In Her Majesty's Name at MillenniumCon XX

   The third game I participated in at the convention was the game I brought: In Her Majesty's Name. It's a Victorian Science Fiction skirmish/warband game. 

   I provided four factions: the Society of Thule, the Servants of Ra, Lord Curr's Incorrigibles, and the human Minions of Otto Maton. The mission in this game was simple: escape oncoming death. Having disturbed ancient secrets in the Sahara, a curse of flesh eating scarab swarms is chasing all of the factions. Their only hope is to make it to the river boats.

The village of Ruh Naway and the all important boats moored at the docks.

   In order to escape on a boat, a faction had to have control of it - there could be no members of a different faction aboard. Then, on the following Movement phase, it could leave - but not if anyone boarded that turn. Boats then moved up to 9" in a turn (just off the board was sufficient).

The setup.

Lord Curr veers his Incorrigibles away from the Society of Thule

The Society and the Servants mix it up on the right.

One of the Servants, Sairah the Assassin Queen, dashes far ahead of the rest.

Every cultist would lay down his life for Akhenaton.

Maton's Minions move in a disciplined group along the far left flank,

led by the quadcycle.

   The fellow who played the minions stuck strictly to the mission, and it paid off. He got every one of his forces onto the boat, gaining a game-winning 45 points (plus two kills).

In the village square, "Mad" Mick stands alone against the Jaegers and Todtruppen

of the Society of Thule.

   This is the first time I have managed to get the Todtruppen (zombie jaegers) on the field. They are fun, but slow. Mick was abandoned to his fate by the rest of the Incorrigibles.

The boats casting off. In the lead is Akhenaton.

   Note that one boat is missing: Sairah stole it by being first to the docks. This ensured that one team would not be able to escape. A clever strategy. As it turned out, the Society of Thule was doomed. Even more fun, the mummified priest used his power of the Path of Shadows (essentially a teleport spell) to board the boat after it launched.

   After the game ended, we had a bull session about how to improve the scenario. The best idea was to change the motivation of the Servants of Ra. The suggestion was to use them as a blocking force in the village, and reduce the number of boats to three - or maybe even just two. Most importantly, everyone said they had fun, which was the whole point.

   I want to give a special thanks to Jim Johnson for helping me out by bringing a few pieces of really nice terrain. A couple of those buildings are his, made by Crescent Root, and excellent pieces. 

MillenniumCon XX Preparation, Part 3: Terrain...

   I have ordered and received several 28mm buildings and a bit more terrain - desert oasis, sand dune, and piers.

   These have several advantages: they are lightweight, they are easy to assemble, and they are already painted. So I just have to glue them together and toss them into the bucket. I bought a total of seven buildings to give the impression of a small riverside village.

   For the base, I am using my Cigar Box Battles desert cloth. I love these things. Again, lightweight and portable, but they drape well, and they don't pill up.

   I'm still working on the layout of the whole setup. And I hope to get a playtest or two in before the convention. Next I think I need to finalize which troops each force will be fielding. I'd like to give most of them a vehicle of some sorts, because if not, I fear the minion quadcycle will race ahead to secure the landing stage with its machinegun. I might be able to use buildings to give cover to approaching companies though.

Millennium Con XX Prep, Part 2: Quadcycle Stats

   I think I have decided upon the minions of Otto Maton to be the fourth faction in my convention game, just because I like these guys so much. I will probably take the gentlemen of the Sapphire Club as well, in case I need to squeeze in a fifth player.

   And I think they need a vehicle. I happen to have one already painted and good to go - the nefarious All Terrain Quadruple Wheeled Lightly Armoured Autocycle (Machine Gun), more commonly called the "Quadcycle" or even simply "Quaddie." 

You've seen this before, no?

So, I need to stat it up for In Her Majesty's Name. Probably best to treat it as a walker, I think, as far as the rules for hit allocation are concerned. This is what I am thinking:

Pluck: 5+ (2 pts)

FV: +1 (1 pt)

SV: +3 (4 pts)

Speed: 9" (2 pts) - based on Bestiary from HVF

Armour: 10 (4 pts)

Weapon: Machine gun (26 pts)
Equipment: Steam Dynamo (10 pts)
Equipment: Lined Coat (Steersman, AV 8) (1 pt)
Equipment: Pistol (Steersman) (3 pts)
Equipment: Breath Preserver (Steersman) (2 pts)

Note: Can not enter Difficult Terrain

What says the collected wisdom?

