Game like Crazy!

Our gaming group has been going like mad dogs!  We have regularly had 6 to 8 players, all of them with easy going dispositions, which means I have been in gaming nirvana.  The down side is I have been spending all my free time gaming instead of blogging, but heck, gotta get it while you can, right?
Here are some pics from recent games.

My kids Stormtroopers splattering some of my bugs in Chain Reaction by THW.

Don't ask about the Duros explorer, it is a long story.

My German Recon doing some spotting in an early Russian front battle.  We are playing the Axis & Allies minis rules.  Hey don't laugh!  It is actually quite fun and plays with no brain fatigue.

Here's my pesky Luftwaffe BF-110 who was flitting around terrorizing Jil's Russian conscripts all day.

My PzIV stands off to try to dislodge Russian infantry.  You gotta respect infantry in this game.  If you get to close you will pay for sure!  The infantry aspect to this game is one of the things I like most about it.  Even if the infantry cannot hurt you directly, it still manages to dictate movement and battle flow by just being present.  They take and hold ground, and hold it, and hold it, and hold it!

Here's a real classic.  As a German player, this is something you have nightmares about.  This was a hidden unit game and when that T-34 appeared out of nowhere to confront my piddly Panzerjager I and PzIV, I was not feeling the love.  Miraculously the T-34 wasn't shooting well and I found a way to eventually smoke it.  However, you see that hidden unit marker by the house?  It turned out to be another T-34! DOH!  The day got rougher after this and I never managed to neutralize the other T-34.  In the end the game was pretty much a draw.

This pic was from a Spanish Civil War game that we played Wednesday night.  The Republican forces with their Russian armor would probably have had their way with us except for a little help from the Luftwaffe in the form of a JU87.  This turned out to be a drawn game as well.  Both sides pretty much fizzled out to the point where they bogged down.

Web Magazine Article

I did a little article for a new web gaming magazine about Two Hour Wargames.  You guys know I never get tired of talking about THW!

http://www.wix.com/roleplayuniversezine/roleplayuniverse#!miniwargames

My New Blog

I finally decided to post another blog page to deal with our WoW campaigns.  Any of you flyers out there can check it out.
http://wingsofwarcampaigns.blogspot.com/

Cheap Reinforcements

I was milling around town with the kids the other day and ran across an Axis & Allies starter set on sale.  I decided to check it out and see what the possibilities of using the minis for other games might be.  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  I lined them up against some FoW minis I own and the footprint is about the same.  The weakest offering here is the Sherman, which is not as tall as the FoW counterpart, and the sculpt is not as nice as the others.  However, the rest of the vehicles are quite nice and a quick wash will make them ready to roll.  The American infantry is pretty good and I would use them as is, but I think the Germans need a small touch up.
But then, the plot thickens...  I'm the sort of guy who will try anything, at least once.  They were sitting there so I read the rules one evening before bed and then tried a solo game the next evening.  Some of you are going to laugh, but I must say the game is not horrible.  In fact I actually thought it was quite interesting and very simple.  I especially like the way that infantry are handled and the games are very smooth.  My friend Jil came over the other night and we gave it a whirl and had a lot of fun.  In fact, it was good enough that he was cursing the fact that he traded away a complete set he had that he had never played.
I am a big fan of games that are fun and easy to play, so long as there is enough flavor to feel right, and I think this crazy game does do that.  Anyway, food for thought!