Weekender XLBS: What Historical Battles Should We Play & Box A Or Box B?
January 29, 2017 by crew
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First?
Thankfully not first…but someone better say it…
HAPPY SUNDAY!
Amended – HAPPY SUNDAY! 😀
DUUUDEEEE Really 🙂
Oh I love your Mecha . IT Should be painted bright yellow, be piloted by Rogal Dorn and feature in TTS as the Big E’s cuddly fuzzy wuzzy little yellow cute cuddle toy for those bad days when he does not feel all that fresh and brought out for special occasions such as slaaneshmas day. The day when All Human and chaos put aside their differences ,as they are all humans anyway , get together for 1 great cause, to KILL ALLLLLL XENOSSSS. you know you want to.
Second
Third
Dave mate ; We Miss you ; when are you gonna be back on with new Pretty, pretty Forge World shinies to unbox ???
Not to forget deets about your custom cast army.
Come back soon we misses yah.
In the process of saving up for a warlord titan. As soon as I get one I’ll ask @warzan if I can come back over and unbox it
Nice one !!!
Will look forward to it.
I went crazy bought a War hound titan with an extra set of VMB’s to replace shoulder pads with and a Reaver Apocalypse launcher to mod to the carapace. Kinda make a baby warlord .( I never Wizzy Wig I am a modeller who games. the rule of cool is what I go for. All my army has poles mounted on the bases with little info flags stating what they are carrying.) along with this got 6 knights, and a huge mechanicum force, with a bunch of Solar Auxilia to use as another type tech guards. had a fit at the almost £3000 credit card bill and sent it back- Forge world was not happy with me. I still get cold chill nightmares over that charge, and crushing regret over sending it back. I love these new knights: ACASTUS KNIGHT PORPHYRION.
Any plans for a Storm Eagle ?
Happy Sunday!
Morning…Hobby weekend booked
Happy Sunday even
Wouldn’t it be easier just to move over here Rob?
Yeah we’re thinking of putting a futon in the cage for him 😉
John could use another body in Warren’s hobby time slave pit ;-P
Well you know, I would but my boss won’t like it…lol
I was just watching “Atlantis Rising” and the narrator stated that it would have taken an explosion equal to 1 million atomic bombs to create what is now Santorini — so you can tell Justin you were not crazy. Also, that society has the worlds first flushing toilets so that must mean that must has been Atlantis 🙂
Happy sunday !
Happy Sunday! Not first but have booked my ticket for hobby weekend! @dignity be warned my wife is coming too and she has a soft spot for you(bless)
Someone get Warren some post it notes, or some equivalent, so pages can be marked ahead of filming.
Good morning Beasts of war! (in the voice of Robin Williams)
@warzan Good on you mate do Napoleonics your way. Use Chosen Men to tide you over. Osprey does cracking rules. The first table top war game I ever saw was a Waterloo on the table top with scenery etc .. I was rapt 30 odd years later , it’s something I am starting to have a hankering to sit down and have a crack a fair dinkum 1800s game with Wellignton et al. Go for it and please share your journey, Seriously it is something I have always wanted to do properly, and would love to see how you go
I would take A and B .. I need empty boxes for my storage !
@warzan I’ve started Napoleonic Skirmish and managed to get my first mini painted; [img
?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=b16104771f6d927dbec08c01211531ae&oe=590D504A[/img]
Ha ha ha ha. Great stuff, laughed my B***s off at the last segment.
Happy Sunday guys.
With regards to glass flowing….. http://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment . This pitch drop experiment at my alma mater was the one of the first done on solids behaving as liquids .. the experiment is still on going. (nearly 90 years long)
With regards to historic battles here’s a few you could have a go at,
For Lloyd Julius Ceaser’s seige of Vercingetorix at Alesia
going forward in time The Battle of Schellenberg (just before the Battle of Blenheim) if you want something different
I’d second Alesia as a battle to warfare. I can’t think of much else like it.
I just checked and I have a box marked ‘C’ Is it a glitch in the simulation?
Great show as always guys.
SHUSH no one is allowed to talk about things marked C it annoys the prop guys and leads to the uncomfortable Question. WHERE THE EFF DID THE COKE BOTTLE COME FROM ???
Deep Breath indoor voice phrewww calm now 😛
Why should I care what real @redben gets? F*** that guy!
lol
@lloyd Waterloo trailer; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MvoBYEaG3V4
I have DVD in hand now and taking it to him in about 1hr! 😀
There’s a multi-part low quality version on YouTube or for a few quid you can purchase Sony’s version, presumably better quality.
Dvd now safely delivered to him (along with Barry Lyndon) :p
on the DVD front, did he ever hand over the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth set for your kids, if so have you tried them yet or waiting for them to get a bit older….if not he said he was going to show them to Anna first, in which case check his draws, oh errr
Re Rourke’s Draft and Justin and Lloyd
This is why large multi player games are so much fun
Of course it needs a good umpire as well
alas they only had me, but we muddled by
You better start swatting up on La Haye Saint 😉
Heck maybe we even open it up to any backstagers who fancy coming over for a couple of games and some beers 🙂
don’t worry I’m one step ahead of you, you do realise that the 27th foot or the Inniskillings were at Waterloo, I’m just reading the battle lines at the moment to see if any local lads got near to La Haye Saint
Awesome!
Don’t be modest G
I set the hospital up back to front, that’s not exactly good XD
A friend of mine years ago went to Rourke’s Drift and was amazed how small it a dually was compared to how it was portrayed in the movie
annoyingly @torros I can’t reply to your comment below, so I’m replying to my own. I had a friend visit it a few years ago as well, even though they filmed it on the actual site of the drift the current buildings aren’t the originals from the action, those were knocked down in the 1900s and rebuilt so I’m not sure how the distance of the current buildings align to the originals.The camera angles never really give you the idea of the actual size because it was a lot of tight shots looking out you didn’t get the impression of the whole defenses. One of the things that astounded me was that there was 20000 rounds of ammo, as the drift was both hopsital and supply dump. When Chelmsford arrived to relieve the siege an inventory counted 900 rounds remaining, now a good number probably got dropped but still, 150 men fired 19000 rounds in 12 hours. That’s a hell of a rate of fire and shows the impact of the British regulars volley.
The Terracotta Army from China had a cross bow that looked similar to the Sigmarines bow, which was ahead of its time by about 200 hundred years but it wasn’t a repeater.
