Reminder: This Weekend is Legends in the Fall

This weekend is our annual Legends in the Fall convention at the Doubletree Hotel in Mundelein, IL. I will be there representing Ambush Alley Games; other vendors include Scale Creep Miniatures, Unique Gifts and Games, Legends-in-Time. I will be running Tomorrow’s War and Force on Force games at my booth…and rumor has it I may have some advance copies of Cold War Gone Hot, the latest Force on Force supplement, for sale. My sons Will and Steve will be running Starship Troopers/Tomorrow’s War and Post-Apocalyptic/Tomorrow’s War games. Additionally, Saturday night will see the inaugural “Legends of the Skies” Battle of Britain dogfight tournament, replete with Squadron Leader Skip Peterson and Fleigermeister Roots as your guides. Visit http://legends-in-time.com/WordPress/?page_id=2 for more details. I hope to see you there!

Legends in the Fall November 19-20

Mark your calendars for the weekend of November 19-20 for this year’s Legends in the Fall convention in Mundelein, IL. This is the first year that we are doing a two day event. We’re also offering two wonderful Saturday night dinner/tournament events. I will be attending as a vendor this year, representing Ambush Alley Games. I will be running games most of the weekend at the booth.

Games that I know of so far include Starship Troopers (with TW rules), Star Wars (TW), a “not” 40K game (with TW) and a Force on Force game (the Bala Baluk scenario from the OEF book). If I get enough stuff painted, we will also run a game or two of Ambush Valley (Vietnam) and the forthcoming Cold War Gone Hot book. There are also a ton on non-AAG games planned from some of Chicagoland’s top game masters.

Skip Peterson is the convention organizer and always puts on a world-class show. We’d love to see you at the event and get you into a game! For more information, check out http://legends-in-time.com/WordPress/?page_id=2.

Ambush Sunday at UGG…and Ambush Thursday/Friday/Saturday After That!

This Sunday, February 13, is our regularly scheduled game at Unique Gifts and Games in Grayslake, IL. We will be running Tomorrow’s War with an updated version of the scenario from last time. Shawn Carpenter and I discussed a few modifications for Gigantic vehicles and Robot infantry which we will use. Also, I have been busy painting, so we will stiffen the Federal infantry side with Khurasan Miniatures’ Super Heavy Siler tank and a few heavy weapons, including the new Federal Missile Launcher and Autocannon teams.

Then on Thursday, February 17 we will be running the new Force on Force rules at Unique Gifts and Games at 7 PM with Shawn and Peggy Carpenter from AAG! If you miss that game, you can catch us at Games Plus on Friday, or at the Historical Re-enactor Fest in Wheeling on Saturday, February 19. For the first two events we’ll be running a smaller demo game; Saturday will feature the force of our full Iraq layout. I hope to see everyone at one of these events!

Legends in the Fall November 2010

Well, I haven’t been active on the blog for about three weeks, mostly because I’ve been busy at work or getting ready for Legends. This year’s LITF was a great success, not in the least due to the tireless efforts of Skip Peterson. Thanks, Skip, for all the extra time and effort you put into this convention…it shows!

This year, we had the considerable pleasure of having Shawn and Peggy Carpenter of Ambush Alley Games drive up all the way from Oklahoma to make an appearance. My son Will and I ran games with them all day Saturday. Here are a few shots from the games. First up is an Ambush Alley: Force on Force game involving a drive through an Iraqi city by a Marine Recon force. The board was 2 x 4′ and required the Marines to recover a surrounded fire team, then exit off the opposite edge of the board.

Looking from the Marine positions along the route to the opposite side. The lost fire team is visible in the upper left center of the picture.

The wily insurgent players went all out to wipe out the Marine fire team before the relief column could reach it. They succeeded. In fact, they charged the position after several shooting rounds reduced the effectiveness of its overwatch position. All but one of the Marines was brutally executed. The sole survivor was paraded on Al Jazeera in a major propaganda coup for the insurgents. Alas, if that were the only USMC problem for the day. As the column (which consisted of a Marine squad in three Hummers and a LAV-25) moved forward, all hell broke lose.

A lucky RPG hit damages the LAV's Bushmaster gun.

