Remote Control #1

Hello people,


Yes its been a while again but in honesty I haven't had too much of interest, relative term I know, or outside of the norm to rattle on about. Until now......


Last night I took a deep breath and put a Tunguska themed list on the table for a game of Infinity with Toby last night down at Enfield Gamers. Between the two of us we've had some pretty brutal games and this time I was going into it without the safety net of a linked team which have become pretty standard MO amongst the majority of us.


Tunguska and their Hacker / Remote heavy theme are what sold me on Nomads in the first place but I wanted to get to a half decent level with the game before taking the plunge. I've also managed to get in a bit more brush-time recently to finish off a few bits and get stuck into my Zonds most of which just now need final highlights (photos imminent). In fact all I've got left to finish otherwise are a pair of half done Zonds, a pair of Inventnors with Pandas, an Intruder sniper before I can treat myself to the TAGs to completely finish my Nomads and Rob's Tohaa. Scary.........

Trying out a 20x20 mission we had 4 turns to repair and escape in a battle damaged APC with bonus points for "inoculating" an enemy trooper with Zombie-Juice (patent pending). In honesty Toby needn't have worried as I turned up with half a plan, made a couple of marginal decisions and then got smashed by the dice, which amusingly was exactly what happened in reverse when we played a recent league game.


Running with an Inventnor, two support Hackers I went Zond heavy with a Gecko mini TAG as what I hoped would be overwhelming fire-power whilst Moran, Zero, and Spektr Specialists ran around doing all of the mission stuff. As I have no doubt intimated it didn't go to plan........


Toby won the WIP role and had me deploy first. I chose to go first to buff my two Reaktion Zonds and blast away. It was a bit of judgement call at the time and I was happy to trade off and then repair. Unfortunately his linked team Missile Launcher simply blew me off the table with superior dice. The two Reaktion Zonds  went first, though the Zondbots passed three Armour Checks each, though the worst blow was the Gecko taking a Crit and a further Hit with the Inventnor and a Salyut Zond right next to it perishing as well. After that it was just a case of mopping up from Turn 1 for Toby, though I did manage to pot a couple of his lads before I went into Retreat.

In hindsight, a wonderful thing, going second and acting on ARO whilst hiding everything else might have been a better call but I wanted to buff the Zonds and seize the initiative. With the dice the way they were I'm not sure it would have made too much of a difference.


I'm happy that my thinking was sound, it's a theory that appeals, I just need to work on the execution and maybe tweak the list around. Definitely a list to run a few more times, I'll just have to take the pain whilst I do so though at least it will be fully painted ;)

By Your Command

Hello people.

Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers Phil ran a couple of us through the Battlestar Galactica board game, so cue a trademark impressionistic review ;]

Boardgamegeek.com says;

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is an exciting game of mistrust, intrigue, and the struggle for survival. Based on the epic and widely-acclaimed Sci Fi Channel series,

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game puts players in the role of one of ten of their favorite characters from the show. Each playable character has their own abilities and weaknesses, and must all work together in order for humanity to have any hope of survival. However, one or more players in every game secretly side with the Cylons. Players must attempt to expose the traitor while fuel shortages, food contaminations, and political unrest threatens to tear the fleet apart.

After the Cylon attack on the Colonies, the battered remnants of the human race are on the run, constantly searching for the next signpost on the road to Earth. They face the threat of Cylon attack from without, and treachery and crisis from within. Humanity must work together if they are to have any hope of survival…but how can they, when any of them may, in fact, be a Cylon agent?

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players ages 10 and up that can be played in 2-3 hours. Players choose from pilots, political leaders, military leaders, or engineers to crew Galactica. They are also dealt a loyalty card at the start of the game to determine if they are a human or Cylon along with an assortment of skill cards based on their characters abilities. Players then can move and take actions either on Galactica, on Colonial 1, or in a Viper. They need to collect skill cards, fend off Cylon ships, and keep Galactica and the fleet jumping. Each turn also brings a Crisis Card, various tasks that players must overcome. Players need to play matching skill cards to fend off the problems; skill cards that don't match hinder the players success.

Fate could be working against the crew, or there could be a traitorous Cylon! As players get closer and closer towards reaching their Earth, another round of loyalty cards are passed out and more Cylons may turn up. If players can keep their up their food stores, fuel levels, ship morale, and population, and they can keep Galactica in one piece long enough to make it to Earth, the Humans win the game. But if the Cylon players reveal themselves at the right moment and bring down Galactica, the Humans have lost.

I'm a huge Galactica fan and had heard good things about the game but in honesty found things a little bit slow to start off with. That was probably because there just three of us, the minimum number required, and we were obviously learning our way. Once things picked up the subtleties of the game came through as different characters archetypes have access to different resources.

I was Cylon from the outset and it became quite a fine balancing act to not be too obvious about it. I did rather give myself away at one point at which point the sub-game of bluff and deceit kicked in fully additional another dimension entirely which with more players would become far stronger.

