Five Games That Made Me The Gamer I Am Today

This is a bit of a thing at the moment, so here's my five games worth, although I've squeezed in a couple more for the hell of it!

1. Tank Battles in Miniature

This was my first 'proper' wargame and I had it on permanent load from the local library until I had to give it back. I copied out all of the main rules and charts onto file cards and continued to play games even when the book had been given up, using Heroics and Ros 1/300th scale tanks. I mis-read the rules and thought you had to actually play a turn in 60 seconds, so I had a stopwatch and used it every time an individual tank had to acquire, aim and fire at a target, with the results worked out afterwards. Absolutely seat of your pants gaming and very realistic in an accidentally historical way. This book first got me into solo wargaming, so hats off to Mr Quarrie!

2. Imperial Commander

A school friend of mine bought a copy of Laserburn from the local games shop (remember those?) in Plymouth, so I decided to get my own copy, except they'd run out so I grabbed Imperial Commander instead. I couldn't afford many figures so ended up playing with a handful of 15mm Imperial Troops and Red Redemptionists a side, so this was my first skirmish level wargame in many respects. It was lots of fun at the time, although I'm not so sure how it would stack up now, having loads of tables and charts. The blurb on the front page still makes me chuckle.

3. Cry Havoc

I absolutely loved this game when I was a kid, having ordered a copy after seeing the advert on the back page of Wargames Illustrated just on the basis of the box art and the blurb. It's still my favourite 'beer and pretzels' board game by a country mile and I do play it sometimes using a second hand copy that I found on eBay. I also loved Samurai Blades but the other Cry Havoc extension games like Siege were a bit of a disappointment, mainly due to the change in art work and unrealistic maps. I went on to study medieval history and archaeology at university, so perhaps this game is why I have been a history teacher for the last thirty years?

4. AK47

When I got back into wargaming about twenty years ago, this was the set of rules that fired my interest and inspired my first painted wargames army. I still think this is one of the most enjoyable and imaginative sets of rules that I have played, perhaps because it allows you to use your imagination  and creativity when developing your forces and the narrative for your games. I love this aspect of gaming, which is diametrically opposed to the competition 'min-max' mentality of a lot of rules systems. It's also still great fun to play after many years and loads of games at the club.

5. Bag the Hun

If I look at my blog posts over the years, this is the set of rules that I've written about and played more than any other, which is interesting as it's not everyone's cup of tea and has, perhaps, fallen by the wayside compared to other TFL rules of late. It was the first game I had played in which a card based turn mechanism was used and which was also based on the idea of formations and historical tactics. It was the set of rules that shifted my interest away from land warfare and towards air and naval wargaming, which are now my main areas of interest. It also led to my first publications as a wargames scenario designer, albeit only in the TFL Specials, and gave me a taste for umpiring which I really enjoy.

Special Mentions

Contemptible Little Armies in the Back of Beyond

To finish off I wanted to include the Back of Beyond supplement for CLA, primarily as it was the set of rules for which I organised and umpired my first club campaign. It's another example of the 'What If?' style of wargaming that I really love and also the unorthodox or obscure historical setting that I prefer to the 'bog standard' wargaming themes. I really enjoyed playing this at the local club, with three full multiplayer campaigns organised and umpired over the years, although I always seemed to come last! It's probably one of the things that has most influenced my interest in campaigning and 'Imaginations' style, not too serious fun wargaming.

A Fistful of Lead: Reloaded

A few years ago I mentioned on the blog that I was a bit fed up with the Old West rules and wondered if there were alternatives worth looking at. Jaye Wiley read the post and then sent me a free digital copy of the Fistful of Lead:Reloaded rules that he had just published, which was very nice of him indeed. I immediately loved the system and the style of wargaming that it reflected, with the deck of cards turn system being a really elegant and effective feature. It's now my skirmish rules set of choice and one of my all time favourite 'fun' wargames to play, especially with the kids.

Imperial Commander Redemptionists

I've been busy doing the Xmas shopping today so haven't done anything very productive at the garage workbench, which is freezing anyway so less than an attractive option in the first place. Instead, I had a tinker around with a couple of old army lists that I wrote for Imperial Commander way back when I ran the Laserburn Yahoo Group. This is still around as far as I'm aware but I'm not involved anymore, having passed the job on after I lost interest in the project.

