Fall and the holidays at SAG!

 

I loved how these Medusa & her sisters came out for my
Heran Mortal Gods: Mythic list. 

In the fall and early winter the club met regularly. Kings of War continued to be the most popular game, but we also started a Gunfighter's Paradise campaign and two of our members, James and Eric, began playing through the "Quest of Ringbearer" campaign for the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game. We also played some Black Powder, Konflict '47, Bolt Action, Art de la Guerre, and Mortal Gods. We tried out the new Victory at Sea game for the Russo-Japanese War. And got in some special holiday-themed games as well, inclduing our first game of Silver Bayonets.

Mike contemplates is next move in Art de la Guerre.

A busy, happy night at the club.

The Quest for the Ring heats up as the wolves attack...

Kings of War dominates club imaginations.

Somewhere on Middle Earth, Wargs and Spiders
over run some dwarves.

Buck prepares to guide his Russians to an 
overwhelming victory against the 3rd Reich 
in Konflict '47.

Eric's prostitute tries to seduce Ren's
outlaws in the Gunfighter's Paradise.

The Russian fleets steams towards the Japanese in
the Battle of Tsushima using Victory at Sea rules.

The Fellowship struggles to survive in Balin's Tomb 
on the Quest for the Ring.

Kings of War players test how new lists play
before committing to building and painting them. 

Prussians form square in the face of French
cavalry on a Black Powder battlefield. 

Paul's Byzantines prepare to crush Chris' Goths
in Art de la Guerre.

Chris' Orks clash with Rob's Bretonnians
 in Kings of War.

Mortal Gods! The Gorgons and Harpies
smash Hade's skeleton warriors.

The Persians face the Gorgons in Mortal Gods.

Chris and I also played a few traditionally holiday games.  First up was a clash between the Wampanoag and the New England colonists from King Phillip's War, with the war party surprising a small group of settlers. (I want to do a raid on a Wampanoag village next year, but need some proper lodges.)

Colonists gather around the tables for feast,
unaware the braves are stalking towards them.

Militia and Braves fight it out with
 pistols and tomahawks.

Wampanoag archers exchange fire with militia
 as women and children cower in the cabins.

One of SAG's offshoots, the YHP Bolt Action Club ran a Bolt Action Tanksgiving game. The first game ran so well we even played a second game. the game was at Your Hobby Place-Fredericksburg.

Paul's poor Stuarts burn as the King Tigers duke it out.

The second game off to a great start,
with a new player!

And then, we inaugurated Silver Bayonets play with a Christmas-themed game:
"Something is wrong in the Alpine village of Sombertown! Christmas is fast approaching, but the townsfolk are terrified of goblins and Krampus rampaging through the streets and attacking people. Some speak of the evil wizard Winterbolt, who they fear will come down from his mountain with his monstrous deer-folk minions to ravage the town..." Mike and rob stepped into take on Paul's Banedeer, goblins, Winterbolt and Krampus.

In the lower center Krampus hides behind
a wagon as the town guard and the Brits
catch Winterbolt in a crossfire just to the
right of the town well.

A British officer firing his pistol through
a window at the Bane deer inside.

A Christmas goblin rushes to help a
Bane deer fighting a cavalryman.

Mike and Rob saved the day and destroyed Winterbolt, but Krampus escaped with one naughty child, now doomed to live in Krampus' Alpen cave!

Summer 2021 at the Club

 Sadly, I have been quite remiss in my posting for the past few months. I'm determined to break through the blocks and get back to more regular postings, so here is the next post forward. It was a busy summer so there is a decent amount below.

I was happy to get a chance to revisit one of my favorite old rule systems, TSR's Battlesystem 2nd edition. I got to run my longtime army, the Bondswords, in their original game system. It was a simple set up, the Bondswords defending a fortified river against a humanoid horde led by giant, played by Eric. The goal was to help familiarize Eric with the system for future Battlesystem games in the SAG roleplaying off-shoot club. (like the Battle of Saltmarsh)

The Bondswords brace to defend the fortified ford
as their commander, Gildor, flies above the battle 
hurling magic on the advancing horde.

