Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Historicon Table Survey 2023

Here's my usual survey of tables at Historicon; thanks to Blogger they are in reverse chronological order. When I have a bit of free time, which seems less and less each year, I walk through as much of the convention space as I can taking rapid fire pictures of anything that looks interesting. It is by no means comprehensive, and I know I missed many great looking tables, including almost anything run on Thursday! Anyone who can provide additional details, feel free to chime in!

This large game was in the foyer outside the dealer area and tournament hall, the siege and Battle of Fort William Henry, 1757, played on Saturday. 

4 or 5 other French and Indian War games were held in the same, prominent space. 


?

Axis and Allies, Battle of Midway

I have no idea what this is, bit it certainly looked impressive! :-)

Not a good shot, but the glow of the computer screen indicates Carnage and Glory!

Presumably American Civil War

More carnage and Glory; I counted 19 C&G events ranging from Malborough through the ACW, Granted, several were run 2-3 times, but still!



Obviously not set up, but I liked the hills in use here!

Landing...



Malta, WW2 Axis invasion

Now that's and Age of Sail Fleet battle!


A perennial favorite


Ancient Galley warfare!

Test of Resolve Wars of the Roses, with my troops and many friends: Tim Couper (standing) and  Dave Knight (alongside) from Scotland, John Mumby (right foreground) from Colorado, Mark Fastoso (yellow jacket and rwed hat (Mark's Game Room) and others. More ToR later in its own post. 







Remember the Alamo!

Congo



Pre game set up for a massive Khartoum game played across three very long tables. 

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Dhows (?)

Gettysburg, Day 2 with Steve Fratt, using his "Small Deadl;y Space" rules

LWTV Peleliu in 3 mm

Tomb Raiders, Egyptian style!


Colonial German East Afrika; Tanganyika (now Tanzania), 1889. Abushiri's revolt

Vicksburg, 1863


More of Vicksburg

Monday, July 31, 2023

Battle of Wachau, October 16, 1813 at Historicon.

 

Terrain Map


Deployment Map

Overview of the starting positions looking South from Wachau; the game was once played once again in the Independence (HMGS Next Gen) room.

Slightly different view

Allies get the first MOVE...
We had a lot of experienced players, but also some inexperienced ones. 

Sebastiani's cavlry Corps (3 units) entrs on a triple MOVE!

MacDonald makes an early arrival on the French Left, and the Imperial Guard cavalry moves out early and fast!



Larger overview from around the same time. 

Long time Piquet/FoB friends Jim Mauro and Chris Velas; I finished setting the table up around 5:45 PM, and Jim and I shared a great rooftop dinner at a nearby restaurant during the ensuing hour.

Midgame overview; very heavy fighting in the center!

Close up of the Center and Allied Left; Meerveldt threatens the French right, but understandably lacks enthusiasm for an attack across the bridge into the Old Guard!

The combined Russian and Prussian Guards make a timely entry!

Russian Infantry and Grenadiers press the attack in the center. 

Guard cavalry after it struck two Russian Musketeer units in the flank!

Not too long after that, we called the game at about 11 PM; the edge was certainly to the French, who had lost about 25% of their Morale points vs 50% for the Allies, but the outcome was far from certain. As in the playtest, the French suffered much of their losses from their Artillery arm. Many of the players stayed after the game to help pack up the troops and terrain' as always, that was a huge help! It may be a month or two before the troops all get sorted out back to their usual boxes back home here, though. That's usually pretty par for the course; after a great Historicon, I'm usually wargamed out for several weeks to a month or so thereafter!

How about the FoB3 rules vs Battle Command?  All in all, I think about the same speed of play with this many players. The increased options are good, but if a couple of commands are heavily engaged and the others aren't, that may indeed slow play down more, especially if the engaged players are indecisive or inexperienced.  FoB3 is a bit easier for new players to grasp, because, with a few exceptions, you can only do what the cards allow. I think both sets are roughly equal, just different twists on the same key concepts. I'm happy to play either. I am already thinking about what to do next year. .. definitely smaller! Just remind me about that going forwards when I forget! :-)

Next year, in Lancaster!  Meanwhile, there will be several more Historicon 2023 posts to come!