Lead Legionaries: A Visit to Jim's 'Toy Box' for Gaming

Ted's Napoleonic game stretched for 12' of table width and was crammed with 28mm miniatures

For the fourth year in a row, some of us from Columbus have driven north to Blissfield, MI, to spend a gaming weekend with Jim W at his "Toy Box." This brick building in the village downtown was once a lawyer's office. In a deal he couldn't pass up, Jim bought it from the retiring family of lawyers and established it as his gaming HQ. He and his gaming group -- Ted, Gene, and Dave -- meet there weekly to game. It is also where he stores his miniatures, figures, and terrain, as well as does his painting and building for hobby projects.

Jim in the light green enjoys a pre-battle cigar outside his Toy Box in Blissfield, MI, on Saturday

Many of us feel lucky to have a spare room or basement for our gaming pursuits. Jim has a whole building! He shares his good fortune not only with his gaming group, but also with us once a year when he invites us up to enjoy two days of games put on by he and Ted. On the tap for this year were a modern scenario set in Jim's fictional former Soviet Republic of Balczakistan and Ted's big Napoleonic battle. Jim would be using Xenos Rampant! rules, which we were familiar with. Ted would be using Valor & Fortitude, which none of us Columbus folks had played. Sides were divvied up by a cloth bag containing two different colored dice. You reached in, pulled one, and that would determine which side you would be on. Simple, and avoids the "I don't care which side I'm on...what about you?" conversation!

Jim's "Lawyer's Desk & Chair" where he assembles & paints his miniatures and terrain

Before Friday night's gaming, we met for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Blissfield, with Ted and Jim's spouses joining us. It was good to catch up and hear how everyone was doing. The platefuls of food were plentiful and would make the snacks I'd brought along for everyone all but redundant. However, the cooler full of beer did come in handy, of course! Gene met us at the Toy Box, and we were under way with our first game shortly after 7pm on Friday.

Building came with wooden document file drawers which now hold his well-labeled mini collection

Jim introduced the scenario as a Soviet attempt to attempt to seize firmer control of Balczakistan, as the independent-minded Central Asians were attempting to detach themselves from the Soviet orbit. I ended up on the Soviet side, in control of two squads of infantry and one armored infantry vehicle. Mike S had the other two BTRs and one squad, while Dave E took the truck and two squads of Interior Ministry troops. We sent him on a flank march on the right to threaten the bridge, as well as break up any potential defenses along the river line. Mike and Mike would meanwhile hook left, using a couple small stands of trees as cover. We would disgorge our infantry squads and then move the armored vehicles up to support the assault on the buildings the Balczakis would likely be defending.

Table setup for Jim's modern game -- those are our BTR armored vehicles & Russian infantry

Our opponents had "regular" Balczaki troops as well as irregulars, who'd joined forces in an attempt to fend off our thrust. They needed to deny us possession of the stone bridge in town, which the Soviets would utilize to expand their assault on their rebellious satellite country. As expected, they "Alamo-ed Up" in the stone buildings that had ample windows facing where we we'd be assaulting from. Jenny was given the unenviable task of holding off our thrusts from the building, and put a unit on both the top and bottom floor. She waited till we got within range and then blasted away at Mike S's BTR. Her shots bounced off its armor and caused no damage. Jenny's rolls tended not to be the greatest in this game, which she would make up for in Saturday's game!

Our first squad of infantry disembark probably a bit too far away, but we were being careful

Our first squad we disembarked was probably too far back, but it hustled forward and took position in the trees to blast away at Jenny's building at long range. The other two squads deployed closer. My HQ squad, with our overall leader, entered a stand of trees close to the building and began pouring in fire on her troops from close range. Her return fire was not inconsiderable, and my HQ squad was soon down to 40%. I had been skeptical when I saw Jim's five-man infantry units. Would they be too fragile for Xenos Rampant's combat system? Much to my surprise, with the cover benefits and a lot of the shooting at long range increasing the armor stat of the units, they were surprisingly durable. It took multiple turns of shooting by several Russian units before we finally ground Jenny's units in the hard cover of the buildings down enough so that their fire was less effective. I already like XR! rules, and this made me appreciate their flexibility even more.

Dismounted squad hoofs it towards the village buildings where we were sure the enemy waited

Since there was a turn limit for us to get in possession of the bridge, it soon became obvious to me that if we waited till her units were eliminated, we simply would run out of time. I urged Mike S to push forward and shoot from closer range, while I moved my BTR to loop around the building and be able to target the units in the lane behind the buildings. They scattered quickly into the buildings and alley ways once they saw my and Mike's armored vehicles making the turn. We shot them up a bit, but once they got in the buildings, they actually became more dangerous to us. They were able to go to the second floor and get a "top armor" or outflank us to get side or even rear shots. Jim had modified the rules to decrease the BTRs armor stat when fired at from those directions.

BTRs begin to hammer away at the 2-story stone building where the Balczakis were firing at us

Soon, both BTRs were damaged, but we had inflicted punishing hits on the Balczakis, too. It came down to the final turn. Mike S was able to move his vehicle over the bridge and suppress the Balczaki command unit next to it. That ended up giving us the victory at the 12th hour, just as time expired in the game. It was a hard-fought, close run win. Everyone seemed to have fun, though, and we were off to a great start in our Toy Box weekend! Thanks, Jim, for running a fun game!!

