Happy New Year from Chicago Skirmish Wargames

As Chicago Skirmish Wargames heads into 2012 — our first year as both a game club and game blog — we decided to pause and take stock of what our members have been able to enjoy as gamers.

In a gaming world dominated by just a few big sci-fi and fantasy wargames — designed to both limit a player's options and force him to buy certain products — we have created a club that focuses on just the opposite. Our primary games (Song of Blades & Heroes, WarEngine, Tomorrow's War, and more) encourage players to collect, paint, modify and game with whatever miniatures they want.

In the photo above, which shows a typical game of Song of Blades & Heroes, we've got the following miniature lines in action: Grenadier, MageKnight (repainted), Confrontation, Reaper, WarMachine and Alternative Armies, all slugging it out on the tabletop.

And for a hobby that seems more and more to feature hordes of unpainted toys being pushed across a table, our club has kept to simple but effective standards for painted miniatures and terrain — resulting in visually inspiring tabletop gaming experiences that, incidentally, make for great battle reports on this blog. We're not hard-nosed about painted miniatures; rather, we try to build enthusiasm in players (even mostly-non-painters) so they are swept up in the excitement of gaming and painting with us. It feels pretty damn good to bring your latest finished miniatures to a game night and watch as 4 or 5 other players ooooh and aaaaah over them.



Lastly — and most importantly to many club members — in a hobby that has very real barriers to entry, we have tried to foster an environment where complete strangers can come in with little or no gaming experience and enjoy the hobby with friendly gamers who are happy to share their time, figures and knowledge.

This mission reached its zenith at Little Wars, a convention outside Chicago last year, where we ran our first-ever convention game. Here's a photo, showing players of all ages having a great time.


We're set to run another game for Little Wars 2012, scheduled for April 27 to April 29.

As always, if you're ever in the Chicago area and want to stop by for a game, check out our mailing list (and associated game calendar) or post a comment here and we'll get back to you!

Thanks again for a great year — on to 2012!