Cangames Aftermath Report - by Paul K Smith

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 41^st. Cangames in Ottawa over the Victoria Day weekend participating in four miniatures events.

We acquitted ourselves quite well coming away with four certificates, a 1^st and a 2^nd  for Rob and two 2^nd  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 15^th. Year at Cangames and has placed 2^nd 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!

Developing The Portable Wargame

When I was home last September I met up with my old friends Paul "Shotgun" Smith and Ross Mac. Ross came prepared for a two day visit providing all the troops, terrain and rules to play. You can read about our marvelous adventures on his blog, Battlegame of the Month. The link will bring you to his write-up titled The Wood of Tears.

The 2nd day was an introduction to The Portable Wargame by Bob Cordery. I have been toying with a Manchurian campaign for a while and have blogged about it a few time on the troops I've assembled. The latest being 14 Japanese trucks won on an ebay auction. I have them based and have stocked 4 of them with bags of rice. The rest will be troop carriers or artillery limbers.

 Bob's The Portable Wargame stuck me as the way to go. So I've started to collect my materials. I purchased a hex mat from Hotz. I purchase 3 inch lazer-cut hexes from an ebay store and have begun preparing my terrain. Not much to show but it is a beginning.

 

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 7th Edition

I like the ring of the 7th edition. It became my favorite version of the WRG ancients rules. This is the first year I took part in the Challenge and I aimed for 500 points. I fell short. I received a grand total of 304 points, which is just 60%, so a passing grade in my book. My main personal aim for the challenge was to get me painting. I've pretty much have experienced a 2 year drought and though I did not reach my goal, I now have minis on my work table and will continue to produce. I want to thank Curt and his minions who made the challenge possible.

After my first entry, instead of reposting my humble efforts on this blog, I decided to add one link at the end. I finished with some 25mm Ancient Romans, which was always my goto army for the various WRG Ancients, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th editions. Somehow it seems fitting to end on this note. I look forward to next year's challenge.

My humble efforts in the great Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 7th Edition,

There Be Undead Dragons

My first submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is a 15mm Undead Dragon to go with my HOTTs Undead Army. It is my first completed work in about two years. I have found it difficult to find time to paint, especially during the day, with the full benefits of natural sunlight. My eyesight is not what it used to be.

The figure is by Reaper Miniatures and is listed as 03644 Skeletal Dragon. I had to hand drill the holes in order to properly glue the wings, but other than that the figure was easy to assemble. The paint job itself was a  black wash over Vallejo  Dark Sand as bone. The figure is mounted on a 40mm x 60mm base covered by Liquitex Black Lava texture gel. I think it provides a nice, simple field for the Undead.

The Hoard of the Thing

Since picking up this dragon last May at Cangames, I've been perplexed on how to display it as a Hordes of the Things element. Due to the length of the figure I decided upon a 60 mm x 120 mm base. Believe me the base is 60 mm wide. I wanted to show the dragon, Smaug-like slithering across it's hoard of gold and gems.

Dragon Defending It's Hoard

I picked up a package of 6 different tubes of glitter from the local Bureau en Gros (Staples outside Quebec) and prepared a mix of predominately gold glitter with some red, green and blue mixed in as gems. The photo doesn't do justice to the effect.

Joseph Lappin: The end of an era.

This post was a long time coming and was a hard one to write. Joseph Lappin was a true friend, and a long time gaming buddy. I met Joseph sometime in the fall or winter of 1972 and have been gaming with him ever since. I was blessed to include him in my circle of friends. 

Halifax gamers cira 1984. Joseph wearing the hat

Joseph passed away after a brief illness on November 18. It is difficult to sum up the life of a man, especially in a blog devoted to war gaming.  Joseph is missed by Susan, his wife of almost 30 years and their 3 children as well as by his friends and colleagues. His death was a shock to us all.

Family and life take priority over our little hobby. One of the ways Joesph tried to cope was to have an annual game at some point over the Christmas holidays.  This tradition has been an on-going event for over 20 years. 

WRG 7th Ed Game 1990, Persians vs Vikings (Joseph and I)

The event varied over the years. At times we have played miniatures, and at other times a board game such as Britannia, Merchant of Venus, or Kingmaker was featured. The event included high school buddies, long time wargamers, or family members. It became something that I looked forward to, on my trips home to Halifax. 

Multi-player HOTT Game Christmas 2003

Joseph and Susan, always made me welcome and often I hung up my hat and make use of their guest room. When I stayed with the family, Joseph and I always ended up having an evening of miniature games between the two of us. Favorites included quick games of DBA, HOTT, Blitzkrieg or Cold War Commander.  

Cold War Commander Christmas 2008

DBM Game Christmas 2000; Roman Civil War (Joseph and I)

HOTT Amy Choices Christmas 2007

Joseph: Christmas 2007 HOTT Games

In recent years, the event settled into a routine of some favour of multi-player boardgame. For a number of years, we played Twilight Imperium. In 2011, the game was played by Joseph and his son Andrew, Paul Smith and his son Stuart, Mike Haynes and myself. I didn't get to Halifax in either 2012 or 2013. In 2013, Twilight Imperium was replaced by War of the Ring, which was the game on tap for Christmas 2014. 