The Joy of Six

Six Millimeter, that is!

Whilst journeying through Great Britain the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to attend the Joy of Six gaming show in Sheffield. It was a nice little show, with several interesting demo games, and a good set of vendors, including Baccus, Brigade, and Heroics and Ros.

The most interesting games I saw were a Star Wars game using X-Wing rules for ground combat (an assault on Hoth with truly awesome AT-ATs), and SAGA being played with bases of 6mm figures in place of the single 28mm standard. As far as I could see, there were no other rules changes, though I didn't play in it. It did make it seem more like warbands than the dozen or so figures involved in a standard game of SAGA.

I purchased some figures of Victorian interest from Baccus while there, principally a set of Imperial French for Franco-Prussian Wars. Or, as the case may have it, for my own use as a Legion Extraterrestriale, the extra-solarian forces of La Belle France. I also picked up some Mahdists for use as Martians and some more British for use as, well, British.

I will, of course, get those painted straight away... I figure you will get to see photos sometime around 2021 at the current rate of production. I really need to get some brush time in.

OwlCon Report

   This was the year of VSF for me at OwlCon, the annual science fiction and gaming convention held at Rice University in downtown Houston. I played in three games on Saturday the 7th, all VSF-related.

  The first game was a four player Dystopian Wars 2.0 matchup. I took the Danish fleet in support of Prussian allies, against a combined British and Antarctic fleet. First time with the Danes, and I did terribly. I have to figure out a better way to use those mines than as virtual suicide bombs. Also, the first time with DW 2.0 rules. Not a lot of changes that affected my game.

   The valiant forces of Prussia and Denmark failed to carry the day, unfortunately. However, to brighten things up, I won the drawing for a free box set of minis. I am awaiting delivery of some Federated States forces to beef up my new fleet. Thanks to Garth Bragg for putting on the game and providing the prize.

  Oh - I was so busy playing that I didn't take any pictures!

  My second game was another first, All Quiet on the Martian Front. I took the Martian side in  a massive game. I had some twenty-odd tripods to handle, and got the hang of it pretty quickly. Which was good, because one of my opponents couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the rules and had to be reminded what to do each time. Honestly, he was an older gentleman, and seemed a bit... fuzzy headed, let's say. Pleasant enough, but his attention (and body) wandered away from the table many times. The other player for the Human side (FRY HUMAN SCUM!!!) was more attentive and took up the slack.

   I managed a squeaker of a victory, by not concentrating on eliminating enemy units entirely. A couple of more shots concentrating on eliminating entire units would have seen a solid Martian victory. However, as far as special victory conditions were concerned, I managed to nearly get one tripod off the defended edge of the Human side. My power node was never endangered. Thanks to Coab Evans for putting on this game.

Yup, that's me.

Protecting the Power Node

At the Beginning...

   My third and final game of the convention was an evening of In Her Majesty's Name. The scenario was simple: two rival groups of archaeologists trying to get into the tomb of an ancient god-king. Of course, it wasn't that simple: the local natives didn't want anyone to wander around their countryside, looting antiquities. Also, the god-king has a devoted cult, who didn't want unbelievers defiling their deity's most sacred precincts.

   I took the British Museum's Expedition, complete with native porters, eminent scientists, adventurous American archaeologists, and a Great White Hunter. The GWH drew first blood at extreme range, taking down one of the natives as he bounded across the plains, intent on mischief amongst the porters! I then stupidly allowed myself to get bogged down in hand-to-hand combat, but my valiant porters did quite well against a superior foe. "Tenty" went toe-to-toe with an assegai armed Yahoo for at least four rounds, even knocking the Yahoo down once before finally being double-teamed and skewered from behind.

   In the end, I managed to get the American archaeologist, Ohio Smith, into the tomb on the very last turn of the game. The remainder of my expedition was wiped out to the last man (and woman). Came in second or third on points (out of five), but had a good time nonetheless. Thanks to the fellows from LSHM who put it on (Andy!).

Historicon VSF Report

   I got into no less than four (4!) Victorian Science Fiction themed games at this year's Historicon convention in Fredericksburg, Virginia. My record was an outstanding 3-1.

   The first outing was a land-based Dystopian Wars match. Britain and France fought over Flanders' Fields. I played the French, uncharacteristically for me. Our mission was to defend a ridgeline from British occupation. In the end, the British managed to pull off a victory.

