A great website about SDS and DSLB from New Zealand!

Don't miss it!

http://miniatureaddiction.info/peninsular-battle/

Great job Roundie.

What's going on...

February should be a busy month.
Encouraged by the last couple of weeks activities and support from my fellow gamers, I am writing a supplement for DSLB. It will contain:
- rules for multiplayer big Battles (1 Corps per side);
- a simple Campaign system;
- Lists for Minor Countries;
- some new rules
- Errata, rulings and clarifications (these will be available also as a free download somewhere).
90% of the above is already written, and currently being tested.
No title yet: any suggestion?

Don't be shy..... :)

Black Powder in Rome!

After 5 months from my enrollment as a Member of the ARSM Club in Rome, I took the opportunity to take part in a Napoleonic battle organised by Maurizio in the club HQ. Using Talavera as a guideline, Maurizio and the other lads built an impressive table (about 4x2 m.) with lots of 20mm miniatures. I asked - and was given - the Command of the Spanish brigades, deployed near Talavera. Above, the initial deployment of my forces (1 Infantry and 1 Cavalry brigades). We started at 10.30 AM, took a break for lunch and finished about 6 PM (even if I had to leave at 5 because of my train timetable). I was later told that our enemies (the French) won the day, even if marginally. My Spanish Infantry fought gallantly for 6 hours, but then - under heavy pressure - broke. In all, 8 players and a Referee (something I almost forgot) around a fantastic table, surrounded by other gorgeous tables and miniatures: a remarkable day.

To Do list

After returning from Koper, I had a very tough couple of weeks at work, but now - hopefully - I will have some time for my ongoing projects. A brief list includes:
- some more playtesting of 100 dice
- basing my 10mm French and Austrian Armies, to play a BIG battle with DSLB on my 120x180 cm. table
- an interesting experiment:  a small battle in double blind on a hexed table (I'll need 2 volunteers for this)
- paint some more medieval 15mm figures for 100 dice
- keep writing the DSLB supplement for Minor Countries' Army lists
I'll try hard to bring all the above tasks to completion.

Back from Koper (Eurobasket 2013)

A fantastic week of basketball in Koper (Slovenia) for the qualifying round of the European Basket Championship: Italy went well over the happiest expectations, winning 5 games out of 5 against Russia, Turkey, Finland, Greece and Sweden. No words can describe my satisfaction. With 4 top players (2 of them playing in the NBA) injured, I left hoping just to win a couple of games and MAYBE qualify for the next round, but our boys played really hard, and Italy is the only unbeaten team so far in the tournament.

And now, the heaviest task: win another game (at least) to enter the final round, that will give Italy a slot in the next World Championship in Madrid (2014). Spain, Slovenia and Croatia will be our next opponents.
Let's keep fingers crossed....

Time to go to Eurobasket 2013

Tomorrow morning I'll leave for Koper (Slovenia) to assist to the preliminary round of the European Basket Championship. My friend Diego will come with me. Even if our possibilities to reach the Final stage are low, we hope to see good baskeball and to enjoy the Region. We plan to visit some nice places in the mornings and spend the afternoons in the Sport Palace of Koper.
I won't probably post anything for the next week or so.
Arrivederci a tutti!

Medieval warriors are back

After many years painting (or should I say NOT painting?) Napoleonic miniatures I returned to medieval figures thanks to 100 dice. In other words, I'm painting a couple of Armies for some playtesting of  the game.
Looking for usable figures in the tonn of lead I have I found a DBA Army pack (Teutonic Order by Mirliton) and many packs of Essex and other manufacturers' minis. I decided to paint them as a Communal Italian Army, loosely inspired to the Army of Bologna in the Battle of Fossalta (1249).
Armed with my lamp with magnifying lens, I quick painted (base, flat colors and dipping) most of the Army pack.
Below are the results so far:

 Left to right: 3 Hordes, 1,5 units of crossbowmen, 1,5 units of spearmen, a single unit of archers, 1 unit of Light Horse and half a unit of Heavy Horse (Knights). In front, the General (a Knight).

Some closer views: the Hordes (I love peasants and priests armed with pitchforks!).

