I have started and intend to continue bingeing on solo Ancients this week. This game is so fascinating. I was playing the Ilpa scenario last night, and spending time with both sides to get my lines organised into an effective shape. In the end there were two long lines of infantry ready to crash into each other. The Carthaginians just lost with a rash decision to snatch a victory by using with an "Order Light Troops" card. Lesson learned: don't attempt to use light units as shock troops, even against weakened targets.

I am developing a style of play that takes the time to get my lines and my cards organised before moving in for the big attack. Of course this works solo because I am letting me get away with it (if you see what I mean). I desperately need an aggressive real opponent to test this style out against, and I am attempting to lure one of my offspring over to my home this week to provide such testing.

Everything you read about the physical quality of this game is true - map unmounted, dice need replacing, stickers lose their colour or even their stick - it doesn't really matter. The game is superb - a fascinating period, fast to play, tactically extremely challenging, and great great fun.

Tag: boardgames

I played Maharaja last week with some friends from the London Mennonite Centre. Mennonites may be pacifists, but let me tell you that they are not above some low-level whining. Thankfully, this wasn't your toxic, overbearing whining that makes me want to gnash my teeth, rend my garments, toss the board into the air and run out of the room screaming denunciations. It was more of a good-natured, background grumbling that wasn't too hard to bear, was even fairly humorous. I think the difference is, no-one was seriously trying to use whining to affect the outcome of the game, it was more of a faintly depressive character trait in some of the players. Who knows, perhaps this gentle pessimism really is a Mennonite thing?

Maharaja struck me as a strange game, sort of like Taj Mahal only clunkier. The stroke of brilliance is the little dials - these allow everyone to make their big decisions in parallel, not in serial as in most games, which saves a lot of waiting around for other players to think. I came in a pretty poor third, which always lowers my initial opinion of a game, but I was intrigued enough to want to try it again some time. (But only if Taj Mahal is not available!)

Tag: boardgames

As August arrives I start to get seriously excited about Greenbelt. Since I discovered it three years ago, the festival has been a vital part of my Christian walk, enthusing me, challenging me, irritating me and informing me in equal measures. Already I have many happy memories of Greenbelt - sitting in an inflatable church (!) listenening to a panel of writers enthusing about science fiction - singing "Jerusalem" at the top of my voice with Billy Bragg - praying my way round the Chartres Labyrinth - sharing a curry supper with more people than I would have thought it was possible to feed from a couple of camping stoves - yelling my heart out to "Letter from America" at an uproarious Proclaimers concert - listening to Gareth Higgins open windows in my mind, convincing me that it's possible to love God AND cinema......

I love the atmosphere at Greenbelt, the heady mixture of new ideas, great (and not so great) music, passion for justice, inclusivity, alternative worship, sunshine, good food, and basic sanitation - it all smells to me like an authentic whiff of Kingdom living, a foretaste of what life under God's rule could be like.

Have a look at the website at www.greenbelt.org.uk and get yourself a ticket for this year's festival (25-28 August at Cheltenham Racecourse). Maybe one day we will have a circle of tents at Greenbelt, with the banner of "Nimrods" fluttering overhead?


Tag: greenbelt

UKUK!

While I was in Austria waiting for a flyable day I bought Um Krone und Kragen (from a local kitchen shop!) and spent several happy hours attempting to decipher the rules and playing it through solo. When I got home I downloaded a translation and discovered to my amazement that I was getting it roughly right.

This is one of the most beautifully produced small-box games I have come across. The cards are stunning - gorgeous images on sturdy durable cardstock. "Yahtzee on steroids" is a fair summary of how it plays. It looks fascinating to me - a filler with depth and replayability - and I hope to introduce it to the local group as soon as I can (if they ever stop taking holidays and watching football that is!)

Tag: boardgames

Jumping off mountains

On Saturday I got back from a week paragliding at Mayhofen in the Ziller Valley in Austria. On the minus side, three and a half of my six days were blown out - too windy or unstable to fly safely. This was very frustrating, especially as these dangerous days in the Alps can look just fine - clear blue skies, sunshine, hardly any wind - but strong southerly winds at high levels can produce massive turbulence reaching down into the valleys to catch out the unwary. On Wednesday morning for example we went up the gondola to Penken to have a look, Kelly pronounced the day "toast, man", the others went back down after coffee to find something else to do, while I spent the whole day up there sheltering from the sunshine, watching the marmots and buzzards, and even grinding my teeth in frustration as two paragliders set up their wings and flew down into the valley - apparently unscathed.

