Monday, 2 October 2023
Battletech - St Ives Compact - 1st St Ives Lancers
Saturday, 9 September 2023
Battletech - Clan Ghost Bear

Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Battletech - Draconis Combine - 2nd Sword of Light
Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Burrows and Badgers - The Brocktower Raids
The two warbands
Royalists
Duke Otto Sternjaw (Bulldog) Ser Geralt Longshanks (Hare) Ser Kennith Shadforth (Border Terrier) Ser Cornelius Stoutwhiskers (Mouse) Robyn Locksley (Mouse)
Freebeasts
Sydney Greytail (Wildcat) Esme Rosepetal (Hare) Ruffus (Pug) Fran (Ferret) Harriet Softpad (Mouse)
Game 1 - Take and Hold - Marshland Ruins south of the Brocktower.
Both sides would gain Victory points for controlling each Large Ruin at the end of the game, I would also gain pennies for my secondary objective (Scavenger Hunt) if I could carryout a successful search action against the ruins.
Turn 1 saw both sides vying for position and making their way towards the nearest ruins for each side.
Turn 2 and with the opposing factions being slightly closer, the opposing archers starting loosing of a few arrows - Harriet let fly against Kennith, who was taking cover in the larged walled ruin but the arrow pinged off the stonework.
Robyn in return took aim and had a shot against Sydney but the range wasn't ideal and it flew wide of its mark.
Fran, sneaking up on Robyn chucked a throwing knife but again this resulted in a miss.
Turn 3 and now the forces drew nearer. Geralt charged over the wall and swung his sword hitting Sydney causing a few wounds.
Esme again called down the lightning and fried Cornelius, severely wounding the Mouse Knight. Duke Otto charged into Sydney who reeling from Geralts strike was duly felled by a might blow from Otto's mace.
Turn 4 with the Scavengers seeing their Feline leader deftly crushed by Duke Otto they felt that consolidating their gains was better than carrying on the fight, that was after however when Fran had taken out Ser Cornelius with a knife strike.
So with both sides ceasing conflict to gain their objectives the bragging rights went more to the Royalists for taking out the Scavengers leader, even though Ser Cornelius was left with a damaged hand.Game 2 - Surprise Attack - Brocktower Farmstead
Due to Nics rolls during the campaign steps, he got to pick the scenario and who would be attacker and defender for our second game. To keep it narrative, and the fact The Greytails wanted revenge, Nic chose Surprise Attack, ambushing the Chevaliers on their way back to Brocktower Castle.
So at an outlying farmstead where the Royalists had laid up over night the Freebeasts struck.
Rolling for my secondary objective I gained Assassinate. This was fluff for the narrative as after thinking I had removed the Rogue leader I could now make sure of it.
As defender I had to roll to see if any of my force would be starting on the table and who would arrive later in the battle. My rolls were terrible and I only started with Robyn the archer, perched on a rooftop as lookout.
Turn 1 seeing the Scavengers sneak towards the farmstead Robyn leaps from his elevated position and manages to dash into range so he can take a quick shot against Fran. Breathing heavily the shot is rushed and flies wildly across the field.
Harriet in response, coolly notches an arrow and fires at Robyn hitting him right in the chest. Bleeding heavily Robyn is suddenly blasted by lightning from Esme, that's Robyn out of the fight, poor, poor Robyn!
Turn 2 Duke Otto arrives hearing the scream of Robyn as he's fried. With a huge roar he charges Harriet and crushes the tiny mouse with one crushing blow of his mace. Ser Kennith also enters the fray and attacks Esme, wounding the Hare witch severely.
In return the Terrier Knight is attacked from behind by Ruffus the Pug! Ser Cornelius joins his Knightly friends and finishes off Esme, putting the witch out of action.
Turn 3 results in a wild three way fur-ball with Ruffus, Cornelius and Kennith trading multiple blows. Geralt who has been skirting the flanks of the Scavengers and with a mighty swing of his sword, dispatches the Wildcat rogue.
Turn 4 seeing their leader again struck down the rest of the Greytail Scavengers route from the field. Their ambush foiled and their reputation as dangerous beasts shattered in Brocktower and the surrounding regions.
Two excellent fun games, the second slightly harsher on Nic's warband but in the campaign step it wasn't as bad as the battle made out.
Burrows and Badgers is a fantastic skirmish game with amazing Anthropomorphic miniatures. If you haven't tried it or got any of the miniatures I highly recommend you do.
Monday, 5 June 2023
UK Games Expo 2023
I was working as a games demonstrator again this year, and again I had the privilege to be working for Ares Games - the last few years I have had the same gig and its testament to how well Roberto, Fabio and Christoph at Ares thinks I and the rest of the crew do that they keep requesting the same people to demo for them.
Last year it was recorded that over 35000 people had attended, but this years figures blew that out of the water - it is estimated that the weekend saw over 50000 attendees, with the organisers even considering stopping people from attending on the Saturday due to the high numbers (and H&S Fire regulations).
I really enjoy the UK Games Expo and its one of the only places I go that no one cares if you differ from the norm - everyone is accepted with no judgement -all walks of life from small children and their families to the old and bold of the hobby, race, nationality, creed, background, gender etc everything and anything goes and is celebrated without a demeaning glance, comment or objection.
All are here for the same thing, celebrate the hobby and have fun.
The photos below show the main reason I love attending this convention - friends! the amount of people that came over to see me and get friends selfies as well as the chances I got to wander the halls and meet up with people who couldn't get over to me, it is seriously humbling to know how many people from all walks of life I have in my life.
On Ares stand we demo'd a number of games ranging from a Massive Quartermaster General 1914 game on the central tables to new published games, Orcanomics, Ensemble, Cangaceiros and the Rich and the Good as wells as the War of the Ring card game.As per last year, on the Sunday we ran a massive multiplayer Wings of Glory dogfight with around 26 players, with prizes doled out constantly by Roberto to those who shot down planes as well as monetary vouchers for those shot down (this certainly helped to clear the stock on the shelves after the event as people flocked to spend their vouchers)
I don't know this one blokes name but Kudos to the gent who over hearing a young lad was a voucher short of buying a plane model duly handed over one of his.
Highlights of the show, seeing so many wonderful people and catching up with the boys and girls from the No Rolls Barred YouTube channel.
An amazing three days and next years event cant come quick enough.
The Crowds
Friends
Around the Show

Wings of Glory mass Dogfight
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Adam |
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Blair |
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Sullivan |
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Holly |
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Rosie |
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Back Row L-R Lawrence, Chris, Chris, Tim, Roger, Craig, Alex, Ed Front Row L-R Chris, Aggie, Carl, Roberto, Hannah, Fabio, Christoph |