Sergio's blog: hints, ideas, pictures and news about SDS (and more) from the author

Thursday, April 29, 2010

SDS Tournament may 9th, 2010 Arezzo

Secondo le ultime adesioni pervenute dovremmo essere circa 16 giocatori di almeno 5 Clubs ad Arezzo, e ci sono ancora giocatori in forse...
Se così fosse, una "prima" veramente soddisfacente!


According to last calculations, we should have around 16 participants from 5 different Clubs (and there are still some players in doubt..) at the first Tournament in Arezzo.
If so, a very satisfactory "premiere" for SDS!

Back to painting

OK, back from a business trip to Sweden (any SDS player in Lund or Malmoe area??) I will this evening return to some painting. 2 Austrian Hussars are on the working bench, and they will be followed by some more Brits (or my brand new french Dragoons from Perry plastic, coming directly from Salute 2010).
Pics as soon as they are ready...

Monday, April 26, 2010

Mega SDS table at Salute 2010!


Last saturday at Salute 2010 in London, GLC Club built this wonderful and BIG SDS scenario. Andrea was there and took some pictures: the table is astonishing and full of nice miniatures.
Above is a view before the battle began..
The battle in progress... It was - as far as I understand - a participation game where people could play with an enlarged squad, with an objective which was randomly determined before the start on a simple table.
French cavalry crossing the river on a wooden bridge (really wonderful table, my congratulations to GLC Club). The Scenario name was "El Hombre sin nombre" (The man with no name) and it was set in Spain, in the year 1811. One of the missions was to capture a deserter who hide inside a house. I wonder who is the maker of the big curch that can be seen in one of the pics...

Friday, April 23, 2010

New link

The link to Roberto's new blog has been added to the link section.
Enjoy!

http://parteghibellina.blogspot.com

More Highlanders (from Marco)

Marco from Arezzo sent this morning some pics of his new Highlander squad (a lot of Brits recently....). It is composed by an Officer, a Piper, 5 Highlanders and a Dragoon. Above the Officer..
The Dragoon from the Scots Greys.
And this is the full 404 points squad. Very nice job Marco (as usual, nice "standing" grass :)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

New Brits from Roberto

Roberto just sent me some pics from his new British Infantry Squad. Above the NCO and a young drummer...
Rifleman Simmons and Private Jones (both rugged and unshaved)...

And the Command Group with a (quite unusual for me) sapper/engineer. All minis are Front Rank, except for the sapper and drummer which are Offensive Miniatures.
Thank you Roberto for contributing so much to this blog and for sharing your pics!
Shall we see your blog soon? :)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Big Battles




Since about a month, the Friday Night Big Battle became a tradition in my Lab.
I posted here a report about one of them; after that we played twice (and next friday we'll do it again). We play 2-3 vs. 2-3 players, generally each with a 400 points squad, but when someone is missing we improvise on the spot something with the illusion of keeping the game balanced :)
In my opinion, it is really a nice way to play SDS, because there is interaction between allies, a lot of coups de theatre (sorry for my bad french) and the "Joker rule" gives a further element of unpredictability to the game. Now I'm thinking to add a new card (the Queen of Hearts I think) which - when drawn - gives the last player who got a turnover at the first attempt of activation the chance to grab the initiative again.
Next friday I'd like to introduce a gun (using the rules of MDS scenario) with its crew (my Austrian 4 pdrs. gun is ready for the job).
I'll let you know how it goes... in the meantime 3 pics from the 2 last BB.

Torneo di Arezzo, 9 maggio 2010

Ricordo a tutti i lettori italiani (e non) del blog che il 9 maggio prossimo ci sarà il primo torneo di SDS. Il Regolamento da torneo (versione 2.1) sarà presto disponibile nell'area download del Gruppo Yahoo di Song of Blades. Chi avesse problemi a scaricarlo (per qualsiasi motivo) può scrivermi al mio indirizzo (che si trova sia nel manuale che nell'espansione).
Vi aspetto tutti!

I remind all italian (and foreign) readers of this blog that on may 9th the first SDS tournament will take place in Arezzo. The Tournament Rules (version 2.1) will be soon available (in italian only for the time being) in the download area of the Yahoo group of Song of Blades and Heroes.
If you have problems in downloading it, you can send me an e-mail (my address is both in the rules and in the supplement).

