Fallcon 20 (21-23 September 2007) Part 3- CLA/BOB

On Sunday I ran the second of two games I ran at Fallcon. This was a Contemptible Little Armies/Back of Beyond game involving four armies which were trying to take a small town in Northeast Asia around 1919. The forces involved included White Russians, Bolsheviks, Chinese Warlord, and Canadian interventionists (yes, I know they just sat in Vladivostock getting sick and wanting to go home – it’s a “what if” type scenario…).

If you’ve been following this blog you may have noticed that I’ve been growing increasingly dissatisfied with CLA over the last while. It’s an okay game if your playing with like-minded pals that are just interested in playing a game, recreating a bit of history on the table-top, having fun and could care less about winning. This is essential for CLA as there are so many poorly written rules that are widely open to interpretation that as soon as someone shows up that actually wants to win and will do anything that the rules “allow” (i.e. doesn’t specifically say you CAN’T!) whether it’s remotely historical or not… well… that’s where it all comes apart. I’ve tried writing house rules and ended up with twice as many pages of clarifications and house rules as there are pages of actual rules in the main rule book…

I debated long and hard about whether to ditch the game and either cancel it or just use some other rules… I made a compromise. I tore all my figures off their individual bases and mounted them on stands in an attempt to simplify, streamline and speed up the game. I stuck with CLA partly because I didn’t have enough time to really learn a new set of rules, partly because I had said I would run CLA (so by George I better run CLA!), and besides the whole point of going to Calgary and attending Fallcon was to hook up with some friends, old and new, and play some games. Could have done it any weekend but since Fallcon’s on in the fall – why not do it then and maybe some people will stop by and express some interest and maybe my Calgary pals might gain some new gamin’ friends. So it was going to be all like-minded friends of mine around the table anyway, right? yeah.... (thanks a lot guys....)

Well… if some of the participants experienced something less than total fun (I’m really sorry) it sure LOOKED impressive! So enough whining, here are the pics:

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Terry, playing the Bolsheviks, got to wear my Budenovka. Here he is keeping a close eye on the advancing Canadians.


First wave of the Chinese Horde!


The White Russian Cossacks charge onto the table.


The Bolsheviks advance on to the table.


Uh… so… horses on the rooftops…. The four buildings were treated as bad going area templates. Whoever controlled a majority of the buildings at the end of turn ten would be declaired the winner – if no one had a clear majority we would continue play until someone did!

Will made a bold move of charging his Cossacks to the town and dismounting them to occupy the buildings. I didn’t have stands of dismounted Cossacks to substitute in, hence the horses on the rooftops. I thought it was particularly bold because it left him rather thin on the ground and by bringing them on he risked not getting his other troops left in reserve until much later in the game (if at all) as they had poor tactical ratings – which had to be diced equal to or less than for them to show up.


The Bolsheviks and Canadians were at it on the first or second turn (top left of the picture). In the bottom left there appears to be white Russians advancing along side the Bolsheviks. This is because I decided to give the Bolsheviks The Rabble-Rouser since they were considerable short-handed. The Rabble-Rouser is a special character that the Bolsheviks can have that can spread the seeds of dissent among their enemy’s troops. Before the game they are allowed to select one enemy unit – if they can dice higher than the unit’s morale value it joins the Bolsheviks! I assumed with their large number of troops with low morale values the Bolshevik player would take one of the Chinese units. Instead Terry took one of the White Russians… leaving Will rather short handed… (sorry Will!)


On the left White Russians have occupied the town and Chinese are moving in. On the left Chinese and White Russians clash in the open.


Chinese cavalry about to enter an already confused melee. Chinese infantry had attacked a Russian MG. Russian infantry then arrived from reserve and attacked the Chinese infantry….


Will (left, playing the White Russians), and Terry (right, playing the Bolsheviks).


A general view of things. Going clockwise from the top of the picture are Bolsheviks, Canadians, Chinese, and White Russians.


The Chinese arrive at the town.


At the bottom of the picture there are white Russians clashing with the traitorous deserters!


Bolsheviks and Candians continue to fight.


