Ghost in the Blog

  

 

Been a while since I posted anything and you can blame it all on my current obsession with writing novels.  If you want to know more then go here.  My plan, muwahaha, is to write three first drafts of three novels and then go back and rewrite them as my way of ascending the learning curve that is becoming a novelist.

Anyway,  I thought I'd mention I've been watching Girls Und Panzers*, which for those of you who do not follow such things is a Japanese anime show about school girls learning the martial art of Panzerfahren (the sport of driving tanks).  It's every bit as zany, off the wall mad that one comes to expect from Japan, and is a hoot.  In fact I thought about playing games based on Girls Und Panzers using TooFat Lardies Chain of Command rules, if only for shits and giggles.

Good news for Henry, if he is reading this, is that I have now played enough games of Dropzone Commander that I feel confident in submitting my review to Miniature Wargames.  That should be winging its way by email any day now.  I like the game, but you'll have to wait to read the review in the magazine to know more.

*I know that the post title is an allusion to Ghost in the Shell and really doesn't have a direct like to Girls Und Panzers, but given you all might be thinking I'd given up the ghost on this blog I thought it apposite.

Dropzone Commander

 

Been a busy week writing, or should I say wresting words out of my skull and typing them one at a time onto a screen as I recount on my writing blog.  What I've been doing gaming wise is getting myself into Dropzone Commander from Hawk Wargames.  I'm currently writing a review for Henry at Miniature Wargames.  What I'll say is that the miniatures are sexy and that 10mm is the new 6.

It has been noticed by one of my readers that I've not posted anything about BattleTech recently, and where is the missing battle report.  I will try and find time to write up the notes I made from the last game sometime before the heat death of the universe.  I promise, okay.
  

Heavy Gear Blitzing

An overall picture of the table that we played two games of Heavy Gear over.  I think I might go back and re-do that river at some point.  Who am I kidding, I don't have the time, and if I did I need to finish off my other boards that are still to be done.

By the time you all read this I have played two games of Heavy Gear Blitz with my friend Roger, who has been most tolerant of my occasional brain freeze moments as I tried to get my head around a new game. We are both long time BattleTech players, and I have a lot invested both in time and emotional attachment to BattleTech that makes it hard for me to let go of it.

In a lot of ways BattleTech is too constrained by the assumptions inherent within the rules, and the fact that it has had way to much stuff added to what was, and still is fundamentally a Beer & Pretzel game of giant stompy robots.

We are using my Takara VOTOMS for this game. You can see Roger's three Diving Beetles to the right, my two Scope Dogs are to the left.  Fire surprisingly ineffective at this range, which was all of twelve inches or so.

   
Heavy Gear Blitz therefore feels very much like the new kid on the block, though truth be told it too has been around a while having first been released back in the early 1990s.

Unlike BattleTech, the Heavy Gear game has changed course a couple of times and the game today has taken new a direction by moving away form a hex based RPG combat system to becoming a miniatures based game called Heavy Gear Blitz. Dream Pod 9, unlike Catalyst Games Lab, sell miniatures, and one gets the impression that they make a fair amount of their money from selling same.

I've just taken out one of Roger's Diving Beetles here, which seemed to me to take forever.  Upside was we had gotten through a whole load of turns to get this far, so it's quick to play.

Let me start off by saying that if I were starting from a position of not knowing either game then without doubt I would choose to play Heavy Gear Blitz over BattleTech. I like the fact that the paperwork is is really streamlined down, and yet it stills manages to make one feel that one is controlling an awesome giant stompy robot.

Okay maybe not a humongous giant stompy robot, but still it works for me. However, I feel that it is unlikely that Heavy Gear Blitz, where Blitz truly does describe the lightening speed of the game, will become my number one robot war game. 

As you can see I've finally gotten my third Scope Dog into the fight just as I lost one.

The reasons for that are rather emotional.  I really found myself disliking the dice mechanics, which are based on opposed rolls that are added, or subtracted from the result rolled on a D6 to produce a margin of success, or failure.

I can see the maths, because Roger was kind enough to send me the odds for all the different margins. I can also see that at the end of the day that it represents a combined to hit and effect roll.

However, I just hated the feel of the mechanic. 

My turn to take the pain as the second of my three Scope Dogs is taken down by his Diving Beetles.

Yet there is so much to like about Heavy Gear Blitz game universe. The background setting is fresh and intriguing. The game play is fairly fast, and the range of available miniatures is good, if expensive. Quality is top notch though, and I'm not one to complain about paying for top quality, but quality doesn't come cheap.

