Post-Origins Hangover

It always seems like it takes me awhile to get back to the blog after Origins. In the past this has been due to a bit of a "gaming hangover" where I didn't play much for a month or so after the convention. This year has been the opposite: I've been playing so much I really haven't had much time to blog!

Origins Loot

"On to Paris!" and "1866" from Compass Games, "By Shock, Shot and Faith" from Hexasim, and "Talavera" from The Gamers NBS series.

This should keep me busy for awhile...

Turenne's 1645 Campaign - March 1645

I didn't get to it last week, but this week I am playing Won by the Sword, a game simulating operations during the Thirty Years War.

What I'm Working On This Morning

More soon...

Scenes from Lens, 1648

A couple of scenes from the Battle of Lens, fought between the French under Condé and the Spanish under Archduke Leopold on August 20 1648.

The Campaign of 1645

Turenne's army preparing to leave Phillipsburg and begin the campaign of 1645. Won by the Sword. I'm planning to start this in the coming week, assuming I finish my game of Nine Years.

1632

I've just finished Eric Flint's novel 1632, something I'd put off for years. I have a love-hate relationship with alt-history fiction. When it's really good I enjoy it a great deal. When it's bad, it makes me crazy. To avoid being driven crazy by what might be bad alt-history set in one of my favorite historical periods, I've studiously avoided this series for quite a long time.

This is not bad alt-history.

First, from a historical perspective, Flint knows his history. The period is depicted very well. There's decided bias toward certain factions in the Thirty Years War but it's a bias that I happen to agree (rather strongly) with, so it didn't bother me. It is also rather strongly pro-American common man (and woman), an attitude that might not be terribly popular in a lot of circles these days given the recent election.

Under the Lily Banners

Mercy's Bavarians surprise Turenne's French at Mergentheim

I have been interested in the wars of Marshal Turenne and the French armies from the end of the Thirty Years War to the Nine Years War. This is an overlooked period in gaming but an interesting one as it comes during the conclusion of the Pike & Shot Era. There are significant changes in tactics and advancements in weaponry during this period that make the various armies very different. These are the early wars of Louis XIV and were marked by the overwhelming presences of two French generals, Turenne and Condé.

A War With No Enemy

Giving AGEOD's latest on the English Civil War a try tonight. It certainly has an interesting map. This is the classic AGEOD engine so if you know it you can dive right in. If you don't, this might be a good game to start with, since the army size, at least in the first part of the game, tends to be small.

Playing Nine Years

A French army lays siege to Tournai

I'm not ready to do a full-blown walk-through of Nine Years yet because I'm still learning it. What I am prepared to say is that I'm enjoying this game immensely!

Battle of the Boyne

The Danes cross the Boyne

(Continued from here) By noon, the tide has dropped enough to make the crossing at Yellow Island practical. The Danes swarm across the river, led by Fodgarden's battalion and Württemberg. The Clare Dragoons put up a fight though - enough to kill Württemberg! While the Danes have gained a toehold they haven't cleared the shore yet, and the embattled Irish dragoons hold on.

Battle of the Boyne: The First Two Hours

How I've felt the last two weeks

Mid-April, and I managed to catch the flu. So, unfortunately I haven't been well enough to play much of anything until this weekend. Yesterday was a trip up to Chicago, so today is the first I've been able to get back to playing Lilliburlero. I played several turns and realized I'd forgotten a couple of important special scenario rules, and decided to completely reset. So, tonight you just get the first couple of hours of the battle - but they were pretty action packed!

An Outsized Impact: Battle of the Boyne

Lilibulero - The Oldbridge Scenario

The Battle of the Boyne has had an outsized impact on the history of Ireland, considering that it wasn't a particularly bloody or decisive battle.

Rossbach: The Battle

11:30 and Frederick is on the move

I hinted that the Prussians had made a subtle, but serious error in my previous post. In this entry we'll see what they did, and how that combined with another unfortunate happening led to a surprising outcome at the Battle of Rossbach.

The League of Augsburg

The map for Nine Years, a strategic/operation simulation of the war

After I wrap up Rossbach, I'm going to take a break from the Seven Years War and return to an ealier time. Namely, the Nine Years War, fought from 1688 to 1697.