Little Wars 2016 & Purchases

    The 1st game I played in at Little Wars 2026 - Marty's 'Pulp Alley' Chaos in Cairo game was a blast!

Little Wars in Chicago, HMGS Midwest's flagship convention, is usually not on my itinerary. Spring is such a busy time for cons here in Ohio that most years I can't squeeze it in. However, I had been telling myself since I retired that I wanted to attend more shows, and Little Wars is not that far away -- just under six hours driving (depending on traffic). We had attended a couple times in the past and had a fun time. So, when I saw how reasonably priced the hotel rooms were, I decided to make 2026 the third time!

    My 'haul' from Little Wars -- I kept my spending under control, for the most part

The next decision was whether I would run games or simply just shop and play. I went back and forth for a couple weeks, and finally decided I would go just as an attendee. When the event list was published, I sat down and picked out five games that I wanted to play in. When registration opened, I was ready, waiting on Tabletop Events with five tabs open -- ready to pounce! I successfully registered for all five of the games I wanted, and Jenny was able to get in most of them, too. 

    My 2nd favorite game at Little Wars was the 1970s IRA raid on British operations on Saturday

The drive to Chicago went much smoother than I expected. We got there earlier on Thursday afternoon than we had planned -- even before registration opened up. After checking in, we went to a local brewpub for a beer and stayed for another (and to get something to eat). We were joined by our "Michiana" (Michigan & Indiana) friends -- Steve S, Greg, Steve B, Tim, and his son Pat. It was good to see them. Since they stopped coming to Advance the Colors, sadly, we are lucky to see them once a year. Despite all of the good games I played in, hanging out with good friends and sharing laughs was truly my personal highlight of Little Wars. We doubled down on that Saturday evening, going out to dinner with Rich and his wife Gwen from RRB Minis & More. Vendors are always so busy at conventions that it was nice to spend a couple hours with them, too!

    My Pulp Alley league surveys the street -- spotting the first plot point that we needed to investigate

My first game Thursday evening was Pulp Alley -- a very fun system that we played about 10 years ago but hadn't in awhile. In 2014, I ran an Indiana Jones-themed series of games for the Sunday Evening Gaming Group called, Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures. Not wanting to be "that player" who doesn't know or understand the rules, I downloaded Pulp Alley's free Quick Start guide and read through it the night before. I was glad that I did, though GM Marty Devine did an excellent job going over the rules before the game. In fact, this would prove to be my favorite game of the entire convention. My "League" (as a player's group of figures is called) consisted of three miniatures trying to beat the other three factions to finding clues to the location of a secret map. We had a blast, attacking each other in this free-for-all, playing "Peril" cards on each other, and in general, trying to outfox the others.

    The center of the board with traffic, soldiers, and pedestrians making it a 'perilous place' to be

It was a thrilling finish to the game, too. On my last figure's activation, she charged into the player holding the major plot point and knocked them out, sending the prized possession flying. With no figure technically in possession of it at game end, the my league ended up in a three-way tie for first. The Little Wars staff give a medal to the GM of each game to hand out to the winner or player who performed best. I won my first of two for the weekend, but more importantly, had a great time. Marty ran Pulp Alley throughout the weekend, and Jenny went back for a second game of it, having an equally good time.

    I eyeballed this 3-D printed building RRB Minis had in their booth all weekend before buying it

Friday morning was a bit of a disappointment, as I screwed up the time my event started. I had utilized the "My Schedule" feature of Tabletop Events to pull up a spreadsheet of the games I had booked. What I didn't realize was that by saving the tab in my phone's browser, and not refreshing it when we arrived in town, my times were all off by one hour. For some reason, TTE has a "time zone" feature and adjusts your schedule to show your own local time when you pull it up -- not the scheduled actual start time for the game. So, if you were on the West Coast and pulled up your "My Schedule," game start times would be two hours off from Chicago's Central Time and three from my Eastern Time. Mine was one hour off, and Jenny and I showed up about 45 minutes after it had started. I felt awful for the GM in being a no-show, and bummed that I didn't get to play in his pirate game. 

