Sunday, February 5, 2017

Flintccon 2017

My second con in three weeks! Yes, a bit unfortunate they fell so close together, but it is what it is. And Flintcon is growing into a great con. I missed it last year because of a speedskating meet, but I'm glad I went this year.

I suppose by the letter of the law victory conditions, both games I played in ended in a draw. However, I think my side was doing well in both cases, and ultimately would have prevailed with more time.

Game one was a Peninsular Blackpowder game set up by erstwhile opponent Jon. My main objective was to redeem the performance of the Highlanders - who ran like scared little girls without firing a shot last time. They did OK this time - nothing that will go down in the annals of the regiment, but they held and gave as good as they got. On the other hand, the valiant sons of Portugal were great! Some skirmishers on the right just kept dishing it out and refused to run. Good stuff.

Game two I tried Bolt Action for the first time. The verdict is still out on these for me, but it was a gorgeous setup. Omaha Beach, D-Day. It went about like one would expect. The first few turns hitting the beach the Americans just got chewed up. But once the Rangers got up the cliff, and some armor go ashore, things began to turn. One of the best terrain tables I have ever played on.

Flintcon also featured a bunch of board games and RPGs. I didn't get any photos of those, but it looked like people were having a good time. Huzzah to the organizers!

It was a good day, until the drive home, when I hit a deer. Ugh. But that's another story.

Without further ado, the photos:

Deer 1, Car 0

The valiant Highlanders!

Viking raid - awesome table.



Rome vs. Carthage


ACW with Sharpe's Practice



D-Day - first session



ACW


Star Wars


The Crusades game I played in at Spartacon.

Sounds like it was a success again.

Russo-Japanese.



Pack in the Peninsula...



The skirmishers on the right were awesome.

Scrum!

Sudan - Sword and Flame, I think.

Vietnam

Weird War I

My turn for D-Day



Sudan

Round 2 was very different







My favorite pic of the day

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Spartacon 2017

After missing last year, yesterday I headed to Spartacon in Lansing for some gaming action. A January con in Lansing is always going to have some weather issues, and this year while there was no snowstorm and temperatures were abnormally high, holy fog as thick as peanut butter!

It's about an hour and a half drive for me, and while the way down in the morning at o-dark-thirty wasn't too bad, I did come across some kind of incident involving about a dozen police and fire trucks. I never did see a wrecked car or anything, and it's a lonely country road, and there were people walking in the field. UFO? Bigfoot? Who knows.

The way home was crazy. One of those nights you can barely see 30 feet in front of your car. You were hardly aware of another car until the lights were right on top of you. It was a relief to get home.

Anyway, I played in two games. Of course I went 0-2 on the day! First game was a very cool Crusades game - Battle of Nicea in the First Crusade. A very well presented game by a long-time gamer, who will be hosting his own con in a couple weeks. The minis were absolutely gorgeously painted, and the rules very interesting. He used the new rules, Triumph! Apparently these are an evolution, or reinvention? of DBA. I have never played DBA, so it was all new to me. It seemed to move along well, and even though I managed to lose battles while rolling sixes and a neighbor won battles with ones, I'd like to give it another try.

Second game was a Mongol vs. Eastern European game. I was disappointed because I really wanted to play in a Jacobite game, but it filled up before I got to the signup sheet. Mongols were outnumbered 4-1, and basically all they could do was shoot arrows at the Europeans while they advanced across a narrow front. Not much could be done, and eventually and inevitably the Mongols were overrun.

On the purchase front, I had vowed to spend as little as possible. Early on I picked up an Osprey book on ancient China for $6, and I thought that might be it. Then on a flea market table I spotted a collection of John Jenkins Miniatures Ancient Chinese, including four chariots and some command. $80. Too rich for me on this day, but I talked a friend into splitting it, so for $40 I got two chariots and about six command figs. Considering these are as rare as hen's teeth, it was a bargain. No way I expected to find that at Spartacon!

Without further ado, here's what most of you are interested in, the photos:
The castle at Nicea

Part of my Muslim foes

More defenders of Nicea

Egyptians vs. Hitttites I think

Egyptians vs. Hittites

Hittites?

Some very nice looking ships from the age of sail




Squad Leader with minis

Squad Leader

Squad Leader

Johnny Reb - part of Chancellorsville I think


Napoleonics

Italians vs British in the desert


Some cool looking Romans

Gauls on the high ground



A gorgeous Napoleonic setup


My baggage train

Ready to fight the Muslims!


Aren't they gorgeous?


Prayers fell on deaf ears this day


CY6 at Clark Field

The Jacobite game I wanted to play in


Meanwhile, back in the desert


Not really sure what was going on here, but it looked cool



Bolt Action at Pegasus Bridge

This looked so nice!

Wings of War with seaplanes!


CY6 over China


Vietnam. Looked great, would like to learn more.


Mongols awaiting the charge

WW2 naval in the Pacific


Large scale ACW, Gettysburg I think

Microarmor in the Sinai



A very large pre-dreadnought game


More Mongols