Got a mention on back stage. Wow 🙂
Didn’t proof read my post and saw a typo 🙁
@warzan Keep up the diet and exercise, you can see the difference It is making. And don’t worry if you are known as the local twitchy wierdo. Lol
So -on the subject of 8×6 action. I’m going to push outside comfort zone, familiar land based battles and suggest Trafalger! Even on 8×6 you’re going to need small scale ships to pull off the long French line astern formation and allow for movement.
Can you duplicate Nelson’s brilliant tactics, prepared to sacrifice some of your force to split the French?
Trafalgar sorry – me bad!
If you then wanted to pick a segment to play out larger scale it would have to be the Temeraire protecting Victory!
brilliant suggestion 🙂
1/2400 scale you could do that
Good to see some historical games being played. For Chosen Men I have just put together two 500 point forces using Perry miniatures. I used the marching figures for the line infantry from the plastic sets. For rifleman and light infantry I added a few metal packs. It doesn’t take much to collect a force for Chosen Men. For a larger game in history the battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan would be interesting with a British square moving across the table while being assaulted by mahdist tribesman. The film the Four Feathers used this battle as a basis for the action in that film. Or flip things over and have the Brits being the attackers instead of the usual defensive action. Bunker Hill in the American war of Independence for example. Have waves of red coats marching up against the defending colonial militia. Love to see you guys tackle more historical battles.
Just on those stormbolter ‘crossbows’, they are meant to make them look more like Space Marines. A blind man in a computer simulation can see that. Why is that a problem? GW want to replicate the success of Space Marines in their fantasy setting, and they’re not being subtle about it. Why is it okay if it can be tenuously justified by reaching to compare them with historical crossbows, but the truth is not okay?
In a word yes they can of course do what they like, but there is a little counter niggle I have about the suspension of disbelief, and some times little things can ‘pull you out of a game’ at the first glance to me this was a little like that and further diluted the narrative draw of AoS a little.
Of course it’s only a small thing and will be of no consequence in a short amount of time, but if it happens often enough it makes it very difficult to truly gel with the story – as it will feel ‘too obviously contrived’
@warzan
I do get that :). I’m more talking about the mental gymnastics some put themselves through to try and convince themselves it’s something other than what it is. They’re Space Marines with bolters, that’s the point. Wishing very hard for it to be something else won’t make it something else 🙂
Yeah, I think as a rule of thumb all games developers should try to avoid releases and situations that cause those ‘mental gymnastics’ as in the longer run I think it potentially detracts from games ‘ease of falling in love with’
But…
Heck every game has them from time to time and it’s an impossible ask for developers as different folk react in different ways – but I wonder if some (maybe including this) could be considered a little too obvious?
You know it’s you that converted me to the planting blame at the developers feet lol 😉
In this instance I don’t blame the developers because they’re getting the effect they’re going for (or the sales dept. want them to go for lol). They want them to be Space Marines and they’re being blatant about it. No amount of pretending otherwise is going to change the fact that these ones are Space Marines with bolters. If you need to subject yourself to mental gymnastics to pretend they’re holding historical crossbows then the issue is with the viewer 🙂
They are all ‘the developers’ (I’m using the term instead of company to ensure that it applies to all sizes of team.
And I think there is more to it than just planting it at the players feet, the developers (again regardless of who or how many) are the guardians of the IP that ultimately (and most importantly) fans buy into.
It’s not easy sure, but it originates with them 🙂
It may be a bad decision, though I’m less interested in that here as I am in the reception of them. It would be better if people just said they didn’t want Space Marines with bolters in a fantasy game, than kidding themselves they’re holding historical crossbows.
What is the problem I use Siggys’ as 1st company Space marines , knights, as well as Crusaders, emperor’s champions, special characters and armours. Proxies for centurions/ terminators. Stick an imperial guard carriage mounted heavy weapon sans carriage in their hands and they make awesome devastators and and hvy assault terminators., and great to use as the over sized 3 odd mtr Black Dragons and Carcaradons legionnaires.
Also Their heads make awesome Auspix sensors, and weapon targeters.
Different paint job and modding I also use them as Admech battle automata and battle/ gun servitors.Also for Admech using heads as listed above are awesome- 1 head on every weapon/ system really adds character and creepines to your army + with a bit of modding the heads make great servo skulls.
I would not have brought AoS and played it, nor collect it if at First glance Those Sigmarites Storm casts did not kick me in the brain, for the previously listed uses in 40k. + so many bits for the mod box.
@sayntofsynners
That’s no problem at all. It’s exactly why GW did this. I’m talking about people who have to pretend they’re not Space Marines with bolters and are actually holding historical weapons to justify liking them.
I think I get you now!
Yes ultimately fan pushback is what will put the issue on the agenda.
Again in this specific case it’s probably not a big deal for both or so far down the road of similar features it’s too late to matter
I just have a quiet hunch that if AoS doesn’t start to develop a captivating (as in it grabs and holds you without to many moments of mental gymnastics) story that sets it apart in its own right I just don’t think it’s going to have longevity (maybe tidy that is not such an issue though)
What gets me is that it smacks of laziness. First they looked like and had a description that made them like Space Marines, and now they have actual “bolter” named weapons. Perhaps it’s like Dark Eldar and the old Dark Elves, each being the model range’s equivalent in their setting; but surely after years of progression, with a new fantasy narrative and the talent they have in designing miniatures, surely they could’ve come up with something more unique and less obvious than this? It’s too blatant! Okay, so we presume to know exactly what the sales team do and what they think like, as though we work there and know it all, but freaking hell, this just takes the cake.
I’ll be looking out for shoulder mounted lightning bolt cannons, armoured chariots that fly, and damned lightning bolt pods that deploy units of Stormcast from the holy smoking butthole of Sigmar anywhere on the table next, haha!
Also snip the vertical crossbow arms off and you have unique 30k bolters/ or a new pattern
No offense lads, but as a Space Marine player… those are some ugly Space Marines. 😛
@ redsarge.
Lol they say war is ugly , which means I guess future war is Fugly. They kinda remind me of the sexy robot from Fritz Lang’s 1929 Metropolis. But what do I know I only like MK6 Corvus helmets with the beaky face plates.
Awhiles ago you could play bolter armed actual Chaos Space Marines in WHFB fans seemed to like that .
For your historic big battles could you go for the battle of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge with the allies having to hold out until reinforcements arrive.
