Pike and Shotte: English Civil War - our first game

Spencer spent a lot of time and energy... and paint... to get both English Royalists and English Parliamentary on the table. Finally, after some delays, we got that game going.

Warlord's Pike and Shotte, English Civil War. Being newbs to the game we kept it simple, each with 2 battalions.

Spencer - Royalists:
commander
x8 muskets
x8 muskets
x12 pike
commander
x6 cavalry
x6 cavalry
x6 cavalry

Me - Parliamentary:

commander
x8 muskets
x8 muskets
x12 pike
commander
x6 cavalry
x6 cavalry
x6 cavalry

Dress up your lines boys, and make ready to give jib to the Royalists!!

Neither of us had ever played. Spencer made up some quick reference sheets for us to use. With a Battalion of foot and a Battalion of Cavalry each it was more a run-through of the basic rules than a pitched game of battle. Me, being the "learn by doing" guy I left all the scholarly work to Spencer in deciphering of the Pike and Shotte rulebook. I did read it through when I got it months ago so I wasn't going into this game naked.

I like the base command mechanic. Your "commander" (in the above picture the guy in the back rank on the horse) makes an order. You may choose to make it at a battalion level order or a unit level order. For example:

"I order my batallia  to move forward to line up with the fence on the right."

Then you roll 2 D6 and try to get your command rating or lower. The lower the better. This is where it can get a little confusing for a newb as the lower you roll under your command rating the more you get to do, like:

Command Rating - 8 (part of your commander's stats).

Roll 2 D6.

8-7 = 1 action

6-5 = 2 actions

4-3 = 3 actions

You max out at 3 actions.

How does this play out? Let's say that order I gave above came out to my battalion needing 2 actions to complete but I only roll well enough to get 1. See?

Now, you can also give orders on the unit level. You do the above process but activate unit per unit. It might work out great or you could flub it and end up with your pikemen in the rear...

Whoops!

This kind of worked out for me though as it kept my pikes out of musket range which brings me to shooting.

Your turn is in phases. I don't have it memorized but it works out to:

All units move

All units shoot

All units melee

My light artillery and muskets were in range to shoot as wer Spencer's Royalists. We opened up on each other at the edge of our max ranges. Not a lot of damage was done but some "casualty markers" were laid out.

Hey, didn't we have some cavalry? Yep. All mine were behind and inn and barn on my left flank. There were some Royalists in the hedge field beyond and my Parliamentary Cavalry wanted to get some licks in on them.

The Royalist Cavalry was split, 1 unit in the hedged field by the inn and the other 2 on my right flank looming on my light artillery that was protected by a small wood and fence.

What looks like, in the pictures, my superior force bearing down on the small Royalist unit ended up being a wash  of 2 dead units of cavalry (1 Spencer and 1 me). We were able to push the remaining unit to the Royalist rear though.

It was an opportunity to learn about melee and we did exactly that. A few points:

Melee is how you destroy enemy units. Shooting is cool and all but not even close to effective in taking a unit out of the game.

It's even better when you have 2 units attack 1 unit.

There's lots of rules governing melee.

By now it was getting late at night and we wanted to end it. It was my turn and I decided to make it as action packed as I could and closed my foot battalion into his mid field.

This culminated to:

Our pike blocks meeting and merely handing out a few casualty markers, my pikes getting the brunt of that.

A volley of muskets that did not do much at all.

We looked over what we had done and the game played out pretty much like a real engagement would have. Good rules! Neither of us reached "victory conditions" which was the destruction of 2 opposing units. We each destroyed one.

We did take a moment to contemplate how this would have played out if we went a few more rounds. Something to the tune of:
Royalist cavalry charge into my right flank, but I'd hedgehog for increased defense. It also would've brought the backs of Royalist cavalry into the sights of my light artillery piece.

My cavalry was looming in the field on the other side of the hedges. About 3 actions could've brought them into the melee but that is no guarantee in 1 turn.

I had a lot of casualty markers on my units. More than the Royalists had.

I like the game and will pursue it regularly, already looking onto sourcing some Scottish Covenanters. 

In the mean time I'm looking forward to some Saga games and practicing up for the tournament at Enfilade on Memorial Day Weekend. I am working on some WWII Finnish minis for Bolt Action. Ramping up for some Lion Rampant (late Normans and "Agincourt" era English). Then we've got the fire lit for Song Of Blades and Heroes... I've got so many fantasy minis.

Thanks for reading, have a nice spring day!

