(GSM) Scrunt Light Infantry

Olley's Armies has announced the release of Scrunt Light Infantry.

A bit too Commissar-ish for my tastes, but I can picture these guys working as both friend and foe to the Gnomish Space Marines.  The set of five, with multiple heads and weapon arms are £15.00 GBP

Also, the rights to the Mutant Hunter Dog Handlers have been sold and there is limited stock left.

http://www.olleysarmies.co.uk/

IKEA, This Means War

Oh how a 30 second ad can change my morning demeanor...
(edit: the two minute extended version is better and I added it here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vuA1n9_j38&sns=em
For the short version

First, I want to know if any of those poses are available for sale anywhere.

Second, who's up for some Gnome Wars garden wargaming. Gnomes versus frogs, with some mercenary flamingo air cav sounds good right about now. Beats having to cut the lawn this weekend.

(Kickstarter) Dark Dungeons: The Movie!

It looks as if somebody has bought the movie license to produce a movie based off Jack Chick's infamous "Dark Dungeons" tract. 

Without doing too much reading it appears that he wants to produce a straight version of the film with a few options of alternate endings for those wanting to back at a higher level.

The one thing that brings me a smile to my face was this statement under "Risks and Challenges":

"This includes simple things like not setting any scenes at night (lighting can be expensive and time consuming), no large crowd scenes (more people mean more complexity means more money), and showing puppet demons fleeing Debbie instead of using CGI demons."

I would just like to see the entire movie done with puppets....

A Salute to the Weekend

Yes, some of you may have read this before. Blogger decided to make it mysteriously vanish. thanks to the "obsolete" Google Reader I was able to recover it. Here it is again for posterity's sake.

This weekend was my birthday, and despite the lingo the kids uses theses days, it was not off the hook. It was a nice relaxing weekend, however.

My kids were insistent on getting me a "monster" cake and my wife decided to use a bakery and may not be in the middle of nowhere, but it was close. We loaded up the family unit and took a nice leisurely drive, resulting in a birthday cake, two sleeping children, and the weekly trip to the grocery store completed.

Success!

After a delicious dinner with components of chicken, potatoes, hot sauce, and bacon, the monster cake was unveiled and I got an accompanying monster card to go with it.

My wife, ever doubtful of her ability to get me anything sort of gift, scored on two fronts. First was a rhubarb pie... no strawberry. The overpowering tartness will keep me going all week long. She also got me a gift card to Michael's which will allow me to restock my paints and brushes to prepare for the paintapalooza which will occur shortly.

Sunday was a "single dad" game, and after a marginal breakfast at our local stop, I simply let the kids run wild in the front yard as I perused miniatures on the iPad, and finally got through episode 5 of Masks on Cthulhu on Parade. Can't wait to get time for episode 6. but somebody should have died a horrible death in that episode.

In the evening I finally began to reorganize my minis closet at the end of the hall and had a little helper in her Cold Wars night shirt. I now know just how many figures (and chickens) can fit on one of my ships.

The Hallway Rebellion isn't covered in history texts... yet.

This weekend was also Salute, the big grand-daddy of conventions in the UK. British cons are divided into two categories: Smaller club shows with a dealer or two and lots of games, or the larger cons like Salute with a bloody long queue to get in, piles of manufacturers and other dealers, and a relative smattering of demonstration games, as well as even fewer "diorama" tables that I would be frightened to touch, much less play on.
There are plenty of people who went to Salute and posted plenty of cool pics and beautiful set-ups. Only two pics thus far have elicited a serious level of excitement, both coming from www.shedwars.blogspot.com .

Holy crap, a pulp style game played entirely on rooftops. The cotton is supposed to represent clouds/fog/the dangers of using too much detergent in your washing machine.

A Hammer's Slammers game in 6mm (1/285th - Battletech scale for the yeo-gamers). That's a board I want to play on every weekend!

