What? more Dark Ages mass battles with Hail Caesar? whodathunk.
On The Road This Time
Have swords, will travel. I took my Hail Caesar game on the road to host for one of the clubs that I belong to; off to a library community room. I was hoping to get around 4 or 6 players but only got 2; which was fine as then I got to play along in a 2 versus 1 battle. Why the poor turnout? Some regulars where busy that day, others had no interest, and I think word has gotten out that I haven't brushed my teeth in over 2 weeks and my breath is killer. Especially since I started to flavor my coffee with garlic.
Even if only 1 person was going to show up I would of hosted; anything to get out of the house and away from my cloying I mean loving family for most of the day.
Funny story: being in a community room means the public could wander in and some children and parents did wander in to see what was the happenings. People were suitably impressed. Moms told their young children to look and not touch and I immediately chimed in with "Don't listen to your dumb mother, of course you can touch. You just have to be careful." Then selecting a base that had mostly plastic figures on it (because it was lighter) I handed it to the kid and said "here, look at this one." Kid looks at it for a minute or two and hands it back to me. It's in my hand for 10 seconds when I drop it to the floor. Kid laughs and laughs... "you told ME to be careful and then YOU dropped it!" He did help me pick up the pieces though. Only minor damage was done.
On with the Game
Setting up on a 5x10 table with the Vikings deployed in 3 division and the Saxons in 4.
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| Saxons on right, Vikings on the left. No longships today; I forgot them at home. Too bad; everyone likes a Longship. |
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| From the other side of the table. |
Saxons be like...
"Hey Saxon King, how should we feel about Vikings on our borders?"
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| "We shall disDANE it." (get it? like disdain? You have to laugh because he is the king) |
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| In this scenario: The Viking and Saxon leaders start out in the center accompanied by 1 unit of their best troops. They're having a prebattle meeting. You can see the 2 units and leaders in the center of the board. |
Vikings be like:
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| "Danegeld please! And then we'll go away!" |
Saxons be like:
And while the two leaders are arguing back and forth something goes amiss and the fight breaks out and the battle is ON!
Battle Report
You know me: I don't do battle reports. It's too much work for too little reward. It's like trying to make your wife happy.
So instead here are some groovy pics of some dark ages action that make my collection look good. Like taking a selfie at the proper angle..
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| Opening moves with the mandatory inclusion of someone crotch. |
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| In the last battle players gave me feedback that it could be difficult to tell what a unit was. So in this battle I attached a label to the back of each unit. I think black labels fade away when not looking for it. |
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| above: 2 angles of same moment in time. |
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| Above: 2 actual good battlefield pics that DONT have gamer junk in them. |
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| I'm pleased that the Shieldwall markers (shields on the ground), the small dice tracking hits, and the casualty figures (that track who is winning/losing a fight) all work together well and look good. |
The Saxons I was playing got paste-ted but the fellow Saxon player on the other side of the battle were doing OK. In the end we ran out of time / interest and called it a Viking victory.
Saxons on the other side of the table to my Saxons be like:
So not a good battle report but maybe an entertaining read all the same.
This Post Grows long and the Content Short
Very true. Now that I'm home all comfy and cozy I gotta find that base I dropped and fix the damage.
I'm hoping to get in one more practice game of Hail Caesar before my big convention weekend in Nov. Though October is gonna be a busy month. But practice will help me appear like I know what I am doing when all eyes are looking at me with hope and expectation of a good game.
Till next time.
Thanks for reading.
Double Thanks for writing a comment.
Nice table and nice shots Stew. Good that some passers-by stopped to look. the longboats would have looked good, but I can't imagine that they travel well anyway. Top marks for making the kid look good :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm. I’m such a nice adult that I can make children look good without even trying. 😀
DeleteI was bummed that I forgot the ships though. Part of the point was to test how well they would travel.
