This is the Modern World....

Lots of off centre photos recently so here's one on the left rather than the right. Variety and all that.

Said photo, and that below, is of an Afghanistan 2010 game that Rich J put on at the club this week. Rich wrote the Afghan supplement for Ambush Alley, and I've enjoyed a number of games played with it, but this week was a bigger, 6"x8", game using FUBAR, primarily to see exactly how quick-play they are (approx 3.5 hours!).




As I've mentioned previously general gaming opinion is fairly split as to wether it's "Okay" to play some of the more modern periods, especially those that are ongoing.

Personally, I don't have any problem doing so but each to thier own.

One group who definatley don't have a problem was the RAF group running an Afghan game last weekend at Warfare and they'd actually served there! In fact, for them it was another way to raise awareness. I remember going to Salute the year that Black Hawk Down had been released for a glut of, highly enjoyable, Somali gaming and any number of companies releasing Somali ranges at that time.

You could argue that it was a far more limited action and /or a classic elite vs mob conflict but it seemed, to me at least, that it was more acceptable due to the lack of humanitarian fall-out transmitted into peoples living rooms a la HD.

It's worth noting that a lot of Afghan rulesets are supported and played by serving soldiers, whilst also making contributions to Help For Heroes, which has to be applauded. Whoever thought something so nerdy could be such a potntial force for real good! Personally I was busy across the hall with the Bullz taking on Ian's undefeated and greatkly feared league leading Amazons. These were my first two rolls with the blocking dice!!Mainly through the power of the Tackle skill, thank you Nuffle, the scoreboard was unbothered in the first half, despite me rolling an awful lot of pushbacks and a rapidly filling KO box, which was also shortened by a pitch invasion.

Recieving a touch-back at the start of the second half, Yusuf the potentially unstoppable actually was making great use of Break Tackle for a two turn score. I awaited the Amazon back-lash. Which fortunately, for me, never got going due to three quick female casualties, including a death, one of these from a fan-thrown rock!

4 versus 7 was never going to be easy and Ian almost got the score, ably assisted by more push-back rolls, only to be felled at the last! Rarely was a 1-nil win such a tense affair.

Thank god it's not real eh?.... eh?