    The Bad Squiddo figs that I picked up -- I kept in under control as their range tends to be very pricey

It did give me a LOT more time to shop, though! One of my favorite stops at Historicon was there, Badger Games, and I spent time looking through their extensive line of miniatures they brought to the show. They carry a HUGE number of figure lines, and curious, I asked the owner who'd attended about what percentage they were able to bring to the show. She estimated 10% -- the remaining 90% was sitting in their warehouse. I picked out five packs that I wanted from Bad Squiddo Games line, including a pack of "May Queens" that I think will make good female wizards for my Elven army for Dragon Rampant. That had been one of my shopping goals, as I hadn't bought any wizards with my Warhost army (which I got from Badger Games, by the way). 

    Phalanx Games was there with their MDF bases - $5 for as many as you can stuff & seal in a ziploc

Friday night's game (which I DID make it to on time!) was a hit and miss. It was using The Men Who Would be Kings from Daniel Mersey's "Rampant" stable. However, the GM wasn't very familiar with the rules, and I had to step in a number of times and help him figure out how the system worked. He was also a bit brain fried, he said, as this was his third game in a row. He also admitted he had yet to the play test the scenario, which quickly became evident when the Mahdists wiped our British and Egyptian forces off the table in half the time the game was scheduled for! Jenny was even less happy than I was, because the GM was clearly getting frustrated with players who weren't picking up the rules. The fact that it was his own two friends who were the most clueless of the bunch didn't make his badgering the players any better. Chalk that one up as a "miss," and hope the rest of the games are better. Unfortunately, bad games, bad scenarios, and bad GMs are all part of attending a convention. You have to accept your losses with your wins.

    Another of the lovely buildings that were part of the very fun IRA game I played in on Saturday

Saturday morning was much better. I played in a 1970s IRA vs. British scenario. The GM's board was beautiful! He had 3-D printed all of the buildings and it was definitely immersive. He explained we had two missions we needed to complete -- ambushing a Laundry Delivery Service van (a front for British counter-intelligence) and taking out a massage parlor, which was another intelligence effort trying to extract information from the "loose lips" of its customers. He let us plan every detail of our mission, whether to complete the missions simultaneously or consecutively, how many of our eight operatives to assign to each, and exactly how we would carry each out.

    Rich Brown of RRB gave me a good 'package deal' on these 2 smaller buildings & boulders

So, instead of 30 minutes explaining the rules to us, he kept that part of the game relatively secret. He wanted the preliminaries to be us hashing out our mission plan amongst ourselves. There was one of the five players who was a bit of a holdout, but we eventually brought him around to the group consensus. Once the missions themselves got under way, the system moved very quickly. In fact, the three of us players (and four operatives) ambushing the van completed it in record time, the GM said. We took no casualties and eliminated all four of the British agents quickly. He mentioned it was the best any group had done. The other team was having a bit rougher of a time, and ended up clearing only two of the three floors of the massage parlor. They lost one operative and had two others wounded, I believe. The other three IRA agents were able to exfiltrate, though, and soon joined us as we melted away into the pro-IRA neighborhood, with the sounds of British sirens drawing nearer.

    Lion Rampant, a very fun system, recreating the Battle of Enna in Sicily between Arabs & Normans

My final game Saturday afternoon was a Lion Rampant game between Arabs and Normans in Sicily. It was a four-player game with two commands on each side. Interestingly, the GM had us alternate activating one of our commands (one Arab, one Norman, etc.). We also re-rolled for Initiative each turn, so the possibility of a "double move" -- going last one turn and first the next -- existed, and actually happened. Personally, I think the game would have been better and faster moving if both commands on one side went and then the other side, and kept up that order throughout the game. Still, it was a fun game. My shooting and combat dice were pretty bad in the beginning, but eventually came around at the end. On one amazing charge, my "Bloodthirsty" general and his bodyguard cavalry rolled 13 hits on 12 dice against a Norman light cavalry unit. With his trait, each roll of a "6" caused two hits, and I rolled six of them on 12 dice!

