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Mack

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Everything posted by Mack

  1. Same with me, I was just starting to wrap my head around the rules when everything got side tracked because of covid. I would be up for a casual game of Code One or me stumbling through N4. Its a little bit of a trek for me but maybe I will check out Glimpse of Wonder also.
  2. I didn't want to start a new thread to ask the same question. What is the local state of game meetups? I had just started to play when the pandemic threw a wrench into my gaming and I wanted to get back into playing. Are people still playing at the club on game nights? Are any of the local game stores having game meet ups that would be good for new players?
  3. I know the feeling of buying a new game to start a project but not getting around to actually playing it. At least with skirmish games I'm not planning on building massive armies and having another crate of plastic on my desk for months. I really like Frostgrave, so I don't really need another fantasy skirmish game. Frostgrave is fun with two players with a good scenario but I think having another player or two mitigates the wild swings of dice rolls. Every combat could go either way with a good roll so it evens out the playing field. Its fun with two players but when I actually want a more tactical force on force game the units don't stand out enough. Vanguard has exploding dice which adds that element of crazy stuff can happen also. Is the Vanguard starter set a good way to go? Are the forces most of what I want for an occasional game or will I still need to pick up unit boxes that make me get more grunts than I will use? Or spend a few dollars more for two faction boxes and rules? With the thought of probably playing occasionally. Thanks for feedback.
  4. During the last year of the pandemic I've been playing some games of Deadzone with the family. While picking up some models I've been looking at Kings of War and Vanguard. I like some of the sculpts and I've been thinking of picking up the game. I'm not sure if I have the time to invest in another big army game but I've been looking at the Vanguards starter set . Just wondering if anyone had an opinion on the smaller scale game and if its being played much in the area. The starter sets seem like a good way to start for either game, is that the case? Thanks
  5. Yeah they are playing with the Black Powder rules which states that it's supposed to be a friendly game with the intent of getting to play with period miniatures. The rules of movement of troops is fairly abstract so it plays fast and would work well for such a big event. If I was more interested in the details of drill it might annoy me that until units are engaged they can change up formations easily. But I'm just happy to show off some armies and built terrain more than I'm not looking for simulation. The rules have a very different feel than some of the more "tournament" style games that I"ve become burnt out on.
  6. I wonder how much of a pain it was to move the huge units from one table to the other as they marched forward? Just thinking of what it would take to referee something like this just to keep it moving? Its cool because I have an understanding of the battle and a vague idea of the layout of the land, cool to see the units on the tables instead of just a marker. Have to shout down the table to check if your flank is being broken or where are your reinforcements.
  7. I found some pictures of the Great Game at Glasgow Might be the largest game played, over 75,000 miniatures in 28mm.
  8. Yeah, that's part of the appeal of the French Indian Wars, interesting units but generally smaller and less variety in some ways. Like I don't need tons of cavalry or artillery. I end up with building both sides because its interesting, but it's also hard to find someone with an opposing force. So its good to have enough figures to go around. Not to mention basing and scale issues. I didn't get in on the Nickstarter but I've been able to find all the stuff online. I think I'm just going to base everything in a way that they work as individuals and formations. On a side note, do you think Saga is a good starting point into that era of skirmish games? When I was looking up the second edition of Muskets and Tomahawks I was reminded about it and generally people seemed to like it really well. There has been such a surge in skirmish style games its hard to filter through all of them.
  9. The modular set ups for tables save a lot of work and easier to store. If you just wanted to play a couple of games I was just saying I have enough stuff for any conceivable skirmish force for French and British already. I don't have an opinion of rules yet, I already own Sharpes Practice and the second edition of Muskets and Tomahawks is in the mail.
  10. I think the key is consolidating projects. Base your Oathmark Samurai on snow and ice bases, little known fact that Felstad actually had asian architecture, and it happens to be winter in the marvel universe. Yesterday I was thinking about what projects I wanted to devote energy to and feeling kind of depressed on what I wanted to work on and what I was going to actually play. I've been wanting to finish some of my historical projects but I do not get a chance to play that style of game much, so I keep putting it off. At least I've actually finished several things that have been sitting around forever. So I shouldn't pick up another 300 figures even if the price is great, but then I think that I could actually use the cannons and crews, and eventually I would get around to building the rest....
