Drumbeat 2024 Gameday

Attended my first Drumbeat gameday in many years. It used to be held up in Seattle at a couple of different places, the last place was being torn down. This year is the first time it was held down in Tacoma (15 minutes away for me), at a nice gaming store called Silver King Games and Hobby. I've been to this location of few times last year for Saga game days, but hadn't been back in a while there too. I hosted my RJW skirmish game in the morning period with 5 players - 3 for the Japanese and 2 for the Russians. In the afternoon period I played in my buddy David's Height of Battle Imjin War naval game. David will likely have his own report of today's gaming on his own "I Live With Cats" blog. There were about 35 folks in attendance - most of whom I've know over the years. In fact, I was honored to have Bruce Meyer of Company B Miniatures in my RJW game in the morning. Without further ado, here are pictures from today.

My RJW game using TMWWBK for rules. The players all said they enjoyed the game - only one player had prior experience playing, but another had the rules and had read through it. The table was a foot short width-wise so the opposing sides started closer and got engagements in sooner. We played for 6 turns with the Japanese winning by making into the first line of trench works. They had taken out one of the Maxim gun teams early in the game with helped their advance.

The usual suspects catching up with each other prior to the first session. The gaming area is the upstairs of a former bank - very plush accomodations.

Kevin Smyth's "Hand of Captain Danjou" game in the first session. I'm sure he'll also have a report on his own blog - "A Gamer's Tale".

A Chain of Command WW2 game, also in the first period.

French and Indian War skirmish game using homebrew rules.

My RJW game nearing the end of Turn 6 with Japanese forces inside the Russian first line of defense.

Wings of War game.

The "Height of Battle" Imjin War naval game in the second period. I ran a squadron of Korean ships and took over another squadron after one of the players had to leave. We called the game after a few turns calling it a close Japanese victory as they had captured a few more ships than the Koreans had. If we continued to play, it could've went either way. I haven't played the rules since running game a couple of years ago at another game day. In fact, David was a player in that game and ended up ordering up the rules and a couple of fleets of ships.

A Battle Tech game run by the son of my buddy James. He's trying to get more experience GMing as he'll be running this game at Enfilade in May.

It was another nice gathering of old friends, and meeting new ones, all the while playing great games. Until next time, wishing you all the best.

Les Britanniques Arrivent! Les Britanniques Arrivent! (In Paper Boats)

Made some boats out of cardstock and foam core to use in a Siege of Louisbourg scenario. Although there are few really nice resin ships made by John Jenkins Designs, as well as Perry, I only intend to use these for the initial movement/landing phase of the game. Also, the material used was from the local Dollar Tree, and stuff already on hand.

Each boat can fit up to 12 figures on 25mm round bases - so you could stuff in a few more on 20mm bases. The foam core base and support panels inside make them sturdy enough for simple movement during gaming. Of course, these are just representational, and don't include seamen rowers.

Used a color pattern from some illustrations of period boats found on the internet.

Here's the build process, which was quite simple.

Foam core bottoms and rear panels were cut with a box cutter. The cardstock attached around the base and rear panel with a glue gun.

Gave the outsides some texturing with acrylic caulking. This prompted me to add the panels inside to keep the side panels from warping. Luckily there was still enough room to fit the 12 figures on 25mm round bases.

Using masking tape and paint already in the supply cabinet (khaki, black, and red) - painted the base coloring. Dry-brushed a lighter red and khaki over the base coat before giving them a final coat of clear flat.

The playtest for this game is scheduled for next Friday, and will be using Rebels and Patriots for the rules. The one mod will be having the boats attempt to land with an Activation roll for movement - up to 12". The French will initially be placed in cover up to 24" from the British side. The French will also have two 6 pound naval guns. The British can be targeted while still in the boats - of course.

This project was a revisit of one done years ago when I played another Siege of Louisbourg game using Muskets and Tomahawks. It was a smaller game with less figures and only three paper boats. Here's a link to that game http://wabcorner.blogspot.com/search/label/Muskets%20%26%20Tomahawks

Well, enough for now, and thank you very much for visiting the blog and wishing you all a great holiday season.