All in all a good game I'd happily play again. Good stuff ;)

Boba rides again!

Hello people,

First a caveat, this is NOT a Charlie Large Spuds I'm so great post.....honest :)

Dropping down to Dark Sphere Thursday night I rocked up with my Boba Smurf list determined to put into practice my recent epiphanies about deployment and opening moves. I've realised that I generally set up facing forward and fly off in that direction with a plan but less idea of execution.

I drew John as an opponent. John's a great guy and a very good player. He's been terrorising people with his HLC  IG / Quad Z95 list for a while now and placed top 4 at last weeks MK Regional. In honesty I was just looking to give a decent game and try out a few ideas around deployment, opening moves as well as bait and switch.

As it happens I somehow flew probably the best game I ever have with this list and took the win 100-36 :)

As a  flanker list my opponent has rarely given me that lank with any ease. As such it was time to start creating one. Deploying my Z swarm on the far right John followed conventional practice to follow suit on the diagonal and had his IG lurking nearby. I knew that he was likely to burn a few turns with the IG to force the engagement with his Zs so that the IG was free to swoop about sniping from range with the HLC.

As such I had Boba adjacent to the Zs angled toward the board edge so that Turn 1 the Zs pulled hard left along my horizontal board edge while Boba ran up the vertical.....thus creating my flank!

After that it was some pretty hard flying as I attemptted to engage the IG as soon as possible. A couple of turns in Boba's boosts had him a bit farther ahead than I would have liked and leaving the supporting Zs behind. Luck played an early hand as Jon rolled his Zs in after Boba as I deliberately bumped the IG with him to deny him the shot.

Trapped between Boba and his Smurfs Jon's Zs were soon falling though I was very aware that I wasn't focusing in on IG and I aware of his late game strength. Boba getting some decent rolls helped out greatly and by mid-game I was feeling far more comforatable as I'm pretty happy with my dogfighting abilities. Being far more positive with Boba was reaping rewards and moving last I was often able to dodge IGs arc.

Late game it a was Boba and two Zs versus IG and I gladly paid a sacrificial Z to run away and regroup. Re-engaging with the Z, no 13, running as a blocker I had the upper hand and eventually got on to IGs tail at which point it was waiting for the dice to come up.......which they did.

In honesty I flew much better because I realised what I needed to do and actually did it. Luck still played a big part, with a few crucial turns where the game swung both ways, though you've got to give Her Ladyship the chance to smile on you :)

A big game for me but mainly because I didn't just learn, I applied the learning :)

That would be an Ecumenical matter!

Hello People,

Bit of a hiatus once again but there you. Yet another impressionistic style mini review as we played a bit more Infinity down at Enfield Gamers this Tuesday.

This time it was a four way 250 point game with pretty much the full rules with Star Wars themed forces. Yeah, biting off more than you can chew and all that jazz!

I'd previously heard that Infinity can be a bit fiddly and there are quite a number of special rules and the like, in fact it can be a bit bewildering at first contact. On the other hand some things are super dead simple, such as linear terrain. If the figure isn't right up against it then no bonus. The LOS "silhouette" system is similarly very black and white. In fact there's very little grey with Infinity, just plenty of actions, states, abilities and skills to take into account.

For a skirmish game it's quite a different design philosophy, at least it is for us. I found that once I realised that and got my head around it a lot more fell into place. You need plenty of terrain on an Infinity table to break LOS, your aiming for that cluttered feeling. Initially the rules felt similarly cluttered by once you realsise that they're actually individually simple LOS opens up. It feels like a very different design philosophy. Once I realised that and got my head around it a lot more fell into place.

Once again.....grown up Necromunda. More tonight  :)

Small Margins

Hello people.

Not been saying too much recently but that's because there hasn't been too much to say except more of the same, which isn't really my style.

This week has featured a bit more To the Strongest on Tuesday down at Enfield Gamers. This time I cracked out my 10mm Ancient Britons and ran them at Shaun's Imperial Romans.

Correcting a few things we'd been getting wrong with attached Generals we also forgot Strategm Cards. The latter wasn't a big thing, the first more so.

As you would expect my unwashed mass was rather unwieldy and ill disciplined. They were however rather more durable than Julius' lads. Marching up the field the lines joined and started the rather inevitable grind. On taking a hit a unit becomes Disordered and hits in combat on an 8 rather than a 6, which is huge. As such Rally as a priority became an obvious first Activation. Along with the vaguries of opposed card draws seemed to mean that not a lot happened too quickly.

Though Shaun went about winning the Cav battle I had enveloped his line and he had very little prospect of inflicting the 3 hits to destroy my lads. It kind of became a case of waiting for me to get the 2 hits I needed so that I could start to roll his line. Catching onto the mechanism it seemed to become much more about stats than tactics to find the bonus modifiers to get the killing blows in. 