(Poll). What to run at Mepacon XXV ?

Alright, the theme for Mepacon XXV this November is Pirates! Due to my probable work schedule, I will eschew Fall-In! for a full day trip back to the northern reaches of Scranton.

Of course, I would love to run a theme game, but which one?

Hackmaster 4th - Revenge of the Burning Trogs: I have resigned myself that the Trogs are never getting back together. I may be able to live vicariously through them if I continued their revenge through convention events. The slavers of Roark hire pirates, don't they? My last HM game had 8+ players.

Gnome Wars: I only own a few pirates, so I don't know what I'll run. Perhaps some skirmish level WWI fighting invlolving Rommel? Last game only got two players.

Contemptible Little Armies - The Pirates of Pago Pago: While I don't want to run my Second Samoan Civil War games until Cold Wars, a timetable to get some painting/terrain/buildings done would be nice, as well as more practice with the rules. This would be a simple raid of US/Allied native forces vs a pirate camp. Historicals don't traditionally fare well at the con and this is the first time with this system.

Mouse Guard: Perhaps my most ambitious idea, is working up a sea game for Mouse Guard. First time at the con.

Hackmaster 4th/D&D: the Lost City - Sand Pirates! Take my reverse dungeon concept for module B4 and let them try to fight off the invading forces... Of the Master! Again, the last HM game with 8+ players was a Lost City game.

Of course, I could run a game with my auction finds last weekend, OGRE-thulhu vs college recruitment manuals vs Illuminati Bavarian Fire Drill (in German) using Fantasy Wargaming by Bruce Galloway.

Maybe I'll just stick with pirates.

Thanks to some Facebook private messages, I found the Blogger poll to be on the fritz.  Please place your votes below in the comments.  Thanks!

Adventure Games, Dickson City, Pennsylvania

While I was building up the motivation to attend Mepacon,  I decided to load up the directions to Adventure Games in Dickson City, PA.  I've mentioned them once or twice before.  They had previously been at two different locations along Business Route 6 near the shopping centers and must have moved within the last few years to a location closer to the downtown.

849-851 Main St., Dickson City

The location itself isn't too bad.  Despite being in a high volume traffic area near the mall, the traffic was too much for a quick trip to see if anything new came in, and then to zip out.  This new location looks like it has off street parking in the back, as well as on-street parking with an hour time limit.

As I walked in, I thought about finding a local historical society and borrow an old miner's helmet.  The store is DARK.  Sure it was an overcast day, but there were two small hanging lamps lighting specific tables and nothing else was lit.  And it's not as if there weren't people in the store.  There were two woman playing some game on their computer network, some kids perusing merchandise, two guys playing 40k, and a three player of the Babylon 5 CCG, plus the ever-reading register guy.  If they can't afford to turn on the lights then, do they save it for giant GW or Magic tourneys?

Oooh, I forget about this light as well.

Enough about power bills.  The main store is situated in an L shape, with computers for rent along the one wall and multiple gaming tables filling in the middle.  There is also another large, unused back room that could easily fit overflow players from any big tournament.  Most of the tables were small and easily movable, except for the two large 40K tables, which were game boards placed over pool tables! 

Dreadnought, off the scout squad, corner pocket.

Alright, let's get down to brass tacks:

Role-Playing: When I walked around the 40k tables I came upon their main role-playing section, a number of long racks stretching across the 20-25 foot section of wall and two four-sided freestanding displays. The first thing that caught my eye on the displays was the Torg: Los Angeles Sourcebook. I found it amusing for a number of reasons: a) it was the only Torg product in the store b) it was full retail, where everything else around it had a discounted sales sticker c) I lied, there was another Torg book... another Los Angeles sourcebook!  Throw in some L5R CCG and collectible mini game blisters and it wasn't an impressive display.

