Fall-In Photos

I was only able to get up to Fall-In for a short while this year, arriving Friday afternoon, and leaving Saturday afternoon.  Here are some shots I took of games being run in the HAWKs room.  I wasn't able to get a lot of photos, as I was busy running my own games both Friday night (Battle of Five Armies) and Saturday morning (Warring Roses in the Mist [War of the Roses]).
    Fall-In marked the official release of our "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" rules for fantasy, ancients and medieval mass combat.  The release was a big success with our publisher, On Military Matters, selling out of all he copies they brought to the con.

Buck Surdu, at far end of table, running his Friday midday Napoleonic game, The Battle of Teugn-Hausen, using "Fate of Battle" rules and 10mm figures

Another shot of Teugn-Hausen

Dave Wood, in blue shirt, running his Friday afternoon 25mm Fantasy game, The Dragon's Treasure, using our newly released , "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" (BYV) rules.

My Friday evening Battle of Five Armies game using 10mm figures and the BYV rules.

Saturday morning I ran a War of the Roses game, Warring Roses in the Mist, based on the Battle of Barnet, using 10mm figures and BYV rules. 

Midday Saturday, Buck Surdu ran a 25mm WWII skirmish game, Commandos at Dawn, using his under-development G.A.M.E.R. rules. The game mat was supplied by Cigar Box Battles

Germans sneak up on a farm house in Buck's Commandos at Dawn game.

All day Saturday, Dave Wood was running demo games of Fate of Battle and BYV using his collection of beautiful old-school 25mm figures. Here is explain the rules for Fate of Battle. 

Due to a lot of interest in Dave's demo games, Geoff Graff stepped in and helped Dave run a BYV demo for a group of Boy Scouts.

"Bear Yourselves Valiantly" Rules Now Available!

Just want to let all of you know that our latest Look, Sarge, No Charts series rulebook, "Bear Yourselves Valiantly", for fantasy, ancients, and medieval mass combat, is now available to be purchased from On Military Matters:

http://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfsearch.php?term=keywords&data=bear+yourselves+valiantly&submit=Search

We're happy to get this into your hands a few weeks early from our original Fall-In targeted release date!

For a battle report see here:
http://onemoregamingproject.blogspot.com/2014/01/bear-yourselves-valiantly-fantasy.html

Trolls Snacking on Captives: Mage Knight Figure to 10mm Monster Conversion

     In the flea market at Barrage (our club's one-day gaming convention) a couple weeks ago, I found a pair of old Mage Knight figures called "Half-Troll Gorger".  The figure is of a large troll-ish creature taking a bite from a piece of meat it holds clenched in one of it's hands.  I noticed the piece of meat was shaped vaguely like a little person, with a head and an arm.  The spark immediately went off in my brain; that it would be a quick and easy conversion to cut off that piece of meat, and actually replace it with  10mm figure to make a cool new unit for my 10mm "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" armies.   For you 15mm gamers, I think a 15mm figure would do the trick nicely too.

The base models

     So I took the pair of figures home, and began the process. I popped the figures from their clicky bases with an hobby knife, and then easily sliced the meat from their hands.  I then rummaged in my box of spare figures from my 10mm War of the Roses project, and found a couple suitable figures to chop up.  One was an archer, and the other a charging figure with wide spread legs. After cutting them down, I made sure they fitted nicely on top of the trolls' hands so the arm of one, and the leg of the other, lined up with the trolls' mouths. I then glued them in place with some super glue.

Converted with 10mm captives added to their hands.

      When the glue holding the half-figures had dried, I sprayed the trolls flat black, glued them to a BYV sized base, and repainted them.
      I'm really pleased with how these turned out. I think they make a nice characterful stand of monsters for use with any evil army.

The finished figures

A close up of the captives

Shown battling a unit of 10mm Elves

Reaper BONES CAV Kickstarter Enter Final Day and a Half

Just a heads that the Reaper CAV (10mm Big Stompy Mechs) Kickstarter is in it's last day and a half, and will end tomorrow.  Now's the time to jump in and take part, as the core set has grown to a very nice deal.  Or, if you're like me and the big mechs are't you thing, get in to the Kickstarter just for the great deal on the 10mm tanks and other vehicles.