Tribalism and internet shaming

This one is off the path a bit. Been on my mind lately and a few days ago I was listening to Marc Maron's podcast WTFand he had a mini interview with Jon Ronson of NYTimes and his book So You've Been Shamed on the Internet or some such. It really got me thinking hard about something I've always thought about a bit - internet shaming.

I'm not talking about one aspect of it but I'm now trying to conceive all aspects of it. Sure, you've got someone taking a picture of a fast guy at a buffet and posting it and it goes viral both negatively and positively. I'm against that. I'm also, now, against a person tweeting something stupid and losing their job over it.

(I will not link or use real cases, there are plenty out there if you care to search yourself. About one a week actually... just cruise your FB)

For instance, a well-paid CEO may tweet something that can be construed as racist... and it may be racist... but it is not in line with their own true beliefs. People are losing whole careers over this now. Like, never able to be in that path again loss. I don't think a salty joke, no matter how poorly made, is worth the loss of a whole career... let alone family and life.

I get it, people are assholes and others want to bring down assholes and social media and the internet made that more accessible. Problem is "others" are now also becoming assholes and there is no check on that as tribalism is a very powerful thing and that, in my opinion, is the gas that fuels this. Tribalism.

Also, some people do deserve what they earn - like real known Nazis and murderers and such. I'm not talking about them.

We like to wear "I'm One Of These!!" shirts. We like to identify ourselves and identify others. Fuck like.... we NEED to do this. It's human condition and desire and a powerful thing. People have killed over this concept, killed millions in some cases.

The pattern I see:

• Fancy business owner Tweets something that can be (or just is) a horrible remark. Something like "I hate cats, they should be lit on fire #burncatsalive" - it could have been part of a joke, they could have made a mistake and meant to text that, they could've been quoting someone else, they could've been drunk. They may actually hate cats but was being hyperbolic. Who knows? ... one thing proven though as that they have never lit a cat on fire.
• Internet get's a hold of it.
• Retweeted a jillion times.
• FB links proliferate.
• Everyone posts an opinion about it.
• You have to as if you don't you are now "a cat hater" too... so you better post something about how that person needs to be burned alive themselves so you can have the same t-shirt as everyone else.
• We start getting into power-fantasy land.
• Fancy Business Owner loses business.

I've taken part in this, I'm guilty. I've also seen what happens when you look at different aspects, people place you in the category of "you are them."

THAT is what I don't like and wish to not be a part of anymore. Internet shaming of people does not stop the behavior being rallied against, it proliferates it among others.

Like I always said (and I am sure more popular and smarter people have said it before me):
Violence is effective in stopping an immediate threat but is never effective in solving the universal issue that was the impetus to the threat.

I am absolutely certain that all the times I had to get physical with some one at a bar or club while being a bouncer did not change their mind. Like, they didn't wake up the next morning thinking, "Well, golly - that bouncer was right and I should look into the reasons why I drink too much and yell at people." I was able to end the immediate threat though which was always my goal.

The Truth About Portland III - Portland is small

We look like a big city, other cities in Oregon call us "the big city", people may even come here from all parts thinking we are a "big city".

We never were and are not now. Maybe in the future we can be all "Big City" but we're actually a large town in between 2 big cities... and by that I mean a day away North or South (Seattle and San Francisco).

For Portland to be "big" we need to go Portland-Metro... Tri-County I believe. If you include the counties Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington you'll get a big city and, thusly, Portland-Metro. I like to include Vancouver, WA just across the Columbia River north of us. I'm from there and grew up there and many people who live there work in Portland.

Many of us 'Couvians have had this conversation:
Where are you from?
I'm from Vancouver Washington.
Washington DC?
No, Vancouver, WA.
Vancouver Canada?
No... Vancouv... Portland, Oregon.
Ohhhhhh! Portland. Love that place!

75% of the time when someone tells you they are from Portland they are actually from Vancouver, Beaverton, Gresham, Clackamas, Oregon City, etc. All towns and cities on the border of Portland.

For the record I was born in LA. Moved to Vancouver, WA in 1975 I think. Grew up there until I left for the Navy in 1989. Came back to Vancouver in 1993. Moved across the river to Portland in 1997. I have lived in Portland "proper" since then. If you were to send me a Xmas card via snail mail you'd be writing "Portland, OR 97xxx" on the envelope and it will get to me. I pay the Portland Art Tax every year. That means I am a Portlander.