The insurgents popped up from their hidden positions and fired several RPGs against the LAV, resulting in a damaged main gun for the LAV. Then one Hummer was immobilized, then another set on fire by small arms. An exchange of fire between the Iraqi’s and the now dismounted Marines resulted in two Fog of War cards, giving the Marines some welcome support in the form of a GPMG team and a Bradley from a nearby US Army FOP.

A Hummer burns in the foreground as a US Army Bradley shows up to support the Marines.

The highlight of the game was the sole Hummer and LAV limping off the board, while a few USMC survivors on foot dragged a wounded comrade behind them, frantically shouting for the column to come back. It was a Platoon moment. Despite the US Army assistance, it was a grim day for the Marines.

Next up was a game of Tomorrow’s War in the afternoon run by Shawn and my son Will. Here are a couple of shots from the layout. I didn’t get a chance to get pictures, but I know that Shawn took a few, so hopefully I can repost them here once he gets them uploaded.

Looking toward the human settlement and the GE Mr. Fusion Reactor.

In the midst of the alien Nard trees. I can't remember the plastic plant vendor, but I rebased them for use in Tomorrow's War.

Looking at the human buildings near the river. The buildings are by Critical Mass Games. The bridge I scratchbuilt from balsa and Plasticard.

While I was running the Ambush Alley game with Shawn in the morning, Will was running Starship Troopers using Tomorrow’s War. Again, Shawn took a lot of pictures, so you’ll have to wait to see pictures of the game. In the afternoon, I ran a game of Force on Force set on Guadalcanal in WW2 in 28mm. A USMC platoon was pushing out from Henderson’s Field into the jungle, chasing remnants of the Japanese 5th Special Naval Landing Force.

The USMC advances past the farm toward the river.

The footbridge over the river. Bridge by Miniature Gaming Authority.

The Japanese advanced to the river as well.

The USMC firing line at the river put out enough lead to force a river crossing.

Once the USMC crossed the river, the Japanese fought a delaying action while they escaped deeper into the jungle.

The USMC prevailed, mostly because of its superior firepower. This is the second time I have run this scenario and it was fairly balanced up until the very end. The Marines took a few casualties crossing the river and to ambushes, while the Japanese were hit very hard at the end, giving the Marines the edge in victory points.

As with all LITF conventions, the games were spectacular. Mark Feldman ran a 28mm Memoir 44 game. There were several nice looking Flames of War games, as well as Ivor Jensky’s Autumn 1914 skirmish game. I didn’t get a chance to get around much, since I was running games back to back all day long, but from what I did see, I think the games this year were the best yet. I’m now looking forward to helping Skip put together LITF Spring 2011.

 

 

 

An Update on Legends in the Fall/Special Guests of Honor

This November 20, mark your calendars for Legends in the Fall, one of the premier miniatures conventions in the Midwest. This promises to be the biggest and most exciting Legends ever. First of all, we are changing the location to accommodate more people and more games. The convention is moving to the Doubletree Hotel in Mundelein, IL. Second, we will have our first guests of honor; Shawn and Peggy Carpenter from Ambush Alley Games will be in attendance. There will also be plenty of AAG goodness: Will and I will be running Ambush Alley/Tomorrow’s War games at Shawn’s table throughout the day. Next to Shawn’s table, Will is running a Starship Troopers game in the morning that will use Tomorrow’s War rules. During the afternoon, I will be running an encore of my Force on Force Guadalcanal game that I ran last Memorial Day weekend  (http://beastgaming.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/welcome-to-the-jungle-aarusmc-at-guadalcanal/). For those of you who haven’t been to a Legends, Skip Peterson has worked hard over the past five years to recruit some of the area’s best game masters and most aesthetically pleasing games. I also know that Skip is running his Legends in the Skies WW2 Battle of Britain game that is truly a blast to play. I will post more information as it becomes available.

Back from Recruits

We have returned from a great weekend of friends and gaming. My two sons, Will and Steve, and I attended Recruits in Lee’s Summit this past weekend. First of all, I must say what a pleasure it was to meet Shawn and Peggy Carpenter in person after corresponding and collaborating with them over the internet. They acted as host and hostess to my clan over the weekend and we are much in their debt. I also enjoyed meeting some of the AAG Forum folks in person and it was particularly great to meet Combat Wombat who has recently returned from Iraq. There’s nothing like going to a convention with the game designer, his wife, a bunch of fanatics of the game and lots of good food.

