Ad Mare Bellum

These are a new set of fast play ancient naval rules by David Manley, which I've just found on Wargame Vault and which I'm going to use with the Tiny Tin Troops card ship counters that I originally acquired for use with Osprey Publishing's Poseidon's Warriors. They are based on David's medieval and renaissance naval rules, the first of which I already have but haven't tried out yet, so I'm sure they will be very good. It's half term so I'm planning to get some fast play card counter, classical galley gaming underway over the next few days.

Cavern Crawl

Thanks to Randy, I've got the link to a download of the original free version of Trapdoor which is aptly titled as Cavern Crawl. The rules are virtually identical to the later Trapdoor edition but without some of the extra bits like examples of play, a scenario and aspects of character advancement. Still, it's a pretty tidy set of miniature role playing rules with all the things you need for a bit of a dungeon adventure. And it's free!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByE36M8vP7cJTXFoQjZ4QzNCelk/edit

Trapdoor

I have unearthed my digital copy of this cracking little set of dungeon crawl rules and have been reading it through again. It really is a very simple beer and pretzels level system with all the classic features you'd expect in a set of basic dungeoneering RPG-light rules. I particularly like the fact that it's all squeezed into only 36 pages, some of which are illustrated examples of play, tables and charts. The rules themselves probably only occupy about half of that page count again, so very streamlined but not lacking in detail at all. They're not available any more as far as I can tell, having looked in all the usual places, but if you can locate a copy they are well worth grabbing.

Dungeon Crawl

My sprogs love dungeon crawl games, so I've been thinking of doing a little project based around the re-released Pendraken Miniatures 10mm dungeon set, complete with adventurers, monsters, treasure and traps. I toyed with the idea of this a few years ago, when I saw the dungeon terrain starter set on sale at Warfare, but decided to spend my pocket money on something else.

Now, I think it would be a very good way to encourage the sprogs into miniatures gaming and to have a set up that is compact enough to pack away for holidays. There's a set of Beer and Pretzels rules called Trapdoor! that I already have on the hard drive which would be ideal for just this sort of thing. All I need to do is save up my hard earned pocket money again (!) to buy enough corridors, rooms and figures for a decent dungeon adventure.

Ludus Gladiatorius

For various reasons my thoughts have been turning to gladiatorial combat games of late and, as a result, I've dug out a battered old copy of the EM-4 Ludus Gladiatorius 'beer and pretzels' style game, complete with pre-painted gladiator figures. I say figures but a couple are missing from my set, having been converted into dead gladiators for a long abandoned Warhammer Gladiator project that bit the dust a few years ago, after I realised too late that the rules were wonky.

I do have plenty of painted 28mm Foundry and Crusader Miniatures gladiator figures, as you can see, so it will be easy to set up a game or two of Ludus Gladiatorius with substitutes. The EM-4 figures are a bit two dimensional anyway and I'm not keen on the painting style, even if it's a great way to get a game on the table. I've played the game a few times before with my kids and it is easy to pick up, fast and pretty deadly. I'll see if I can get a game or two underway over the weekend.

May the Fourth Be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day rebel scum!

Tank on Tank: Westfront - Night Action

I played a scenario from the Tank on Tank: Westfront rules booklet yesterday, with my nine year old daughter once again taking command of the Wehrmacht and myself the Yanks. The scenario was a night action with limited range due to low visibility, so it was a bit of a challenge for both sides. In the end I managed to win by stopping the Germans from blocking the North-South roads which ran across the map. It was a good game and the night rules made it really interesting, especially as it neutralised some of the advantages of the Tigers and made it easier for the Shermans to get in some crucial flanking shots.