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Thursday, June 22, 2023

Gaming Face-to-Face?

The panorama photo above was taken at the end of May on an afternoon downtown stroll.  The Spokane River was still high with a torrent of water spilling down the lower falls.  Three weeks later and the flow has reduced dramatically.

Gaming face-to-face (F2F), me?  Yep.  Although most of my gaming seems to revolve around the remote variety via zoom, I got in a F2F game yesterday.  Yeah, an unexpected surprise to me too.

The battle fought was a scenario from one of Michael Hopper's many Napoleonic scenario books.  This time, the battle selected came from Eagles Over Bavaria and the 1809 Reinhausen scenario.  Notice that I am listed as a playtester in this volume.  

The battle was a two-player affair in which I took command of the Austrian brigade facing an equally sized (but more flexible) French brigade.  Terry (the Assisted by fellow on the book cover) umpired.  The French were defending town sections on both sides of the Regen River.  Austrian task was to take the two town sections situated on the east bank of the river. 

Anyway, in less than two hours of play, my Austrians managed to quite handily demolish their French adversaries having destroyed six of their nine infantry battalions and an artillery battery.  Austrian losses?  Hmm. None! 

On the Stuff Recently Acquired front, this week saw a resupply of hexes from my favorite purveyor of wooden bits.  The box is more than two feet tall and stacked with hexes to expand both my four inch and five inch playing surfaces.

I also snagged a HUGE castle and keep from Vol at A Miniatures Hobby Room.  Vol even hand delivered the castle in two heavy boxes.  When Nancy saw the castle and I told her that Vol was downsizing his wargaming collection, she asked when do I plan to downsize.  I know.  Very funny question. 

Anyway, I imagine this behemoth may feature in either Reconquista or WotR games in the future.  As an added bonus, Vol is interested in gaming.  With his massive collection of warships from a variety of periods, I would not be surprised to see the gaming table transformed to open seas at some point.

Finally, this weekend features the annual three-on-three basketball tournament in my fair city.  Billed as the largest 3-on-3 tournament on earth with 6,000 teams on 450 courts, downtown will be packed with players and spectators throughout the weekend.  For this weekend, my cycling will need to divert around the downtown area as it will be virtually impassible.  A few photos taken before the storm.


54 comments:

  1. I presume the castle has a front wall with gate, Jon?

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    1. One might think so but no...
      The castle came sans gate. Vol said the gate section was always out of stock. I will make do.

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  2. Wow! That's a great looking castle. Nice to hear you got a nice ftf game in too.

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    1. The castle will make a nice backdrop for a number of periods. On the F2F Front, it has been a while, no doubt.

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  3. Face to face gaming…hah…it’ll never catch on. Best stick to conventional zoom gaming I reckon. Lol. Nice castle, shame about the gate. Could you make one. Ships would be a nice diversion wouldn’t it?!

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    1. It will never catch on...especially among the Avant-Garde. With my main purpose of the castle as a use as a gaming backdrop having no gate is OK. Maybe I can make or buy something suitable?

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  4. That castle is fantastic, I look forward to seeing some pics of it in games!

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  5. You are incorrigible Jon, I’m with Nancy and want to see what your downsizing plan looks like πŸ˜€

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    1. Matt, if I was to begin downsizing, that action might imbalance the second-hand market and do damage to the hobby permanently.

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  6. Cramming stuff in there Jonathan, will you need an extension soon thoughπŸ™‚

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  7. Love the castle Jon, seems you've been a busy boy!!!

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  8. Nice castle Jonathan. I had been looking at a few examples over recent months but decided against proceeding due to the storage space required.

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    1. There is always room for just one more castle…

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  9. Agree with all! Castle looking awesome!

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  10. That castle is gorgeous! Speaking of gorgeous, do the ladies ever downsize their wardrobes?

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    1. At the Great Inquisition, I want you on my Defense Team!

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  11. Love the castle, going to need one at some point, I enjoyed my remote games but prefer looking into the whites of their eyes. Sport of any kind does not interest me.

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    1. I figured that it was time to bring a castle into the collection. My games could use some sprucing up.

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  12. Where on Earth do they find room for 450 basketball courts? No, don't tell me....downtown Palouse πŸ˜†
    The castle looks splendid. Backdrop for an ECW scenario maybe?
    Congrats on the storming victory by the way.

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    1. Well, the courts are all half-courts. The whole enterprise consumes about 45 square blocks of downtown Spokane.

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  13. What a majestic castle! This is my dream! I wonder what are its dimensions?

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    1. Valentine, the dimensions of the Keep are 12 inches by 12 inches by 8 inches tall. The outer walls and towers take up a 24 inch square area on the table.

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  14. F2F game? Pics or it didn’t happen! As the kids say. Or used to say. Who knows anymore.

    Glad you were able to take the castle off of Vols hands. I looked hard at his stuff but really didn’t see anything that fit my current collections. Even if the castle is just a background piece it’ll be cool to have. I imagine Vol has PLENTY of ships to do a large naval game.

