Archive for the ‘ tournaments ’ Category

Anticamente in Rome

The Anticamente tournament in Rome at last! The date was past Sunday in the glorious Miles Glorious club, a huge space for gamers here in Rome. If you don’t know what is Anticamente (a game for ancient and medieval periods based on area movement), you can go to the link on the right column.

I passed a lot of hours (and an entire day off work) to structure a scheme to sum the rules in a easy way to remind them, but something were out as I expected. I always make schemes because I have a visual memory, and with this form of study I took my university degree. So now I have this help to play, and another time I can spend less energy on the understanding of the rules.

Fabio, the mind after Anticamente, lent us his armies because there are always new players who haven’t the pieces to play. I haven’t an army too, so I took a feudal one, a heavy army, but at the end I don’t liked its composition. So at the start I didn’t understand what I could do with some pieces and I wasted them with bad moves. Gasbarri, the evil one who wins all tournaments, instead built his army with his soldiers. So, not only he is a great gamer, he has got even a tested army. The same day I bought from Fabio the rough pieces (his TB Line produces them in 10mm) for a Roman army, so the next year I will have got my army. And I’m thinking about a medieval army too. However the pieces are too small for my father painting skills, so I will give them to a friend.

We played three games. The first one was against Gasbarri. In the beginning I almost won, but I hadn’t the forces to give the last shot. So, with my army scattered around, this devil under man appearance, kill my pieces one by one. He plagued the loo too, because he is really a demon. The second game was against Paolo “Ronin Clan” with Mongols. I waited a lot to move my heavy cavalry while his light cavalry harassed my troops. I sweared a lot because of my bad dices. At the end Paolo thrown away his cavalry against mine and there was no story: I won.

Here you can see Bizio, the other man after Anticamente. He is under the curse of the creator of a game: he write the rules but he cannot win! And this was true even this time, with the last position of the day. He played a great game but my army was too hard to scratch under clouds of arrows, so I waited until the end to strike back. My victory was little because the time was finished, but I had all my tough troops available so I could do anything.

Here you can see a human figure compared to a Zen Garden board. I showed my game to Bizio. He promised me to do some graphics for the game. Instead Fabio forgot to take me some quartz dust for the boards I’m producing. Shame on him!

Fabio and Bizio came in Rome Saturday. We made a walk in the centre and ate traditional food. Sunday we all ate other traditional food for lunch in a restaurant near Miles Glorious. I even met a Frenchman who is looking for other players. I passed two days of carefree. I like tournaments with friends, I like those moments.

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Lo Papa vero: more and weird stuff

Something more from tournament in Canino.

Canino in Italian language is “little dog”. So this is the place with the monument to a little dog, the coat of arm of the municipality.

I saw this sign. It says that is prohibited the entrance of dogs in the area (a garden for children). It is weird that the sign has a barred dog that is practically the same dog of the coat of arm!

Saturday we slept here, with open windows for the heat, in the main place of the town. Just under there is a bar. In front there is the bell tower of the church with the Bonaparte’s chapel. Near a dance hall in the open for elder people that works until the 24.30. It is like to live inside a speaker box. Gigione on the stage sung “my heart is like a dancer and it make me suffer”…

Near Canino there is this castle with a 2100 years old bridge. It was the frontier between State of Church and Tuscany. Now inside there is a museum.

And near the castle there is Vulci, a ancient and great Etruscan (and after Roman) city. Or better those that remains of Vulci. A large flat plain under the sun with some walls and basements of buildings. Two hour to walk in the area where under our feet there was a great city. It is not dug by archaeologists because we cannot conserve it. A large part of gold from Etruscans it is from here. There are camps and horses (and a lot of flies!!!) but in the museums of the world there are jewels from here.

Last picture for a pre-tournament nocturne match: me versus Narciso, to remind the rules.

Thank you very much to all people involved in this event, and thanks to Narciso for his ospitality!

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Lo Papa vero: aftermath

Well, I still fell tired about those two days in Canino. And I have to prepare myself to upcoming GiocaRoma that is next weekend. And I run two jobs too. I haven’t time for all this… So, only fast posts about the past event!

The prizes, small coups but great glory. And a bottle of oil from Canino trees, a high quality oil.

Genuine cheese as medal for the first squad!

We are so generous that we give away a bottle of oil to all participants!!! We kept this as a surprise. So everyone had something to bring home. And we distributed holy cards too!