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Battle Report (Smolensk 1812) and link

Stefano informs us that a BatRep is available in their website (click "Ganesha Games, Drums and Shakos") at:

http://www.decimalegiogemina.com/battlereports.php

(Italian language only, but many pics!)

Filippo's Russians (with snow!!)

Filippo sent this morning some pictures of his brand new Russian squad, with wonderful "snowed" bases (and the snow is home made!).
Good work Filo! We'll see your Russian in the Arezzo Tournament?


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

An intersting link

http://movealongnownothingtoseehere.blogspot.com/

This is Paul's blog and there is a very interesting SDS first battle report. Very nice terrain and minis...
Well done Paul, carry on!

More pics (Hellana)

During one of the breaks of the National DBA Tournament, Maurizio Cisotto (left, DBA European Champion, and several times Italian Champion) and Marco Gasbarri (right, twice DBA Italian Champion) decided to play a quick battle....
Even if I don't know the result, it was amazing to see how quickly they made their moves. It looked like a time-limit chess match :)
Me playing with Stefano Palandri (one of the Organizers of Hellana). Stefano is thinking about a SDS big battle for next Lucca Games, something like 2000 Vs. 2000 points...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

First pics from Hellana

Thanks to Roberto, I have the first 2 pics from Hellana!
Me (left) drinking a coffee during a demo..

And a close up on a heroic French Carabinier (Front Rank) trying to defend his Drummer from the attack of 5 (five!!) Royal Marines (Steve Barber Models).
Yes, Hellana saw the first-time-ever of the Royal Marines, a list suggested and created with the help of Roberto from WASP La Spezia (see link).
More pics soon!

More pics from Stefano & friends

Here they are. Above we have a couple of Cossacks (Front Rank) painted by Francesco with 2,5 cm round bases.
A pair of Croatian (Victrix) painted by Roberto. This should be the 3rd Provisional Croatian Regiment which went to Russia in 1812.
French Light Infantry (Carabiniers, Perry plastic) painted by Stefano.
Russian infantry in greatcoat (Front Rank) painted by Fabrizio.
Excellent job my friends, hope to see your battle report soon!!

HELLANA 2010

Last sunday we went to Agliana for the tenth edition of Hellana Games. Waiting for some pictures, I can just say that it was a very busy day, as I had demos running continuously from 10 AM to 6 PM, with little or no time to visit the Con. That was surely good for my wallet... :)
More about this as soon as I receive the pics from Andrea.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Ganesha Games at HELLANA Con next sunday

Andrea and me will be at HELLANA (Agliana, PT, Italy) next sunday.
We'll run demos of Drums & Shakos and Flying Lead all day long.
If you are about to visit Hellana, just come and say hello (I'll bring along many ready made Squads so that anyone who wants it can play :)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Some more pictures from the past

I found this couple of pics in a forgotten folder. It was a Russo-Turkish battle in the Balkans (Batin I guess, september 1807) that we played with 15mm figures and hexagons. It was 2007 and I don't remember which version of my Napoleonic large battle rules we played it :).
I scratch-built the 2 riverine gunboats and all the castle ruins on top of the hill. This was the starting Turkish set-up, the Russian attack came from 3 sides... And no, I don't rememeber who won (but I am quite sure I played the Turks, as usual :-)

Friday, April 2, 2010

Big Battle Report

Last friday we met in my Lab to play SDS. 5 friends were supposed to come, so instead of preparing 3 tables (we play SDS in 28mm on 90x90 cm tables) I decided to try a big Battle, three vs. three, on a 180x90 cm. table. Each player would have a 400 points squad. Paolo, Antonio, Marco and Carlo joined me for a pizza before the fight, the sixth player could not come (sorry, Luca). Therefore we decided to play 2 French/Bavarians vs. 3 Anglo/Russians, with the French deployed on the defensive around a farm and the Allied attacking. A small 150 points squad was added for the missing player: it was played by Antonio and Carlo (French side). On the Allied side, Paolo had a British line/rifle squad, Marco had a Russian squad and I played with a British line one. We entered the table from one of the short sides, and the farm was at the other end of the table. The Objective (a bunch of crates containing... ammunitions?) was just behind the farm. To decide the order of activation, each of us chose a card (I was the 3 of hearts), and then I shuffled them, adding 2 jokers. When our card was drawn, we moved until the end (or a turnover occurred). When a joker came out, the party that did NOT move last had the right to 1 single activation (3 dice) immediately. This variant gave a real thrill to the whole game!
Early moves: I took the centre of our battle line and pushed forward with my red jackets. Marco with his Russians was on my left, and Paolo on the right with his rifles. Antonio deployed his Bavarians in front of the building, part inside a wood and part behind the surrounding low wall. Carlo placed his french veteran squad on the right of the farm, also inside the low wall. The small support squad (2 of spades, as can be seen on the roof of the small building) was deployed as an advance guard to slow our progress...

