Well just a few bits and pieces from “my world of wargaming”.

The family did a lot of last-minute shopping for me this Christmas and since “dad” likes weird stuff (wargaming stuff) many of my gifts didn’t arrive until long after Christmas. Not a bad thing since all through January the mail was full of great items to brighten the work week!

The first items were the “new” SAGA rules, meaning SAGA II, the basic rules, along with the Vikings and Crusaders supplements, and finally the Book of Battles. There are lots of game systems out there that redo their rules, some that do it with annoying frequency (and not always to make them better as much as make them money!) but Studio Tomahawk has done a good job with the “revamped” rule sets, tons of great reading and I believe an even better game justifying the expense in upgrading.

The rules do not really change in spirit or basic structure, its more a re-balancing, clarifying, and expansion of the first set. I have played 2-3 games using them and the transition was very easy and felt smooth.

I liked that the designers have continued to look at their product, the feedback provided by players directly, and through the active Studio Tomahawk forum then made the right changes to improve and expand the game without making original players of the game feel like their previous experience and armies were now useless (a common occurrence with several other well-known companies).

I’ve also been chipping away at my wargamers “to do” list and a big one on the list was to build some improved lighting for our game table down at the “Dogs of War” gaming group. Over the last year or so the “dogs” have been working to make the “Dog Pound” a better place to play, cleaning, building storage, tossing or selling unused / old gear, and one project was better lighting so we might better see all those beautiful miniatures on the table. This project took over a year of “thinking and research” to figure out just how and what would be the best way to do this. I / we wanted lighting that was easy to use and lite the table / miniatures without making the rest of the room look like an outdoor sports arena. I wanted the solution to look good, fit in with the club space, and not impact the members house much. Cost to build and cost of operation was also a factor. I wanted the unit to light our entire 10’ x 5’ table as evenly as possible so in the end I went with a 8’ long LED setup that would be dimmable as well! The unit hangs over the middle of the table and the design contains the majority of the light to the table exactly like pool table lights.

“Thar she blows” Lighting installed down at the “Dogs” above our 5′ x 10′ table!

I wont go into the building of the lighting fixture now, maybe latter in a “how to post or “Workbench page” but here are a few pictures to let you get the idea.

A dramatic improvement in my opinion. There is still a lot of work to be done on our remodel (chain will be swagged up out of the way)

Switch allows quick on and off as well as dimming.

To break in the new lighting Chris and I played a game of SAGA II using the Viking supplement. Chris took Vikings and added a Banner man while I played straight up Normans heavy on cavalry. I didn’t take many pictures but the game was fairly even for the first few turns until his Hearthguard charged up the hill to take out one of my Hearthguard cavalry units only to be counter charged by another of my cavalry units and wiped out.

Chris’s Viking hearth-guard charge up the hill eliminating one of my hearth-guard units only to be charged and wiped out by another of my Norman hearth-guard units the next turn! With our old lighting set up the excellent paint jobs on these guys could hardy be seen! This shot was done with no flash and no tripod!

The battle for the top of the hill raged on with Chris’s Warlord entering the fray hoping to end it. My Norman cavalry used the “Gallup” Activation/Reaction” option and moved off leaving his Warlord standing there surrounded by angry Norman infantry. A finial charge by my Norman warriors sealed his fate and outside of a few parting bow shots by both sides ended the game with a Norman victory.

One of my other gifts was the Studio Tomahawk rules “CONGO” they look great and I’ve already played one “test” game that was quite a bit of fun. I’ve always had a great fondness for the Darkest Africa figures from Foundry, Coppelstone, NorthStar, and others! I think CONGO will be the spark to get me painting sore of the pile of Darkest Africa figure on the shelf! I have played lots of Darkest Africa games in the past but some of the rules are a bit dated and no-longer available. These follow some of the same concepts from Studio Tomahawks other rules so may be a bit easier and acceptable to players familiar with those rules.

The first game under the new light, Darkest Africa isn’t so dark!

We used a pre-made scenario, basically capture the flag. Of course to make it interesting the flags were in the middle of a crocodile infested river flanked by enemy figures trying to put hole in you!

More on CONGO in the future…..

The finished light being test in my shop with a game of CONGO.