You can check it out here

LSNC WWII & WWI Game Day & Farewell Party

  This past Saturday some of the HAWKs were invited up to run a couple games at Sam Fuson's Warhorse Farm in Gettysburg, PA as part of a farewell party for one of the fellows in Sam's unit who was moving on to another assignment.
  We began the day with a large semi-historical WWII battle from the Polish campaign in September of 1939, run by Buck Surdu using "Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII" rules.  In the battle Russian and German forces are converging on the Polish held town of Zboiska, while the Poles are tasked with clearing some German heavy artillery off a nearby ridge that is shelling the city of Lvov.  Historically, the Germans left the town for the Russians to take, and moved off to other objectives.  In our game, we pitted the Russians and Germans in a race to see who could capture the town first.

An overview of the T-shaped battlefield. The Germans are attacking from the near table edge on the left, the Russians from the right, and the Poles are counterattacking up the base of the T in the center.

German infantry, on the right, tries to find a weak spot in a treeline held by Polish cavalry.

A view of the battle from the Russian side, with the town of Zboiska in the distance.

Russian armor and infantry advances 

    In the end, the Poles were able to gain the ridge and had captured some of the guns. The Germans and Russians had both been able to eventually punch through the Polish defenses with their armor and the tanks were nearing their objective, but most of their infantry had been beat up in the fight so the chances of either side taking the Polish-held town were slim.  The game was declared a Polish victory.

     After a late lunch , Duncan Adams set up a WWI battle using a combo of modifed LSNC: WWII & ACW rules.  The battle was from the opening maneuvers of the Battle of the Marne.  The Germans were tasked with pushing counterattacking French forces back from a ridgeline that the Germans occupied.

A view of the battlefield.

German forces advance on the right, as elements of a French Colonial brigade move out to meet them.

In the end the French were able to push a small force onto the German held ridge on the French left, even though the French right had been badly mauled and was collapsing under repeated German attacks.  The game was called a marginal French victory.

  Everyone had a great time, and it was a nice send-off for a friend.

Reaper BONES CAV Kickstarter In Its Final 10 Days

The Reaper CAV Bones Kickstarter has only got a little over a week to go, so now is the time for anyone interested in Big Stompy Robots, or Sci-Fi gaming in general, to get in and be a part of it.

While not in it for the Mechs, I have gone in to this Kickstarter big time, to buy tanks and other vehicles in anticipation of working on the next installment of our "Look, Sarge, No Charts" series of rules, which will be for Sci-Fi mass combat. So, like me, even if you're not into the CAV rules, there are a lot of other uses for these cheap Mechs and vehicles.

Here's the link, so folks can go take a look (and pledge!):

Reaper CAV Strike Operations Bones Kickstarter

"Bear Yourselves Valiantly" Battle of Barnet at Barrage XVIII

At last Saturday's BARRAGE XVIII, the HAWKs' one-day gaming con held in Havre De Grace, Maryland, I ran my War of the Roses, Battle of Barnet, game using our soon to be published "Bear Yourselves Valiantly" rules for Fantasy, Ancients and Medieval mass combat. (For more about the con see my previous post.)

A view of the battle early on. In the foreground Lord Hastings is maneuvering his men to thwart Oxford's attempt  to push his men over a nearby hedge to get on his flank.

The battle took place on April 14th, 1471.  The Yorkist King Edward tried to eliminate the threat posed to his throne by the Earl of Warwick and his allies.  The engagemnt to place on a very foggy morning, causing both side to form up for battle misaligned; both with a dangerously threatened flank.   For the game I had a full slate of 6 players, most of whom were new to the rules.  The armies were 10mm Pendraken figures.

On the Yorkist right, Gloucester and the King advance their forces against Lord Exeter, who is trying to march his Men- At-Arms over to extend his line..

   The game proved to be a closely fought affair with neither side ever able to profit much from their overlapping flank advantage.  

On the Lancastrian right, Oxford pushes his archers forward, but they are met with Hastings' advancing Men -At Arms.  Though they repel the Men-At-Arms, they are pushed back and disorganized, slowing the advance of the rest of Oxford's men over the hedge, and allowing Hastings' Men-At_Arms to retreat without further threat.

In the end though, the king and his Yorkist forces were able to manage a marginal victory over his Lancastrian opponents.

A view of the battle about midway through.

All the players said they enjoyed the game immensely.  And, they were able to virtually run the game themselves, with very little help from me, after a few turns of play.

On the Lancastrian left, Exeter's knights advance to grapple with Glouchester's knights.

The rules will be available from On Military Matters to coincide with the upcoming Fall-In gaming convention.

With a few battered forces left, Warwick views the advancing enemy and decides to call it a day.