The Bondswords hold the ford as Gildor flies down
the river, raining eldritch death and destruction and
devastating their foes.

We had a lot of other game systems played over the summer. Predominantly Kings of War but also Gunslinger's Paradise, Black Powder, and Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game.

Chris smiles down as his Mexican banditos slaughter
the Duke and his men - Mississippi, Colorado, and
Stumpy in Gunslinger's Paradise.

Uruk-hai and Riders of Rohan battle on the wold 
in Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game.

Mike teaches the finer points of Kings of War.

Napoleonic French and British battle over a
farmhouse using Black Powder rules.

The YHP Bolt Action Club, another SAG offshoot that meets at YHP Fredericksburg, tried to restart its monthly meetings with a refight of the battle of Bir Hakiem in July. We had only a four players and it was more of a generic desert battle then Bir Hakiem (no legionnaires on the board!) but the game was a blast. 

The Afrika Korps advances on on the British left.

The Leichter Panzerspähwagen advances with an 
infantry squad against Tommies in the trenches.

The biggest event over the summer was the club's participation in the "Unmasked & Merciless" Kings of War tournament hosted by Your Hobby Place Fredericksburg in July.  The club entered six players and dominated the bottom of the rankings in the 16 player event. ;) But we had fun, and we were very new to the game. Mike, the tournament organizer, is one of our newest members. It was one of our first experiences with a chess clock for tournament play. I can't speak for the rest but I find it does make the game flow better. One of our members, Rob, brought home the title of "Bloodiest General"! 

Buck and Chris face off in Round 2, Chris managed
to pull the win, 17-4.

Rob and Mike begin their game in round 2, 
which Mike won 17-4.

Chuck makes his move against Alex of "The Aristocrats"
club in round 2. Alex won 18-3.

Ken crosses his arms in satisfaction. he knows he 
will soon slaughter Paul's Bondswords, 19-2.

Fearless Veteran, 2021

Chuck, the club's defacto president, did an excellent job printing
and painting the trophy, which is properly based so it can be
deployed as a giant in actual Kings of War play.

I brought the Fearless Veteran Tournament back for 2021 - and it was almost a success!

We ran a couple polls to decide which game we would play for the tournament, and Kings of War managed to eke out a victory after originally tying with Bolt Action 8-8. 

Ken, the 2016 Fearless Veteran, hands the trophy
to Mike, the 2021 SAG Fearless Veteran!

For the Kings of War tournament we went with 2300 points and a round robin format and a chess clock (65 mins per player). The three scenarios were Dominate, Invade, and Control - the theme was supposed to be conquering territory. 

The plan was to use a simple scoring & seed system. First round random, second round winners play winners, and last round the #1 & #2 players from the first two rounds were to play each other. The plan for scoring was to track win/loss records, total victory points earned, and total unit strength lost: determining the tournament final rankings following that list in order, so win/loss ranking trumped total victory points, which in turn trumped troop points lost. So if two players both end the tournament with a 3-0 record, or (more likely) a 2-1 record, the one with the greatest number of victory points wins. If they ended up with an identical number of victory points, then the one who lost the least amount of unit strength wins.

On the day of the tournament, Saturday, 11 September 2021, it seemed the club was cursed. We had 8 players sign up, but only four were able to make it, and I wasn't able to stay for the tournament either due to a family emergency. Still, those present did play out the games and we managed to crown a winner, Mike. Considering how thoroughly Mike dominates Kings of War at the club this was no surprise!

Here's hoping we can attract more players for Fearless Veteran 2022!

Our new Fearless Veteran, Mike, gives the thumbs 
up now that his name is properly added to the 
plaque at the club.  

Other Fearless Veteran tournaments are described here: 2017, & 2022