Saturday, June 6, 2015

The appeal of a good set of rules ...

I supervise a small group of 'gamers at the College at which I work. We meet each Saturday morning, and they play games. Generally they come along with Warhammer 40K, or five or six figures for the game at an rate, bewitched by the 40K world and/or the fantastic miniatures (as am I). However they rarely get to build complete armies these days, their interest has waned well before their budget has expanded to match it. This wasn't the case even five years ago. In saying this I am careful to NEVER be disparaging of any game system. I am happy to say what I like and don't like and why, but I won't 'bag' a set of rules for that reason.

This year I have several boys who aren't required to attend, but who choose to do so, and they have a different set of tastes. Two weeks ago I was describing Crossfire to them as a game, and they expressed a keen interest in the game. This week I brought along my 20mm figures and they played a small introductory game (no frills or added extras, just one single unsupported company against another to allow them to try out the mechanisms).

It seems that the rules have made a hit with them. They loved the mechanisms and the look/feel of the game. They are also greatly taken with the capacity to build a small force for less than $20NZ. 


Contemplating how the game might play, and thinking about deployment

My beloved paras .. as we all know, every para has a convenient brick wall behind which to hide, even in a forest.

Hmmm ... this is getting interesting

And if we moved here we could ...
Such was the impact of the game that they all want to play it again next week so we will play a game with a couple of companies per side, some support (mortars and infantry guns) and maybe even a couple of tanks.

I love Crossfire, but struggle to play it well. As I explained things to them you could have heard the veritable treasure chest empty (an exaggeration of the 'penny dropping') as I came to understand how I could also play the game more effectively.

I'll try to take some pictures and do a write-up of their game next week. You just can't go past the appeal of a good set of rules.

War of the Austrian Succession scenario ..

Adrian and I took the afternoon to play a War of the Austrian Succession game, using his 15mm armies and scenery...   it's too gorgeous ...