We may well have got bits wrong and there's still plenty of obvious potential there. We're hoping to get the author down fairly soon who can undoubtedly show us a thing or two.

Meanwhile last night at Dark Sphere Project Lambda finally took flight with two games against a pair of Agressors.

I went with;
Omicron - Fire Control System - HLC - Anti Pursuit Lasers
Omicron - Fire Control System - Mangler - Vader - Anti Pursuit Lasers
Soontir Fel - Royal Gaurd - Stealth - Auto-thrusters

First game the IGs flew straight at me and failed to roll any even half decent Evade dice and which point I gobbled them up. Second game was a bit of a reverse as I had to chase with poor red dice and some lucky long-range fire on Fel.

However, the list and tactics are valid, both just needing some modification. I have a number of options available and will persist.

Meanwhile Jon dropped off my Pulp City KS stuff, more than I remember pledging for, no argument there. Lovely cast figures they give me something else to work which is very welcome.

First up, Bolt Action pin and smoke markers. I hadn't forgotten ; )

Infamy! Infamy!

....my dice have had it in for me!

Another week, another belated post and a lack of brush in hand. A rather busy week of real life though not unpleasantly so :)

Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers myself and Shaun turned back the clock a touch with a run through of To the Strongest. Yes a 10mm historical wargame! Hopefully that's not too much of a shock to one and the other of you.

In short I rather liked it :) All driven from a standard deck of cards, minus the royalty, the basic mechanics are simple yet effective allowing for multiple activations and "fog of war" via the vagaries of how the cards fall.

Running out a Roman civil war there was an expected grind element before my horse out-horsed Shaun's left flank and started the roll up just as my left flank putting in some telling blows to take the game. I'm sure we got some bits wrong and there's still the advanced rules to bring in but all good so far.

After a long week myself and Mr C headed up to Milton Keynes Wargames Workshop for their X-Wing Store Championship. Having not played a game all week I went with the Pope-mobile / Mini-Swarm that did so well for me at Chelmsford a while ago.

Six rounds of Swiss was well run by Ian, as always as pretty much back to back games.

First round I was up against a pretty standard Chiraneau / Whisper net-list which I pretty much just ate. Chiraneau flew straight at the swarm while Whisper dithered and it was all casual flying. I did loose the Pope-mobile to a Vader force choke but I didn't want to take the risk.

After that it was five straight losses as my dice, especially the Green variants, simply refused to cooperate. Round four against triple Defenders was particularly bad as I could do very little while my opponent could roll no wrong. I'd even realised nor to get into a K - turn war but somehow it kind of happened.

I managed to clip Vessery but that was it. I didn't fly too well at times but still didn't deserve the dice I got. Only game of X-Wing I've had when I've needed to remind myself it's just a game.

Rounding out the day I finished one place above the spoon but still enjoyed myself. Again, to me it's a strength of the game that the balance is that fine.

Next time!

A New Hope?

Hello people,

Another pretty standard week in Oddleg land with a good few games of X-Wing at Enfield Gamers on Tuesday and Dark Sphere on Thursday.

Yesterday was a trip up to Lost Ark for Dave T's latest Attack Wing event. Three good, hard and fairly fought, games with my Klingons which went a long way to restoring my faith in how good the game CAN be.

I also picked up my pre-ordered Scum & Villainy "investment". Basically it's two of everything to go with the pair of Firesprays and Hawks thst I've already painted up.

Having spent a strangely enjoyable afternoon unboxing everything the plan is to release a few bits to the tabletop as I complete a few other projects that have been gathering dust for a while. I've got plenty to play with and it will make me take the time to give new lists a decent play-test. 

In honesty I've been in a bit of a gaming rut recently, as has been Enfield Gamers.

As such we've updated things a bit and moved away from the club website and forums onto the club facebook page. We're also going to be concentrating on X-Wing, Bolt Action and To The Strongest for the next few months. The X-Wing league will be Scum themed culminating in a Tourney at the end of April with full  FFG prize support.

So Tuesday Club Night myself and Shaun will be running through To The Strongest and before I get my first lump of Scum I need to sort out the 40 sets of shoulder patch transfers for the Commandos thst have been sat around for too long. Then they need to find a table! 

Plans.....contact with the enemy. We'll see :)

Pigs might Fly

Hello people,

Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers myself and Dave T managed to get in three very entertaining games of X-Wing during the evening. I went with a couple of variants of my Lockjaw Shuttle / Defender list while Dave had a couple of runs with a TIE Bomber list he'd put together. 

I was running a couple of variants on Col Vessery  (TIE Defender) with Heavy Laser Cannon supported by an Omicron Shuttle with Weapons Engineer and Vader plus a pair of Academy TIEs to run interference.

So for the first two games this saw both of us running a Vader Doom-Shuttle generating obscene numbers of target locks between us. Having learnt a few bits from Sunday's games I deployed the  Shuttle and its TIE escort centrally and then Vessery in response to the opposing fleet. 

