Although it’s been more than a week that Northstar began to mail the copies of A Fistful of Kung Fu to customers, the official release date is the 18th of this month. Now I start a short countdown showing some photos about the playtest sessions happened more than a year ago.

This time an adventure among Chinese restaurant dishes. It was occurred in a pause of a more canonic playtest with miniatures and terrain. Playing a Kung Fu ruleset, what could be better than eating Chinese?

Unfortunately a form of food poisoning emerged from this playtest session. A specific ingredient used in this restaurant (maybe a preservative?) sends my immune system into haywire. My body was covered with a rash and an extreme itch impeded my normal activities. I needed more than a week, and lots of medication, to restore my skin to normality.

The past Saturday we met for a full day of playtesting. We are working on new projects for 2016 by Ganesha Games. At the moment we are still on the verification of the basic mechanics. So we talked a lot of what we think is the best for them and played a couple of games. On other things we are in more advanced phases. The publication of these rules is sometime only a matter of time and organisation for Andrea. We reminded of Song of Spear and Shield, so we play a speed battle with it. We don’t know if it is ready or if it needs something other. In the meantime I’m working on Ferrum et Gloria. I playtested some things for the second book but I have to complete the editing of the first!!! In February I want to complete the first book. Yes, it is late by a couple of years, but I think that every time I can put my efforts on it, it is better. Carry on… !

I was waiting this event for a couple of years. I thought that, for an important anniversary as the landing on Anzio and Nettuno beaches, great things could be done. Instead, at the noon of the day before, I was informed about the dismiss of the participation of our representative group of the national army paratroopers association. Various problems with the organiser of the Anzio event (another one were held in the neighbour Nettuno) made we thought about boycott or clear malpractice. I went privately only the Sunday to watch the two events.

This is the new monument in Anzio.

The war cemetery for Italian Army soldiers that fought against Allies on this front. The X shape is for the X° MAS, one of the Italian combat groups.

Some objects in a museum. On the right some items from Italian paratroopers on this front.

An helmet with shells from years in the sea.

A pan made with a German helmet.

An absolute great diorama on the Anzio harbour.

The Italian Garibaldi aircraft carrier.

Part of Forte San Gallo on the beach in Nettuno.

Some reeneactors as American soldiers in Anzio.

Some reenactors as Germans and Italians in Anzio. Some were not so believable and with wrong uniforms.

The 18th of the last month we met at Sergio’s house to play a “big battle” with Drums & Shakos Large Battle. Four people versus four people, French versus Russian on a large 300×180 table. Armies were divided in three sub-armies with three players and another player was the commander in chief. People from Arezzo took Russian, Sergio and Romans took French. Sergio is thinking about some definitive rules to administrate these big battles. He will publish them soon or after.

French troops toward the battle.

Russian march column towards glory.

The centre of the fight. Coloured cubes are troops fatigue.

To have a detailed explanation of the various phases of the battle go to the Sergio’s blog. Under a photo-video of the battle made by the winners, the Russian.

They started almost at 10 and finished in mid afternoon. With a pizza lunch in the middle. While these brave men from two opposite empires dying, in another room, I and Andrea tested something for the 2016…

After more than 10 years I decommissioned my old computer. Now I want to introduce you to my new computer: CPU I5-4570, Motherboard ASUS Z87, 16GB Kingston DDR III, Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB + WD Green 2TB. It is a real killing machine! After a couple of weeks for configurations, backup and program installing, now I’m ready to restart with the Ferrum et Gloria works.

The last post on Lucca Comics & Games 2013. Always in the Miniature Island but regarding only our space as Ganesha Games.

We had some new realisations: BattleSworn, Samurai Robots Battle Royale, Of Gods And Mortals, Non Andare Nel Bosco D’Inverno. Song of Shadows and Dust was still only in digital format.

Andrea presented his last games with a double scenario, so he could play with monsters and robots or with gods or gambling warriors.

This is my table. On the left the debut of my small arena for Ferrum et Gloria. On the right the demonstration game with Zen Garden in its best and last White Edition.