On the plus side, when we did get the go-ahead to fly, it was simply awesome. Even a simple top-to-bottom - launching at 6000ft, flying out over the woods and cliffs towards the valley floor 4000ft below - took nearly half an hour and was an incredible experience. And I had a couple of flights where I was managing to get at least some lift from small thermals along the way, though the conditions were generally very light.

I have had three foreign trips now since I qualified last autumn. I suppose I thought that getting away from England would guarantee endless days of perfect flying conditions, but the reality is that wherever you go, you are in the hands of fickle weather conditions. This sport requires huge reserves of patience wherever you go. And of course a blown-out day in Austria is costing you a whole lot more money than a blown-out day in England!

For comparison here are the figures:

November 2005
Lanzarote (Green Dragons)
Blown out days: 1 out of 6
Flying time: 4.5 hrs
Highlights: reaching cloudbase; great company

May 2006
Dune de Pyla (Flight Culture)
Blown out days: almost 6 out of 6
Flying time: 15 mins
Highlights: lots of ground handling; amazing food

June 2006
Zillertal (Austrian Arena)
Blown out days: 3.5 out of 6
Flying time: 3 hrs
Highlights: massive heights; losing my red ribbon!

Tag: paragliding

Slim pickings

Recent gaming includes a couple of games of the new Lord of the Rings Confrontation with Les in the pub the other evening, followed by a weird abstract insect thing, erm.....Hive! I remember! Confrontation was good, but....bulky. In spite of the extras, I still prefer the charm of the little box which made it an ideal "take it to the pub in case" game.

I also played through Elasund solo the last couple of days. Looks promising. I like the Settlers thing of always starting your turn with a dice roll. Never mind thinking, just roll the dice! Eases you into your turn gently, I like that.

I read the latest GMT flyer from cover to cover. It had the same effect it always has on me....desperate to buy wargames....desperate to punch out wargames languishing on my shelves....desperate to read about wargames - poring over old C3i's at breakfast....above all, desperate for a wargames opponent....

But not just yet. The sun is shining and I'm off to Austria tomorrow, with my paraglider and only hand luggage for T-shirts and pants. Back in a week....

Tag: paragliding

NimrodCon never fails to surprise. Every year we go to the same place (a self-catering cottage in Hay-on-Wye), with roughly the same people (the gaming group that used to meet in Salisbury), and with the same general idea (books, beer and boardgames). But every year it turns out a little unexpectedly. This time there were three new factors: more women (we must be upping our social skills); amazing weather; and the World Cup. All conspired to keep people away from the game tables and out in the Black Mountains, swimming in the river, or in the pub watching the match. Nevertheless, in spite of all these obstacles, all these ways that people found of having a good time without the use of a board or dice, some gaming was fitted in somehow. Some of the games that were played over the four days:

Command and Colors Ancients: This was a big hit, convincing even John (who knows a lot about the period and who has played a lot of 7th Edition and DBM in his time) in the end. I played three games, coaching three different new players, losing every one, but enjoying each one immensely.

Settlers of the Stone Age: reminded me that even a really good German game can be ruined if someone is determined to play as if it is Diplomacy.

San Juan: This is really good, we enjoyed the first one so much (sitting out on the balcony in the sunshine) that we went round and played it again immediately.

Attika: played this twice on Monday morning, in the final burst of gaming that came when we realized it was nearly time to go. Last time I played it (at Baycon) it was a confusing maze, this time it all clicked into place and I won easily - twice in a row!

Dvonn: a lot of this was played by various people in odd moments on the grass or in the pub. I played once against Gavin and won - but only just! I think this is my favourite of the series.

6 Nimmt!: went down very well as usual.

Wings of War: this happened after I went to bed I think - but all fell to Nick's conquering Red Baron.

Are You A Werewolf?: this was really good last-thing-at-night fun, excellently GM'd by Phil. It was shocking how easy it is to hang the wrong guy.

The cottage at Hay (Celtic Lodge) is up for sale, so unless we can come up with £300,000 between us, it looks like we will be somewhere else next year. We're looking for somewhere cheap, with lots of cafes and book shops and mountains to climb and rivers to swim in and tables to play games on. Any ideas?

