MagCon II - Better late than never

Whew! Time for an after holidays breather... 


Earlier this month I attended Mag Con II held in New Caney, Texas a bit north of Houston. Good times were had by all. I was fortunate enough to run a couple of games. And before the doors opened I had a chance to walk around and snap some pix.

Beautiful eye popping Stalingrad Factory Complex buildings and terrain all scratch built by Mario Smith of Precision Design Models.

 

King of the Ring is a beer and pretzel fighting game which is also a free public domain game from France provided by Mike West.

World at War: Blood and Bridges hosted by me. 

That's me in the Soviet shirt.

My urban ruins table set up for Willy next table over to run his WWII Flying Lead and Nuts! scenarios. Read the batrep it on his blog post: http://tacticalminiaturesgaming.blogspot.com/2010/12/mag-con-2-aftermath.html

Micro Armor / Board Game Conversion Terrain Components, whew!

Long title, I know, but I've decided to post this explanatory post regarding terrain components I use for my micro armor / board game conversion to answer multiple questions I've been getting from different forum groups.

Here goes...

Everything I need (and carry) to fit on a 4'x6' table and run a game. 

Here's an assortment of blocks, trees, colored beads (as gaming aids since I abhor using counters if at all necessary), colored sand, etc. I recommend getting a leveling laser for determining LOS. 

I used GHQ Terrain Maker hexes cut down to 1/8" thick to better simulate rolling hills proportioned for micro. Note the different colored hexes: green for Euro and variegated sand color for Mid East. I had to create additional terrain hexes as well to represent cratered areas in the Blood and Bridges map. These hexes where cut to about 1/16 thickness and I used a slurry mix of white glue, sand and paint to simulate the craters. Base coat and dry brush for visual effect. 

City Components: loose 3/4" and 1/2" blocks, spray painted gray for generic urban / town setting.  Beige / sand colored blocks are used for Mid East scenarios (see below)

Standard gray chip board cut to match hex, this represents hard paved areas such as concrete and asphalt, note the absence of streets, etc. The plainer the better.

Evergreen trees were the easiest form to represent especially for generic European settings (as the current World at War system is based on). Trees on the left were handmade by my buddy Justo (aka Uncle Greasy, another consummate gamer par excellence) and are free standing. Trees on the right were from GHQ Terrain Maker as are the hills (which I've cut to 1/8" thickness).

Scratch built trellis bridges - more cost effective for me especially since I need a few of these buggers (8 minimum) for the Blood and Bridges map. Lotsa river crossings!

My interpretation and answer to modeling Middle East towns. Any guesses on how I constructed the minaret? Hint: they're all initially separate pieces. I've used these in a couple of Arab-Israeli scenarios included in the World at War Compendium along with a desert Hotz Mat (which is too plain vanilla and I'd have to modify color-wise - look for that upcoming post) and Terrain Maker hexes.

Put 'em all together and Voila!

Infantry platoons fighting from town hexes. Roads: sand, Rough hex adjacent to town: lizard litter; Fields: print fabric

Bottom line is that I use my imagination when perusing the aisles of any craft store. I'm always on the lookout for anything that can simulate real life prototypes on my gaming table. There are plenty of generic materials ready made that can be used to enhance our gaming tables for maximum eye candy without spending a fortune.


On to more gaming...

World at War: Blood and Bridges, Scenario 5: Hold the Line

In preparation for an upcoming local con here in Houston (MagCon 2: http://mag-con.com/) I've set up my game table for a scenario from the stand alone module Blood and Bridges from World at War. I posted a couple of scenarios from the first game Eisenbach Gap and needless to say, I'm hooked. The cool thing about this the great fun I have converting flat 2D maps to micro terrain on my table. Funny thing about me is (and Willy aka LTLDad can attest to this) that as soon as I complete my project goal I'll set it aside and start another project. Ahh, go figure. Us gamers are an ADD riddled lot. 


At any rate, Blood and Bridges is best described in this Boardgamegeek review: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35035/world-at-war-blood-and-bridges. Simply put, this a platoon based game with a vehicle representing a platoon of 5-10 vehicles. 

Here's a portion of Blood and Bridges map per the scenario special rules recreated on my game table. I used colored sand to delineate the roads (beige) and rivers/lake (blue). Trestle bridges are scratch built along with the pine trees (by Justo). Since BnB is a continuation of WWIII action started in the Eisenbach Gap, additional terrain features have been added: burned crops, craters, shattered forest and city ruins. 

Map orientation with north being top of the page. This scenario calls for the a defensive action by Brits without the aid of their MBTs. Victory conditions for the Soviets is to take Anhausen (4 town hexes) located on the northwest corner of the map.

In this corner: the Brits. Top right group: Elements of the Royal Lancers with a platoon each of a Scimitar and Striker. HQ is represented with a Scimitar model marked with an "H". Bottom right group: Elements of the 3rd Queen's Regiment featuring a FV432 transport platoon, a Scorpion, an FV438 Swingfire with two Infantry platoons plus a Milan ATGM support weapon. Left group: 2x Lynx helos.