The racks were a mismatched collection of 3.X, 4th edition and Pathfinder with most of the racks filled in with old issues of Dungeon Magazine. A lot of single issues filling a lot of otherwise empty spaces . I guess I should add here the I did spy some issues of Game Trade Magazine on one of the game tables, so special ordering is possible.

Quick pic of the roleplaying shelves.  That's a LOT of old magazine covering up shelf space.

Miniatures: GW has a solid foothold here. The 40k boxes were wisely behind a counter that housed Magic singles as well as someone's nicely painted army. Stock looked to be one of each boxed set, a wise move. A rack in the corner housed the rule books, codexes, and a few Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay items. They stocked the full line of GW paints, and even have a few of the Army Painter flocking supplies on hand, possibly the only $5 or less impulse buy on that side of the store. One interesting item of note was a scattered display of sealed copies of Blood Bowl around the store, each one going for $82.50.

The Warhammer/40k stock... and another light.

Amenities: One plus was the veritable gamer feast available near the counter. Standard snack fare, a large convenience store cooler for drinks, and even a freezer of "microwaveable" snacks options like corn dogs.

Staff: the ever diligent guy reading behind the register did acknowledge me and was quite pleasant. Bare minimum in traditional retail, but in gaming retail that's a step in the right direction

Random sealed copies of Blood Bowl adorned the shelves.  $82.50 each

The even more disturbing (but better lit) backroom for tournament overflow I gather.

All in all, Adventure Games has upgraded in location, but maintained its dull and dingy atmosphere. If you play GW or Magic and live local, this may be the place for you. RPGs and board games are an afterthought. There was nothing there to convince me to return again and make actual purchases.

On the Gaming with the Gnomies rating scale, I give Adventure Games 2 out of 5 Gnomes.

Mepacon Spring 2013 Review

The Viscount has returned from Mepacon, and although I always enjoy myself, this was the best one in years.

I have to admit that had reservations about going this time.  Attendance had been dwindling, the dealers always stocked more and more expensive items, and the Old Guard from the Lehigh Valley conventions were essentially gone this time.  No Steve and his Drow game, no Gerry and his beret, no drunk/crazy Larry and him yelling at the RPGA/Organized Play-esqe people, "you are all the ball-lickers!" There were fewer and fewer auction finds and more random yard sale stuff.  Throw in the two and four year-old back home, a beautiful weekend to get the yard work started, and gearing up for a new position at work that Monday added up to plenty of excuses.

But I went anyway.

My apathetic goal was to swing by right before the raffle/auction, see if I had any players for my Toon game, and if not, escape at the start of the evening session for a heaping order of cheese and gravy fries at Chick's Diner in Scranton.  Instead, I got out early, got to the con at the beginning of the afternoon session and hit a wall.

A wall of gamers.

My pictures wouldn't do the main ballroom justice.  After con after con of only four or five tables running games when there were ten slotted, and most of them only half filled, the main room was teeming with gamers, actively starting their games in droves, with a few pick up games organizing in the corners.  Organized Play, which was  in another room, looked like it took a bit of a hit in participation

Organized play had a few empty seats for once

I actually felt a wave of relief that the con had life, then a wave of overwhelming fear.  Oh crap my Toon game, which I only submitted a week before player pre-reg closed, was sold out during pre-reg plus an alternate!

After snagging up my badge,  not finding the familiar faces I was looking for, and a quick perusal of the early auction and dealer tables, I did what any self-respecting geek longing to game would do. I went over to Damon's Restaurant across the parking lot and had a lunch of Guinness and wings.  At Damon's I spoke to my friend Brian on the phone, who was coming up to the con, if only for the auction.

With some time to kill before I decided I would feel up to going back, I spent the next two hours hunting down Adventure Games in Dickson City. It was worth the trip, even if it only amounted to me being able to write a store review post (Coming Soon!)