Nice battle and well done for not blaming the child on the drop base, although I am sure it must have been due to the awkward way he handed it back to you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence. I”m sure it was but I’m much too much of a gentleman to say so on the internet (though it totally was…my fault. I was switching it between hands while talking and not paying attention). 😀
DeleteGreat looking game and good to show it in a place the public can see it. My weekly club meet in a community sports club which has a pizza/pasta restaurant popular with families, the kids often wander into our room to look at the games dragging their parents with them. I’m surprised at the genuine levels of interest and the questions they ask. Kids are encouraged to touch with ‘their eyes’! We had a lovely Normandy table set up one week and a woman walked by, looked closely and then asked what we were doing. We explained and she replied “oh, I thought you were selling real estate” - you too can by this lovely Norman farmhouse, going cheap….all you have to do is evict the squad of SS that are the current occupants and you’re set to go.
ReplyDeleteThanks TP. It totally was kinda cool to be on display and we might have even gotten a new member out of it bc my game was that impressive. 😀
DeleteOne lady asked if we could stage a battle for her classroom.
Stew, that is a funny story. As Lawrence suggests, perhaps, the handoff was bad? That kid has moxy to call you on being a Klutz. You are getting a lot of mileage out of your recent Dark Ages exploits., Good for you and keep them coming! Lovely game, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks JF. My plan is indeed to get a lot of games with the collection and playing of course gives me the motivation to paint some more of em. 😀
DeleteWhat a great entry for a young child as to how wargames should be managed. With a bit of self humour and good nature about looking inept.
ReplyDeleteAlso the game sounded fun.
Thanks Dave. Glad you liked the post. I have to make fun of myself bc no one else would DARE! 😀
DeleteGood work Stew, nice to see you're not too precious about your toys, and that you're getting out there and letting people see those games.
ReplyDeletePeople are always attracted to good tables. I generally let kids have a looks at my troops but then again most them are 1/72 scale plastics so they're very durable. Having said that, the last time I let a kid look at my stuff he broke some of my terrain right before my eyes. Right in front of me as I said the words 'just be careful'. It was pretty funny but I guess you had to be there. I've started painting up some Miniart 'Germanic Warriors' as an opposing force for my vikings...you've got me all inspired with your very speccy array of troops. We're thinking about SAGA but will probably stick with Lion Rampant. All the best, Slap-Dash from Oz.
Thanks Dash. Lion rampant just came out with a 2nd edition and would be a good place to start. Much cheaper too than SAGA which I hadn’t played in years and years. 😀
DeleteSome of your comments make me chuckle away Stew, ditto the embroidered images which are brilliant. Dropping your own figures?: oh the shame of it;)! Hence why I game on a carpeted floor as with my shaky hands dropping stuff is a real possibility. I always get a shiver of fear when my family ask to pic some of my bases up etc, as they just don't know how delicate some of them are. Mind you having been a modelmaker all my working life being careful when handling stuff is my default setting.
ReplyDeleteThe game looked great and the black unit labels worked a treat, as did the dice holders, shieldwall markers etc. Some small practice games to get au fait with the rules is the way to go, which is waht I plan to do with BPII after our weekend game, to get the core mechanics embedded in my addled brain! Hopefully things will be more clearer for future 'big' games.
Thanks Steve. HC is not esp complicated but it’s got enough going on that you have to pay attention. Hopefully now I got it all in my head.
DeleteBetter i dropped it than the kid I suppose. 😀
A nice-looking game Stew - your collection looks pretty impressive all laid out of the table like that. Bloody kids eh? You travel two hours to get away from your own for the day, and random others turn up at your game and make you look like a dick! Like Steve and Norm (and probably everyone else) I really like the Bayeux Tapestry inspired humour! We don't see the F word on wargaming blogs very often, although its very commonly deployed during many of my games!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kieth. I gotta throw some cuss words in every once in awhile to keep my PG 13 rating. 😀
DeleteGreat looking battle Stew, the collection is really impressive out on the table 👍 if it wasn’t for the 8 hour flight I would have come along 🤔
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt. Probably a longer flight than that. Though I would like to have you and other bloggers at my table. Maybe one day in a remote game. 😀
DeleteFunniest wargaming blog on the interwebz.