    Last purchase of the con, an interesting looking 3-D printed medieval building from Phalanx Games

I wrapped up my shopping after that session of games, because Jenny and I would be leaving right away Sunday morning. In addition to the Bad Squiddo minis, I picked up two small medieval buildings and another larger one from RRB Minis & More. I also snagged a ziploc full of MDF bases of various sizes and another very cool looking 3-D printed medieval building from Phalanx Games & Sundry. My last purchase was a can of Howard Hues paint from Dayton Painting Consortium -- one of my favorite colors that I had run out of, recently. After dinner with Rich & Gwen, we closed out the evening like we had the other three -- sitting around swapping stories and laughing with our Michiana friends. It had definitely been a good weekend.

    My prizes (and the figs that won them for me) from two of the fun games at Little Wars 2026

Will I come back? Well...actually, I'm not 100% sure. The Little wars registration fee was a bit of sticker shock. Sixty dollars is a lot for a convention -- at least compared to the ones I attend. I know $60 is not Gencon pricing, but it is more than the much larger Historicon was in 2025 ($50), and four times what we charge for a weekend member badge at Advance the Colors. Also, I'm not exactly crazy about the way HMGS Midwest bundles a year's membership in their chapter into the convention price. Long ago, all HMGS chapters across the country agreed to give members of other chapters the discounted admission rate that their own members received. What's the point of that if members of other chapters HAVE to buy your membership? Yes, I understand Chicago may be an expensive city, so the venue could be pricey. Still, the Sheraton, where the convention was held, was a suburban hotel -- not downtown in the high rent zone. And honestly, it is getting a little worn on the edges and needing renovation. For example, when we arrived, only one of its three elevators was working. So, Little Wars' convention price could certainly factor into my future decisions on whether to attend or not. Seeing all of my buddies is priceless, of course, but these two things probably take it out of the "must go" for me.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 56 

Fortunate Outcome to Vietnam 'Search & Destroy' Mission

    V.C. machine gun in a bunker opens up on the U.S. soldiers in my 'Surviving 'Nam' game at DayCon

I had one more playtest at a convention for my Surviving 'Nam rules before going "all in" on laying out the rule book to get it published. I ran my "Search & Destroy" scenario for four gamers that I consider friends in the Saturday morning slot at DayCon 2016. One of them even admitted he never signs up for 9am games, but made an exception (and the trip from Cincinnati) just to play in my game. Thanks, Ed -- that is quite the compliment! In fact, I knew all four of my players and was happy to see they'd signed up.

    My 4 players at DayCon 2026 -- I consider all four friends & I was very excited to see them signed up

In this mission, the players start on one board edge and have to exit the opposite corner. During their progress across the board, they have to search at least five V.C. bodies and cannot leave the table until there are less than six enemy on table. Due to the last time I ran this game at Buckeye Game Fest in March, I increased the scenario modifier so that the V.C. couldn't spring their ambush until the players had at least three turns of "Countdown to Contact" movement across the table. Wouldn't you know it? Just like my players at BGF, they rolled a "6" on the first turn that the V.C. could possibly arrive! 

    2 of the fire teams arrive on board, moving cautiously along a path between jungle & elephant grass

The random placement of four V.C. squads did a fairly good job of surrounding the four American fire teams on the table. It was kind of fun to see the players' faces when the last enemy squad was deployed. They knew they were in for a fight. Every dice roll became important and the tension rose almost immediately. The four players had a good battle plan in place, though, and they had troops in just the right spots to immediately put fire on the ambushing V.C. Would they get a chance to do that, though? It all depended on their activation rolls. Each failure by a player to activate one of his soldiers meant that I flipped a card, which typically activates the enemy or brings more on table.