I had to dig around to find them but eventually unearthed one for a Redemptionist Scouting Force, complete with trikes, scouts, snipers, pioneers and skimmers. The 15mm TTG figures for this are some of my favourites, so I tried to include as many of the range as I could. I thought I'd tart it up with the original font, Data 70, for the headings and post it here, just in case anyone was interested. I also located a pdf download of the rules but I won't link to that just now, as they are still copyright and are sold by Alternative Armies, although I'm sure if you do your own search you could find them too.

Laserburn Blast from the Past

I was up the loft last night in search of the Xmas tree decorations, which is always a good excuse to have a rummage in the piles of wargames magazines, rules and models that I've banished to a higher plane. In one of the box files of rules I found my old copy of Imperial Commander, which is a platoon level skirmish set of sci-fi rules based on the Laserburn system and written way back in the early '80's by Bryan Ansell and Richard Halliwell no less. 

I haven't played it for years and it's probably very, very clunky but, in a moment of nostalgia, I decided to bring it down from the loft for a read through. I was thinking that it could be another possible use for my desert terrain board and scenery, especially as I have lots of the old TTG 15mm figures and quite like the idea of some retro sci-fi gaming, even if I ditch the rules and use something else like Gruntz or Galactic Heroes, for example...

...and you've got to love the 1980's pen and ink cover art!

Galactic Heroes is Here!

I had an email from Jaye Wiley yesterday evening with pdf's of his new sci-fi rules, Galactic Heroes, and a pack of several scenarios, all based on the Fistful of Lead system. The rules run to a comprehensive 60 pages and, although the core is familiar there are numerous tweaks, additions and extras to fill out the sci-fi aspect of the game. I'm looking forward to trying them out but I am still undecided about which way to go with this, either 15mm or 28mm. 

The former has the advantage of being both compact and cheap, as I have loads of figures already and like the idea of using the old Imperial Commander (Laserburn) range for this, while the latter is a bit more 'skirmishy' and detailed, assuming I can find a range of figures that I like and that isn't all 40K spikey bits.  I also have a shedload of 15mm GZG figures that would be ideal for more hard sci-fi settings and the 28mm Strontium Dog figures can also be re-purposed as well.

I'll just have to make up my mind!

Galactic Heroes..in 15mm!

The Fistful of Lead: Galactic Heroes Kickstarter is now fully funded with only a couple of the Stretch Goals yet to be reached, which is great news. Well done Jaye Wiley! I'm really happy as this means that my set of rules, cards and other bits will be arriving sometime later in the year, by which time I should be ready to play some scenarios. I've decided to go for the 15mm option rather than 28mm, primarily as I already have lots of unpainted lead, resin and lasercut mdf to use for this project (which doesn't mean I won't add some more, of course!)

The figures will be from the old Laserburn (Imperial Commander) 15mm range for space opera style games and from GZG for more hard sci-fi purposes. The Laserburn figures are still very good even after thirty years and really capture the look of 1980's sci-fi in a 2000AD style. The GZG figures are more conventional but also great for more hard nosed, gritty sci-fi settings. I also have plenty of cool terrain and structures to use including a stonking resin fortified 'habitation base' outpost thing from Alternative Armies, which has been sitting in a dusty box for far too long.

So, all this will be kicking off over the summer holidays, ready for the rules publication date in September.

Laserburn Special Offer

I used to play a lot of Laserburn and Imperial Commander back in the early-80's with my mates at school, so I was really pleased to see the 35th anniversary of its publication being marked by a neat special offer from 15mm.co.uk. If you like the idea of some retro sci-fi gaming without all the gothic gloom, endless rules revisions and for a reasonable cost, read on.

The deal is that for a minimum £10 order from the Laserburn 15mm range you get a free Glaive APC worth £5, which covers the cost of postage straight away. If you order more stuff there are further free models included in the offer, which makes it a good deal if you wanted to assemble an army for Imperial Commander from scratch.

