The hibernation of this blog is finally over! Many thanks to all of you who've kept this blog in their reading-list even if it has gone quiet for more than a year. The reason for this prolonged hibernation is manyfold, a combination of finishing my PhD, a demanding time in the family and many small and large factors that added up to the choice between still having a hobby or blogging about it - because there was no time for both.
What scarce hobby-time I did have in the last year, I mostly spend on the playtesting of Aurelian, the new game of Sam Mustafa. It is his first ancients-game, and since I am a fierce fan of his rulesets and was drawn by these into both the Napoleonic Wars and even the ACW (periods I previously had fiercly denied to play for many years), this really was a treat for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A very special aspect of it all was that I got to provide all the pictures - both for the rulebook (well, rule PDF really) and the unit tiles, which can be used as playing pieces.
So, in a sense, now everyone can play with my miniatures collection simply by using these unit tiles which even come as a free download.
For me, Aurelian has many strengths and not many weaknesses, and I really enjoy this game. Thus I have taken the time to plunge into a new aspect of modern hobby-communication and have done some viedos about it on youtube. You can see a little teaser here...
...and if you think you can enjoy it and bear my terrible pronounciation, you can watch the preparation...
... and the setup-procedure of the game.
Part three which will cover the turn sequence and the battle itself with shooting, moving and fighting. It is uploaded right as I write this, however, it may take some time until you can sse it as I have asked Sam to preview it first - just in case I made any mistakes.
To sum it up, here is what I like most about the game:
1) The Focus of the Period
Instead of the usual "Moses to Cortez" - aproach, the focus on a relatively short period of time really gives flavour to the game and is - in my oppinion - much more historically accurate then the "one size has to fit all" mechanisms of some other games.
2) Adjuncts
After you've choosen and "bought" your army, it will recieve a personality by the addition of heroes, priests, experts or traitors. They really add character, fun - and unpredictability.
3) Stamina
I've never before encountered a system that is so suited to mirror the increasing fatigue and loss of stamina of an army. After several rounds of fighting, your options will be limited and fighting results will decrease in quality. In most other games the chances of rolling high is unchanged from the beginning when the army is freshly deployed to the end when it is anxious, tired and demoralized. Not so in Aurelian - here you will experience the strain that's put on your troops by the gradual loss of your good cards.
4) Strategems and Interrupts
The cards also allow for the use of strategems - and for your opponent to undermine them. You can make plans, but they won't succeed all the time...
So the game is fast, fun and solidly based in history in a timeframe I really enjoy. As you can guess, this won't be the last post about it you'll read here.
At the moment I'm begging/annoying Sam to use a similar approach for the Crusades or even the Carthaginian Wars. Whether I succeed with that cunning scheme largely depends on the success of Aurelian - so do me and us all a big favor and buy the PDF ;-)
Strange caption, that is. Well, I couldn't decide whether to name the post for the news I want to break, the progress I want to report or the sale I'd like to announce. But as all of them go well together with "big", I guess that'll be this posts title for now.
Where to start? Let's begin with the news. I was at Tactica in Hamburg two weeks ago, and as many of you may already know, this wargames show really is a gem. I was there first time and wasn't prepared for such a big and great show on German soil. Also, I wasn't prepared to spent so much money, which is why I won't go to Salute after all. No need for it, really, my lead mountain has risen quite a step. But it wasn't only the things I've bought (more of that in a later post), but also the games were just great. Here are just a very few impressions of the eye candy available there...
But surely the greatest experience of the show was talking to the Perries, who are really very nice and amiably fellows. And now here is the first of the big news I've learned: Michael is doing TWO NEW WotR PLASTIC SETS. One will be dismounted knights, the other light cavalry. He was even so kind to ask me which set I'd prefer first and I opted for the dismounted knights - so I guess it will be light cavalry first out, then.
The Perry Twins Alan (left) and Michael (right) being interviewed at the Tactica by Magabotato
The second big news of the show I've learned from Alex Buchel: There'll be a SAGA SUPPLEMENT FOR THE CRUSADES this autumn with lists for several Arab and Crusader factions. Having proposed Crusader lists at the SAGA-forum myself I'm really excited about this news. Also, it definitly was the right decision to go for single based figures in my current project...
Speaking of which there is also big progress to report. The basing goes along nicely, and I now have multibases for the biggest part of my army. As you can see on these snapshots they are not yet finished, but the most time-consuming part (preparing the multibases and basing the figures so that they will fit into the slots - its harder than it sounds as a single corn of sand can obstruct the close-fitting connection) is done:
Andalusian Foot (Work in Progress)
Andalusian Horse (Work in Progress)
A close up on the command
Now I have to do some light horse and a few more other bases, than I can concentrate on the painting of the bases.
Speaking of concentration... I have to admit a little lapse of focus lately. With all the new toy I've bought at the Tactica I thought it was time again to sell some, too. So I based and finished a few more figures and put them on Ebay. Among those are:
I'll probably miss some of them eventually, but even with my rather grand-scale approach to planing and starting projects there is a step where grandness and madness collide, and I want to stay well away from that step for as long as possible...
Thanks for visiting, have a nice evening and take care,
Tobi