  U.S. soldiers progress across the board, taking advantage of their 'Countdown to Contact' moves

The players admitted at the end that they had been very fortunate with the cards drawn from the Event Deck. Almost immediately, a Fire Mission card came up, which meant the radioman had established contact with battalion artillery. This also prompts a reshuffle, which means both Fire Mission cards are somewhere in the deck, ready to be drawn. In this case, one of the next cards was "Colonel on the Horn." This one is a complete wildcard, with the colonel possibly changing or scrubbing the mission, demanding a detailed Situation Report (causing the C.O. and Radioman to lose their turn), or -- in this case -- actually doing something good. The colonel demanded "body count," which meant that card counted as a Fire Mission card. That was the best possible outcome for the players (and the worst for the V.C.). Sure enough, BOOM! The player controlling the lieutenant called in an artillery strike on an unfortunate squad of V.C. who'd just showed up in an open corner of the board.

    On the 1st chance of the ambush arriving, it happened! A squad of V.C. arrive in a patch of bamboo 

Having seen a number of games played (and having done my own solo play tests), I also think the players were fortunate in their timing of cards drawn. The most deadly cards in the game, the two copies of "All Hell Breaking Loose!" didn't come up until the end of the game when there were few V.C. left on board. One time, there was only one enemy was on the table! The player's inevitable die rolls failures came, of course, but were streaky. When one player was suffering a case of double failures to activate (two Event cards drawn), the next players would roll particularly well and bring fire upon the V.C. who had just popped up.

    Another squad enters the board behind the players, stalking through the elephant grass

There was a hairy moment when a V.C. light machine gunner showed up in the player's rear and began firing on the C.O.'s team. One soldier went "Down" and three others were pinned, including the M60 gunner. Next, a sniper popped up and fired at the lieutenant from the cover of the nearby elephant grass. Things were looking ugly for that player. However, he weathered that storm, had the lieutenant use his free action to unpin the M60 gunner, who on his turn, suppressed the enemy machine gun team. He also rolled well all three times the sniper activated to shoot at his C.O. figure. Needing a 7+ on 1d20, he was successful every time. Whew! 

    Most dangerously, a squad showed up opposite side from 2 U.S. soldiers in some temple ruins

As the players continued to pass the majority of their activation rolls, they began to wear down the enemy squads. Their M79 gunners were particularly key to their success, as more and more black-clad infantrymen went down after bloop gun grenades landed on target. The V.C. were not so lucky with their "Incoming!" mortar fire cards. Twice, the rounds deviated to j-u-s-t the right spot, despite it looking like any shift in location would have to hit a soldier! 

    And just like that, fortune went the soldiers' way with a lucky, early arrival of a Fire Mission!

Another thing that helped the players was they had gotten far enough on board to seize solid cover. So, when the enemy fired on them, they were in good positions. Not so lucky were the V.C., who often showed up in much lighter cover. The players were able to use that to their advantage to line up higher percentage shots on the enemy, while suffering low percentage return fire. All in all, things seemed to be going their way. The one enemy soldier who'd been downed by the V.C. machine gun turned out to be only lightly wounded. He was soon back in the fight.

    John L, who had volunteered to be the 'Point' fire team, prepares to move his soldiers up

I remarked a few times during the game that it looked like they were going to be very lucky and never have the "Bunker!" event card drawn. It wasn't till late in the game that it finally showed up. Too little, too late! What's more, an excellent roll by an M79 gunner (15+ on 1d20, if I remember correctly) popped an explosive round through one of the firing ports. The bunker was quickly neutralized without causing any U.S. casualties.

    V.C. sniper in the grass would fire 3 times at the lieutenant, & against the odds, missing him!

All in all, as lucky as I was in having four great guys show up to play my game, the players themselves were lucky in their Event Card draws. They also seemed to roll above average most of the time -- especially with their shooting dice. Once the enemy fire slackened, they were able to leapfrog their advance forward and search the required enemy bodies. As the last V.C. were removed from the table by accurate U.S. fire, I went ahead and called the game in their favor. I decided to spare them "going through the motions" and having to exit the table at the required board corner. It had been a fun game for them, so far. I figured why end it with some anticlimactic drudgery? Ha, ha! They had proved that Lady Luck was on their side for this Search & Destroy mission. The V.C. had been given a bloody nose, and would likely withdraw to lick their wounds, in this situation.