Shawn brought with him a printout of the new Tomorrow’s War PDF that will be released shortly. It looks very cool — hats off to Dixie for her layout, typography and overall design. Of course we had to play it, so Shawn and I ran a modified version of one of the scenarios in the book. Here are a few shots of the game:

My Legion Etrangere, supported by Combat Wombat grav tanks painted by Shawn.

Getting ready to cross the tree line on Glory.

Before...

...After.

The OpFor rolls around the Legion flank, supported by root beer.

Combat Wombat’s team made quick work of the Legion troops, thanks to Shawn and my bad scaling of the scenario to the size of the table. Regardless of our goof, everyone had a good time. A good sign for Tomorrow’s War popularity is that my son Steve (who is 13 and a Warhammer 40K fanatic) played it, loved it and is now building a 15mm force.

Tim (Timmy! on the AAG forums) put on a beautiful Afghanistan game that featured miniatures painted by Piers. Here are a few shots:

UK forces rolling down the highway.

"Ask to see the CarFAX"

Another angle of the vehicles.

From a purchase perspective, I saw the Project: Slipstream 15mm science fiction figures from www.micropanzer.com in person and bought a bunch. They are heavily armed and armored humans in helmets and berets. Shawn and I got to see some of his concept sketches for future releases and they are exciting. I plan to paint my figures as future Russian paratroops. I also purchased all the casting seconds that Combat Wombat brought to the convention (www.combatwombatminiatures.com). While he is not currently taking orders, he is back and hopes to be up and running soon. We got a preview of his new 15mm dropships and will review them once he has them in production. Check his website over the next month or so for when he goes back into business. I also purchased a few 20mm US and Iraq Elheim figures from Syr Hobbs and some QRF modern Soviets and Germans from Miniatures Armies (www.miniaturearmies.webs.com).

Thanks to Duane for putting on a great Recruits. We plan to come back in the spring as a game master.

Heading Out to Recruits

The Beast clan is heading to Lee’s Summit, Missouri this weekend for a fabulous three days of gaming and Ambush Alley madness. I had enough frequent flier miles left over to be able to fly versus drive, but that has created problems of its own. How to transport painted lead to a game convention? Shawn Carpenter has kindly agreed to provide terrain and accoutrements, so its come down to just figures. Et voila! the Sabol army transport case actually can accommodate my magnetic lined storage boxes. So the 15mm science fiction stuff — Legion Etrangere, Aliens, colonists, zombies — is all making the trip with us. We’re also taking a few of the smaller 15mm science fiction buildings we have, all in the hopes of a few games of the soon-to-be-released Tomorrow’s War with Shawn, Robbie and Peggy from Ambush Alley Games.

Painting-wise, I’ve been busy putting brush to resin on the 15mm Critical Mass Games buildings I purchased a month ago, as well as cranking out 32 Rebel Miniatures zombies. I’ll try to post some pictures after this weekend.

For those expecting Ambush Friday at UGG this week, alas, I will be in Missouri, so you are on your own. Last session, Chad and Ken played a very nice game of Battlefront: WWII Eastern Front. Let Ken know if you have something to run. We’ll return to our regular schedule two weeks from this coming Friday.

A Quick Write-Up about The War Chest

Last weekend was our first ever War Chest event at Trinity College. The rain helped us a bit, since many folks would have been out working in the yard or doing things with family. All the tables were sold out for the event and most people did well selling, trading or bartering their wares. I cleaned out a full closet worth of stuff in my basement office and pocketed nearly $800. The event paid for itself based on table reservations, so look for Skip, Steve and I to put this together again in the future.

A few notes on attendees. First, thanks to everyone who brought quality goods. This was not a “flea market,” but rather a bazaar of the hard to find, no longer used, but in good condition goods. Second, hats off to Ken who actually acted as a reseller of goods for many of his store customers, and who also helped us out with set-up and tear-down. Third, a special acknowledgment to Keith Leidy, Bob Bowling and the folks from Pico Armor (http://www.picoarmor.com) who showed up as retailers at the event. We saw a good number of HMGS folks, Legends Convention attendees and members of the local gaming community.

