GAMING WITH GRIDS

 This month (actually 2 months) I shall mainly gaming with grids!

We've played a good variety of games at the club over the last two months, and by sheer coincidence they have all been grid based games.

First off, we tried a new set of 'big battle' Samurai rules, for the Sengoku period, called Heiho. I had high hopes for these, as the basic unit is the mixed arms 'sonae', rather than separate units of ashigaru and samurai etc., as seen in most rules.

For the first game we dispensed with any terrain so we could concentrate on the basic game mechanics, and used the starter armies from the rulebook. I was pleased to see that I could field two armies using my armies based for Peter Pig's 'Battles in the Age of War'.

The first game went OK and was promising enough to warrant a second go. This time I tweaked the armies to represent a cavalry heavy Takeda army versus the Tokugawa. We also added some paddy fields, wooded hills and a central village.

The Takeda honjin (HQ) in its maku enclosure

The Tokugawa equivalent

After 2 battles, we were slightly underwhelmed. The basic idea was good but the rule mechanisms were too fiddly in places. I also wonder about the both the playtesting and proof reading behind these rules. The rulebook is littered with what appears to be hangovers from earlier versions. On the plus side, they did give me some ideas and incentive to create my own homebrew rules - I was even inspired to paint some more figures. They also provided ideas for Korean and Ming armies - both of which have been sitting in my 'pile of opportunity' for over 20 years!

We then moved on to a couple of weeks of WW2 aerial combat, using 'Fire in the Sky'. A great rule set and a clever take on large scale actions where players run several squadrons, and the smallest unit is the section of 3 or 4 aircraft. They're also fast play and several games can be played in the evening and still have time for the pub.

A B17 bomber box. Each model representing 3 aircraft (in a slightly mad 1/144 scale).

Tail end Charlie is in trouble as the Germans move in for the kill.

The following week it was back to another favourite and the Wars of the Roses with 'Bloody Barons 2'. Another great game and a run out for my 10mm collection.

Stepping down in scale again, we moved on to a spot of 2mm wargaming with 'Strength and Honour'. We had a couple of gripping games pitting my Republican Romans and Pontic forces against each other.

Just to round off our excursion into gaming with grids we then moved on to playing 'Lost Battles' in 15mm. We played the Cannae scenario and the Romans were decidedly thrashed. It was good to see some veteran figures on the table - most were Peter Laing figures and were painted almost 50 years ago!

And that rounds up our excursion into gaming with grids. It's back to 'normal' for our next game. That said, I have been messing around with some solo gaming, testing a potential Christmas game - and what do you know, it uses grids!

Not only that - it's a space ship game. That will definitely raise a few eyebrows at the club.

Federation ships face off against the Empire of Vectron.