Crunch Time

I have a week and a half until my Gnome Wars game at Historicon, and the pressure has substanially built.

Despite some assurances of resources from Mr. Stanton, I have a boatload (or a troop transport) of materials to work on:

Two units of Swiss need to be finished, and another needs some significant maintenance. My 14th Training Company needs some significant tlc after Cold Wars and Longido Mountain.

The refinery needs to another heavy coat, some stenciling, and whatever details I feel like I have time for. Plus, I've finally gotten the labels off the small bottles that inspired me to design the scenarion to begin with.

The sacred shrine needs to be painted. I'm hoping the gift card for Home Depot that work bestowed upon me finally shows up today. The supplies for that are a bit more expensive than I had anticipated.

On a positive note, I printed out 90% of the troop orders, backgrounds, etc at work this week. Even though the game is only slated for six players, if my open invitation for Swiss units brings more players, I have orders for up to 15!

On another postive note, I finally found our camera, after a two week search. Right where I left it last, stuck between the couch cushions.

Now I'm just wondering if I tell the wife that I'm off Tuesday, or spend the whole morning painting and packing.

New Jurassic Reich for Historicon!

It's the most wonderful time of the years, if you're awaiting new stuff at Historicon.


More TMP announcements:

Eureka boldly shows their addition to the Jurassic Reich line: The Flakosaurus!

I'm not quite sure how that works in regards to physics, but it's models like that that make me inch closer and closer to the Pulp-Weird War II-Atomic Horror genres.

I wonder how many gnomes can fit up there?

ATKM Not at Historicon, but there's a sale!

My Saturday daytrip of GMing and window shopping at Historicon got a little bit shorter.

For whatever reason, All the King's Men (ATKM) will NOT be at Historicon this year. Let's just hope it's not family-related, or entirely focused on the financial inquities which is a convention at the VFCC.

Ken is usually one of my guaranteed stops at a con. I'm not dropping hundreds, but the dealers always like those guys who show up each con, buy a couple things, shoot the breeze, and most importantly, aren't THAT annoying. (Oh God, I hope he doesn't consider me one of the annoying ones....) He will be missed next weekend.

That being said, he is running a "No Historicon" sale!

Per TMP:

"Just mention Historicon or accuse us, "Hey, aren't you having a sale?" and you're eligible for a free skirmisher set of figures (six figures plus two command) after a $50 USD order

or...

A free infantry set (twelve plus two) after a $100 USD order
Order minimums do not include the normal cost of the free set, or shipping.

Still not going to have the fundage to do a serious order, but it doesn't hurt to spread the good word. And remember, ATKM does AWI, 1812 and some nice Napoleonic stuff now.

Historicon has a mascot?

John Kovalic, the creator of Dork Tower, artist for Munchkin, and all-around awesome dude, has produced a mascot for Historicon:

Meet Terry, as in "His-Terry-Con".

It's nice to know another guy who everyone associates with comics, rpgs, and Pokethulhu is secretly a closet wargamer. It's even more awesome that he did this free of charge.

Check out more of his ramblings here

The Apathy of New Releases (July 2011)

It's that time of year. Issue number #137 of GTM should cover all the items slated for Origins release, but were omitted from previous issues, and of course GEN CON PRODUCT! With that I can't be completely apathetic....

But there still isn't one damn thing in the book that I want!

Perhaps the Eureka Biplane Teddy Bears will offset that, but let's get started:

Want List: None
Dream List: EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Paperback from WotC $12.95 - It's one of those books they put right next to the register and people buy, just because. If I were a store, I'd snag up 2 or 3 copies, make sure it was as edition-generic as it could be, and if it was, I'd order 10+ more

The Store List
I've been following the Catayst Game Lab Facebook feed, so I know Origins and GenCon will be big. For August/September
BATTLETECH: A TIME OF WAR COMPANION (The RPG?)............................$44.99
BATTLETECH: A TIME OF WAR GM SCREEN .......................$19.99
BATTLETECH: JIHAD FINAL RECKONING ............................$29.99
BATTLETECH: RECORD SHEETS PROTOTYPES ............................$9.99
BATTLETECH: TECHNICAL READOUT PROTOTYPES .......................$39.99
LEVIATHANS BRITISH FLEET BOX ............................$39.95
LEVIATHANS CORE BOX SET ...........................$79.95
LEVIATHANS DICE PACK ..........................$19.95

They haven't gone into detail what Leviathans is (I was incorrectly hoping Renegade Legion), but they are stoked about the figures.

