Without a Paddle: FlintCon 2018

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

FlintCon 2018

Having missed out on SpartaCon this year for a few different reasons, not the least of which is the current employment status, there was no way I was going to miss FlintCon. And it did not disappoint. Great games, great times. Kudos to all involved putting on this exceptionally well-run con!

I pretty much knew going in what games I wanted to play, and I was able to get in both of them.

Game one was, as in previous years, a trip to the Peninsula with Wellington in a game of Black Powder. At first I was going to take some rifles and Portuguese cacadores since I did so well with them in last year's game, but eventually I ended up with two regiments of Highlanders. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Highlanders, what with my ancestors coming from there and all. It's just I never have much luck with them in a game. And this was no exception.

Having seen the kilted heroes run like scared rabbits in a previous game without firing a shot, this time I was determined to get them into the fray as quickly as possible. You know, before they could run away again. So it was a quick advance across the ford in the river, a rapid deployment, and a charge. Oh, it should be mentioned that one of my orders resulted in a fubar, or whatever it is called in Black Powder, which should have been an omen of things to come. But, incredibly, the ensuing die roll had the unit wind up more or less where I wanted it anyway, so things are looking good at this point.

Then the charge. Oh, they got there all right. But after one round of basically slapping at each other with the backs of their hands with minimal effect, in the following turn, they ran. Yup. Again. And the other regiment was more or less just stand and fire the rest of the game. At least they didn't run. As a whole, the British did well enough on the right in attempting to take the town, but the darn French cavalry crushed our left. With no British cavalry to counter, it was a disaster in the making.

On to game two. Championship Formula Racing! I'd been looking forward to this for months. Having been a big fan of Speed Circuit back in the day, I really wanted to see how this worked. In short, it's great.

I think we had about nine drivers playing. The game featured 1/64 Indy cars on a homemade map of the Belle Isle course in Detroit. I started fourth and finished fifth, so not bad. I more or less held my own. As the race developed, the top three managed to pull away a bit. I was usually at or near the front of the second group, and while we would pull a little closer, in the end I took too many gambles, and without enough wear, I spun out twice in the final few corners. I chose Pippa Mann's car because my daughters are big fans.

I also managed to sell a few items, and got some great deals on a couple other GMT board games. Perhaps for another post. Without further ado, the photos...