If you look online at http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com there is a transcript of a radio interview Colour Sgt Bourne did in 1936 which is interesting .Surprisingly he was only 24 at the time if the battle. Some interesting thoughts of after the battle
After news of the disastrous defeat at Isandlwana, the successful defence of Rorke’s Drift was celebrated by the British press and public As the officers in command, Chard and Bromhead were singled out for particular praise. However, some of their fellow officers resented the plaudits bestowed on the pair, believing that they merely performed their duty by defending the outpost Chelmsford’s successor, Sir Garnet Wolseley, described the praise as “monstrous” A bemused Clery remarked that “Reputations are being made and lost here in an almost comical fashion… [Bromhead is a] capital fellow at everything except soldiering”[25] while Lieutenant Henry Curling, who was also at Rorke’s Drift with Bromhead after the battle wrote, “It is very amusing to read the accounts of Chard and Bromhead… Bromhead is a stupid old fellow, as deaf as a post. Is it not curious how some men are forced into notoriety?”Nevertheless, on 2 May it was announced that as a result of the action Bromhead had been promoted to captain and brevet major, and he had been awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry that could be awarded to British troops. The citation for the award was published in the London Gazette:
Flipping fab post!
I heard that a long time ago, someone on the youtubes had uploaded a vid of them reading it out. I particularly like the idea that he was nicknamed the Kid by the battalion and when he found out he thought it was a good idea as it stopped people becoming too full of their own self importance.
You should play “The siege of Jadotville” next. It’s about 150 Irish UN soldiers that have to defend their position in the Congo in 1961. That would be a great game. Irish in a proper battle. Just watched the movie on Netflix.
Irish in a proper battle? Forgetting the 36th Ulster on the Somme? 😛
Those boys did amazing, taking a whole run of german trenches, but the bloody British high command refused to reinforce them.or let them push on. and what could have been a huge british victory, became the usual- high losses, route, timidity to move on, get pushed back. Through to bloody inept, cowardly, upper class , idiotic english officers , having high tea, and dithering over actually doing their job, and thinking it is acceptable to hang your sucessful units out to dry, as the main push failed, and do not send troops to that flank to push out from, Reasons: What What its not cricket old boy. Acting like 90 year old upper class ladies in a social dithering over the new wall paper .Idiots Fighting not to win this war, but fighting wars of 100 years ago. I believe the ulsters had a Canadian field officer, who fought high command on this idiocy, Lots of Irish lads died in defeat, whilst could have made the breech as they did, and could have become the spear head that tore the German lines asunder altering the duration of the war- who knows. squandered by the bloody English high command officers ineptitude, and hatred of the lower classes, and non English Brits especially , and after the whole 1912 thing I imagine Ireland specifically. The only good thing that came from this is , the only reward those lads got by being turned into hamburger as lack of support, is that the UK Government realised that Their military command were effing inner bred upper class morons; So started to listen to those maverick officers that said controversial things like run on the charge, shell to the second you go over the trenches, send the tanks in; in front of troops, when you create a breech you pour forces in there,when you have success you support that area, reinforce, it and push on . You do not send little campaign notes to your mumsy’s nice brother uncle otto who lived in duseldorf, has a good job in the war department over there. I mean you are fighting germans, with your high command being more german than the german high commanders are.
It was the same thing that screwed the Anzacs at Gallipoli .the ozzies had pushed to spitting distance of the top of those hill/ mountain plateau forts, the Turks had no ammo left and were down to a few hundred men The Ozzies if given the order would have over run the enemy , taken those forts , slaughtered the Turks and pushed in opening the new front and securing the oilfields. Why did they lose ; again the timidity, and ineptitude of English officers, too scared to do that final push, letting the turks reinforce, and resupply and slaughtering those poor, heroic, Anzacs. You think 40K probitors could not happen- That was the poor bloody ozzies in ww1, eager to fight for queen and country, signing up.and in some cases trained for less than a week before being put on a transport ship and fed into the meat grinder.. They were tough effers, did not crumble under ptsd they pushed died, pushed died and kept doing this throughout the war. The Canadians, Indians all of them used as Probitors all fought as the Ozzies. By idiotic officers. Oh BTW I am 100% English,
or the 16th Irish division at the Somme, or the Irish at Waterloo, where orders where given in gaelic. I think some one needs reminded of the phrase “the English do the Fighting the Irish do the dying” 😉
Just pulling yer leg. I’ve not seen the film yet but I’ve heard fantastic reviews of it, and how the soldiers who fought there got abused and ridiculed after the action, it’s on my watch list for when I have time
i complet confused between A and B – it will takes me a week to cover out
@warzan I know what you mean about dogs. My grandmother got a shih tzu (family of the Lhasa Apso). At first we were also saying that it was a handbag dog. But he soon found a place in our hart and he literally takes over our family traits.
I don’t know much about big battles but what about battles in the 100 years war?
I got lucky this weekend and found Angel Giraldez masterclass volume 1.
Nice that the rest barged in like that they should do it more.
With regards to podcasts, I presume you’re aware that you can embed images into them which some devices can display? Ideal for illustrating some of the conversation.
Yes, might be a little too much extra work possibly but we’ll explore the format if enough people use it 🙂
Happy Sunday!
Definitely do The Battle of Stamford Bridge, another Era to look at for Historical gaming the Sengoku Jidai in Japan is full of potential.
Repeating crossbows where apparently used in China around about the 4th century.
B or B&A? neither, there is always the option not to play the game.
Great show guys 🙂
Happy Sunday. Ik was laughing so hard attracties Warren story About scaring the local neighbourhood with his powerwalks.
“Pareidolia” – a fancy word for our built in pattern recognition tendencies. Faces in clouds, monsters in shadows, men in Ghillie suits…
http://www.livescience.com/25448-pareidolia.html
You asked for a historical battle to be recreated on an 8x table and all I could think of was “Emu War!” Stupid brain…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War
Seriously though, I’ll second Trafalgar, good call @coxjul
We’d need epic Rod Hull and Grotbags minis for this right??!?
A lot of alcohol or sugary gaming snacks probably wouldn’t hurt either…
Just read through the wiki page. The way it is written is like a proper campaign account. Love it. Worth a chuckle
If you like heroic defence games how about the Alamo?. It has as much myth about it as Rourke’s Drift
And. Final point about The Anglo British war . It was the British who invaded an independent state as they attempted to bring all of the Boer regions and Zululand under British rule. The discovery of large amounts of diamonds in the are had of course nothing to do with it.
I did tell them that, it’s what @lloyd was talking about, the attack on Rorke’s Drift was a reinforcement section of the Zulu army, who attacked the Drift contrary to their orders to only defend. In the long term this helped the British reinforce their claim to their search for WMDs I mean, to protect the Transvaal, by pointing to the Zulu aggressive attack.