What did I spend my money on? Well, John, John and Yong of Pico Armor got a good chunk of it. Yes, yes I know, I need another scale like I need a hole in the head. But you have to see this stuff in person to believe the quality of the product. Take a look at these T-72s and M1A1 Abrahms:

Keep in mind that these are 1/600th scale! The detail is incredible, there is almost no flash on the individual pieces and they are perfect for a basecoat and drybrush painting style. We are basing them for Cold War Commander and using one stand of tanks (3 vehicles to a stand) to represent a platoon. Infantry will be based as a platoon. Command units will be based on round bases.

The bulk of my purchases are for 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars. I want to be able to do the Golan Heights and the Valley of Tears in broad panorama and this scale is perfect. 15 tanks = $3.50. That means I can field a huge Syrian army rushing toward the 7th Armored Brigade! My son, his friend and I also purchased some Central Front Cold War stuff for some 1985 Cold War gone hot action. Finally, I bought some ultra-modern helicopters and aircraft to use with Ambush Alley and Force on Force. My idea is that aircraft should be much smaller scale than the ground scale to look good. Here is what a painted Pico Armor aircraft looks like (taken from their site):

Two F16s. You can buy eight of them for $3.50!

So the next time we draw a Fog of War card calling for a chopper or an airstrike, these little gems will be flying over the site of the strike. The folks at Pico Armor provide lots of advice, great service and are gamers themselves, so consider this a ringing endorsement for their business.

Upcoming Events

This coming Friday we will be playing Ambush Alley again and will return to Iraq. The game will be held as usual at Unique Gifts and Games in Grayslake, IL. Game time will be 7 PM.

Saturday is The War Chest event at Trinity College in Deerfield, IL. The doors open at 9 AM. There will be 40 tables of goods for sale, trade or swap. I will be running a large Ambush Alley game (same game as Friday night) during the day, so come on out, shop til you drop and say hello.

Gaming and Painting at Chez Beast

We’ve been busy the past week; Little Wars convention in Chicago, a few pick up games of Ambush Alley and some serious painting for Ambush Mars (my background that will also be part of the Tomorrow’s War timeline).

First of all, let’s talk Little Wars. It was good to see some of my friends and my favorite vendors. Otherwise, I thought this year’s offering was ho-hum. Nothing stood out in the way of the games being run; the vendor area shrank yet again. I applaud the efforts of the current leaders of HMGS Midwest for their time and energy, but for many of you who know me, I am not a fan of the “HMGS” part of the equation. There are a lot of great things that Midwest could do (and if you talk to them, want to do), but they are saddled with crazy by-laws and fetters put on them by their affiliation. I am going to continue to go to Little Wars as a non-member, as the local people deserve my support, but I am done with HMGS membership of any kind.

As for Ambush Alley, we ran a pick up game last Friday at UGG in Grayslake using our full layout. The scenario was a contractor with a captive POI holed up in a complex with two fire teams of US troops in support. The US players needed to send a relief column up to the compound and escort them off a friendly board edge. I played the insurgents and probably had the worst die-rolling I have ever experienced LOL. If my insurgents could fire, they missed. If they checked morale, they broke. If they were a specialty figure (leader or RPG or SAW), they faded away. The best I did all night was to ping a Marine LAV-25 and force a morale check that resulted in a bail out. Otherwise the US players mopped the floor with me. The great thing about Ambush Alley is that I had a great time losing. We continue to test the new rules for vehicles and are finding the improvements to be just what the doctor ordered.

Ambush Mars continues to progress. My hanger (replete with working landing lights) is nearly finished, and I painted up my first USMC squad. I also got the basecoats done on 50+ Martian insurgents as their opponents. We’re probably about 3-4 weeks from me having everything finished and ready to take photos.

I also took a break from 15mm and painted a few Malifaux figures (Arcanist faction) just to keep my hand in the 28mm action.

Finally, take a look at http://02a7218.netsolstores.com/4480extendedarnhembridgeset10pc.aspx. While this new bridge is for WW2 Arnhem, if you leave the two arches off, it is highly suitable as a starting point for the bridge at Al Nasiriyah. I placed an order this week with that in mind. If nothing else, it will save me some scratchbuilding time.

This week we are running our regular Ambush Friday night at UGG in Grayslake, IL (see link to the right). As always, we start at 7 PM. We’re planning on a big Iraq game again, this time featuring insurgents and some Iraqi army regulars. See you then!