Upon my return, I perused the games/dealers again, got into a nice, short conversation with perennial Guest of Honor, author CJ Henderson (I only wanted Radio City Knight and it isn't back from the printers), and relaxed in the hotel lobby to go over a few items to throw into the auction, and to remember any of the plots to the Toon episodes. Brian soon showed up and we spent the time up till the raffle/auction just catching up and throwing gaming ideas at each other.

Again, it wasn't the events of the con that made me blah, that was all my fault.  Lots was going on, including 5e demos/playtests, Pathfinder/D&D organized play, Star Wars fighter combat, and a Strek Trek game set up with five or six laptops on a LAN.  Each player was a different crewmember with different responsibilities and it seemed to get a big reception.  I also got to see a game of Mice and Mystics.  Nice figures, solid accessories, still can't justify the cost for more mice minis.

There's always one...

Raffle/Auction -  If one thing was down, it was the variety of stuff in the raffle.  Outside a borderline kids game, I picked up the only cool thing on the table when I won, an OGREthulhu!

The spoils of war... errrr, I mean the raffle

The auction had its pros and cons.  Pro: it was quick and well organized.  Con:  There wasn't much to it.
Pro: The new kids who I complained about last con wised up and were actually pretty cool Con: The economy is getting better and new money players infused some higher bids into the auction.  Paperback books which sets usually have to be bundled together with other sets to sell for a buck were going for five, six, seven, even twelve dollars a set.   I made over $11  on the books I had put in the auction and only spent $3 total... at the last con auction!   Woo, inflation!

The auction, everything starting at a buck and skyrocketing upwards from there.

I got two items from the auction, I personally snagged a copy of Fantasy Wargaming  (small hardcover with dust jacket) for a buck!  Brian had also won a copy of the Illuminati: Bavarian Fire Drill expansion and gave it me as a birthday present.  Very fitting, since I no longer own a copy of Illuminati, and the expansion is printed entirely in German. I loves me some wacky gifts.

I also snagged up a random college textbook Overthrowing Dead Culture - A Vision to Change the World of College Recruiting for free, and by golly, I'm going to use that for my Illuminati University game this summer.  Fun fun fun!

My new "sourcebook" for Illuminati University

Brian left right after the auction and I dove into my Toon Cthulhu Comes  to Springfield game.  Instead of five players, I expanded to seven and then grabbed another onlooker for eight.  "Homer the Shoggoth" didn't really go anywhere, even if Moe was the lone survivor of the Simpson home suffering from a gas explosion.

Everyone loved the dual-role nature of "Krusty the Kultist"  and more were frightened by the mixture of Apocalypse Now and Lord of the Flies the Flanders kids turned into while battling the "non-believers."  We finally crossed the line that requires this to be an adult only game about five minutes before the session ended.  I do believe everyone had a great time and it was better to end it 50 minutes early than try and botch up a third episode.

At that point I packed up my stuff, and headed down 81.  Mission accomplished.

Next con is November 8-10 back at the Ramada and the theme (ooh a theme) will be pirates.  I'll post up a poll once I narrow my options down.  It will also proudly be Mepacon 25 (or XXV for those of you of Roman persuasion).

I never did get to Chick's.  Maybe in November.

Sunday Down Time

I had a great time at Mepacon yesterday. Toon went off far better than i ever inagined. I even got to visit a local game store and will work up a review.

But today is beautiful outside, and after being at work all morning, I want to spend the day with my kids... My posts can appear some other day.

Bleaseworld: Sprue Army

I don't remember ever using the "Blog This" button under a fellow blogger's post, but since this is a reference to a reference to a Facebook post, I figured I would continue the five degrees from all posts.

Bleaseworld: Sprue Army: It has been a very long day today work wise but this cheered me up and I thought it worth sharing... You may recall my efforts to reuse sp...

The Rallying Cry of Lead!

I can't even tell you where I stole this from, but I think this should be my motto for awhile:

The Missus took a bus trip down to Atlantic City over the past weekend and hit a couple sizable chunks of change.    She came back with a brand new iPad, piles of new clothes for the kids, and a Stewart's Orange Cream soda for me... with a a wad of a cash underneath it. 

