Actual Games Played; Veterans Day wekend.

Hurray for playing miniature war games!  Especially in Real Life and not just in my imagination while I drive to work..

A Wargaming Weekend

It's been awhile since I was able to play any games, just because life is like that sometimes.  So I decided that I would use a cunning plan to achieve my nefarious needs (my writing staff greatly approves of alliterations) and employed a seldom used tactic in marriage called (wait for it): COMMUNICATION. 

I said to my wife, "I would like to be able to play some games before we all get all crazy busy with the holidays and such.  Think we can find a weekend where you take the kids with you to the bay area (where she works on weekends) so your parents can watch them while I stay up here and goof off?  pretty please?" 

"Of course, let's get it on the calendar." 
Best Wife EVAR...

SO, through trickery and manipulation, I arranged it that on Veteran's Day weekend my wife and kids left Friday afternoon and would not return until sometime on Sunday, leaving me all of Friday night and Saturday as a bachelor and free to play with toy soldiers.  Also to eat a lot pizza and not shower.

Friday Night is Two-for-One Tank Night

Friday night arrived and I had 4 players plus myself scheduled for the evening.  I was thinking I wanted something fun and lite but good for an evening game, a ruleset that I knew but haven't played in a bit.  It also occurred to me that I haven't used my 15mm WWII stuff in ages.  I used to be an avid WWII gamer but it's fallen off the radar these last couple of years, but I still have all my stuff of course,  because wargamers never get rid of anything!  Especially if it's painted. 

Friday night game became What a Tanker (WaT) by Too Fat Lardies.  It's a great game for making tank sounds while moving the miniatures, and shooting your friends for fun and profit.

Table set up for WaT.  I like it when there is a lot of terrain that blocks the fire lines.
If the table is too open, nobody has to move.

The tanks are from my old Flames of War collection:  the Allies had choices of Shermans and M10s, while the Axis could choose from  Panzer IVs, Panthers, and Tigers.
I also aware myself 5 hobby points for knowing what kind of tanks I had in the WWII collection even though I haven't laid eyes on them in years. 

Panzer IV burning in the woods, it thought it was safe...

I like my bocage.  

The first game was a (re)learning game and just Panzer IVs versus Shermans, and just gave everyone a few turns to roll the command dice and see what the terrain did.  If someone blew up they just got another tank next turn.  After a few rounds of that we went onto the scenario proper for the evening (which I literally just made up a few minutes before we started playing it....don't tell anyone, not that it was anything super complicated).

In the Proper Scenario, the 2 Axis and 3 Allied players started in opposite corners.  Each Ally got 2 tanks and could choose M10s or Shermans (because that's all I have), while the Axis could choose 2 Panzer IVs or 1 Panther or 1 Tiger.  In the end it was 3 M10s and 3 Shermans versus 2 Panzer IVs and 1 tiger.  The Allies had to eliminate the Axis tanks to win, the Axis just had to stay alive (see, not very complicated at all). 

Saturday was a Ball, a Minnie Ball that is...

Saturday morning it was time for that ALL TIME best historical genre, the ACW. Rules being used: Regimental Fire and Fury.

side topic: I'm never as popular as I think I am

When I was planning out the weekend I was hoping to get around 6-8 players for the ACW game so I could do some large, spectacular scenario using ALL my troops and cannons on the table.  I sent an invite to both of the local miniature wargaming clubs that I belong to and really did not get much of a response.  Not that I can blame them, I only attend like 1 club meeting a year so it's doubtful many of the members know who I am.  But I like to fantasize that people would think "Stew's putting on an ACW game?!  I got to make that!"


I also had a few good gamer buddies not able to make it due to conflicting schedules.
Maybe more next time.



Back to the Point..
With 4 players committed to the battle (3 + me) I decided we would trot out the Port Republic ‘what if’ scenario that I ran at Pacificon last year since I think it’s a good 4 player game; with each player controlling one half of the battlefield.

Set up for the scenario.
Basically the CSA comes from the left in ever increasing numbers turn after turn.
The USA gets some reinforcements late in the game to try and hold on.

It’s always hard to take a enough pics to capture the whole battle  when one is playing and hosting, and we’ve all had the experience of not taking pictures when the battle grows especially hot and engaging, so below is the random assortment of pics that I remembered to take, and this is clearly not a run on sentence that a better editor would correct; I must speak with my writing staff.

Set up pic

another set up pic

The Brave Union line

I really like this scenario.  I love how the CSA attack builds and gains momentum, and how the USA reinforcements arrive just as all seems lost.  It’s got a variety of unit sizes, unit skill levels, and varied terrain that make meaningful tactical decisions.

Early Game

CSA advancing through the woods

The only draw back is that it takes for-ever to play all the way through. Of the 3 times I’ve ran it we’ve only made it to the end once, and that was at the convention with a bunch of die hard gamers with no where else to go.  This time we started at 10 am and quit a little before 3, with the game still hanging in the balance. 

CSA begins to crush the flank

The CSA attack becomes earnest.

After the battle Saturday night I had a birthday party to go to.   Sunday I cleaned the house while muttering to myself that I'm too old to be this tired and hungover. 

Jackson gathers a 3 batteries into a powerful large gun line.
He's able to do this in the rules because he was an artillery teacher at West Point.
However, I think people male too much of this; by all accounts he was a terrible teacher
and just recited the text book from memory.

End game: the CSA have taken one flank,
could the USA reinforcements stem the grey tide?
(those USA batteries are fleeing in the pic by the way)

OVERALL:
I had a great weekend and it kinda was like a miniature-miniature wargaming convention at my place (see what I did there? The writing staff found that amusing).  All my guests; Mr. C.G., Mr S., Mr. M.S, Mr. A.S., and my good friend who came ALL the way from the bay area Mr. P.C; all expressed that they had fun playing.  And since we all had fun, I'm gonna call it a very successful weekend. 

It’s also probably the last hurrah for me gaming-wise for the year, so it felt good to go out with a bang.

Monday was a Parade

Monday morning was spent with the family at the Veterans Day parade.

The kids got a kick out of this float

Thank you to all veterans for your service; military and law enforcement.

We also made a little over a hundred patriotic cookies...and by "WE," I mostly mean the wife as she is the cookie master, but I did help.  Someone had to eat the mess ups.

On the morning of Veteran's Day, we delivered the cookies to my father’s old assisted living facility in honor of his memory.  He served in the navy for 20 years and saw combat during Vietnam.


See you next time.