As a long-time miniature wargamer, I’m always on the lookout for interesting stuff to enhance my hobby. As a regular feature of this blog, I’m going to share my discoveries with you, oh gentle reader. Hopefully, you’ll find a hidden gem among these links that enhances your enjoyment of the hobby. I call that a Win-Win.
Kings of War: Third Edition
Ronnie Renton at Mantic Games is a great guy, whose love of the miniature wargaming hobby always shines through in his interactions with customers and the tabletop gaming public. In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are starting to wear down mentally due to greatly reduced social interaction, he is trying to provide a little cheer to fellow gamers.
Mantic is offering a FREE DOWNLOAD of the latest edition of their popular fantasy mass-battles game, Kings of War: Third Edition. You can go here to download the Free Kings of War rules: https://tinyurl.com/y7379vs8
Time to go Solo?
In all my years of wargaming, one thing that I’ve never tried is solo wargaming. Certainly I’ve played around with new rules by myself, to try out the mechanics and see how the game plays. But that’s not the same as assembling two armies, crafting a scenario, laying the terrain out on your table, deploying the troops, and then taking the role of commander of both armies and playing out the battle to a conclusion.
Over the last year, I’ve begun to give the idea of solo wargaming more serious thought. The reason is simple. The members of my primary gaming group are all 50-somethings like me, and getting them to commit to any consistent gaming schedule is akin to herding baby goats that have each just slurped down two quarts of Mountain Dew.
Add in the fact that everyone is in lock-down mode, and maybe it’s finally time to start playing with myself. Umm, that didn’t come out quite right. But, you get my point. There has never been a better time to explore solo wargaming than in the middle of this era of Social Distancing.
That leads me to a fantastic little primer, presented in podcast format, by veteran UK wargamer and author Henry Hyde of Battlegames magazine fame. It’s definitely worth your while to give a listen to the March 20th episode entitled “Battlechat Special: Introduction to Solo Wargaming“. You may just learn a thing or two; I know that I did. Follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/ya6z34nt
Oh Wizard Kings, you wily temptress…
To finish off today’s trifecta of gaming goodness, I recently received an email from Columbia Games, the makers of Wizard Kings, a block wargame that lets 2 to 7 players engage in sweeping fantasy battles of the world conquest variety. It’s a fun game, and one which I really need to get to the table again, as it has been a few years since I last played it.
The email informed me that Columbia Games is releasing a limited edition Treasure Chest of 350 Blocks (50 for each army), or one of every block ever printed for this game. That’s a really neat idea. Why, you ask? Because while Wizard Kings comes with a starting set of blocks for each army, it’s the only Columbia game to my knowledge that offers randomized expansion packs that contain additional blocks. Effectively, it’s a collectible block wargame, and that means it’s darn near impossible to own every block ever printed.
Being a Wizard Kings fan, this offer certainly piqued my interest. There is, however, one big downside to buying it: the Treasure Chest will set you back a hefty $200 (US). My wallet screams Ouch!
Your mileage may vary, but I just don’t play the game enough to justify the financial outlay. That said, they’ve already sold close to 60 of the 100 sets they’re offering. So, if you’re a huge Wizard Kings fan, check it out before the clock runs out on April 30th. You can find the offer here: https://tinyurl.com/y7pnovvg
Until next time, stay healthy and safe!
Tiny Painted Heroes 