Auckland Wargaming Club

After some discussion, the committee have decided to give evening meetings another go. Thursday has been chosen by default (the only other evening the hall was free was Friday - erm NO!). Fridays were tried - and failed. The meetings will be held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month from February until the end of June. The first meeting will be Thursday 17 February and the meetings will be from 1900 - 2300 (7pm - 11pm).

The AWC’s Lasalle Napoleonic Tournament in 15mm scale is due to start soon. It has yet to be confirmed if players will get 1 or 2 Support options – but looks most likely just one for this initial competition (as many players are still busy painting their figures and learning the rules). The Tournament will be played over the course of several weeks with games occuring either at AWC meetings or at mutually agreed alternate venues.

It’s hoped to have the entrants confirmed by Sunday 23 January 2011 if possible so the competition can begin in February – so any members interested should check out the AWC Yahoo Group for more details and advise the organiser of their Army & Theatre (i.e. sub-period) for the competition. Napoleonic Gamers in the Auckland and Waikato (& similar) regions who are not AWC Members and are interested in participating may be able to do so - they should also contact the organsier through the AWC Group.

A subsequent 28mm scale Tournament is planned for the middle of the year...

Equinox will run at the Freeman's Bay Community Centre in central Auckland on the 19-20 March 2001, and is hosted by the City Guard. Primarily a Fantasy/Sci-Fi event it also includes Ancients (FoG) and World War II (FoW). The venue includes shops & a cafe.

Early Bird Registration before 30th January is $35 and go into a draw for a $50 Games Workshop voucher. Otherwise Registration from 31 January to 03 March is $45. Entry & Registration to the tournament closes on 03 March 2011.

Competitions being offered:

01 January (New Years Day - No Meeting)15 January (Auck Anv. Weekend is Monday 30 January)05 February - Waitangi Weekend Monday 06 Feb19 February04 March18 March01 April(Easter is 06-09 April)15 April (ANZAC Day is Thursday 25 April)06 May20 May03 June - Queen's Birthday Weekend 17 June01 July15 July05 August19 August02 September16 September07 October21 October - Labour Weekend Mon 22 Oct04 November18 November02 December - Club AGM16 December

02 January (No Meeting)16 January(Auck Anv. Weekend is Monday 31 January)06 February - Waitangi Day Weekend20 February06 March20 March03 April17 April(Easter is 22-25 April & ANZAC Day also)01 May15 May05 June - Queen's Birthday Weekend 19 June03 July17 July07 August21 August04 September18 September02 October16 October - RWC Semi-Final 2 at Eden Park (Labour Weekend is Mon 24 Oct & RWC Final Sun 23 Oct)06 November20 November04 December - Club AGM18 December

The AWC AGM (Annual General Meeting) was held on Sunday 05 December 2010, and as a result the incoming committee for the 2011 year will be:

President: Richard Hornell Secretary: Michael Hodgeson Treasurer: John McLennan Committee: Nick Buckby Committee: John Calnan

Today MEDBAG had its biggest event to date; that said, it involved as many participants as the event at NSWC, and there were even as many games; however, this time they were themed, which added a good deal of interest to the event. There were six of us, and Andy provided the armies (with a few Gallic warbands from John, as Andy’s were double-based)...

Read More at AWC member Mark Davies Hesperiana Blog...

Once again to be held at the ASB Stadium, Kohimarama, Auckland (beside Selwyn College). You can visit the BattleCry Website or Email the Organisers. Registrations are now open and costs are:

Up to the 15th November 2010 - $25.0015th November 2010 to 31st January 2011 - $35.001st February to 19th February 2011 - $40.00

Several Tournaments have numbers caps so get in quick if you want to play... Currently confirmed are:

Will be held at the club rooms at 11am on Sunday 05 December 2010 (the first meeting in December). The Agenda will be:

Apologies Confirmation of 2009 Minutes Matters Arising President's Report Treasurer's Report Setting of 2011 Fees Election of 2011 Officers Ben Hill resolutions General Business Doom and Gloom

Be there or be square! Have your say on the clubs future course...

Why ME? Since the international success of The Lord of the Rings movies, New Zealand has been identified (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of many as the home of Middle Earth. MEDBAG is a site dedicated to keeping people around the world informed of DBA and HotT activities in New Zealand.