ReplyDeleteHi JBM. I hope the move is going ok.
DeleteThanks JBM. A little break for you in your moving. Hope it’s going well. 😀
DeleteCheers both. Limited internet access at the mo, so a bit delayed in responding here…apologies. Moving house and also to a new country seems to be a bit like going bankrupt. It happens very very slowly, then all of a sudden it’s on you and there’s no stopping it. Should all be over by the start of next week, fingers crossed. The doctored bayeaux tapestry images nearly made me wet myself. Top stuff and a much needed laugh in stressful times.
DeleteExcellent post Stew, and great to see all the figures on the table, I assume they include the recent 100. No wonder people stopped to look, very impressive.
ReplyDeletePity about dropping the minis. You will need to up your juggling practice. 😁
I find that one of the advantages of being a crap painter ( me that is, not you) is that I don't care about dropping figures, or grabbing multiple bases when i am packing away as no one will notice the difference. 😂
Thanks Ben. Of course it includes the 100. I always have the view that these are toys and are meant to be handled. Though it does mean that these guys are constantly dropping their spears and such. Falling didn’t help either. 😀
DeleteA good looking game--and an entertaining game report. Even though you might not have had a full slate of players (always a bit of a downer), I think you'll be better positioned to run your convention game in November as a result of being able to take this for a run now. I think your status markers (by the way) not only help with managing the game but add to the look. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ed. I do like it when markers match the theme of the game. And the best way to learn rules down pat is to play them over and over. 😀
DeleteYou dont have the best record transporting model ships to games if memory serves so perhaps it was good they missed the event?
ReplyDeleteGood looking game mate. Practicing the rules just means your Con games will go all the smoother.
And.... this is also Dai, just so's ya know.
DeleteThanks Dai. It’s true that many a ship have suffered; but it was that once…no twice. No three times. 😀
DeleteGreat looking game Stewart, all your markers look great on the table, without distracting from the game, but rather enhancing it. Hope you find the time for another practice game before the big show, and repair the dropped mini !
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Appreciate the feedback. 😀
DeleteRepair work is started.
Great looking game and sounds like they had fun, pity about the figures but these things happen, I once had a Nurgle 40k army in a box( all metal) fall from on top of the wall cupboard in the garage onto the terrazzo floor, oh how I laughed!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain. The damage was not bad after all. Though your dropping story sounds much worse. Not sure I would of laughed; maybe after I cried. 😀
DeleteThe battle report looks great and while the turnout was lower than you hoped, it looks like a really fun time too. But what I really want to know about was Storytime in the Shade! What was the story being read? How was the narration? Was it really in the shade? These are the burning questions of our time! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff. I knew that story time sign would catch someone’s eye. I also get a kick of seeing stuff in the background. 😀
DeleteMan, take a couple months off the blog-o-sphere, and look what happens. This whole project is looking fantastic, love seeing how it's come together. Nice that you're out showing the flag too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Markus. Welcome back to the internet. 😀
DeleteHahaha great post Stew! Late to see it but oh my! The little kid entertainment was priceless and the tapestries made me spit my coffee. The table looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Vol. Appreciate it. 😀
DeleteTop post as ever Stew. The subtle labels look good. *That* from someone who detests labels on bases of figures (unless underneath and out of sight).
ReplyDeleteDisDane was funny, but dropping your figures after telling the kid to be careful was hilarious. I trust that you gave the little sh_ a quick clip..., I mean, congratulated the bright young thing on his astute wit?!
Regards, James
Thanks James. Yeah I don’t love labels either but sometimes they can’t be helped and this way tends to work well. 😀
Delete120mm width bases -- genius!
ReplyDeleteThanks Almond. I might suggest you check out the Dark Ages HC guide I posted for more genius ideas. 😀
Delete