Christmastide thru New Year 2023 Gaming

Many blessings this Christmastide!

We had a joyful time at Christmas, and with a budget even more modest than usual we still had many opportunities to enjoy the prosperity with which God has blessed our nation over many years - Praise the Lord! Most importantly, we remembered that most important gift, the coming of Christ Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, hallelujah! 

For us, we observe the traditional Christmas of 12 days - Christmastide - and it starts on Christmas Day and runs for 12 days [hence that fun little song...]. We give a bunch of the bigger gifts and the stockings [little gifts] Christmas Day, but you get one gift a day for the other 11 days, usually small but fun things. This works really well, putting less pressure to have all gifts ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is also full of family events.

One of our biggest gifts was our puppy, Laird Montrose Duncan MacGillivray, a ruby red King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.  Here, he is clearly overcome with Christmas festiveness and passed out after missing his afternoon nap!

He has been a very good doggy, and I can definitely recommend the breed. My son correctly observed that one of our old ornaments clearly resembles Monty!

For Christmas loot,  my mom gave me "Undaunted Normandy", which I hadn't heard about but looking at BoardGameGeek it has very high ratings and great reviews, so we will see about playing it soon...

The Nostalgia Trip to 1982 continued with some purchases. Once again, an ornament provides an appropos reminder:

One of my oldest ornaments that has survived the years... Anyhow, I scored a bunch of Traveller 1ed. LBBs in a large purchase...32 altogether for about $5 each.  Couldn't resist saving time and money, so got them all at once from one vendor I bargained with a bit. All are original artifacts from around 1977-1985!

...also, several classic Traveller board games with 14 more books, including all 8 Alien supplements...

...the games look quite old-school, but with the hard science outlook that makes them worth diving into.  Perhaps the gravity tech is a bit optimistic, but they have rules for zero G anyway!

The below game I bought at the dollar store - for $1.25 [inflation...everything's $1.25 in the store now!] as a stocking stuffer, and my daughter has really enjoyed it.

There's a Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofie piece, and they have to go around the board.  Each has some food for the picnic basket [ice cream, hot dogs, Mickey Burgers] and each time you land on a "Who's Hungry?" space you put one in the basket.  First to put all their food in the basket is ready for the picnic and wins. If you land in a mustard space, you slip in it and have to take back one piece of food from the basket.  That's it!

Louisa Jean things slipping in the mustard is hilarious, and isn't very concerned about winning. She enjoys playing it nearly ever day [more than dad] and it's a fun father-daughter pastime. She is learning how to roll the [paper] die and read the numbers. Shoot...I'd have paid as much as $2.50 for it, now that I see it in action.  LOL.

All smiles as she's ready to play in her ballerina outfit.

In the middle of Christmastide, we celebrated the Boar's Head Feast, an annual event thrown by a Roman Catholic friend - does a great job every year!  I stuffed myself on fresh pork bangers and mash, and some port to wash it all down.  It was a feast I did not mind in the least!

Shortly after, I enjoyed a great scenario at "Sound Officer Call!" Steve's house, played with "Live Free or Die" rules, which went quite smoothly except for a couple of questions.

Below, the setup with the Revolutionaries on the left, lead by Gen. Washington Himself, and the Loyal Royals on the right, lead by LTC Charles Mawhood. The scenario had the Brits needing to keep an exit road open to right or left flank [top right, bottom right in photo below] and to inflict more losses on the Revolutionaries than they took.  A tricky scenario as they are quite heavily outnumbered, at least 2:1 or so, altho all Gen Washington's forces are not on the table at battle start - over half are reinforcements.

British at top right face Gen Mercer at top left.  Gen Washington at bottom left with a brigade.

The generals prepare for a tough fight, and are showing their years in the field. Mercer up front, the British in the distance.  The time to strike is now!

Gen Washington and a large brigade of Pennsylvanians prepare to advance and secure the road ahead of them - British reinforcements will come down the road shortly...

A few turns later, The British are standing their ground while the revolutionaries push ahead.

The terrifying spectacle of sloppy drill and ragged uniforms advancing!

No wonder the British reinforcements immediately flee down the road!

A few of the entire battle at mid-point.  What happened to the glorious advance of the continental army? For the conclusion, you should visit the host's blog [HERE].

What are the secret ingredients to my Winter Wassailing Punch?  Revealed below!  Guaranteed to cure aches, pains, heartbreak, cold feet, and creaky backs as long as you sing loudly until pushed along to the next house!

Soon after, we again gathered at Steve's for a playtest and fine-tuning session of a battle he wanted to run at a 'con: Ulianovo, East Front WWII Flames of War. German platoon defends field fortifiactions against a battalion of Russkies, four Companies - zulu, zulu, ZULU! 

Below, a rapid advance by all is very close to assaulting the fortification.  BUT, they must get beyond it and capture the house with the sector CP in it - but which house is the CP???  Time to do a Battalion Recon and find out!

Germans getting thinned by Mortar bombardments...

Ivan secures the right flank!

A squad tries to hold the trench line, but they are almost surrounded!

The German reinforcements arrive - but will they be enough to save the CP? Ivan has already secured the trench and one house!

How does it all end??  Head over to the hosts's post [HERE]!

As Christmastide ended, a question regarding John Edwin "Jack" Scruby's birthday came up.  After some back and forth over at the Tabletop Talk Fb page, I went by my library which has free Ancestry . com membership, and found the likely date.  We'd have to confirm from records, but the guesses were off by a year and October 24th is the day.  I'm looking at a Scruby-minicon event for October, in my mind...

Stay tuned!

As the holiday season ended, and superbowl season entered, I played an enjoyable game of Panzer Korps adapted from the computer game to the tabletop and a game buddy's house.  It was 1941, and the Germans had to break thru the Soviet defenses [band of units down the center, bordered by the two roads diagonally] from the photo left to photo right.

My stalwart defender's of Mother Russia prepare to halt the invaders in the hills and dales, backed up by several artillery batteries.

Farther town the line, to my left flank, the Germans put heavy pressure on our center, mostly by-passing our far left flank which then attacked!

At 1030, the game was called and undecided - while the Germans were breaking through in the boundary between me and the center, there was a pile of Russians headed that way - too bad, was an interesting fight but Wednesday eves are tough to stay out late for almost everyone.

Also amazingly and importantly, the host - from whom I bought my Franco-Prussian War armies - found all the missing horses, and another 34 infantry battalions, a dozen artillery batteries, and several cavalry squadrons!  Will have to get this on the table again very soon.

Well, not a heavy gaming season, but glad to have fit some in what was a busy time.

I hope your holidays and New Year's were a joyful time and that you have made good resolutions regarding gamingfor 2023...I'll post on that another time!