Attitude in wargames

There have been a number of interesting threads on twitter and some blogs discussing or raising issues with various game mechanisms in Chain of Command with regards to dice. Essentially around the situation where one party takes a pre-game barrage or Stukas and the other fails to deploy or have a meaningful impact on the game. I have found them very interesting and to my mind it raises the question of tactics and friction, and realism.

I have had one experience of a particularly frustrating in-game barrage (here) and at the time I got rather annoyed at it. I felt I was beaten by a game mechanism rather than my opponent. When I reflected on the game later, what beat me was my own attitude. I ran out of ideas or my brain shut down and I couldn't/didn't think through the problem. Was the game an enjoyable experience? at the time no, but on reflection it was. I got to spend time with my mate, play with my toys and terrain that I spent ages working on. I got beaten by my own attitude, and my opponent utilising sensible tactics to assault a position.

So when I read about issues on enjoying a wargame when things are going badly I now feel it is down to that person and their attitude.

If you want realism in your games you have to accept that if you put yourself in the position of a commander with a very difficult task, expect that things may well go against you, and sometimes in a catastrophic way. In war you don't always get to do what you want, sometimes the enemy is more effective than you and that is before we even consider friction.

It is a natural reaction to be annoyed/irritated etc when things don't go our way, and I suspect the easiest reaction is to blame the dice, game mechanisms, over-powered units than to perhaps admit that our own attitude was found wanting. I doubt many will agree with me as it is easier to blame the abstract such as an ability to roll dice or a mechanism that prevented me deploying.

There is a reason that in the British Army, good humour is prized. Being cheerful in woeful situations is more useful than being the fastest, strongest or best shot. Too Fat Lardies rules really emphasize this on the table, perhaps it is worth thinking about that as we stand by those tables. Your mood turning sour can ruin your opponents game, is it really worth bringing down what should be a fun time because you aren't getting your own way?

And let's be clear, that is what it comes down to. It may be framed as bad dice, poor mechanics or inadequate rules, but regardless of those the one thing we can bring to any game or rule set is a positive disposition. Yes we all want to be competitive but it is not hard to be good humoured in defeat. If things are going well for your opponent and not for you, smile, chin up and let him enjoy it. By all means keep thinking and planning about how to ruin it, but let that happen on the table and not your face.

You may feel like nothing is going your way and the game itself is broken. So what. The commanders in history faced worse and kept plugging away. There are few things more toxic in leadership than a poor attitude.

Maybe we need to reset our outlook, because frankly shit happens and war is not fair. 

Starting 2020

Ah yes a beginning of year post, only two weeks late!

Actually this is a nice way for me to think through what I want to try and achieve this year in the hobby.

Under the 6mm WW2 category, which is pretty much ready for a game, I've got universal carriers for the brits and some kubelwagon and motorbikes for the germans to finish off.

I'd like to finally get started on some 6mm Napoleonics. I have a few packs from Baccus that I would like to paint up and start working out how much and what other types of units I want.

While I am in that period I'd like to rustle up some small Sharpe Practice forces, already have them, just need to assemble and paint.

More terrain. 6mm hedges, fences and walls. I've picked up a fair amount of 28mm MDF buildings over the past year and would like to get them made up and finished off.

I just picked up a box of  commandos and commonwealth infantry from the Warlord sales, it was a reflex purchase as I was prepping some Black Ops units at the time and these screamed out to me. The latter would be used to make up some SAS. I'll aim for some additional commandos made up and painted, and if I get round to it then some SAS too.

My main aim is to try some solo wargaming. I asked Henry Hyde about it a few weeks ago when he had a patron question session. There was a lot of good information in the podcast and also in the comments afterwards. Luckily CoC, IABSM and Black Ops all rather lend themselves to solo play due to their mechanics.

Now you may look at that list and feel it is rather short but there is more afoot. A lot of this hinges on a rather enjoyable and larger project which has finally had some movement on it. I am aiming to build a shed that serves a few purposes. Firstly it is to give me a quiet area to work in when I work from home occasionally, without disruption from the other half. Secondly to have a dry area to do my wood working (making, repairing chicken coops, pig houses, stable doors etc) and finally I will have an area to store all my wargaming stuff I have accrued in my short time in the hobby, and even perhaps have a dedicated gaming table! Oh the excitement!