Landship and medium tank versus British armoured onslaught!

A pair of French Cruisers arrive

  The next VSF-themed game I played in was "Further Adventures of The League of Pear-Shaped Gentlemen." This game was hosted by Thomas Harris and Frank Chadwick. Yes, that Frank Chadwick. Fanboy gushing moment for me. We used their upcoming "Mars Needs Steam" rules - look for a Kickstarter campaign near the first of the year.

   I took up the cause of Justice as a force of Martian sepoys in the service of the British crown. The Parhoon Rifles, the Meepsor Fencibles, and the 4th Martian Infantry, as well as some gashant mounted lancers, a cannon, and two sleek airships made up my forces. Just to our right flank were some nefarious servants of the Emperor of Japan - they had to be stopped! In the end, I won the game with 30 points (points were awarded for killing the enemy and uncovering secret encounters, like the Princess and the Rock Chameleon).

My 1st Colonial Lancers

 

Troops of the 4th Martian Infantry fire on the Japanese.

The Parhoon Rifles stumble into a nest of Rock Chameleons!

The Lancers rescue a Martian Princess

Lancers charge into the Japanese hunting party!

 

Thom and Frank get a well-deserved award for an Outstanding Game

See, I told you I know Frank Chadwick!

   My third VSF game was Bob Charrette's Secret Science playtest. Again, I was on the Martian side. Earthlings were attempting to invade our sacred red soil, and had to be held back! Although my performance in the game was less than stellar (some truly bad dice rolling), overall, we scraped a marginal victory when a truly gargantuan beast on the Martian side trampled sixteen - sixteen! - enemy automatons into scrap before plowing into an enemy walker. This left the Earthers with too little a force remaining to push across the field.

My Martian Cannon, the Fist of Grond, in its redoubt.

Martian musketeers advancing

The Great Beast!

  The last VSF game was Chris Palmer's "Victoria Hawkes Saves the Queen" using GASLIGHT rules. I took the side of Prussia, holding Her Majesty in a secret location until a zeppelin could arrive to bear her away. My dice were again, rather atrocious. Most of my forces got shot down in the course of the game. However, in the end, we Prussians loaded HM Victoria into a zeppelin and escaped with her.

British Impervious Suit. One of my comrades kept shooting it for no effect with a gatling gun rather than mowing down infantry. Not a help.

The US Marines' Steam Walker...

My Prussian Kreighosen attacks the Steam Walker with that nasty can opener saw.

Traveling and Battlefield Today

   So, Zach and I are on the road today. By the time this posts, I will have already left to pickup Zach at 0400 so we can make our 0600 flight to Baltimore. From BWI, drive to Fredericksburg. Before we check-in to the hotel, we are going to check out the American Civil War battlefield.

   Then, it's check in time for Historicon 2013! And then, probably bedtime!

OwlCon XXXI: Coming up fast!

  OwlCon is an annual convention held on the campus of Rice University in downtown Houston, Texas. My sons and I have gone for the last three (or is it four?) years in a row.

  I totally forgot about it coming up. I was planning on running a 6mm demo of When the Navy Walked. The "deadline" for registering a game was November 4th! Have to see if I can still get a table! Since I finally got the figures I needed to be able to play (grumble grumble) Now, to paint them and base them and...

  Anyway, the convention is February 3-5, 2012. If you are in the area, come on by!

  Oh, and Happy New Year!

Despatches from Pennsylvania, Day 2

   The major disappointment of the day was the fact that the Sky Galleons of Mars game that I was most looking forward to had a no-show. GM was at the con, and picked up his badge, but simply did not appear to run his game. It disappointed about 12 players who waited a half an hour to see if he was just running a bit late. This kind of thing should result in him paying for his entry, rather than receiving a free GM pass, barring some extenuating circumstances. For example, two years ago I had a game canceled at the last minute because the GM's wife got very ill and he had to take her to the hospital. Legitimate excuse. But this kind of thing happens a little too often to be an emergency situation (not this particular GM, just an observation in general).

   In other news, a strange rabbit-man was spotted in the Valley Forge area. If you see this man, simply back away slowly and keep your hand upon your wallet. He has a variety of devilish methods of separating innocent passersby from their heard earned money.