This gives the Shuttle a greater sphere of influence but I soon realised that as it moves and gets its action prior to the opposing fleet the ST-321 upgrade is well worth 3 points.

The Shuttle also takes quite a bit of fire, as a slow large target, which meant I didn't get to use Vader much as I simply couldn't afford to take the damage.

Tweeking the list a bit more I'm looking at;

Col Vessery - Veteran Instincts - Heavy Laser Cannon

Omicron Shuttle - ST321 - Weapons Engineer - Ion Cannon

Academy TIE x2

That leaves 3 points for Vader or a Hull Upgrade for Vessey.......just have to playtest!

Scarily I actually managed two, rather rare, wins from three against Dave. He's still got the bragging rights but it's moving in the right direction. Can't believe it took me so long to give this game oa go :)

Flying High

Hello people,

Following my mini rant I've spent the weekend playing X-Wing. Five games yesterday at our event for Teens Unite and a further two today up at Lost Ark. I enjoyed every last one of them to the point where I feel more and more positive about the game as a whole.

Yesterday I ran Boba with twin Royal Gaurd TIEs. First two games my Evade dice were awful and cost me dear. After lunch things picked up and I went into my final game 2-2. Coming up against chunky Han plus two B-Wings I just couldn't chew through the sheer weight of 29 combined Shield and Hull.Plenty of big 360 arc lists but the day's victory went to five Avenger TIE Interceptors.

An excellent day's gaming and one that found me playing around with an alternative Vessery list for Lost Ark. Working something out I needed to pick up a Lambda Shuttle and a TIE first thing....which is exactly what I did :)

With five of us playing I picked up the first round bye as the event was once again dominated by big 360 arc beasts, two Decimator and one Falcon list. Toting a pair of Heavy Laser Cannons I took down a Decimator, for the win, and the Falcon, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Fairly stable dice today and the list worked pretty well, with a bit of room for polishing. A few bit s more learnt but I'm really beginning to click with the game now. The shuttle also picked up it's unofficial title, the "Lazy Sow" as it flies like a bit of pig, which I'll somehow work into the paint scheme.

I take it as a measure of a game as to how many games I can play before my head begins to swim. Seven for the weekend and I could easily have played a few more.

Do or Do Not, there is No Try!

Dreaded D

Hello people,

Last night down at Enfield Gamers I once, in fact twice, faced off against the Empire's latest tabletop addition in the form of two Decimator lists as my last couple of practice games before our X-Wing Charity Tournament this Saturday.

First up was a return fixture against Dave T with Rear Admiral Chiraneau with Tactician / Rebel Captive combo supported by a Captain Yorr Shuttle / TIE Wingman stress relief valve. I went with another Boba build featuring Push the Limit, Rebel Captive and Engine Upgrade supported by a pair of PTL Royal Gaurd Interceptors.

As with previous Dave T encounters I got hosed, big time, by a combo of diametrically opposed dice and some poor flying. I did at least get the hang of the Squints pretty quickly and was well impressed by the Shuttle. Added to shopping list :)

Second up was Mr C with the Rear Admiral (snigger) loaded up with Expose, two Tacticians and an Engine Upgrade with a couple of TIEs in support. I rejigged Boba with Predator, Rebel Captive and Engine Upgrade.

Much better game for next his time having placed a central asteroid field that the Decimator circled most of the game. Being allowed to jump on the supporting TIEs helped no end before I initially went in at the beast in a relatively uncoordinated manner. 

Noses bloodied I regrouped and we went at it again for a grandstand finish with the Admiral chasing Boba around whilst toting a bucket load of Stress. Eventually Predator at range 3 saw me grab the win :)

Things learnt;
- Arc dodging Interceptors are fin to play and look great. They also deal with Stress well.
- Decimators are surprisingly nimble for a big ship. At Pilot Skill 8 I often had trouble getting the Admiral in arc.
- Pouring on the Red Dice from Range 3 is probably the best way to deal with a Decimator
- I shall be flying Boba with Predator, Rebel Captive and Engine Upgrade for the foreseeable
- A Decimator and a Shuttle are on the want list

Really looking forward to five games on Saturday......sure I'll get Dave at least once ;)

Interstellar Tsunami

Hello people,

Last night down at Enfield Gamers X-Wing Wave 5 arrived with a BUMP (snigger) as Dave shot me off the table two games in a row with his latest. It should be STRESSED (fa-narr) that I had a particularly enjoyable time of it and, once again, learnt a lot.

I once again took my most recent Boba-Gator / Echo / Red Shirt TIE list. First game Dave took a pair of Decimators which are as physically intimidating as the recent hyperbole floating around the various virtual commentary groups. I attempted to group my recently manufactured asteroids to create a field to slow them down though unfortunately it hindered as much as it helped me.

