Coming up the only source for tabletop gaming was GW - of course, I was aware of the concept of historicals and a handful of other systems but GW had such a headlock on the high street presence for gaming that it was the only option most of us ever really had in the UK of the 90s. Remember, this was back before the internet was anything like it is today – if you didn’t know someone who was already into a system then you weren’t likely to find it on your own. Growth was slow back then and most of us tended to stick with GW games.
Now, I’m not going to bash GW here – from what I hear they are doing better things game-design wise these days and they aren’t all about 10,000 point armies any more (permit me the hyperbole - that’s how it felt when Apocalypse was first released). In fact, much of what I see in Kill Team and Shadespire etc. I greatly appreciate the concept of. I’m just not keen on the aesthetics of modern GW miniatures… although Blood Bowl keeps calling me, I can’t lie!
Of course, regular visitors will know I maintain a love of what I call the OGSG (Necromunda, Mordheim and Gorkamorka in my case) – these are long-term projects I’m chipping away at as an ode to my gaming past. That certainly won’t change!
But, on to what I am particularly enjoying (playing/painting/armylisting/plotting) at the moment, and why:
Osprey Wargames – what I call the blue book series. These books provide such a range of settings and styles of game for a great price – probably the highest profile of the blue books is Gaslands. It seems to have crossed over beyond us wargamers into part of the general tabletop gaming community – perhaps it’s that X-Wing style manoeuvre template vibe. It’s a fun beer and pretzels style game (or Pringles and Pepsi in me and
Trials of a Casual Wargamer's case!) with an easy entry level (grab a couple of cars from Poundland or similar and away you go!).
But there are lots of other interesting games in the blue book series that have encouraged me to delve into worlds and time periods that, when I was a less mature (attitude not age!) gamer, I might have ignored. Of particular note is that they are mostly skirmish (or similar) – which means having multiple forces for either the same/different game(s) is a far more affordable prospect!
Here are some of my personal favourites from the blue book line:
Chosen Men – Napoleonics without the need for 100s of miniatures, this sparked a force to represent the 1798 Irish Rebellion. Scratches an itch for an era of history that I never knew I had! It plays pretty smoothly – cavalry are particularly brutal.
Outremer: Faith and Blood – Crusaders, Saracens, Military Orders and campaign progression, with a playing card-based activation system. And if, like some people I’ve seen online, you don’t like the setting, then treat it as bands of knights fighting for riches in the medieval land of Generica; sorted.
Broken Legions – now, this needs a campaign fix (on the long list of homebrew projects) but mix ancients and fantasy and you get this game about competing warbands of treasure/artefact hunters with added random monsters of myth. Got loads of warbands for this one – and even homebrewed a new one to represent the Kingdom of Kush (Africa always gets overlooked except for Egypt and I wanted to put that right in my own little way).
Dragon Rampant – the fantasy …Rampant book, this has replaced WHFB for me. Some criticise its somewhat limited variety of fantastical elements; but then I’m the type who will just homebrew and houserule anything and everything I feel so I’ll add anything I feel is missing. In that way, I view this as a fantastic toolbox ruleset – and while I’ve got plans for 28mm armies, I keep turning my attention to some 15mm for this one too…
The Pikeman’s Lament – the pike and shot version of the …Rampant books. I didn’t expect to be hooked by this setting, but despite not having the strongest emotional connection to the era, I still have put together a lot of options for an Irish Confederation force (with redshanks mercenaries of course!). There’s just something about this ruleset and era that has now intrigued me!
I’ve got projects for various others (En Garde!, Ronin, Rogue Stars and more) but the ones above are my initial priorities (although project/paint queues jump a heck of a lot in ADHS HQ!)
Bolt Action/Konflikt’47 – what started as a ‘why not’ to spread my hobby wings has become probably my most played game ever at this stage (although Across the Dead Earth runs a close second I’d guess). It became my first fully painted army ever (although I do have a few newer bits awaiting the paintbrush!) and the battles between my Germans and
Trials…’s British are without doubt the most entertaining, narrative and bloody games I’ve ever had. Of course, a lot of that is down to the awesome custom scenarios
Trials… writes and the incredible tables he puts together for it. I’m very grateful to have such a talented and awesome gaming partner-in-crime!
Infinity – these are the pinnacle of science-fiction miniatures for me and the setting has completely captured my imagination (I’ve also picked up the RPG). The ruleset is almost off-puttingly complicated; but I’m viewing this as a challenge to help improve my mental health. Seriously, most rulesets I have are quite straight-forward when it comes down to it; and even then I tend to forget most of the special rules or specifics – I believe this to be largely attributable to my poor mental health; but I know that by exercising my brain more it can (and hopefully will) improve memory and comprehension!
Darklands – this is the fantasy reflection of Infinity to me; some of the finest miniatures out there, great lore and setting, dense as all hell rulebook. This presents the same challenge as Infinity, but I will endeavour to overcome it – the stash of metal and resin I have for it demands no less! I think these will probably jump up the queue when my metal Maiobhanagh eventually get made as I’m planning an Escalation-style approach to my armies and they are the main missing piece of the puzzle.
There are loads more I could mention – I’ve got so many projects and ideas floating around my head it’s inevitable that they will appear here at some point, so if you are interested in the breadth of the modern wargaming hobby please check back!
