Category: Wargaming

Armies for Kids at Historicon 2019

The recipients of the free armies and Chris Johnson, this year’s GM.

At Historicon 2019, the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielsers hosted another Armies for Kids game.  This year’s GM was Chris Johnson.

The game in progress.

I think this is the eighth or ninth year we have done this.  We paint six sets of armies, one for each “side.”  We package those along with rules (Milk and Cookies Rules from Big Battles for Little Hands), rulers, dice, paper terrain, and other goodies.  The game is a participation game for kids under ten years old.  When the game is over, each of the kids gets to take home a full set of painted figures and all the accessories.

A closeup of some of the action.

The idea is that hopefully these kids go home and start playing games with their buddies. The kids at the convention come with their parents, so in many ways we are preaching to the converted; however, we hope that these kids go home and introduce their little buddies to wargaming.

The kids and all their swag.

We only had five kids this year, but we were prepared for six.  Do these kids look happy to you?  A couple of recent years we’ve had trouble getting enough kids for this project.  Maybe we’ll need to put it away for a while.

Feudal Patrol (and a secret set of rules) play test

Take a close look at the different units in this picture.

I have alluded a couple of times to a secret set of rules I am working on for a major figure manufacturer for a new line of figures.  We are targeting Cold Wars 2020 in March.  Because of the compressed development schedule, I am having to re-use bits and pieces of ideas from previous development efforts.  It normally takes me there to six years to develop and write a set of rules.  For these kinds of early play tests, a very small crew is best.  Later, when the design is more mature, I will open up play tests to the whole club.  So a couple of folks came over, and we put a lot of surrogate troops on the table to test out activation (didn’t work well) and combat (worked fine).  We used an odd assortment of mismatched figures for this first play test to obfuscate the subject of the rules and figures.  I will be making a LOT of adjustments to the rules before the next play test in August.

Two swell guys…

We also worked on a couple of details for Feudal Patrol (TM).  Feudal Patrol is the version of Combat Patrol (TM) for early black powder and mediaeval periods.  The big stuff is all working fine, and the design of the Action Decks are pretty much complete.  In this play test, we were working on magic, confirming that the cavalry rules from the Napoleonic supplement to Combat Patrol were okay (they were), and testing a few new things.  Once you include things like long pointy sticks, you have to consider fighting in two ranks, which we tested and seemed to work okay.

Zeb’s Riever cavalry advances toward Greg’s pike block.
The early stages of the Feudal Patrol game.
Cavalry versus infantry in the center of the table.
Zeb pondering an early move.

Chris wanted to try out a change in how melee is resolved.  In Combat Patrol: WWII, when a figure loses melee, he drops back, and the unit takes a morale check.  For a melee heavy game, like Feudal Patrol, Chris thought that the defeated figure should also be stunned.  That seemed to work fine.

Three swell guys.

Combat Patrol(TM) Games at Historicon 2019

I just went through the PEL and identified the various games that will be using Combat Patrol(TM) and Feudal Patrol(TM) at Historicon in July.  Don’t miss your chance to play in one of these exciting and fun games.

Thursday Combat Patrol(TM) Games at Historicon in July.  Click to enlarge.
Friday Combat Patrol(TM) Games at Historicon in July.  Click to enlarge.
Saturday Combat Patrol(TM) Games at Historicon in July.  Click to enlarge.

Combat Patrol 1939 in York, PA

The Little Wars TV people asked me to come to their clubhouse and run a Combat Patrol(TM): WWII game for them.  Greg and I drove up there yesterday after work to set up and run a 1939 Polish scenario that I have run in conventions previously.

A German halftrack pushes ahead of the German force and gets “air conditioned” by the Bofors.

The scenario involved a German attack toward a Polish armored train that was sitting astride their route of advance.  The turret on the train was out of ammunition, but there was a Bofors gun on top that the Poles used effectively throughout the game.

The Polish commanders plan their defense.
Greg watches as the German commanders plan their attack.
The Bofors gun on train. The train is from Sarissa.

