What's Happening

Well, our Infantry Aces Cassino campaign is winding down. Although I have not gotten a turn three game in yet (work has taken over), I have gotten some gaming in of late, just not Flames of War. The campaign went as I expected it would. The campaign was played over too long a period of time (each turn lasted a month), meaning it was hard to sustain the enthusiasm. One turn should have lasted a week; two weeks each at the most. People cannot take playing (effectively) the same list for three solid months. Oh well.

As I indicated, I have been gaming however. Of late I have been playing a lot of Battlelore (BL) by Days of Wonder/Fantasy Flight Games, mostly over the internet using VASSAL, but some of it solo. This has gotten me to go and pick up the remaining expansions (Creatures, Horrific Hordes, Bearded Brave, and Code of Chivalry) that did not buy before, as I wasn't playing it anymore. All of this came about because I introduced a good friend to Command and Colors: Napoleonics (CCN) and we started playing it at night over VASSAL. He started as the British and lost every time. We never did get through all of the scenarios. We then flipped sides and he started winning almost all of the scenarios. Although he liked winning, I think it sparked a realization in both of us that CCN was broken (see previous post). So, one night I rattled off all of the variants of this system to him, describing how they differed, and when I came on BL, he said "let's try that", as he is an avid fantasy fan.

After the first session, he was hooked. He pointed out succinctly why BL is "better" than CCN: the missile units really have range. Granted, BL plays at a smaller scale than CCN, but even so, muskets feel like pilum or throwing axes in CCN (e.g. a pre-melee, one-shot weapon), rather than a weapon that you firefight with. Archers and crossbowmen in BL definitely feel like missile units.

So, I bought all the remaining expansions (although I am still holding off on buying all of the Battlelore: Battle of Westeros expansions) and am playing that, looking at ways to turn in into an army-level fantasy campaign. Maybe setup several Imagi-Nations like those old school Seven Years Wars enthusiasts do. This may even get me to figure out how to do more in VASSAL.