Smile, you're on TV!

Me and Fabrizio being shooted by Regional Channel RAI 3 during GiocaPerugia.

2 days at GiocaPerugia

I was in Perugia during the last week end for the CON GiocaPerugia. I took part together with Andrea (who organised the first, unofficial tournament of "Of Gods and Mortals" - his last game published by Osprey) and Massimo (presenting his game "Ferrum et Gloria" about Gladiators).
It was the first edition of GiocaPerugia and we all were curious about the fantastic location chosen: the famed Rocca Paolina, i.e. the underground of the old fortress of the City. I must say the location was impressive: a kind of dungeon where people playing Vampire Live games were really *at home*. Even if it had some drawbacks (some drops of water spilling from the ceiling, and a difficult access) it was a nice experience.
I brought "100 dice" because of it extreme portability, and played a couple of games that gave me at least one more hint to trim the rules. Below, some nice tables from the wargame area:

 15mm figures, rules "A la Guerre!" by Gualtiero Grassucci. A battle in England around 1690.

 A fantastic 3D small table built for "Battlesworn" (Andrea's new fantasy game).

My 100 dice table with French and Prussian forces during the SYW. Many friends came by to say hello or play a game: below me with Alessandro Salini, one of the playtesters of 100 dice.

Finally, as there was a perfect replica of the Throne of Swords, I could not resist the temptation to have a pic sitting on it. So I did, with the typical expression of a real Baratheon King :)

Sunday at GiocaRoma

Yesterday I went with Andrea to GiocaRoma, a small CON organized in Rome by Ludus Magnus.
I brought "Aye Aye Sir!" and had a couple of very interesting and useful playtest games.

Above and below, the first of the 2 games played. Diego (left) with 4 British ships of the Line against a mixed French-Spanish squadron of 6 ships. After this game I was able to solve a problem I had with the game when the Wind was extremely low.

In the afternoon Diego invited me to play a Drums and Shakos Large Battle game he prepared for the Show (Battle of Hohenlinden, year 1800) and I agreed with pleasure. Playing with an opponent without explaining the rules is something I did not do since months. My French Division was defeated by his Bavarians: in the pic below, Diego doing something that surprises me (according to my face) but unfortunately I do not rememeber.... :-)

Back from Dadi.com

A fine week end in the Republic of S.Marino for another edition of Dadi.com. The Con was held a usual in the Congess Centre of the Best Western Hotel Palace, on 2 different floors: at ground level the boardgames and the wargames at 1st floor. This edition (the 3rd in S.Marino, after many held in Crema University) produced mixed feelings: on one side I think that  - as a wargamer - I could find everything I expect from a Convention. Miniatures, accessories, terrain elements for building scenarios, nice tables, participation games, rules, books and a big Bring & Buy. The down side was probably the number of visitors, not comparable with last editions. The economic crisis certainly bites and this could be one of the reasons people decided to skip this edition.
Anyway, being there as a normal visitor again (after Agliana) i tried a couple of games, spent some money and met with pleasure Mark from Stonewall Figures who - together with Magister Militum and Worean - were the 3 foreign exhibitors of the Con.
One of the best table IMO was an ACW scenario in 28 mm, representing a part of the battle of Gettysburg. I took a couple of pics of it (below).

Above, the table from the US side...

And the yelling Rebels about to attack.
Saturday afternoon I was invited by my fellow ARSM Club members  (Maurizio and Mauro) to play a SYW battle using Minden Rose ruleset, and I accepted with pleasure.
I was given command of the right wing, and the order to attack the Austrian line with my brigade of Grenadiers. I obeyed orders and mission was accomplished...

While my Cavalry held against the Austrian Cavalry (on the hill), my 4 Battalions brigade of Grenadiers broke the Austrians near an "L-shaped" hedge. In the above picture you can see a couple of routing Austrian Battalions pushed by my Grenadiers, and that was the crucial moment of the battle.

Dadi.com in San Marino

Next saturday and sunday I'll be with Andrea at Dadi.com in the Republic of San Marino.
Two days of gaming, free entrance and a lot of wargames, miniatures and boardgames in several halls of a Convention centre. Hope to see some of you there...

5 More pics from Salute 2013

Some more pics from Matt's blog (fantastic 40mm miniatures mate!)

http://mattsgamepage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/first-pictures-of-my-salute-2013-game.html?m=1

First pic from Salute 2013 ('61-'65 in 40mm)

A friend of mine just sent me this picture taken at Salute 2013. As announced also in this blog, Matt of Glenbrook Games put up a '61-'65 scenario with 40mm figures: Mc Pherson's Ridge

I hope to receive more pics from Matt himself, and post them here.