 Crossbowmen and Spearmen (with the shield design of the city of Bologna), the Big Boss and a single unit of Archers (Unformed Light Foot).

And finally the Cavalry. I still have some 14 Knights to paint, but I must paint 2 Armies to play 100 dice, so the enemy will be a Hofenstaufen Army (King Heinz's), helped by the Modenese troops. I'll use the rest of the Mirliton Army pack and add a bunch of Essex figures I found. It won't be 100% historical, but will be OK to test the game adaptation to this Period.
Not too bad for someone not painting since almost 2 years....

Another great day of gaming in Arezzo

Yesterday, Andrea and me went to Arezzo for a full gaming day in Marco's house. While Andrea tested "Of Gods and Mortals" (the upcoming game he wrote for Osprey) I assisted Marco and Alessandro (morning) and Stefano and Simone (afternoon) in two battles of 100 dice with the same Armies and terrain.
Both games came out very well, and all players like the rules. Between the games we also had a good lunch with all Marco's family.
I always feel very proud when two highly experienced players like Marco and Alessandro appreciate my rules. In Arezzo, they already have hexes and Napoleonic Armies (they are also DSLB players) and I'm sure they will play again soon.
Unfortunately, the few pictures I took are very dark, but maybe I'll have some to post thanks to Giovanni (Marco's son - surely a future Champion in wargames).

100.000 page views!!!

During the week end this blog reached the 100.000 page views, a result I would never predict 4 years ago when I started. I want to thank all wargamers and friends from all over the World for this achievement. To celebrate the event, I will soon post a complete batrep of Drums and Shakos Large Battle on my new terrain (French vs. Russians) and here is a picture of my last week end activity...

My first attempt at painting 1:2400 ships was quite successful, and the Age of Sail game I had in mind since long took shape in less than 2 days. I want to thank Fabrizio Passatempi for the inspiration he gave me during the S. Marino Con last week end, when I played a sort of Star Trek game with starships, moving on a hexagonal grid.
Once again, thank you for reading and keep following this blog
Sergio

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...

Another table

After taking some more pictures, I decided to make a new arrangement, this time doubling the rubber foam underneath (so that pins have a better grip). I distributed the batting in a different way, with only 2 major hills, and used very few pins.  I suspect that - for what concerns pins - the fewer the better to avoid wrinkles.
I also wanted to display my new (and growing) collection of Dave Graffam Model paper buildings that I love and strongly advise you all to give them a try. They are cheap, wonderful and easy to mount. You can buy them  in Wargame Vault site.

The village (note that the position of the battlecloth is the same as the previous pics, but terrain looks completely different).

 A view from behind the river with the Curch of St. Fringibuffo on the right (and my plastic boxes full of accessories above it).

Jumping on top of the bell tower, here's a view of the Village and the hill in front of it. The village is enclosed in low walls from 3 sides, and has the river behind.

For the last pic I used the remaining light blue rubber foam to create a sort of screen behind the table.
Not too bad, I think...

My new Terrain

In the last couple of days I've been cutting, assembling, flocking and ... waiting for the latex to dry, but the result is very satisfying. So yesterday evening, without waiting for some details I want to add to the cloth, I decided to "throw some miniatures" on the table, and below is the result.

Part of a Russian Division is trying to cross a river at a bridge, but a small French Brigade with a Battery in support discovered the maneuver and deployed to avoid it. In the meantime, the zealous French Brigade Commander sent a message to the Emperor, who was waiting for a chance to crush the Russians thanks to his superior troops concentration. This seemed a good opportunity. Above, a Russian brigade that crossed at a ford several miles upstream is joining the fight. On the hill the deployed French brigade with the battery in the middle, firing against the crossing Russians.

Napoleon with is staff (in front of the Chapel of St. Ludwig) supervises the deployment of an entire Corps, marching to the sound of the guns.

 A view from the Russian side of the river. Few buildings of the Village of Schaufferg will remain intact... French Voltigueurs and Russian Jaegers skirmish in front of a small pond.

 Division Commander General Shumbalovskij confers with his subordinates, while battalion after battalion the Russian cross the small bridge near the Old Water mill. The view is not encouraging for the battalions commanders.. On the left, a Brigade of Grenadiers waits its turn to cross.