Meanwhile, Dave's Interior Ministry troops volunteered for the flank march towards the bridge

Ted wanted to start Saturday's game at 11am to give him time to set up the hundreds of 28mm Napoleonic troops we'd be playing with. This allowed Mike's son Jason to drive up in time for the game and join us. The scenario had Wellington leading an allied force of English, Portuguese, and Spanish across the Pyrenees Mountains into France. A French force was raised to meet them and our battle would be fought along a 12' wide table representing a mountain pass. True to many mega games, Ted had deployed our troops from one table edge stretching to the other. We would be using Valor & Fortitude rules, which thankfully, were on the simple end of the Napoleonic scale of details.

Sniping away at Dave's troops were the Balczaki irregular troops, slowly whittling the Russians down

I ended up on the Allied side, commanding the mostly Spanish troops on the left wing. Under these rules, as long as your units (regiments, Ted said) stay within 12" of your division commander, you can move them -- as long as you don't roll a "1" on 1d6! If you want to shoot, you don't even need to do that. So, anyone want to guess how many times over the course of the 10 turns or so I rolled a "1" for the infantry units in my division? You in the back?? Why, yes! Three times -- twice as often as I should! Why we're at it, how about how many times Jenny -- my French opponent across the table -- rolled a "1"? Zilch! None!! What's more, my two cavalry regiments were deployed far away from my commander, so they had to roll for "Messages" to arrive. However, as light horse, we essentially needed anything but a "1," as well. You guessed it -- I rolled 1's at least three times for them, as well. And always at critical moments, it seemed.

With an 11th hour run on the bridge by our battered BTRs, we secured victory at the last moment

Nevertheless, we did our best to surge forward and make a good attempt at taking possession of the stone bridge -- the only one of the five objectives on my third of the table. We had possession of it about as often as the French, as our regiments fought back and forth over it. However, on the last turn of the game, I sent a fresh regiment in, with supports, against a battered and shaken French unit holding it. We each rolled five dice for combat. Jenny would hit on "5's' on 1d6, while I hit on "3's." Anyone want to guess who won that fight? Let's just say the battle would have been very close if I had won that engagement. As it was, we got our butts handed to us, and we would soon be retreating back through the pass!

Ted explains things to our French opponents in the Napoleonic game, Jenny, Jim, and Jason S

Still, it was a fun game. Very cinematic -- with hundreds of massed troops being hurled this way and that into combat. It looked like an account of a Napoleonic battle you might read. I wasn't exactly crazy about a few aspects of the rules, but then again, I'm not 100% sure we were doing everything right...ha, ha! Ted insisted that we had the last version of the poorly-worded Quick Reference Sheet. Dave kept saying he didn't think so. Finally, he pulled it up on his phone and showed it to Ted and us. Yep, we were playing with an older version. The main thing I didn't like were the modifiers for melee. According to Ted's interpretation (on the confusing QRS), there was no bonus to charging in attack column, yet there was one to charging in line. I tried to argue that the line bonus probably was intended for when receiving a charge, but Ted and Jim insisted that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. If in line, both the chargers and those receiving the attack got the bonus.

My Spanish division marching towards the bridge which was our objective on the left flank

I did like that it played VERY quickly, was not complex, and had a nice way of covering morale failures. Once a unit had taken casualties beyond its Tenacity rating, it had to take a Valor test when it lost a melee or took hits from shooting. If it failed the test, poof! It was gone. No worrying about rallying it later. Simply remove them as combat ineffective for the game. And on any turn you lost a unit due to a failed Valor test, your division had to take a Fortitude test. If you failed, you received a Defeat token. This was essentially a victory point for the opponents. Very simple. If the weird kinks that go against the way Napoleonic warfare actually was fought are corrected, and instead match what the writers of history say, then it will be a great convention set.

Mike S's English troops receive Jim's French cavalry charge -- Jim's dice were on fire (as usual!)

NOT that I am going to go and start painting Napoleonic troops! Heavens, no!! Earlier in the weekend, I had asked Ted, who is the most prolific painter of miniatures that I know, what period was his least favorite to paint. He admitted it was Napoleonics. I laughed and reminded him that not only has run giant Napoleonic battles at conventions (and for us), he has also painted and run giant all-cavalry, Napoleonic battles! If the period is enough to give an enthusiast like Ted the stink eye in painting them, who am I to argue? I will leave that period for other gamers to paint up and field forces with. That said, I was glad I got to play in Ted's game. It was fun, and we had a great time laughing and shaking our heads at our luck. For all my below average die rolling, I did have two shining moments of glory. Twice, I rolled Valor tests when I had to roll 4+ on all five dice. I believe that is a 3% or so chance of success, and I did it twice. My dice stunk the rest of the time, but hey! I got to defy odds when it really didn't matter and a beaten unit took one extra unit to rout off-table...ha, ha!

Spanish troops surge forward and seize the bridge, while more Spaniards guard their flank

All in all, a great weekend of gaming with good friends. I look forward to continuing the tradition next year. Rumor is, we'll add a tour of "Ted's Basement" to the early Friday afternoon festivities. The rumors of vast stockpiles of miniatures need to be confirmed. It should be quite the sight!