Anyway, come check it out, same ole stuff, different channel.
https://itineranthobbyist.wordpress.com/
Sunday, February 24, 2019
The Blog has moved...
Blogger is becoming more difficult for me to update via mobile, so I moved over to Wordpress to find a more mobile friendly home. Please come check it out and follow me there, post to your favorite feeder. I use Feedly to compile Rss the blogs I follow.
Anyway, come check it out, same ole stuff, different channel.
https://itineranthobbyist.wordpress.com/
Anyway, come check it out, same ole stuff, different channel.
https://itineranthobbyist.wordpress.com/
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Paratrooper Drama Series
Fellow wargamer and professional filmmaker, Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen, is busy working on the pilot for Paratrooper https://www.facebook.com/ParatrooperTVDramaSeries/
They are working on the pilot and will be running a second indiegogo in January. In the meantime you can support the team by liking and following the Facebook group.
They consistently are giving updates via posts amd videos and are writing the scripts for the other episodes while filming the pilot.
If you want to support someone making historical television and a good story, go check ‘em out.
My only affiliation is that I supported the original IGG and want this to get made.
Also, all (as many as possible anyway) of my games from now until the end of 2019 will be paratrooper based, partially to support this production.
[editors note - now I remember why I’ve resorted to posting most of my things via YouTube and Facebook - posting via blogger is...challenging.]
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Blitzkrieg Commander III pulled and Rewrite
What a crazy couple of weeks. Release to pulling all product for a rewrite.
Leon and the Pendraken team have been stellar.
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,16006.0.html
Leon and the Pendraken team have been stellar.
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,16006.0.html
Monday, May 8, 2017
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Tactical Board Games
Someone asked a question about the LNL system. I responded with the following. There are a couple references to others...just ignore those for now.:
LNL - Lock and Load Tactical
HotP - LNLs Heroes of the Pacific
CoH - Conflict of Heroes
CC - Combat Comander
ASL - Advanced Squad Leader and SK Starter Kit
ATS - Advanced. Tobruck System
I have played LNL, CoH, CC, ASLsK, ASL, ATS, and very recently Retro. Out of all these and LNL I would play ATS as my #1. However, there are a few obstacles I have with the way the game is managed by its owners.
Mitch really enjoys it and I would say is able to look beyond these issues. It has a nice level of detail, tons and tons of scenarios with more coming out. It's a step below AsLSK in complexity and just is easier for me to Grock. And before last week I would've said it's players are all underground. However in the last week a FB group has started and already has 85+ players. And at least two youtubers are starting to post things up.
There are times I'm tempted to get back in. I think Mitch should take it over.
CoH was an enjoyable enough system, but always felt bored at the end of the games. I never cared if I went back to it.
(SIDE NOTE: as I sit here typing this I want to make it clear that all these game systems strugglenat ine time or another with management issues. I would say GMT aka CC is possibly the exception with their issues being less noticeable to me.)
Retro: it was fast playing but I'm not interested in houseruling firbeverybgake ti figure best ways to make scenarios work. You could also argue, if you watch my videos, that I never did play completely by the rules and am also a terrible strategist, so my opinion is skewed. I would not disagree.
CC my first tactical and still my favorite ruleset. Clear. Concise. Proofed. Complete. I played all but one of my games solo and it's a terrible solo game and yet I still enjoyed them. Great narrative. No tanks and I really wanted that. And I play so much solo, that I need another option. So I gave it all away for a Guild White Duck Gift.
ASLSK and ASL - local guru and tournament organizer has played and taught me a few times. Enjoyable group of guys who play it here. And I finally decided to jump in to this one...with doubts. I like it for the depth and the community. Tons of people all over the world and online and FB and videos and a podcast and and and Dave and Pete and others here play it.
Tons of scenarios. 1,000s! And more coming out. Amazing. But the games can take awhile and the rules overhead may be too much for me. While the thought of playing something so deep is appealling. The reality of playing something so deep may be a little less compelling.
LNL I've had a few of them, sold them and then just bought HotP at full retail. I enjoyed, though played terribly, again solo. Again, I got it for all the reasons Ty mentioned. They're scenarios are typically well designed.
