Historicon 2013 AAR and Photos Part One

Hi Kids,  Made the 6 hour trek to Fredericksburg to hang out with all the hardcore gamers at Historicon, the flagship convention of the HMGS East crowd.  The Powers-That-Be have signed up to keep the show in Fredburg for the 2014 & 2015 years, so all you weak-
kneed wannabies should plan to visit before it gets moved to Nova Scotia or Greenland!  I hear the old Air Force base at Thule has all sorts of room....
I lost the notebook I usually write down some details of the games, so I'll be winging it this time around. Apologees to whomever I offend by mis-identifying 15mm for 18mm, or Great Northern War for The War of Jenkin's Ear.  I'm not an expert afterall, just a humble correspondent....

 Starting off with some 15mm Flames of War Vietnam choppers!  These were set up Wednesday night, ready to get the jump on Charlie!

 This was a 25mm game in one of the boardrooms, gotta love helicopters blasting by at low level!

 

 Eureka's 25mm Dino range takes to the skies in a Pteranodon game!

 Rugby scrum or Flea Market... hard to tell sometimes.

Looks like a 15mm or 20mm game in NW Europe.  Prob D-Day related.  Awesome terrain!

 Some of the larger scale naval action.  Those might be 1/1200 or so, but I can't tell.

 Nappie's on the rampage again!  The guy just never gives up, even after being dead for 200 years...  French and Russians duke it out.

 Nappie starting to ruckus with the Prussians.  Wouldn't start nuthin', wouldn't be nuthin'!

 Looks like 25mm Fighting Sail!  Cog Wars for the Big Lads!

 25mm setup for the WW2 hardcore types!  The Huns are setting up for a push into Stalingrad-type terrain!  Nice!

The view from the other side, Commies brace themselves for the onslaught!

 The world famous Devils Den/Little Round Top scenery from the UK!

 And from the other side...

 It ain't all Historical!  Here we have the Gamalon Fleet ready to take on....

 The Starblazers Earth Defense Force.  Damn right I still remember the theme to "Starblazers"!
Sing along with the Chuckster: 
"A cry for help, a desperate plight,
Makes the Starforce reunite."

 A crowd of Huns get a rude awakening!

Looks like some 40mm Nappie or AWI action in the meeting rooms!  Carnage and Glory once again taking over an entire room for the length of the con.  So if you're a fan, you know where you should be!  No feeble excuses, get it done!

 The other side of the table.

Hmmmm.......

Ok kids, that's about it for this installment.  Stay tuned for further updates, same Chuck Channel, at random times!

American Civil War Battle for Atlanta

I went down to Parker, Banner, Kent and Wayne, a gaming shop in Cornelius, North Carolina last Saturday to play in the Catawba Gamers hosted game. It was an American Civil War game using 15mm figures and the Fire and Fury Rules. The scenario was based on the Battle for Atlanta. We started the day with eleven players but had guys drop out as the day went on.
It was the first Civil War game I had played in quite a few years. When given the choice I chose to be a Confederate player. Because of the scenario rules half of the Confederates started off board and would come on as reinforcements later in the game. I chose to be a reserve player so I could watch a couple turns and get a feel for the game before I had to start making decisions.
Here are some of the Lads before the game.

A shot of the Confederates setting up.

An overview of the table showing the Union Lines running up the field and turning back to the left.

Confederate forces moving onto the table at the top of the Union lines

The Union Players from L to R Joe, Jody, Chuckaroo and John B.

The Union troops Leave their trenches and advance to meet the Confederates.

Confederates Assault the Union still in the trenches. Unknown to the Confederate players, their reinforcements would only arrive after the Union left a gap in their lines from pulling out troops to support the flank attack. or several turns had passed. Luckily, the Union players pulled out the troops.

Confederate reinforcements arrive on the left flank.

Several Confederate brigades continue the attack on the Right Flank while one falls back to reorganize.

Union and Confederate Brigades charge and counter charge in a massive combat.

Union Brigades continue to turn the Confederate flank.

Confederate reinforcements walk into the Union guns.

The lead Confederate brigades are disordered while the rear brigades oblique forward to get clear of them.

The Confederate Brigades mass to assault the Union trenches.

A bunch of bad dice rolls later the Confederate assault is repulsed.

The Confederates bolstered by General Hood ( lower right) reorganize and attack to trenches again.

On the right flank a Union Brigade breaks and flees.

Right into the limbered guns and is destroyed.

The Confederate attack is repulsed again, and is the last Hurrah.

End game on the right flank. the Confederates are pushed back and the Union Line holds.

End game on the left flank. Even though we managed to concentrate the Confederate brigades to assault the trenches and ended up almost even on the dice rolls, their dice were just hotter. When you roll a four and they roll a ten you can't win.

I had a great time and look forward to the next game.