    The player's success wasn't all luck -- they did a great job keeping their men in good cover all game

The next scheduled convention play tests are at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, June 17-21. I will be running Surviving 'Nam Wednesday evening, as well as twice Thursday and Saturday. If you would like to try out the rules, sign up to play! Event registration supposedly begins in less than a week on Tabletop Events. Who knows? Maybe I'll have excellent news then and tell you that the rules have been submitted to the publisher and copies will be available soon! Until then, I will likely do 2-3 more final, solo play tests to double-check a couple of the dozen scenarios that will be included in the rules. So, stay tuned here for more Surviving 'Nam soon...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 173
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 85

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 56 

Search & Destroy Mission with Surviving 'Nam at Buckeye Game Fest

    The squads' point men advance through the elephant grass in another game of "Surviving 'Nam"

I decided to take a risk and play test one of my scenarios for Surviving 'Nam at a local gaming convention this past weekend. Typically, I will have play tested it solo before springing it on players. However, I think most game masters (especially those who wrote the rules) get a good feel for play balance once they've run a number of games and created a good handful of scenarios. As this would be Mission #8 that I'd designed, I decided to take the risk.

    The heavily wooded board where the squad would conduct their 'Search & Destroy' mission

In this mission, the players began at one corner of the board and are attempting to cross to the opposite corner. They are on a Search & Destroy mission with the goal of killing as many Viet Cong as possible. Additionally, they must search five bodies for intelligence. They can't exit from the board until there are six or less enemy figures on table. The battalion commander wants "body count" and it is up to the players and their reinforced squad to provide it for him.

    Three U.S. fire teams advance onto the board, probing for contact with enemy Viet Cong

I had three players for the game, so each controlled a five-person fire team led by a veteran sergeant. They were also given platoon headquarters elements of an M60 gunner and his assistant, the platoon commanding officer and his radioman, and a medic. They split these five figures up among their teams. The scenario calls for the U.S. soldiers to march onto the board. One fire team begins on the board in the corner. Another marches on during the first Countdown to Contact phase, and the final one on the second. During Countdown to Contact, there are no enemy figures on the board. Each figure receives one action, which is typically used to move. My players also took the opportunity to begin to fan out, with the second team heading right to cover one of the squad's flanks, while the other began to move towards a patch of bamboo that would be on their left.

    My players march their forces onto the board, uncertain of when contact with the V.C. will occur

After turn 2 of Countdown to Contact, one of the players rolls 1d6. If they roll a "6", the V.C. spring their ambush and appear on the board. If not, they get another turn of movement and the V.C. will show up on a 5-6, or 4-6 on the next turn, and so on. Do you want to guess what the designated player rolled? Yep! A "6" on the very first turn possible. We then randomly rolled placement for the ambushing V.C., with two large squads of riflemen appearing in patches of jungle just within line of sight of the squad's advance scouts. Another very small squad and a number of individual V.C. riflemen also popped up on board. Once all the figures were on the board, it was time for the shooting to start!

    Contact is made very early in the maneuver phase of the game - a large squad of V.C. pop up

Like the fire team moving into the jungle to guard their right, the team on point decided to move their lead soldiers into cover. However, they chose the lightest cover on the table, a patch of elephant grass along their proposed line of march. They chose not to veer into any of the medium or heavy vegetation nearby. What's more, the player had also put the FNG on point, accompanied by the assistant machine gunner (also an FNG). For those who don't know, the "N" and "G" stand for "New Guy." I'll leave you to guess what the "F" stands for in the terminology of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam! There are three levels of troops under my rules, Veterans, Grunts, and FNGs.

