Friday 31 March 2017

2017-03-31 Tally

Ultimo March

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 66, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles Finished:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0,
Vehicles Acquired:
Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 4 (Victories: 1, Ties: 3, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Dark Ages: The Second Point of Hearthguard

And here they are - I shall make a full line-up of the warband tomorrow, as I have to clear some space on the dining table, first.


Dark Ages: Last Hearthguard - For Now

Job done!

I have now officially painted a full six points warband for SAGA! 🙌

As previously mentioned, I am not done painting Vikings just yet, but I shall now paint a Forge Father Steel Warrior Huscarl, before I start working on the next batch of four mail-clad warriors.

This also conludes what I shall manage for March. Hopefully, during April I shall finish upgrading the Viking warband to a 24 points God of Battles Main Force army, and then it will be time for working on some Rohan warriors to use as Anglo-Saxons for fighting the Vikings.

In between, I should get most of a Forge Father strike team for DeadZone painted - I am using those as 'relief' from working on just one type of minis, and it should keep me from getting 'bogged down'.





Thursday 30 March 2017

Dark Ages: Three Down, One to Go!

I am very, very close to finishing the second point of Hearthguard, now.

Only one more mail-clad warrior to do, and I have a full six points warband - all painted in one long go!

It seems that I missed a spot on the trousers when applying the dark wash, I may have to go over that leg to mend it, but I shall definitely not do so. until I have finished the last figure for the warband!

In the meantime, I have primed two Forge Fathers, glued sand on their bases, and glued them onto corks, so I can start painting the Huscarl right away, when I have finished the fourth Viking Hearthguard. It  will be a welcome break from painting Vikings, but as already stated, I am going to paint even more of the armoured warriors, as I want to use up the shield stickers I have, and also upgrade the warband to 24 points for God of Battles, which requires bringing up the Hearthguard to 10 models, and add another unit of 10, so 12 more in total, which is just about what I have decals for (I do have a couple of sheets more, with identical motifs, but hey were purchased later, and much of those are going to be used for the God of Battles Command and Support section for the army).






Tuesday 28 March 2017

2017-03-28 Tally

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 64, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles Finished:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0,
Vehicles Acquired:
Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 4 (Victories: 1, Ties: 3, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Monday 27 March 2017

Dark Ages: Two Down, Two to Go

After a week with almost no painting, due to spending a lot of time in the garden, I managed to finish this, the second armoured warrior for the second point of Hearthguard.

As usual, the shield is a Little Big Man Studios sticker transfer.

The last two models to complete my first six points SAGA warband may see completion one of the next days, if I can muster sufficient motivation to make it happen.

I think this is the first time ever that I have painted a complete army/warband in one go without diversions, and even though I really feel my Inner Butterfly kick and scream by now, I am determined to see this project through (so close, now)!

When the six points are done, I shall allow myself to paint something else, before I paint the next batch of mail-clad Vikings, just to please the Butterfly - I have assembled a couple of DeadZone Forge Father Steel Warriors which will be primed one of the next days.




Sunday 26 March 2017

Springtime in the Garden

Here you can se why I have not been very productive on the hobby front this last week. The soil in the vegetable garden had to be prepared for planting and sowing, starting with the potatoes next weekend, if the weather is nice. I shall rake and fertilize the area for the potatoes tomorrow (if I still have some fertilizer left in the garden storage room in the garage).


The plasic bags are bark mulch, meant to be placed around the blueberry bushes.


I took a couple photos more - the first is the large pinetrees between the vegetable garden and the creek, and the next one is a close-up of the flower bed I created for my wife a couple of years ago now - it will be in full bloom very soon, I think, which I am joyfully anticipating.

Sadly, some rooks have settled in some of the trees on the other side of the creek, and I think I shall have to find a way to get rid of them (I may have to go to the extreme of taking a hunter's course to get a license and the right to buy/use a hunting rifle).



Wednesday 22 March 2017

DeadZone: Forge Father Steel Warrior WIP

I backed Mantic's DeadZone II Kickstarter, and the stuff has been sitting in a box ever since I got it.

Lately, all the activity regarding Warpath/Firefight has urged me to get some of the minis assembled and painted, and I decided to do the smallest(!) faction first, notably the Forge Fathers (only five models in my pledge).

I am going to paint the Steel Warriors in between groups of Vikings, which should make me hardly notice the time spent on them (I shall use mostly bloch'n'wash speedpainting techniques).

I started with the Leader of the Strike Team, a Steel Warrior Huscarl, and I need only to clean up and attach his backpack, then he is ready to have his base built up with some filler alongside the four Vikings I showed earlier.

I must say, I find the Steel Warriors somewhat tedious to assemble. Nine parts to finish a basic infantry leader (ordinary Steel Warriors consist of ten) is a bit much - and as you can see, the design does not provide many degrees of freedom to the positioning of limbs (the right shoulder pad could not be made to fit snugly because of the right arm), which makes you wonder why the designer did not opt for fewer parts.

