Scotland Rising!

New stuff for Xmas

I got Scotland Rising through the Kickstarter exercise over the summer. This is a really good game about the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The game is an interesting twist on the Hold the Line system, one I enjoy very much.

As has been pointed out by various reviewers, although a good game it is pretty expensive for what it is. I had hoped that it would come with two stretch goals, additional games covering Stirling Bridge 1297 and Falkirk 1298. The bad news was that the Kickstarter didn't get that far. The good news is that both extras are being made available as print n play games from the Worthington Games website.

Both maps are available as PDFs. These are smaller than the Bannockburn map and come in at 11" by 17" and are easily produced at the local print shoppe. 

The Stirling Bridge rules and set-up map (see below) have now been made available. There is a promise of the additional material for Falkirk before Xmas.

Both games can be played with the counters from the Bannockburn game (a pity we don't get a Wallace counter!). These should provide a nice, and very cheap, diversion over the holidays.

Talking of diversions, it should shortly be time for the Consim World annual funding drive so we can expect a few more freebies to come from that.

Hold the Line: Scotland Rising Review

An unusual post for me, I've had to work out how to put in the video link! I don't normally post videos, the reason for this one being the subject. I have invested in the Kickstarter project for this game and am hoping that there will be sufficient backers to achieve a couple of key goals, the first is the inclusion of a separate game on the battle of Stirling bridge in 1297 and the second a game on the battle of Falkirk in 1298.

Marco concludes that this is a good game, which I would fully expect coming from the Hold the Line stable, but that if Bannockburn is the only game in the box it probably is not value for money. Personally I'd love to have Bannockburn, Stirling Bridge and Falkirk, but with 15 days to go and a cool $4,000 off the pace just for Stirling bridge, I'm not holding my breath.

The game is due out in August and I'm looking forward to it. From my point of view the simple mechanics and the subject are likely to get the kids engaged with this game. It will be worth it just to do that.

Hurrah, I've done something new!

I've backed a game on Kickstarter....

So, not that new for many folks but one for the diary for me. As well as the pleasure of doing something different I'm quite excited.

This is Worthington's new game, Scotland Rising: The Battle of Bannockburn 1314. Having just been to the Bannockburn Battlefield Centre I have developed a great interest in this game and am very much looking forward to playing it. 

You might ask, why not wait until it is released over here, surely the postage alone will make it unattractive? Well, yes you do pay for the privilege of living outside the US, $27 to be precise. However, this is a mere bagatelle given that the stretch goals are included in the basic pledge ($45) level. Subject to funding, this includes a hard mounted map board and two additional games, Falkirk and Stirling bridge. 

As to "attractive", the whole package looks great.

Worthington also now produce presentations for their games badged as "learn to play in five minutes". The link for this one is here. The game is due in August, just in time for a game with the wife before the big vote!

This week I have mainly been in...

Scotland, the noo!

A leisurely week in Scotland visiting our relatives gave us an opportunity to catch up on a few visitor attractions.

Haig: Bronzed off perhaps in the rain

We did the Edinburgh Dungeons (too scary for some of us), the Britannia (very beige) and last, but not least, Edinburgh Castle. I haven't been to the castle since I was a kid so it was pretty much a fresh start for me. Highlights were the Scottish National War Memorial right at the top of the hill, the crown jewels (does Mr Salmond's head fit?) and the National War Museum. The latter was very well done if a little dark (under lit) in places. The whole thing impressed me with a genuine sense of Scottish nationhood, a very large step up from the petty nationalism that is featuring in the independence debate.

I found the statue of Haig rather touching. It is directly outside the museum but its subject does not seem to be overtly discussed in the museum's material. Perhaps an opportunity missed to debate this complex figure. 

The Bruce

Having read about the Bannockburn battlefield centre in Wargames Illustrated 319 we went along without having pre-booked anything. All I can say is that it is the best battlefield centre I have visited. The 3D experience is stunning, the children found this absolutely magic and so did I. The battlefield briefing using the wargame model was good and the game itself was highly entertaining. No need to go into detail as the WI article gave a good run through. Every one who played (around 30) was engaged throughout, the children made good decisions and the lady standing next to showed great insight, for someone I did not take to be a wargamer. Game management by Amy was excellent. As mentioned in WI, there was great enthusiasm for killing the enemy royalty so wargamery tactics went out the window.

Big flagpole, small English King and damsel, sorry that would be Queen!

If you get the opportunity, do go along. We enjoyed this so much we will make the trip to Culloden next time we are up the way. It makes me wonder why we can't have something like this for Naseby or Marston Moor?