How different would it have been if they remained as a defensive force we can’t say, but natives rights have never been high on the list for western armies so probably didn’t change a whole thing in the end
The Zulu king told his commanders to fight a defensive campaign so it could been seen that the British were the aggressors. I think from memory they disobeyed him and went on to the attack
that’s right, it’s easier to appeal to the world if you’re simply defending your borders, no one wants to be seen as an aggressor
Can I just point out @warzan how great it’s bee into see how you’ve gotten into the Napoleonic period? I remember a few years ago you were talking on a Weekender about watching Barry Lyndon and how you just didn’t “get” the whole forming lines & squares and blasting away at short range. And I understand how you could see things that way. To see you now being so enthused is just brilliant 🙂
Thank you mate 🙂
warren
if you base your napoleonic figures on 1p coins you can then use movement trays from warbase
http://war-bases.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=68_69
so you can have them ranked and dispersed in small groups
I’m thinking the 2p version could be cool 🙂
I was thinking that for my small British contingent and then using warbases 2p trays for when I want to play something like black powder
Happy Sunday 🙂
well, a big historical battle that pops into my head immediately is the Battle of Grunwald otherwise known as the First Battle of Tannenberg from 1410 during which a massive force of Teutonic Knights clashed with the Polish and Lithuanian forces and lost. 😉
More about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald
I love the idea of the attack on Hougoumont but then it’s exactly that type of encounter that 28mm shines. To do massive battles smaller scales work better, but for that tight focus on a specific action I really love the look of 28mm.
There are so many epic encounters throughout history that could be played, I think the key here is to do a large set piece in an era that you’re interested in.
With @warzan already wanting to get into Napoleonics it makes sense to give that a go, failing that Ben’s idea for something Saga-ish would be my back up, @dignity already plays, @lloyd is getting starting it’s only a matter of time before you give in @warzan. 😉
*coughs* Battle of Clontarf’s anniversary is coming up at the end of April.
I’m taking Box C because Schrodinger wants his cat back and it’s getting more than a little annoyed in there.
a lot of fried brains this morning
For Newcomb’s Paradox there are two ways to answer the question. The first is to pick box B (in Warzan’s example; it’s box A in Newcomb’s original stating) so you can always have $1,000,000.00, this is if you believe in fatalism/determinism; which state that reality is predetermined so you must pick the single most valuable option, but causes a sub-optimal result. You miss out on $1000.00. However if you believe in free will over fatalism/determinism, it becomes a gamble, due to chaos theory it becomes impossible to predict which choice will be made (fundamentally the premise of the near perfect correctness is inherently a false premise or a lie), you should pick A&B because if the “alien” (supercomputer, deity, etc.) predicts B only you get $1,001,000.00, if it predicts A&B you get $1000.00. Also Justin, don’t fear existentialism, it simply means you need to give your own life the meaning you want because it has not been predetermined.
For a large scale 8×6 game I’d suggest the Battle of Thermopylae (you know 300) for historical or for a fantasy/historical one Wild West Exodus meets Custer’s Last Stand. I’d have suggested The Alamo but that’s essentially Rorke’s Drift in in Texas… but both sides have guns.
Thermopylae was my second choice…
Happy Sunday guys
I have a suggestion for 8×6 gaming. Jason and the Arganauts. Battle scene with the skeletons or in the ruin with the flying things to help the blind dude. There is also 300 would look stunning on 8×6
I also remember you wanted to look at navel battles. so Trafalgar, Jutland or even any of the roman galleon battles would look awesome on 8×6.
I agree with warren that in the 50’s through to the 70’s they knew how to make a war film. And Rod Steiger plays an amazing Napoleon.
Happy Sunday!
Large historic battle – Battle of Kursk using FoW minis? Would tie in nicely to 4th Ed / Bootcamp perhaps?
@dignity – it boils down to one decision
“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
Kursk is a great idea, alas the 4th ed bootcamp is in the hot sands rather than on Russia’s plains. Also Smolensk would be an interesting battle as well on that theme.
We did one of huge multi player games on Smolensk using Spearhead. It’s a bit of a grind for the Russuans
was that the one that was raised up on polysytrene sheets so the commanders had to rely on umpires relaying what was encountered when units moved out of line of site, because that was hilarious.
I I don’t think so. I don’t remember the polystyrene one I might have been out of country at the time
Jerry was running it, it was a lot of fun, not knowing what was over the next ridge or behind the copse of trees
I like american civil war… lovely terrain types, easy to paint figures, blues and greys etc. Units with same abilities and weapons. I love the stand and fire and see if your courage holds out.
La Haye Sainte sounds perfect!!
Would love to part take in getting this project painted as I can churn out these little redcoated blighters at good speed (and their French targets as well!) 😎
he did threaten to open it up to backstagers to play as well 😉
You would be most welcome to join in in any capacity @suetoniuspaullinus
Happy Sunday! Thank you for the audio version of the Weekender. I always endeavour to watch each morning but on those occasions where life is too busy this will be very handy. You do a great job of linking to the relevant content within the show notes, so it will be easy enough to make a mental note to check out anything where pictures are critical, and easily jump to it later.
As someone who listens to podcasts, but has also chewed through many gigs of data listening to YouTube whilst on the go (sit n talk shown and the like) I wouldn’t worry at all about microphones. More important is to make sure that the volume level is high enough. It’s far more irritating to be walking along a busy street, volume up to max, and still not being able to hear the thing over the rumble of traffic. This is particularly irritating with dedicated podcasts. For all their fancy gear, they make the simple mistake of too low a volume.
I just checked out the MP3 of this show, and the volume is great (better than most podcasts!) and the sound quality is perfectly decent. You could easily just do exactly the same for any of your discussion based shows. I’d love to check out 40k Uncharted and the like in this format, on the go.
Not sure if it’s on the radar for Beasts 2.0, but if you can build in video download functionality, you could easily create a premium membership level for this (like Miniwargaming’s Silver Vault level). I’d certainly buy it.
Great work guys!
Guys, you can’t get rid of the Justin Mind Melter segment!
The Weekender and especially XLBS have evolved in my opinion from just gaming. I think this show has become a great reflection of magazine style shows on TV, only it is full of content that would appeal to our community (of gamers and weirdos!). You won’t ever entertain everyone 100% of the time, just like This Morning or Sunday Brunch will have strands that their audience won’t unanimously watch. The beauty of it is, you guys are using an online format, the audience can skip what they don’t want to see, or better yet, sit through it cos they are painting!
What I am really getting at is, these “strands” you guys have started to feature more regularly are giving the show a much more structured feel, obviously you could replace the section with something else but I think this particular section is great for giving us a laugh.
Also, if you wanna look far to far in to it, it gives the audience a chance to relate to either Justin as the straight man, or Warren who is more open minded. This is an incredibly engaging topic for us audience members!