My relatively poor manoeuvring of Boba plagued me all night, though not as badly as my Defence Dice, and I had a hard time focusing on one Decimator. They have a surprisingly decent dial and my apparent lack of all out attack dice seemed to tell. Unable to hide Echo from two 360 arcs left her on the back foot and in trouble fast.

Second game Dave unboxed his YT-2400, which is a sweet looking ship and went Fat Han / Fat Horn on my ass for a second tanning of the evening. Boba got alpha-striked to atoms in about three turns, though his inability to Evade played it's part, leaving Echo to chase down Mr Horn in vain.

Across the evening I failed to kill a single ship but had a good time doing it. Dave once again went with his Stress inducing builds which continued to cause me issues on top of some heavy 360 degree firepower. I realised Echo would have a hard time but not quite how hard. It reinforces how important manoeuvre is in this game!

Developing my own list, next time out with Boba will feature Rebel Captive and Push the Limit to see how that goes, probably with a pair of Royal Gaurd TIE Interceptors........a gift from Santa of course ;)

All of this will hopefully sort me out a final list for our upcoming X-Wing Charity Tournament. You're very welcome to join us!

Flight of the Boba-Gator

Hello people,

Last night I joyously mainlined some X-Wing hobby crack as myself and Jon did battle down at Enfield Gamers ahead of the Charity X-Wing event we're running on Sat Dec 13th.

Having trawled the net and swapped a few posts on A Few Manoeuvres I had a further refined Boba list to try out;

Boba: Predator - Seismic Charges - Engine Upgrade - Navigator
Echo: Veteran Instincts - Fire Control System - Advanced Cloaking Device
Acadamy TIE 

The whole idea was to max out manoeuvrability to reduce the fire received and use the rear fire arc whenever possible. It turns out that I could also run away pretty quickly when required!

Like anything it's all well and good having plenty of manoeuvre options unless you know how to use them. As such Game 1 was a "learning experience" which also featured the good grace of my opponent, Jon, as I bumbled my way through to victory curtousy of our respective dice.

Game 2 I put my learning into practice and guilt winced my way through as the dice Gods continued thier one sided benevolence :{ The ablative Acadamy chap even did his job AND survived!

So a fair bit learnt and a list I rather like, though only on the evidence of two dice decided games. Navigator felt like a bit of a safety net and could well find itself redundant with experience but for the moment the  training wheels stay on.

 I think Jon might like to play someone else's dice next week!

The Weekend Starts Here

Hello people,

In short I have the rest of the week off work and intend to engage in a glut of Star Wars nerdism :)

It's EotE tonight and I've set myself the goal of having my fledgling fleet of Firespray, TIEs (Fighter, Defender and Phantom) and HWK 290 repainted by the time I return to the grindstone. Work on the Firespray has been relatively slow but I have a cunning plan.....

Meanwhile that Friday feeling was delivered three days early with the help of Jon down at Enfield Gamers last night as we pitched our recent W-Wing purchases at each other. I went with an elite Heavy Laser Cannon list featuring Bobba and Rexler Brath while Jon showed me how useful a pair of Ion Turreted HWKs could be.

Between us we took our time and made plenty of mistakes, none of which were a problem. Jon has a reputation for notoriously poor dice but I soon claimed that crown as I couldn't roll evades, especially against Ion fire, to save my life. I did however finish off the A-Wing with a particuarly cinematic Seismic Charge :)

I did manage to claim a very close game as the final HWK, with one Hull remaining, faced down Bobba, with two Hull remaining, for my dice to finally come to life on the final pass. Plenty learnt on both sides and lists to be tweaked.

As I await Scum & Villainy to appear Santa's list is likely to include some Interceptors, Imperial Aces and a Decimator....... ;)

Jolly Boys day out

Hello people,

Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers we continued the Jugula campaign with a day event at arranged by some backwater Magistrates to appease and distract the locals from the Roman yoke.

House Trottarius travelled up from Peckham having impressed in recent events with a number of wins and a few honourable defeats. A couple of casualties early doors have been balanced by the advancement of the the whole Ludus. Dominus Delanus has been well pleased....luvly jubbly!

Introducing for you entertainment, (L-R);

Rodanius - Murmillo - A simple lad, bit of a plonker at times but favoured by Delanus. The tank of the outfit, recently worked out what the pointy end of his sword is for - Palus; +1 Attack
Boycanius - Secutor - Razor sharp but mouthy. Looks for the opportunistic, flashy kill. Quick feet around the arena - Palus;  +1 Movement
Damianus - Thraex - A young lad, very intense, shunned by Rodanius. Enjoys his trade almost a little too much, likes to play with his opponents - Palus; +1 Defense
Marlenius - Dimacharius - An instinctive fighter, emotional in the arena. Brooding, blows hot and cold around the Ludus. Very, very close with Boycanius - Palus +1 Attack
Trigarius - Hoplomachus - Dumb but dependable. Same "lucky" spear his entire career. Eight new shafts, nine new heads but still the same spear. - Palus +1 Attack
Albertus - Retarius - An ex-sailor of some experience with a net. Sailed many seas and has a story to tell for every one of them. The elder statesman of the Ludus - Palus +1 Attack

This week the trip north didn't sit too well with the lads. Somehow they never seemed to get into the groove of things. Despite taking the initiative an working around the arena pretty well they somehow lacked the....execution, and failed to make their advantage count. After that they rocked onto the back foot and slowly slid to defeat.