Now if this moves ahead as planned then the first part of this year from spring onwards at least will be largely focused on building/sorting the shed. I am waiting on the architect submitting the plans to obtain a building warrant having had planning go through already. I intend to have it finished off, at least externally, and watertight by June.

An attempt to sprint to the finish....

The rather daft title is in reference to my recent attempt at trying to rack up over close to 500 points in about 30 days to reach my target of 1000 points for the year.

Around the midway point in the year I took stock of where I was in my own personal painting target (post here). Aside from the fact I was clearly demented and due to work thinking about the financial year rather than calendar year, I was about 50% of the way through my target of 1000 points (Using Vis Lardica scoring) and slightly more than that through the time period!

Forward a few months and as we close in on the end of the year I have spent some of my time off on finally sitting down and painting.

As part of the push I've painted:

Sorting out somr 6mm WW2 in the form of Baccus' new Panzer IVs with some complementary Shermans for the Brits. A few more supports for both, AT guns & crews, PIATS, mg34 (light role) and vickers (sustained role). A test game of IABSM is in the offing now.

The three sherman tanks in the top right of the picture above are from Anyscale Models to replace the two diecast ones I have been using in the Chain of Command 29 Let's Go Campaign. I also tried out a technique I saw on The Tactical Painter's blog for adding camouflage netting to vehicles. Rather pleased with the look of them, I feel it makes them look a bit different and less like "out the box" models.

At long last getting round to some of the EXCELLENT models from Oathsworn Miniatures last Kickstarter (I have ended up backing the recent one too, I am a sucker for these models). I love the character of these miniatures, they are so much fun to paint. And that is coming from someone who struggles with painting figures, both in terms of motivation and skill.

And finally I painted up a few commandos and German guards as I intend to try and get a (probably solo) game of Black Ops in at some point over the holidays. This has been inspired by a WSS article on the rules set in WW2, and also re-reading Tiny Hordes report . My usual opponent is AWOL so can't get the next game of our campaign in, which would have been nice over the holidays.

Now a drum-roll please, that gets me up to 943 points. Ah well. Not quite the 1000 mark I was aiming for at the beginning of the year but I have got a lot closer than I thought I would when I was sitting at the 520ish mark less than a month ago!

6mm Germans and some straggling Brits

Well I finally got around to flocking the Germans for my 6mm IABSM project. There were also a few Brits to finish from the last batch, I made up 5 more 2p leader bases to take my total to 10 leaders or Big Men for each side, also a whole heap 2in mortars.

I used dark green and light green static grass, 1mm length from Serious Play on eBay, and a mix of the two for blending.

The completed batch

British troops, Big men on 2p bases, 2in mortars on 1p bases.

Brits to the left, Germans to the right.

German troops, with three LMGs.

Some German Big Men on 2p bases, Panzershreks on 1p bases.

The blending on the German Big men isn't great but I think I improved as I went on and got a better technique worked out. Good enough from arms length though!

German sustained fire MG34/43

I've got some AT guns and random support from both sides that need working on, also with Baccus releasing their Panzer IV I took the plunge and got some Shermans, PzIVs, Universal carriers and Kubelwagons and motorbikes. Bonus got paid in last months pay check so decided to treat myself!

Mid-Year Appraisal

Well as we have passed the 6 month point a few weeks back I thought I would throw something up about my painting.

At the start of the year I wanted to try track how much painting I achieved this year, so I nicked the structure off Vis Lardica website for the TFL painting challenge, by that I mean the scoring and classifications.

I set my self a target of 1000 points for the full year.

                                            Number         Individual Total

                                             painted          score              score

6mm Infantry                          234            0.5           117

25-30mm Infantry                  33               4           132

15mm Vehicles                  16               6             96

15mm Buildings                   4             12             48

25-30mm Buildings                4             36           144

Bigger than 30mm Foot            1                8               8

20mm Foot                           1               2               2

And that gives me a grand total of 547 points at around the halfway mark. Just about on target although I will need to get a bit of a shift on to get up to the 1000 mark before the new year.