(Sidenote 2: and why couldn't they have made it so all are high or all are low? I have never understood that.)
And they're company has issues, though they do appear to be trying hard.
I don't know if you can tell but I'm a tad schizo/bi-polar about this. I struggle to decide. Some would say to buy a little of each. But I'm trying to barrow my collection.
And also, the thought of committing to one system is compelling. But the reality is often like, "oh one system to rule them all! Oh wait, what there's now OST and BoB? Shiny, gimme one of each!"
LNL - Lock and Load Tactical
HotP - LNLs Heroes of the Pacific
CoH - Conflict of Heroes
CC - Combat Comander
ASL - Advanced Squad Leader and SK Starter Kit
ATS - Advanced. Tobruck System
I have played LNL, CoH, CC, ASLsK, ASL, ATS, and very recently Retro. Out of all these and LNL I would play ATS as my #1. However, there are a few obstacles I have with the way the game is managed by its owners.
Mitch really enjoys it and I would say is able to look beyond these issues. It has a nice level of detail, tons and tons of scenarios with more coming out. It's a step below AsLSK in complexity and just is easier for me to Grock. And before last week I would've said it's players are all underground. However in the last week a FB group has started and already has 85+ players. And at least two youtubers are starting to post things up.
There are times I'm tempted to get back in. I think Mitch should take it over.
CoH was an enjoyable enough system, but always felt bored at the end of the games. I never cared if I went back to it.
(SIDE NOTE: as I sit here typing this I want to make it clear that all these game systems strugglenat ine time or another with management issues. I would say GMT aka CC is possibly the exception with their issues being less noticeable to me.)
Retro: it was fast playing but I'm not interested in houseruling firbeverybgake ti figure best ways to make scenarios work. You could also argue, if you watch my videos, that I never did play completely by the rules and am also a terrible strategist, so my opinion is skewed. I would not disagree.
CC my first tactical and still my favorite ruleset. Clear. Concise. Proofed. Complete. I played all but one of my games solo and it's a terrible solo game and yet I still enjoyed them. Great narrative. No tanks and I really wanted that. And I play so much solo, that I need another option. So I gave it all away for a Guild White Duck Gift.
ASLSK and ASL - local guru and tournament organizer has played and taught me a few times. Enjoyable group of guys who play it here. And I finally decided to jump in to this one...with doubts. I like it for the depth and the community. Tons of people all over the world and online and FB and videos and a podcast and and and Dave and Pete and others here play it.
Tons of scenarios. 1,000s! And more coming out. Amazing. But the games can take awhile and the rules overhead may be too much for me. While the thought of playing something so deep is appealling. The reality of playing something so deep may be a little less compelling.
LNL I've had a few of them, sold them and then just bought HotP at full retail. I enjoyed, though played terribly, again solo. Again, I got it for all the reasons Ty mentioned. They're scenarios are typically well designed.
(Sidenote 2: and why couldn't they have made it so all are high or all are low? I have never understood that.)
And they're company has issues, though they do appear to be trying hard.
I don't know if you can tell but I'm a tad schizo/bi-polar about this. I struggle to decide. Some would say to buy a little of each. But I'm trying to barrow my collection.
And also, the thought of committing to one system is compelling. But the reality is often like, "oh one system to rule them all! Oh wait, what there's now OST and BoB? Shiny, gimme one of each!"
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Blitkrieg Commander II Bulge AAR FTF
Chris D is a friend, fellow Geekway board member, published game designer (Dungeon Roll), RPGer, dad, husband, graphic novel enthusiast, and all around groovy dude. He very much enjoys learning as many games as he can. I believe he's able to mine all of this for his own ideas. He's been asking me to share with him some of my miniatures and war games with him (especially ASL).
I finally made it happen (We can get into why it took me so long, but that will be for another post. And one to write after my therapist visit.) and we played a scenario UIKeyInputDownArrowfor the Battle of the Bulge (fictional) for my favorite set of rules, Blitzkrieg Commander II or BKCII.
I gave Chris the Germans as to give him more to do, as well as an FAO. I took the AMIs defending a town. The goal was, in 9 turns, to be the last one and only one with units in the town...or break the other side.
