Pikeman's Lament at the Perth club

A week ago we had a bash at Pikeman's Lament using 28mm Great Northern War figures. There were seven of us around the table. Six of us had played Lion Rampant before though only two of us had played PL before.  

The figures were originally based for Lily Banners rules. We gave up playing those after a couple of times, but the basing of the figures in 6's and 3's made them good for PL. 

Each side had two basic armies plus an artillery piece. We then split forces into three so that each player had a proportion of the troops. Here are some photos from the course of the evening.  It's not really an after action report, more snapshots of the fun.

Here is situation after a couple of turns and forces advance. The measuring sticks at the right of the table are different lengths for the moves of different troop types. I made these to save messing about with tapes. Also on the table are slips of paper, each of which has the unit stats for a troop type. I did these so that we would not have to constantly flick through the rulebook and can just refer to the sheets.

A view from the right. The Swedish gun waited till late in the game before causing casualties.

The hill in the centre was the objective. Here both sides advance. Also, the generals behind some units are there to denote which units the officer is with. Swedes are on the left, Russians on the right.

More action. There are a few less Russians in the middle.

And even less Russians.

And so ended an excellent game. A victory to the Swedes. Lots of action, banter and general slagging at rolling 1's or double 1's or 6's.  I can't recall all the characteristics of the officers now, but there was one who ignored challenges, one who was a mercenary and one who could shoot his own men to 'encourage the others'. 

All in all, a great game.

from lead mountain to plastic hillock

It has long been a standing joke that all gamers have a lead mountain; a stash of unpainted metal figures that may or may not get painted. 

I've been trying to reduce my own lead mountain, both painted and unpainted, but in the past few months a growing plastic hillock has been appearing.

At first I suppose there was Malifaux a couple of years ago, where I have both metal and plastic figures, but the big push really began last August with a game of Lion Rampant.  This saw the purchase of these Wars of Roses chappies.

Then towards the end of last year there was Bolt Action. 

And finally, (Cyril), in the last few weeks there was Pikeman's Lament which led to this.

I have to laugh. My Wars or Roses are not yet fully painted and I've added more to the growing pile of plastic. And not pictured are boxes of Perry AWI infantry, British Light Dragoons and Warlord artillery that were (are) intended for an old-school imagi-nations game.  And I'm tempted by the Warlord WSS figures, and the Carronade show is approaching. 

So much for having a clear-out.  Still it's fun.