Tag: boardgames

More gaming outreach

I spent last weekend relaxing with about 15 (non-gamer) friends in a large pleasant house on the North Downs. Naturally I packed a box with 4 or 5 Euro games just in case, and sure enough on Saturday evening the subject of boardgames came up. I carefully described the various options I had brought along - Settlers of the Stone Age, Through the Desert, Lord of the Rings etc, until someone (Rosie) said "I've got Pictionary with me, anyone fancy that?" That brought immediate approval from around table (the boringly familiar wins over the scarily unfamiliar every time?) so I sighed (internally) and settled down for an evening of shouting and scribbling.

Still, when Pictionary finished at last (after a rules dispute about whether you need an exact die roll to finish!) I had the opportunity to introduce them to 6 Nimmt! which I'm happy to say went down a storm. As I result I have orders for 3 copies of the game (to be purchased from one of these obscure game shops which non-gamers find so difficult to even envisage the existence of, let alone contact or visit) including one for Rosie. So taken as a whole, I think our games evening counts as a success.

Tag: boardgames

Only two weeks now until NimrodCon, the annual gathering of friends at Hay-on-Wye in the beautiful border country out West. Regular visitor (and close relative) Phil has suggested a strict one-game-per-person rule, to avoid the loss of sunlight we usually suffer because of piles of unplayable wargames that get stacked up on all the window-ledges downstairs in the cottage where we stay.

I think the legalistic one-game limit is unrealistic, but in the spirit of his suggestion I think I will attempt to prioritize my game carriage requirements this year.

Games I really really really want to play at Hay this year or I will burst:

Two-player
Command and Colors Ancients
Multi-player
Settlers of the Stone Age

Games I really really want to play at Hay this year or I will get a headache:

Two-player
Twilight Struggle
Multi-player
Struggle of Empires

Games I really want to play at Hay this year or I will feel mildly hard-done-by:

Two-player
BattleLine
War of the Ring
Multi-player
Amun Re
Shadow of the Emperor
1825
Age of Steam

There, only 10 games - I think Phil will be pretty impressed with that.....

Tag: boardgames

Still finding sand in my mouth

So I'm back in rainy England, after a week paragliding in the sunshine at Dune de Pyla on the Bordeaux coast. Disappointingly the weather, though superb from a relaxing on the beach angle, was not great for flying, and I was only in the air for about 15 minutes in total all week. However, I learned a lot, mainly from getting dragged up the dune in strong winds (filtering sand through my teeth like some bottom-feeding fish), and slowly learning (with some great coaching from the Flight Culture instructors) the best ways of controlling this giant kite that I foolishly strap myself into every time I go paragliding.

Next trip is to the Austrian Alps in late June - that should be a different flying experience again. Chairlifts will be a nice change from slogging up a 400 ft sand-dune with a 20kg load on my back.....

Tag: paragliding

Offline living

I'm falling behind with my online life - huge numbers of unread posts in Bloglines, nothing posted on nimrods for a while, even less on Best of Boardgames, a stack of emails not replied to, I'm completely unaware of the latest flamewars on BoardGameGeek. I'm just losing touch.

Thing is, life offline is becoming so interesting these days - the sun is shining, summer is on the way, I've been out on the hill flying, or out in the country on long walks with Sue. I've been actually playing games (instead of just reading about them on BGG). My job is very busy and strangely enjoyable at the moment. I'm teaching Phil to drive, and preparing for a flying holiday in France next week. The way it's going, I just don't know when I will ever catch up with my online life again. Perhaps when winter arrives or the sun stops shining......

Pub Games

I met up with Les again last night for our regular pub game session. Not darts or dominoes, but Battle Line and Blue Moon. I love both these games hugely, although at the moment Battle Line really makes my head spin with the intensity of the decision making. Won the Battle Line, but lost the Blue Moon. The Blue Moon loss was especially humbling, as after losing with the Mimix to Les's Pillar,we swapped decks, and I managed to lose again just as convincingly with the Pillar. Ah well, it's not the decks then......

Les is an amiable and challenging opponent, the real ale was good - what more could I ask for?

Tag: boardgames

Near Miss

I popped into the Aldershot game shop on Saturday for a self-indulgent browse. I do enjoy living so close to this place - when I lived in Salisbury I used to make a very infrequent pilgrimage to Aldershot, 50 miles each way just to see the long shelves loaded with game boxes.

Anyway, as soon as I walked in last Saturday, there was the War of the Ring Expansion, glowing with glorious artwork, pristine in its shrinkwrap. This game is on my BGG wishlist, it should have been an immediate purchase, but .....I just couldn't do it. Another 78 plastic figures to paint? Right now, I just don't have the heart for it.....

Tag: boardgames

The Methuselah of Gameblogging?