At this point the White Russians have two buildings, the Canadians one and the Chinese and Canadians are about to start fighting over one – a struggle that would continue to the end of the game.


The Canadians advance.


Canadians in the foreground, Chinese and White Russians in the back.


The Bolshevik line.


The fight for the town begins.


Brother on Brother – White Russians continue to slog it out with their recent comrades in arms turned traitor!


Bolsheviks, Canadians, and White Russians again.


The Chinese are slowly starting to surround the town. The Bolsheviks are creeping forward at a snails pace. White Russians are moving up to relieve the beleaguered Cossacks in the village.


Bolsheviks and Canadians exchange small arms fire while fierce hand-to-hand combat engulfs the town.



Canadians sent to deal with the Chinese machine-gun that is menacing their advance from their flank are further troubled by the arrival of Chinese specialist assault troops!


White Russians make it to the village but without the numbers to make much difference.

White Russian mercenaries in Chinese service, Chinese staff officer and executioner stand.


The Bolsheviks slowly advance.


Some of the house-to-house fighting in the town. On the ninth turn the Chinese cleared out this building/template giving them a clear majority. The Canucks couldn’t clear out the Chinese and retake the house to contest the village and prolong the game. The Chinese were declared the winners!

Big thanks to those that played in my games, the organizers of Fallcon for giving me a place to run them and Mr. john Burt of giving me a place to crash for the weekend! Cheers!

Coming soon1n Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Taking stock and Game Plan ’08!

Fallcon 20 (21-23 September 2007) Part 2 – Savage Saturday Night

Saturday evening was the first of two games I ran at Fallcon. I ran a Savage Worlds Pulp Adventure game.

The scenario was very similar to a game I ran for the Local Savages back in January (The Lost Temple of Bo-Nong). I had about seven pre-made characters for the players to choose from (each with an appropriate hat for the player to wear). The participants all played members of an archaeological expedition Racing against time to recover the mystical Golden Idol before the evil Nazis (played by myself) found it or the volcano, Mt. Wannahawkaloogie, erupted.

Scattered around the jungle and ruined temple were gold and green tokens. The gold tokens marked “searchable locations”. A character (or group) that spent it’s entire turn within 2” of a gold token could, as an action, search the area. A Notice check at -2 meant they could draw a chit form the treasure cup. One chit had “idol” printed on it, the rest had “no” (there were actually slightly less token than there were golden token on the table – just so they wouldn’t have to search EVERY location to find the idol – but I didn’t tell the players that…).

Paired with each of the golden tokens outside the temple were green “encounter tokens” (there was also a single encounter token in the temple). Whenever a character or group entered the area it triggered a potential encounter. The player would draw a chit out of the encounter cup – some had “nothing” printed on it, others had the name of a critter or other encounter. There were dinosaurs, giant snakes, large jungle cats, angry natives… you name it!

After the play-test I decided to give all the players five bennies – just to make them a little bit more “over the top” good.

The Players and Characters

John Burt returned in his role as Marcus Andres, first mate of the SS Persephone (he also controlled the single group of extras the players had – four crew from the ship).

Will Bailie played Jonathan (“Jock”) Hamish MacDonald, the famous Scottish Antiquarian. A bury Scottish gent with a fiery temper!

Kurt Bertam was roped into playing at the last minute and took on the role of Professor Donald K. Stephenson, armed only with his vast knowledge of ancient languages and architecture and a rather sharp umbrella!

Jerry (uh…. Aw dang, I’m sorry I totally forget his last name…) played Captain Charles Longstreet, Ace Pilot!

Opposing them were Karl Von Kindershisse, Gestapo Agent, Der Ubersturmfuhrer, SS Superman, Mason R. Roberts, American Collector of Antiquities, Gunter and Hans, Gestapo Thugs, and a section of German Army Grenadiers.

I told them they had 20 turns to get off the island before the volcano blew. The lads in the play-test didn’t make it…. Could this bold new group of players…?!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Will, left, and Jerry, right, getting into their roles…


A view of the table with the jungle surrounding the Lost Temple of the Golden Idol.


(L to R) John, Kurt, Will, and Jerry…. and, of course, another view of the table.