Great job Matt!

Back from Hellana 2013

A wonderful weather for a nice day as a normal visitor to Hellana 2013 Con in Agliana.
I met a lot of friends, sold something at the Bring & Buy, and found everything I was looking for. A very positive balance indeed. I took some pictures (some of the tables were really intriguing).

Battle of Nikolaevka, WW II Russian front (with an Alpini cap) Rapid Fire rules.

Naval, WW I, Bombardment of Ancona Port by the Austrian Navy (nice clouds :).

Byzantines and Goths at the Gates of Rome. Rules: Comitatus.

Aster Wargames Stand, where I spent almost all my budget (reinforced by my Bring & Buy sales).

The traditional DBA Tournament (a bunch of friends I always meet with great joy).
And finally, my purchases: a truck of flock for my next project (I'll write a post about it soon)....

Clumps of grass and more trees...

An assortment of bases for my Cavalry, Artillery and AdCs....

And finally, "Might and Reason" by Sam Mustafa (yes, it's SYW time here).

A great day, and a lot of fuel for my imagination....

Next sunday: HELLANA Con in Agliana

After a long time I will attend a Convention (Hellana 2013 in Agliana) as a visitor. After so many conventions where I demoed some of my games, this year I decided to take a break and have a table just in a couple of events. Therefore I will take along some old boxes of minis to sell at the Bring & Buy, and maybe try some games in the participation tables available.
I have to buy some flock for my next project, and hope to find a retailer who carries Woodland Scenics.
As usual, painted minis at good price are always a target for me, and finally... trees!

If I'll find nice trees at reasonable price, I'll buy a lot of them. I like the ones I make (you can see some of them in the picture above) but they require a lot of work.
Andrea will come with me, and we'll find many of our friends there (btw there will be a DBA Tournament during the Con). Maybe it will be an occasion to talk about future Big Battles here in Terni, as the one I organised in december last year.

61-65 at Salute 2013

For those of you who will visit Salute 2013, there will be a 61-65 table in 40mm (!!) organized by Matt of Glenbrook Games, table GA 27. I hope to receive some pics of the Participation Game to post them here.

SDS in New Zealand

For those of you that who are not members of the Song of Blades Yahoo group, I'm happy to announce that during the 2012 Battlecry convention, Auckland NZ Feb 18 - 19, there will be a SDS demo table run by Robert.
Quite a bit far from here, but God knows how much I'd like to be there....
Leave a comment or drop me an email if you want to know more.

Flashing Steel at Magna con Phersu

While waiting for the pics of the SDS Tournament and of my demo table of Drums & Shakos Large Battles, here are a couple of pics I made. Above and below, two (dark, sorry) images of the demo table Andrea set up, presenting his new Flashing Steel game rules.

The scenario was a pirate boarding action, while a corsair ship was loading some goods from a wharf. The wonderful ships are from Ainsty Casting. A lot of people tried (and liked) the game and its specific features (such as the Swashbuckling rule). For more information, visit the Ganesha Games website (click on the link on the right).

SDS Tournament Update

Everything is ready for the last 2011 Tournament of SDS in Perugia.
The tourney will crown the Italian Champion for the current year: the competition is between Marco Gasbarri (42 points) and Alessandro Salini (34 points) both from Arezzo, as the third in line is too many points behind (Maurizio Cisotto, 28 points).
Alessandro will have - however - a hard nut to crack: he should win (12 points) and hope that Marco won't get at least 4 points...
There is still place for some other participants, just drop me an e-mail if you want to be in (sergio.laliscia@yahoo.com as usual).

During the MAGNA CON PHERSU convention I will also demo Drums & Shakos Large Battle, my new, Divisional level game whose premiere was in Lucca Games 2 weeks ago.

All gamers in Central Italy should not miss the opportunity to visit this convention which is growing year after year in Perugia. The location is also new: this year we'll be hosted by the "Città della Domenica" which was the first amusement park in Italy as far as I know (I remember going there with my family when I was a child - many, many years ago :).

Hope to see you all there!

