Historicon 2018

I attended Historicon in Lancaster Pennsylvania Thursday 12 July through Sunday 15 July. What follows is a short wrap-up of this year’s experience.

Thursday

I decided this year that I would leave after work rather than take the day off. That was a bad idea. I didn’t leave until 1530 and hit some bad traffic on 15 outside of Leesburg. After that the traffic cleared up a bit, but it still added an hour to my trip.

I rolled in to Lancaster and checked it at the Hilton Tru next door. If you haven’t stayed, it’s a good place. It’s new, has good breakfast in the morning, decent board gaming space in the lobby and it’s a very easy walk to the Host.

I then made my way over to the Host to catch up with some friends. I thought I was too late to get my badge, but one of the helpful HMGS staff showed me a computer in the lobby where I could print my own. After turning up the brightness on my phone, the QR scanner worked and my badge printed out – easy as pie.

Figuring that because the game I was running started at 1000 I may be able to get away with setting up and leaving it overnight, but someone had a pick-up game going on so I decided I’d have plenty of time in the AM. Actually there were quite a few games going on in the Distlefink Thursday night which was great to see.

Ed and Caleb were hanging out in the Tournament Room playing GMT’s Twilight Struggle. I caught up with them, we had a few beers and then went out for late night dinner. Afterward we just called it a night and hit the sack.

All Packed Up

The Coldest War

The Tournament Room

Friday

I woke fairly early Friday morning, grabbed breakfast at the hotel and took a quick shower, then drove over to the Host. Most of my morning was spent taking a leisurely approach to setting up for my game at 1000. I did have the great pleasure of meeting Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies while setting up my game, and he didn’t disappoint.

Waxing Philosophic

This year I decided to get out of my comfort zone and instead of running WWII games of Chain of Command, I ran games of Sharp Practice set in the French and Indian War. The scenarios were titled “The Rescue of Marguerite Boudreaux”. Here’s the write-up I submitted:

Marguerite Boudreaux has been captured by the British and is being held at a settlement on the banks of the Sinnemahoning River. Her father, the Magistrate Loring Boudreaux, has been able to convince the commander of a nearby trapping outpost that forming a rescue party would be in his best interests. Will the French be able to rescue and return Marguerite, or will the British reaction force foil their plans and retain their hostage?

I knew that all of my pre-registration tickets for this session were gone, but I only had three players show. Fortunately I had an alternate as a walk-up, so game on. The French did well as they were able to route the British force off the board. It was a really great group of players, and I had a great time. I made some minor mistakes with the rules, but it happens.

Afterward I had a large cadre (thanks lads) help me clean up, and then a small group of us “American Lardies” and Richard went to lunch across the street at the Lancaster Brewing Company. Lunch ran long, so when we returned I made my first trip to the dealer’s hall and made my only purchases of the weekend. I picked up some animals from Iron Wind for a friend and grabbed the Empress Cross of Iron character set from Age of Glory.

Later that night we were able to play in Patrick’s large early war What a Tanker game. I ran a Panhard 178 and decided that I would use it like an actual recon vehicle and proceed forward until shot at. I did exactly that and drew fire – a lot of it, helping to expose the flanks of quite a few Hun vehicles. Unfortunately the French were not rolling well and no one was able to take advantage of my foolhardy bravery. I lasted longer than expected, but brewed up none the less. Patrick had a nice bottle of whiskey which helped my emotional distress. Afterward we strolled back to the Tru and called it a night.

Saturday

I slept in a little on Saturday but not too late as I had a game scheduled for 1000 again. I set up early(ish) as usual and waited for my players to show up. According to preregistration my game was full, and at 1000 there were 4 people waiting and one alternate. I had turned the alternate away (I know, I’m a bad GM for not squeezing people in…) but then two of the player’s noted that the tickets they had (which were not from prereg but picked up that morning) were for a different game. All of us were somewhat confused, but we decided to do a five-player affair which worked out fine.

I was fortunate enough to have another great group and this time the British won. I know the sample size is small, but I’m calling it a perfectly balanced scenario. Much to my surprise as always, I received another PELA award for my efforts. I’m always super humbled by these and very much appreciate the efforts of HMGS and the volunteer judges. As a bonus, I got a total kick-ass HMGS lanyard/badge holder.