This is where the game did a really good job of capturing the feel of VOTOMS as I weaved my Scope Dog back and forth trying toget the rear shot to improve my odds of getting a good margin of success role.  Roger's Diving Beetle goes down.

One of the other niggles I had with the game was the over complicated movement modifiers, which require a six sided dice to track models with an added interpretation for hull down versus stationary.

In my opinion, this really added very little extra value to the tactical feel of the game. And don't get me started on the jargon in the rule book, which drove me nuts. Also, in my opinion, some of the explanations of the rules obscured what was meant.

Last turn and by the skin of my teeth, I managed to channel Chiricoe Cuvie (VOTOMS Ace pilot) and take down the last of Roger's Diving Beetles.  Roger happily reversed this outcome for the next game, which seemed fair all things considered.

So, if I were starting from fresh, and had to chose a giant robot game, Heavy Gear Blitz would get a look in.  However,  I'm no longer a person who can tolerate jargon and complexity for the sake of increased immersion into a game system.  What I want is KISS: keep it simple stupid.

Your mileage may vary from mine, terms and conditions apply regarding tolerance of rule writing, and errors and omissions were no doubt made in playing this awesome game by myself and Roger.
  

Salute 2013: ExCel Centre

Picture stolen and cropped from Sydney's blog.

Didn't go to Salute last year as I was suffering from work related stress, but did manage to attend this year. Photographic evidence as proof provided above. I didn't take a camera to take pictures of the show, so you will all have to go to the following sites to see pictures:

Roundwood's World Wargaming Girl, here, here, here and here.

The Angry Lurker, here and here.

Anything I might have added to the above would, I think, appear redundant.

Did I enjoy the show? In hindsight yes, but at the time not so much. I had been having a rough week and as one of my friends said to me on the day, "You sound like you are ready to throw yourself under the wargaming table." I only bought one thing, and that was the new issue of Miniature Wargames.

However, I met up with Henry, which was good. Bumped into friends, which is always good. Had Tamsin sweep me up in passing and give me a hug, so still all good. 

Also, I got to see and ask questions about Dropzone Commander from Hawk Games, which will help me finish my review for Miniature wargames. I then went to talk to Richard and the other guys from TooFatLardies, and saw Chain of Command demonstrated in the flesh, which was awesome.  

Nick has done a podcast you can listen to here.

Left around 15.00 and came home as my feet hurt and I was feeling pretty exhausted by it all. I really had trouble coping with the level of illumination in the hall, which I found quite upsetting as I couldn't focus on anything properly. 

I was told that this was a sign of getting old, and needing more light to be able to see things clearly.

Got home, put my feet up and read the new white cover issue of Miniature Wargames. Bliss. It felt like the first time I read the first issue, back in 1984 when I was ever so young. I may no longer be young, but the joy I got from reading the issue recharged my enthusiasm for my hobby.

RAF Hendon

    

Martin in front of a Eurofighter whose idea it was to go and see the museum.  A good call all round.

This Thursday I traveled up to Colindale on the Northern Line to visit the RAF museum at Hendon to meet up with my friend Martin and have a look at all the lovely aircraft they have on show.  Only took one picture inside the main museum, but did remember to take some in the Battle-of-Britain building exhibit where they were showing clips from the BoB movie.  The music is just so awe inspiring, which made me feel like a five year old again and want to run around using my hands to make goggles.

Wicked looking Ju-87 Stuka.  In the background are a Ju-88, Me-110 and He-111.  Interestingly the Ju-88 had BMW emblem on the engines, while the Me-110 had the Mercedes-Benz tri-point logo on the exhausts.

A section V2/A4 missile which heralded the start of the space race after the war.

Sunderland flying boat in all its glory.

An impressive lawn ornament as you are ever likely to have, a Bristol Blood hound Mk2.

I really enjoyed the day out and walking around the museum, which is huge.  Had a very nice scone, cream and jam as a treat in the afternoon too.  We met up with my partner in the evening at Forbidden Plant and went to Gars for a slap up Chinese meal to round out the excellent day.
  

Shooting at Bisley Camp

  

The money shot as they say in the film industry.

Yesterday I was Bisley Camp shooting as a guest of the Magna Shooting Club.  For a full gun geek post go here.

It was cold out there in the wilds of Bisley Camp, and I was really grateful that I dressed appropriately with two fleeces on to keep me warm.  The day was a present from my partner so that I could write about shooting in the novel I'm writing, and it certainly gave me some insights into my cousin Ewan's comments about not festooning rifles with scopes.