Our drive up from Portland was uneventful, especially with the recent bridge collapse that happened many miles north of Olympia which made travel difficult for our gaming friends traveling down from northern WA and Canada.
Once we arrived we saw and said "hello" to many familiar faces that we only get to see at this time of year.
Friday's games included a home grown set of Civil War rules which had me on the Rebels side trying to take a bridge and hold off the union while the rest of the army formed up behind us for the following day's battle. We didn't hold the bridge putting our army buddies in a tough spot.
That nights game was a exciting game of Musket and Tomahawks which had us playing a scene from the movie "Last of the Mohicans". I commanded Colonel Monroe and the British regulars on the retreat out of Fort William Henry where they are set upon by the Huron nation. Despite the premise of the movie, none of the stars of the film survived the battle except my character Monroe. He was able to gallop away by the end of the game, alone. Nearly every british and colonial soldier fell.
Saturday morning I ran my "Surrounding the Russians, 1914" battle from the movie Tannenberg (1932). The game went very smoothly with the Russians holding the town and the Germans failing to make a foot hold in the town. I had 6 people playing. 2 Russian players and 4 German.
The German players suffered from low movement die syndrome. They were unable to get moving and their attack stalled, while the Russians moved to counter the German advance and chewed them up severely.
Here's the Russian Big Man roster and number of men in their squads:
BM#1 Poruchik Krylenko, Status III (10” range) w/ 6 man squad
BM#2 Starshi Unteroficier Gorlice, Status II (8” range) w/ 12 man squad
BM#3 Starshi Unteroficier Kazakov, Status I (6” range) w/ 8 man squad
BM#4 Mladshi Unteroficier Tarnow, Status I (6” range) w/ 9 man squad
BM#5 Mladshi Unteroficier Igor, Status I (6” range) w/ 10 man squad
2 HMG are available and can be placed with any squad or on its own.
Here's the German Big Man roster and number of men in their squads:
First Platoon:
BM#1 Lt. Albrecht, Status III (10” range) w/ 14 man squad
BM#2 Feldwebell Fritz, Status III (10” range) w/ 9 man squad
BM#3 Officer Cadet Knapp, Status I (6” range) w/ 7 man squad
BM#4 Lance Feldwebell Finn, Status I (6” range) w/ 12 man squad
One HMG can be attached to any squad.
Second Platoon:
BM#5 2nd Lt. Snickler, Status III (10” range) w/ 13 man squad
BM#6 Feldwebel Huinker, Status II (8” range) w/ 8 man squad
BM#7 Gefreiter Buckner, Status I (6” range) w/ 7 man squad
BM#8 Gefreiter Schaeffer, Status I (6” range) w/10 man Squad
One HMG can be attached to any squad.
Now some pictures from the game:
The two Russian players.
The four German players.
The table lay out.
The initial setup with the Russians concealed and the Germans starting under blinds.
The Russians did very well with their spotting rolls and that forced the Germans to reveal a little sooner than they wanted but their movement dice was not on their side.
A Russian squad found hiding in a house and small tree line.
The German continue their advance.
Hung up in the trees. The weight of the German advance got cold feet and hid in the trees trading shots with the Russians.
The house was witnessed three separate attacks in close combat with the Germans failing until the third time to evict the Russians.
The Russian squad (those that survived) were decorated for their valor.
The Russians on the move to help the squad.
The Germans attempt one last charge to take the house. They do but are bloodily repulsed in another round of Close Combat.
The Russians hold of the Germans and keep the road open at least for a little while.
For the wrap up of this game I did two things differently. I took out the Snifter cards so everyone would have a chance to play. I always dread sitting not doing anything especially at a convention. I didn't want anyone being bored. It worked well. Everyone was involved throughout the game on every turn.
Saturday afternoon's game:
I played in a Sword in Africa game called Liberia 1920.
These were my troops. Only 6 Leopoldvile Gendarmes and they held up twice their number in close combat for nearly 4 turns.
I was so proud of these guys. They fought well to the man.
One of the Liberian players.
Here comes the enemy!
The cavalry with only one donkey between them.
More enemy troops.
My 6 heros spring their ambush.
Crap! Air support!
The enemy advances into the village.
Another round of close combat. More dead enemy soldiers.
Another round of close combat with more dead enemy but it's starting to take its toll.
The village we were suppose to be defending.
More of our side's troop protecting the village.
Damed plane had a bomb!
My last round of close combat. I died to the man but I took a few of them with me.
By the end of the game the Liberians had beaten us but there were far fewer of them to enjoy the victory!
Saturday evening's game was a Check Your 6: Jet Age game.
The scenario took place in India in 1965.
I controlled 2 Indian Gnats.
The game ended very uneventfully with only one Pakistani Jet shooting down one of our planes. My jets ran low on fuel and had to make a hasty retreat back into Indian air space. At least I lived to fight another day.
Here are some other random photos from other games from the weekend. I did not play in a game on Sunday morning as I used that time to catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in a year.
A Check Your 6 WWII air battle. Germans against British bombers.
Sink the Triptiz! Beautiful ship models. The German ships were sunk.
An ACW game which was the follow up game to the one I played on Friday.
Battle of Pelieu. Nice Terrain and lots of troops!
A Wings of War game.
An X-Wing battle around the Death Star. This was a nice set up.
This is what I believe to be the new Age of Sail game with the prebuilt and pre-painted ships.
A Russian Revolution game.
Over all we had a great time. We can't wait for next year.!