Well, they will probably look fine when finished, and I look forward to have a small Strike Team ready.

I shall probably assemble and paint some Corporation Enforcers next, but that will probably not happen until after I start work on the Rohan/Saxon SAGA warband.

Dark Ages: More Vikings WIP

I have not painted anything today, although I did apply a shield transfer to a mail-clad Viking. Instead, I spent some time assembling the next four armoured warriors/hearthguards - they are now ready for some filler on the bases, but I have another build that I want to finish before moving to that step, as I prefer to do the basing and priming in one go.


When the axe-wielding warrior and the hornblower are finished, I have a full unit of armoured Vikings for God of Battles and am close to three points of Hearthguard for SAGA/AFS.

2017-03-22 Tally

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 63, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 3 (Victories: 1, Ties: 2, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Dark Ages: Another Armoured Viking

Today I finished the first warrior for my second point of Hearthguard.

I have another one almost finished - am going to apply the shield transfer tomorrow, and then see if I can manage to finish him - and the last two are about half done.

All in all, I think my six points for SAGA should be complete by the beginning of next week, but as mentioned earlier, I have to assemble and paint about a dozen more Vikings to use up the shield transfers I have.

It is my plan to then rebase and paint enough Rohan warriors to make up an Anglo-Saxon warband to fight the Vikings, but I may decide otherwise, before I get around to that.



Friday 17 March 2017

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bacon and Cabbage! Wonderful dish, am going to introduce some of my friends to it at the first possible opportunity - would be great to combine with a gaming day. And some good beer and akvavit!

I have recipes for other versions, one of them involving fried bacon and cabbage boiled in beer - I think I shall need to try that one out, too...


Thursday 16 March 2017

Dark Ages: SAGA Vikings Five Points

Pitch invasion! I had to use the Subbuteo playmat for this line-up, as it takes up the most of the dining table at the moment, because Lea and I play Striker.

Five points, and the warband could probably work as is, but I still want to get that second point of Hearthguard finished, before I commit it to battle.


Tomorrow I am cooking Bacon and Cabbage, because it is St. Patrick's Day, and I like to try out foreign recipes (cooked French cassoulet last Sunday, yummy!), which is going to take up some of the afternoon, and thus I am not going to work in the veggie garden, so I hope to be able to paint a bit while the bacon cooks. I may finish another Hearthguard over the weekend, as the forecast is showing possible rain, but do not hold your breath, as I need to finish preparing the vegetable garden if the weather permits it, and I have only the late afternoons, because I need to sleep after night watch.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

2017-03-15 Tally

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 62, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 2 (Victories: 1, Ties: 1, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Dark Ages: One Point Viking Hearthguard

You have seen them before - but here they are together, my first full point of Viking Hearthguard. If I get the chance tomorrow, I shall post a photo of the full five-point warband, as it stands so far.


Dark Ages: Fourth Hearthguard Finished

Finally I finished the last model for my first point of Hearthguard (or ½ point of armoured Warriors - they are destined to be degraded to that status, later on).

The next five days, I am probably not going to paint much, as I begin my five-night work period tonight, and thus have to sleep most of the day, then spend an hour or so in the garden, if the weather permits. I shall try to get ½ hour of hobby time squeezed in, now and then, though, as I want my SAGA warband to be fully operational at six points, as soon as possible.

As I fell like having some variation, I have decided to build some Mantic Forge Father Steel Warriors (from my DeadZone II Kickstarter pledge lot) to paint in between the groups of Vikings, so I dug out the Forge Father sprue and parts from the box I store my DeadZone and Dungeon Saga stuff in.

Talk about multi-part miniatures!

Thank The Powers That Be that they are at least real plastic, and not that awful restic stuff!

I shall post some WIP pics when I have started construction - in the meantime, I shall post some Viking line-ups.








Tuesday 14 March 2017

2017-03-14 Tally

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 61, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 2 (Victories: 1, Ties: 1, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Monday 13 March 2017

Striker: First Game with Lea, Part 2

Lea and I managed to get a bit of action going on the field this afternoon, and one of the highlights was trying a Free Kick because of a Foul. Lea placed her players in sort of a screen, although the Free Kick was too far from the goal for a direct attempt.

The blond striker moved forward, received a Perfect Pass, and shot!

Alas, the keeper fisted the ball over the goal, and thereby gave a corner.


Today's other highlight: The Corner Kick!

After both coaches placed their eight players, the attackers can move 2 of the placed players up to 2½" in any direction, and I moved the closest 2 after this phot was taken.


The Corner Kick was aimed at a Striker, but failed. It landed 2" from him, and he was still the closest player, and moved to it.


