Gaming in the Post Pandemic World

Hello!

Obviously this year has been a bit of a strange one and gaming plans (alongside all other plans for everything else) have been disrupted. Our local Blood Bowl league was cancelled after the first round, a year's worth of Blood Bowl tournaments were cancelled (and it is a very active tournament scene), my gaming pals's Necromunda campaign is on hold indefinitely and so on and so on.

It hasn't been all bad though, so here is a little summary of some games I have managed to play in the post pandemic world.

Corona Bowl 2020

During the spring lockdown my partner was unable to be at home so I spent the lockdown home alone. A friend of mine, Ryan, was in the same situation so we pre-empted the government and invented the 'bubble', only we called it Corona Bowl 2020.

We played a series of 16 games of bloody blood soaked Blood Bowl, mainly in order to prevent either of us from going insane in an empty house, but also to have fun. For each game we both pulled 2 teams from the pot and picked 1 to use and we used a fairly basic tournament rule set: 1.1m team value, 5 normal skills and 1 double skill. 

Ryan won 8 -6 (with two draws) after 16 games and it stayed fairly close throughout the series. I blame my defeat entirely on elves - it wasn't my fault at all, obviously. I drew Wood Elves three times and lost all three games - 2-1 vs Chaos, 2-1 vs Dwarfs and 2-1 against Necro. I don't really like using high AG teams at all but I wanted to stick at it with the Wood Elves and to learn to love them. I didn't learn to love them, in fact I like them even less now than I did before this.   

My highlight of the series was a thumping 4-0 win with Chaos Dwarfs against Lizardmen. I didn't know Chaos Dwarfs oculd score that many in a game! The series was a real treat and we're keen to have a second season. 

The picture above is actually an entirely different game of Blood Bowl played in Matthew's garden in the summer on his snazzy new pitch.  

Ghengis and the Granite Phallus

My D&D gang played a fantastic D&D 5th edition campaign during the lockdown. We had an expanded group of 8 players plus the DM in two groups using Roll20. What started of as a one or two session long Roll20 primer developed into a rollicking adventure.

My half-orc zealot, Ghengis, was at the centre of the story as he attempted to find and possess a stone phallus that would grant him the power to rule over the disciples of his religion. Not everybody was on board with this idea and the group battled with each other as well as with drow cultists, an angry dragon and a multitude of beasts. Ghengis, alas, did not make it but it was a very successful game of D&D that kept us all going through the spring.

Garden Warmaster

Over the last couple of weeks or so, I have managed to play a couple of games of Warmaster with Bill in his garden. Bill is a lot more experienced with the game that I am so it's been very much a learning experience. First game he gave me a thrashing at 1000 points, him taking High Elves and me with Undead. 

1000 points isn't really enough so the next time we took 1700 (the tourney standard, according to Bill) and it was a closer run thing. He put his cavalry on his left wing but they had a couple of turns of failed orders, delaying them. I thought I had better take advantage of this and went thumping through the centre where I had my chariots and monsters. I made a mess of his infantry and his dragon-mounted hero but my best units were exhausted and when his cavalry finally turned up, the counter attack was brutal.

I had one last chance to avoid defeat - I had to send my general in on his dragon against his general (on a giant eagle). My guy went down fighting, two hits shy of killing the Elf general to secure the draw. My wizards deserve a telling off for consistently failing to cast Doom & Despair on a 4+, which would have prevented those cavalry charges, and my artillery was also a disappointment. Ah well. Defeat this time, but it was a super battle and I can't wait for the next one.

Dragon Rampant

Finally, Matthew and I managed a quick game of Dragon Rampant. His fantastic orcs and goblins, which are mostly the Foundry models against my chaos warband, shown in previous posts. It is such a quick and easy game to play and is a great way just to get some figures on the table. Yes, it could be crunchier, but for a 90 minutes blast of fantasy combat it is perfect.

There wasn't much skill to it, but I did manage to squeak a win. I think Matthew will bring some archers next time, as that was the only area he was lacking. My centaur light cavalry archers were difficult to pin down and good value for the cost. Fun game and it was just lovely to get those toy soldiers out and throw some dice around.

So, that is that for my post-pandemic gaming review! Well done if you actually read this far, it is very much appreciated. 

The weather is turning very autumnal now so there will be fewer possibilities for those Covid-safe outdoor games but I will hope that doesn't mean the end of gaming for the year. If the conditions are right maybe there will be more opportunities to crush my enemies, see them driven before me and hear the lamentations of their women.