here is my Tiger I, Panzer IV and Jagpanther. I also have a Jackson, Stug III and extra Sherman that I need to construct. They don't take long to assemble and can be used unpainted at this stage. I need to get some basic terrain to substitute for the card woods and buildings. With some painted vehicles this should give a nice look and fun game.

 

My Collection: StarForce Alpha Centauri (1974)

Here are some pictures of my copy of StarForce that I obtained as part of the StarForce Trilogy flatpack. 

I played this a lot and from the turn record sheets the peak was around 1980. I loved the scenarios and future history presented. It proposed, what seemed to me, to be a very original vision of how humanity would develop. The factional warfare and nature of engagement and technology was really interesting.

The counters were basic but this seemed to compliment the understatement of the overall design which had a clean, minimalist look that appealed to me at the time and still looks good now. 

The cat liked it too!