Twilight Imperium Game 2011 Robert, Stuart (background), Paul, Andrew and Joseph

Unfortunately, Joseph would not be a participant. Susan, informed Mike, Paul and I that Andrew wanted to host the game in place of his father. I knew that it would be a difficult session, and Mike, Paul and I had more that a few Skype conversations over our feelings about the planned game. 

Andrew and Mike ponder their move: Lord of the Rings

None the less, we decided to move forward, and I for one, am glad that we did. I do not know if next year, there will be a game involving us, at the Lappin residence, but this year there was one last event, played to honour the memory of a good friend. 

Charge!-ing into the New Year

The title of this post is not mine. I stole it directly from Ross Mac and his post on a game, in which both he and I were participants. I was home, in Halifax over the Christmas holidays and met up with Lentulus  and Ross Mac on the 2nd day of the new year. 

Lentulus 

Tea was enjoyed in the company of the fair sex but as these things then to do do, the ladies retired to binge watch Castle and we tabletop warriors headed upstairs to the sanctum sanctorum. In addition to good company and conversation, the urge to throw some dice on the table soon overtook us.

Ross Mac

Lentulus suggested that we use his 10mm Pendraken 7YW miniatures for a quick game of Ross' Heart of Tin rules. Ross countered with a suggestion that we play a game of Charge!.Not having a copy of the rules available, we relied on Ross for the basics and soon were engaged in a fast and furious encounter on the the Hoft Bridge. 



We diced for sides. I was in command of the Bravants. The units of this force are christened with Quebec place names, and since I was visiting from Montreal, it was à propos that they fell under my command.  

Bravant Field Force Photo 1

Bravant Field Force Photo 2

Ross Mac and Lentulus shared joint command of the Stutz Baerkatz. Both sides had 2 guns under their command alone with a choice of  a mix of six units. These consisted of 24-figure infantry or 9-figure cavalry units. As fools seldom differ, both generals took four foot and two horse units to lead into battle.

The scenario was simple enough. I was to take the bridge and hold it long enough for the engineers to blow it.

Mid-way through the game. My forces are mainly on the left side of the river.

As can be seen from the above photo, I already loss one of my guns. It was destroyed in the first exchange of shot. It was a to prove to be a hard handicap to overcome. To quote Ross Mac directly, 

" An hour or so later as the firing died down and the smoke cleared, it appeared that the turning point had come early when I had chosen to unlimber sooner, moved my gun 6cm with a 50% chance to fire and succeeded, rolled a 4 to hit his artillery at 40cm range (4 ft range band) and then rolled a 6 to destroy Rob's gun before it even had a chance to unlimber. With such small forces and with our side only needing to hold the bridge, that 1 gun superiority tipped the balance with round after round of cannister. Well, after all, what did Napoleon ask?"

A fun time was had by all. 

I have a cousin who lives in Lachine and while under my command I took the opportunity to rename the Lachine Regiment of Foot, Queen Mary's Own in her honour. 

Norman Knights (II)

I painted a unit of 12 Norman Knights during the summer of 2013. The figures were by Black Tree Design, and I was happy with the results. However their shields were pretty drab and the bases had not received their full treatment. This fall I placed an order to Gripping Beast to purchase a pack of their Norman shields and to order some  Little Big Man Studios ' transfers. I think the results speak for themselves. Something now has to be done about William the Bastard's banner.

The Saga Continues ...

This post is about a month overdue. I was the very fortunate winner of a giveaway by Monty Luhmann whose blog, Twin City Gamer is worth talking a look at. He does some fantastic work, and the photo of the Viking Warlord I received is a fine example. The stand is the start of a Saga warband. The rules arrived in the mail two weeks ago and I now have to paint the followers of this fine fellow.

I had previously started to paint a 28mm DBA Viking army, but now I am torn. Do I finish the army, or do I rebase the figures for the warband? The following figures were on unflocked bases and the work on the elements was completed at the same time as the Norman Knights. 

However this was before the idea of a Saga Warband was planted in my head. As well as having another 40-50 Wargames Foundry figures to paint, I also have a stack of RAFM Vikings in my mountain of unpainted lead.

Oriental Blades (2 Packs)

Earlier this past summer, Le Valet d'Coeur a local game store in Montreal had its annual garage sale. I took the opportunity to pick up two boxes of Oriental Blades by eM-4 Miniatures. 

The figures come pre-painted and include a matching 20-sided die for mini. For five bucks, how could I go wrong. I figured I can always use the figures for Bushito by FGU or some other Japanese skirmish game. The only work I did was to do the bases of the figures. A relatively painless job. I added a metal washer to the bottom of each base for weight and to allow them to be stored on a magnetic sheet.