Now that's a cool title to reopen this blog after the mini-break. Unfortunately the break took a bit longer then planned but I'm ready again to join the fun.During my holiday I had the pleasure to have a game with internet celebraties Ray from Don't throw a 1, Fran The Angry Lurker, Surjit (does not read blogs as he is afraid he might be on them) and the ultimate game master Postie. Together with a number of others they are known as Postie's Rejects.
Ray read on my blog I was visiting relatives in Kent and invited me for a game with the Rejects and after a couple of emails my first internet date was a fact.
Since Ray and Fran both did two parts battle reports three weeks ago I will just share some pictures and thoughts on the day.
When I arrived at Postie's house a couple of surprises hit me. The guys were already waiting and having a cup of tea to get ready for the game. Well, they were all drinking tea except for Ray and maybe one other. He was drinking something else which looked somewhat weird to me. Was he really....When he then mentioned he went out with some friends the night before I decided not to ask. But now I've seen Ray in action I got to know. What is this magical drink that makes you throw 7 hits out of 7 dice at a deciding charge?Jokes aside the Rejects made me feel very welcome from the moment I walked in. They come together to have a good time and succeeded to include me in all the fun. The game was very well organized by Postie who prepared the table including initial deployment, handed out copies of the rules, wrote a scenario with lots of surprises and ran the game with great enthusiasm and humor. Every club would want a Postie and it made me think that we need to prepare better for our games since it adds so much to a game.
The second surprise came when they took me to the garden to start the game. Ok, the weather was good and I like the sun but playing outside? No way, Postie transformed his garden into a wargaming temple. Unfortunately I do not have a better picture but the shed behind us gives you an idea. A permanent large table and lots of terrain and figures. And that's just the shed. During the 'Marry me' pasta break which was discussed on TheAngryLurker's blog Postie showed me some other rooms in his house where he stores lots ans lots of painted figures.
Ah, I do have a better picture of the shed:
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| Rejects clubhouse |
On to the game. As said both Ray and Fran did the reports so just a couple of pictures with comments.
The Battle of Pisek 8th July 1809
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| Initial deployment at left flank. I played the Saxons with Fran on my right side playing the French. Opposing me was Ray commanding an Austrian army |
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| Saxons on the attack. The guys were quite surprised I actually went in to charge mode asap. | Hey, no guts no glory. |
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| Initially, helped by highly professional dice rolling, the charging was successful. Only a couple of batallions left to finish off |
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| In we go again! |
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| Ouch another one on the left. And it can turn and charge my flank as I hear... |
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| Fran finds out Ray saved his best dice for the important moments. Ray seems pretty happy with it. What was it again? 7 hits out of 7 dice, needing 5's or 6's? Can't beat that. Well, actually we did. We did enough damage earlier to just win on total points. But who cares, it was close and exciting game. |
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| Fran and Surjit had a huge fight over the hill at our right wing |
After the battle Postie had another surprise in store. I was made Honorary Member of Postie's Rejects and he handed me a beautiful trophy as a memory for the day. He even painted the flag orange the night before. Very cool and it got a nice place in the cabinet. The rejects now have a proud Dutch chapter and I hope this blogging community will expand further and we have some more games together.
I had a really great day and the rejects are just the kind of people you want to game with. Lots of humor while playing a fine battle with little soldiers. Perfect. So when you are in Kent, get in touch with them, they are open to it and I know you will not regret it. Be prepared for some Dutch swear words though. The last surprise was they asking me to write down some Dutch swear words for them.
Why I don't know, maybe it was to comment on my blog?
Thanks again rejects! CU@Salute
Links to the proper battle reports:
http://theangrylurker.blogspot.com/2011/08/1809-napoleonic-battle-report-part-1.html
http://theangrylurker.blogspot.com/2011/08/1809-napoleonic-battle-report-part-2.html
http://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/2011/08/napoleonic-battle-of-pisek-1809.html
http://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/2011/08/battle-of-pisek-1809-part-2.html