6mm part 2

I finally got round to basing and finishing off the first batch of 6mm Brits for my IABSM project. I'm using 30x30 MDF bases for ground troops, 3 bases per section, with light mortars on one penny pieces, and big men on two penny pieces (1p & 2p for simplicity)

I plan on using 1p for other supports, ie MMG/HMG, but will put AT guns etc on 30x30 bases as they should be identifiable by themselves.

I'm not sure about basing vehicles yet - I think it is probably the best course of action for longevity but the appearance bugs me a little.

I followed a simple method for the basing, PVA and sand, burnt umber paint, dry brushed up with lighter brown shades (sienna and umber variants). finished with some 1mm static grass in two shades, from Serious Play on eBay.

Anyway enough chatter here are the photos:

Four platoons and Five big men, PVA still wet.

Static grass down and PVA still wet.

One platoon, PVA dried!

Big men and 2in mortars

That's all folks!

A small update....

Ha - what a clever pun! The title I mean. No, not following? oh wait - this is about a new 6mm project I have started. Hence "small" update. Get it?! Hmmm explaining it probably doesn't improve the humour. Ah well nevermind!

So I got enticed by a Lardy Sale a good while back and picked up a set of the I Ain't Been Shot Mum rules (IABSM). Cautious not to just jump in I read up on it and checked out various blogs that touched on IABSM, and came to the conclusion that I wanted to do it in 6mm to match the ground scale, in some part due to regrets over not doing Chain of Command in 15mm (time will tell on that!)

I duly ordered some 6mm Baccus Brits and Germans - and when they arrived I had a bit of a panic that they were TOO SMALL for me to actually paint. I posted as much on twitter and was flooded (well for my usual posts it was flooded, for others perhaps a gentle lapping of replies!) but they gave lots of advice and explanations, all gratefully received.

The process or method I picked to go with was:

- Use a white or light primer, firstly it makes it easier to see but secondly it means the finished colour is lighter which is helpful at this scale/size. Apparently you want a slightly lighter/brighter finish.

Primed in cheap white spray paint

A close up, they are about the height of a fingernail. Well my fingernail anyway.

 - After a white primer (or light) use a wash to bring out the details and help you block paint

After a wash with Vallejo sepia and umber washes. Two shades used to see if the wash shade makes any difference.

They really are beautifully detailed for something so small!

- just paint the main blocks, uniform, helmets, weapon, flesh. Most things will be too small to notice unless there is a high contrast.

That is the uniform (vallejo English Uniform) painted in. Honest guv!

- Wash the final figures with Nut Brown ink

- You're painting a unit not an individual man so it is the general effect you look at rather than the individual paint job

As you can see with that in mind I cautiously primed and washed my first selection, British Infantry, LMGs and 2" mortars, about 10 lollipop sticks worth of troops! and my goodness doesn't it go quickly. I used two different washes just to see if there will be any great difference to the final product, one was a dark brown (Vallejo Umber wash) the other a lighter sepia shade (Vallejo Sepia wash).

It takes no time at all to apply a wash to them, and similarly to block in the uniforms, a few swishes of the brush and your on to the next chap. So far I have spent maybe 30-40min on them and I have 12x LMGs, 12x 2" Mortars and 96x Infantry. I'm hoping to get some time after work at some point or maybe this weekend to finish them off, which shouldn't take too long.

They aren't going to win prizes but I am happy with where they are going so far.

The following blogs and sites were fantastic resources when I was looking into the 6mm idea:

Derek's Blog limited posts on 6mm stuff but does have a bocage tutorial and also very helpful comments on the TFL forum under IABSM.

Mark Luther's stuff stunning 6mm terrain photos on Flikr and one thread on setting up a table.

Vis Lardica - Great for IABSM AARs and loads of IABSM info and advice both here and on TFL forum.

And one of the 6mm Maestros Per at Rollaone

Always on the look out for more 6mm resources so do drop me a comment if you have any corkers! and don't feel shy about showing off your own 6mm wonders!