Here is a pic with the Franco-Bavarian first line (the farm is further behind - i.e. on the right). Antonio's Bavarians in the wood, the advance guard behind the small building and the French veterans waiting behind the low wall.
After a couple of moves, my Brits take possession of the fence around mid-table (with some losses...). The Russians follow slowly...
And Paolo's line+rifle squad is hampered by Lt. Jenkins indecisiveness (2 turnovers straight away!)
My boys defending the fence (one fell down and my Officer was quite behind).
A view of the Battlefield from the Franco-Bavarian position, with the cornfield on the left (and Lt. Jenkins card - an ace of hearts - at the far bottom of the hill).
Heavy musketry fire between the French Voltigeurs and my Brits behind the fence.
A view from the Russian side, pressing the enemy on the left flank. Antonio is moving his Schuetzen out of the wood, to exploit the long range of their rifles and then back...
The defensive line waiting for our attack.The farm is in the foreground. After heavy firing the small French advance guard is dissolved (here one of them can be seen retreating to the safety of the low wall).
The turning point on the right flank: Lt. Jenkins rifles align with my (shaken) squad. We are ready to jump forward!
Boldly, I take possession of the wood, dislodging the Bavarian Schuetzen (here retreating to the low wall). Carlo's French veterans wait for the Russians to come to close combat.
My move was a bit .... too early (or maybe my mates were too slow?). In the above pic my squad is hidden in the small wood, Paolo's squad is entirely behind the small building behind me, and the whole Russian squad is behind the fence, about to go forward.
With a last HURRAH! my boys come out of the wood (bad idea Sergio) and are decimated by the Bavarians. Before routing however, I manage to kill the Bavarian Officer, forcing the Schuetzen to test Morale, and shaking their line, but nothing more. On the other side, the Russian come to the wall and engage the French veterans in a confused meleé.
The final stages: after discharging all their weapons (you can tell it by the yellow markers on the table) both sides are engaged in hand to hand combat. The French veterans resist well to Lt. Jenkins British attack (see the Highlander in the front line), but the Russian Grenadier of the Guard (top, represented by a Pavlov miniature) is too powerful to be stopped, and kills a couple of defenders, forcing the French squad to withdraw.

And this was the epilogue. We had a great time. The boys liked the Big Battle so much, that tonight we'll do it again!
Happy Easter Everybody
Sergio

Thursday, April 1, 2010

My call answered (1)

Answering to my call, Stefano sent some pictures of his British Squads (all Perry 28mm., metal and plastic).
On the left, a Rifle Squad (Officer, 4 Rifles, 2 Chosen Men).
I see Stefano uses 25mm round bases for his miniatures.





Here is a Highlander Squad (42nd), made of
Officer, 5 Highlanders and 2 Veterans (OK one is a musician with a bagpipe...)



And finally, the 52nd Oxfordshire: an Officer, NCO, 4 Veterans (the group on the left) and 5 Line Infantrymen.

Stefano took some bold decision with these squads: always playing without a Flag means that every morale check can be particularly dangerous, and the absence of a drummer means that he hasn't any re-roll when activating Groups. More firepower, no doubt, but I would have been more cautious... :)
Anyway, well done mate!

Never without Cavalry...








To complete Roberto's Bavarian squad, here are his 2 ChevauLegere (28mm Front Rank) painted with his usual style. Once again, I am surprised about how he manages to paint his soldiers' faces, giving them an expression which is out of my painting possibilities.... Again, my congratiulations!