Back from Lucca Games

Hello everybody,

back from Lucca (and after a terrible working week), here are some pics of my demo table of Drums & Shakos Large Battle and .... a special visit to Ganesha Games space.
Five days of chaotic convention, 160.000 visitors and serious troubles for eating, moving, talking and even going to the toilet, make me think that maybe this was my last participation as a guest to this oversized convention. Anyway, I received many friends and players to my table, explained the rules to many gamers, and the feedback is really positive. The new combat system and victory conditions were appreciated for their uniqueness and - even I could not play an entire battle due to time and space (and confusion) restrictions - all the people who stopped by went away waiting for the release of DS LB.
And this should happen very soon for the italian version (end of november) and immediately after for the english one. I was very proud of my new trees (you can see some of them above) and of my new roads and cultivated fields. All hand made before the con :)
And (below) here is the Special Guest who came to visit us: a "real" Prussian Leib Hussar with his wonderful costume!

Leaving for Lucca Games 2011

Tomorrow morning at about 5 o'clock.....
The scenario for the World Premiere of Drums & Shakos Large Battle is ready: a British Division will face a French Division somewhere in Spain.
It will be the "first time ever" of my new, hand-made trees and my new hedges (as seen in Colors Newbury...).
I'll bring along my brand new video camera.... who knows?

Back from UK

I had an exciting week-end in Newbury (UK) attending the 2-days Convention "Colours": a sort of Paradise for all wargamers, and a Nightmare for all wargamers' wallets...
Waiting for some pictures of the event (Antonio was the Official photographer), below you can see a very well known site: being there we could not resist and shortly visited Stonehenge. It was really a mystic experience.....

Colours and 70K!!

I'll be at Colours (Newbury) next week-end and it will be my pleasure to meet anyone passing by.
A two days full immersion in games is what I need now, and I'm curious to see one of the biggest Conventions in the UK.

70.000 page views is another important milestone for the blog, and I want to thank all of you!!

Colours, Newbury, september 2011

I am planning to visit Colours in Newbury (UK) next september.
Is any of you going to attend it? If so, it would be nice to meet there, and even better if an SDS or 61-65 scenario will be organised.

Dadi.com in S. Marino (2)

As I wrote in my previous post, I had a table where I made some demo of 6165 ACW (saturday), and 6165 Napoleonic (should I call it 9915?:). For the latter, I chose a scenario set just before Talavera, with British/Spanish Vs. French. The Spanish had to protect a farm with a squad and 4 skirmishers (I used dismounted Hussars for the purpose) while 2 British squads hurried up as reinforcements. The Allied player had also a small squad of 5 Guerrillas (you can see them in the above picture) which could appear anytime in the Allied turn from a building or from the wood (below, right) with 3 free actions. Needless to say, the Guerrillas caused many troubles to the French player even if - as I already knew from the playtest - they were a one shot weapon.
All demos were very balanced, always ending with narrow victories for one side or the other.
The game plays well in the Napoleonic version: all I have to do is write some rules for the Cavalry, which must be different from that of the ACW.
Time to enlarge my squads to play 99-15 with 100 pieces!!
(That's why I bought a box of Perry Prussian plastics..... :)
Once again after Modena I used my new 90x90 terrain from Baueda (www.baueda.com), which solved all my problems of transportation.

Dadi.com in San Marino (1)

As you probably know, Dadi.com this year was held in the Republic of San Marino from 14th to 15th may.
Andrea and me where there with a couple of tables, where I demoed 6165 (both in ACW and Napoleonic version) and Andrea playtested the last version of Song of Spears and Shields (the Ancient large skirmish game from Ganesha soon to be published).
In this post however I want to show you an amazing table created by 2 of our fans: Massimo Masini (above, left) and Fabrizio Passatempi (above, right), who organized a participation game based on a SDS scenario in Spain. Above, a view of the table, built from scratch by Massimo.
To be fully portable, the table has two big wooden boxes that - once the table is assembled - are used as drawers and as support for two dice towers (one per side). Below you can see the legs.
The 90x90 cm. gaming table was also very nice, with 3 scratch built houses and a lot of trees..

A close up view on the French squad entering the table. The mission objective for the frogs was to capture some livestock (with or without the permission of the spanish owners). The lobsters (and their Portuguese allies) had to stop them. Fabrizio designed the scenario.
A view from a different angle. You can appreciate the quality of the buildings (wood and balsa) made by Massimo.
A close up on the dice tower, a very useful add-on for such a crowded table....
As it was predictable, Massimo and Fabrizio won the prize for the best scenario, and here they proudly show their medal. BTW, the table was always busy during the 2 days of the show, and many people tried SDS. Great job mates!