Early in the game, on the first of second turn, Der Ubersturmfuhrer triggered an encounter; a TRICERATOPS!!! After unloading his machine-pistol into it with no effect, he, and the other Nazis, decided to RUN!!!

After a turn of that though I realized that they a) weren’t going to outrun it and b) it would kill them all rather quickly if allowed to run wild. So I thought I’d sacrifice Der Ubersturmfuhrer and maybe he’d hold it up long enough for the others to get some distance between them. So Ubersturmfuhrer stopped running, turned around and punched it…. killing it dead. I’ve never aced so many times before in my life….


That’s me, Tim Brown, playing the evil Nazis.


This group of sailors sen three turns searching this stand of jungle – it was worth it, because when they finally passed their group notice check they drew the idol chit! John yelled “BOO-YAH!!” so loud that everyone in the convention hall turned to look out way. Afterwards there was a steady stream of people wandering by to see what was going on as, evidently we were having a lot of fun!


The shoot-out in the temple. Marcus Andres, Professor Stephenson, Captain Longstreet, and “Jock” MacDonald (hiding behind one of the Buddha statues) all entered the temple to search for the ruins about the same time as Von Kindershisse and mason Roberts (who were just off to the left of this picture). A short gunfight erupted until everybody the jubilant shouts of the sailors (yelling “BOO-YAH!”) at which point they attempted to break contact and head for the beach.

In the top right of the picture above you can just make out the tail of the Triceratops lying dead in the jungle… or maybe he was just punched out…whatever…


Here you can see Gunter and Hans sneaking around the outside of the temple, as well as the positions of von Kindershisse and Roberts during the gunfight.


Again Kindershisse and Roberts in the temple.


The German grenadiers rushed to the beach to try and block the heroes’ escape.


Professor Stephenson would have none of this, so he dashed out of the jungle and poked one of the Nazis in the eye. Jock MacDonald has beaten down Roberts and Hans with his big stick and is about to do the same to Kindershisse. Andres had shot Gunter earlier.


Will, John and Kurt.


Jerry.


After bashing another Nazi in the head with his umbrella, Professor Stephenson dashed into the cover of the jungle only to find a Giant Constrictor already occupied it. The mighty umbrella was no match for the enormous snake and the professor quickly found himself… well… constricted. Captain Longstreet and Marcus Andres came to his aid!

Around this time Der Ubersturmfuhrer made his way to the beach. Firing full auto into the melee between the snake and the three heroes he was bound to hit someone! He did. The snake. Three times. Killing it…. Der Ubersturmfuhrer was then, in turn, gunned down himself.


All the heroes then dashed to the boats, loaded up and were away!

All by….


Turn Twelve!!!

(well, okay, it was actually turn twelve when they gunned down Der Ubersturmfuhrer - the last nazi standing in their way - it probably would have taken them two more turns to get to the boat and another turn to get it underway... still well within the 20 turn limit...).

A fun and exciting game! I don’t’ remember how long it took to play out but it seemed "about right" (not too long, not too short). Everyone stayed involved (and at the table!). I think the changes over the Mayday game made a big improvement. The most notable difference being that, for the most part, participants only ran a single wildcard (instead of a wildcard plus a unit each). This sped up the game a lot as there were less players acting on each initiative round – as well as fewer bad guys going each round – as I didn’t need as many opponents to create a challenge for the players.

Next up: Part Three – My Contemptible Little Armies: Back of Beyond game.

Fallcon 20 (21-23 September 2007) - Part One

Just back from my trip to Calgary and Fallcon 20 . I headed out to Calgary on Thursday and stayed at my friend John’s (Cheers mate!). Thursday evening I tried out BattleLore with John and utterly crushed him (following rule #1 of teaching someone a new game – let the noob win thereby ensuring they will want to play again instead of immediately giving up hope – Cheers again!).

Friday I we wandered downtown to the Sentry Box and ran into Gary there. I swear every other time I go there I run into someone I know…. Anyway after spending way too much money and making a few more stops it was off to Fallcon!