Thankfully no one died, always a bonus, but with the Ludus' newly found Popularity and Fame has massively increased costs and the trip only barely turned a minimal profit. Such is life, two weeks to recover before the next event...."This time next year Rodanius..... :)

Are you not Entertained?

Hello people,

The recent Gladiatorial theme around Enfield Gamers has continued as Rich has recently picked up a copy of the Spartacus boardgame which sports the tag-line A Game of Blood and Treachery...which is highly accurate.

The blurb is also rather accurate;
In Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery, an exciting game of twisted schemes and bloody combats inspired by the hit STARZ Original series, each player takes on the role of Dominus, head of a rising house in the ancient Roman city of Capua. Each house is competing for Influence to gain the favor of Rome. Through a combination of political schemes and glorious battles on the arena sands your house will rise in fame and stature. As Dominus, you have a variety of resources at your disposal. Guards protect you from schemes launched by rivals. Slaves run your household and earn gold. Gladiators compete to bring glory to themselves and influence to their Dominus.

Three main phases occur in each game round of Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery.
The Intrigue Phase is when players launch their Schemes, hoping to raise their fortunes while undermining their rivals. Schemes and Reactions are represented by cards in the Intrigue Deck. Players wield their Influence to put their Schemes into play, often asking for (or bribing) another player’s help in hatching the most complex plots.

The Market Phase is when players buy, sell and trade Assets (Gladiators, Slaves, Equipment and Guards). Players also bid against each other to acquire new Assets at Auction. Wealth is not the only path to success as players bluff and bargain with each other to acquire the Assets they covet.
The Arena Phase is when the bloody games are held. Gladiators from two rival Houses are pitted against each other in a brutal fight for glory. The spectacles of the games are represented by miniature combat on the arena board. Fighters pit their Attack, Defense and Speed dice against one another to determine the victor. All players seek to increase their fortunes by betting on the outcome of the gruesome conflict. Fighters who emerge from the arena victorious gain Favor and their Dominus gain Influence.

The goal of the game is to become the most influential house in Capua, securing your family’s power for years to come. During the game, players will bribe, poison, betray, steal, blackmail, and undermine each other. Gold will change hands again and again to buy support, stay someone’s hand or influence their decisions. Will you be the honorable player whose word is their bond or the treacherous schemer whose alliances change with the wind?

 

Tuesday night we also cracked out The Serpents and The Wolf, the expansion allowing six of us to backstab, plot and occasionally do battle in the arena. Myself, Rich and Mr C had got a couple of games in a couple of Fridays back so had a bit of an idea what we were doing but it's not a difficult game to pick up.

The game itself is yet another high quality offering with good elements of resource management (gold does tend to talk though) and plenty of interaction between players. The combat system once onto the sands is quick, simple yet has enough to producing an engaging combat. Each house has its own special rules and abilities, flavoured to the series, and there are genuinely multiple ways to win the game, it's not an auto to build a stable of stone cold killers.

With the expansion the idea is for upto four Houses putting forward a combatant into the arena to fight in teams of two. We gave that bit a miss with three new players but it soon proved that it was otherwise too easy to sideline the more combat ready Houses. I'd made the early running, BIG mistake, only to be hauled back down toward the gutter. By mid-game a definite alliance had appeared between MrC and Rich. The rest of us weren't having that so when Ian had a chance for glory we backed him all the way!

Give it a go if you get the chance, well worth it for the quote opportunites alone :)

Omnipotent Fowl

Last night at Enfield Gamers we kicked off the Britannia Jugula campaign with six newly formed Ludi and their equally green Lanistas (Lanisti?). There was much hamming it up and Spartacus quotes a plenty, especially where Jupiter's prize male chicken was concerned. In fact there was as much effort put into making grammatically poor threats as there was playing the game.

I am running Ludus Peckhamus of House Trottari hailing from the marshland to the south of Londinium....which partially explained the smell.

First up I faced Rich and his well hated Sagittarius. In honesty I started playing the deck building side of the game fairly well, building Vox Populi and marshaling my resources. It didn't help when I pretty much let myself get outmanoeuvred on the sands which was quickly stained red by my Secutor, a dead kind of red in fact!

To be honest I was having trouble "seeing" potential manoeuvres on the gridded board and it was costing me dear. That was until the penny finally dropped, clanged even, at which point I pinned two of Rich's lads up against a wall and smashed the both into it repeatedly to take a shock 4-2 win.

Push backs are an important part of combat. If you don't have the space to move back into you take an extra wound. Suddenly I only had to beat Rich's "roll" rather than double it!