(Even if you think it’s a load of bull, it’s still entertaining)
Also, you guys told a story not too long ago about WWII which was something to do with a French(?) Tennis player? And a castle? And British troops coming to save em and stuff? Do that on the table, would be fun to see what models you guys find for it!
that is a genius idea, it was the end of the war and it was the only time wehrmacht and allied forces fought together against the SS at Castle Itter. That’s a really unusual encounter as well.
Ideas for large historic battle you can try eukera stockade or col mustard last stand
Col Mustard’s last stand in the dining room, against Ms Scarlet with the lead pipe? 😉
I kid, I’m a kidder.
The last stand of the 7th Cav against the native forces at the Little Bighorn would be a lot of fun, similar to the Drift but without the defensive positions
Happy Sunday everyone.
@ warzans story about Dobby and the boys melted my heart also and made me laugh A LOT, brilliant 😀 .
28mm Historicals is somrthing i REALLY want to get into, i’m looking into Bolt Action or Napoleonics myself as well. I’m struggling to convince any of my friends to join me currently though 🙁 . @dignity , you three really should go on Time Commanders, it would be fecking hilarious 😀 .
On Justins Mind Melting , don’t drop it, just make it an occasional segment. They are too bloody funny not to have 😀 .
I’d love to see a tabletop scenario based on Stalingrad. Not necessarily the entirety of the battle, but perhaps a scenario involving a Russian sniper division moving through the ruins of blasted buildings. They could be trying to pick off key German targets without giving their positions away and being blown to bits by the numerically superior German forces. The mechanics could perhaps be based on Zombicide, where they have to avoid making too much noise or being seen during their turn.
@johnlyons, @dignity said not to use puttputt don’t believe him. For large pieces milliputt is still viable, infact it can be better and cheaper. What you want to do is make up your putty and then combine it with plastercine, just the usual cheap kids stuff. I find 2:1 mix of puttputt to plastercine works best, you can go 1:1 it will not be as solid. It will not stick to the roller and takes the impression beautifully.
Happy Sunday all, If anyone is looking for some 28 mm Napoleonic you can try Victrix these guys do box sets at a good price with what looks to be a variation in poses.
it’s a nice set that fits well with Warlords, and then of course you can add as many metals as you like from various companies to really add individuality to your force.
Hobby weekend here I come … this is starting to become a habit 😮
There are worse habbits. Enjoy, guilt free 🙂
Great episode everyone, funniest in ages. Please don’t bin the mind melter. Perhaps you could do one every month rather than every week though if you need to get a bit of a break.
As to big historic battles on an 8’x6′ you do need to make sure you limit the troop numbers a bit or you won’t end up doing it because of the resources needed to build huge armies. I understand wanting to play some skirmish encounters first as this maintains your enthusiasm. If you want to do Naps then I agree with the suggestion of Hougoumont. It not only makes an excellent battle within a battle but the forces used are relatively easy to assemble. It also is a fortunate trick of history that the troops facing each other at Hougoumont were also largely those who fought at Quatre Bras. So if you wanted to scale up a bit from Hougoumont then you could go for a much bigger battle that uses your whole table size with the same minis (plus a few!) in a different way.
I can higly recommend the wargame guide and little set of rules in a pamphlet called “The Battle of Hougoumont” by Stephen Maughan published by the Napoleonic Archive. Probably hard to get hold of now but maybe someone has a copy lying around they aren’t using. It has pictures of the buildings and contemporary maps as well as the wargame forces required and specific rules needed.
Hougoumont is on my current project list but isn’t quite at the top yet 🙂
I vote for the war of the Roses. Lots of fantastic battles, and the perrys do some fantastic boxes of troops. And the men at arms and knights are so easy to paint, using army builder plate mail spray and a wash, then pick out the other details. You could have some troops done in no time. Of course the white rose would have to win!
Getting multi player games are quite hard to get right. As much as I love dark age history and what went on fighting this period on the tabletop can be intensely hiring if you by careful with shield wall against shield wall. Same for WOTR unless you making it interesting like Barnet
@warzan glass does behave like a liquid and flows down over time. The best way to see this is to go to an old building and look if it has any original glass, it will be thicker at the bottom compared to the top.
Getting multi player games are quite hard to get right. As much as I love dark age history and what went on, fighting this period on the tabletop can be intensely boring if you’re not careful as they tend to come down to shield wall against shield wall. Same for WOTR unless you making it interesting like Barnet
That’s why I would go for something like Saga, it’s got that flavour of lies to it. Of course we beat them, we called upon Thor and he blessed our axes and…. not totally historically accurate but to prevent a large game becoming a grind fest it is a way to go. and here in is the issue, historical accuracy versus fun game
Sword and Spear rules for large ancients battles. Can’t say enough about how good they are for big battles. I am a veteran player and the first time I played the rules, three turns and I was good with the rules. That would ok, but the real test came when a new fellow, never EVER having played a miniatures game, came to play with us in a four player battle and HE got the rules in three turns, that is how good it is. It uses a dice system (like Bolt Action) to determine unit movement and actions. We are using 15mm, but 72nd and 28mm would work just fine. We have played the Lost 10th Legion, 2nd Punic Wars and 9th century Britons action.. that I can’t recall. 🙂
Anyway, it is an easy ruleset to come to grips and fairly quick play.
They are a great set of rule though it it’s a set that does take a while to get the hang of.
2 larger North American battles that had amphibious landings and cliff scalings in the early maneuvers that might make an interesting game were the Plains of Abraham (British assault on Quebec City during Seven Year’s War) and Battle of Queenston Heights (American attack across Niagara peninsula during War of 1812)
Would just like to post a PSA for others who watch these videos
Due to an accident I broke my ankle and cracked a rib. Walking about is not easy nor sitting because I am to keep my leg elevated. I do not have a tablet and instead of being in bed all day I took refuge on my coach where I can get my leg up and at least have the TV.
Well, I also have an Xbox One. I started that up, then went to Browser. typed in the BoW URL. Then my username and password and boom! Full screen HD BoW weekender on the TV via Xbox One. — You have no idea how happy that made me.
So, for those of you who have a game console and want to see the boys on the big screen, that looks to be a very viable option.
Bought my Weekend tickets, bought my airline tickets, can’t wait. Great show guys!
@warzan “so they randomly did nothing” : PRICELESS 🙂
TTCombat has really uped there game in the last few months.
See you next week
Another awesome show – and congrats to the team on a great historical battle with Rourke’s Drift!
