Big games or Skirmish?

[valleyboy]

Thinking about Penda's painting vs gaming thread I thought I'd add another

Maybe the reason I play so little is that I am a fan of big games. An ideal game would have masses of figures and some room for manoeuvre and reserves. Inevitably this means having the chance to leave games up for days or longer and play a few turns every now and then. The problem is that it takes an age to not only set up, track casualties, morale etc but also paint the figures (particularly like me if you play solo)

This is what Is what I aim for when setting out to paint and collect armies for a new period and I suppose inevitably it takes an age to get to that state and so delays a game.

More recently I have scaled down and started to collect figures for more skirmish level games like Baron's war, Tuskets and Mammahawks, Infamy and VBCW.

What about you lot? Paint and collect for a big game, a smaller game with maybe less than a dozen units/side or thirdly the a game set at Squirmish level?

[Jeremy]

Tend to play more small games as I generally collect both sides and it’s quicker to paint and to play (that being said, small games are 50-80 figures aside and not the boutique games of half a dozen figures). I have terrible ADD when it comes to focusing on projects, so I find I can finish off smaller forces to a playable size before the shiny distracts me to something else.

Generally, the only big games I play are LAW ones, and that’s usually because you can get the critical mass of players and figures together required for such a game

[goat major]

I'm in the middle. Is that allowed ?

I love a big game and all the goes with it - the spectacle, the large group of players etc. But its pretty much Ayton and spin-offs where i get a chance to play them. Downside is that they do tend to be slow and traffic-jam laden.

Practically smaller skirmish type games allow projects to be finished and quicker games to be played. But i wouldn't want to think that's all i ever got to play, and they do (for me) start to feel a bit samey after a while.

What i probably enjoy most is the "WRG-sized" game - maybe a dozen units and a couple of hundred figures a side.

My current project is multi-purpose. 15mm Ancients aiming towards a big-ish force for TTS or similar, but along the way creating small DBA sized armies for mini-gaming so that i get some benefit before the grand finale in (x) years time.

[Jeremy]

10 years Si? You better get a crack on then!

[goat major]

i like your optimism that x=10

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

I've taken part in a few mega-games over the years: the big AWI game at South Mimms in 2008 - with the 15mm Waterloo game, featuring Peeler et al, being played right next to us - was the zenith of the genre, with a Borodino game the nadir (not quite sure why, just didn't enjoy it). However, in recent years I've moved more towards small-unit gaming, almost all using Lardy rules (ok, not everyone's cup of tea, but who could resist tipping a hot steaming cup of Earl Grey in Mr Armintrout's lap!) or SAGA. I still keep British Grenadier and General de Brigade handy for mob-handed scuffles, but mostly it's What a Sharp CoC in your Tanker, whilst going Coastal with the Friends of Kenny.

I'd also like to add that all my gaming this year has been down to Jeremy and his Virtual Lard Days - so thanks for that!!!

[Jeremy]

Only a pleasure. The objective of it all was to give people a chance to continue their hobby during lockdown when they normally wouldn’t have been able to

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Job done, mate!

[tim.w]

Not the size that counts but the quality of the game and players. Played good and bad of both.

[Jeremy]

Although not answering the question, Tim’s answer is spot on for me. Bad rules with great mates beat great rules with shitheads any day