Tuesday 12 January 2016

2015 Review

2015 saw a different wargaming rhythm than previous years since I'd moved from England to Wales. My usual shows were now quite a drive away rather than no more than 1 hour, and new shows came in to range. I didn't manage to fully explore the new show options but I'll get round to it. I didn't expect to paint much and managed nothing, but did manage lots of work on the house. I had expected to finish the Wargames Eyrie but that will now be in 2016, but not necessarily the full vision but a working version. The move meant I was now out of range of my good gaming buddy for our monthly 1 day games, but we did manage a game. The move did bring me back to some old gaming chums and I attended all the Conwy Wargames Club games except one.

Well on with the review or more correctly a list of wargame and related stuff I did in 2015.

Places Visited 
We took an early holiday knowing the year was going to be busy, plus we did a lot of exploring of the new surroundings. Not much to inspire a wargamer, hence few blog photos. Conwy castle being the most military related and I really enjoyed revisiting this old haunt and this time it was so much more informative. A great game could be made of Welsh rebels sneaking in to the castle and taking it by surprise, as actually happened.

Games played - 17
I had 14 games with the Conwy Wargames Club. 13 as part of the monthly meet and 1 day game. The other 3 were at the Battle Group Campaign Day.

The monthly Conwy Wargames club games were:
X Wing
20mm Force on Force - first time played. Definitely needs more practice but it was fun
28mm Dux Bellorum - again first time played. Easy to pick up and fun.
28mm Saga - another first. I found the rules atmospheric, but I need more practice.
1/72 WW1 air combat Game 1 - a new game for me and it was hilarious.
1/72 WW1 air combat Game 2
1/72 WW1 air combat Game 3
1/72 WW1 air combat Game 4
Star Wars Armada - first game and loved it. Found the rules easy to pick up.
20mm Battle Group Fall of the Reich
20mm Battle Group Barbarossa - my practice game for the campaign day. Must write AAR!
15mm Hail Caesar
15mm General de Brigade Plancenoit 1815

Conwy Wargames Club big game
20mm Rapid Fire WW2 Pacific 

Battle Group Lokhivitsa Campaign weekend
3 x Barbarossa games . Another set of AAR's I need to finish and publish. It was a great weekend and I won a game. Even better it was against my old gaming buddy Guy.

Finished models
0 - for me
I did paint some toy knights for my cousins' son


Shows visited - 2
West Midlands Militaire Show (WMMS) - the best show I've been too since Hammerhead
There were loads of great games for periods I like. This one inspired me the most as I have the makings of these armies already and I like the use of ACW plastics with some conversion to creat a variety of troop tupes.
Sheffield Triples

Blog posts - 82

Kickstarters backed - 1 Battle Systems Urban scenery

Books Read
This year I managed to read quite a lot of historical books which makes a change:

  • THE SOMME 1870-71. THE WINTER CAMPAIGN IN PICARDY 
  • FRANCE AT BAY 1870-1871 The Struggle for Paris
  • Three German Invasions of France: The Summer Campaigns of 1870, 1914 and 1940 
  • GUARDS BRIGADE IN THE CRIMEA
  • CAVALRYMAN IN THE CRIMEA The Letters of Temple Godman, 5th Dragoon Guards 
  • Behind Soviet Lines - Hitler's Brandenburgers capture the Maikop Oilfields 1942 (Raid)
  • French Carabiniers 1679-1871 (Officers & Soldiers) 
  • The British Army since 2000 (Elite 202) 
  • Romanian Army of World War II (Men-at-arms) 
  • Fall Gelb 1940 (1) (Campaign) 
  • The Conquest of Saxony AD 782-785 (Campaign 271) 
  • The Battle of Leipzig 1813 (Men and Battles) 
  • Empires at War: 1911-1923 (The Greater War)