  11. That would be great. It's been a side project that I've been debating on how much time and energy to devote to finishing. Just on a side note, Warlord Games is having a half price sale on American War of Independence starter armies. Buy one get another half price. I've been thinking about picking up another army since its an interesting time period to play and the armies are more manageable to build. My friends will play historical games but typically I end up supplying both forces so I end up with a bunch of miniatures on my display shelves for the occasional game. So I have plenty of stuff to fill out just about any army list for a skirmish game. I have Sharpes Practice and the new edition of Muskets and Tomahawks in the mail. I think I might pick up some movement bases so I can use single figures with Black Powder also.
  12. I saw a big anniversary game last year at a British War College where they set up a huge cafeteria size room with rows and rows of tables with walkways and redid the battle of Waterloo. Dozens of war-game clubs brought in collections and ran the battle over a long weekend. I will see if I can find a link. I've debated about building a Napoleonic army in smaller scale just for cost and actually having a larger force. I have a bunch of American Civil War forces in 28mm but at times I wish that I had 10mm to actually do a larger battle field. Black Powder for example seems to run better with more units on the table because so much of the game is rallying forces and wisely using reserves. I'm perfectly happy with a game being more abstract if it runs more smoothly and I can actually finish a game in an evening. I'm okay with a game being a little vague on time and scale if it means the playing area looks good and is fun to play on. I want to have a feel of the period but I'm not much into tracking ammunition usage and remembering if my battery is loaded with shot or canister. One of my friends likes WW2 history and games but we keep running into friction during games because we want rules to represent different things. I like faster games that are easier to pick up and give a feel of the period and units, he really likes more of a simulation that gives historically accurate results. He has had fun playing Black Powder though since he doesn't have as many expectations on how the game should work. I think it is really important to think about what you want from an a "historical" game. Like Black Powder is meant to bring various armies to the table for a quick game. It is very clear in the rules that it is expected that the players agree on many rules on how the game works. I for example play with a smaller frontage and ranges since I'm playing at a larger scale on a more normal size table. Also, it's assumed that players just bring whatever forces they can agree on. My friend is fine with that for a black powder era game but it would drive him crazy in a more modern game. He has tried Bolt Action a couple of times but he hasn't really enjoyed it much for example. But he had a good time playing a similar game, Beyond the Gates of Antares, which has a sci fi theme but basically the same ruleset because I think he expected something different from the rules.
  13. I've only played a couple of games of Black Powder using 28mm American Civil War and had a good experience. We reduced some of the ranges and movements though since we didn't have a massive table. I've avoided Napoleonic because the armies are massive and have such a variety of units. I really like painting armies so 15mm is about the smallest that I actually enjoy. I went with 28mm for the Civil War because there isn't such a huge variety of uniforms and the larger units on the table look great. Some of the attacks column and forming square also doesn't look right unless there are a ton of figures. So if I was using Black Powder rules I think II would honestly go with a larger figure count in a smaller scale .It would take me a year though to finish a Napoleonic army in the large scale though. Sorry its late and realized I didn't really answer the question on rules. I only get a chance to play big historical games once in awhile so I've found the Black Powder rules easy to pick up again after not playing in awhile. I've always had a good time playing but there is a lot of abstraction. I also think its necessary to pick up the specific rules covering the era otherwise the basic rules are to generic.
  14. I realize is a few months old but it made my night. I was interested in some of the units in the French Indian Wars and liked that the conflict was a mixture of raids and skirmishes with a few large unit engagements. When I was looking at some ACW units I picked up the Black Powder French Indian Wars starter set on a whim. Over the last year I've been collecting other units and picked up the Sharpes Practice rules for skirmish rules. Then of course the new edition of Muskets and Tomahawks and some Highlanders to go with it the other week. So I've built a small collection of both sides forces, mostly Perry Miniatures. When things settle down I would be up bringing in both of my forces for a skirmish game with either rules, I have all the units you listed and another French force. I haven't got a chance to use either skirmish rules but both rule sets look good. I don't think I have enough forces for a decent looking Black Powder game though even for a smaller table. Its been a side project for awhile but it would be great to actually bring everything to a game.
  15. Sorry for the late response, I'm still interested in playing just trying to make sure I have the extra time. I have a force of German Panzergrenadiers thats ready to go.
  16. I really enjoy tinkering with terrain stuff so I'm doing my best to make it, just depends on what my wife needs around the house for the holidays. I have a quick question, would it be helpful to bring one of my airbrush set ups? I like the speed of an airbrush but it could also be annoying in the clubhouse space even when using acrylics.
  17. Mack