Second game was against Shaun who tends to play the long game so I got stuck into him early. Problem was I failed to make it stick, manoeuvre again, and we ended up in a mass scrum in the middle of the arena. Eventually Shaun ground out a 4-1 win.

Third and final game of the night was against Paul who came at me from the off but fairly piecemeal. His dashed out and netted my new Sector which would have proved far more effective if he'd had someone to take advantage of it with.

I was effectively forced to fight around my netted man with fairly minimal resources but still with a touch more than Paul who hadn't built up at all in order to press on me. My advantage and defensive posture told as I forced Paul to engage on my terms and took a convincing 4-1 win.

Applying the campaign rules I had somehow done rather. The two dead Plebi were easily replaced from the slave pens while Rodanius my Murmillo tank and Triggorus my Hoplomachus (a spear is just a broom handle with a point) had both gained enough XP to ping up a level to each going another point of Attack bonus. This in turn garnered Ludus Peckhamus an amount of fame and reputation.

Not quite sure what that means just yet other than a target on the back and higher running costs I'm sure :)

For a "simple" game there are lots of little details to remember to apply. The quick play sheet had a section "10 things that you will forget". That does however mean that there's plenty of depth both tactically and strategically. Even as a fairly seasoned hack (cough) it took a bit to keep up though this was mainly because I was to busy having frenetic fun.

Frenetic is definitely the correct phrase, there's a lot going on on both sides of the arena and plenty to keep track of and second guess. It provides a good "buzz" to the game. 

We played through three rounds in about 2 1/2 hours as newbies with just decks and quick play sheets more than happily :) For the campaign it'll be every other week to keep things fresh and avoid overload. 

By Jupiter's omnipotent male hen, thou knowest where we reside!!

Cut-Throat?

Hello people,

This Tuesday down at Enfield Gamers was a major training session for the local Ludi as we got stuck into Studio Tomahawks' most recent offering, Jugula!

We as a club have previous experience with gladiatorial management with Two Hour Wargames Red Sand Blue Sky so just it was a case of uncasing figures, brewing the tea and setting up. A few of the boys played the week before but this time six of us dealt ourselves out a trial Ludus and got stuck in.

The game is card activated but far more than that as they also provide the far deeper resource management element of the game that gives you a number of tactics and strategies to run with. Each Gladiator type has it's basic stats, light or heavy, move and base attack and defence values but it's the activation cards that do the business and make the game what it is i.e fun, challenging, brutal and rewarding!


 Running through the above top to bottom;
- the sandal is how many Gladiators you can activate to move
- the bloke lets you whip up the crowd which in turn gives you attack bonuses and expands you hand size (from 5)
- the helmet is how many Gladiators you can activate to attack
- the fan of cards is how many cards you can draw
On top of that there's the cars text, often situational, the star at the bottom right which can by you cards from the uber deck. The cards are also used as dice, you can play one from your hand or draw blind from the top of your deck.

In short there's an awful lot going on outside of the action on the sand. Once you get your focus on the actual hack and slash manoeuvre becomes critical as you rarely get to move and attack. It's very much a mutual support thing whilst trying to make a hole and then pick off the isolated man.

As far as the evenings games were concerned there were three of them, even as a novice, so four in a night must be possible once you crack on. In short I got taken to school......gladiator school but learnt a fair bit and by the end of the night was even beginning to hold my own a touch. Initially I underestimated the depth and variation of the card deck, I also got out manoeuvred on the sand.

Any budding Lanistas should take a look, well worth a punt!

Bigger Donkey

Afternoon all,

Tuesday night was TOYs, as it's known in the office, down at my long, long-time gaming club, Enfield Gamers.

Personally I was up for a bit of Bolt Action action. Having somehow missed D-Day we recently played a mega-micro Caen game and to follow up I'd vaguely organised an Operation Goodwood night as that Op finished on 1st July 1944. Turning up with rulebook, scenarios selected, order dice and dinner I realised that I'd managed to leave my army in the office which cued much cursing and mirth depending on who you were!

As fate would have it that actually evened up the Bolt player numbers so I set the night up with the Axis players counterattacking the Allies. Meanwhile a couple of the guys set an Epic game of X-Wing and a further game of 40k. This left me as a third for Cards Against Humanity, a hugely non PC cardgame. 

As such I now bring you a thumbnail night down at Enfield Gamers as a compare & contrast to your local.

- We're a fairly small club with an average turnout of about a dozen at our typical church hall. We can set up ten 6x4s if you breathe in and have about three cupboards worth of various terrain squeezed in and around a pair of lockers.

- Tea and Coffee is on tap with choco rations at a price and plenty of local take-aways and hostelries for dinner on the run.

