WW1 Dogfighting

Another new game for the group.  Dan Kerrick has brought WW1 dogfights to the tabletop using a set of fast play rules.

We recently got together and played a game, each of us taking 3 aircraft.  Custom bases and templates from Litko has streamlined the gameplay.  Speed is tracked with a dial in the base.  Altitude by moving the aircraft up/down the pole to the white marked levels (1 thru 6).

We all had a blast playing.  I managed to use an echelon formation to shoot down 3 fighters then swing around to shoot down 2 more at the loss of only 1 fighter.

Some pictures of the game below.

WW2 1/1200 Naval Action

Roy Scaife has done a spectacular job getting his 1/1200 WW2 naval collection done.  He has fleets and ships for all the naval forces in WW2, along with 1/600 aircraft.

Roy developed a set of fast play rules called Dark Seas that are based off of Victory at Sea.  These rules play great.  The game below saw the first use of fighter wings in our games.  I love how Roy has based them in the V formations.

The larger scale (most WW2 naval is done with 1/2400) is really nice.  It brings out the detail in the ships and makes for a visually beautiful naval game.

Here are pictures from the first game we played ...

More gaming to come!

WW2: New German Armour

One of my side projects I've had going on is to redo my German army for WW2.  I'm also adding Canadians to my collection.  21st Panzer, 12th SS, and the Canadians fought in Normandie and I've planned several scenarios around those engagements.

I'm also not very happy with my Warlord Games kits, so I've decided to use Rubicon Models as much as possible.  The excellent Erik Sims has been hard at work on this for me.  

Here is some progress so far ... first up the Rubicon kits ...

These Panzer IIIs are from Warlord Games ...

There are still Panzer IVs and more 251 halftracks to complete but it's getting close to done.  I need to get the SS figures done and new Heer figures as well.

No Conventions? No Con-Problem!

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed the hallowed halls of a game convention.  The musk of happy gamers.  The "nuked" restrooms - gamers bathroom habits are scorched earth for sure.  The end is nigh in my neck of the woods.  With California achieving very high vaccine rates and with very low daily cases we'll we in the "yellow" tier here very soon.  

The good news is much has been completed during the lockdowns and general "inside-i-ness" of the past year+ - even if my motivation to post to the blog has been low.

PacifiCon - held on the first weekend in September looks to be the first full convention we'll see back on the local schedule here.  The good news is pent up gamers just can't wait to get out of the house - so what would normally be the smallest/least attended convention in the local area is looking to be overrun with excited gamers.  This guy and our merry group of gamers are so on top of it we booked the hotel before the convention block even opened up.

But ... on to things that are happening sooner ...

CabinCon.  Something that we started a few years ago ... is back and alive!  While not as "broad" at the moment as it could be --- the good news is the gaming group is all fully vaccinated at this point.  I've reserved an event room at the DoubleTree here in Newark, California for May 28-30, and we are going to game our little asses off for three days (Friday through Sunday).  

We have a plan to do the following:

• Friday afternoon:  WW1 Dogfighting
• Friday evening:  LOTR - Battle at the Fords of the Isen (using Middle Earth Battles)
• Saturday Morning:  Napoleonic's - Battle of Corunna (using Empires at War)
• Saturday Afternoon: WW2 Eastern Front (using What a Tanker)
• Saturday Evening:  Board Games, Drinking, General Shenanigans
• Sunday Morning:  Napoleonic Naval (using Beat to Quarters)
• Sunday Afternoon: SAGA Crescent and the Cross Mega Battle

It's possible we may have WW2 Winter (Dan Kerrick) and/or Sudan colonial (from Matt Hilzendrager) if they can pull the games together in time.

Oh ... I can't wait!  Many pictures will be taken and shared.

Now I need to buckle down and finally get all the LOTR basing done!

Battle Report: Freeman's Farm, 1777

The gang got together for our first "full group" game since the start of the pandemic.  With my new rivers in hand I was able to get Freeman's Farm on the table.  Below is a picture of "the night before" the game.  All setup and ready to go.  I've been looking forward to running this game for a while.

Roy, John and Adrian commanded the crown forces, which comprised a goodly portion of Hessians.  Dan and Matt took the American forces.

The American forces immediately push most of their reserve units forward in an attempt to hold both the farms.  While this left little/nothing to plug holes, it did make the fight for the farms very epic.  Fraser and Hamilton really had their hands full trying to break into the farms.  Roy and John kept their Grenadiers (both British and Hessian) in reserve and used them to drop a hammer late in the game in order to get a firm foothold on each of the farms.

Reidesel was held up ... unsure as to commit forward to the heights or if units needed to break off to support the attack on the farm.  Decisions made too late meant that the much needed support for the attack on the farm never materialized before the end of the game.

Still, even with a valiant defence, the Americans could hold back the more experienced troops.  While it would have been unlikely the crown forces could take the heights, with most of the American forces pushed forward it was a real possibility by games end.  So the game went firmly to the crown forces with a victory.

A good chunk of pictures below ... I was fairly distracted 2/3rds of the way through the game due to us all just being together and getting into long conversations so I neglected my picture taking responsibilities late in the game.  Still, some decent shots below from both my phone camera and my SLR camera ...

There you go.  I promised the guys I would re-run both Guilford Courthouse and Breed's Hill at some point in the near'ish future.  But first I'd like to get the Fords of Isen on the table and we also decided to all collectively take May the 4th off to play Star Wars (Hoth).