Black Seas - Battle of Trafalgar Anniversary

My buddy and his son hosted a great Black Seas game today. Not a large game, but a nice one for myself and and another buddy playing the rules for the first time. The ships looked great and some of them painted and rigging put on just prior to the game - we only used about half of their ships. I ran half of the French fleet and managed to survive with one remaining ship of the line. My frigate and other ship of the line were damaged to the point of being floating wrecks. This was my first time playing the rules, and really enjoyed it. Although I have to admit I relied on their calculations for combat resolution and damage. It's great when someone else is GMing. Finally, I must apologize for being off the blog for so long - but have been keeping busy with my other hobby pursuit of playing and collecting guitars. I ended up picking up a few used guitars needing some TLC and also a couple of ebay purchases. Thanks to YouTube I was able to level frets, smooth fret ends, adjust truss rods, replace bolt on necks, solder pickguard covers and other interesting luthier stuff.

Again, apologies for neglecting visiting your blogs and being away for so long. Here's a picture below of what has kept me away.

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to indulge a bit - best wishes to you all!

Another "At the Height Of Battle" Imjin War Naval Game

Yesterday, my buddy Scott and I played our third Imjin War naval game using David Manley's "At The Height Of Battle" rules. I wasn't going to post a report of the game as the images look pretty much the same as the earlier post of the game. However, because of the author's quick responses to our questions after the game (via the game's FaceBook page), I felt like giving the game another nice shout out.

Maneuvering of fleets during the beginning phases of Turn 2. Korean fleet in the top of the photo. As mentioned previously, each turn has 6 phases (3 per side) that are card driven.

The three Japanese squadrons (lower half of image) having fired heavy artillery (12" range) into the Korean fleet. Heavy artillery fire is tracked using cotton tufts as they can only be fired once per turn. Only two Korean ships were damaged by all of the firing. The overall Japanese commander's ship is the large O Ataka Bune with the center squadron.

Still Turn 2 with two back to back Korean phases (note the cards). Their heavy and light artillery has had greater results on the Japanese ships. For the record, light artillery can be fired during all phases in a turn, but has only a 3" range. The red squares (tokens borrowed from "Roman Seas") indicate damaged ships; red zigzag markers are crippled ships; white smoke, fired heavy artillery, and black smoke, fired piercing arrows - which only the Koreans have, and can only be used once per game.

Korean phase in Turn 3 - this is actually at the end of the turn as the O Ataka Bune command vessel has been captured and 4 Japanese ships already floating wrecks. The Floating Wreck and Crew Tired markers are also from "Roman Seas", the later represent captured ships. The Japanese had captured a Korean ship in an earlier phase, but was re-captured the next phase by Koreans. One of the things clarified by the author after the game, was that captured ships can be immediately crewed by, or set fire to, by the enemy. In our game, my buddy argued that this could only be done in the next phase/turn. Using this "logic" he was able to re-capture his ship in the next phase. I would've attempted to set fire to the captured ship immediately upon capture to have prevented this - this takes a D6 roll of 2-6. Floating wrecks can sink on a roll of 6 during the command phase at the start of each turn. If not, they are subject to drift with the wind direction at the start of the game. I should also note that all of our games have been using movement by oar and not sail. Movement by sail being a bit more complicated because of wind direction, so we've not tried that yet.

Here's a shot with clearer views of the actual ships. The large one in the center is the Japanese command ship, an O Ataka Bune. The smaller ones are Japanese Seki Bune - the majority of the Japanese fleet. The ones they are surrounding for boarding are Korean Panokseon - they mainstay of the Korean fleet. Up to 3 ships can attempt to board one enemy ship. The use of one of the ships boarding factors are used with half of the other two. Prior to boarding, light artillery can used by both sides; also the Japanese can use fire bombs per the rules to lower the abilities of the Koreans. Fire bombs weren't used in this game as we weren't sure if they could be used along with light artillery. This too was clarified by the author after the game - and they can indeed be used with light artillery.