And in this corner: the Soviets fielding the 74th Guards Tank Regiment. Top left group: 7xT80, a single SA13 Gopher (proxied by an SA9 Gaskin), 3x BTR70 and 3x Infantry with support weapons: a Spandrel and SA16.

British FV432 APC 

British Milan ATGM

British FV438 Swingfire ATGM

British Scorpion Light Tank

British FV107 Scimitar Light Tank

British Lynx

Soviet Spandrel ATGM

Soviet SA-16

Soviet SA13 Gopher

Soviet BMP-2 APC

Soviet T80 MBT

Now that the stage is set and the players are in place let the firing commence and the battle begin. Batrep to follow.

World at War: Eisenbach Gap, Scenario 3: Rolling Hot

For a quick reference here's a scan (also b/c I'm lazy) of the scenario page from Eisenbach Gap. It's chock of full of information: the flavor story, units, their deployment, SSR (special scenario rules) and victory conditions.

The beauty of this system is evident in its game play and mechanics. Its simplicity allows you to concentrate all your mental energy on your tactical and strategic decisions. Not wasted on micro-management, umpteen million tables and charts or complex games systems.

Each scenario I've tried so far hasn't disappointed me. Whether solo or against an opponent the game's quality and superior design is demonstrated and fun is had by all. Or maybe this is just a testament to the well thought out simplicity. Not to mention that its loads of enjoyment. I usually play on the Soviet side. It's very challenging and I sometimes get bull headed about it in true Soviet fashion. So a word of caution for any player choosing the Soviets: be resigned to losing units. Quit whining about the superiority of NATO. Just deal with it and have a blast (pun intended). I know I do!!

Table map setup looking West.   

At Hugelsdorf the B-grade units of the 33rd Motor Rifle occupied the adjacent hilltop with their HQ supported with 2 platoons of T62s. 

GHQ CATALOG PIC

4 platoons of infantry with only a Sagger ATGM support weapon were dug-in inside the town. Directly east adjacent to the irrigated fields and ensconced safely (or so I thought) in the woods were two 2 platoons of the thin-skinned BMP1 APCs armed with the fearsome Sagger.

 

All were anticipating the expected US approach from either road on the west edge of the map.

Soviet set up looking west.

Directly northeast of the 33rd's position lies Eisenbach (NATO game objective). This town was occupied by the C-grade units of the 87th Rifle composed of obsolete T55s, 

GHQ CATALOG PIC

2 platoons of BTR60 APCs

GHQ CATALOG PIC

and infantry armed with only one Sagger.

The Soviets' only hope was the timely arrival on Turn 3 of their reinforcements: 5 platoons of A-grade T72s of 1st Tanks expected anywhere along the north edge of the map.

 

Opening barrages (2 x smoke represented by red blocks) by NATO was on target and effectively blinded the 33rd Mortor Rifles for two turns. Then Delta Company's Abrams immediately occupied the wooded hills and engaged Hugelsdorf. They took out one of the BMP1s in the woods in a lopsided gun fight. BMP1s were just too thin skinned and sensitive for this kind of engagement.  

North of this position protected in a valley were Alpha Troop's Bradleys and M106 (self propelled 81mm mortars mounted on an M113 APC). 

GHQ CATALOG PIC

This was the logical jump-off point to assault Eisenbach. However this needed to be done in stages because that direct and clear approach was covered by the 87th. In a classic textbook bounding overwatch maneuver the Bradleys made it to the woods, scouted out the route ahead to Bergengipfel and called in some mortar strikes to pound Eisenbach. 

The Abrams made it to Bergengipfel and commenced firing on Eisenbach adding their firepower to the Bradleys and the mortars.

The Soviets were holding their own but kept looking northward for their relief. "When is that damned Alexei Stephanovich and his T72s going to get here? They need to take these American from behind." thought the 87th's commander as he worriedly scans the west bound road to Bergengipfel from the cupola of his command T55 tank.

First blood was drawn as the incoming mortar barrage took out a T55 platoon. Thankfully the infantry were dug-in all around and were relatively safe.

The valiant defense of Eisenbach continued: infantry of the 87th launched a Sagger to flush out the Abrams hiding in Bergengipfel. Meanwhile, another T55 platoon positioned just outside the town in the irrigated fields suffered multiple hits causing disruption and reduction.

 

The action was getting thick and this was just Turn two! Suddenly before Turn 3 could start with the possibility for the reinforcements to arrive (activate) we heard something awful - what every gamer is loathe to hear. "Sorry, guys," says the store manager with an apologetic smile, "but you'll have to start picking up your stuff because I'll be closing the store in about 20 minutes." 

AAAARRRRGHH! Frustration!! 

Alas, the game couldn't be finished due to the store closing so this'll have to be a re-fight sometime in the near future.

Stay tuned...