The old Laserburn figures are very much of their time but aren't bad, having mostly been sculpted by Brian Ansell. I really like the Red Redemptionist trikes and the Imperial Dreadnoughts, which are great fun to paint up. The Imperial Commander rules are also showing their age but are perfectly good, although any suitable set could be used instead, especially if they are adaptable to a 'space opera' setting.

I may order some more vehicles and extras for my Laserburn leadpile but I've already spent my pocket money for the holidays, so it'll have to be a small one. It's great to see this vintage range being promoted, even if it doesn't stand up to the latest 15mm sci-fi figures, or have all the whistles and bells associated with newer or more sophisticated rules.

http://www.15mm.co.uk/collections/laserburn-15mm-science-fiction

Ion Age 15mm Skylark Out of the Box Review

I have always wanted to re-live my mis-spent school days playing games of Laserburn and Imperial Commander with my mates in the Sixth Form common room, instead of freezing my knackers off on a dripping wet Cornish hillside on a futile Wednesday afternoon cross-country run in double P.E. I hated P.E. although I was quite good at athletics...believe it or not?

Anyway, there is some nostalgia-infused shadenfreude involved, as the less than enthusiastic P.E. teacher drove to the top of the enormous hill and sat there in his red Fiesta, fag in hand, before sending us all back down again. This has inevitably led to the aquistion of tons of vintage and re-issued TTG Laserburn miniatures, with some new additions in resin and a few extra bits from the re-vitalised space opera style Ion Age Sci-Fi range.

The latest bit of 'ooh shiny' goodness is a resin Skylark gunship lander type thing, which is destined for my Red Redemptionist hordes. As you can see, it is obviously based on and adapted from the original Laserburn law officer air raft model, so will fit in very well if you want to use them side by side. In fact, the 'Skylark' would be perfect as a Paddy Wagon alongside the Judge Dredd inspired TTG law officer range, or even as an alternative to the Laserburn Imperial Glaive APC, which is showing its age despite a re-sculpt.

A really cool mini with loads of potential and bags of retro style and all for a very reasonable price.

Thanks to the Ion Age and Mr Gavin Symes for a splendid space opera style addition to my leadpile!

(no sock puppetry...honest)

 http://theionage.com/products/iaf029-skylark-patrol-flyer

Not at Salute 15mm Sci Fi Splurge

As I missed Salute last weekend, I thought I'd make uo for it by taking advantage of the free post offer at The Ion Age which is due to run out on Friday. The postage is normally a hefty five quid, so this seemed like a good time to add some more space opera style 15mm sci-fi nick-nacks to the resin pile, destined for my Imperial Commander revival project. This is slated for some point in the future, possibly even this year if I get my act together.

The Ion Age habitation base modular terrain is really neat and I already have enough bunkers, domes, corridor connections and landing pads to build a pretty impresssive Imperial outpost. However, I wasn't keen on the missile pods that come with the bundled set, so have ordered a selection of weapons mounts to add some variety. I'm sure these can easily be classifed in Laserburn terms as sun guns, heavy support bolters and laser cannons, as they look very similar in style to the original illustrations in the rulebooks. 

I've also ordered a 'Skylark' gunship lander type thing that I've had my eye on since it was released last year. It is very similar in design to the old Laserburn law officer air raft, although a bit bigger and more heavily armed and armoured. As a result, it will be used for my Red Redemptionists as an assault vehicle, alongside the air rafts that they already have. I'll probably leave off the weapon turret and add some crew figures to make it look the part.

2015 Projects

Here's the plan for 2015.

I will be concentrating on 15mm skirmish level games - from section to platoon in modern terms - with a focus on everything fitting on a 3'x3' or 2' x 4' playing area. This will allow me to scratchbuild some bespoke terrain features and boards for the various games that I'll be playing. The first of these will be Lion Rampant in 15mm, with the Wars of the Roses figures from Peter Pig, although I may well do another period as well, perhaps even Sengoku era Japan or Early Medieval.

