A week after I'd taken ownership of my first car, I was driving down the A10 in heavy rain. I approached some traffic lights (which were green) and just as I was passing through them a dick in an Audi came through a red light to my right.
I had to swerve to avoid him, causing my car to slide in the wet and bang into some railings (on the side opposite the drivers side). The Audi sped off - leaving me to contemplate the situation. I got out and walked around the car and I was suprised to see no damage to the rear and thought "That's not bad - I think I got away with it".
Then I saw the side of the car.
Mashed wheel arch, dented door, scratched paintwork. No claims out of the window, increase in premiums and a deflated feeling like no other.
So what has this to do with wargames? Simply this. The only similar feeling I can attribute the above with is when a base of figures is dropped on the floor.
You know instinctively that a) the impact has probably done them no good at all b) it's YOUR base of figures and c) they have something long and pointy on them which is unlikely to have survived the fall.
The actual fall can be caused in a number of ways - the clumsy player waving his arms about, the figures (this has happened a number of times) being caught by the wrist-strap of my camera and flung, trebuchet-like' onto the floor, or you're rushing to put figures away and one drops from your paw. Whatever the cause, your figures have fallen the scale equivalent of 1,000 feet.
But in the triumph of hope over expectation you look under the table thinking "It may be OK. It didn't sound TOO bad. It only fell a few feet". Then you see it has landed under the foot of your opponent who chooses this moment to get up for a wee....accompanied by the sound of your Spartan Hoplites being crushed into the parquet floor.
This may not be so bad for 28mm figures, but for my 10mm ancients - where spears, pikes and standards are integrated into the casting - it can prove quite destructive. Invariably its never a blade-armed base that drops but one armed with long spears that are guaranteed to break the fall (and bend and break in the process).
Most of my pike now have their weapons pointing in all directions and I have a number of Macedonian Companian Cavalry who are armed only thanks to the power of Superglue.
Worse is the dropped box of figures. An occupational hazard for gamers when we usually have to transport at least 3 boxes of troops around. This is especially true for games night at Deeside Defenders where I'm usually carting in around 5 box files and a games case (dice, rulers, junk) in the 'tucked under chin' method. All the doors to the gaming room open outwards - so you have to reach down with your pinky and try to pull the door open while not spilling boxes everywhere.
Then balance a McDonalds Medium Meal with Chocolate Milk Shake on the top for added comedy value.
You may remember when I dropped my box of Greek some time ago (if not, click the linky) http://philbancients.blogspot.com/#!/2010/04/blog-post.html. It was a similar feeling. "Perhaps they're OK! They have got magnetised bases. I didn't drop them too far. Perhaps....OH MY GOD!!!!! DID I LEAVE A HAND-GRENADE IN THE BOX?!! Even the Macedonians didn't do THAT much damage!!!".
The box drop is the Armageddon of gamers. Nothing comes close to the apocalyptic damage that it causes. For those who don't have magnetised bases it can mean more damage inflicted in one second than in 20 years of typical use.
But I have now learned to expect the worst when a base tumbles - and comfort myself in the knowledge that they can always be converted to casualty markers - with broken spears and their legs chopped off at the knee.
I had to swerve to avoid him, causing my car to slide in the wet and bang into some railings (on the side opposite the drivers side). The Audi sped off - leaving me to contemplate the situation. I got out and walked around the car and I was suprised to see no damage to the rear and thought "That's not bad - I think I got away with it".
Then I saw the side of the car.
So what has this to do with wargames? Simply this. The only similar feeling I can attribute the above with is when a base of figures is dropped on the floor.
You know instinctively that a) the impact has probably done them no good at all b) it's YOUR base of figures and c) they have something long and pointy on them which is unlikely to have survived the fall.
The actual fall can be caused in a number of ways - the clumsy player waving his arms about, the figures (this has happened a number of times) being caught by the wrist-strap of my camera and flung, trebuchet-like' onto the floor, or you're rushing to put figures away and one drops from your paw. Whatever the cause, your figures have fallen the scale equivalent of 1,000 feet.
But in the triumph of hope over expectation you look under the table thinking "It may be OK. It didn't sound TOO bad. It only fell a few feet". Then you see it has landed under the foot of your opponent who chooses this moment to get up for a wee....accompanied by the sound of your Spartan Hoplites being crushed into the parquet floor.
This may not be so bad for 28mm figures, but for my 10mm ancients - where spears, pikes and standards are integrated into the casting - it can prove quite destructive. Invariably its never a blade-armed base that drops but one armed with long spears that are guaranteed to break the fall (and bend and break in the process).
Most of my pike now have their weapons pointing in all directions and I have a number of Macedonian Companian Cavalry who are armed only thanks to the power of Superglue.
Worse is the dropped box of figures. An occupational hazard for gamers when we usually have to transport at least 3 boxes of troops around. This is especially true for games night at Deeside Defenders where I'm usually carting in around 5 box files and a games case (dice, rulers, junk) in the 'tucked under chin' method. All the doors to the gaming room open outwards - so you have to reach down with your pinky and try to pull the door open while not spilling boxes everywhere.
Then balance a McDonalds Medium Meal with Chocolate Milk Shake on the top for added comedy value.
You may remember when I dropped my box of Greek some time ago (if not, click the linky) http://philbancients.blogspot.com/#!/2010/04/blog-post.html. It was a similar feeling. "Perhaps they're OK! They have got magnetised bases. I didn't drop them too far. Perhaps....OH MY GOD!!!!! DID I LEAVE A HAND-GRENADE IN THE BOX?!! Even the Macedonians didn't do THAT much damage!!!".
The box drop is the Armageddon of gamers. Nothing comes close to the apocalyptic damage that it causes. For those who don't have magnetised bases it can mean more damage inflicted in one second than in 20 years of typical use.
But I have now learned to expect the worst when a base tumbles - and comfort myself in the knowledge that they can always be converted to casualty markers - with broken spears and their legs chopped off at the knee.