Saturday 6 June 2015

Ouch!...and Lion Rampant

I haven't done a great deal of painting lately but had been building up the enthusiasm to pick up on a few dormant projects...especially the Wars of the Roses/Lion Rampant one.  I had a brilliant first game of LR at Eric's Shed on Monday which was a really enjoyable and very close Crusader game.  There is an excellent write up at the Shed Wars blog here. and on my other opponent Legatus' blog here.

I got the rules at Xmas but apart from a quick read through then, haven't really studied them but I found the mechanics really easy to grasp and they make for a quick, fun game which has lots of potential for other periods as well.  Units come in predetermined sizes and roll either 12 dice to hit, or 6 once they reach half strength.  Units also have an armour value which determines how received hits affect them.  As the casualties mount units can become 'battered' and less effective before finally running away.

Each unit needs to roll a determined score to move, attack or shoot...normally a unit failing a roll would mean that play passes to the other side but a house rule at the Shed meant that the active side retained the turn and only that unit couldn't activate.  This seemed to speed things up and make it less 'bitty'.


Eric's write up will give you a feel for the scenario and photos of the fantastic terrain and figures...the game swung either way and really did come down to the wire at the end...great fun!

The 'Ouch' in the title refers the reason I won't be painting for a while.  One of my dogs got in a bundle with another dog a couple of days ago and I made the mistake of instinctively trying to grab his collar... unfortunately the 2 dogs moved their heads and I discovered they both had 'nasty big pointy teeth' just like the Rabbit of Caerbannog!  The end result was 2 nights in hospital as I had a chipped bone and damaged tendon in my thumb and a trip to the vets for my dog...the other dog was unhurt.  To be honest lying in a hospital bed with someone opposite me with their leg in a cage and someone in the bed next to me who had nearly sliced his hand off with a circular saw, I did feel a bit of a wuss!  Even the producers of '24 Hours in A&E' who were filming in the hospital weren't interested in talking to me...


 
I'm going to have the thumb in a splint for 4-6 weeks so definitely no painting for a while.

12 comments:

  1. Oh my, glad to hear the dog fight was ended without anything major - i.e. legal troubles. I'm sure you'll be healed soon and back to brushwork in no time. Lion Rampant is a nice set of skirmish rules, and glad to hear your approval.

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  2. Damn. Sorry to hear that old chap. I hope you get well soon.

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  3. Nasty, My dog bit my nose. I kid you not. He was a Jack Russel so ended up dangling for a split second while I attempted to get I'm detached. I got very little sympathy either. The nurse just laughed and gave me a tetanus injection.

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  4. Very Nasty - On the bright side think about how much reading you can catch up on?
    Cheers
    Stu

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  5. Blimey...sounds nasty! Hope it heals quickly!

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  6. Dog Rampant surely, Alastair? Get well soon!

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  7. 2 nights in hospital! Bad! Which side of the Wars of the Roses will your force be as I am minded to paint the other side?

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    1. Still undecided although the Percy's are tempting me...to be honest given how treacherous the period was I'm not sure it matters!

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  8. Words like Have a go hero spring to mind. :)
    Hope it heals quickly.

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    1. Words like "daft numpty" spring to my mind! I should have known better than to go near the toothy end of 2 upset hounds :)

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  9. Thanks for all the sympathy folks...I'm trying to milk it at home for all it's worth!!

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  10. Ouch get well soon. Speedy recovery hopefully for both yourself and the faithful sidekick.

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