New member(s)

[toby]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a club where I can get some regular games in and your Monday night fixture seems just the ticket.
I mostly have 40k/Sigmar (although you may be pleased to hear I stick to square bases in case the opportunity arises to play older editions/other fantasy games), and both myself and my girlfriend play board games- we have a few such as XCom, Tiny Epic Galaxies and a couple of the recent GW ones.
I was thinking about getting into historical gaming at some point but am wondering where to start- any systems/eras particularly popular at this club?
Hopefully we'll be down this Monday night to say hi.

[Katie]

Hello.

We like board games as well. Show up, see what's on! Your list looks like a good match for stuff we've done.


We quite like "Dragon/Lion Rampant" as wargames rules. Dragon is the fantasy version, Lion the historical but they're basically the same game with some different armylists and no magic in one of them and it's simple enough that we can get a bunch of people who all know the rules & can assemble forces to do bigger games. Perry do a lot of cheapish plastic figures which work nicely as an entry for that system.

Some of the group like 6mm brigade scale Napoleonics/Franco-Prussian. We've (in the past) also done 28mm WW2 with Lardies rules, 15mm WW1 with Peter Pig rules, ACW infantry in 28mm with Games Workshop rules and ACW ships in (I think) 1/600 so you can try stuff out.

[Timf]

Welcome aboard then.
We have buckets of boardgames between the players so new stuff or things you know should be a problem. I'm afraid I wont be there Monday myself but the week after I will be.
Many of us have some form of Warhammer - we dabbled with AoS when it was released but I want impressed with the system though it was early days. I still prefer 3rd Ed Oldhammer Im afraid. While I have my Skaven army it sees much more use under a set of rules called Dragon Rampant - if you wanted to try them your Sigmar stuff will work and we have several players.
We have a few 40k players and a game breaks out every year at some stage but usually an older edition.

As to historical. We have a number of options. Several Flames of War gamers exist with WWII armies although we play under 3rd edition rules. Those figures also work for a couple of other systems that get a game out occasionally. For more modern stuff a few are dabbling in Team Yankee.
There are Ancient gamers usually operating one of three or four system that use what is termed DBx basing.
There are some Napoleonic games and similar era games that get played but the people who run them tend to bring everything. A good introduction to historical without any investment there!
The same for my American Civil War ironclads miniatures games - I bring the complete set of boats so players can just hop in....equally I have Fantasy Naval (Spartan Games' Uncharted Seas).
There are other miniatures games that get dragged out occasionally - we haven't had any GW Epic played for a while but 3 of us at least have armies and we tend to play Epic Armageddon for that.

[joeldillon]

Hello, I too am a new member; just moved to Cambridge last month. I'm interested in historical gaming and also roleplaying, though I could possibly be persuaded to Epic (haven't played that in about 15 years, though). If Lion Rampant is still a thing that sounds like it could be fun to get into; I gather there's a 17th century variant too?

[Katie]

Yes, indeed -- "The Pikeman's Lament".

I'm currently painting up a bunch of forces for ECW -- some Scots, I already have some Parliament and Royalists.

[Timf]

There is a fantasy version as well if you have figures of that type ready to go then it is a way to learn the basic mechanics of the game...a basic WArhammer army can be specced out for Dragon Rampant in about five minutes.

[joeldillon]

I don't have any historical/fantasy figures these days other than for D&D, I haven't wargamed in some years. I could put together a few New Model chaps, though. 28mm?
So, if I randomly turn up some time in the near future what should I expect?

[Timf]

Miniatures games generally need some planning, just to get players to all be there at the same time. Thats fairly easy either here or at the club as boardgames are easier for random assortment gaming and pickups.
Also for some games one person has all the figures...I often run a fantasy naval set called Uncharted Seas, but I have all the fleets, same with the American Civial War game I have called Hammerin Iron. Preorganising there means I am not hauling large amounts for no game.
With so many systems where people have armies it would be impossible to bring the right one except in those times where one game has been dominant...eg our Flames fo War period.
If you randomly turn up then if you got lucky you could find a historical game on, Id say about one week in three that would work, otherwise ti would be play a boardgame and meet players and organise something fr yuor next session. On a bad night you might find one boardgame while a bunch of us were off roleplaying in another room.

[joeldillon]

Roleplaying would also be good if there are any games needing a new player...

[Timf]

I will talk to the players and see what they think, you probably want to meet them first. I run the one game that's going at the moment which is Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (2nd Edition) and you will need to understand my sense of humour....there are some write ups in the RPG forum threads that might let you get a sense.
We aren't huge actors, though occasionally that needs doing for tension, they make terrible mistakes when they have to talk to NPCs and the main aim for success isn't so much experience but how many times the table flattens in hysterics per night....
I know as many players that puts off as it attracts....