My matches went not so well. Two win, two loss. I always made the terrain so I put coast to limit manoeuvring for a more direct approach. But I had very bad dices against my strongest opponents, instead lucky dices against my weakest opponents. So not great story, fast play and results.

The wide hall was offered by Municipality of Canino. We only paid for chairs and tables. However it was hot, as September is.

A great dinner on a terrace. And a lot of chats. But I felt bad with my stomach so I eat not so much. The evening before I only eat a half coconut, and for dinner two small packs of homogenised fruit with bread.

And this is my camp, an idea took from Brancaleone films.

Next year there will be a new tournament organised by us. But it is so early to think about it…

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Lo Papa vero: last calling

Here we are! Sunday it’s the day, with the struggle in Canino among DBA armies, to elect who will be the true Pope (“lo Papa vero”, our theme) in XII century. We have the usual problems about tables, food and these things, but it is because we want all to be perfect. In the meantime, for who is a reader of this blog, a preview of this year gadget for the players: holy cards (a small flyer with a saint image on the front and a prayer on the back) with faces of Legio Palatina members like characters from the Brancaleone’s films. They are made by talented Paolo of Ronin Clan.

Next time the report of the event!

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Lo Papa Vero: incoming

Every year we organise, as Legio Palatina wargame club, a DBA event here in Rome. This is true since 2004, when we started this with “De Bello Italico”, a scenario on ancient Italy in the first Roman age. We are members of the Italian DBA community called DBA-Italia, and we collectively run the DBA Italian championship dedicated to Dionigi Ioghà. We are very happy to create these play opportunities for our friends and for DBA lovers. We always want to set in Rome something special with a strong theme for our tournaments. And we give away special prizes and gadgets as peanuts for tournaments based on Asian lists with a lot of Elephants, or head bands with a red sun in the middle for a tournament on samurai lists. And before the tournaments we test the lists, changing aggressiveness and composition, to have a better balanced list of armies to choice.

We don’t want the same old soup, so every year is different. Now, after 8 years here in Rome we were searching something new to do, so we thought to Narciso, our mate in Canino, whom lives in that small town in the north of actual Lazio region (Latium in latin). Near there is ancient Vulci, an Etruscan city. And one member of Bonaparte family (a Napoleone’s brother) lived here, as prince of a artificial princedom. So, the usual Rome event will be held in the unusual place of Canino.

This year theme is the clash in Italy between Empire and Church, in the XI and XII centuries, a moment when there were more than a pope at once. We focused on Gregorio and Clemente popes and all the struggle for power in those years.

There are two great films here in Italy called “L’armata Brancaleone” and “Brancaleone alle crociate”, the humorous story of a knight and his fellows in those years, in a violent and decadent world full of beggars, mad priests and hungry people, in a false and absurd, but more true than real, portrait of the period. And some scenes were filmed in Canino! We take inspiration from this story, with the fight between Gregorio and Clemente, to set our theme.

We use another method to compose the armies, adding allies to the lists, substituting up to 3 of your original pieces. But these forces can be used only referring to which kind of enemy you fight against. For example, if you are against Empire you cannot use pro Empire allies, if you have Empire allies your opponent cannot use that nation of Empire allies. This was used with success in the Bologna 2006 tournament and was thought by Filippo (see his blog, linked on the right menu!)

We have this appointment for the 4th of September in Canino. If you can, come and play! To know more, visit the website I made for the event:
https://www.legiopalatina.it/lopapavero/index.htm

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Anticamente: Arezzo 2011

At last! After my heroic first position in the Italian championship of 2010 here we have the chance to show in 2011 that I don’t know how to play Anticamente and the ruleset. Indeed, I can say in the first instance that I played with an obsolete version of the rules, but it was the same because quickly I found what was new. Subordinately this time I found competitive players that studied and tried the rules very well. We are all DBA tournament players so with Anticamente we have found some fresh air and a new way to throw dices against our faces.

This time I lost. But I have fun, I hit and received strokes, in a balanced way. Games were interesting, so this was a beautiful day.
Here you can see the development moment, with screen to hide troops. And you can even see my face with a strange red tone. The day before I take my first sun of summer on the Ostia seaside, but confident with the fact that now is May, I and my fiancée scalded ourselves on all our bodies. So during the tournament I suffered by manifest symptoms of sunstroke…

This man win always all. He is the Italian champion of wargames in 2010. And this time he had his personal dice thrower (children are dangerous) and a support from gigantic martial arts gods. I fought well against well balanced forces, I lost only at the last move.

