Diceni 2026

 Diceni was a fun day as usual, though our stay was a bit shorter than usual this time.

There were some great displays and participation games:

Silver Bayonet - Napoleonic horror.

WWII commando raid on German installation?

40K Tyranids invading Space Marines.

Tower guns charging... (controlled via phone app)

Guns firing.

We had a chance to join in a game of gladiatorial combat.  Number 2 son took control of Leonius the Beast, a lion-headed warrior (like Laval the Lion from Chima!).  Combat was fairly simple, coloured D12 were drawn from a bag to determine turn order.  Move up to your move score in inches.  Opposed combat rolls on 2D12 + dexterity.  Highest score rolls D6+ strength for damage, armour reduces this.

Gladiatorial combat.

Leonius the Beast

The arena.

Leonius picks up a weapon (dexterity +1)

Polyphemus the Cyclops attacks the insectoid gladiator.

Character card.

Leonius knocks the ork gladiator prone.

The non-player gladiators.

Last 2 standing - Leonius and the insectoid fight.

Victory for Leonius - only 1 wound left!

The victor!

Star Wars Rebels crew, Mandalorian & Vader.

Oldhammer Rhino APC.

Brickskireg.

Lego dungeon.

Lego mimic!

Dune.

Mediaeval tournament game.

Not sure of the game, but loved the toadstool trees!

WH40K Kill team?

Historical game - didn't get a chance to look more closely!

Jousting game.

 We came away with a few goodies...

Free stickers from Cymbeline Games, Diceni dice £1.50 each

Acrylic jewels, 6 for £1

£5 bag of miscast resin bits from Krakon Games

Coupel of speedpaints £1 each

Acrylic potion bottles 6 for £1

Diceni dice detail - Paddington bear with a spear?

Coming soon... Diceni 2026

 Just a quick ad for the local games show, Diceni, at the Forum in Norwich for any readers of this blog near Norfolk this Sunday, 3rd May.

 

It's a free event, organised by the local Aftermath games club, and always has lots of interesting traders and excellent participation and/or demonstration games.

This year is the 10th event.  I'll be going, both of the kids are eager to see what's there this year.  Sadly, the Millennium Library in the Forum is currently closed for a refurbishment, so we can't have a browse in there.  We can't have our usual lunch at Pizza Express on the balcony overlooking the show this time either, so it will probably be a much shorter visit than usual, but it should still be a fun morning out.
 

AK47 Republic - Animal Magic Competition

 The AK47 Republic Facebook Group recently ran an "Animal Magic Challenge".  The animal connection could be whatever you wanted - the many varied entries included DUKWs, Scorpion tanks, Fox armoured cars, a fish cannery piece of scenery, a hippopotamus, camels and more.

My entry was a toy African Elephant that I found in one of the local charity shops for 10p.  Needed a scrub with an old toothbrush, and a few mould lines trimming with a razor blade.  It was superglued to a 25mm round MDF base, painted in Vallejo cold grey and given a few dabs of Army Painter strong tone wash underneath the body to add some variation to the colour.  A quick drybrush of Vallejo stonewall grey, tusks and eyes painted in white, pupils dotted in finished the elephant.  The base received a coat of my sifted sharp sand & brown tile grout basing mixture followed by a sprinkle of static grass.  It'll look right at home hiding in the jungle on my game board.

 

Given the quality of all the other entries, I was very surprised when I won the "popular vote"!  My prize was dispatched by that fine gentleman, Mr Jimmy James and included a strip of "well done" stickers and a sheet of Vietnam gun-truck waterslide transfers.  The transfers should come in useful - several would make good names for starships, especially space pirates.

BattleTech Alpha Strike - Communications Station Attack

After having a go at Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries yesterday, Number 2 son asked for a game using my BattleTech stuff, and I was more than happy to oblige.  Alpha Strike was the obvious choice, I don't think that he's quite ready for the detail and crunchiness of original BattleTech quite yet.  Alpha Strike will get more units on the table too, something that he was keen on.  It was nice to have an opportunity to use some units that I haven't ever had the chance to use since I bought them!  Only the Commandoes, Javelin and Stinger have taken part in games before, probably more than 25 years since they were last in action!