Nic Robson of Eureka Miniatures

Bunnyman and All-Around Good Guy

Sights from Comicpalooza

   To be honest, these were only a few of the many excellent steampunk costumes at the Comicpalooza convention held in Houston over the Memorial Day weekend. I was there primarily to take part in my first (and last) Field of Glory Ancients tournament. Even so, I thought these few photos I managed to snap were worth the sharing.

  There were literally dozens of others in fine costumes - I just had very little time to take photos.

Interesting Finds at Historicon

   One of the big draws (for me, at least) to Historicon is the cahnce to see a lot of stuff that I never would have sought out on my own. All of the vendors, and the flea market, are a simply dazzling source of ideas. Plus, you get to see some things up close and personal to make a decision about them. Photos on the internet are nice, but they don't take the place of the Mk. I Optic. I thought I might share a few of the finds I found while wandering the many stalls. These are things that I may not have bought (yet!), but that definitely interested me.

   Top of the list has got to be the 25/28mm airships being scratch-built by Mister Rick Stakes. If you saw my post on the Sky Galleons of Mars game, I believe every ship on the table was built by Rick, and many of the guns for them as well. The decks are magnetic sheeting to hold the crew figures and guns securely in place. They are lightweight, made of layers of insulation foamboard, and well detailed. Every one of the common vessels of Space 1889 was represented. Very impressive. I have his email and website address if you are interested in them, but be warned - they ain't cheap! I think the decked out Aphid-class was about $100, if I recall correctly.

   I also saw some very nice figures at the Iron Wind Metals booth. Everyone knows about their BattleTech figures, but they had a couple of other items I thought worth mentioning. First, the Sanwar range. These guys are perfect for post-apocalypse desert types. I am thinking of making them a Martian Deep Deserts culture. Racially the same as the City Martians, but dwelling in the Deep Drylands, in the sand-buried ruins of their ancient cities beside canals long choked to death with the ever-shifting red sands of Mars. The other interesting bit was a vehicle I saw in a post-apocalypse game being played on Thursday night, something like a sand sailer. Imagine a giant windsurfer on three off-road wheels. Somewhat perfect for Mars! The range is called "Warlands", from Aberrant Games.

"Nice Harpoon Gun Ya Got There..."

   Speaking of post-apocalyptic roadways, Stan Johansen attended H'con, and his booth had some interesting bits. His Road Warriors line includes guns, armor plating, turrets, and even motorcycles scaled in roughly 20mm to match up to Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars. perfect for Car Wars, Mad Max, or whatever. I'll be getting some of these in the future.

  Back to VSF-y things, another booth, sort of a FLGS come to the con kind of place, had some model balloons for sale, from the Wings of War series (a Balloon Buster expansion set). Already painted, impressively large... these are a future definite maybe.

   I suppose the point to all of this is that there is a lot of really neat stuff to shop for there. If you can get to a Historicon, I recommend it at least once.

Historicon 2010, Day Two, Part Two

Sky Galleons of Mars
Friday, 8 PM

  This is a game of Sky Galleons of Mars, usually in 1/1200 (about 1.5mm), blown up to 28mm scale. The ships were scratchbuilt by a fellow attending the convention. Absolutely great, but not real cheap. The main structure is insulation foamboard. If you want contact info for him, I have it. Rules are available easily from Amazon.com.

The British Aerial Squadron of Syrtis Major

My ship, the Red Hullcutter. As commander of this vessel, I was Admiral of the Martian fleet.

My orders were not well obeyed.

  Martian objective: get past the British squadron and attack Syrtis Major. British objective: stop the Martian savages. The Martian plan was to try and lure the British in close to our main battleships, pound them with gunnery to damage their liftwood panels, and then board them, while the smaller, faster vessels made for Syrtis Major.

Boarders Away! The Blue Hullcutter grapples and boards HMS Bumblebee

  Martians are boarding for two reasons: 1) their gunnery SUCKS, and 2) they have Marines and most of the British ships did not. Unfortunately, the British were able to keep at higher altittudes as a result of the general failure of Martian gunnery to harm their liftwood panels.

Wreckage of the HMS Bumblebee, with Martian marines dragged to their deaths.

  The final result of the game was a minor Martian victory. One small Martian craft was aflame, but still flying, and several Martian vessels had broken through the line of the British and were headed for their objective. The only ship lost was the Bumblebee, though several Martian vessels were quite badly battered.

