Historicon 2021: Gnome Action!

Thanks to COVID and logistics, it was a light schedule for Gnome Wars at Historicon.

To prevent a completely overwhelming response, the Gnome Joust was scheduled for mid-afternoon Friday in the Juniper/Maple Room, halfway between the main ballrooms and the dealer hall.   It was nice to have a semi-private room, but it we discovered it was one of the more popular rooms for games, not just for the gnomes. 

Friday was an oddly timed, but well-attended (about two dozen) 3pm Gnome Joust.

Paint job of the joust goes to Lindsey Crouch.  Her German definitely stood out amongst the other figures.

For some variation, the Finals were played with two Schleich knights.  Congrats to Norman, our 2021 (Belated) Historicon Joust Champion!

The only other scheduled Gnome Wars event was to be a 7pm Tanga "Battle of the Bees."  Unfortunately, Jim "The Gnome King" Stanton, recently put a considerable amount of his wargaming stuff into tstorage, and the Tanga board, terrain, and even the train were buried deep within the unit.  

Luckily, he did keep his Hudson and Allen castle at the house, and events shifted towards the a classic Gnome Wars castle game. 

But first, this con represented the premier of the Nauvoo Legion to a Gnome Wars table, eleven months after I completed them.  

The Nauvoo Legion of Deseret (left) and their hated foes, the California Imperial Guard

Outside of missing a medic, they were ready to go.  We even decided for the game that they'd follow the Americans (South) card, editing Rebel Yell to "Mormon Positive Affirmation."

Mormons Ready for Battle

We threw together some concepts for the scenario, and it ultimately boiled down a classic convoy scenario.  Thanks to GNOVID-21, supply logistics for even the simplest of items.  The nations of Gnome-dom were descending upon a German castle for ammo, toilet paper, and beer, with an extra German supply column coming in during the game.

It's like a Great War Amazon warehouse.

Besides the high walls of the castle, the attackers were faced by a peculiar problem.  The castle was home to multiple legations, most notably the quite ornery Desert and Empire of California.  Both layed solemn claim to their diplomatic holdings, so it might involve an international incident.  

Worse yet, a group of migrant Swiss were performing road maintenance (and clearly a random tank that had exploded) and slowly everyone's progress.

The attackers immediately assaulted the legations and the road crew.    The road crew managed to lay down some defensive cheese to slow their advance, and the Californians killed the crew of the Sikh war elephant, claiming it as their own.  

Colonel Clooney and Private Pitt try to figure out how to drive an elephant.  "Where's the auto-navigation?"

I'm not sure exactly what happened on the far side of the board, as those participants were trapped in the corner as often as they were locked in combat.   The attackers did manage to penetrate the shattered wall of the castle before the game was called, but no one's fate had been predisposed. 

Cheese Throwers going wild 

Highlanders forced to wheel around the Bay-Bell Cheese Thrower. 

By the time the convoy arrived, the Deseret Legation had fallen to large explosions, the war elephant recaptured by the Sikhs, and the massed troops and giant piles of cheese around it caused great headaches for the delivery.  

Yes the Sikh machine gun tank should have come in first, but space was so limited for deploying troops that it was hiding.  

The logistics rolls and table size didn't help the supply column at all.  I'll work on writing up some different logistics rules to keep the attackers distracted, and the number cruncher players happy.  The trucks should be a mini-game with the mega-game, and the right player will find great amusement with that.  

After twenty months, we had at least twenty players reaffirm their love of Gnome Wars.  Whenever the next HMGS will be, there will certainly be more gnome games on the docket.