An Expensive Month

My endless prevarication over what to do and what not to do, along with getting sidetracked by other shiny things, has cost me a bit this month. I've mainly been investigating rule sets, either as the main set 'to use' or merely for the value of the lead porn contained within them.

First off was the sale at Warhammer Historical, which resulted in the purchase of the Ancient Rules V.2 and the long awaited 'Over The Top' supplement for Great War. I don't see Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) as 'the' rule set by any means and I don't do ancients, but as a skirmish level set for Medieval/Renaissance they will work fine. I have the Siege and Conquest supplement along with Armies of the Age of Chivalry too, so that rounds off WAB for me. The long awaited (two years iirc) 'Over The Top' supplement was finally released in August. I bought 'Great War' to use for SCW skirmish games, as the Warhammer system is pretty straightforward and well known. OTT was bought on a whim in the sale and to be honest is an excellent supplement, such a shame that Great War players have had to wait so long for it.

Force on Force Ambush Valley arrived from Amazon this morning, a week ahead of its release, Go Amazon! Intended as a supplement of the main rules, rather than a stand alone set, I'd definitely say value for money here. It's crammed with organisational detail for all of the combatants, interspersed with art from the Osprey books and has some bolt on rules and vehicle stats specifically for the Vietnam War, for use with Force on Force. At £10+ compared to the £15 rrp, a definite bargain. Even the main rules are £10 cheaper from Amazon. For the price Ambush Valley is worth buying as a general reference work, even if you don't play FoF as the 'rule specific' detail is only a small portion of the book. They are due to release Bush Wars for conflicts in Africa from the 1960's on, so on the strength of Ambush Valley, I've pre-ordered, it is that good!  

Black Powder I've mentioned previously and although I'm dabbling with using it for Renaissance games, it's likely that Warlord Games will have released a Pike and Shot specific version before I get around to playing them.

On the subject of Pike and Shot, there is the aforementioned Pike and Shot and Zombies rules and supplements from AB One Games. I'm pretty stoked with these to be honest and I fully intend to review them presently. For now I'll content myself with saying that it's a great concept and despite that they should have been proof read before publishing, they are excellent and well thought through. Clearly some time and thought went into these.

The last significant purchase this month was Field of Glory Renaissance and the supplements; Trade and Treachery and Wars of Religion. Again bumper discounts at Amazon saw me get these for just under £40, a saving of about £17 overall over the rrp. I can't rave about these, other than to say that they aren't DBR on steroids like I half expected. I'm not a competition gamer, but these appear to be pretty decent rules and lists overall. Time will tell on whether I immerse myself in these or not.

The only thing lacking from my 'rules stable' is a good set of Post-Apocalypse rules. I'm tempted by Ambush Alley's Tomorrow's War, but while an excellent core system, I'm looking for something a little more RPG and characterful, that isn't 40K. For the most part I've been looking at free wargame rule sets and there are a few which show promise. Warlord 2085 (Skank Game to some of you) and Wastelands, being front runners. Commercially, Two Hour Wargames 5150 is a possible as I liked ATZ. They were also set to bring out After The Horsemen, but things seem to have gone quiet on this.