  A great deal of fun was had. So much that I did a crap job of taking photos and writing notes. Taunts were thrown, challenges were made, rum was drunk. I still claim the Martians are better than the British Royal Navy because the "Martians only believe in rum and the lash." And we sang "one-nil, one-nil one-nil one-nil" over and over, as that was how many ships were brought down.

Blog Fixed, and Historicon Day One Report

   As you can see, I found the old templates, and reset the blog. Much better looking, I think.

   I'll be splitting postings on Historicon between this blog and my other, The Scattergun Gamer, so I don't flood either one too badly. Plus, it makes for good cross-pollinating! Be sure to check for stuff on the other blog.

Historicon, Day One (Thursday, July 8)

Battle of Edgehill

15mm ECW, "Declare Thee, Sir!" rules.

  Pike and Shotte is the theme for this year's Historicon, so I thought I would start off the convention with a stab at a new genre and a new rules set on Thursday night. I was given command of the far left flank of the Parliamentarian forces, as General Sir James Ramsey (a historical leader).

Things Get Hot!

   The first contact I had with the enemy, the King's Lifeguard Regiment of Cavalry charged into my own cavalry. I held my own, and the Lifeguard retreated! In the retreat, I caught up to two (of three) bases of the enemy cavalry. This does not eliminate a base under these rules, but causes them to continue to rout further. I pursued further, but came into contact with another unit of Royalist cavalry, the Prince of Wales' Own.

The Prince of Wales' Own misses charging my musketeers by thaaaat much.

   Things then began to go down hill. On the right, the cavalry overextended and got slaughtered. The infantry refused to move forward (the player's choice - bad call) to support them. The Parliamentarian right flank began to collapse. In addition, the leader of the battle between my left flank and the center was killed by shot from a saker, causing his battles to go to pieces rapidly.

Royalists on the left, Parliament on the right... the Royalists will win this battle.

My cavalry routs off the table, pursued by Prince Rupert's.

   My cavalry was chased from the table, leaving me with only a general and two seperated units of musketeers. Musketeers, I might add, who were entirely ineffectual, even at point blank range. Out of 30+ rolls, I rolled one hit. One. You needed a 7 on 2d6. Not 7+, not 7-, a total of 7. 1 in 6 chance on 2d6 to get that total. Not for me, it isn't. I rolled snake eyes twice and boxcars three times, but only one 7 (3/4, if you're interested). At that point, Sir Ramsey surrendered to the advancing Royalists, throwing himself on the King's Mercy.

  To be honest, I didn't enjoy this game. My direct opponent liked to gloat, the fellow immediately to my right was obnoxious, and I was accused of cheating (by the Gloater) when I made a mistake because I misunderstood a rule. The rules themselves were not easy for me to follow - a bit counter-intuitive. While I think they might have modeled the infantry fighting of the period well, I didn't have enough infantry to tell. The pursuit rules fairly ensure that if you rout your enemy, your own cavalry will follow them off the table. Which may be historically accurate, but it sucks on the game table. I'll not give up on the period, but I don't think these rules are for me.

Another game going Thursday night, looks like fun! Post-apocalyptic Road Warriors...

Bit pissed... and Historicon Travel!

...and I don't mean thanks to the rum.

Blogger's new template designer. Avoid it at all costs unless you want what you see here to happen to you. I tried to widen my old template, and you see the results... total change! And not for the better. I'll be trying to re-establish my old design template, but can't seem to find it in the new system. If anyone out there has better blog-fu than I (and it wouldn't be hard), let me know.

In other news, I am at Historicon. 0745 on Friday, officially Day Two, but I didn't arrive until 5 minutes to closing yesterday for the Vendor Hall. Played one game, had my command run away, ran into an old acquaintance, met new ones, had a few drinks, wandered a bit. I will be posting more details later, but there's the gist of yesterday evening. The trip out was mediocre. Got hit in the head with a suitcase by a fat smelly guy when he was putting his overhead luggage in the bin. Said fat smelly guy had the decency to not sit in my row, which had an empty seat adjacent to me. Had a gyros in Chicago while on layover. Sat next to a really interesting guy into Philly and had a good chat with him. Met a nice British fellow on the shuttle to, as he put it, "Giglio's little thing." Had my hotel changed for me, but that turned out well enough.

More from Historicon Later...

Convention Coming...

Historicon, I am there!

Didn't think I was gonna get to go this year, but my wonderful bride essentially said: "Just buy the damned tickets and stop asking if we can afford it, already! You're making me nuts!" Or something to that effect.