Once I return from Mepacon this weekend, I'll be placing two orders:  one to Pulp Figures which should fill in all the Samoans I need,

...and one to Foundry for the South American skin paint set.  The medium and dark pigments seem to make perfect Polynesian skin.

Now onto the mission for this evening, find my Toon game for the con.  It's not in its spot in my desk file as it should be.  

The Michael Lung Gallery #18

This intallment of the gallery "In bed with Mike Lung."

Can't wait to see what sort of internet hits I get with THAT!

In all seriousness, so as not to force Mike to lug all his stuff down the twisted labyrinth which is the Lancaster Host, I took a few iPhone pics of Mike's projects from his hotel room.

A ruined gnome house and some pumpkin patches.  That man in back is Ivo, Mike's hunchback assistant



Reaper Space Mouslings, a few conversions, some Awful Cheese Things, a few Star Wars Squinkies in various stages of conversion.



Some of his own sculpts for his much ballyhooed "Twilight of the Gnomes" game he threatens to run.  Plus a Bumble.



Painting up the troops for Historicon

In Gnome Wars scale, these guys are the equivilant of Titans....  Here's hoping my Sikhs paint up just as fast.

I won't bother with the other pics that I received from a fan.  I never realized that there was a market for "mature" Garden Gnomes. 

Stuff My Wife Says

Let me just say, even without all my wargaming stuff, we have a LOT of crap in our house.  Combining my apartment with my wife's, then throw in all the wedding stuff, then move in with our mother-in-law to help her out, then add two kids.... it's a bloody disaster.   Perhaps my dozen or so days out of the year where I leave paints or figures out overnight is enough to make my wife delirious.

Our conversation this past week:

"Why do you have so much stuff?"

"Huh?"

"In your closet.  Why don't you just say 'Hey, there's a building over there,'  instead of having a big bulky one that takes up space?  And instead of figures, how about you guys just imagine they're going into that building?"

"Yes, sweetie.  I do.  It's called Dungeons & Dragons."

One day, she may find an interest in what I do  Perhaps it's after the Channing Tatums, Adam Levines, and Vin Diesels of the world get too old and there's no replacement, but it could happen.

Who am I kidding!  It's time for some Spring house cleaning, so I don't get anymore gaming critiques.

Great War Centennial

Recently historical wargaming has had it's rash of theme celebrations.  This decade has brought us the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War and the 200th Anniversaries of the Napoleonic, and by extension, the War of 1812.    The HMGS cons I regularly attend have shed their normally specific (The Boxer Rebellion) or vague (Modern Warfare) con themes in favor of focusing on these war anniversaries.  I assume it's in hope of bringing in more convention goers.  It's certainly not to educated or expand the wargaming experience, as there are plenty of Napoleonic and ACW games at the con.  Truth be told it has been nice to see an increase in War of 1812 games.   Five years ago, I don't remember seeing any figs for it, and I still can't tell you what ruleset to use, outside of ATKM for 54mm.

Come next August, the Great War or First World War, will have it's 100th anniversary.   Knowing that the Nappy/ACW lobby is still celebrating out of its own self-importance, I'm just wondering if anyone is doing anything on their own.  HMGS hasn't released themes yet for 2014 outside of the awesome "Forgotten Wars" theme for Cold Wars.

*Disclaimer*  To protect me from my wife's wrath, let me already say, with the Second Samoan Civil War, the Gnomish Space Marines, my Cthulhu group, and gaming with the kids, my plate and budget is FULL.   I do have the Rommel at Verdun  Campaign book, which I could do with gnomes, but things like "human" Tanga in 28mm might be a pipe dream.

There IS 15mm or smaller, though *slap slap* No Eric! Bad Eric!