A plethora of Heavy Gear product is also solicited to continue with the relaunch of the line. Price does hit me. Outside of a decal pack and some assorted weapons sprues, everything else is $40. To invest into a niche game in the giant robot combat genre? Questionable at best.

Fantasy Flight is releasing another board game, The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus. It looks like some good old fashioned mummy-punching archeology. 50 bucks for a board game seems standard. Also of note from FFG, The Black Crusade GM Kit, a sourcebook for Deathwatch, and Black Fire Pass for WHFRP (Dwarves!)

Four more Dust Tactics releases. Mind you, they are $15.00 boxed sets, but if I had by this point, if the game hadn't taken off in the stores, I would be looking at clearance, rather than shelf stocking. Of course, if I can find those walkers I mentioned in an earlier post on the cheap, that would be sweet.

Green Ronin: Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition: Emerald City Campaign Setting

Heads on Pikes - the collectible miniatures game. Seriously?

Mayfair: Lots of ads for Settlers accesories, but a solicited game that caught my eye was :TEST OF FIRE: FIRST BULL RUN 1861

Paizo: First off 3 more third party products. Paizo itself has 6 new items, including a Pathfinder Beginner's boxed set (only $34.99!). Any sort of boxed set used to make me drool with desire. Now, I'm hoping it brings in the younger whippersnappers.

WotC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: MADNESS AT GARDMORE ABBEY BOXED GAME $39.99 ... yawn.

Wizkids: Heroclix: Superman expansion. Just in time for the universe reboot in September! I wonder if they're throwing in the new costume?

Eureka New Releases at Historicon

Dammit, why do I do any sort of planning of my purchases at Historicon. Even with an insignificant budget for this year's con, Eureka has decided that I should not eat on Saturday, and I'll be taking backroads instead of the turnpike.

Per their announcement on TMP.

"Our 28mm Teddy Bear range will now include Bearon von Richoften and Teddy Rickenbacker in our WWI Bearoplae range. These famous flyers come with either a biplane or triplane, and decals for German, U.S.A. or RFC."

Besides being above and beyond the normal level of cuteness I expect from Eureka's Teddy Bear line, I want prices... stat. Hell, I want bulk prices. Mount these bad boys on solid flight stands and I can pictures dogfights overhead and the gnomes slug it out on the ground. Anyone ready to slap some rules together for these bad boys?

The also announced the first previews of their samurai rabbits.

They look pretty good, but after seing the guinea pig samurai awhile back, these just don't make the cut. Maybe if the rules were pretty cool.

(Gnome Wars) Tanga #3 - Battle in the Mists

Again, special campaign rules can be found here.

November 3, 1914, 0830 hours - The northern-central slope of Mt. Longido

This would be a great moment in Swiss history! Lt. Colonel Dykstra had previously send two minor attacks to distract the Germans. Now it was time to assault the main fortifications on the mountain and begin the conquest of the German colony!

Apparently, Lt. Colonel Dykstra was stark raving mad. Despite a weakened German deployment, the units he brough were undertrained, tired, and wandering around lost in the brush for the last two and a half hours. Dykstra's moment of truth was late. The Germans noticed their movement in the brush, just below them and began the engagement.

Swiss Order of Battle: Nichols and Phil Carson
Objective: Seize as many German fortifications as possible.

1 unit of Red HatSwiss
1 unit of Swiss Engineers
1 unit of Swiss Rangers
1 unit of Sikhs (poorly trained)

Swiss Variable Attachments (d20)
1-7: Irish Unit
8-11: 5 figures from one unit may deploy two feet ahed of the main group.
12-14: Extra Leader and St. Bernard Medic
15-18: Sikh Light Machine Gun (using figures from existing unit)
19-20: Field Artillery - 3 shots called in at beginning of the games. Fire (with 5" diameter blast) arrives in d6+3 turns. Roll to hit as per indirect fire.

German Order of Battle: Jessica Carson, Scott Birkner, and myself for comic relief
Objective: Prevent the Swiss objective

1 unit of Green Germans
1 unit of Grey Germans
1 unit of Purple Germans
1 Light Machine Gun Team

German Variable Attachments (d20)
1-3 Light Machine Gun
4-9 Heroic Teddy Bear Askaris
10-17 Light Mortar Crew
18-20 6 additional inches of trench

SPECIAL RULE: The rock walls on various levels were impassable areas of terrain. They did NOT block line of sight for any unit. Troops could occupy the area below them represented by the loose stones and be considered in heavy cover. However, the units firing out of that area did so at a -2 penalty.

