In the last two weeks I have fought two battles against Colin's 30 year War Swedes, one was a complete and crushing defeat, the second was a losing draw, just. In both battles, we used the Black Powder rules, and in the last one we also added the new amendments from their latest offering.Its well documented on this blog and my main blog that I have a love/hate relationship with Black Powder, mainly because I usually manage to scupper a well laid plan by bollocks dice throwing.
In order to counter this, I have even gone to the extreme of buying new dice when I was at Salute. Did this make a difference? Not really. I still manage to 'blunder' very regularly. I usually manage to lose a couple of commanders along the way, and if I foolishly put together a battery of guns, I will lose them by throwing a double one.
One thing I have noticed in my dice throwing is that if I am preoccupied with problems outside of the wargame, or if I'm stressed, worried or confused I invariably end up throwing dice that reflect this state of mind. Now clearly over the last two weeks I have had a lot on my mind,[ Its to do with retirement. See my other blog] and I have felt not up to par. So effectively I suffer from real time morale syndrome.
So whats the answer to this conundrum. Do I refuse to play until I feel more upbeat and less stressed? Do I carry on regardless? Or do I buy mind changing drugs to bring my psyche up to a level where I couldnt give a rats about any problems and recklessly throw my dice about the table. Working on this theory I have always thought that Keith Richard of Rolling Stones fame would make a damn fine wargamer. It was just a thought really.
Anyway, on from this pondering. These chaps are the beginning of my Spanish troops. These arquebusiers are part of a colunella that I am painting. The figures are TAG, definitely not the cheapest, but certainly a well researched set of figures.
