Hurricon 2024: Sunday

 Last day of the convention.

A couple sports games:

Another of Pete Panzeri's.

I got drawn into a DBA game - Jim was running a small "biblical" campaign.

Some terrain and "camp" objectives.

I got the 1500BCE Hebrews, a mix of foot troops...

... against whoever came after the Hittites, mostly light and fast.

I have got to get me some of this cuttable Cigar Box terrain.

Deployment.

A couple turns in, I've taken the high ground...

... and eliminated one base, though not the general,
which would have won the game outright.

Closeup of combat. You don't have to destroy a unit outright
to eliminate it - you can force it to retreat with another on its flank.

The cardboard is a measuring device in various lengths.
I'm threatening his camp from the woods but his chariots
are close enough to hit me if I go for it. At least they're diverted
from the rest of the battle.

Complex maneuvering.

I ultimately won (and got another certificate), but this was because my opponent was a national champion and coaching me all the way. Still, quite enjoyable. I find DBA complex, but I also find actual play to make things a lot easier - there is nothing like it for learning the rules, as I found with Quar and Charge!.

So, overall a successful, if more leisurely, convention. Would go again. 

On to LOOT:

• Three painted British policemen, useful for VBCW.
• A handful of extra Quar - three Crusader Rhyflers, three Crusader Trench Raiders, and three Coftyran Sharpshooters.
• A box of 30 Wargames Atlantic BEF/Home Guard, also useful for VBCW if I ever get around to building and painting them... also bases, which I learned are not included in the boxes.
• An extra, slightly battered Perrys' Portable Wargame. Will be interested to see how it goes on a 2x2 board.
• Featherstone's guide to the Peninsular battlefields. Coincidentally, it mentions Pete Panzeri as someone who came home from fighting in Desert Storm and immediately wargamed it.
• An Osprey on the British Army, 1816-1853 - a period I've never looked closely at, except some of the Indian campaigns.
• A Squadron/Signal on the T-34 tank - another I'm unfamiliar with. This series is one I grew up with (we had one Osprey in the house and a dozen Sqn/Sigs), but I don't see it around much these days.
• A book on Market Garden illustrated with miniatures, a good companion to Pete's game.
• A Munchkin box, which I might find use for at work.
• A copy of Beneath the Lily Banners, an older edition. I've heard a lot about this game (and understand it's inspired by Stephen Simpson's) but never found it online. I was tempted by the newer hardcover edition, but I'll start with this one.
• And of course, in order to run the Charge! game from last post, Wofun starter sets of WoSS and '45 Rebellion, 30 dice, and a "Rattlesnake Ranch" Cigar Box mat (which Peter Dennis has started using for his more desert/Western minis, so like the Grasslands one it matches all the Paperboys I've got).

Speaking of which, I've somehow, in an 800-sq-ft apartment, misplaced all the Fistful of Lead material I acquired last time out. Jeff reminded me that I'd planned to run a Picacho Pass scenario at some point, and that has hung fire for years. Must get back on that...

Gaming can be either a whirlwind or a slog, depending on mood. I think this was a good time all around.

Hurricon 2024: Saturday

Three more games. This has been a more relaxed convention than the last one, and I even dared to run my own game!

The first was Pete Panzeri's Op: Market Garden game, part two (He'd done the first five or so days of the battle on Friday). This is the same operational scale and ruleset as a D-Day game at Krieg Haus broadcast by Sitrep Podcast which I missed, so it was good to get into this one. Hopefully we will see a Bulge version in December. It was quite elaborate - the table stretched from the Dutch border to well north of Arnhem. This means the minis were purely representative - each infantry base, vehicle and gun represents roughly a company, squadron or battery.

The Einhoven sector, clear of Germans by this point.

I was 82nd Airborne, in charge of the sector from Nijmegen to Arnhem where the Brits and Poles (who'd gotten there early thanks to good weather) were slowly running out of ammo and equipment.

Part of my initial position. The Nijmegen bridge is unbroken,
but the forward edge of XXX Corps is jammed on it.