Once again I was helped quite a bit with my clean up, and then just wandered around a bit socializing and checking out other games. Here’s a shot of Ed Leland’s excellent Eastern Front Chain of Command game.

Stunning

I then caught up with Caleb and we headed to the bar for a drink. Not my plan, but that’s where we ended up for the rest of the evening chatting with friends new and old. We then went across the street for late night chow and called it a night.

Sunday

Woke up fairly early again and packed the car for the return trip. We met up over at the Dealer’s Hall for one more quick pass, but I was in somewhat of an alcohol rebound haze. I had been debating whether I wanted to start an Eastern Front project for Chain of Command or do pirates for Sharp Practice (spoiler alert – pirates won) but I couldn’t commit to purchasing anything so I just got on the road and headed home.

Overall, this was my favorite HMGS convention to date. I think part of that has to do with hitting my stride as a GM. I’ve learned to manage games better and also that I should only run one game per day. I get exhausted trying to tackle more. Also I’m very glad that I fell in with the guys from “Lard America”. They really are a super bunch and I enjoy their company greatly. Maybe with some luck we’ll have club status by Fall In!.

I feel obligated to comment on the Host. Clearly the new ownership is working on improvements, however this time it seemed like more WIP was going on than at Cold Wars. I noticed marked improvements at CW, but other than the cranking AC not much for HCon. That said, I’m pretty easy to please so I have no real issues with the venue.

 

Critter Roundup

In preparing for my Sharp Practice games I’ll be running at Historicon, I finished off some animals that I had stashed. Being a sucker for adding small details to my gaming boards, many of these will fit the bill. There’s a hodgepodge of manufacturers here: Reaper, Warbases, Iron Wind Metals, Pulp Figures and the highly recommended farm animal set from Pegasus.

 

Historicon 2017

I attended Historicon in Fredericksburg Virginia Thursday 13 July through Sunday 16 July. I tell myself that after each HMGS convention I attend I’m going to post an AAR on this blog, but it never happens. What follows is my first attempt to recap my experience at a con.

Thursday

Caleb, Dennis and I finally got on the road around 0915, car loaded with mostly terrain for the games I was running. The trip was uneventful until we hit the I-95 interchange on 17S where it was backed up quite a bit. We circumvented the traffic and went in the back way, arriving at the Expo Center a little before 1100.

We had all preregistered so getting our credentials was a breeze, and we headed into the main gaming hall. After socializing with a few friends and snapping a few pics, I figured I would set up for my game that kicked off at 1400. I’m glad I started early as I got chatty with a few people and didn’t finish up until 1330. With 30 minutes left I went to the head, and had what was probably the most humorous exchange of the weekend. The gentleman at the urinal next to me squeezed out one of those wet sounding farts – kinda sounded like a water balloon full of guacamole rolling down a flight of steps and breaking open at the bottom. I asked him “Did you get any on you?” and he laughed and replied “I don’t know, I’ll have to check.” I was thankful, as that could have gone poorly for me. On the way back to the table I got a beer (a fully sanctioned, purchased in the venue beer) to take the edge off before starting.

After play testing my scenarios using Disposable Heroes II, I made the decision to switch to Chain of Command as I am more familiar with it and I felt it worked better with the way I wanted my games to run. My rules change and the 1 hour time extension for my slots came along late in the process and weren’t reflected in the program, but it didn’t seem to bother any of the players. For this session I had one pre-registered player, two with tickets they got that morning, one walk on and one observer.

I introduced myself to the crew and gave a very brief overview of the rules, then I pulled aside the German and American players separately to discuss their OOBs and objectives. The scenario was set in Normandy late in the campaign, with the Germans defending a village and the Americans trying to push them out. The Germans took the first phase, rolled their Command Dice and we were off and running.

Overall the game went okay. Most of the players seemed to enjoy themselves, and we all shared a lot of laughs. It was hard for me to convince the Americans that they needed to be a bit more aggressive. For the most part the bulk of their forces stayed behind a hedge for the majority of the game. The M-10 did take out the Panzer IV with it’s first shot, but then the Germans became conservative with their armor. Still, I think everyone enjoyed themselves which is what really matters. As a bonus I picked up my second Pour Encourager Les Autres (PELA) Award. From the HMGS site:

The “PELA” is a GM Award primarily for a traditional historical based miniatures gaming event, and selected during morning, afternoon and evening sessions daily. The “Pour Encourager Les Autres” quote stems from an Admiral from the Age of Sail, who, after a defeat was executed “To encourage the others.”