Thanks very much to everyone for the Community Spotlight on the Eisenbaer and Battlemech Kirov (yeah, don’t forget about the original scratch-built 15mm mech in the background)
More or less full “project log” here:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/painting/forum/topic/what-are-you-painting-now-1/?topic_page=323&num=15#post-190864
Although, I gotta say, in the interests of full disclosure . . .
This was your idea, @warzan ! 😀 This was your fault! 15mm battlemechs to play in a pulp version of cheesy 1980s quasi-military sci-fi! So I have now built a Soviet and German mech . . . which means . . .
The challenge has now been laid down! I await your build of an American “Reagan” battlemech (complete with Apollo Creed-style red-white-and-blue markings) and a British “Thatcher” battlemech (painted in blue, complete with enormous handbag draped over one of the arm-mounted particle projector cannons).
Good God man that is a challenge and a half…
You shouldn’t take either box A or box B!
If you are “real” and not a simulation and someone offers you a box and tells you its full of cash they are either lying or up to no good! You (hopefully) don’t take those spam email offers seriously, why would you fall for a “choose a box” scam? If the alien is so super intelligent why would it offer you a box of money? Why not give you the cure for cancer or teach you how its FTL works?
If you are a simulation you should not choose a box either. You are a simulation to determine the outcome of a single choice and you will likely cease to exist the moment you pick, so for your own continued existence you should delay the choice indefinitely! Tell the alien you’ll think about it. Maybe suggest it would be easier to choose if it cures cancer or teaches you how its FTL works…
@warzan the guys could go medieval with either Agincourt or Battle of Bosworth
Keep the Melting Justin’s Mind segment, this week’s was a good’un! 😀
I had similar trouble when I used to sing along to Metallica that I used to play at work in the stockrooms. Some guy thought I was singing “I’m gonna kill ya” over and over. I didn’t know what song he thought I was actually singing along to. It took me ages to twig it might’ve been the verse in Creeping Death: Die, (die) by my hand, (Die) I reap across the land, (Die) killing first born man (with the live version being more expletive) lol.
By the way, @oriskany‘s Battlemechs are fantastic! Really well made. 🙂
😀 Thanks! 😀
@warzan I Wundt worry unless max is eating Dobbies food from the dog bowl – like my 20 month old has done. Having failed to teach the dog, I am currently trying to get little Patrick to “heel” with similar levels of success!
YAY!
Just bought a ticket.
See you in March!!!
Now I’ll watch the weekender. 🙂
@warzan
I think the 4Ground La Haye Sainte might be nicer than the Sarissa one from Warlord…
Maybe Ben could dragged into this and feels like donating a set?!?
The figures could easily be ebayed for little money..
Another great battle I’d love to see on the table is the battle of the Teuteburg Forest (9AD).
😎
@warzan What you need to do when walking is bring the dog! That’ll nullify the whole weird satanist vibe. Also, talking (or singing) to yourself looks less weird when you have a dog.
The Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand) would be a classic. You could also do the battle of Yorktown (AWI) or Fredericksburg (ACW).
Gotta love the random on the XLBS …. keep it up….
Don’t you dare lose the mind melting part. I look forward to it every week.
I’ve got a cracking one for you @warzan but I’ll let you do your part 2 of this one 1st.
Great show again this week, cheers guys.
On a table that size I would suggest you fight the Battle of Britain, I can hear Warzan making all the noises whilsst wearing a leather flying helmet
Keep Justin’s mind melter! I find so much enjoyment in Justin’s reaction.
Is it possible to release the rules for the Rorke’s Drift game that you guys played?
Where is it possible to find the Waterloo movie? I have found it on Amazon but it is in Russian so I am not sure if it is the right version.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterloo-DVD-Rod-Steiger/dp/B00LPDOH7I/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1485726906&sr=1-1&keywords=waterloo is the Waterloo you want,
and the rules for Rorke’s are 98% The Men Who Would Be Kings, from Osprey publishing, the little changes I talk about http://www.beastsofwar.com/the-men-who-would-be-kings/refight-battle-rorkes-drift/ there.
Any specific questions feel free to ask away in the post and I’ll do my best to answer.
You beat me to it
I would have take B just because the majority of people would prefer getting 5 % of something than nothing and just because it didn’t cost me anything i would go for the big one , but here is one for you Warzan: if a Machiavelic Proffessor had kidnap youre wife and you and put you both in to sleep , and when you wake up you are in a room and the only thing that you see is a big mirror , a clock on one side and a red button on the other side of the mirror , and suddently you hear a voice telling you , Hi Warren let see how you will do , you have 30 minutes to take youre descision youre wife is in another room like the one you are right now and she have the exact same question as you have , now the question: What will you do in this case: as soon as you push the red button you know for sure that i will release youre wife and she is going to be alive but i will release her just after the 30 minutes delay but it will kill you instently if you push the button and if you don’t push the button after the 30 minutes you will die also, and the only way to save both of youre life is to push the button in the same time Ohh and don’t forget as soon as you push it you die ……….. so the timer is begin ?????? What will you do and how will you do it ?
HOW WAS ROURKES DRIFT NOT RECORDED!! Sounds like it was a lot of fun.
You should definitely do it again as a let’s play.
also, none of them had played it, so it could have been a monumental pile of arse. If down the line they wanted to do a lets play on it I would be more than happy to accommodate them, but to be honest the minis still need to be finished and properly based, think of it as a work in progress. Maybe when it’s all done and dusted and looking pretty @warzan will get me up to the new and improved Cage and we can have another run at it. Also I want to test the rules with slightly different Zulu deployment and lowering the British firing to a 5+ but giving them 80 men instead of 60.
I guess technically it was the local games club event rather than a BoW event. Sometimes you just want to have a game and not worry about presentation and cameras etc
I have had the chance to play in several Alamo games here in the US gaming community. The same kinds of fun stuff happen and it’s almost always a tense battle. The rules that provide the most action are available on Wargames Vault:
http://www.wargamevault.com/product/126192/Bloody-Dawn-The-Assault-On-The-Alamo
but there are a slew of good boardgames that can be translated over.
@warzan @dignity @lloydwhateveryourhandle Are you wedded to 28mm for games on an 8 by 6 table?
There are sites doing Isandlwhana in 6mm and Baccus is within travel distance, right?
Or the Alamo in 15mm from Blue Moon http://bluemoonmanufacturing.com/view_product.php?product=15TRT-300
And there is always a set of great ACW battles in 6mm: http://www.6mmacw.com/after-action.html
The only thing Rorke’s Drift was missing was one more group digging in the centre of the compound, I can hear Lloyd now “that’s not even the right flipping game!”.
nice one guys.
