Socially Distanced Gaming!

 During the late summer and early fall, we got a few "socially distanced" games in before the second wave of the pandemic hit.  I thought I'd share a few of those pics as we look forward to better times...

A blurry selfie as Paul and Ken play a bemasked
game of Kings of War at YHP-Fredericksburg.

Ren moves his Teutonic Knights in battle against his father's
Pagan Peoples warband in Saga.

Forces of Nature on the move in Kings of War, I believe.

Ken's Roman-themed Kingdoms of Men
force for Kings of War.

Paul's storm giant and berserkers face off against
Romans in Kings of War.

Kingdom of Dust (Monster Movie themed) versus 
the Undead in Kings of War.

Bran Ravenswing (center, mounted), second in command of the Bondswords,
finally has a chance to slay a dragon... he managed to pull it off,
but the rest of the undead army easily drove the
Bondswords from the field in shreds.

May 24 1942 till June Free french held off forces of Rommel at Bir Hakim.
Bolt Action, 1250 points, Jeffrey versus Alex.

Blast from the Past: Flames of War Historicon 2016

 As the pandemic continues to rage, I am continuing to share images and stories from the club's past, until we can all get together and game on the regular again safely.

In the past, when Flames of War 3rd edition was THE game with a vibrant tournament scene, Eric of the I-95 Gamers ran a doubles tournament on Thursday during Historicon, a sort of warm up for the national tournament that was run on Fridat and Saturday.  

Allen and I (Paul) played as a team during the I-95 doubles tournament at Historicon 2016 (Allen in I appear in the video at the link, during the tournament, at the 5:35 mark. I'm in the neon yellow shirt, he's in the dark green, on the right). 

Many of the club members played in the team tournaments, I don't recall everyone who played that year (please, comment below with the other teams!)  but I know Chris and Ken also played that year, in matching humorous shirts. The I-95 doubles tournaments were more relaxed, and frankly more fun, at least for me, then the national tournaments.  

In 2016 it was a Late War tournament.  Allen ran a company of Soviet IS-2s, and I ran a Cossack company.  We didn't do particularly well, we lost the first game hands down, but we managed to win the last game.  The middle game still kinda sticks in my craw. It was a 'fair fight' mission, the other team basically sat and shot at us, never trying to seize objectives, then they asked for the victory based on losses, despite never going for the objectives. The game should have been called a draw.  But They played on our sense of sportsmanship and took the win.  But, as Allen later said, "No reason to end a game with animosity. It be what it be either way it was enjoyable. lol"

So, we end with 1 in and 2 losses, rather then a 1-1-1 record, and Allen, of course, was right. 

Here are some pics from our games.

Allen, Rudel is still strafing your IS-2s!

I really liked the way my Cossack figures came out. 

Love the look of my 
Katyusha rocket launchers in
this picture.

Dismounted Cossacks facing Nazi armored cars...

Allen's IS-2 and tank riders were wonderfully painted.
Sadly, they all burned... in this game!

Cossacks charging machine guns... ended as one would expect...

Our advance was stymied!

In the final game we just massed everyone 
in one spot and charged forward. We thought
someone would survive to seize objectives and they did.
At the top you can see our Valentines.

IS-2s and Cossacks on the march!

Our lone victory! Bloody but ultimately successful.

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Blast from the Past: World War I Bolt Action at Historicon 2018

 At Historicon, 2018, our youngest club member Ren, ran his second convention game, "Devil Dogs, Over the Top!"  Set in World War I, the game used the Bolt Action rules to fight out a scenario where "Marines fight to reduce the Saint-Mihiel Saliant in September, 1918."

Because Bolt Action doesn't cover World war I yet, he used the "Bolt Action v2 – Unofficial World War One Modifications" offered by Gajo Games and available at the link.  This seemed to work very well, certainly the difference between World War II skirmish fights and 1918 trench fighting are not that extensive. The game was played using 20mm plastics, but no adjustments to scale were made. I prefer 20mm for Bolt Action game play because the ranges feel more correct, though 28mm figures are more detailed. Wayne provided the trenches and pillboxes. 

The game was full, with a range of beginners and veterans playing that was heart-warming to see and bodes well for the continuation of our hobby.  

As in previous years at Historicon, I offered a lecture on the topic at the War College and encouraged players to come play in the scenario as well.  My lecture was more general this year, "Becoming Devil Dogs: Marines in the First World War". Several folks who attended the lecture played in the game, and others stopped by to watch for a while. 

Ren explains the scenario to everyone. 

The Marines begin their advance.

From behind the German trenches.

The Americans reach the trenches behind their tanks.

American player stunned by the German firepower.

Preparing to send the Marines forward.

Close up of the Marines and the FT-17s. The colors written
across each units sheet indicate the color of their order dice.

The Germans ponder how to allocate their fire.

The commanders of the Marine flank are somber...

The game played fast and fun, as these short videos indicate.

In the end, the Americans managed to, barely, secure their objectives. It was a great, fun game. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.