After tearing down and packing up again, I went and checked in next door at the Homewood Suites. I hauled my stuff upstairs and went out for a late dinner. Afterwards I went back to the con but was so worn out from the day I called it a night and hit the sack.

Here are some pics from my game:

And a few shots from around the main hall:

Friday

I woke fairly early Friday morning, grabbed breakfast at the hotel and took a quick shower, then drove over to the Expo Center to get a good parking space to unload. Most of my morning was spent taking a leisurely approach to setting up for my game at 1000. I finished up, grabbed a cup of coffee and put my game face on.

I knew that all of my pre-registration tickets for this session were gone, but I only had three players show and, surprisingly, no walk ups as there have been in the past. The one player was a good sport and agreed to handle 2 platoons on his own as the other players were friends that came together. One of these was a gentleman maybe ten years my senior, and it was his first wargame ever – no pressure.

The scenario was an early war engagement with the French defending and the Germans attacking. Both sides ended up playing aggressive which made for a great game. The newbie ended up playing the French armor and was rolling hot with his Char B1 bis early on, taking out the Panzer IV and tearing up an infantry squad with the howitzer. Everyone had a great time, and later that day I saw the new player walking out with a bag of something from the Dealer’s Hall, so mission accomplished.

Some snaps from the game:

After cleanup and stowage, I finally took my first stroll through the Dealer’s Hall. I really didn’t have much of a shopping list but, as impractical as they are at the scale, I’ve always wanted a 28mm Waco Glider. Recently Sarissa Precision released one and Wargame Tools had them at the show, so I picked one up.

We hit an early dinner, then headed back to the con to stroll around. I peeked my head in one of the smaller meeting rooms and saw Rob from The Brit, The Yank and The Hobby Podcast. We had met earlier in the day, and they were about to play in a game of Combat Patrol so he asked the GM (also the author of the rules Buck Surdu) if I could join in. I own a copy of the rules and the necessary card decks, so I was pleased that he squeezed me in.

I ended up playing on the US side and running a squad with a halftrack. Our objective was to clear a road running down the middle of the board lengthwise. I was outnumbered with my suggestion of advancing on a wide front (the Germans started the game hidden), so we overloaded the left flank which ended up causing some traffic jam problems, but we ended up advancing fairly far by game’s end. I like the rules, although Chain of Command will remain my go-to skirmish game. I really like the activation sequence. Each unit has a D6 associated with it, then units are activated when their number comes up in a card deck. There’s a turn end card in the deck that forces everyone to reroll the D6 associated with their units. Combat and movement is all resolved with card flips. All in all, a very enjoyable game that has some solitaire potential. After the game ended it was late and I was exhausted, so I headed off to bed.

Combat Patrol:

Saturday

I slept in a little on Saturday but not too late as I had a game scheduled for myself at 0900 – Kong – Rescue of Ann Darrow. This was a fun little pulp game with toy figures. The players took the rolls of film crews searching Skull Island for Kong and Ann Darrow in an attempt to rescue her and subdue the beast with poison gas. The group was pretty fun, there were giant creatures to wrangle, we completed our objectives and the game was only 2 hours long so there’s wasn’t much to not like about it.

Skull Island adventures:

Afterward, I went out to the car to grab my entries for the Wargames Illustrated Painting Competition. I had debated a bit about what to enter if anything, and as a last minute decision I entered my Warlord M-10 in the Warmachine category, and my Trenchworx Panzer IV in the Open category. After dropping off my entries a group of us walked to the Wegman’s next door for lunch.

When we returned I finally spent some time in the Dealer’s Hall, walking around at a nice leisurely pace. I made a few purchases for some Wild West/Weird West games and then headed to the Flea Market. There wasn’t anything there that caught my eye, so I socialized for a while before we could pick up our entries for the painting competition.

My small haul:

When I went to pick up my entries, my friend Richard was in line in front of me. Richard is a great painter, and was the recipient of Best in Show at last year’s Historicon. He cleaned up again this year with three firsts, a second and a third place entry and his second Best in Show in a row. When it came time to turn in my tickets to retrieve my entries I was very surprised with the results. My Panzer IV took second in the Open category, and my M-10 took first in the Warmachine category and was also voted Best of Theme (100 Years of Tanks) and Best of Warlord Games. I was very flattered and quite frankly shocked by this. Added bonuses are that maybe Richard and I will have a picture of us together in Wargames Illustrated, and now maybe I can let go of Warlord turning me down to do comission vehicle work for them a few years ago.

