December game day

We had a very successful session of gaming at house Prufrock today, thanks to the fellows who turned up in spite of the congested social calendar at this time of year. At least one intrepid attendee spent a good part of the day dodging the after effects of an office bonenkai party, yet still dealt with the vicissitudes of on-table fortune with something close to aplomb. It was also - for the first time - a multi-generational affair: our young lad and some of the other offspring were able to get into some video gaming in one room while 'the adults' were messing about on the floor with plastic models in the other.

And thanks are also due to our wives or partners, without whose support and indulgence (to a greater or lesser degree!) of our penchant for play this kind of thing cannot go smoothly. I suppose, from my own dearly beloved's perspective, ordering early Saturday afternoon pizza for a bunch of wargamers is an order of magnitude less trying than getting a call at 3am asking her to come and peel a 'tired and emotional' husband off the footpath somewhere, but you can't be sure.*

But to the games: the first event was the game of What a Tanker that I've been going on about here on the blog interminably for quite some time. It went pretty well, and people picked up the rules fast. There is a jovial quality to the game, and no one took success too well or its opposite too badly.

The Allies got a bit beaten up, losing three tanks and almost a fourth, but they did put up a brave fight. Ironically, it was not the Panther G and Jagdpanzer IV who did most of the damage, but the lowly Panzer IV G, probably because everyone was so anxious to knock out the big cat that they ignored the hamster!

I didn't have much time to take photos, but here are a few shots:

Late game carnage.

The brave Crusader III, out of time, but not lacking in fight! He actually survived the battle, miraculously.
(Photo courtesy of Pat H)

The Hamster IV G's handiwork... (Photo again courtesy Pat H).

The German high command, including a rare photo of the author, the bald dwarf to the left.
(Photo once more courtesy of Pat H).

But more fun than this was the after lunch entertainment, Luke's game of Zombicide. Now, I'm not a zombie guy - I've never seen the attraction in the genre - but this was a lot of fun. The six of us had to cooperate to achieve missions while evading or massacring the zombie hordes which were rising up to bar our way. We started out with nothing but fry pans and a pistol, but through assiduous ransacking of the town found what we needed to win. I enjoyed it far more than I ever thought I would, and I think I'll be looking for a copy. Thanks Luke!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of this, but the other fellows did, so hopefully I can nab some of theirs and add them in later.

And there we have it: a really enjoyable day. Thanks to all who came along, and to all who made it possible.

*AHEM, any similarity here to real life persons or events is purely coincidental, and would have happened so long ago as to be almost not worth mentioning anymore anyway.