Mepacon Spring 2013 Event Submitted

I finally got off my high horse and submitted my event for Mepacon Spring 2013, this April 12-14 up in Clarks Summit, PA.   The wife is working Saturday, so that leaves me with just the evening, so I'll run my game, peruse the auction and dealers, and acquire t-shirts for the girls.

Cthulhu Comes to Springfield
Is there something even more sinister than Mr Burns.  Are the three-eyed fish actually the result of the nuclear power plant, or something far more dangerous.  Why does Groundskeeper Willie save the wee children?... for sacrifice to the Elder Gods?   This game will have 3-4 "episodes," with a rotating cast of Simpsons characters.  Due to previous issues with the material, no players under 16 please.
System: Toon   Players:  6   Slot:  Saturday Evening, four hours   Beginners welcome.

www.mepacon.com for general con info.  Warhorn is hosting the event listings.

Last Man Standing

One of bloggers I frequent, Der Alte Fritz, brought up a very interesting issue here.    It is the idea that many wargamers always want to keep fighting to the last figure.   This idea might seem ideal if you're fighting cannibals, or playing Custer's men during the Little Big Horn, but ruining your units to achieve a statistically fleeting victory in one battle is historically foolhardy.  In fact, it could result in disciplinary action of the commanding officer.

Now, if you're playing Burning Plastic, where 90% casualties are not only expected, they're FUN, that's one thing.  Same thing stands if you're playing a one-off tournament style game like 40k, where objectives and victory points matter more than if the surviving unit could barely pull itself off the table, much less fight another day.

In a historical game, the lives of your men are not only considered a managed commodity, but they're actual human lives.  Unless you're a meglo-maniacal commander who does not mind sending his men to their doom, husbanding your troops so you can fight another day is imperative. 
In a campaign setting most are a renewable resource that not only can be used again and again, but certain rules might actually allow them to improve somewhat.  You also may be allowed to alter troop selection in a later battle because you have a larger reserve to choose from.  Soldiers deaths only result in an economic boom for gravediggers and scavengers.

While researching the Second Samoan Civil War I'm finding casualty rates that would make anyone's eyebrows raise, especially the Win at All Cost player.  Most battles, dealing with hundreds of men, resulted in less than 10% casualties.  Even if those were positively exagerated, let's double that and say 20% of the men were killed or seriously wounded.  For many gamers, that's the casualties on the board on turn ONE!

I am not immune to the Win at All Costs category, although I will present arguments that in the spirit of the game, I was not swept up

Way back at Cold Wars '99, the theme was the Boxer Rebellion and I was in my glory.  I played in a computer moderated game, Carnage & Glory.  I was part of the relief column heading to Peking and had sit some significant native aggression.  When the GM (who sounded remarkably like Patrick Warburton) asked if anyone had any troop preference, I immediately jumped on the Japanese.  After playing 55 Days at Peking the night before, I was awestruck at just how effecient and vicious they were.  While most of the European were given thirty or even forty figures, I was given ten... and chose to charge right into the center of the battlefield.  By the time the game was called, I had smashed through a Chinese buffer line, and jumped had seized two artillery pieces on the main trenchline. My troops were bloodied, exhausted, and surprisingly might have been able to take on the Chinese troops on three sides that had not run away in fear. 

Yes, it was last man standing, as I threw all caution to the wind and was willing to sacrifice all my men in the name of rescuing the consulates, but I would rather consider it a test drive at a Ferrari dealership.  I knew I had a high performance car in my hands and wanted to push it to its limits, because it could handle it.  If I had tried the same with the Austrians and their forty troops they would have been either slaughtered to the man, or mired in first defenses like they were in the game.