    New Faction Advice

    Thanks for the advice. With the holidays I haven't had much chance to play or tinker around with the game over the last week. I played in the Rampage games a couple of weeks ago and had a good time. It was interesting to play a variety of players and see different play styles and faction armies. I've tried to focus on learning the basics of the game and not get too distracted with online army lists, so it was interesting to see a how a more skilled player handled some units. I played a Corregidor force since thats what I've been using during the escalation league games and I didn't want to try to play multiple games with new units. I made the mistakes in deployment that I was expecting and I wished multiple times that I could switch units. The issue I ran into that was a little more frustrating was knowing my opponents units, but not really understanding what they were capable of, or seeing their units and getting a feel for the kind of game they were planning on playing early on. I was surprised with how resilient a force of Panoceania Varuna units could be, and that it was a given that there would be a Kamau with a multi spec visor in the force. I wasted a lot of time trying to move units in a better range since moving under smoke and camouflage wasn't as effective. The next game I underestimated how fast and effective a linked team of Hollow Men and a group of Puppetbots could be. I lost that game in deployment and couldn't even get anything going. The only breathing room I had was because I brought a Reaction Zond that happened to have a good field of fire. The personal frustration comes from seeing models that I know (and some I own) but haven't really played against or with and really missing what the force is about. I know the answer is play more, but that is my question. In the beginning is it better to just stay with one faction or play some others to get a feel for them and see if I enjoy the units play style? I enjoy relaxing, building and painting models, one of the aspects of the Infinity that I really enjoy. I have a good selection of Combined Army, Ariadna, and a vanilla Panoceania units. Its nice to have some other forces to paint and tinker around with, but I only have limited time to actually play. After a couple of months of playing I'm just now starting to get kind of a feel of just the Corregidor Sectorial. Even then thats just kind of a general idea of what some of the units can and can't do. I rarely feel like I'm getting my units to really work together. I still have a big back log of modeling projects so its not a pressing issue, but I wanted to hear what more experienced players thought about playing multiple factions while still getting a feel for the game. On a Nomad faction question, I finally got to use some more of my REMs during the Rampage games. I was impressed with how well a Reaction Zond with assisted fire could control an area of the board; if I could find a good position for it (and remember that its kind of a glass cannon). Has anyone ever used a Tsyklon Zond much? In the 200 point games there never seemed to be enough points to use one, but I was thinking about replacing one of my Mobile Brigada with one in a fire team. So that would be with a core fire team or a duo team with a Gecko. Maybe to see how it would work on a more aggressive mission.
  18. Mack

    Mary Problems

    Yeah agree not my favorite pose but nice to have a dedicated model. She is actually a better gunfighter than my Alquaciles though . I've always liked this profile and was just thinking of what would be the best model to use as a proxy. When I first started looking at the game I thought I was missing something when I couldn't find models for every profile.
  19. Mack

    Mary Problems

    Just noticed this at Miniature Market for pre-order. Nice to finally have a model for this character.
  20. I was wondering if you had sold this or if the set was still available? I was looking for some paints and I've been happy with the model colors for the most part. Thanks
  21. Mack