The Germans had two 38(t) tanks, a Pz. I, three halftracks, a full platoon of infantry, and a command car.  The Poles had a platoon of infantry, the Bofors on the train, two Wz-34 armored cars, three tankettes (one with a 20mm cannon).  The Bofors had a limited field of fire down the center of the table, but fortunately for the Poles, the Germans pretty much pushed up the center of the table.

The Germans bail out of the burning halftrack while the “light squad” advances to take up positions on a hill.
A view of the burning halftrack from the Polish point of view. Lots of high fives and chest bumps in Warsaw!
Polish tankettes advancing past the train to engage the Germans.

Despite losing a halftrack early, the Germans advanced steadily across the table, but mostly where they weighted their attack on their right.  The Poles began to lose a lot of infantry across the table  They had occupied the building in the center of the table, and for a while, that was the Germans’ only target.  While the Germans only had a little more infantry than the Poles, the Germans made good use of the machine-guns on the halftracks.

A scene toward the middle of the game. The Germans have lost a 38(t).
A scene late in the game. The Germans have lost two tanks, a halftrack, and the schwimwagon. The 20mm on the tankette is threatening the German halftrack on the German left, slowing the advance. The halftrack at the top of the picture had taken a mobility kill. The only remaining intact vehicle on the German side was the Pz I, which you can’t see in this picture.

While the Poles had lost much of their infantry and the Bofors, they had lost no vehicles.  The armored cars and the machinegun-armed tankettes were advancing on the Polish left, threatening to overwhelm the Germans on that flank.  The tankette with the 20mm cannon was causing the remaining German halftrack (with half a squad of infantry) to seek cover.

At this point, we called the game a Polish victory.  It appeared that all the members of the club really enjoyed the rules and the game, which was gratifying.

The Little Wars TV club is a great bunch of guys.  Greg and I had a very good time with them.  They also have a great facility for gaming.

The “plunger faust” in the bathroom of the Little Wars TV clubhouse.

Play Test of “Tales of the Gold Monkey” Game

Last night at the club meeting I play tested my Tales of the Gold Monkey game for Cold Wars in two weeks.  For this game I am using the G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. rules, but I gave all the extras a Save as well as the Main Characters.  The game began with most of the board blank, covered with palm trees.  As the different groups of explorers and adventurers pushed into the jungle, they discovered different sources of treasure, from a native village to idols with jeweled eyes.  These were, of course, guarded by natives, animals, or monster.  Each player had a “cut” card they could use for one free re-roll.  In addition, each player had three dirty tricks cards they could use to slow down other players.

Jake Cutter and the Sergeants Three gangs move out.
The table at the beginning of the game. The players begin near the trading post by the lagoon.
A closer view of the trading post.
Bing, Bob, Dorothy, and the Andrews Sisters of Mercy climb a ridge to find a lizard idol with jewels for eyes.  Later in the game, Bing and Bob killed a couple of Italians with golf balls.
A giant spider has other ideas for Bing and Bob.
It’s a grim day for the Andrews Sisters of Mercy.
And then to add insult to injury, another player played a dirty tricks card that had a herd of oryx stampede through them.
Despite all their setbacks, and the death of Dorothy being gored by an oryx, Bob and Bing were able to retrieve one treasure.
The Italians found the lost elephant idol — but it was guarded by pygmies.
The Italians lost many men to pygmy attacks but were able to get a treasure at the elephant idol.
A much-reduced Italian contingent is attacked by an angry elephant (another player’s dirty trick), but they managed to secure a second treasure at the raptor excavation.
The French Foreign Legion ran into apes guarding an idol.
There seemed to be a never-ending supply of apes!
The foreign legion found a treasure after defeating a LOT of apes. They also found Amelia Earhart and a boat and were headed down the river to the lagoon when they were attacked by giant tentacles of some unseen monster. In a “Von Ryan’s Express” moment, the last Legionnaire tried to leap into the boat as it floated past. He rolled a 20, fell into the water, and was eaten by the crocodile you can see in the bottom right of this picture.
Teddy Roosevelt, two “dangerous dames,” the lady photographer, and his band of fearless adventurers ran into natives guarding an idol. As Kurt was the first one to find a treasure, players played FOUR dirty tricks cards on him, stacking up natives. But Kurt has perennial kid luck and easily swept them aside.
At this point, the Easter Island heads at the lagoon turned around and started to cut off Teddy’s path back to the lagoon. Teddy and his group tried to cross the river to avoid them but ran into some trouble.
The Sergeants Three found a native village where they were preparing to sacrifice a white woman for some purpose.
It took some time, but in the end the Sergeants One (as two died) freed the woman and advanced on another idol.
The Sergeant One approaches the idol to get a second treasure, but Jake Cutter and Professor Challenger beat them to it.
Jake Cutter and the American infantry ran into a giant scorpion defending the lost temple. Almost all the American infantry were killed, but Don was able to grab the treasure and also find Professor Challenger to add to his party.