I know that there is not a large following and that there would need to be a lot of painting but my retirement plan is to paint up a shed load of English Civil War Highlanders and Covenanters to fight out some of the battles of Montrose. None of the battles were enormous like Naseby. The skirmish at Fyvie Castle has some fun aspects for terrain and offers a chance at some asymmetrical war-gaming. There was an ambush from a forest. There were some vigorously fought over enclosures that offered cover and led up to some high ground overlooking a river. The bogey ground and slopes in certain areas made it difficult for the numbers involved to tell. You’d need enough miniatures to represent 2500 foot and 1200 Covenanter horse against Montrose’s force of approximately 1200 foot and about 50 horse.
I laughed so loud at the Rorke’s Drift segment.
“There’s a Zulu. Poof. There’s a Zulu. Poof”
Baking powder and superglue (and baking powder and PVA) get hot. Well if not hot, it will certainly get warm and when you make the inevitable mistake, of getting some superglue on your fingers, it sticks hard and fast and warm. Do be careful. Baking soda and PVA reacts in a foamy fun way and when it sets, it looks cool for snow bases. Also, mix in a small amount of earthy flock for some real-looking trodden snow. Things can get boring with fresh snow all the time.
Really looking forward to the Army Painter weekend.
I cannot believe my lovely wife Dinah allowed me to spend this money on myself.
I already promised that this year we would try to find more days out and time out as a family, so now I definitely need to follow through with that.
I think you need salient points in your year to focus on to keep sane, to keep the boring parts and the chores and drudgery of your life in the context of being a means to an end. If your only ‘end’ in sight is just to secure more time in front of a TV screen I don’t think that that’s enough to keep yourself happy and healthy.
Gaming goals are great too. The scatter terrain challenge was a good example. I got heavily involved in a Frostgrave project, had a set end date to work towards and really enjoyed it. The Infinity Operation Flamestrike campaign was another great motivator to get miniatures painted and terrain ready and to get games played. I plan to go to Salute and UK Games Expo this year. I might even spend an overnight at Games Expo to make sure I see as much as I can and to make more of a trip of it.
2017 should be a great year.
Happy Wargaming.
The Battle of Clontaf would be a nice Irish connection or the battle of the Boyne.
The later might be a little divisive.
After getting my Blood and Plunder pledge I would suggest the taking of one of the forts in Porto Bello by Henry Morgan
That was a fun show. Good job guys. My favourite part was when Lance, Lloyd and John each barge in. Pretty funny.
With a whopping big 6×8 table, how about Kursk at 6mm? So many tanks!
HAPPY SUNDAY! Or Monday rather but you get the point…
@warzan I am working on the same Napoleonics starter set and I have to say that I enjoy every bit of it immensely. I would recommend just adding a bit of flair or detail to each model. Just tiny bits to not be too similar. Not only do they look more realistic when lined up but it also makes the painting a lot more enjoyable.
An idea: If you did a Napoleonics Hobby Weekend (featuring Perrys, Warlord and Army Painter) I would definitely join in… I love the idea of Hobby Weekend and Napoleonics are a great fit for that. Also, you and @dignity look great in those uniforms! #mancrush
schrodinger’s BOX !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@warzan Currently on the same journey with Warlord Waterloo boxed set. Went halves with a friend… slowly (very slowly) working on everything.
Bought a couple of extras on top (Rifles, Voltigeurs etc) and was curiously thinking of looking up a skirmish game for them so we can get some games in before everything is painted up for the mass battles… and low and behold you guys look one up as well! Will have to give Chosen Men a look, thanks! 😀
Will be interesting to see how you get on through the project, looking forward to it.
In that Rorke’s drift game when Justin and Lloyd were grinding up against each other, did Justin ever turn around and say “look Lloyd’s dancing with me!”
thankfully not, but now that image will haunt me for a long time to come.
Also I would choose both A and B as I would base my decision on the idea of “cogito ergo sum” which would suggest that it doesn’t matter if I’m the simulation or the reality, my own existence is established which then removes all future considerations from the equation.
Please, please don not scrap the “Justin’s Mind Melter” section, as its alway educational and critically funny!
I feel the need to leave a reply. I have to say you have cut me short a little. I have nothing but praise for beasts of war I love the weekenders, I do have to confess to painting figures during though. I love all the painting tutorials etc, although my painting is still average.
The thing I was going to talk about is the type of games I find I am playing more and more these days. But most of them are not mentioned on your channel. One being sharp practice by the too fat lardies. You did, or rather Ben did mention it the other week and this week you mentioned chosen men. There is also Lion rampant and Dragon rampant. I realize you don’t have the time to do everything and you can’t cater for all all the time. But I wonder how many other fans of yours also play some of the above and more. In Wargames illustrated the do an occasional feature on new rule sets. Is this something you could consider doing, an occasional look at new rule sets coming out. I realize things seem to be going towards zombies and fantasy in a big way. But how many of us are still playing period games. You do keep up to date with bolt action and team Yankee etc. You also did a feature on black powder some time ago. Is there any chance of expanding at all. Please do not take offence at this but warren did say to get in touch. I have been a member for two years and have loved every minute of it and will continue to do so. I am just asking.
6′ by 8′ suggestion , The Battle of Mirbat’ a 70’s SAS action were about 20 SAS held of 200 + insurgents.
Due to the “Meld Justin’s Mind” this felt like an anniversary episode. Like 200th or something 😀
On what historical battle you guys should do, I was going to say Market Garden, until you put the constraint up of a 6×8 table. We played Market Garden once, with like 15 people on a 30×4 or 24×6 (can’t remember) table and it was one of the best gaming experiences ever.
So under the constraint of a 6×8 table you guys should definately take a look at Austerlitz (1805). I was researching Napoleonics for a few weeks and this is one of the most interesting battles I think (and it is called Napoleons most genius victory). With 3-4 players, some rules for miss-communication and fog and this will be absolutely awesome.
“One sharp blow and the war is over”
would love some BoW podcasts, im thinking maybe something like 40k charted would fit, and the pictures arent necessary (in my opinion). I sit at work everyday listening to music,which is starting to get repetitive, so podcasts would make a nice change
As for Melting Justins Mind, i love that segment, i look forward to it every sunday. I love hearing all those theories, and thinking of the potential for gaming scenarios. Talking of which, on the tv channel Yesterday, i believe on Tuesdays theres a show called Weird World War which may interest you
Happy Sunday!!