DBA in NZ & Abroad

DBA is quite popular overseas, where its small scale and quick play time allow enjoyable one-day competitions, where six games can be comfortably played. These can be themed to a period or have some sort of campaign mechanism. The liveliness of the DBA community is attested by their Fanaticus Website. In New Zealand the game is quite strong in the South Island, with a number of DBA competitions in recent years in Timaru and Christchurch. It's also a rule set that is being offered at the IWC next February and has 17 players already registered.

Auckland's City Guard Tournament happens third week of March. It will include a small Ancients tournament - FOG (Field of Glory) at 650 points on 6'x4' tables with 2 or 3 generals. There will be a reduced amount of terrain due to the small tables and smaller deployment areas. The standard sized measuring sticks used in Auckland for 28mm FOG will be in use. Tournament is planned to be 4 games, with possibly 5 if games are concluded speedily.

There are only 8 slots available for this tournament (due to a table resourcing issue) so it's vital to sign up ASAP if you are keen. Currently there are 5 confirmed entrants so just 3 remaining openings. Registration is $40 and closes Friday 05 March.

I gave up DBMM at the start of the year. Had a few too many games where, as a result of army matchups, terrain, weather or time of day, one side had an edge before the first pips were thrown. Just did not suit my (emphasise my) preferences - so I played the other game this year instead. However, Benny pushed for DBM240 games, and having 2 games on a club day, or 3 games per day in a competition seemed to offer a way around my problem - one game might be a bit dull, but the next one good.

This is exactly what I found. At the comp, my middle game was not that enjoyable (I attacked an encamped enemy in pitch black with 3 hours till sun-up and my magic night-vision allowed me to avoid his KnS and attack the softer bits of his army to win), but the other two were good well-balanced games (admittedly both Free Company vs. Free Company which naturally balances play).

The tournament in Auckland used the latest draft of the DBMM v1.1 rules. There was a nominal theme (blatantly plagiarised from an event in the UK earlier this year) which asked players to base their armies around a film or TV series. This resulted in some interesting army choices, although a number of the more 'hard core' players paid only lip service to the theme and chose highly geared armies that ensured the rules were given a reasonably thorough workout.

A successful DBMM240 “Armies of the Movies” tournament was played at the AWC on the 6 December 2009. A full report will follow elsewhere, meanwhile here are some photos of the event and some of the armies involved…

Note: No Spartan Rhino’s were harmed in the making of this Photo Gallery!

With all lists now in and checked it is time for the first round draw to be revealed. The usual 'nearest historical date' pairing, but slightly modified to avoid the North Shore boys being paired against each other. Some good reference material, some perhaps not so good and then there's Cam's........................

1. Al Donald (AWC) - Early Hoplite Greeks 479BC (Reference: Movie "300" - what else?!)2. Andrew Fergus (AWC) - Thracians 200BC (Reference: French TV doco about "Seuthès l'Immortel, les Secrets d'un Roi Thrace" - The Immortal Seuthès; secrets of a Thracian King)

Our friends down at the North Shore Wargaming Club (NSWC) look like they have been sneaking in some DBMM240 practice for the tournament this weekend...

Three games were played at the NSWC's first November meeting and another 4 games at the following meeting (this weekend just passed) - sounds like some serious preparation down at the NSWC! Check out the NSWC Site for the results...

I've finally got my act together and written up the DBMM240 conditions for the 6 December 2009 tournament. Please have a read and get back to me with any (sensible) questions. It should all be straightforward as I've simply tried to tabulate the important variations into one document, trying to reconcile any inconsistencies in the process. The major exceptions are Baggage and Terrain.

REMINDER: This Event is this Sunday (22 November 2009).

FRI 13 NOV UPDATE: The CityGuard Bring & Buy will now run until 7pm on Sunday. Also there are some special Warhammer events being organised for those interested: The 40K folks are organising a special 500pts 40K in 40mins event, the Fantasy folks are organising a special 500pts baby league event, and the Warmachine folk are organising a special 15pt event. There will be a BBQ operating from around 5.30pm with sausages, drinks, etc, for sale... Get along and support the CityGuard if you can!

The club is organising this to be run on 06 December. This is, of course, the AGM date so entering is a way to have something to do if you've nothing else planned. Doors will open at 8:30 for a 9am start with three 2.5 hour rounds through the day. The first round will finish in time for the AGM formalities.

NOVEMBER UPDATE: ASB Stadium, Kohimarama (same place as 2009), Sat 20th to Sun 21st Feb - just a note that the BattleCry website is live and we are taking registrations for our 2010 events. There is a registration form, very simple, to pre-register your interest in a particular tournament.