The second game was one of the Midnight Massacre Fire & Fury game at Historicon.  I was given my stands of infantry and my initial objective was clear:  a few batteries of Confederate artillery atop a conveient hill.  For four hours I ordered repeated charges up the hill, only to be repelled at the last possible second.  As 4 am rolled around, my units were shattered and yet the rebels had one gun atop the hill.  Looking at the small picture, I had failed my objective and tremedous cost to both sides.  But as I surveyed the rest of the giant battlefield, I found a small bit of solace.  The entire Union right flank had not only been repelled, but crushed in a cavalry counter-attack.  Compared to them, I held my own.

The left flank was a different story.  After dispatching rebel skirmishers and cavalry, their troops had nearly a clear line to the fort we were trying to reach.  My stubborness at seizing that hill had prevented a sizable portion of the Confederate artillery from firing at a far more serious threat.  My sacrifice had allowed eight times the number troops to move behind that hill relatively unscathed.

After we finish our Tanga game (IF might be a better word), I would love to play in a post-Tanga game, where the Germans and their Askaris fight on the run against the British, Belgians, and South Africans.  It would be resource management at its finest, and even if the Germans are a lock to win a particular scenario, I would have to prepare an escape route, just in case the dice rolls totally collapsed.  Fighting to the last man is naturally foolish.  Who would want to be the last man standing in East Africa with little water, no food, and large predators?  Better to fight another day together than be alone and eaten by a lion.

*Sigh*  yet another project on my list.

Historicon 2013 Event Submitted

Well, it's official.  I will be making a one day appearance at Historicon this year in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  I'll be showing up Saturday, running one game, scouting out the dealers/flea market, perhaps jumping in another game, and making the drive back to PA.    It's a much longer day than my last day trip to Valley Forge in '11, but (a) Jim has a case of my miniatures and I need to get them before Fall-in! (b) I should have a small bit of money to spend on those final figures for Samoa and (c) I have the opportunity to run a game on the Middle East board set up my Miniature Building Authority!

From Historicon 2011.  Some variation of this table will be set up all convention long

And for those with attentive eyes: (a) the giant elephant planter is not an MBA product and (b) I will be lugging it back down for this year's game:

"Sikh and Destroy"

The Sikhs are revolting! Bad hygiene aside, the Sikhs have seized control of a crucial trade city. How long can the foreigners last holed up in their embassies? Can the relief column even make a dent in the Sikh defenses?  Any player bringing a painted gnome unit from Brigade Games does not need to pre-register for this event. Kids Welcome with an Adult Executive Officer.
Saturday 9am   Event Scale: 28mm    Rules Used: Gnome Wars  Max Players: 8   Playing Time 4 hours

The last time I ran a game on this table, the Sikhs were running rampant until the De Fooze double agent blew up the refinery on the last turn.  I'm treating this game as part Boxer Rebellion, part Boxer Rebellion Relief Column, and part Gnome Wars traditional chaos!  The Sikhs units and a few special characters need to be painted up, but this one is ready to go (in my mind).

Just a happy reminder, if you are an HMGS member and want to register a game (and get complimentary admission into the con), the deadline to submit it to the intial PEL is April 15.  If you procrastinate that long, lease get your taxes done before submitting your event (at least request an extension).

www.historicon.org for con info.
www.miniaturebuildingauthority.com for info on the buildings and accessories.

Battle at the Farm

Ah, a holiday weekend with the wife working. That means time to run a game for the kids!

Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but I've recently stumbled upon a number of blogs/articles trying to recapture the nostalgic glory of Rogue Trader era 40K. Most have focused on the most memorable scenario in the rule book, the Battle at the Farm.

Now here's my take on it. GW (Games Workshop) might not approve, but GW (Gnome Wars) will.

Overview:
The Chicka Zulu had declared war on the gnomes, constantly pushing around their military, and even hunting down notable royalty. Now, remaining gnome units are holed up where they can hide, trying to retreat with dignity when they can before the final Chicka Zulu push.

Some of the Zulu warlords have ulterior motives. Stashes of weapons, gold, and other treasures dot the countryside. Warbands are scrambling between major engagements, trying to recover what they can before the main army catches up.