I love my wife.

I'll be in at least one VSF game, as well, on Saturday night, 8PM, with Bob Charette. He's running his Skyrunners game, which just released a couple of months back. I love the photos of the ships, and want to see them in action!

Even though my spending money's less than I would want it to be for the convention, I'm looking forward to the games! Plus, there's the flea market. Love that. And I can still window shop the convention booths to order stuff later - I like to see something before I buy it online. I'm odd that way.

Also, I'll be going by myself, so no kids wanting to drag me away from interesting booths, games, or whatever so they can eat or something... pfah! Wimps.

Anyway, look me up. I'll be the slightly overweight short guy with no hair and a goatee. No, not that one. No, not that one either. Hint: I shower regularly and change clothes everyday. Does that help? :D

November Travel Plans...

A gathering of individulas indulging in a collective appreciation of steam, and dystopia. A steampunk convention, in other words. In the citadel of dystopia: Seattle, Washington. I think it is the rainfall that does it.

There shall be gaming as well: Steamcon Games.

Perhaps even I shall be able to attend. It all depends on how well my new privateering investment pays off.

July Monthly Wrapup

Sort of a busy month, July.

The biggest event was attending Historicon, obviously. Purchased a LOT of lead there. And I have started a bit on painting some of it. Call it 14 or so minis about 90% done except for bases (which I need to order more of - they rean out of the size I needed at Historicon!).

Got to play some games at Historicon, too, and that was fun. The game that I ran went pretty well, so no complaints on that score. Do wish I had been able to get another game on Saturday, but those are the breaks at the busiest con on the busiest day, I suppose.

Other game related progress was low. I did finish up 20 15mm Masked Minions in time for the game. No progress on the Aphid-class clone. A bit of terrain finished up, again for the game. Have been working on finishing the bases for about twenty minis painted by White Ape Studios for me, and almost done with those. Then they just need some dullcote and they're ready for the display cabinet and the battlefields of Venus.


So, projects for August:

• Order more bases, plus some Reaper master Series paints for my son's frogs.
• Finish lizard dogs, pigs and werewolves.
• Finish bases for explorer, and lizardmen.
• Prime, paint, and base High Martian box set (20 figures)
• Finish at least 20 15mm Aetherbattallion troops and officers
• Finish Martian masked leader.
• Finish 10 Martian sepoys (25mm)
• Prime paint and base prototype Gashant rider.

It's a tall order. Wish me luck!

Regarding Historicon Poll vs. Purchases

The results of the Historicon poll were very close. 25mm Martians came in first, followed by Masked Minions and then Germans. All the rest lagged behind a bit.


So, let's compare that to what I bought at Historicon.


As far as Martians go, all I purchased was a box of High Martians (the flying guys) [RAFM]. My son also bought some Mage Knight cannons that will probably be pressed into Martian service, as they are sort of primitive looking and bulky and just look 'right.'


For the Masked Minions, I purchased a 4 figure gun crew [Parroom Station]. I also bought a Smoke Launcher [Parroom Station] for them to crew. The gun may be used by others, of course. And it may not always be a Smoke launcher. Suppose I need rules for the poisonous cloud that it fires off. Maybe a blast template that wanders with the wind? Green-sprayed battening on an old CD base? Bears thinking about.


For our third place contestant, the Germans, I bought infantry and a massive artillery piece. Again, the artillery piece could be used by anyone, really. It is the Steampunk Cannon [JR Miniatures]. Having a stubby, mortar-like appearance, I also want to make a barrel extension for it (removable, of course) so that it can be made to look like a big fortress piece. Shouldn't be too difficult, as the barrel of the original mortar is tapped quite deeply. I'll explain my idea for it when I get around to doing it. The infantry I chose were the Prussian infantry of Parroom Station.

So, that's it for now. I have gotten a few minis primed and hope to get something painted up today or tomorrow so that I can work on those Pledge numbers I can already see I will be needing more bases. But that's going to wait at least a month for my bank account to recover from our show purchases and travel expenses.

Historicon, Day Three

Okay, the last full day of Historicon was Saturday. And this report isn't posting until Tuesday. After yesterday's mammoth purchasing report, I thought it would be better to postpone this post another day. So why didn't I post it Sunday? Too busy traveling home. Anyway, on the the report...

