Intro: Paul asked me to post his report to my blog and it seems like a win-win situation. I get to add some content and Paul writes a post for me. Please enjoy.
Rob and I
made our annual pilgrimage to the 41st. Cangames in Ottawa over the
Victoria Day weekend participating in four miniatures events.
We acquitted
ourselves quite well coming away with four certificates, a 1st and
a 2nd for Rob and two 2nd places for me.
Had Rob had taken a dive I
would have won the prestigious DBA tourney. As it stands the miserable wretch
decided to play “honestly” and he is scheduled for a Q&A session with the
Grand Inquisitor of the Society to account for his despicable, traitorous
actions.
Saturday
morning and it was “Grey Wolves at Dusk” run by David Redpath. It was a North
Atlantic convoy being attacked by a pack of U-Boats. Rob was an escort
commander while I was a U-Boat captain. I managed to sink 2 merchantmen (one by
accident as I missed my original target and hit another ship). Rob sank one
U-Boat and as the game was ending got brownie points for rescuing survivors.
Meanwhile I was lining up a stern shot on an oiler and as the game ended I was
asking if there were bonus points for machine gunning survivors.
Some notes-
That’s Dave running the game. The second picture you see three U-Boats…two of
them are dummies for the “fog of war”. The two burning merchantmen are both my
doing. Dave’s rules will be available on Wargame Vault for purchase.
Saturday
afternoon was taken up with the Battle of Wihlemstahl, a Seven Years War battle,
involving Archduke Ferdinand’s attempt to surround and wipe out a French army
in the latter stages of the war. Rob commanded a large French cavalry force and
I had a brigade of allied infantry and cavalry. I was quickly wiped out being
unable to deploy properly while Rob’s misery extended some time longer.
Saturday evening
was Operation Market Garden Bolt Action Game where the Germans were scrambling to prevent
British Paras from advancing towards Arnhem. I had command of a Stug III and
several sections of infantry while Dave had several half-tracks. Rob had several
sections of infantry as well as some infantry support weapons and a six pounder AT
gun. David Redpath commanded our side and Rob
(more or less the Brits). By the time game
ended we had our asses handed to us on a platter. We did have the satisfaction
of taking out the AT gun.
Sunday
evening found us in the DBA tourney. Rob had a Seljuik Turk army and while he
had promised me a Byzantine army (my favorite) somehow a couple of units had
been conveniently forgotten in Montreal. I ended up
with a loaner army consisting of a Classical Indian army. I blame Rob. Four
rounds of 45 minutes comprise the competition with a maximum of 10 points per
round being a maximum score.
I can not
comment on Rob’s rounds but I can brag up my own. Now you must note that I play
this game once a year and faced off against three of the best DBA players in
the OMG club. By the time the dust settled and having read numerous accounts of
ancient battles I had triumphed. The numerous series of die rolls of fives and
sixes had absolutely nothing to do with
my wins.
The final
round was against Rob….the fix was obviously in. It was the worst army that an
elephant and chariot army could face….a cavalry army. Needless to say Rob
pumped up his cavalry and then proceeded to clean my clock. He needed a win
with no losses and I just needed a win to go first. Well I thwarted Rob by
taking out two stands before going down to defeat. As the points were tallied
Rob and I had tied for second.
This Rob’s
15th. Year at Cangames and has placed 2nd five times in
DBA. This is my fifth year and I managed a second in a competition where I
should just be a filler (cannon fodder). I was totally amazed that I placed
second. That will never happen again I’m sure.
A good time
was had by all and I still blame “Hingley the Hun” for all of this. Thanks Rob
for having introduced me to Cangames. Next year in Damascus!