If you are Portland-centric, you tend to stay in Portland. This means you run into the same people all the time. You learn Portland is small. Of course, you need to also have been kind of an outgoing person, like you go to bars, restaurants, concerts, are a part of some hobby scene, stuff like that. Amazingly, you learn that other people are like you. We do the same stuff. Over the years it's the same people.

Here is an example of this small city phenomena:
You're into horror movies and in your 40s. You go to a horror movie showing of some classics. You end up sitting right next to a guy you met 20 years ago at some obscure clown rock band concert. After catching up you find out you both know the same people. You've both gotten married, had kids, got roots... all that stuff. Bottom line is you both really dig the same things. You even run around in the same circles, you just haven't bumped into them yet.

The only real separation in subcultures in Portland is age. Us "Gen Xers" are old and grumpy now. As much as we loathed "having stuff" in our 20s we now have stuff and want to hang onto it. What that is defined as is another conversation.

Anyways, don't burn your bridges in Portland. There is not enough room for one to escape unless you completely change your circle of peers. Even so, you're going to run into your past sooner or later.

Granted, this just proves that people of a certain "clique" tend to stick with others in that same "clique". Even better reason to not burn bridges. If you decide you want to be an indy movie hipster and enjoy things those people would do than be ready to keep running into an even smaller sub-category of whatever you've identified yourself as.

Maybe that's why there is that trope that us Portlanders will sit there for 10 minutes in an intersection and smile and wave the other person waiting at the intersection through. You might end up sitting next to that same person at a bar, party, or on the bus.*

*Yes, people who own cars also ride the bus here.

Saga Pagan Rus, Bolt Action Finns, Command and Colors

Just realized this morning I have not posted here in a bit. Real easy to not blog when you get busy with stuff and, before you know it, it's been weeks!

Been playing my Pagan Rus in Saga for a few games now. Not sure yet if I even like them or not. When they go off it tends to be a boring and dragged down game. When the game is fast and fun I'm usually dying.

The issue I'm seeing:
You have 2 "capabilities" - winter stuff that just shuts everyone down and you've some offensive abilities that favor Hearthguard as they are "better armor than opponent" dependent.

The thing is they don't mix. You can only use those melee capabilities if opponents are in range of you. If you use any winter abilities, they will not be close to you as you kept them from doing that.

I'm going to keep playing them, hopefully in multiple scenarios, and find their niche.

In the mean-time I've my Vikings and a 12 figure Deathstar of Hearthguards that are pretty effective. Been using bards too so fine-tuning that. Looking at adding some religious advisers this year.

Scots faction on the back-burner as I've 3 fully realized Saga Factions - Pagan Rus, Vikings, Normans - and am in no hurry to add a fourth.

Furthermore, looking at Hail Caesar (by Warlord Games). Going to creep a bit out of skirmish and into bigger stuff... and speaking of that Spencer still has 2 full army lists of English Civil War figures he's painted for some Pike and Shotte.

To add to that Warlord Games trifecta I just played my first Bolt Action game Sunday and have already anted up and ordered some books. I'm looking at playing Finns as it's in my blood and coincides with my real-life interests.

This last weekend was another monthly Historical Wargames Day. Jesse introduced me to "hex and chit" game Command and Colors - Napoleonic version. I had a lot of fun playing that and am now discovering that rabbit hole! haha!

Enfilade is in about 7 weeks. I'm registered and paid for, as is my hotel room. Looking forward to the Saga tournament. I'm also looking forward to the "War of the Worlds" game Sven Lugar is hosting. The scenario is Portland Oregon is a Martian base and is launching an attack on Vancouver Washington. My interest piqued! I hope to get in a new game or 3 and have some stuff I'm selling at the bring and buy*.

*including some good 54mm minis, 10 25mm vikings, and some Pathfinder books.

Was talking to Spencer yesterday and both of us realized neither of us had a pressing paint job to get done on our benches currently. I decided to take a week off from painting! NExt week I'll start up on finishing my Norman mounted lights and, maybe, start some 25mm Finnish for Bolt Action... we'll see. Don't get me wrong though, I can easily create a deadline for myself.

Went and did some shooting at one of the open/public ranges a few weeks ago with Don and Allen. Not to be confused with my friend and shipmate Don Allen. It rained hard on us but it's good to practice in the rain. If you're going to own guns you should be proficient with them. Going out again next weekend for more time on my Glock 19.

Did I mention I also have a garden to tend now? Phew.