A full year saw me play a total of 51 games in 2022, almost one per week which were played variously at home, at Central London and at Cowards clubs.
Art de la Guerre
A total of eight games all with different armies (Syracusan, Later Carthaginian, Swiss, Palmyran, Venitian Condotta, Neo-Babylonian, Early Carthaginian and Hunnic).
Still a remarkably popular rule set at Central London and including an outing for my newly painted Palmyran army:
Art de la Guerre Renaissance
Written by my club mate Simon, ADLG-R is gaining popularity at Central London. I played eight games including three in one day for the ADLG-R competition Simon organised. Not so much variety in the armies used (Chinese x 3, Polish x 2, Later Royalist, Holy Roman Empire and Italian Wars French).
The Ming Chinese on their way to competition victory!
Sharp Practice
Eight games also for Sharp Practice, a bit of a revival for the rule set as I'd not been playing it much. A fair bit of variety in the armies as well (Napoleonic Austrian, Napoleonic Wurttemberg, AWI British, Indian Mutiny, NW Frontier British and three outings for the 15mm Dervishes).
Dervish hordes attack:
The Men of Company B
Four games (two VC, one ARVN Special Forces and one USMC) plus a game of Charlie Don't Surf. Both Dave and Gary enjoyed the games and were happy to play again (no solo games this year!). CDS was interesting to play at a Lard Day but I don't think I'll start playing them instead of TMOCB.
The Temple of Doom:
Space Weirdo's
Four games. An unusual entry as I normally have little to no interest in fantasy/sci-fi/role-playing games but Gary's Space Weirdo's campaign was great fun with easy to understand rules and allowed me to get Steed, Mrs Peel and the Bentley on the table!
Steed and Mrs Peel:
Rommel
Four games, one as the Germans in a D-Day scenario, one as Late War Americans and two with 1940 British.
British battle it out with Germans somewhere in France:
Cold War Commander
Three games in my first new period of the year. (BAOR one game, Warsaw Pact two) Not quite sure why I tried this as I have never played 'Moderns' (do the 1980's count as 'Modern's any more?!) but surprisingly I really enjoyed them, they are an interesting set of rules which seem to bring out the need for combining your various units very well.
Warsaw Pact forces rumble forward:
Blucher
Only two games this year using 1806 Prussians and French.
The 1806 Prussians in their first game:
Kiss Me Hardy
Two games as well, both with the Spanish.
The fleets engage!
Bag the Hun
Another new rule set for me which was partly inspired by adding more aircraft for Cruel Seas. The USN and IJN took to the air twice with both games demonstrating the superiority of the USN aircraft!
Massed dogfight!
Field of Glory Renaissance
Two games, one with 15mm Polish and one with 28mm Later TYW Germans. Despite the advent of ADLG-R I still really enjoy FoGR and managed to get a couple of games in and would love to play more.
TYW Germans take on Royalists:
Chain of Command
Just a single game where my Japanese took on Tim's USMC. A remarkable drop from last year's nine games perhaps as I didn't play any pint sized campaigns.
The Japanese defend the beaches:
Men Who Would be Kings
A single game also using my North West Frontier force against Afghans.
The column enters the Afghan badlands:
Strength and Honour
Another new rule set, from the Lardies and depicting huge battles ideally in 2mm scale. One game using 15mm Mithridatic against Romans to see how the rules work.
Not quite massed armies but still a fair few figures!
What failed to get played in 2022?
Fire and Fury
For the second year no F&F which is a shame as I'd love to play more.
Cruel Seas
My main opponent moved to the distant North, another period I'd like to play more of really.
Infamy
To be honest I didn't find Infamy that interesting and am regretting painting up two armies for it! At some point I may try to convert at least one to an ADLG army.
For King and Parliament
Another set of rules I wasn't that impressed with, I definitely prefer FoG-R for Renaissance games.
What could be new in 2023?
In all honesty I am going to try to avoid starting any new rule sets/periods this year! It is both a joy and a curse to have so many options to play which has ended up with the production of several armies that get used once or twice then abandoned. One exception will be the TFL 'What a Cowboy' rules that should be out soon and sound good fun. An advantage of that is that I already have all the figures and scenery required so, in theory at least, all I will need to get is the rules!
