Cold Wars Report Part One: Friday

     I had a great time at Cold Wars this year. It was good to see lots of friends that I only get to catch up with at conventions. I arrived Thursday night and played Mag Blast and House of Betrayal with some friends until late at night, then I was up early Friday morning. I tagged along with Buck Surdu who had a 9:00 AM "Look, Sarge, No Charts" France '40 game. I figured I could help GM, or fill the place of any missing players. It turned out that Buck had an overflow of players who wanted to give the rules a try, so I offered to set up a quick game on a nearby table with some of Buck's extra figures and terrain, so everyone who wanted to would get a chance to play. For a thrown together game, it was alot of fun and all the players seemed to have a good time with the rules.

Afterwards, I checked out the Flea Market, but it wasn't opened yet, so I headed over the dealer hall where I picked up some basic supplies of Testors Dullcoat, some steel bases, and a Dystopian Wars deck of cards.

     After the dealer hall I went back to my room to rest awhile, then headed down to the HAWKs room at 5:00 PM to start setting up my 7:00 PM game: Victoria Hawkes and the Lost Roman Colony by GASLIGHT.

     All the player spots filled, and the game was a blast. Everyone had so much fun I think I will run this again at Historicon so more people can get a chance to play.

     The scenario story was this: In 1890, intrepid adventuress Victoria Hawkes had joined her Great Uncle, the renowned British scientist, Lord Harland-White on an expedition into deepest Africa. There they discovered a lost Roman outpost full of real living Romans. The Romans were the descendants of a Legion that was sent into Africa in the final days of the Empire with a portion of the Roman Empire's treasure to hide it and keep it safe until such time s they would be recalled to help Rome rise again. Over the generations the sons had been trained by their fathers to continue this mission of protecting the treasure. The expedition decided to stay for a while to study the Romans. Victoria and the Roman general hit it off, and a relationship developed. This infuriated the Roman Priestess, who had eyes for the general, and she went off to a nearby German garrison to get help in removing Victoria and her friends. The German garrison commander, hearing of the Romans' treasure trove, decided that he would attack the outpost and steal the gold for himself.

The Romans were supported by six giant gorilla guards. These could take four wounds. On the first wound there was no effect, on the second all the gorilla's stats went up by two, on the third all the stats went down by two, and on the fourth the gorilla was dead.

Below are photos of the game. Remember, you can click on any photo to enjoy it larger.

The German Sea Battalion Commander directs one of his steam-walkers and a unit of troops forward.

Two of the Romans' giant gorilla guards move in to attack one of the German walkers.

Overview of the table near the beginning of the game.


A unit of Sea Battalion troops.


The Roman Priestess delivers the death blow to one of the Gorillas, as the other continues to pound on the steam-walker


Several German Kriegshosen armored suits move towards the Roman fort, supported by native allies.

The Expedition's troops move up to meet the approaching natives. Great Uncle Harland-White lies dead near the fort's wall.

The Krieghosen move into position to start attacking the fort's wall with their circular-saw attachments.

The Krieghosen breach the wall as some of the Romans move bravely up to defend the gap.

One of the giant gorillas takes down one of the German steam-walkers

Another gorilla races through the compound and leaps over the wall to confront two of the Krieghosen.

Natives move up to attack the gorilla.

A unit of Romans rush to defend the wall.

A lone Roman officer faces off with the Krieghosen.

Meanwhile, the Roman Priestess climbs aboard the expedition's steam-tractor and begins trying to bash open the door with her staff.

A giant gorilla moves up to help plug the hole in the fort's wall.

A fierce battle developed at the wall.

Roman troops rush forward to engage the native troops as they advance into the fort.

Me, calling the next player's card.

One of the gorillas dispatches one of the German Kreghosen.

     The game was a real nail-biter. In the end, many of the Main Characters on both sides, including Victoria, were dead. The Romans still held the fort, but all of their giant gorilla support had been killed, and the Germans still had some working war machines and nearly two full units of rifle armed Sea Battalion troops, so the eventual outcome seemed dire for the Romans. The game was called a marginal Roman victory.

Tomorrow I hope to post Saturday's report.