TaKtiCon 2025

 We had a great time (and a few sales) a couple of weekends ago at TaKtiCon in Kansass City (see what they did there with the K and C in the title?). While it's still a new convention it was bigger than last year's first ever. Three tournamnets, and plenty of non tournament games in all scales and genres. Including mine!

Friday I ran Battlesuit Alpha. Space Pirates had landed to steal precious fuel from the refinery. They almost got away with it too if it hadn't been for those pesky Panetary Defense Forces and especially Fancy Dan, mech pilot extraordinaire. 

 

 

Fancy Dan takes on all comers! 

 

The cavalry arrives! 

Then Saturday it was a game of Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam. We got a few fliers in the game to take the action vertical. Zee Germans were stopped from crossing the board.

 

The Rokkitruppen and Unicycle Uhlans died spectacularly as usual. All in all a great couple of days. Make sure to check it out next time. 

TaktiCon

 Kansas City has a very large wargaming community spread out across the metro area, and since the demise of RECRUITs it's been tough to get the band back together. We have run March to Victory the last 3 years in attempt to provide locals with quality gaming. I was glad to see we weren't alone with the start of TaKtiCon (see how the KC is capitalized? Huh? huuuuhhh?), a new wargaming convention. It was a pleasure to be part of their inaugural event.

I ran several games of our new game Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam. Available from Wiley Games here.

The Germans were trying to break the Anglo-French lines at an abandoned village with teh help of the nefarious Professor Nightshade.

British Naval troops chugged to the center of town and start blasting away.

The brave Unicycle Uhlans charge forward into a hail of bullets.

The Grenadiers stand up to the nightmarish contraptions of Nightshade.

A group of French Marines hold the center.

A great time and a good start to hopefully a long standing convention

Grandpa Gruesome's Weird War Stories

 It's that time of year again! The veil between the living and dead is at it's thinnest. Time for the World Revenent Hunting Social Club to meet once again and clear the ruins of Old Baronburg of the pesky living Dead.

As usual, we used Fistful of Lead, with the Tales of Horror Supplement for all the horrific extras.

The Hunters gather at the center of town.

The more bold hunters move quickly to "shut down" the zombie spawn points while the other are too busy taking trophies and causing far too much noise.

All the commotion has awoken a banshee. Her mournful howl puts shock on all the hunters in the area.

As almost always happens, poor coordination between hunter faction allowed the dead to accumulate into large groups and overpower isolated hunters. About half escaped before the sun rise. A great game as always.

Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles - Victorian SciFi!

 

It was nice to have more of the Basement Generals back, vaccinated and ready for in person gaming. For such an august occasion, I decided to have a Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles game.

We had 4 players, each controlling 3 infantry units, 2 contraptions and a hero. In addition there was an over all commander each side. There were 3 objectives on the table. At the end of each turn, a side got a point for holding it. We decided to play first to 10 points or until time ran out.

 

To begin with, both sides had trouble getting their armored contraptions started. Too long sitting in on the shelves? In fact, the HMLS Triton, an amphibious beast I worked really hard to get painted in time (no unpainted mins on this table!), didn't start the first 4 turns, Then when it did start, couldn't keep the boiler running more than a turn, As a result, the Naval Landing brigade it was supposed to support, was left high and dry. They managed to take the bridge, but were slowly whittled down to nothing.

 

On the other flank, the Empress's Own lady Hussars managed to seize the ruined tower. There they rained down death on the French Marines, who, like the Naval Brigade were left unsupported by their attached clanker. L'Roue did get started eventually, and managed to electrocute a German unit and singe their commander.

 

Meanwhile, those sneaky Rokkitruppen  landed in the fortified farm while the equally snakey (sqeaky?) Unicycle Uhlans hid behind the farm, waiting to strike.

 All along the front, the stalwart red line advanced. The Grenadiers endured terrible casualties but marched forward supporting an infantry unit who took  cemetery and poured fire into the Rokkitruppen.

With the Naval Landing unit destroyed, the Germans took the bridge. Now holding 2 of the objectives and racking up points, the British Goliath Impervious Suit trudged forward to seize the only objective left: the crossroads. Just as he prepared to fire on the farmhouse, the Uhlans struck. Explosive lances knocking the big clanker back, he was forced to retreat. But the Uhlans didn't hold the roads long. The Zuoaves attacked. It was a murderous volley. The Uhlans were wiped out to a man. A pile of bloody unicycle littered the crossroads.

It soon became apparent that two of the objectives were lost for good. With that, the two sides shook hands (we can do that now!) and cleared the battlefield.

Great game, and even better to see everyone. You can watch the whole game HERE on our YouTube channel.