The keeper moved forward for a challenge -


- won the challenge, and probably caught the ball in mid-air, just before the unfortunate striker could hit it with his head.


As I have seen mentioned elsewhere, the game somehow creates its own narrative like this, and things behave much like in real football.

We were having trouble remembering if we were in a 4:2 or 4:3 action sequence, and I have designed and printed a Sequence Tracker to, well, keep track of the sequences. It has 30 boxes to tick for each half of a match, so it functions as the clock at the same time.

If we play tomorrow, we shall start on the second half, and keep track of the game this way!

Dark AgeS. Viking Hirdman Number Three

I shall probably not finish the two points of Hearthguard for my Viking warband this week after all, The gardening season has begun, and most of the days this week are seemingly going to be dry and fairly warm, so I am going to spend a lot of time in the vegetable garden, preparing the soil for planting potatoes around April 1st.

I do manage to squeeze in the odd hour or half of painting, though, so in the best LEAN tradition, I am making some progress on a daily basis.😃

I managed to finish this guy today. and I am now only one Hirdman away from having a full point of Hearthguard, bringing my SAGA warband up to five points.

Tomorrow, I expect to be able to paint 2-3 hours straight, after spending the first hour in the garden, so I may actually finish  another mini, but the shield process, sticking the transfer on, then painting the rim and the boss, touching up the shield design, if the transfer did not fit perfectly, and then finally applying, first gloss varnish, then matt varnish, often takes a bit longer than anticipated.







Sunday 12 March 2017

Striker: First Game with Lea

I was able to squeeze in an hour of father-daughter time with my youngest offspring, after showering off the sweat and dust of two hours' gardening, and before embarking on a three-hour journey of cooking cassoulet for Sunday dinner.

Lea very quickly grasped the concepts of moving and passing, and I found myself being pressed back on my own half (also helped by the dice not exactly favouring my attempts to establish an offence).

The most tense situation so far was Lea almost getting in position to shoot:

A lost tackle challenge suddenly saw my defensive line overtaken (note the softgun pellet ball, and the invisible stalker).


The blue striker dribbled forward, and failed to make a Perfect Dribble. The unfortunate defender could not Tackle from directly behind, and thus tried to put pressure on the ball carrier, while my keeper moved forward to be able to intervene. Panic!

The blue striker played the other striker, who dribbled forward - and also failed to make a Perfect Dribble!



My keeper dived for the ball, while two defenders tried to position themselves to make scoring as difficult as possible.


The keeper, getting a +2 tackle modifier for tackling in the penalty zone (where he can use hands), scoops up the ball.


That was too close for comfort! My keeper attempted a long pass to a striker in the opposite half, but failed, and the ball went into possession of the blue team. and this is basically the situation now: Lea has started moving the ball forward again in a series of short Perfect Passes, and I am trying to hinder her advance...

More at a later time - maybe we shall manage to play a couple of sequences tomorrow afternoon, when Lea comes home from school.

I have glued the broken red defender, by the way.

2017-03-12 Tally

Miniatures Finished:
Painted: 60, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0
Miniatures Acquired:
Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 2 (Victories: 1, Ties: 1, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Saturday 11 March 2017

Striker: First Test of the Rules

As mentioned some days ago, I had my mind set on trying the Striker Association Football miniatures game that I purchased in pdf-form.

To this end, I dug out my old 70's Continental Club Edition of Subbuteo (I actually had the pitch rolled up on an old broomstick since forever).

The size of the pitch and players is perfect for Striker (the author actually mentions that he used Subbuteo for playtesting the game), so I set about preparing the players (coloured dots on the bases to set apart defenders, midfielders, and strikers), and the special 'scatter' die (a six-sided die with directional arrows on all faces but the 'six'.

Dice needed is a d8, two d6s, and the special 'scatter' d6.

Apart from that, you only need a measuring tape and a special marker for the ball. The Subbuteo balls are too big to look nice, and as they are designed to roll, while the Striker ball needs to stay in place until moved by hand, I opted to use an old small coin for the test game. Then, a couple of minutes ago, I remembered that I have a soft gun, and plastic ammo pellets galore, so I have just glued one of those to a 15mm washer to paint up as a football. I may decide to glue one to a 10mm MDF-base at a later point, as I am going to get some for basing my maize/corn stalks, but for now the washer will have to do.



But  now, on to the business at hand! Here is the field with rules, teams, and the 'ball'.


The game starts with an automatic Perfect Pass from the centre to any player on the starting/attacking (red) team, and then the first Attacker 4-action sequence starts. As the receiver of a Perfect Pass cannot be challenged for a Tackle, I opted to use the four actions to move some players (Normal Move up to 6").

Then, the defending (blue) team moved 3 players.


The next attacking (red) 4-action sequence: Three players moved, then a Perfect Pass to the player near the centre.