- Were an older club, averaging mid 30s, with most systems having got table-time over the years. GW has given way to more diverse offerings as the years have rolled by and it's fair to say that we're skirmish rather than mega-battle. Board and card games provide pick-up and extra time gaming under the heading of "fun games".
- We're pretty open minded to what we play week to week. We've recently settled on a couple of regular monthly campaigns, currently Bolt Action and Zombiecide, with specific open gaming nights and even a touch of Roleplay on occasion.

So, how do we compare? Feel free to come and tell us in person as your first night with us is FREE :)

Tantive IV takes its first run out!

Grey Knight Thunderhawk.....thunders into view!

Axis counter-attack

Something a little different.....and VERY wrong!

Little Donkey

Hello people,

Been a bit quiet on here I know mainly as I had last week on holiday down in Newquay which was gorgeous. Brace yourself for any number of catch up posts and possibly the odd landscape shot :)

Tuesday night was back to business down at Enfield Gamers as the third round of the Bolt Action league saw us hit 1000 points with a fan written scenario. 

Taking on Rich J's Estonian SS I knew I was in for one of our typically bloody affairs. I was also less than happy with my list as a good few games and browsing of Warlord's forums had produced a few themes. Many small units seems to be the meta as the ability to dish out pins is highly prized.

It's not a meta I want to join at sacrificing any semblance of historical accuracy but I've become aware of the better choices within the lists. I hadn't really taken too many!

Rich's force was small, elite and infantry light maxing out manoeuvre and concentrated firepower at the expense of numbers. He applied it well while I, unfortunately, played like bit of a donkey...a donkey that the dice turned against!

A lot of things went right for the SS as he crept up and then went all out his truck-borne assault force of flamethrower, captain and assault rifles. From the comfort of my farmhouse I shot the truck to pieces only to loose the whole of A Section to the flamethrower. Meanwhile B Section's flank assault has stalled under an air-strike while I let D Section get caught in no mans land and pinned to buggery.

The important phrases there is that "I let"! Throughout the game I made a number of poor tactical decisions. Several times I made a good tactical choice to then not implement it. It's said that you make you're own luck and I made mine somewhat shoddily!

Lessons of the game;

- I SHOULD have landed smoke on the Stug rather than allow it free reign to dominate.

- I SHOULD have had the sniper on Ambush to target the flamethrower.

- I SHOULD have moved the PIAT up to support B section.

- I SHOULD have ignored the truck and then shot the snot out of the flamethrower from Ambush as he debussed.

I did however do SOME things decently but my game didn't have too much edge to it. BA is a good game with simple mechanics but does demand decent tactics over buckets of dice to bully the odds into submission.

Already knowing that the list was likely to change we had the usual post game chat at which point advancing under smoke was discussed along with the importance of transports. Air Observers also came up!

Most of all, despite it being one of THOSE games, I still enjoyed playing the game. I've also taken delivery of an Engineer Section :)

Big Bang Theory

This Tuesday night down at Enfield Gamers was the second round of the Bolt Action Escalation league.

Myself and Damian had somehow jammed it to joint top spot having gone undefeated so it was Brit on Brit action as my Commando geezers took on his Tommy regs. For flavour I decide that they must have been Free French being a bit too free with the English roses and due a good slap ;)

Story of the game was that if you live by the shell you die by the shell as the FOs ruled the roost. 

Lining up either side of a road with little hard cover I got the run of the Order Dice early doors and got forward fast to claim the territorial advantage. We both brought in our artillery quick as. I targeted his Cromwell, as I was unlikely to take it out otherwise, while he went for geezer packed left flank.

Mine arrived ASAP sprinkling the Cromwell with pins while Bren Recced away to safety. I pushed my left past his smoke round as I'd been able to wear it in other games and was keen to push my advantage.....only to have 7 units pinned to the nines the very next turn!!

Unfortunately this is when it all went proper Pete Tong as I FUBAR'd twice in as many checks and rolled ones even when I could Rally. Half my left flank ran off and the rest to got shot to pin-dom come (A Section were wearing 7 at one point).

On my right D (Assault) Section weathered a storm of .303 to have a sniper and a section at their mercy....only to fail repeated orders and hide behind thier wall. 

The one up was the medium mortar ranging in on the Cromwell and effectively pinning it out of the game. At one point it caught on fire by the crew hung in by the skin of the 1st Lt's leadership bonus.

As much as I was pinned to feck I wasn't loosing units and Damien was wary of any assaults. As I'd run off and gone Down he was having trouble picking up the Attrition Points but eventually managed the 2 he needed for victory on the final turn by turning everything in the lone PIAT.

In honesty if I'd run away properly I could have salvaged a draw but it wouldn't have been deserved and would have sat badly with me. It was still an enjoyable, though frustrating, game mainly because Damien's such a good guy. I once again learnt plenty, I really should have charged up one flank with D Section running a Flanking manoeuvre but there you go.

This was 750 points and next time out is 1000. Definately going to add an AEC III but also tempted to make room for a Wasp flame-carrier but not so sure that I should. We'll see ;)