I didn't get in a single game on Saturday. Both my games were cancelled (one a simple no-show). And I wasn't able to squeeze into anything that seemed interesting to me. So, no gaming for J. That made three games in a row cancelled, by the way, although I was able to get into a game Friday night to replace the cancelled one.

The boys played in two games: Destroy all Monsters (another Godzilla movie-monster game) and Ribbit! (GASLIGHT, using Eureka's new frogs and turtles, by Buck Surdu). In short, Destroy all Monsters stunk, and Ribbit! was awesome.

A blurry shot of the South American War Snail

Dane and another boy move the North American troops. Note the Self Propelled Gunturtle in the foreground.

A closeup of Dane's Heavy Frog Cavalry. Slaughtered to a frog by the War Snail!

Painted by Buck Surdu, I think. Minis by Eureka Miniatures.

Greyson and Dane at the start of RIBBIT!

A very cool German Flying contraption at a Pulp game I couldn't get into.

Lots of awesome pulp-y goodness in that one!

Lots more pictures in the new Photobucket Album I created, titled "Historicon 2009". Catchy title, innit? Check the sidebar for it!

Home Again, Home Again

We arrived safely back home last night, but I was too tired from travelling to do much of anything, so I put all of this off until today.

The Haul

15 mm

4 x Scif Fi plants [QRF, SF-10]

1 x Zulu War British Supply Wagon w/ Driver and Oxen (painted) [Flea Market, but I think Old Glory]

6 x Horkuns [Splintered Light Minis]

4 x Lizard dogs [Splintered Light Minis, from the Lizardman Army deal]

8 x Pigs [East Riding Miniatures]

6 x Werewolves [ATH (?) - at Syr Hobbs booth]

25/28mm

1 x Wraith Golgoth [AT-43 Damocles set]

1 x Fire Toad [AT-43]

9 x UNA Steel Troopers [AT-43]

8 x Therian Storm Golems [AT_43]

5 x X-Squad with Jetpacks [Jeff Valent Studios, Great Rail Wars]

10 x Prussian Infantry [Parroom Station]

4 x Masked Minion Crew [Parroom Station]

1 x Smoke Launcher [Parroom Station]

7 x Russo-Turkish War Turks [Outpost Wargames Service]

11 x Colonial Japanese Infantry [Falcon Miniatures]

4 x Colonial Japanese Cavalry [Falcon Miniatures]

20 x Zulu War British (including officers) [Empress Miniatures]

2 x Zulu War British Rocket battery crew (including rocket launcher) [Empress Miniatures]

20 x ECW Pikemen, including command [Foundry]

2 x Owlbears [flea market]

1 x War Ape [Chainmail]

2 x Skeletal Dogs [Chainmail]

5 x Sailors [Paint N Take]

20 x High Martians [RAFM, for GDW Space 1889]

4 x Plastic Romans [Warlord giveaway]

2 x Plastic Napoleonic British Riflemen [Warlord Giveaway]

1 x Plastic ECW Firleock [Warlord giveaway]

1 x Dwarf Gyrocopter

3 x Space Marine [GW]

1 x Chaos Marine

1 x Skink

1 x Dead Sun gladiator

1 x Kzhag Ork

1 x Space pirate [?]

1 x Nepharite

1 x swordsman [Paint N take]

1 x Ork pirate

10 x Turtles (5 2-turtle sniper teams) [Eureka Miniatures]

20 x Frog Infantry, various sorts [Eureka Miniatures]

3 x Frog Cavalry [Eureka Miniatures]

1 x Frog Cannon (with 6 crew) [Eureka Miniatures]

1 x Mage Knight Mortar

1 x Mage knight Cannon

1 x Mage Knight Catapult

Plus a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that I won't detail here, but including terrain, some Napoleonic ships, dice, card games, etc., etc.

By my count, that's about 227 miniatures of various scales, if you include artillery pieces as seperate, but not mounts or vehicles. About 20 are already painted and ready for the table. The rest vary from bare lead/plastic to partially finished. And at least 7 (the Warlord giveaways) are probably not counting against the Pledge, as they were not bought and not planned. So only about 200 minis to add to the Pledge! Plus 60 or so more Old Glory 15mm colonials that arrived in the mail while I was out, a gift from a friend (THANKS DAN! YOU ROCK!). Oh, and all the frogs and turtles are my sons's, as are the Space Marines and some other things. So take another 40 away there, I suppose.

I better get painting...