New Game - New Table

Now that we're all locked down for the foreseeable future it's an opportunity to review my home gaming resources. First up the table.

Since I joined the local wargames club, many years ago (16 maybe?) I've not really had a need for a decent table. That said I've still hung on to my old table which resides in the darker recesses of the garage. This consists of 3 boards, each 4 foot by 2 foot, that can be assembled to give a 4 by 4 or a 6 by 4 foot table. The boards are simply placed atop two old ironing boards which has the added advantage that they allow some height adjustment. One side of the board is painted blue, for naval games, and the other side is flocked. I quite like the flocked side,which is as hard as nails, being sealed with an interior varnish; none of the surface has come off in over 30 years.

So what's the problem? First off they're really too big for the available space. I played last week's What a Tanker game on the 4 by 4 configuration and it all but filled the back room (aka the War Office).

My old 4 by 4 foot table 

Secondly, these boards are heavy; they're made from chipboard and are actually off cuts from when I replaced the garage roof. Dragging them out of the garage is a right old faff and usually ends with me doing my back in.
Thirdly, although I quite like the flocked side, the blue side is not great. It does have the advantage that features such as shoals etc. can simply be chalked onto the surface but it really is a bit basic looking. So much so in fact that, last year, I splashed out on a nice new sea mat. Hence, this side of the board is now redundant.
So what is needed is something more appropriate for the available space, lightweight and easily stored. I do remember that when I was a young lad (yes I can remember that long ago - just) I used to game on my Dad's wallpaper pasting table and wondered if I could use one of these as the basis for my table. Hence, after a trip to the local DIY outlet I purchased a suitable pasting table; which was fortuitous as this turned out to be the day before lockdown.

It must be said that these things are cheap and nasty; the advantage is that they are CHEAP, lightweight and easily stored. In its folded state, the table measures 3 foot by 2 foot.

Folded table

When set up, the full table is 6 foot by 2 foot. Not a particularly useful size but I did have a moment when I realised that two of these would give a standard 6 by 4 foot table. However, sanity prevailed as the only place that I could use a 6 by 4 table would be the lounge and that was never going to happen!

The fully extended table

However, as these things are so simply made, I figured that it shouldn't be too difficult to take it apart and reassemble it  in a more useful configuration. So after a bit of trial and error I reconfigured the table into a more useful 4 foot by 3 foot.

The disassembled table

The only extra bit of work needed was to add a couple of extra legs to make the table stable. The whole thing is a bit flimsy and wobbly but I reckon this is more than adequate for its intended use.

That said, due to lockdown, it has seen more use as an 'office' desk so far - and is proving a godsend in that respect.

My new 'office'

So now equipped with a new games table, this week's lockdown game would see its first use. Once again I put on a game using WhatsApp. This time around it would be a game of our Lion Rampant variant (Rampant Fistful) and involve four players. Each team of two would run one 22 point retinue. Although this would work well with 2 players, I chose teams of two as I believe the social aspect of the whole exercise is important. This time around there would be little fog of war and the whole game would play out on a single WhatsApp group. Each team did have their own group so that they could discuss tactics and the umpire could inform them of the card draw but everything else was open to both sides. This week we also had a guest player based in Cyprus so we were also dealing with different time zones; it all seemed to work well enough although it was to be a late night for our Cypriot player!

Although we're all gearing up for our Crusades campaign I didn't have enough figures for a crusades game. However by re-purposing my crusaders as English I could pit them against my original Scottish retinue. So the table was set up to represent somewhere in the Borders.

The battlefield

I had originally intended to flock the table surface but as it is so thin and flimsy I suspect that it would warp. Hence, I used a green cloth (much greener than the photo would suggest) as the playing surface. Looks like I need to invest in a nice mat for this project. The terrain consisted of bits and pieces from my Dark Age (Dux Brittaniarum) - terrain is going to be something else I need to upgrade!

For the game we would use the 'Hold on Tight' scenario, where both sides fight over a central objective. In this case it was to be the old tumulus known as St. Kevin's Tump; a vital landmark in setting the local land boundaries.

The Scots Retinue

Foot Men at Arms*

2 Foot Sergeants

Archers

Fierce Foot

The English Retinue

Mounted Men at Arms*

Mounted Sergeants

Foot Sergeants

2 Crossbow

The game itself ran smoothly enough after the first few card plays; there was a small learning curve as players became used to the system but by and large were up and running pretty quick. For this game I dealt the cards and informed the two teams of their respective hands via their team WhatsApp groups. When activated, the players rolled their own dice and informed the umpire of the result. I then moved the figures or removed casualties as appropriate. This does require players to be honest with their dice rolls but as we're all gentlemen that was no problem.

From the outset, the English appeared to have the better plan (or a plan). Essentially the mounted and crossbows would cover the flanks whilst, in the centre, the Foot Sergeants headed for the Tump.

For their part the Scots were intimidated by the crossbow (I believe the comment was 'Two lots of crossbows? WTF?!!')

The English Plan

Both sides advance cautiously; the English to maintain a battleline, the Scots to stay in cover. In the end the English advanced to the tump and kept possession of it until the end. The Scots, for their part, seemed to have forgotten their mission and only contested possession of the tump in the last move. That said, their fear of the crossbows proved well founded as these wreaked havoc whenever they shot.

English Advance

Scots Advance

Scots seek cover 

Battle lines

English seize tump

Endgame

In normal circumstances, we usually play until 'pub o'clock' and then assess victory points. In this case we played until bedtime (or well past in Cyprus). In the end it was a decisive victory for the English with 5 Glory points versus the Scots 2 Glory points.

English Casualties

Scots Casualties