The Major and I broke in 2015 with a game of Chainmail last night. Glorious Chainmail! Unfortunately, I still had no batteries for my camera, but the Major kindly left his Dark Elves over so I could restage some of the action this afternoon. Anyway, here now are some pics:
The Dark Elves block the mountain pass!
But the Dwarves and their Human friends (and creatures) must get through!
"You shall not pass!!"
"Let loose the pets!"
No turning back.
Dragons charge and begin the first fight of the battle.
And Dwarves march resolutely on towards the deadly Dark Elf lines. Actually, I was a little disappointed when The Major brought his Dark Elves over - I was expecting his beautiful Amazons. But these Dark Elves are a treat too.
Main event stuff now...
Combat with Fantastical creatures is done on the following chart. One die roll is all that is needed! No multiple wounds, no special rules, just instant action!
The Dark Elves watch in horror as their Manticore is torn to pieces by Grenadruch The Red Dragon.
Speaking of dragons in Chainmail, a Hero armed with a bow can shoot and kill a flying Dragon on 2D6 roll of a 10+! This is exactly what Grendir Nevermiss did! (Although it did take him three tries and the loss of most of his unit before he succeeded.)
The Dark Elf general challenges Fra-Na-Zorf, the friendly giant, to personal combat - and loses!
The Dark Elf lines begin to crumble. The Dwarves raise the Blue Flag of Everlasting Victory! Huzzah!!
More Chainmail tables.
Chainmail! Hopefully this return to Chainmail will be the start of a whole series of gaming with classic rulesets for 2015!
Wow, Beautiful game! You really pulled out all the stops on the setup. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mouse! I had the advantage of restaging the battle-report so I got to "pretty it up" a bit. Was almost as fun as the actual game.
DeleteBrilliant...there are some very venerable old dragons on the table there.... I love the Minifigs Rodney Matthews style worm.
ReplyDeleteHey thanks, Springinsfeld! Yes, it was wonderful to get these old dragons and other big friends out on the field to see some action. This was actually the very first Chainmail game I've played to have muliple big creatures, so it was a real treat! And I never made the Rodney Matthews connection before - but yeah, I think you're right! Good call!
ReplyDeleteOops, should read "multiple" not "muliple"! I must actually proofread before hitting the publish button!
DeleteBeautiful set up, and action packed report I love the spectrum of colours on the armies, must've been epic!
ReplyDeleteThanks, 24 Cigs! It was fun and yes, I was enjoying the whole wash of colours too. My favourite thing about The Major's Dark Elves is the amazing turquoise armour some of them are wearing. And hey, I look forward to seeing your Skaven army in action again!
DeleteI've only just stumbled upon your blog and am amazed at the amount of vintage lead you have. Gratifying to see that it's being put to good use! My experience with classic rule sets is not especially positive. How did you find 'Chainmail'?
ReplyDeleteHi Gaz, welcome to the Privates Eternal! Thanks for your comment. The amount of vintage lead just is the result of 30 odd years of obsessive on and off collecting, painting and hoarding of "little people". Also, I'm a pretty manic gamer who suffers DT's if I don't get in at least one game a week!
DeleteAs for Chainmail, well, I am perhaps the wrong person to ask because I love it unconditionally! It was the very first fantasy rule set I ever bought and it continues to be among my most favourite games to play. Albeit, I do play a very fluid mix of the regular rules and the man-to-man skirmish section, but rules are always best when one makes them their own. Now if I can just get my head around REAPER!
Ah, proto-WHFB! Not a massive fan of that system in any of its incarnations (I have the 2nd ed. box set). I tried playing Laserburn last year and found to play it smoothly I probably have to rewrite the whole bloody thing!
DeleteI know what you mean about Laserburn. But stick with it - it just gets better and more intuitive (believe it or not) with each game. It also helps to have the right extra-gaming elements going on. My last game of Laserburn (only my third), was played on strong coffee with early Judas Priest and then Joy Division providing the soundtrack to a leadership dispute in the House of Escher. Was great fun!
DeleteHave you given Imperial Commander a try? It playes a lot faster and gives a great game! I hope to have an Imperial Commander blast sometime very soon.
What a wonderful set of photographs, and such a broad mix of antiquities fielded, yet all seeming to compliment each other, and just to cap it all off - Chainmail as well, as if that's not the icing on the pudding! Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi Zhu, thanks for your nice comment! And doubly nice (the icing on the pudding of a generous comment) is seeing a respected comrade's shared appreciation of the underappreciated Chainmail! Hey, let's start a movement!
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