    New Faction Advice

    @Natetehaggresar and @Sgt. Rock thanks for the helpful advice. Its always helpful and fun to have some help thinking through ideas. When I start a new game I like ones that give me an opportunity to discover the game and how it plays and then look up on forums etc for specific advice. I hate it when something is unplayable unless this unit is added or there are certain dominant troop lists for the current rule set. That and people have different play styles and temperaments so its hard to gauge how relevant their advice is in a vacuum. What got me thinking about more straight up combat options for Corregidor was that I played the Armory mission last week and was trying to get a list going for the Firefight mission this weekend. Most of the other missions that I've played so far I've felt pretty good with the units I had to bring to the table. I have a bunch of good flexible specialists and units that are flexible in deployment. Its going to be awhile before I'm confident in the deployment stage, but units like Tomcats or forward deployed units close to mission objectives help make up for my mistakes. That and the units are fairly tough so I can actually push them to objectives. So for the most part I feel like I have the tools needed, I just need to learn to use them better. When I played the Armory mission I had a harder time deciding on what units to bring. It's the first mission that was more of a take and hold an objective, and the mission this week was Firefight a straight up brawl. Most of the units I've been using can fight, and the Intruder is tough on offense but I never get the feeling that I would like to set in one spot and trade shots with my opponents heavy units. I like the Mobile Brigada and it has pulled its weight in the majority of the games I've played. But when I think of games where I want more firepower in Corregidor I wonder if the answer is to bring more Mobile Birgada because its my heavy infantry option. Thats were I'm a little unsure of what is my best option, I have all the units for the sectorial except Wildcats so I can play around with various stuff. Maybe a Gecko, Mccmurough, a Tsyklon REM? In some of these missions Wildcats seem like a solid choice for me, but I'm not in a hurry to pick up another box just to try out a unit. Or is it more of a tactics issue and I need to figure out how to use my units better offensively? (which is a given). Do you think that for some missions its better to find a way to make a force work, or bring in a vanilla list or even another faction? @Sgt. Rock thanks again for the advice on smaller fire teams. You mentioned it awhile back and again right now and for me its been really helpful. Deployment is always difficult so having really large fire teams I think is going to make it harder to recover from a mistake. That, and maneuvering a team without having a straggler getting picked off is a lot easier with a small team. It still lets me compress some orders to move a few units together that I want to anyway. With the larger groups I agree that it would probably just give me more opportunities to get the majority of my force pinned down by a well placed mine or something. As far as the speed of Wildcats, I'm only really concerned with it that much, but it would force me to be more precise on deployment and have a clear plan on where I want them to go. Two things that I'm still working on. I do have one question for a more experienced player that I have a hard time judging. As I look more closely at units and how they work with other units I'm thinking of some of the asymmetrical attack options that Nomads have. Even though being out gunned in a direct fire fight but being able to attack my opponents order pool by isolating and immobilizing units. With Morans and cheap remotes it seems like I have decent hacking coverage without trying, if I wanted to use a hacker offensively can I use ones in Corregidor? Or would it be wise to pick up someone like Mary Problems or an Interventor, but have to have a vanilla force? And if I want to use a Vanilla force to have some more flexible options, has anyone used Hecklers with Jammers or a E/Marat? I'm just getting comfortable with figuring out the effectiveness of more standard weapons so I'm still trying to figure out how likely it is for things like Comms and hacking attacks to be effective.
  22. @Ish I wasn't thrilled by the idea of using blocks but I think they work well. The game has somewhat abstracted units but still manages to represent a period army. AI like the art work and the name of each unit printed on them clearly. I know my friends would be annoyed trying to tell light infantry from light infantry rifles, or sorting out various cavalry units. The red box is loose sorting of the British and French units in the base game, it doesn't include the Portuguese forces. Most infantry are similar but there are small rules changes for each unit that help the units not feel the same, light rifle units have a little better range but get a minus on hits in melee/close combat. Certain cards have different effects on what type of unit is ordered, so units would have to be clearly marked especially for players not really into the period. The other picture is some of French artillery and calvary units. Its kind of chunky but massive groups of soldiers do give the feeling of large masses of soldiers. Also they are big and chunky and easy to move, even when there is one troop left on a hex its still clear what it is and doesn't feel like a lone soldier standing there in a field. If you used smaller models I would maybe have several columns or lines of troops and remove a whole section when it takes hits. Its also easy to buy another nationality army other than the tedious process of carefully adding a hundred stickers or so. But if you have the troops sitting around it would look awesome with added mini terrain features.
  23. @Ish the Napoleonic version of Memoir 44 is the Command and Colors Napoleonics, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/62222/commands-colors-napoleonics It is one of Richard Borgs later versions of the basic system so it is a little more complex than his previous games. But the command cards work for the period and usually let you activate more troops, and troops can battle back and slowly degrade in fighting power as they lose units. I can actually get my friends to play this since they also enjoy Memoir and the games have been fun. It uses wooden blocks with stickers instead of miniatures, it works for such huge armies with so many troop types but its daunting because the stickers do not come attached. Not as grand as a table of miniatures but I can actually get a game in once in awhile. It still gives the feel of the massive armies of the period. The system is abstracted like all the Command and Colors games but if you play within the system it actually gives a period feel in a reasonable amount of time. If you think of the cards as a kind of fog of war and command tempo it works. One thing I liked is that to form square you have to place one of your command cards aside, so for each unit in square you end up playing with on less card until they come out of formation. Worth checking out if you like the period and don't mind a lighter abstracted game.
  24. Sorry I was running around a bit today, but I thought about your question. As far as balance goes Battlelore is more balanced because a big part of the game is drawing and secretly selecting objectives, then taking turns placing terrain, mustering forces, placing tokens that represent units face down (a certain number being decoys). Then units are revealed and the game begins. There is also a scenario tool online but I haven't used it. So for the most part each game is different and fairly balanced, but it takes some effort to get the game going. A lot of the scenario could be created before hand, but some of the fun is not knowing what you are up against. Memoir is selecting a scenario from the hundreds in books and online. The scenario will give exact set up instructions, forces, and any special rules for that game. The best scenarios are based on actual historical battles that are often not really balanced. In those cases they suggest to play the game twice switching sides and then comparing the total scores. Online there is a database for the scenarios that show relative win lose ratios for each side, if you want a balanced game select one that is about 50/50. For example awhile back we played a scenario that was on the eastern front, I think the russian player used most of the pieces in the box for their forces and the out numbered germans had to play a holding action. It was fun but not really balanced. But its easy to set up the game ahead of time and there are also campaign books. With such a good sale I would pick up Battlelore. You can always pick up Memoir 44 and wait to find a sale. Also the miniatures for Battlelore are nice, Memoir's are simply functional for the game.
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