Rockets and rillons...

Today was Club Sunday, with Mr. Neatherway having bravely volunteered to coordinate three linked games set in GW's WH40k universe.  The important word here is bravely, as this was Mr. Neatherway's first attempt at such an undertaking.

By the end of the day, all agreed that he'd made a fair fist of it all.  Having never played any of these games, I opted for the space combat game, and my opposite number Matt and I had an enjoyable time, firstly trying to intercept my dropships, and then trying to knock out my orbital artillery.  Nothing ground-breaking, but Matt and I quite liked the way that both of our games swung back and forth, rather than being foregone conclusions.  In terms of the linked nature of the games, the Div managed to keep the Ground-to-Space lasers mostly occupied on the skirmish table, but they did cause havoc to my shields when they did get through.  On the other hand, despite Matt's best efforts, I was able to furnish Nick on the "Apocalypse" table with half of his possible reinforcements.  My orbital strikes were less successful, not so much destroying enemy units as merely indulging in gentrification of the general area.  As stated, a good turnout, an enjoyable day for all concerned and a promising debut for Mr. Neatherway.

So, before the horrors of the forthcoming week make themselves known, I find myself enjoying a civilised supper of home-made rillons, washed down with a slightly fizzy Portuguese white.  Jolly nice, but I would say that, wouldn't I?

Betwixt wadi and jungle with rod and gun...

With a now semi-complete utility room, I've been able to transfer the sordid business of miniature painting and terrain creation out of the study.  Subsequently (and with the aid of the customary splurge at Colours), there is now a production line of sorts taking shape, of CD-based jungle terrain* and rows of miniatures awaiting undercoating before the inevitable painting procrastination. 

The magpie flitting from project to project seems typical of many wargamers, and I'm acutely aware of it at present.  On the one hand, the introduction of They Don't Like It Up 'Em with my Peter Pig Sudan collection to other club members has them keen on a second encounter.  Opinion is divided as to whether it'll be a different one or simply the last one but playing as a different side.

On the other hand, I'm also personally keen to crack on with upgrading my Vietnam kit (also predominantly Peter Pig).  Reading rules is no substitute for playing them, but repeated reading of Too Fat Lardies' Charlie Don't Surf (CDS) prompted me to undertake the insane step of rebasing miniatures for the first time, even though it isn't strictly necessary.  With the onset of the recent school holidays, this was undertaken with a vengeance, with both Mr. Neatherway and the Div kindly acting as the player guinea pigs to my refereeing.  With Asian take-out and beer consumed, plus an appropriate soundtrack on the iPod, havoc could commence...

Player work commitments meant the game unfortunately had to be curtailed earlier.  This was annoyingly at the point where US Lieutenants Monterey Jack, Bayley Hazen and "Blue" Vaquero had received a harsh drubbing, but would now be unable to take advantage of the fact that the VC (Lieutenants Banh Cahn and Cao Lau) had shot their bolt.  This was exacerbated by players and referee cocking up things as they played new rules, and the fact the action was squeezed on to a very small playing area.  Nonetheless, both Mr. Neatherway and the Div said they'd be willing to give it another try, now that they had a better idea of how CDS plays.  This is encouraging stuff, from players who are at the game end of the game-simulation spectrum.  

Torn therefore between wadi and jungle, it looks like the wadi wins out this weekend, as I attempt to get some Highlanders and Royal Marines ready to take on the Mahdists for September 24th's planned game at the club...

*No prizes for guessing the inspiration of this.

To begin at the beginning...

"Tao" or Dao in Pinyin:

The path, way, doctrine or principle.

"Lard":

In this instance, primarily (but not exclusively) anything derived from Too Fat Lardies, Peter Pig and (naturally) pigs.