Crew casualties to the O Ataka Bune inflicted during the light artillery exchange prior to boarding dramatically reduced its actual boarding effectiveness. Skulls represent crew casualties - which reduce boarding factors by half. So in the case of the O Ataka Bune, they went from a boarding factor of 7 to 3 - per the rules, always round down. For clarification, factors are added to the die rolls. We place die next to ships that will fire artillery - once fired we place cotton "smoke" if it was heavy artillery fire so we know they can't fire again during the turn.

We called the game as in addition to the capture of the Japanese fleet commander (and his probable immediate execution), four other Japanese ships were floating wrecks and several others damaged. We both thoroughly enjoy the rules, and feel they flow well, and provide a good interpretation for this period.

Apologies for the somewhat lengthy write-up, but wanted to provide more details of the game mechanics. Thanks again for dropping by and wishing you all the best!

Perry Austrian Infantry WIP & Imjin War Naval Game Update

Although the At Height of Battle Imjin War naval game went very well, I only took several so-so pictures. Figured I'd bolster the post with a WIP update on a box of Perry Napoleonic Austrian Infantry. They are in two 24-man units - one in crested helmet and the other in shako. As the box was picked up off of Amazon (sold by Brookhurst Hobby), it only has one proper command set. Used the flagpole (with cords cut off) and arm from a Victrix British figure for one unit. Also an NCO as a stand-in leader until an actual officer is obtained (maybe a metal figure for variety).  Had a spare sapper from an earlier command sprue to spice up the command stands. 

So far only basic areas block coated over a white undercoat. Still need to do the facings and metal parts, among other details. As usual, they'll be given the Minwax stain treatment later.

Now onto the At The Height Of Battle game. This was the second game for my buddy Scott and I, but we had another player, James, join in for his first game. Scott used his Korean fleet of 3 squadrons vs. my Japanese with 3 squadrons. The Koreans had two turtle ships (one a small one) and the rest Panokseon. The Japanese fleet had an O Ataka Bune as the overall fleet commander, and 9 Ataka Bune and 15 Seki Bune  - all equally divided into 3 squadrons. The Japanese had more ships overall - 8 ships to the average 6 in the Korean squadrons. Although I ran one of the Japanese squadrons, the majority of the fighting was between the two other Japanese squadrons run by James. This was mainly due to the early maneuvering where James' ships either blocked my LOS for artillery or his ships got into boarding actions before my ships could arrive. My squadron was basically held in reserve to report the battle to the Shogun afterwards. Here are the scant few shots I was able to take due to the heavy action going on.

I think the photo above is around the end of turn 2. The red markers are stand-ins to show damage to ships after taking artillery fire. The white "smoke" indicate heavy artillery having been fired and cannot again be used until the next turn. As mentioned in the previous post on these rules. The turns are card driven - 3 each per side. Each card represents a phase which that side will do all of it's actions - command phase, movement phase, firing phase and finally any boarding actions. So 6 phases (cards drawn) is one complete turn. The phases and turns went smoothly as we were more familiar with the rules this time around. We did try out things we hadn't in the first session. Scott's Korean ships used their "once per game" "Piercing Arrows" which allowed a +2 to their die roll for hits. The Japanese used their ability to use "Fire Bombs" during boarding actions. We also used Light Artillery (i.e. arquebuses and bows) during boarding by both sides.

The photo above is during turn 3 or early in turn 4 - got lost in the confusion of battle. The zigzag red markers indicate "Crippled" ships - basically the next level down from "Damaged" - these cause degradation of movement. The skulls represent crew casualties - which affect shooting and boarding; basically from -1 to each down to 1/2 the allotted points to die rolls for these actions.