Another thank you for the spotlight on the Greater Abyssal. I manged 48th out of 62 for what was the first Au Clash of Kings and my very first tournament and real chance to play anyone outside my usual 3 Kings of War opponents. It was a great bunch of guys and every single person I played was great and it resulted in an incredibly enjoyable couple of days. I managed 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses which I was really happy with, especially as by the end I could quite clearly see the massive improvement in my own game. I did win the Sportsmanship award which was a rather nice surprise and resulted in some really nice japanese themed skeletons from Slave2Gaming which I think my youngest daughter has her eye on for her Undead army. (@jenzee [my lovely wife] tells me I had the same look on face for both that announcement and the community spotlight, deer in the headlights I think comes close 🙂 ).
While I’m not overly interested in AoS, I have to agree with @llyod I think they would have more of a fantasy fell if they were aligned horizontally not vertically.
I’ve also heard the glass theory but I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was due to poor pouring/or the glass not being fully “set” before mounting is the cause for older glass fittings/etc having thicker bases/lower ends, though I could be wrong…
The podcast version of the weekenders is a great idea, the wife and I used the 13hr drive to and from Cancon to catch up on quite a few podcasts and I often will load some up on the phone for the drive to and from work.
Multi player games are by far my favourite. All the little traits of the players personalities transferred and often amplified on the table top. Apart from being highly entertaining it adds a very realistic feeling to a game.
As for future games Hougoumont would seem to appeal to a lot of people and I have seen Thermopylae mentioned too. I’m pretty happy to play or see any period.
Happy Sunday! (Though it’s Monday now when I finished watching the episode finally)
I love the idea of the Napoleonic skirmish stuff as well..I’ve always been fearful of the sheer amount of work involved, but with something like Chosen Men, rounding up 15 or so figures from say Perry, Warlord, or Victrix doesn’t seem so bad. I’m with you @warzan. I’m gonna get something small going too! And if anyone is interested in something even earlier, Osprey also released The Pikeman’s Lament, which is a skirmish ruleset based around the war of Roses time period IIRC.
Fun thought experiment, are you going to pull out Kavka’s toxin puzzle next week? Maybe throw out some trolley problems, and some existential crisis as well?
For Newcomb’s thought experiment in my opinion, is based on the notions of determinism. The expected outcome of the simulation by the presentation of the choice is skewed, the presentation of the information that this computer that hasn’t been wrong before and informed the outcomes of two different choices. The simulation itself then favors the choosing of B, however because of the favoritism of choosing B, by choosing A+B one actually exercises actual freedom… or do you?
The choice seems to be an evolution of the prisoner’s dilemma, and a strong one at that! Please keep these going, this one was my favorite so far. But I have a soft spot for philosophy.
@warzan
I just had a look at the lovely Kensei/Zenith miniatures and the Japanese stuff from 4Ground and now ism thinking Akira Kurusawa’s The Seven Samurai would be great to battle out in The Cage!!
Not really historical but close enough and I think it could be REALLY special 😎
Sorry a little late but for a Historical battle how about something from Gettysburg or what about part of a battle from the Crimean War. For Gettysburg you could do the first day with Dismounted Union cavalry trying to delay the Confederates until Union Infantry could arrive, there is also Little Round Top or Pickett’s charge. As for the Crimean war i’m not as familiar but thats what makes it interesting, maybe something from the Battle of Balaclava.
Great to see you getting into Napoleonics.
For battles to fight I’d recommend adapting the Scenario in Hail Caesar where the Romans raid a British settlement. The Roman player has to complete some mini objectives while the Brits try to organise. Easy enough to transfer into another period.
Another fun game would be an Isandlwana type game. Give units a limited ammo and make players allocate more ammo during the game. Give the Zulus a recycling mechanic and see how long the Brits can survive. Plus you get the Zulu Dawn movie to watch
amazing job @oriskany those mechs make me think on mechwarrior ones and on Gear krieg, and old rpg setting of mechas on ww2.
tt combat make really interesting and afordable scenery on mdf, my dead mans hand needs ths train station and now have some cool carnevale buildings
panzer putty is great used previosly blue tack and is less sticky thant that so will save you prev paintstep!
Just watched (Wednesday) and it made my day happier 😀 You could do midweek podcast.
Okay I would choose box C…thinking outside the box! (Great Dad joke that one..) sorry.
On battles how about something in the modern era.. I read a great book a few years ago about the SAS holding of hordes of rebels.. great reading and would make for an excellent recreation battle.
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Secret-Greatest-British/dp/0552160210
Naw keep the mind melter! it’s easily one of my favorite parts of the show, watching Justin excessively confused (moreso than usual that is) XD
I thought your mind melter was pretty interesting this week. The idea of us being a simulation – as far fetched as it sounds – has grounds to be scientifically possible. As they say “the universe is so massive that whatever you think of has statistically happened somewhere”. If you were in fact a simulation you would not have free will ( which was proven recently that we really dont have – according to some studies ) and that exact moment you realize its a simulation, make a choice based on rewarding the “real” you, the simulation has failed. Not in a negative sense but the supercomputer through simulating the universe has created a life that thinks for itself. No longer a simulation or an AI because it would think outside of its existence.
Loved the segment on Rourke’s Drift. I hope you’ll do more big team battles, historical or otherwise. And although the mind melt was funny, for me personally it’s wearing a bit thin now. I like that the weekenders are a bunch of mates chatting shit about games, and I love the tangents, but I’m less of a fan of extending tangents and giving them a regular slot!
As for other battles you could do… One of the WWII airbourne drops? Market Garden being the most obvious choice, but German paratroops landing on Crete might be another.
You could also do the 300 too. Again, I presume that wouldn’t require too many miniatures and could use a fair amount of recycling of troops!
Deep question: To B or not to B?
😀
Sharpe’s Waterloo is, in my opinion, the weakest of the ITV made-for-TV movies because I think it tries to focus on something that ITV just didn’t have the budget for – a mass, pitched battle. The preceding films are much better and, I think if you’re thinking of getting into Chosen Men, they should offer you a lot more inspiration because they tend to focus more on adventure and small skirmishes than on pitched battles. The Sharpe novels (and films) essentially follow Sharpe on a series of missions, some of which culminate in a battle some of which don’t, but it’s the mission itself, where he’s exploring and infiltrating behind enemy lines that are the real strength of Sharpe. I would definitely recommend them for anyone who wants to do Napoleonic skirmishes; I don’t know how historically accurate they might be but they definitely have a bloody good narrative which you could easily transfer into your games
For a historical game I’d love to see Alexander Nevsky and The Battle on the Ice. Russians holding off Crusaders The Russians hold off for a number of turns before the reserves pile in to route the Crusaders. If you wanted to be more theatrical than historical you could also have the film scene where the ice cracks under the weight of the knights as they flee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_on_the_Ice