The German Colonials
Objective: hold the farm for six turns, prevent warlord or their henchman from seizing the stash.

9 German Riflemen
1 German NCO "Sergeant Hans"
1 German Bier Doktor
1 Bruce Carmezind "The Most Interesting Gnome in the World"  Big Game Hunter, Zombie Survivalist, Cheese Connoisseur.  Bruce is the closest thing to a 40K special character that my games have.
8 German Bunny Cavalry - had been hiding in the barn

Generalissimo Maja and the Germans

The Chicka Zulu
Objective: have warlord or henchmen seize stash. Rout Germans before turn six.

6x9 Chicka Zulu Warriors
2 Giant Hench-chicks (double wounds/+2 in melee)
Snow White, Chocoholic War-Princess

The Chicka Zulu are prepared for candy recovery

Yes, Snow White. In one of the previous games, some of the Disney Princesses on safari narrowly escaped certain doom. Now we find out the original princess is using her powers of animal friendship to obtain a secret stash of M&Ms!

The objective...

Despite wanting to play Snow White, Maja took the gnomes, since she could sneak a few m&ms during the game.

Turn one:
Maja won the initiative with a thunderous roar and decided... To move some of the defenders over the wall! What? Chalk this up to Bruce Carmezind deciding that the wall didn't make the fighting fair. They peppered one of the warrior stands and waited for the Chicka Zulu to move. The chicks obliged the Germans.

Bruce Carmezind forces the Germans in foolhardy displays of bravery

Turn Two:
The warriors continued their charge, except for the decimated unit, which fell back to regroup, and Snow White and her Hench-peeps, who surveyed the battlefield and followed behind units not getting decimated by the German guns.  One stand of warriors was wiped out by German Rifles.

Snow  White and her hench-peep survey the battlefield before flying in with wild abandon.

Turn Three
The German Bunny Cav finally maneuvered around and met the Zulu flank hard.  The Zulu hit back harder, however and despite an overwhelming advantage, the Chickas traded blow for blow.  The Henchpeep jumped in and turned the tide completely away from the Germans.

The German Cav meets some angry birds

Turn Four:
The main body of warriors hit the German line, outside of Bruce Carmezind and one rifleman, the Germans were quickly devoured.  Snow White took full advantage and stayed far away from the  four rifles at the far end of the farm.  The hench-peep waded through the surprisingly inept cav, forcing the final three to flee back.

Turn Five:
Giving a rallying cry of legend, Bruce and the five remaining Germans held their own against the feathery onslaught from Hell.  Perhaps the bloodthirsty Zulus were preoccupied devouring the dead of the fallen enemy, perhaps Bruce fed them Dos Equis del la Gnoma.  The world may never know.  What the world did know was that on....

Turn Six:
With Snow White mere inches from the stash, the three remaining Bunny Cav became remarkably useful and captured her.  The German rifles formed a rear guard to fend off the Chicka Zulus and force  ran off to fight another day.  Without their Animal Friendship control, the chicks and hench peeps just became ravenous eating machines.

The Germans withdraw with their Princess prisoner while the Chickas feast on the corpses

Prologue: 
Lucky for Maja, the Germans were able to run off with Snow White and the M&Ms.  If I had pulled off a victory, I would be forced to extract the spoils of war via tickling.

I was very impressed when after the the chicks and bunnies broke off melee, she rushed her three remaining cav back to the farm to encounter Snow White.  Otherwise, Daddy may have actually pulled off a win.
The game wasn't as epic as the other battles I've seen, but we managed to clean off the dining room table for Easter a day early, my eldest was entertained (my little 2 year old Millie, sauntered off after turn one to watch Tom & Jerry's version of The Wizard of Oz), and best yet, someone has to rescue the misguided Disney princess from the clutches on the Hun.

Someday her prince will come, probably armed to the teeth.

Playing around before the game.  Those peeps that refused to fight were eaten.