Chris, of course, picked up the rules quickly and started by moving a group through the center woods. In the picture above, the Germans are coming from off table at the bottom of the picture. He sent one of his squads around the woods, in the open, to draw my fire, which he did. Which makes me visible from the concealed state. His CO and their group coming from off board failed their first CV roll and missed turn 1. Welcome to BKCII.
Chris struggled mightily to get my guys out of the city, first of all they're all concealed unless they fire, move or he gets within 10CM. But he was able to whittle down the guys in the town by putting more and more hits on them. I thought his arty would help, and I always use the auto-suppression roll, but after reading that again, it only suppresses after successful hits. I always said it suppressed if it hit at all, regardless of saves and hits. His arty only had 2 dice each.
His right flank with CO got going but was struggling as well. He was able to lay smoke and make some movement happen.
He made some attempts at close assault on the town before my guys were suppressed and whittled down. He suffered a lot for that, but it still did the job of knocking points off these units.
Turn 5 we both got reinforcements. My last game, one of the sides didn't receive their reinforcements which really affected the outcome. Chris had to roll to see where these units would come on and they came on his right which would turn out to be great.
My units also came on and made a good push the first turn, but then they stalled out a couple turns which would ultimately be my demise.
His tanks took some quick hits from my two tanks, but then fortunes turned and he took mine out quickly. To sum it up, that defending position, a dug-in squad and mortar kept him tied up for a while, but he eventually had the breakthrough and then stood on the hill and took my guys out as they ran out into the open ground as they charged for the city. He took out 4 units in turn 8 which put me 3 over my breakpoint, I failed my roll.
Chris was gettting somewhat down on his prospects as he simply couldn't make much progress against those dug-ins. I was feeling the same way for him as well. I wanted him to enjoy the game, and I was getting a tad nervous for his chances. But he stuck with it and it's a good thing, cause he cleaned up.
In retrospect, I should've run my guys into the woods behind the town and perhaps cover the open ground if he tried to go in. At least then he would've hit me on 5s and not 4s. I also should've kept my tanks as he ran into open ground, instead of going at him head on as soon as I got them.
I saw someone suggest keeping smoke going so as to have the troops get up to close assault without suffering all the support shots and open ground shots because they will accidentally run into each other.
One of the rules I struggled with was LOS and the 10cm max distance you can move toward an enemy unit. It gets a little
I'm going to say something completely obvious here: I've played at least 15 games of BKCII solo. I've enjoyed most of the experiences. I've only played with others 3 times. Once to test my con scenario. The con scenario. And now with Chris. I found myself really enjoying the game with Chris. His company is a huge reason. But it was fun to see how someone else chose to attack and to have reactions that I wouldn't think of. I want to do more of that.
And, here's the video AAR:
I finally made it happen (We can get into why it took me so long, but that will be for another post. And one to write after my therapist visit.) and we played a scenario UIKeyInputDownArrowfor the Battle of the Bulge (fictional) for my favorite set of rules, Blitzkrieg Commander II or BKCII.
I gave Chris the Germans as to give him more to do, as well as an FAO. I took the AMIs defending a town. The goal was, in 9 turns, to be the last one and only one with units in the town...or break the other side.
Chris, of course, picked up the rules quickly and started by moving a group through the center woods. In the picture above, the Germans are coming from off table at the bottom of the picture. He sent one of his squads around the woods, in the open, to draw my fire, which he did. Which makes me visible from the concealed state. His CO and their group coming from off board failed their first CV roll and missed turn 1. Welcome to BKCII.
Chris struggled mightily to get my guys out of the city, first of all they're all concealed unless they fire, move or he gets within 10CM. But he was able to whittle down the guys in the town by putting more and more hits on them. I thought his arty would help, and I always use the auto-suppression roll, but after reading that again, it only suppresses after successful hits. I always said it suppressed if it hit at all, regardless of saves and hits. His arty only had 2 dice each.
His right flank with CO got going but was struggling as well. He was able to lay smoke and make some movement happen.
Turn 5 we both got reinforcements. My last game, one of the sides didn't receive their reinforcements which really affected the outcome. Chris had to roll to see where these units would come on and they came on his right which would turn out to be great.
