THE YEAR THAT WAS: 2023 IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR

The Game Room on Dec 30, 2023; a shell, but a sound one...  

...compared to the splendid set up of in March of this year.

As is the tradition, here is a post summarizing the blogging/hobby year past. I think the two images of my game room say it all: this has been a disruptive period at Meanderer Central, to say the least, and the intermittent blogging activity is reflective of its impact on blogging.  For those who wish to really dive into the story, you can visit my very proud post of March announcing the completion of the clear out and reorganization of my hobby space. Which then I had to tear down and clear out in order to replace the skylights (which had begun leaking), Many twists and turns ensued; to make a long story short, we finally achieved closure on the project in early December of this year, and the room is now as you see it in picture #1. Mixed in with this tribulation was a rushed preparation to move house that wound up getting nixed at the last moment. These events have caused us to be in a sort of limbo, and having gone through the considerable task of clearing out and storing my entire hobby collection, I'm reluctant to unpack it and re-occupy the game room until we achieve closure on our own plans.  In the meantime, I am using the room as a project space, and do intend to run games again by making trips up to the attic to pull figures and terrain as needed. 

The disruption on the home front and the loss of my gaming space have caused much distraction, to say the least, giving the general impression of 2023 as a "lost" year, hobby wise.  However,  upon reflection, I think it was not all that bad. I  completed a major hobby project, my Joust For the Fun of It system, which I had been working on for five years. This included not only the rules and adding a content page to this blog, but putting together the knights and all the associated scenery.  I also completed another project, my Lion Rampant II references, adding a second new resource page to my blog. Although not everyone's cup of tea, I do enjoy this end of the hobby spectrum very much, but do have to remind myself to recognize these activities as valid as figures-painted and games-played  (for me, anyway). 

Looking back on the year also brought me to recognize another step forward in 2023, a return to the convention circuit and debuting my jousting game at the Mayhem convention, as well as hosting it on several occasions for our gaming club.

Looking ahead to the new year, I have started using the space again: on the table is the latest project; I'm working on a new Konnigratz Kriegspiel map in preparation for the Bloody Big Battles game I'll be running at the Mayhem 2024 convention in April.  I'll have more on this project in a future post. 

I have put my comfy chair back in  place, and am putting it to good use. Here you see the notes and scribblings for my Chocolate Box Wars (CBW) rules, which have been sidetracked for too long. I've had something of an "aha" moment in November and have been making good progress on them since. I am determined to get them done and up on this blog within this blog year.  My actual intent is to get them up by March, but for the record (and given the way that life can intervene), I think I'll just say by this time next year....

...and here is a bit of tangible evidence of work in progress beyond my scribblings and notes: several sets of print and play CBW armies.  Necessity being the mother of invention, I wanted a quick and space efficient way to playtest my system without having to unbox and pull down my miniatures. Not being happy with just symbols or colored markers, I worked up these from various and sundry sources (more details on this project will be the subject of another post). 

So, there you have it. A in brief review of 2023 and the promise of things to come in 2024.  In other words, thanks for the regulars who have continued to visit and drop a line here during this last rather down year (blogging wise); your support is very much appreciated...

...and a Happy New Year to all visitors, regular and occasional, to this space...

Excelsior!

LION RAMPANT II RESOURCES CORRECTION POSTED

 

Appropriate for December 26th here in the US, where the day after Christmas ("Boxing Day" in the Commonwealth) is associated with making way to the retailer and returning gifts for refunds and/or new ones for broken, I am posting a new set of Lion Rampant II Resources to replace the broken ones I "gifted" to the world on  19 December (mea culpa!). These new refs have also been posted on the Lion Rampant II Resource Page.   Version 4 is the current (correct) update of both the Player Reference and Unit Matrix. You'll find the version numbers in the headers-- and I changed the header colors as well for quick reference: the corrected Version 4 has gold headers, and the earlier Version 3 has dark blue. So just remember to "go for gold" in order to know which to use. As far as the difference, it is minor but significant: The Counter Charge activation number was wrong in Version 3. It should be 7+ (this is fixed in version 4 and is the only substantial change). Below are thumbnails of the corrected versions with links to downloads.  Of course, if you already have version 3, a simple pen and ink change to the countercharge numbers would also serve. 