The second 15mm skirmish project will be near future / sci-fi in focus, using the GZG, Brigade Models and Antenociti's Workshop stuff that I've collected together, although 15mm Imperial Commander using the old Laserburn range might also be an second option. This will use Gruntz or similar as a ruleset but I'm open to trying out whatever system gives a good platoon level game without too much complication. I'm looking forward to this as it will allow me to do some 'imagi-nations' style painting.

I'll also be dabbling in other things as usual, including more Bag The Hun aircraft and some more naval stuff of some description. The coastal forces need some extras not to mention some merchant ships, while the Victory at Sea French could do with some British or Italian opposition. These are two of the many other naval projects that I'd like to explore further including the Steam and Sail Ironclads and the Peter Pig Pirate ships. I enjoyed the naval projects last year so it would be a shame not to take them further.

In terms of games, I'll be aiming to get to the club more often than last year, which may be a bit of a challenge but shouldn't be impossible once a month or so. In the interim, I'll try to get some time in for games at home, with a focus on boardgames rather the miniatures. I'm keen to get my head around X-Wing for a start, so will definately be playing some solo games at weekends and in the evenings. I've neglected my boardgames for far too long and really need to get back into playing them more often.

Finally, my New Years Resolution will be to finish the 28mm Japanese for the Chain of Command project. This will be my summer holiday painting project for 2015, although I may have a crack at it over the Easter break, if thungs go according to plan this term and I don't have loads of school work to do.The figures and vehicles are ready to paint and I will probably add a few extra bits to round things out, so that I will be able to actually get a game or two under my belt by the Autumn.

Stocking Fillers

Here's the other stocking filler for Xmas this year, a very cool 15mm resin sci-fi moon base type thing from the Ion Age range. This is not going to be deployed with the GZG / Brigade Models / Antenociti's Workshop near future armies but is destined instead for my long overdue but very old school Imperial Commander project. 

This is something I've wanted to re-do for a long time, mainly for nostalgic reasons, so I thought this habitiation base would be perfect as a terrain feature, perhaps an Imperial desert outpost not unlike Bunker 17? It certainly has a very retro, 1980's space opera look about it and I think it will look fantastic painted up, based and suitably weathered.

Ion Age Modular Resin Habitation Base

I saw this on TMP yesterday and thought it looked really cool. It's exactly the sort of thing that I'd love to have for Imperial Commander, with a very retro 1980's sci-fi look and some neat Laserburn style design features. I think the landing pad command module is definately the best bit. 

I can imagine hordes of Red Redemptionists attacking this across the desolate sand dunes, while the Black Guard put up a 'last man standing' defence. Unfortunately, it's a bit outside my budget at the moment, so I'll have to wait for Father Xmas to drop it down my chimney. There are some good deals if your wallet is deeper than mine:

http://theionage.com/collections/early-supporter

Laserburn Offer

The chaps at 15mm.co.uk. have a special offer on the Laserburn range, which has now been re-mastered. The deal lasts until the 11th and gives you a bonus pack of Laserburn figures with every order you make. The more you order, the more freebies you get, which makes up for the hefty postage:

http://www.15mm.co.uk/collections/laserburn-15mm-science-fiction

I thought I'd add a new resin law officer air raft to my Imperial Commander Redemptionist force, as I have one of the original metal versions which is a really cool model, if slightly on the heavy side. I also ordered some extra trikes and crew, so that I can use the gunner figures to man the weapons on the air raft. It's all a bit old school but that's why I like it!

Imperial Commander Update

The order that I placed with 15mm.co.uk for some extra bits and bobs for Imperial Commander arrived a couple of days ago, which is a pretty good turnaround. I now have enough figures to field a decent 1000 point Early or Late Dynastic Redemptionist Force including Warrior Lords, Trikes, Fanatics, Devouts and even some Scout Skimmers. I love the old TTG Redemptionist range as it's packed full of character and has some really cool scupts, especially the ubiquitous figure with the laser rifle.

                                      



With the order was a voucher for 15% off until the end of June, so a quick stock check of the Imperial figures in the bits box and I put together a second order for the extras that I need. This involved a few additional Black Guard, enough for a self contained fifteen man detachment, some Power Armoured figures to make up a full platoon and some Scouts to sprinkle around as required.