My units also came on and made a good push the first turn, but then they stalled out a couple turns which would ultimately be my demise.
His tanks took some quick hits from my two tanks, but then fortunes turned and he took mine out quickly. To sum it up, that defending position, a dug-in squad and mortar kept him tied up for a while, but he eventually had the breakthrough and then stood on the hill and took my guys out as they ran out into the open ground as they charged for the city. He took out 4 units in turn 8 which put me 3 over my breakpoint, I failed my roll.
Chris was gettting somewhat down on his prospects as he simply couldn't make much progress against those dug-ins. I was feeling the same way for him as well. I wanted him to enjoy the game, and I was getting a tad nervous for his chances. But he stuck with it and it's a good thing, cause he cleaned up.
In retrospect, I should've run my guys into the woods behind the town and perhaps cover the open ground if he tried to go in. At least then he would've hit me on 5s and not 4s. I also should've kept my tanks as he ran into open ground, instead of going at him head on as soon as I got them.
I saw someone suggest keeping smoke going so as to have the troops get up to close assault without suffering all the support shots and open ground shots because they will accidentally run into each other.
One of the rules I struggled with was LOS and the 10cm max distance you can move toward an enemy unit. It gets a little
I'm going to say something completely obvious here: I've played at least 15 games of BKCII solo. I've enjoyed most of the experiences. I've only played with others 3 times. Once to test my con scenario. The con scenario. And now with Chris. I found myself really enjoying the game with Chris. His company is a huge reason. But it was fun to see how someone else chose to attack and to have reactions that I wouldn't think of. I want to do more of that.
And, here's the video AAR:
The Puma Prowls Tonight
Or, where Toddy (aka Itinerant Hobbyist) learns armor and the power of a crew armed with a PFaust.
This is the second game I played while at Jim's on a mid week/holiday ASL day.
I wanted to learn armor so I can continue my deep dive into ASL. The Puma Prowls scenario is a famous one in ASL circles as one to teach one armor. I was Germans and Jim the Russians. I didn't get too many pics of this one.
To get to the point - I won as the Germans. But as usual, it was close. And, I don't know how easy Jim was being with me.
And now I've waited too long to finish writing this one, so some of the memories and lessons learned have faded a bit.
However, the biggest thing I remember, one of my crews survived their Crew Survival roll and ran into the town where the Soviet T-70s were hiding and taking out my tanks. The crew found they had a PanzerFaust on them and decided to risk firing in the building (back blast). They survived that but missed the target. The next and last turn, they ran out into the open street to get a back side adjacent shot. As they ran, an immobilized T-70 fired it's mg and though getting close, they crew moved on. The T-70 then fired it's main gun and missed! They then fired the faust and destroyed the tank and crew! I didn't get a picture of this situation. I will say that it essentially won the game because I needed to knock one of his guys out and they did it. Very cool scene.
And now some pics:
Here's what Doug and Ken were playing. Sorry, not a whole lot to say about it, because I was too taken by my games to understand what was going on. I will just say that they played a lot faster than I was.
This is the second game I played while at Jim's on a mid week/holiday ASL day.
I wanted to learn armor so I can continue my deep dive into ASL. The Puma Prowls scenario is a famous one in ASL circles as one to teach one armor. I was Germans and Jim the Russians. I didn't get too many pics of this one.
To get to the point - I won as the Germans. But as usual, it was close. And, I don't know how easy Jim was being with me.
And now I've waited too long to finish writing this one, so some of the memories and lessons learned have faded a bit.
However, the biggest thing I remember, one of my crews survived their Crew Survival roll and ran into the town where the Soviet T-70s were hiding and taking out my tanks. The crew found they had a PanzerFaust on them and decided to risk firing in the building (back blast). They survived that but missed the target. The next and last turn, they ran out into the open street to get a back side adjacent shot. As they ran, an immobilized T-70 fired it's mg and though getting close, they crew moved on. The T-70 then fired it's main gun and missed! They then fired the faust and destroyed the tank and crew! I didn't get a picture of this situation. I will say that it essentially won the game because I needed to knock one of his guys out and they did it. Very cool scene.
And now some pics:
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