Pilning Perambulations

The coronavirus lockdown is having a number of interesting effects.

On the one hand I continue to work thanks to the power of the internet and the ability to plug into the work systems and into my team in order to keep things going forward (and I will be forever grateful for being able to continue with work when so many others are losing their livelihoods as everything is being thrown up in the air).  I am spending more time than ever talking to people on Skype to make sure we are keeping in touch as team and making plans to keep the project on track as much as possible in the current circumstances. In fact activity levels seem to be higher than ever, although I do wonder how much actual progress is being made, but I'm sure things will settle down in time.

On the other hand I find I am starting to appreciate the little things around me more than ever before. The fact that I can't go out other than for essential shopping and exercise means that those occasions during the day suddenly assume much greater importance.  And I now find myself regularly walking around the local roads to and from the local shop during which I am noticing little things that I haven't paid too much attention to in the past.

Map courtesy of Google

It's not the most picturesque place in the world but the views across the fields along Bank Road make a welcome change from staring at the computer screen.

What is noticeable about the area is the flatness of the landscape, sitting as it is on the Severn flood plain, which means there are numerous drainage channels running along the roadside and around the fields. 

Coming as I do from the Fens, I am familiar with the civil engineering that is needed to keep the water under control and the scale of the works around Pilning appears to be much smaller than in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk but it still makes me wonder how it all works and how it is maintained.

The main railway line between London and South Wales runs down to the Severn Tunnel but you can still follow the line of the railway that was closed in 1964 that ran from Pilning Low Level Station (next to the still just about open Pilning High Level Station) to connect with the line down to Avonmouth through Severn Beach.  And I think it's the crumbling remains of Cross Hands Halt that are still visible from the roadside.

While I was walking down down to the shop last Thursday it was very apparent that the local birdlife was enjoying the peace and quiet of the distinct lack of traffic on all the roads.  There were a couple of chiffchaffs calling out to make their territories, while blue tits, great tits and long-tailed tits were all in abundance, together with magpies, jackdaws, pigeons and a couple of mute swans on the fields.  I was also taken by the variety of wild flowers growing in the verges. I am no expert on flowers so I was particularly intrigued by the blue flowers found growing in a clump on the road bridge over the old railway.  An internet search coupled with a look through my collection of wildlife spotting books suggested it was green alkanet, although it might some other member of the barrage family.  All this was a welcome sign that Spring was pretty much here.

Memoir 44 - Pointe-du-Hoc

I played my third game of Memoir 44 for the Six-by-Six Challenge, this one being a simulation of the assault by the US Rangers on the cliff top positions at Pointe-du-Hoc.  The deployment map below shows the cliffs overlooking the beach up which the elite Rangers would attack the various German emplacements and positions.

In this one either side had to gain 4 medals for victory, for which the Allies had the additional opportunities of capturing the wood hexes at the top of the board. 

I played this one solo (both my possible opponents were at work while ironically I was on holiday - you can tell they are getting older and now both have university studies to fund) and therefore for once I could not lose.  As with the previous games this did seem to be all about playing against the cards.  The Allies had a whole series of right flank cards when everything they had was on the left or in the centre.  Eventually this told when for a turn or two the Allies could do little but exchange cards while the Germans were able to rush up to them and shoot them to pieces, although even here the German battle dice were remarkably poor.  In the end it was a clear German victory although it had hung in the balance for a few turns.

I remain to be convinced by Memoir 44.  It may be quick and have a sumptuous looking board but there seems to be little opportunity to come up with a strategy for each scenario that cannot fall foul of the capriciousness of the cards.  I get the fact that the gamer should not have "god-like powers" of control but there really ought to be a bit more reward for more carefully thought out play.  I think I will play out my 6 games and then think seriously about returning Memoir 44 to eBay.

Memoir 44 - Sword Beach

I played my second game of Memoir 44 for the Six by Six Challenge.  This time it was the Sword Beach scenario, which saw the British trying to storm up and off the beach in the face of stiff German defences of "hedgehogs", barbed wire and concrete bunkers.  The starting positons are shown below:

Sword Beach  - starting positions taken from the rulebook

Once again I faced my oldest across the battlefield, taking charge of the plucky (or Imperialist?) British forces complete with elite commandos in an effort to displace my determined (or tyrannical?) German forces.

It was, like the last game, pretty quick, pretty bloody and pretty balanced.  If the British had not taken down my fifth unit, thereby earning the required 5 medals, I would have taken down theirs.  It was very much a game of the flanks, with the vagaries of the command cards meaning that much of the effort took place away from the centre - which was a bit of shame as I had a very powerful artillery unit ensconced in the central bunker that only got the chance to shoot twice!

I'm still not sure what to make of Memoir 44. It plays quickly and is finely balanced and the map boards look great but there does not seem to be much in the way of tactical or strategic thought due to the chance cards.  Armour seems particularly brittle although I suspect engaging infantry at point blank range is not the best tactic.  I will give it to the end of 6 plays and then I will see whether it stays or not.

Plastic Modelling & Wargaming Show

I went to the Plastic Modelling and Wargaming Show organised by the IPMS Avon Group with the Lincombe Barn Wargames Society (of Alien Squad Leader fame) at the Thornbury Leisure Centre on Sunday. It has been run for a few years now but this was the first time I had had the chance to visit.