 

Seiduts, Coreward part of Draconis Combine/Lyran Commonwealth border region

12th September 3039: 

++Begin transmission++

++FAO: Commanding Officer, Tiger Squad++

++Recon has identified a Lyran communications centre on Seiduts.  Destroy the generator building and the main transmission tower.  Enemy forces identified in the area include light tanks and missile carriers.  Enemy 'Mech reinforcement may join the battle, so destroy the targets and escape with best speed.++

 A couple of reinforced lances from Tiger Squad mercenary company have been tasked with disrupting communications for the Lyran Commonwealth.  A unit of the 8th Arcturan Guards is patrolling the area and will arrive as reinforcements for the Lyran Commonwealth side on turn 3.  The mercenaries under contract to the Draconis Combine must destroy the generator building and communications tower.  Tiger Squad are equipped with mainly lighter weight recon units, suited for hit-and-run raids.  The defenders are 5 Scorpion light tanks, 2 Striker light missile tanks, 3 APCs, plus a couple of LRM carriers for fire support.

Tiger Squad mercenary forces.

 

Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces defenders.

  The generator (radar station standing in for this) is located in a patch of woodland about halfway down the board.

Generator building.

The communications relay is close to the Lyran edge of the board.

Communications tower.

Tiger squad deploy in 2 groups, the command unit with slower 'Mechs like a Catapult and Panther, Javelin and Valkyrie, plus a Jenner and Locust which will range ahead to hunt out the enemy.

Tiger Squad command lance

The Recon Lance with 2 Commandos, a Stinger and a Wasp, will move down the centre of the battlefield.

Tiger Squad recon lance.

A sturdy Lyran Fire Lance will be reinforcing the defences from the start of turn 3.

8th Arcturan Guards reinforcements.

A couple of 3D printed Striker missile tank proxies move out from the communications centre.

Striker missile tank proxies.

5 Scorpion light tanks move down one flank.

Scorpion light tanks.

The Jenner rushes in and opens fire on a couple of APCs.

Jenner attacking APCs.

With the Locust leading the charge, a small unit of Tiger Squad close in on the generator building, delivering several hits.  The building will take 10 damage before being destroyed.

Mercenaries close in a pincer movement on the APCs, destroying both, one after the Jenner has given it a good kick.  The Jenner and one Commando have taken light damage.

The 2 Strikers move into range and pummel the Jenner into wreckage.  In the woods, the generator takes more damage.

The Scorpions also open fire, but their shooting is ineffective, bar a single hit on a Commando.

The Valkyrie circles behind the Strikers while the Catapult confronts them.  In the woods, the Locust and Javelin continue to bombard the generator.

The Recon Lance move away from the burning APCs towards the Scorpions.

The LRM carriers commence long-range bombardment of the Valkyrie, but inflict only light damage.

The Valkyrie's shots destroy one of the Strikers, while in the woods a large explosion signals the demise of the generator.

Scorpions and light 'Mechs exchange fire.  One of the damaged Commandoes falls, and a Scorpion is also destroyed.

The 'Mechs hold their ground as the Scorpions try to encircle them.  Autocannon, SRMs, lasers and machine guns flicker back and forth, eventually leaving a Stinger and the other Commando wrecked on the Tiger's side, while 2 more Scorpions and the other Striker are destroyed on the Lyran side.

With the other Tiger 'Mechs closing in, the remaining 2 Scorpions and a lone heavy APC will soon be destroyed... but has their delaying action worked?

The Lyran reinforcement lance has arrived at the communications centre, ready to defend it.  The LRM carriers are trading long-range fire with the Catapult and have inflicted heavy damage to its armour, having already badly mauled the Valkyrie.

At this point, it was lunch time, so we had to pack up quickly and lay the table.  He enjoyed the game, so we'll definitely be playing again.

So, what is the butcher's bill?  Tiger Squad have lost 5 scout 'Mechs, half their force, with the Valkyrie and Catapult almost out of armour.

Tiger Squad casualties.

The Lyrans have lost 7 vehicles, with one of the 2 surviving Scorpions devoid of any armour.

LCAF casualties.

I edited a lot of the 'Mech cards to use the original 3025 Technical Readout images, because I'm using the original metal BattleMechs from the 1980s.  It's really easy to do in the online unit creator, all you do is just edit the existing card and insert a link to the image file.  In this case they're all easily found on the Sarna.net, where each 'Mech or Vehicle includes images from all the different Tech Readouts.  I also edited some of the cards to match the vehicles in my possession, all of which were 3D printed.  These were a bit more awkward because there weren't URLs to locate the images.  I had to save the record cards as PNGs, then open them in Paint and paste the correct image in, but it didn't take very long.

Alternate heavy APC.

Old school LRM carrier.

Striker proxy.

Full Spectrum Dominance APC.