    I’ve told my wife that I’ll start downsizing after she is dead and that I’ll start with her stuff. Or after I am dead and I won’t care. Lol.
    πŸ˜€

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    1. No pics but it did happen.

      The castle is cool and will make a good scene-setter. Yes, Vol has a huge stash of ships both painted and unpainted. Having not done much naval gaming, this will be a New Frontier for me. Vol is interested in trying his hand a remote gaming too. Perhaps you can be interested in giving a naval game a try?

      Great last paragraph. Very funny.

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  15. That is a stunning castle Jon but your readers have missed the most important part of this post....how on earth did you manage to hand a drubbing to the French with Napoleonic Austrians....we need a blow by blow AAR please!

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    1. When I saw the battlefield and the French initial dispositions, I knew exactly how to approach this scenario. Luckily for me, my French opponent accommodated my plans and fell to my sword. With no photos taken, An AAR is not likely unless I drew a sketch map and presented a written narrative.

      The result was tactical brilliance...

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  16. A very impressive looking castle.

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  17. As you said on Vols blog the castle has gone to a good home, the Rendra castle is sold in bits( plastic kit for 28mm) maybe the gatehouse would work or Warlord do a modular castle too? Would love to see your Austrian 1809 game and congratulations winning against form!
    Best Iain

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    1. Good suggestion on Rendra gatehouse. I will give it a look. As I mentioned to Keith, no photos so the account would rely on sketches and narrative only.

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  18. A FtF game and the Austrians giving the French a dmaned good thrashing? What's not too like! It would be lovely to have an AAR of the game or some photos, if time permits of course.

    That is a big supply of tiles! A nice fort too. Downsizing and storage seems to be a talking point on several Blogs at present. Maybe we're getting to an age where we have to start pondering these things? I know IF I ever painting all of my lead pile, I'm not sure where I could store them all. Time for another re-think on this front...?

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    1. No photos taken, unfortunately, but the French were definitely given a good thrashing. Having not played the rules in years and my opponent playing them regularly, my Austrians may have been discounted. Hubris?

      I realize that I may never make it completely through my Lead Pile. That is OK. With such varied interests, singling any period out for culling is a weighty proposition. Besides, the collections don’t eat anything and costs are sunk.

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  19. Ha! Downsize! Sometimes our better halves really don't know us. Are the hexes already based?

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    1. So true on downsizing. See Mike's comment above!

      The hexes are individual 4 and 5 inch wooden hexes. They require painting and flocking.

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  20. A thumping win and a new castle! All is well with the universe!

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  21. Nice to get a resounding victory in. The castle looks great as well

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    1. I play a better game when I am not also hosting/umpiring.

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  22. A great week for you Jonathan! New toys and a big win 😊

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  23. Late to the party, so I ain't got much, apart from another 'wonderful castle' comment ('cause it is) and enjoying the wit of your original comment about downsizing your collection (along with comments from others and follow-up replies above).
    I can't let you off on the no report of your game though. Napoleonics? In person? It won't do. A man of your many and varied talents could certainly draw a few pictures and maps, add in some 'stock photos' and c’est tout, un rapport il y a!! (or should that be, 'das war's, ein Bericht gibt es'?) :)
    Regards, James

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    1. Never too late, James! Let me see what I can do on the ‘no photo battle report’ angle.

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  24. That castle looks fantastic! I quite fancy some model buildings but struggling to justify getting any when I haven't found the need for them when gaming.

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    1. Well, if there is no need, there is no need. Unless you simply want a castle.

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  25. That’s a rather splendid castle Jonathan…
    Downsizing your collection?… Nope!… I recognise all the letters… But the way they are arranged makes no sense at all…
    I do wonder what the Post persons think when they deliver our packages… during lockdown one chap asked “ what’s in this … a block of lead”… the answer was of course yes.
    When I order bases I am always amused buy the fact that I am ordering a re-arranged block of wood…😁

    All the best. Aly

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    1. I am with you, Aly! I recognize the letters but the combination makes no sense. We must share postmen! I have been asked the same with the same response. "Yep!"

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  26. Glad everyone likes the castle. I'm sorry about the lack of a gate section. At the time I purchased it (late '80s) the gate section was out of stock. I never got around to reordering. I always intended to build one out of Hirst Arts blocks or foam, but never got around to that either.

    I am ready to play some Kiss Me Hardy, so when you are able to clear your battlfield for a sea conversion, let me know.

    Regards,
    Vol

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    1. Ready for some sailing ship gaming? Excellent! Is it easily taught? I will let you know when table is clear. How much table area does the game require?

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    2. As we discussed when I was there, it depends on how big a game you want to play. A large battle like Trafalgar, Aboukir, Glorious First of June, Camperdown, etc. will probably take most of your table I think. A smaller action like Cape Ortegal (Strachan's Action) can be done with 6 feet of it, using 1/1200 scale. Or we can make up a scenario and just have some fun. I don't have all of the named ships for the big battles but I do have the ships. We can just change the scenario names to what I have.

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