It was huge, with two of the sports halls and the indoor bowls green all packed with a combination IPMS display stands put on by the many modelling clubs in the region (and from further afield) as well as around a dozen wargames put on by various groups.  There was a large number of traders mainly of modelling supplies but with a leavening of wargames traders, in particular Great Escape Games (who nearly persuaded me to by the latest version of Death on a Dark Continent), the Dice Bag Lady  (aka Bad Squidoo Games) and Helion the military publishers (from whom I bought their Spanish Armada paper ships book).

Overall I think I was a little non-plussed by the event.  Secondhand plastic kits are clearly a big thing, judging by the vast numbers of over-stuffed and rather tatty cardboard boxes that adorned many of the stalls.  The models on show were of an excellent quality (and fully justified the many signs advising "do not touch"!) but there didn't seem much opportunity for interactivity - there didn't seem to be many demonstrations, for example, and the competition displays seemed tucked away and unadvertised.  The wargames provided some much needed movement to the proceedings (plastic models are rather static) but even here the gamers seemed rather absorbed by the games, which is fine if they had been able to provide some sort of printed explanation as to what was going on.

I am probably judging the event a little unfairly.  I got to it rather late in the day when the energy was starting to drain away and I am also comparing it with the Bristol Model Railway Exhibition that takes place at the same venue which benefits from having more action on the rail exhibits and probably more money to invest in the hobby  both through the paying public and the supporting traders.  It has also been run for nearly 50 years.  I will probably go again some time in the future but I am more likely to go to the Lincombe Barn wargames show Reveille II at the end of November.  

Bring on the Adventurers

For a second go at AD&D 1e I got my players to roll up their characters.  As I had posted previously  I had rolled a character of my own to test the system and remind me of the mechanics.  However, I had forgotten how spread out character generation was between the two main books and all the other extraneous facts the players would need to know (eg weapons stats, character class and race limitations) which I found I had not committed to memory.  Referring to the OSRIC rule book helped sort out some of my confusion, not least the simplification of some of the over-complicated weapons rules in the original.

However, with a bit perseverance we ended up with a half-orc fighter, an elven magic user and a human druid who had purchased a pair of guard dogs as back up,  Where the characters are going to go, they will probably need that and more!

Memoir 44 - Ste Mere-Eglise

You can tell I am on holiday as I am playing games! I managed to play the Ste Mere-Eglise scenario from Memoir 44 against my oldest.  Without giving a blow-by-blow account of the game itself, suffice to say it was a close run thing with both sides having a chance of victory but in the end my Germans were defeated by the US paratroopers.

I quite enjoyed the game it played pretty quickly and the use of the Command cards certainly gave pause for thought in both sides.  I can't say it is a military simulation but it is a diverting strategy game with a military theme. 

This was also my first game of Memoir 44 for the 6 by 6 Challenge.

Back to the Dungeon

So I have been away for rather longer than I had expected.  A combination of my mother-in-law's extended stay in hospital, an upsurge at work and, frankly, losing the habit of game-playing has meant I am a long way behind the curve.

However, every cloud has a silver lining.  My oldest returned from university enthused by role playing games in general and D&D 5e in particular. This has been something of a surprise as she had studiously ignored them - the virtues of education I suppose.  This has rekindled my own interest in dungeon-delving that has lain dormant for more years than I can count (any more!) and has led to a lot of trips down memory lane in the name of research and some modest investment in historical tomes. 5e was no good for me, I need to go all the way back to AD&D 1e.

I had originally planned to use one of the retro-clones as it appeared to be a free and easy way to re-visit my youth - my AD&D books had long since been consigned to the charity shops.  OSRIC looks to be an excellent re-birth of AD&D 1e and very much a labour of love.  However, in the end I decided I "needed" the originals and so a quick foray onto eBay resulted in a quick and reasonably priced purchase of the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide - a pleasant surprise as some of the prices appeared ridiculously high especially as you can purchase PDF or even hard copies of the originals at Dungeon Masters Guild.  I picked up a PDF version of the Monster Manual in this way as well as one of the "classic" adventure modules, the "Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh".  Delving into the two books reminded me of the excitement of the early days, coupled with the inevitable confusion resulting from the rather disorganised approach of the originals.  Also, thanks to a Google search I was able to pick up some of the classic White Dwarf adventures from the 80s which will provide a simple introduction to my players aka as my children (two of whom are decidedly adult).

In preparation for the game I felt I had to create one of my own characters to remind myself of the rules.  To this I decided I would add some characterisation using one of the role playing aids I have downloaded from the excellent RPGNow.  BOLD or the Book of Legends and Deeds from Conjecture Games provided a really helpful framework for setting out a believable history for my trial character, a cleric who had temporarily joined an heretical sect who later found it to be a cover for an evil power and had returned to the faith, albeit still an outcast.  It was not a background I would  necessarily have made up, at least not so quickly, and it might provide further hooks in the future.

I also took a look at the adventure I intend to run, "The Lichway" from way back when White Dwarf was a gaming magazine.  It was very much a product of its time and I am sure I would not have batted an eye-lid at its idiosyncrasies of monster placement and background.  Now I felt I had to add a little characterisation to some of the NPC to make it a little more interesting.  It was also an excuse to use UNE, Conjecture Games Universal NPC Emulator.  This again proved to be a pretty quick and easy way to add some depth to the NPC, which hopefully the players will leave alive long enough to interact with.

So that brings me to the end of this report.  I think I will make AD&D one of my Six-by-Six Challenge games and I will update my choices accordingly.  And because of the gaming effort expended so far, I think this will count as my first session.