Player Reference V4 (Click for Pdf)

Unit Matrix V4 (Click for Pdf)

Thanks to Steve Burt for catching the error and bringing it to my attention in the Dux Rampant Forum!

Excelsior!

SEASONS GREETINGS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

With all my hobby toys and whatnots still packed up and in the attic--and my hobby space still vacant--I haven't the wherewithal to produce the usual holiday update on the goings-on in Kringleland. 

Instead, I offer the Christmas Tree Hussars on parade in support of the traditional sharing of...

✨SEASONS GREETINGS✨

and 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO REGULAR AND ACCIDENTAL VISITORS TO THIS BLOG

Please enjoy a 3.5 minute interlude with the Dresden Choir singing Silent Night (Stille Nacht) in the original German. No translation necessary to enjoy the experience. 

 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

LION RAMPANT RESOURCES PAGE ADDED

Greetings, all.  I recently played in another excellent Lion Rampant II  (LR) game in our group (game report will probably be coming after Christmas).  This is not the first foray into these rules; our group has played LR I before and has now embraced LR II (along with other games in the Dan Mersey Osprey Rules family). This last foray inspired me to produce a set of resources similar to those I had done to support playing Pikeman's Lament (see my Pikeman's Lament Resource Page for more if interested).  And I've added a new Lion Rampant resource page to this blog where they are posted: see tab at top or follow the link: Lion Rampant Resources Page.  The resource page is mostly redundant with this post because as time goes on that will be the landing page as opposed to this post (which, like others, will disappear down the que). Meanwhile, most everything you can find there you can find on this introductory post. 

And, given that Aly and company have embarked on a Lion Rampant II Campaign at this festive time of year... I thought I'd offer this as my Christmas present to he and his fellows--and to any and all who come to this blog with an interest in Lion Rampant II: (perhaps not as useful, or welcome, as a nice pair of socks, but if printed off and stuffed in the shoes, could serve as such).

Player Reference (click for pdf)

Front

Back

The player reference is a one-page, two sided resource that should provide most of what is needed to play (at least that's what we have found). On the front, the information is broken down into color-coded sections: admin/game system (black); movement (green); combat (red); and courage/morale (purple).  Each section contains page references to the rules (should you want to look things up). On the reverse is a listing of the special abilities (again with page references).  These are not all inclusive, but are a selection of specials that are most common, that may apply to more than one unit type, and/or are not reflected in an adjustment to the values and scores on the unit profile  (things like Veteran, for instance, which has different adjustments for different units: those are instead reflected on the stat line on the unit matrix). 

Unit Matrix (click for pdf)

Front

Back

The unit matrix is intended to be used in conjunction with the player reference. As the name suggests, it provides unit-specific information needed to play. As with the player reference, it also has the special abilities listed on the back, along with page references. Given that upgrades can be "stacked," the unit matrix does not list all possible variations for the unit, but a representative range of likely unit configurations, with each line showing one upgrade. 

Click to Enlarge

The information is broken down by the major unit on the first line (all in caps and highlighted in gray), with its variants listed below (upper and lower case, no highlight). The above shows the first unit on the matrix (Elite Cav) with its variants below: Motivated, Drilled and Mounted Bow. The stat-line for each reflects the characteristics of that variant. Reading left to right, you can see the point value, the number of figures, the type (H=Horse/Mounted; F=Foot/Infantry), the unit, page where you can find the unit profile, and the rest is self explanatory. The activation number for specials (when applicable) is in brackets. Finally, in parenthesis you see abbreviations for the Fearsome and Bloodthirsty upgrades for this unit and its variants (which are other options available).  In practice, I use the unit matrix as a central reference when designing scenarios and orders of battle.

I have found when running games of PL that there are players who basically play off of the unit matrix (as opposed to unit cards), using the player reference on an "as needed" basis for other information.  As a game host, I find the opposite: I use the player reference continuously and refer to the unit matrix to facilitate unit-specific cases. Of course, your mileage may vary!

Well, that's all for now.  In the near future (as mentioned), I'll have a battle report of our recent trip into Lion Rampant II--pitting Mongol raiders against a defending force of Hungarians and Teutons.  

Excelsior!