The game was sufficiently chaotic and bloody, so I don’t plan to make any changes before Cold Wars.  I think all the players had a really good time.  This will make a good Saturday night game at the convention.

Preparing for my “Tales of the Gold Monkey” GASLIGHT Game

I am going to run a GASLIGHT game at Cold Wars that is very loosely based on the Tales of the Gold Monkey television show.  Each player will have a group of explorers and will set out to find treasure.  They will have cards that they can play on each other to slow down the other teams with wild animals, natives, natural disasters, and monsters.  The table will be mostly empty except for some jungle.  When the players move into terra incognita, I will place different terrain pieces on the table.

Team 1: Teddy Roosevelt and some odd explorers.
Team 2: Jake Cuter and some Americans.
Team 3: The sergeants from Gunga Din and some friends.
Team 4: Bing, Bob, Dorothy, and the Andrews Sisters of Mercy.
Some native fun that must be stopped.
Team 5: Germans.
Team 6: Brits.
Team 7: Italians.
Team 8: French Foreign Legion.
Will the players rescue Amelia Earhart?
Will the players pry the eyes out of this idol?
Or will they ransack this temple?

GASLIGHT at HARCON

The GASLIGHT table at HARCON

One of the HAWKs is the faculty mentor for the Harford Community College gaming club.  That club runs a gaming day every year, called HARCON.  The HAWKs have supported HARCON for years with games.  This is a small, multi-genre event, so we found years ago, that we are unlikely to get someone to devote four hours to a miniatures game, but they are willing to give it a try for an hour or two.

The game is afoot!

For the past three years, we have been running a really large game that allows passers by to participate for an hour or two.  We have en0ugh of our own HAWKs around the table to act as opponents and keep the game moving.

This year’s theme at HARCON was Steam Punk, so we decided to run a large GASLIGHT game set on Mars with many different factions.

Venusians attacking Prussians
Rooman crosswbowmen close assault a British timer clad
Bicycle lancers battling British infantry for control of the crashed aether flyer.
Sanwar advancing on the female lancers
Female hussars with helicopter support advancing toward the Sanwar
More fighting around the crashed airship
Ostrich lancers and Roomans advance!
British infantry, plant men, and Red Martians
Roomans with support from “the copper tank.”
Another view of Venusians
Another view of ostrich lancers
Green Martians fighting female hussars, including some mounted on “Death Jaws.”

Though attendance at HARCON seemed to be a little light, the game was fun and successful.  We introduced six new people to miniatures gaming.

Barrage 2018 is TODAY

Don’t let the rain keep you away from Barrage 2018.  Barrage runs today (at noon) until 2000 tomorrow, Saturday.  Don’t miss the best two days of gaming you’ll experience for a long time.

See www.hawks-barrage.org for more information, directions, lists of games, etc.

You could lament the rain, or you could come to Barrage 2018.  We have spacious, free, paved parking right next to the convention venue.  You’ll barely get your feet wet.  And it is easy to carry your loot from the deals and flea markets to your car and come back for more!

Duncan’s Napoleonic Game with Combat Patrol at Historicon 2018

From Duncan Adams:

[Here are two long shots of the table to help provide context for Duncan’s narrative.]