We called the game after turn 4, as James had to take off for familial duties. It was declared a close tie - with either side being able to get a clear victory if we were to have gone another turn or two. The Japanese had captured 3 Korean ships - from different squadrons. If they had done all 3 from one, it would've caused the Koreans to test having lost more than half of their ships. However, the Koreans in their phase of the turn managed to wreck 2 Japanese ships - the next step down after "Crippled". Some "Roman Seas" "Floating Wreck" markers were used for this. The "Crew Tired" markers indicate captured ships. We were adding different markers on the fly. In fact, after posting this on the "At The Height Of Battle" Facebook, Matt at MT Miniatures said he'll be creating markers for these results.All in all another successful use of the the rules. Scott and I may be playing another round this coming week, and hopefully host it at the end of the month at a game day at the Chehalis Veterans Museum. Until next next time, wishing you all the very best in health and hobby pursuits!

Imjin War Naval Reinforcements - MT Miniatures

Painted up some reinforcements for another "At The Height Of Battle" game this Friday. These are 6 Ataka Bune and 15 Seki Bune for the Japanese, and 10 "mixed" Panokseon for the Koreans. These are packs sold separately from MT Miniatures to compliment the starter set.

They were pretty much speed painted using a Vallejo Flesh Wash and Black Ink mix over a white undercoat. Then given a light dry-brush to make the nicely sculpted details pop. If you want them to have a more colorful look, you could paint the top rails of the ships in different colors like red or blue. Only the 6 Ataka Bune had sails, so helped speed up the process. The bases are plasticard with acrylic caulking added. When semi-dry, the caulking is given a "wavy" appearance. I used the tip of a sculpting tool, but you could use anything for this. The ships are added to the caulking before it's dried completely. You could also add a drop of glue to the bottom of the ships and gently "squish" them into the caulking too. For the water color, I used about a 60:40 mixture of Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue and Vallejo Deep Green. The paint is applied fairly watered down to allow a variation of depth to the paint on the white undercoated acrylic. Finally, a very light dry-brushing of white is applied to catch the waves/wakes. 

Above is a shot of the fleets so far - enough for 3 squadrons per side. My buddy, Scott, has even more ships, so it could get crowded on the gaming table. Will post a review of the game along with photos. Until next time, wishing you all the best and thanks for stopping by the old blog.

Imjin War Naval Gaming - Height of Battle - Playtest

My buddy Scott and I just finished an excellent playtest today. Suffice to say we had a great time and really enjoyed the rules. Below is a shot prior to the game with additional "turn counters".

Here are a few pics of the game. We used the ships from the starter set as well as some Chungnugong (small turtle ships) divvied up between the two sides (2 squadrons each). They were classed as they are for the Koreans, but for the Japanese we used them as stand-in Ataka Bune. The game flowed great and got in 3 complete turns. We were able to get into firing range within the second turn and boarding actions in the second and third turn. We plan to get more games in very soon - with more ships for both sides. 

Start of the game with Japanese nearest the frame. The O'Ataka Bune was the overall command ship. We gave the "admirals" of both sides "Good" ratings and the other squadron commanders "Average" ratings.

The dice indicate which ships are in firing range and will be used for scoring of hits once combined with the additional artillery factors depending on facing of the shot. The red and yellow firing template comes already laminated, as the rest of the gaming aids to include a QRS.

The Korean fleet, skillfully captained by my buddy.

I ran the Japanese side; and this was about the time I figured out that I should've been using more historical boarding tactics instead of shooting at long range.

The blue and white movement "sticks" are included in the starter set; the marking are in one inch increments and come with 30, 45 and 60 degree corners for turning. Most ships can only move up to 4 or 5 inches, so these are perfect for that. As for turning, the rules allow for two turns during a move - once at the start of the move and another mid-way of the move - up to the degree of movement allowed that particular ship. The only time we needed a measuring tape was for the max 12" distance of shooting heavy artillery cannon.

Boarding action - w Japanese Ataka Bune successfully boarding Korean ships.

Not to be outdone, Scott later charged into the action with his Panokseon and small turtle ship. We ended up with 3 Korean vs. 2 Japanese ships in melee.

The battle is getting hot - boarding actions and firing going on.

A great set of naval rules for this period - which include the few centuries before and after the Imjin War. The rules include stats for Chinese and earlier Korean ships as well.