Wouldn’t you know it - I forgot my camera. Which is really too bad because Friday night’s game – much like John Carter last year The game was visually stunning! Loads of very well painted figures and expertly crafted terrain. It was beautiful. Unfortunately that’s about all it had going for it…. Also just like John Carter last year the rules were really loose and widely open to interpretation and so rulings had to constantly be made on the spot and then changed when the clever rules lawyers found a new and clever way to exploit each one…. Turns took forever… Ah well, I could go on, but what’s the point. Another game, which could have been a whole lot of fun, ruined by a clever and argumentative rules lawyer bent on crushing all others…

Next morning….

For Saturday morning I had signed up for De Bellis Antiquitatis: Rome! I was a little worried about this. Those Calgary guys take their DBA seriously. The last DBA tournament I played in at Fallcon had been slightly less than fun (mostly due to the same rules lawyer from Friday night….). I had absolutely nothing to worry about, however, as everyone I played with was a lot of fun. I lost. I lost BIG TIME! Zero out of three, I’m not sure I even took out a single enemy stand in the entire tournament…. But I had a pile of fun just the same!

I’m not all that familiar with the Roman era. Most of my DBA experience has been Vikings, Saxons and Normans. I played Early Germans. In my third round the Germans played against Libyans… in Libya… not sure why they would be there, but they were so thoroughly thrashed they decided not to try again for nearly 2000 years! The Libyans were expertly played by Paul Hannah from Seattle – mostly warbands versus psiloi in a pile of bad going terrain. I had NO IDEA how to deal with that. It was all over so fast I never even got to take any pictures….

So here’s a couple of pictures of the first couple rounds…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


My first round opponent was an old friend from Saskatoon, Cory Loshney. Here are the Marian Romans (I think…) he fielded. Most armies were provided by Sean Devitt (the fellow that ran the event). I do believe this was one of Sean’s.


Here are the Early Germans I played. Also, I believe, painted by Sean.


The Romans and the Germans mix it up.


Huzzah!

I was crushed. If I recall correctly Cory killed five stands…. And maybe my general… oh well…


So fast was my first round I had a chance to wander around and check out some of the other games. Here is John, center of the picture, playing a large multi-player game of Roborally.


So great big 15mm ACW game that was going on next to the DBA tournament.


Mustangs and Messerschmitts?


The next round was against another Early German army. (Like that wasn’t going to be just a big shoving match…). Here’s the really exciting bit – my opponent, pictured above, is none other than Doug Hamm (you know… writer of Larry Leadhead?! How cool is THAT!?).


Doug brought his own army. Like all the armies present they were beautiful! As expected it was a big shoving match until one of my warbands tripped while being shoved back and then Doug’s Germans rolled up the line.


Some more of the DBA guys playing. In the immediate foreground are Sean Devitt (right – moderator of the tournament) and Gary Chappell (also from Saskatoon – who, if you are a regular reader you have no doubt seen elsewhere on this blog…).


In the end my pal Cory was proclaimed Caesar! HUZZAH! ALL HAIL CORY: CONQUEROR OF THE EMPIRE!


Next up was Victory at Sea. On the left is Don – my team mate who played the Bismark and the Koln – and on the right is Brent who played the British ships – the Hood, York, Nelson, and Leander. I had two Italian ships Trento and Littorio.


There are my ships. I think the one in the foreground is the Littorio.


(L to R) The Leander, Trento, and Nelson. (I think …).


The Littorio hammering on the Nelson. I think in the end I sunk the Nelson. Another fellow joined Brent later in the game. I think they got the Koln but the Bismark thrashed the Hood and the York and that got us into round two.


I ended up playing Don in round two. He had an American Cruiser and Destroyer, and I had a Japanese Cruiser and Destroyer. Above are my two ships. I totally don’t remember any of their names.


We swung high-speed circles around each other. Eventually I got in a couple good hits and sunk the American cruiser and the destroyer decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made for Hawaii.

Apparently in the other second round game they totally wrecked each other. A couple were sunk and all were crippled. As we didn’t have time for a third round and I got away with both both my ships more or less in tact (barely!) I was declared the winnah! Yay for me.

Next up: Part Two – Savage Worlds Saturday Night!