Halfway through John Company Jeff had to go off on an expedition to find his phone. So it was appropriate that Richard and I had a go at this game. It is almost solitaire and we only completed one turn, but it does tell a lovely story. Maybe one that is no longer in fashion, but so it goes.
One Sided Miniature Wargaming Discourse
Monday, March 18, 2024
Heart of Darkness
Sunday, March 17, 2024
John Company
Another day another new game to learn. Tough going for this old dog.
Richard billed this as a mystery game and sent out the following invitation:
"Topee or not
Topee?"*
by Richard C
* (and No, I'm not
trying to take the Pith here)
Please come along to my new Board
game
Now you might end up an Officer
out for Trophies and fame,
so it could be all guts and glory or it
could all end in shame.
Either way, I think that you'll be glad
that you came.
The game is about your Company in
more ways than one,
we'll need to work together or it could
all come undone.
Your share of the profit could be
amazingly fat,
on the other hand its very easy to fall
flat.
If you can do a deal as a Writer,
the company's future will be brighter.
Our Ships need to serve our
common cause,
but will they sail to our shores?
Empires will rise and Empires will
fall,
but the roll of the dice will have
everyone in thrall.
One will have the Office that
will be the envy of all,
but, if you don't make it work, it
could be your own down fall.
There WILL be an Elephant in the
room which we'll all talk about
but just wait until you see what
happens when it goes Walkabout!
We won't need to do this daily,
but they certainly didn't tell us about
it at Hailey!
Everyone will have a share,
but can we agree to make it all
fair?
Nepotism is allowed if everyone agrees,
and you could end up retired in a
Country Pile.... unless you can't pay the fees.
We'll all get to vote on laws that we
like,
otherwise we can tell the Prime
Minister to take a hike.
You might be able to call in a favour
at a time that you choose,
It could be the difference between if
you win or lose.
You won't have to read the rules,
I will explain them to you, so you
don't just sit there like fools.
Some people think the game is in bad
taste,
so the doors will be locked in case you
try and leave in great haste.
I
hope you will come, I think it will be fun.
One way or other, a great tale will be
spun.
Like a lot of games/rules, it is essential to follow the correct sequence and that is very important with John Company and rather hard as plans and excitement spur you on, then it all gets complicated when, compounded with limited familiarity with the game/rules, you make mistakes. But we powered on and completed three turns, enough to have a go at trying to calculate victory points.
Beautifully presented game and looking forward to playing again.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Letting Go
Two sayings spring to mind:
- Too much is not enough.
- SABLE - Stuff Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy.
After religiously following the first bit of advice I am now trying to deal with the second bit.
It is hard to do, but by doing so I earn all important Brownie points with my partner: I've got to learn to let things go, well, a few things.
My Napoleonic focus is clearly 15mm (although I do have some 6mm). The 6mm came from James and so it was excellent to be able to pass on to him this accumulation of 1/72nd Napoleonic figures, some of which I've had for decades, others only a few years. Of course I can't just let things go, I had to photograph them and post them here.
But most importantly I had to find them a good home, and in a bit of serendipity I was sitting next to James Fisher in the movie theatre (The Three Musketeers - Milady) and was chatting beforehand. He had been to Tactics and bought some 1/72nd figures and in the belief that more is better, I offered him some surplus figures I had. Better still I was able to find them when I got home and drop them to him at the club that evening. My partner even provided the bag to put them all in, thereby earning me an extra Brownie point (as it was a lovely Koko Black carry bag, not needed, but too nice to just throw out - plus the boxes fitted perfectly!)
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Barbarossa Turn 44
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Stolberg Corridor - Day One
It has been a long term aim to replicate the Command Decision Stolberg Corridor scenario for Rommel. The biggest challenge was to not give in to bright ideas and keep things as close to the Rommel rules as possible. The only new rules were for pillboxes and dragon's teeth.
Pillboxes function like Prepared Positions (Page 50) but are not removed after absorbing the first hit. They are removed when the position is occupied by the US.
Dragons Teeth block supply, but do not cause isolation. They are in a hex but line a hexside and only affect units crossing that hexside. They are ignored by non-motorised, but other units must stop on reaching them. If a motorised/armoured unit starts adjacent it can cross but is tipped. They can attack across, but are vulnerable and do not provide armour benefits (i.e. tank shock), and if it advances across the hexside (as it must) then it is tipped. Dragon’s Teeth can be removed by engineering (Page 78-79). Place a marker next to the Dragon’s teeth in a US Marker Step provided a US unit is in the hex containing the Dragon’s Teeth. Remove the Dragon’s Teeth in the subsequent US Marker Step provided the US are still adjacent. The assumption being that enough explosive is on hand to blow a gap or engineering equipment to bridge a crater. (I'm still perfecting the wording.)
Simon and Stephen were CCA and CCB of the US 3rd Armoured Division respectively while I was the German commander and adjudicator as required (which was mainly just looking up a rule to confirm how it worked, the downside of only playing Rommel a few times a year).
Always tricky to know how a scenario will play out. I was pleasantly surprised about the different challenges this one presented so far. The pillboxes and dragon's teeth worked fine. We had to move the mat once to gain an extra two hex rows, but that went smoothly. The nighttime phase, out first in a Rommel game, worked surprisingly well, with the Germans taking full advantage to break contact and rebuild.
The first turn of Day 2 saw the US mop up the Germans who were left defending the dragon's teeth (hex row 5). This meant the Germans could use their first turn to complete consolidating on the Stolberg defensive position, hex rows 13 to 15. The US will start in hex rows 10 to 11 for their second turn of day 2. There is a small forward force of Germans in hex L11 near Zweifal and the US will be set up one hex back from that position. Both sides have 2 Ops dice to start with.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Early Seleucids versus Sui Dynasty Chinese
Having recently completed some Seleucid heavy cavalry I was keen to get them on the table and so took this army to fight Karl's Chinese.