Still not able to touch the ball, the blue team used their two actions to threaten the ball and a possible receiver of the next pass.


Then the red midfielder moves forward and receives a Perfect Pass.


The crowd cheers, as he makes a Perfect Pass at the striker.


The over-confident striker seizes the opportunity to dribble towards the goal, but, alas, he cannot keep the ball under control! I used the wrong die, btw, I should have used a d6.


This is the opportunity the blue team has been waiting for! For a striker, fumbling the dribble is equivalent to receiving an Imperfect Pass, and now he can be challenged for a Tackle!


The blue defender moves in and gets +1 for being a designated defender, and another +1 for tackling from the front a stonking +2, and things look bleak for the red striker. Both roll a d6, and... it is a draw!


I made a mistake here: I should now have rolled the scatter die + another d6, the result indicating whether a foul or a deflection occurred. I did not remember this, and I went straight for a deflection.

This meant that the ball was bounced off in a random direction. The 'scatter' die was rolled, and the ball deflected 5" as indicated by the arrow.


The player closest to the ball is the blue player at the bottom of the above photo, and he is moved to take possession of the ball. I think that maybe the red player across to him was close enough to contest the ball, but I forgot to check. And right now I am not sure if in this particular situation, such a contest would happen if the players are not entirely equidistant to the ball. I shall have to consult the author for this.


This was a Turnover, and the blue team immediately starts a 4-action sequence. The defender makes a Perfect Pass at the midfielder.


The midfielder makes a Perfect Pass at the next midfielder. A couple of other players moved before that.


The red team moves three players to cover the advancing blue players.


A blue midfielder makes himself playable, and receives a Perfect Pass


The second midfielder then makes a Perfect Pass at the striker on the wing.


The red team moves two players to counter the threat from the advancing blu players.


The midfielder then moves towards the striker, who is Pressed, and receives an Imperfect Pass! The ball now cannot be progressed further this sequence, although blue has two actions left.


Blue moves another couple of players, hoping to keep possession of the ball.


The red defender at the bottom of this picture then moves to challenge the ball. The rest of the defending team's actions must be completed, before the actual tackle is resolved.


The situation at the end of the action sequence.


The defender gets +1 for being a defender, and also +1 for tackling from the front - and wins the challenge. Red takes position of the ball, and the losing blue player is placed ½" behind the winning player (approximately 😉).


This was a turnover, and red begins a new 4-action sequence. The defender makes a Perfect Pass at a midfielder.


The midfielder makes a pass at a striker further up the field, and the pass Fails.


A Failed Pass is 'scattered' as indicated by the special Arrow die. One inch directly towards the blue player, who gains possession - another Turnover!


I am not sure, whether taking possession of a failed pass, and after a Tackle, is considered to be like a Perfect or an Imperfect Pass - it may be the latter, although I seem to have considered it the former all through this test game.


The next three pictures, I do not quite remember what happened - but some passing seems to have taken place.




Here, the blue striker receives a Perfect Pass.


The striker then dribbles towards the red goal, and keeps the  ball under perfect control. Again, I used the wrong die.


Unfortunately, it is not permitted to make two consecutive dribble actions (and I do not remember, if blue had one or two actions left), but I decided to try a shot at the goal.

Lots of negative modifiers, and the shot went wide past the goal.


This was all I managed to play Striker today, as it was about time to prepare hotdogs for supper (my wife was in Sønderjylland, and I was home alone with the kids).

My thoughts on the rules?

I think I like them. I need to get some details that is not explicitly covered by the rules clarified by the author (Facebook), but there is a lot of 'football feelgood' to be had from Striker, and the way the moving and passing works, seems quite realistic.

I have a feeling, that dribbling is too difficult. Other positions than the striker automatically dribble 'imperfect', thus cannot make a pass after dribbling, and can be challenged for a tackle. I know the author of the rules is a football coach, and probably has some dialectic intentions with the way the rules favour short to medium range passing, but I think it happens often in real life that a defender tackles, steals the ball, dribbles a few yards, and then passes or clears the ball, and this is not possible to do in Striker, as you cannot progress the ball further after an Imperfect Pass/Dribble (as mentioned, I need to get some of the details clarified).

ADDED 2017-03-12:

OK - I may have been a bit tired when I wrote  the above. As for tackling, if the defender wins the tackle, the attacker is placed ½" behind him, which could be interpreted as the tackler running a few yards with the ball to get clear of the opponent - AND there is a Turnover, which means that  the defender's team is nov on the offensive, starts a new 4-action sequence, and the defender can now pass or clear the ball right away, so my interpretation of the situation above does not stand.

I shall play the game with Lea later today - she asked me in the middle of the action yesterday, when we could play the game together, but I wanted to try a bit more of the possibilities, before teaching her to play.