We played Sunday in a comic shop in Arezzo, and for launch there was a restaurant on the other side of the street. With a cook from Montecatini, even if we don’t understand why he say us he was from Montecatini. Mad Tuscans, they are still get in medieval wars city against city…

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DBA Terni 2011

I’m falling asleep… And almost without voice, too much loud chatting with friends. I’m just returned from Terni for the latest DBA tournament. Terni is very near to Rome, only 1 hour or something more, but there was traffic along the way.
The result was not so great but usual: two won, two lost. A draft. Here you can view the fight for the first position.

New location, always outside the centre. A place for the meeting of elder people, very large, and with the worst bar around (it is equipped with only 1 snack and 3 crisps packets, you can starve at death). A little sad, but this time there were around people with little lead people. The weather was frosty too. But there were a lot of friends, so we had a happy party. Under there is the social dinner.

And here there is the Ganesha Games counter with our friend Andrea back from Ukraina. You can see his iphone and ipad, while he is working on new rules during the tournament. I picked up a couple of new rule sets that I cannot have before.

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Someone don’t believe in me. I have got the fifth position in DBA European championship and now I’m the Italian champion of Anticamente. It is not all by chance.

Italian champion of Anticamente

My mate Fabio created this rule set and I was interested from the first times. I corrected one of the rough first versions but I hadn’t time to do more (this situation is a recurrent thing!). I tried it in Agliana convention of the last year and in 2010 I participate in the first tournament of Anticamente instead of playing in the DBA one. A game (Teutonics vs Mongols) with Simoncini brought me a definitive victory and the first position in the tournament. My first time in the first position after 6 years of tournaments!

Italian champion of Anticamente

The results: https://www.tridentebologna.it/Hellana2010_I.php

Italian champion of Anticamente

Agliana was set in Winter, this time was Summer, the 3rd of July, my birthday! I went around Modena in a huge place managed by a group of boys and girls. I believed I could do a good play strong of my past, but the day went very bad. The first game was delirious: I died without moving; wrong army, wrong battle array. Not a happy birthday. Only a cake offered by Fabio tempered the big delusion.

Italian champion of Anticamente

The results: https://www.tridentebologna.it/Dadi&Sudore2010_I.php

Italian champion of Anticamente

Autumn, but a weather like Winter. The last of the three stage for this year. Not my birthday but my name day! Strange thing: I had the same shirt I wore in Agliana. I don’t like it. So I have pictures of me with an ugly shirt and cups. If I knew my future results I would dressed like a model in a fashion magazine.

First game with late Romans. I placed my troops in the wrong place. With more courage I could do something, instead I fight only with a bunch of guys. The others remained blocked behind the front line. I lost but not so much.

Italian champion of Anticamente

Next game, against Bizzio, the virtual Italian champion and one of the people with more games on his shoulders. I thought: “I will lost with infamy”.

I wanted the Teutonics and he wanted the Mongols. The battle was set. The forces of good with their white suits vs a pile of waste.

Italian champion of Anticamente

The only thing he must did was all but not 1. He wanted to cry or to make seppuku. Very desperate…

Italian champion of Anticamente

This was a human being before a wrong throw of dice.

Italian champion of Anticamente

I was very, but really very, happy. What you can see here is nothing. This pic was took by Bizzio so I didn’t want to be pitiless towards him.

Italian champion of Anticamente

This is the final aspect of the battle. The forces of good ground the scum of Mongolia. No story for Bizzio, his army was no more. 40 to 0 the result.

Italian champion of Anticamente

The last game was against Prof. Mariani, a school director now in retirement. He panicked with his Gauls against my Romans. He don’t know well the rule set, but my forces acted like a hammer. 40 to 0, again.

Italian champion of Anticamente

My mates here won the third and the second place. The ancient Legio Palatina club (but now Legio Palatina + Ronin Clan) won another day!

Italian champion of Anticamente

First! The results: https://www.tridentebologna.it/Roma2010_I.php

Italian champion of Anticamente

And with the sum of the year I did a total of 163 points, 58+11+94. First again and another cup! You can see where my eyes went. To Bizzio. He is not so happy for this thing because he thought to win and came from Bologna for this. So I’m happy for me, but sad for him. But this is only a game, and another tournament means another challenge from 0 points. This time the glory was for me, after a year full of bad results and last positions, this victory is gold!
The 2010 results: https://www.tridentebologna.it/anticamentetournament_I.php

Italian champion of Anticamente

I want to thank Fabio for all his efforts to bring this game to life and for his availability. Thanks to Bizzio too for his contribution to the game and his sympathy.

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