Archive for November, 2015

Empoli Wargame 2015 (pt.1)

Back to 3rd and 4th of October. After Romics we rested one day. Then on car toward Empoli for one of the best Italian wargame conventions. This was the first time for me. Two days of fun. The place is huge and it is inside the local fair palace. Empoli is a sort of part of Florence’s economic area. As hotel a budget place in a near town specialised in ceramic. But now a speed review of the tables.

A club of young people prepared games for younger people. Patience, creativity and great things.

A boardgame-wargame extended to bigger dimensions. And dinosaurs. That cannot be small. Note children around. Spreading the disease…

Always simple games but for older people than children.

Playing with 6mm on a map. Captivating. But abuse of hand lens to understand who is killing who.

Salini and his crusade for a new Italian tournament standard adopting “L’Art de la Guerre”. Maybe the new sensation for DBA, DBM, DBMM, FOG orphans?

Di Bartolo and his Napoleonic dream. He use an abacus for malus and bonus, and this sometime isn’t a bad idea. And his soldiers are always the best.

Naval war with big sailing ship. This deserve an applause.

Urban fight in WWII. I like these things a lot. And I want to replicate them with my Flyton scenario. What is it? It is one project of mine that I frozen in the last years. You can find traces on this blog. Now with the new house and new spaces to put scenario elements I can build my little city.

A wild western town and its leisure facilities.

Frogs versus turtles. An epic struggle.

More canonic fight. Did I never transpire that I love Romans?


The convention was originally a modelling convention. But now wargames are really dominant. However something remains, as static modelling and railway modelling. Here some wagons as we know it (dirty and shabby). And than a near station in a big diorama.


On the next post more on Empoli.

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Romics 2015 autumn edition

Back to the 1st of October. Romics is the comic convention of Rome. It is held twice every year in Rome fair. However the buildings are sinking in the ground. Moreover Rome fair is sinking in debts. But be happy: Romics is a money war machine and we will have a Roman comic convention continuously.

We are always present in the convention the first of the four days, from opening hour to end. It is the less crowed. So we can spend money freely and talk to people. And we did it abundantly. But not so many naked female cosplayers around the first day. Pity.

This time the convention was exploded in five pavilions. It is a very huge convention with lots of people around, but without cultural events and publishing companies presence. It is only shops and cosplay.

More boardgames this year. But it is not an easy situation where you can play: too many people around that don’t know games and don’t want to know them. In a matter of fact, as Ganesha Games we are not interested to be here.

However our friends of Reindeers club are here every edition. Praise them and their efforts to spread gaming culture. And this is the last Zerloon realisation: Mad Max flick was out in that time. And roads needed warriors.

Speaking about cars, an exhibition about Diabolik. And his cars.

This time there were two interesting exhibition: one about Bruno Bozzetto work, and this one about an Italian comic legend. He is the “king of murder”. A fictional one, obviously.

Some original drawings on the walls. The cover of one of the first numbers and its modifications. Look at the Diabolik’s eyes. And on Lady Kant the sign of a patch to change lineaments of the girls in following editions.

Another original draw and another version.

The original cover of a new series.

Comic convention are not more a matter of comics. They are more based on merchandise and gadgets nowadays.

And all what is from Japan is classified as something comic related. Thanks to anime, and later to manga.

Stuffed animals are cute and related to comic convention. Too much girls around nowadays as comic fans. But this is good. And I bought one of them for my love.

More cute things. Doraemon as a superhero.

Statues. Costly enough. And 1/6 action figures by Kaustic Plastik. I need some Roman to add to my collection.

To close some statuettes. Males like them more than stuffed animals. I don’t know why.


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DBA tournament in Rome

Back to the 26th of September. Still t-shirts around, as DBA, in the 3 edition version. A tournament was held in Rome, the first and maybe the last with this rules version.

We waited for this new edition since a lot of years. Its publication was a thing that never happened. And DBA was lacking interest between players.