Deployment: This was Jessica's first wargame ever, so I gave the her two instructions and full deployment responsibility: Don't mix the different color figures and don't install the machine gun in the tower on the board. For the Swiss, perhaps the machine gun firing on the Swiss right flank made all the units start on their left side. Unfortunately, the Green German unit that defended that side was rifle-heavy and ready to take on anything.

Turns 1-3: The Swiss bumbled out of the brush and tried to shoot and fire up the hill. The five Rangers who were deployed ahead of their unit were Limburger Grenadiers, tossing chees into the trenches and disrupting the firing line of the Greens. The Engineers decided on taking the tower. The tower was manned by two rifles, a grenadier, and a bier nurse all grateful for the German machine gun tenderizing the advancing Swiss.

The Swiss begin their assault. The machine gun is on the far left

The Sikhs began a slow approach, using every inch of the terrain to avoid the German machine gun. This was slowed even more with a wild group of Teddy Bear Askaris charging down the mountain to meet them.

The Engineers charge the tower

Swiss Cheese Throwers scatter the trench line.

Turns 4-6: The Swiss Rangers ranks began to be whittled away by the Green German rifles. The ranger leaders dove into the rocky area for cover. The Red Hat Swiss were just too slow. The Engineers wiped out what little resistance was around the tower, and began to scale the tower. The constant fire of the machine gun, and the sheer will of the tower guards made things difficult. The turning point of the tower assault was the machine gun rolling a "1" on its ammo check, forcing a team member to run back for another crate. Those three rounds with a silent gun would be all the difference.

The Teddy Bear Askaris swung down the side of battlefield, fired one ineffectual volley and were cut down to the man by the Sikhs. Unfortunately, the Sikhs were on ground level of the battlefield, with no chance of making it up the hill.

The Green Germans are scattered, but not yet broken

Turns 7-10: With everything looking lost for the Swiss, and with much prodding by a certain game referee, the Ranger leader jumped out of cover and into the trenches. The Rangers were killed to the man, but their heroic charge knocked the Germans out of the trenches, and the Red Hats swung in to pick off a number of the retreating troops.

The Swiss NCOs seize the tower

The Engineers suffered tremedous casulaties Their officer fell off the tower TWICE in melee, got up, but finally stayed down the third time. The dual NCOs of the Engineers (flagmen, so to speak), showed no mercy in dispatching the Grenadier and the Nurse, then hit the deck to avoid the machine gun.

The Sikhs? Just got up to the first level of elevation when we called the game.

The Swiss were at a tremendous disadvantage from the get-go. First, our gracious hosts, the Carsons could only furnish a 5x6 table, rather than the 5x8 in the book. That is a lot less space for the Germans to defend. Second, I did sort of throw Phil at the wolves the first two turns. He's one of my old LOS buddies, so I figured he would scan the battlefield and either find cover or get to that trenchline ASAP. We had a great tactic with piles of cheese littering the battlefield. Finally, they did get the worst roll on the variable troop table. The only other option I could think of was a bicycle tank, but that would completely overpower the Swiss. Perhaps a wizard will finally make an appearance. An African Prince perhaps?

This isn't to say the Germans had it easy. I had forgotten an entire box of figures, so the Grey and Purple Germans were close to 60% strength. Good (or lucky) deployment, followed by excellent crossfires kept the the German center from falling. A bier nurse who doesn't failing healing rolls helps too.

For the scenario, I gave more points for the objective. The first two fortifications in a side's control at the end of the game were worth 5 points each, the third and fourth were worth 10 apiece. With two trenches still in German control, the Swiss controlling the tower, and one trench hotly contested, the final score was Germans 39, Swiss 30. The Swiss did get considerable bonus points for the slaughter of those Teddy Bear natives...Historically, British fire fell two of the German commanders. The askaris held their ground until another officer could mount a counter attack to push the British back. With the British falling back, Major Kraut consolidated his reserves and order a full counter attack.

But there's one more scenario before that big final battle on Longido Mountain. Hopefully we'll get to that just after Historicon.

Current score of the campaign: Germans 99, Swiss 84, but the Swiss still have some tricks up their sleeve.