It's a big day for nimrods - our 5th birthday! Hard to believe I've been doing this since April 2001. I reckon that makes this the world's oldest gameblog (note, I didn't say the world's oldest gameblogger - at least I hope not). Mikko started about a year after me, and I can't think of any others of similar vintage. But my memory is not what it was (too much blogging), so please correct me if you know otherwise......

Any regular readers out there? What was your favourite nimrods posting? Drop me a comment and let us know.

Easter Monday at Green Dragons

The weather was doing stuff - Andy explained it all. There was wind and it had a direction and speed, and there were clouds doing things, and sunshine and stuff.....anyway.

Highlights of the day:

1) Andy's scary haircut. Looks like he's going back to his roots in the paras.

2) The Green Dragons mud-surfing competition. See who can get dragged furthest and fastest. Bonus points for weight of mud attached to clothes at end of day. Lots of entrants, no clear winner.

3) Steve's party trick - the "look no legstraps" take-off.

4) Ash smashes my previous tree-extraction time, recovering his wing from the bushes in a mere 2 hours.

Tag: paragliding

This is Holy Week

Looking at Stars

The God of curved space, the dry
God, is not going to help us, but the son
whose blood splattered
the hem of his mother's robe.

-- Jane Kenyon

I think it is high time that there was a legal obligation on companies to consider the environment and their communities, not just shareholder returns, when they are making decisions. So I am signing up as a supporter of CoRe. I've spent most of my working life in big corporations. But if this campaign was to succeed I would sleep at night with a clearer conscience.

Timewasting

Dave came over for a weekend of boardgaming. Unfortunately we squandered the Saturday - wasted precious hours wandering in the countryside and the sunshine, followed by a good meal and an evening of camaraderie in the pub. Such a a waste of irreplaceable gaming time!

However by Sunday lunchtime we had at last got organised with our first (and I suspect not our last for many a long year) game of C&C Ancients. As hoary grognards we despised the very concept of a beginners scenario and went straight into Lake Trasimene. What great fun! And what a nicely judged feel of ancient linear tactics from such a modest rulebook! Dave's Romans had a real chance of victory on a final dice roll, but just failed to save the day.

In many ways I have the feeling that C&C Ancients is the game I have been looking for ever since I first painted a DBA army 15 years ago, and decided that my eyesight and patience really wasn't up to much more of this. Great Battles of History was appealing, but after hours grappling with the ruleset and stacking piles of fiddly markers, SPQR got passed on to another home. But this ..... could it be The One?

After lunch Simon turned up - a pleasant surprise which allowed us to play Euphrat & Tigris, reliving the glory days of 2003. Dave played very aggressively, and I put in a truly mediocre performance for a final scoreboard of 13,11,8. Still, even a bad game of Euphrat & Tigris beats a good game of pretty much anything else. Excepting perhaps C&C Ancients.....

Tag: boardgames

Simply gorgeous

As requested, here are some photos of my painted War of the Ring figures. This project has lasted a few months, but to say that I am pleased with the end results would be an understatement.

I went for a very simple approach, aiming to treat the figures as functional playing pieces more than full-blown wargaming miniatures. In summary the technique goes like this:

Carefully remove flash with Stanley knife.

Wash in warm detergent, rinse and dry.

Bent figures get dunked in near boiling water, reshaped, then dunked in water/ice cubes.

Spray with Games Workshop "Chaos Black", 24 hrs drying, then a second coat.

Paint with Miniature Paints (acrylic) base colour. 24 hrs drying, then second coat. Another 24 hrs to dry.

Dry brush, usually but not always with base colour mixed with white.

Paint the base, grey or blue for Free Peoples, black for shadow.

24 hrs drying, then spray with Games Workshop "Purity Seal" varnish.

24 hrs drying, then bundle back into the box tray - don't bag them.

I'm pretty pleased with the results, but my technique did get better as I went on, so that the Elves for example look significantly better than the Rohirrim. Two mistakes I made with early figures:

Too much paint on brush for base colour, obliterating the black underpainting entirely.

Spraying too close/too long with the varnish, giving a glossy finish.

Here are the Companions and Minions. I gave these a more detailed paint job, still using dry-brushing of lighter colour on top. I think they will look great on the board next time I play!

Tag: boardgames

Breathe - less stuff, more life

Breathe is a Christian network for simpler living. A space to think about how we handle money, time and possessions in a Christian way. Non-judgemental, realistic and simple to be part of (no one-commune-fits-all solutions).

(thanks Annie!)