At the end I sold all the copies. Here the empty space after the last box was sold. I’m happy of what I obtain with this game. I met a lot of people and some of them now is playing with my game. I must start to think on something new to bring at convention. Maybe I will develop an easy version of Ferrum et Gloria for casual players.

An official photo of the presentation of Of Gods And Mortals by Osprey in the conference hall of the Games pavilion.

Andrea after he was awarded with the prize called Premio Conan for the 2013. It stand out the best Italian personality for wargame world.

With this photo you can note the differences between my camera (the bottom photo) and a professional one (the upper photo). Add the unstable hand of Andrea and you can obtain a blurred photo of me at the end after 4 days of fair. Ready for another Lucca in 2014!

I reported only something of what happened in the days of Lucca C&G. Too much things to do and to see. And now more than two months are distant from this event. However I hope I showed you what this huge fair means. So you could be here for the 2014 edition. Now it is time to concentrate on our specific area of interests: wargame.

We were inside the Games pavilion, in an area called Miniature Island. Around us there were some miniature related stands, than demonstration tables (where I was), and in the inside the painters area.

This a horse & musket wargame by our room mate in the hotel. I give him a couple of precious earplugs to survive to Andrea snoring.

A simple Napoleonic game by Narciso, now in the Clan Conan, veterans of demonstration games in Lucca.

Their huge playable scenario: Iwo Jima! Inside the Suribachi some tunnels are dug. To simulate the terrain they used huge amounts of coffee grounds! And all was assembled in the small living room of Narciso. That smelled of coffee, indeed.

Unofficial Games Workshop Warhammer 40000 demonstration battle. A nice group of alcoholic chaps ran these trenches and 4 days of fighting.

The magnificent trio: Sartori, Torriani, Sfiligoi. Presently they are the pillars of Italy regarding wargame rules. Their work is recognised outside our national and linguistic borders.

Losi, the martyr of last year Andrea snoring. This year he slept in another hotel. Co-author of the modern version of the Torriani’s wargame engine. In the fair he dressed as a Taleban or a private contractor. No, he is not totally mad. : )

The action in the streets of Iraq.

I feel the need of some concrete walls like these ones for my games…

A complete view of the set.

The new wargame by Torriani’s team is setted in Western period.

The painters area. He is Nano Nefasto (ill-omened dwarf), a professional painter from Brescia. On the left the Ludica team.

Luciano at work, illustrating how to paint miniatures.

Some of the pieces in the painting contest called Trofeo Grog.

Private collection by one of the painters.

The Blood Bowl gladiator squad by Auricchio grow convention after convention, year after year…

Always miniature sculpted by Auricchio: a 15mm Hastings range. Yes, 15mm, not 28mm!!!

Sculpting contest, always for Trofeo Grog: some gladiators.

My left thumb and a WWII US marine by Seven Samurai sculpting team.

1-48 Combat is back as 1-48 Tactic. This is a miniature for the game with his twin in a smaller scale.

We were a very large team in that mess. Some faces were the same of the previous years, some are new. Every evening we took a dinner together in various restaurants, the only moment when we could chat. We are part of a community, we are wargame players.

Paradisiac opportunities for photographs and lovers of beautiful girls: cosplay. I like the costumes but I have to admit that I love beautiful girls too. It is a matter of nature, it is harder than my will. However, every costume is photographed a lot of times, cosplayers take photos of other cosplayers, it is a general costume show.

If it is true that male photographers love girls in costume, it is alike true that female photographers love males in costume.

There is a plaza where cosplayers meet themselves. If you want to see them here it is the place where only you have the wrong dress.

Someone remains hours along a wall so people can take a photo of theme.

I always wonder of wings and how to move with them in the streets.

Cosplay walk is on the walls. But usually they don’t put themselves on the floor.

Someone took an holiday…

Ambassadors of an ancient cult…

Genial costume from Conan by Miyazaki!

Another try of the same costume.

Akira and his motobike. A costume with a customized bike! Behind, a stroller…

Men dressed like a girl are always fun. And with a beard you can be funnier.

A costume with a lamppost included.

And this one is the stage where musical shows and the cosplayers contest were held. 1600 people were inscribed to participate to the contest… lots more were walking around in the fair.