 

“On Friday afternoon I ran ‘Welcome to Sunny Spain,’ a Peninsular War convoy ambush using Combat Patrol: Napoleonic Supplement.
“The game starts with the French convoy warily entering the town. Bill Mollineaux had the lead infantry, a new player (forgot his name:( ) had the cavalry, and Robert, who played Dave’s Zulu game and wanted more CP, played the infantry in the rear. There was a guerillo band, divided into three groups of six, controlled by Jeff Kimmel of the Rogues, a platoon of Cacadores (2 sections of 8) controlled by Terry (one of my groupies) blocking the road ahead, and a platoon of Portuguese light infantry (2 sections of 8), controlled by Mike waiting to close in behind the convoy after the trap was sprung.
“Things were quiet until the Guerillos card came up, then the French forward contingent moves out to clear the way.
“The new player, due to his inexperience, thought that this six man cavalry troop could clear eight elite cacadores out of the woods by charging them. It didn’t work very well.
“Bill brought up his infantry platoon to try and clear the way ahead by defeating Terry’s cacadores. He was repeatedly undone by morale checks that went very badly for him while Terry’s had minimal effect.
“Meanwhile, Robert’s French infantry was using superior numbers to get the better of Mike’s Portuguese at the rear of the column, while sending a section to clear some buildings of guerillos.
“In desperation, hoping to finally put a bad morale result on Terry, Bill sent the French commander charged the woods.
“Despite having impetus and a better M value Bill lost the fight.
“Though at the end the French had just about won the rear and center fights, the cacadores were holding strong and it was far from certain that the whole remaining French could have driven them off over time. So we called it an Allied victory. Everybody seemed to have a good time.”

Duncan’s Zorro Game at Historicon 2018

From Duncan Adams:
“On Sunday morning I ran “Zorro and the Dastardly Plot.”  I had seven players, so one played the tavern staff. I actually prefer that because the staff can do more interesting things under player control than I can do as the GM. Tom Veilott and his dad Jim Veil, a dad with a son and daughter, Joe Procopio and a friend of his were the players.
“This was a Blood and Swash scenario with the usual overlapping objectives, but most players wanted to get the treasure of kill Zorro. But first, Bernardo had to discover the villains’ plans and report to Zorro.  [If you are a fan of the Disney show like Duncan and me, you know that Bernardo pretends to be deaf.]
“Bernardo innocently loiters near the room where the baddies meet.
“But having overheard their plans, he cannot get past them to use the stairs.
“So, in a scene that reminded me of Yoda doing cartwheels with his lightsaber, Bernardo jumped off the balcony onto the bar.
“While the villains put their plans in motion, and Don Alejandro and the tavern staff mix it up with El Comandante, Zorro emerges from the tavern cellar to put things right.
“He is immediately accosted by Sgt Garcia and lancer Perez who want the reward for his capture. Why don’t they ever get him from opposite directions?
“Zorro breaks away from Garcia and Perez – making both saves – and attempts to get through the baddies at the foot of the stairs. Garcia rejoins the fight – now he’s getting somewhere, coming in from behind!
“Zorro was played by Tom Veilott who has been playing Blood and Swash as long as any of us. He knows that staying in a fight to avoid the free hit when there are objectives to reach is a sucker bet. So, Zorro breaks away from three attackers, making two full and one half saves and runs up the banister, making another save. I can just picture Guy Williams doing this.
“On the balcony, Zorro finds more baddies, and those from the bottom of the stairs have followed him. This is getting ugly.
“Meanwhile, in the tavern, Teo the bartender has picked up a bench and is bludgeoning one of El Commandante’s lancers.
“After turning the tables on a minion who tried to push him off the balcony, Zorro has made it into the room with the villains’ ill gotten gains. However, the numbers are catching up to him – too many enemies, too few activations.
“In the end it was to much for Zorro to endure. Better luck at FALL IN!”
This looked like a good game with all the usual Blood and Swash hilarity.  Perhaps Zorro will try to escape from the Quartel with Bernardo’s help at Fall In?