The entries:

After the hubbub we headed out for early dinner, which seemed to last a lifetime. When we got back Caleb and I setup my early war game that I had run on Friday, and played a relaxing game of Chain of Command head to head. We talked to a few passers by about the game and the terrain, then packed up and called it a night.

Sunday

Woke up fairly early again and packed the car for the return trip. We met up over at the Dealer’s Hall for one more quick pass. I found nothing that I needed, and the same for the Flea Market so we headed home. All-in-all Historicon 2017 was a great time, and I’ve had a blast at all the HMGS conventions I’ve attended. Even though Fredericksburg is only an hour away for me, I don’t think I’ll miss that venue much. It was bloody hot – like two rats banging in a wool sock hot – and they have some silly rules regarding alcohol. That said, I certainly didn’t dislike the place and will probably go wherever HMGS holds Historicon in the future (within reason…). Here’s looking forward to Fall In.

 

Late War Waffen SS Grenadiers – Part I

At this year’s Historicon I’ll be running two WWII skirmish games using Disposable Heroes II. One scenario is a late war engagement between elements of the US 90th Infantry Division and the 2nd and 3rd SS Divisions.

As I dare not run a convention game with incomplete miniatures, I’m using this as an opportunity to finish my SS platoon that has been in various stages of completion for many years. I’ll be documenting my progress and camouflage painting techniques in a series of posts. This first installment will address the platoon composition, and the figures I have chosen to represent the soldiers/equipment.

I’m using two sources for my order of battle – the German Army book ANGRIFF! from Iron Ivan Games, and the late war German Grenadier list from the Chain of Command rulebook. Here’s my planned unit:

Grenadier Platoon

• Platoon HQ
  • Lieutenant w/MP-40 – Warlord
  • Staff Sergeant w/MP-40 – Warlord
  • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • Private w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
  • Private w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
• 1st Squad
  • LMG Team
    • Sergeant w/MP-40 – Victory Force
    • LMG Gunner w/MG-42 – Warlord
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • LMG Team
    • Corporal w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
    • LMG Gunner – Warlord
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• 2nd Squad
  • LMG Team
    • Sergeant w/MP-40 – Victory Force
    • LMG Gunner w/MG-42 – Warlord
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • LMG Team
    • Corporal w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
    • LMG Gunner – Warlord
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• 3rd Squad
  • LMG Team
    • Sergeant w/MP-40 – Warlord
    • LMG Gunner w/MG-42 – Renegade Miniatures
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • LMG Team
    • Corporal w/Kar-98k – Victory Force
    • LMG Gunner – Renegade Miniatures
    • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Ammunition Bearer w/Kar-98k – Warlord
    • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord

Platoon Support

• Sniper Team
  • Sniper w/Scoped Kar-98k – Warlord
  • Spotter w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• Panzerschreck Team
  • Gunner w/Panzerschreck – Warlord
  • Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• Flamethrower Team
  • Gunner w/Flamethrower – Warlord
  • Assistant w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• Recon Team
  • Sergeant w/MP-40 – Warlord
  • LMG Gunner w/MG-42 – Warlord
  • LMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
  • Private w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• MG-42 HMG
  • Sergeant w/MP-40 – Warlord
  • HMG Gunner w/MG-42 – Warlord
  • HMG Loader w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• Forward Observer
  • Radioman w/Kar-98k – Warlord
• Medic
  • Medic – Warlord
• 7.5cm le IG.18
  • le IG.18 w/3 Crew – Warlord
• 7.5cm Pak 40
  • Pak 40 w/3 Crew – Crusader

I’ll also be adding in some various figures with panzerfausts and pioneer equipment.

Historicon Painting Competition

Here are the miniatures I entered in this year’s Historicon Painting Competition. I was fortunate enough, and very flattered, to have my M-10 receive 2nd in the Historical Unit/War Machine category. Many thanks to Wargames Illustrated for sponsoring the competition. The other winners, and a much more professional photograph of my M-10, may be seen here.

1/48 Tamiya M-10

30mm North Star Dr. Klaus

28mm Jeff Valent Studios Werewolf

28mm Bolt Action German Medic