Some supporting artillery.

More of the 82nd, with Arnhem to the left and ...

beleaguering Germans to the right!

There are many phases to a turn (representing a day), many of them administrative - supply, air cover (including a bad-weather check), bombardment, etc. When playing demo games, I feel the best are those where the GM simply tells you what to roll, but the rules seemed fairly simple regardless - each base or vehicle added two dice to a pool, sometimes increased or reduced owing to assorted circumstances - 

For example, if a dropzone, represented by the supply canister
at right center, is under fire, or if a command element (on the hill
at center) is isolated enough to be destroyed.

- and any sixes rolled were hits and removed a base. The choice was that of the player, so if there was a primarily-armor formation, infantry units with it could be "ablative."

Closeup south of Arnhem. I hastily decamped some troops
to the ridge to hold off the Germans coming in from the west,
and headed the rest towards Arnhem to help 1st Div, still holding out.

Artillery support eliminates monst of the panzers,
then along comes the XXX Corps column.

I also started building a Bailey bridge to get my infantry across.

At this point, another panzer column crosses east of Arnhem...

.. while the north side swarms with bad guys.

Some more, during the "air cover" phase.

XXX Corps hurries toward Arnhem.

... While heavy bombers unsuccessfully try to interdict
the panzers in the woods.

I've got the Bailey bridge up.

Boating some of the 82nd into Arnhem to help hold off the Germans.
(Quicker than getting to and across the bridge - remember this image
represents several miles, and it would take a turn or more and mean
getting in the way of tanks that must use the bridge or nothing.

Furious combat in Arnhem.

Germans streaming in.

The dead pile.

XXX Corps with tank destroyers leading are almost there.

They have a clear road - a couple turns of concentrated bombardment
and the panzers this side of the river are now gone.

End result - a minor victory for the Allies, as we a) held more buildings than the Germans and b) had at least a few tank units across. My view was a bit constricted as I was concentrating on the 82nd sector, but while I had some scary moments, the player handling 1st and Polish Brigade was earning his pay too. It looks crude, but this was an excellent and strategic game with a very good GM. I even came away from it with my very own Combat Infantryman's Badge.

At this point, I paused - I had not got into Jeff's game as I hoped, so I roved the hall:

Blood and Plunder.

Gaslands.

Salamis, also by Pete Panzeri.

Another Quar demo:

Some of Jeff's NW Frontier game, I think:

Some magnificent 3D prints - here a CG4 glider.

Fantasy skirmish.

More ancient naval:

Chariot race. The buildings were reset
next day for a gladiator game.

Wings of War.

At this point, I bit the bullet, bought and assembled a couple more packs of Wofun Paperboys (and some paper rulers), and ran a Charge! scenario for the first time with my Pocketmod ruleset.

Meeting engagement between Stephen of Raven Banner Games,
who provided the minis and mat, and another guy named Steve.
Books for hills as with the original.

Each side started in column. Stephen aimed to put one
of his guns on the hill. Movement and shooting went well.

There were some cavalry clashes, which turned out more
problematic because CC in Charge! is man-to-man rather than
one die per 8 men (for infantry) or per shot (for guns).
The other issue was morale - I kept forgetting that cavalry
are understrength at 2/3 casualties, not 1/2.

In general, it went well. Here Steve captures one of Stephen's guns.

I did this on the spur of the moment - I wish I'd thought to bring some of the troops I already had, though. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to construct the Wofun MDF cannon - one, having broken both trail pieces, will have to be converted to a howitzer! More difficult to run than I expected, but like Quar, a very useful playtest that will help me improve both the rules and my GMing.

Another TSATF game I observed with delight, this one a Mexican scenario between Pancho Villa and Federales. An elaborate setup:

A lovely Curtiss Jenny.

Fantasy jousting, with Halflings...

And camel riders.

Lord of the Rings 15mm Rohirrim.

And Uruk-Hai.

A Crusade game.

I'll pause here, because the post is getting really long. Next time, Sunday and loot!