                                     

I'm thinking of making July the Imperial Commander revival month, pushing other things over until the end of the Summer holidays, but I haven't made up my mind yet. It would be fun to base up and paint a couple of forces as a nostalgia trip, especially as the figures still look the business despite their thirty year old vintage. The rules may be showing their age a bit though but that won't stop me using other rules systems if they turn out to be too clunky.

Sci Fi Desert Dwellings

 

I've decided to do a retro 15mm Imperial Commander project at some point this year, so have ordered some Redemptionists from 15mm.co.uk to fill out the ranks of the figures that I already have. I've also splashed out on some desert dwellings from The Scene UK, which I've had my eye on for ages but didn't otherwise have a use for. I think they'll look spot on as a settler outpost on the fringes of the Imperium and will make a splendid objective for the Redemptionists to capture, or something along those lines. It's cheered me up no end as well!

A Blast from the Laserburn Past

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic of late, perhaps as a result of the plethora of glossy new rules, designer boxed set factions and nascent kickstarter projects that have been swamping the wargaming market. This is all a good thing and I've been tempted several times to dive into yet another new period with inevitable consequences for both the bank balance and the leadpile. I have yet to make a mental note to myself about the inevitable futilty of anything in 28mm, let alone epic 30mm of whatever it's called these days...

So, when I think back to the time when rules came in photocopied booklets with hand-drawn illustrations and reference sheets banged out with a typewriter, tippex and a ruler, I get a little bit emotional. When I started wargaming back in the early '80's this was the standard and, at that time, was perfectly acceptable. It made rules cheap and readily available, although you had to actually write a letter and a cheque, then wait a couple of weeks for the stuff to arrive in the post (although it did arrive at the crack of dawn, not at five o'clock in the afternoon).

One such set of rules that I aquired, aged 13, was Imperial Commander, written by Richard Halliwell and Bryan Ansell and published by the now defunct Tabletop Games. A freind of mine had got hold of a copy of Laserburn, so I decided to try out the mass combat extension to the rules, using our 15mm Laserburn figures to play a few games. In the end, my mate lost interest and we drifted off into Squad Leader and Cry Havoc, but I still held onto my Red Redemptionist and Imperial forces for a rainy day.

When I re-ignited my long dormant interest in wargaming about ten years ago, it was no surprise that I started out with Imperial Commander, setting up a yahoo group dedicated to the Laserburn rules aptly, yet inconveniently titled For a few Gonads More. It was surprisingly popular and, although now effectively dead, did stimulate a lot of interest in the rules and the 15mm figure range that was designed for it. It even spawned the niche but popular Beamstrike rules, something for which I can take little credit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afewgonadsmore/

I also put together a Red Redemptionist Force using the TTG figures and some now unavailable Peter Pig robots, although the standard of painting left a lot to be desired, especially as I was using Humbrol Enamels. I'm not sure what happened to the army but it's now long gone and is probably gathering dust in a box somewhere or contributing to yet more landfill.

Anyway, I recently acquired some second hand 15mm Laserburn Imperial figures on Ebay for old times sake. The lead rot hasn't set in yet and they're in pretty good shape, considering their vintage and the fact that they haven't seen the light of day since 1983 or thereabouts. I also have some figures in a box that I didn't get round to painting back in 2003, so I have enough to put together a fairly decent Imperial Assault Group if I wanted to.

A quick search on the web and it appears that the Laserburn range is still available from 15mm.co.uk, even though the price has now skyrocketed to 40p per figure. They're not bad sculpts for their age but 40p is a bit steep for a thirty year old range of old school sci-fi figures. They do offer a blister pack deal, however, which is better value and could fill in the gaps in my existing ranks. The figures are pretty good for their age, especially the Redemptionists, which have a really cool desert wasteland warrior thing going on.

Will I give in to temptation and order a few packs of scout skimmers, trikes and warrior lords, or will I ignore the tug of nostalgia and crack on with the projects that have littered the verges of my path of progress this year? It's tempting but I have other things to do this month, so the final decision can wait until the dust has settled and I've completed the Bag the Hun aircraft for the club game.

...it is tempting though?