Rules modification proposals were around for years. So the new edition displease almost everyone because everyone had his personal ideas how to fix and improve the game. And the new edition was something other than so many people wanted.

It is impossible to create 1000 different rules for 1000 different people. And what was created was not so intriguing to placate unhappiness. Someone found in the rules new inspiration but more people that were dissatisfied now are looking for something else. We played DBA tournaments since 2003, so if people want something different, the new edition, with its usual hermetic language, was the decisive event.

We were in Solo Giochi shop:
https://www.solo-giochi.it/
And this is the mini-website that I made for the event:
https://www.legiopalatina.it/lopapaveronovoconclave/index.htm

Some western building to play with Torriani rules.

A commission work for a WWII set. Still unpainted.

This incredible set is modular, so new parts could be added. And you can play in sewers and cellars because there is an underground level with parts that are connected too.

Some 28mm minatures painted by the owner of Solo Giochi. He sells them. It think that the ancient ones are really great.


I didn’t play in the tournament. With old edition tournaments I could choose an army (usually a Roman one…) and play without review rules. I hadn’t patience and free time to study new rules. But I wanted to be with my friends at the tournament, so I bring something else with me.

Another try for venationes and an opportunity to show my book to customers that were in the shop. 3 copies sold.

If it could be the last official DBA tournament in Roma however it was not a funeral. We had a lot of fun. DBA is what created our friendship. No more official DBA tournaments here in Rome? We can always play with DBA, play with other games, and meet for our common passion about wargaming. It is not a matter of rules but only of free time.

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Romagioca 2015

Back to September! A lot of things to do and so I’m late with reports of past events scheduling. Let’s begin with this game convention in Roma, the 20th of September.

T-shirts, hot weather (but rainy) and wargames in a sporting centre. All was mainly under a pavilion but other tables were around. Roman people is very individualistic so it’s almost impossible to organise something larger. However you could find a lot of people involved in local wargaming scene. Even from our region as this naval table from Latina.

Some local shops were present too. But not their customers. Not so great advertising for the event, as usual. Advertising means money and energy to spend, but without it means no people around. People organise events but doesn’t work on them properly. It is a matter of time and resources. Of mind too. However it is all volunteering work, so we must praise them in spite of everything. The problem for who is in the commercial side of wargaming and gaming is that everyone thinks to his garden and none thinks to spread garden culture. Events like this one must be the arrival of a common path, not a extemporaneous moment.

Children are the resource for the future of wargame, or what wargame will be in the future. Easy games were run for this. Great!

More table around.

The Gundam club and a wargame with mobile suits. I have to find time to try it. This club is very involved in spreading Gundam culture. They participate to translation and adaptation of Gundam manga and anime in Italy.

Boardgame space run by Reindeers club. I think that adding boardgames players at this event would be a great thing. Wargame and boardgame are two different things but they are always “-game” with people who can enjoy both.

Soldiers on ploughed camp.

Lego wargaming is something to explore more!

Our Ganesha Games tables.

Fungi scenario to try.

The first preview of new rules about venationes. Ferrum et Gloria development still run!

What for next year? I hope still this convention and more. Rome is a big city and I wish it as a great city for wargaming.

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Lucca C&G 2015: videos [part1]

Before old but interesting reports, some videos from YouTube (the official ones) to celebrate what was one week ago: Lucca Comics & Games 2015.

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Back from Lucca

I’m back from Lucca Comics & Games. Alive. Great experience, as usual. Worth to wait a year for it. Under the photo of our stuff packed for the way to home. I’m so busy that I merely viewed photos that I picked there. And real life strike again, as problems with new home refurbishment and work. The blog suffer for this. I have to show conventions and things since late summer. I hope I find the time to do it in the next weeks. In the meantime I have new hobby projects as game writer for the next Play and Lucca. Here all the details. In the future 🙂

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