 The skirmishing, seen from above. A single Russian battalion could deploy on the other side of the bridge, and they are now trying to push away some French Voltigueurs deployed behind a low stone wall.

The French columns arriving at the double quick on the Battlefield.

 Two more Batteries coming at the gallop  near a Vineyard (the infantry will have to stop and make room).

 A closer view of the Emperor's Staff...

 And - finally - a view from behind the Russian Brigade arriving on the Battlefield after fording the river some miles upstream. French skirmishers spotted the new threat.
I'm very happy with my new cloth. I have still to add some details near the rivers and between fields, but the overall feeling is very good. I have also to learn how to place the batting under the cloth and where to pull pins to avoid wrinkles. Ah, and I have also to ask a friend with a good camera to take pictures :)

I'm almost there...

This evening I'll finish the cloth (or - better said - the base of the cloth) and details will follow tomorrow.
"Proud" is a word that well describes my feeling....

New terrain project

Several weeks ago, I was looking for some interesting batreps on TMP and I found this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/war_artisan/sets/72157632853690263/
I was astonished. For the first time I saw a realistic terrain, with rolling hills built in and without any visible artificial object on it. The pics were made by Jeffrey Knudsen, aka War Artisan. I avidly read the battle report (fantastic 10mm figures, by the way) and I discovered two more facts: 1) the rules used were "Napoleonic Command" written by the same person; 2) online there are also a couple of tutorials: one for making the cloth (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36331979@N00/3063199455/in/set-72157610259987470/) by elliottwjames and another - made by the War Artisan - that explains how he built the hills I liked so much (http://www.flickr.com/photos/war_artisan/4739815027/in/set-72157624371716442/).
Now, I have Napoleonic Command and I think it's one of the most innovative rules I've ever seen: in few pages, Jeffrey was able to include many of the game design concepts I really like (attrition, no markers, few modifiers , see my previous posts about these under Game Design) creating a fast moving, clean and elegant mechanism.
Unfortunately, Napoleonic Command is out of print, but Jeffrey will - sooner or later - publish a 2nd edition, as his notes say.
Back to the topic, I had to try and build one of this wonderful terrain cloths so I asked Jeffrey directly. He was so kind to answer, giving me some more hints and encouragement. My trip to Hellana Con last week was mainly to buy the flock needed, and a visit to a local hardware store gave me the rest.

 I started friday afternoon and I am taking pics while I go on, so I will probably post the whole process soon (adding here and there some mistakes to be avoided). In the meantime, here is the starting point (a cotton cloth 200x140 cm. where I designed the roads and rivers with a marker):

And here is the result so far:

It's taking more than expected, but I'm slow and think twice before every step. I'm also trying not to mess  the room up too much (this is a work better done in the garage, but I haven't one). Today (sunday) I should be able to finish about 60% of the cloth, if I have enough latex.
And this was all thanks to Jeffrey...

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.

Welcome, Jim!

A warm welcome to my 134th follower: Jim Getz, author with Scotty Bowden of Empire.

Empire (V Edition) was the game I started wargaming in 1986 when I was living in Milan.
About 1 year ago, I received a kind e-mail of congratulations for my Drums and Shakos Large Battles, and the name in the signature told me something... I checked in a shelf and found this....

Yes, it was that Jim Getz. I was - and still I am - honoured by the kind words he used, and a correspondence started. We exchanged and commented each other ideas, and now - after a year - we are still in contact, sharing our intuitions and projects.

Welcome on board, Jim!
And thank you for joining...

Pipeline updated

Pushed by recent events, I decided to chage the schedule of my future releases.
First in line will be Drums & Tricornes, my new SYW ruleset, that uses a brand new Command & Control System. When D&T will be released by Ganesha Games, I plan to finish and release 100 Dice which is a hex-grid, dice pool fastplay game for different historical periods.

My notes about D&T date back to last year (march 2012) when I wrote about 50% of it but then I stopped due to "real" job taking over my time. In my terms, this is a Large Battle game where 2 Armies of several Brigades each fight on a 120 x 180 cm. table divided into 216 squares (each of 10 x 10 cm.). Above you can see a pic taken from the last test I made last saturday.

More about Drums & Tricornes in future posts...