   The early springing of the ambush kept many of the U.S. soldiers bottled up in their entry area

These two unfortunate newbie soldiers were targeted by numerous V.C., who typically fire at the closest soldier. It took a number of shots, but eventually both FNGs were "Down." In my rules, once a friendly soldier is hit and "Down," it can't take any actions until another comes and checks on it. This reinformces historical behavior of troops in Vietnam. They would check on their buddies when hit. Once the friendly figure moves into contact and spends an action, a roll is made on a chart to see how badly hit they were. There are about a half dozen results, ranging from "Messed Up" (out of action) to the soldier having been knocked down by the force of the bullet, but unharmed. Perhaps his equipment absorbed the blow. "Hey buddy, you're okay -- it hit your canteen! That's not blood all over your leg...it's water!"

I warned them to spread out because they were vulnerable -- V.C. mortar fire barely misses

So, it became paramount for the squad to rescue those two Down soldiers. Unfortunately, V.C. were popping up all around the squad. A light machine gun team opened up on them from the heavy cover of a tumbled down, ruined stone temple. Anyone who ventured into the elephant grass to check on those two privates would be prime targets for the deadliest V.C. weapon in the game. Initially, the players were bottle necked into their deployment corner, too. I suggested a few times they needed to spread out and move forward. There were enemy mortar round cards in the event deck! As if to punctuate my advice, one of the next players failed an activation roll, resulting in the draw of an event card. Sure enough, it was "Incoming!" The players got very lucky, as it landed in a perfect spot where no U.S. soldiers were. The blast radius was almost completely surrounded by Americans, though!

    More V.C. arrive & advance to firing positions where they can easily target the Americans

Bit by bit, the U.S. soldiers moved up. Just as a couple soldiers ventured into the elephant grass to help the Downed guys, though, they rolled and sprang the "Bunker!" card. This brought another enemy machine gun into play in a reinforced log bunker. All of those in the elephant grass not already Down were immediately Pinned by its fire. Luckily for the players, the bunker was not on the far edge of the board, like the one in the temple. Instead, it was close by in another patch of elephant grass in range on their left flank. They all breathed a sigh of relief when an M79 gunner placed a perfect shot through the firing slot of the bunker and killed or wounded all of the occupants. Whew!

    C.O. advances boldly on the right to get within line of sight of the enemy LMG pinning them down

The lieutenant in charge was a bit of a fire eater. He chose not to relay to his sergeants that, after reporting contact with the enemy on the radio, the colonel had called back to say he should withdraw his soldiers. The lieutenant chose to inflict some damage on the enemy first before withdrawing. The "Colonel on the Horn" card can cause up to half a dozen different outcomes, and fortunately for them, they had rolled "Mission Scrubbed." What's more, the lieutenant began moving up on the right with his radioman in front of all of his soldiers. He wanted to get where he could draw line of sight on the temple. Once there, the player then had to wait for one of the two "Fire Mission" cards in the deck to show up, though. The two cards weren't cooperating, though! Fire was directed at the him and his radioman. They were Pinned, too. Another of his squad showed up to put fire on the enemy LMG team, but it was ineffective. So far, the enemy were simply in too good of cover. 

    Spotting a squad of V.C., the C.O. calls down a fire mission on the black clad guerrillas

"Where the Hell is the M60?" the lieutenant shouted back. Unknown to the C.O., the player controlling the M60 rolled a natural one on his first 1d20 roll to shoot. His gun fired a few rounds and promptly jammed. He looked for his assistant to help him clear it, but the newbie was currently pinned down in the elephant grass way ahead. It wasn't till late in the game that the squad's heavy weapon finally cleared the jam and got off a few shots. By then, battalion artillery had FINALLY answered the radio. Heavy mortar rounds screamed down into the temple complex. Rock and brick shattered and deadly fragments flew everywhere. When the rounds ceased and the dust cleared, there was no sign of the LMG team. "Outstanding!" He turned and shouted to his sergeants. "Grab the wounded and let's get the Hell out of here. Battalion is pulling us back!"

    An enemy bunker opens up on the squad from their left, concealed in the elephant grass

The squad medic was the first to make it to one of the wounded troopers. He patched him up, and sent the soldier limping to the rear. The assistant gunner -- way out of place on the battlefield -- reached the injured point man. He began bandaging him, too. Another grunt arrived to help him, and together they helped the man struggle back out of the elephant grass. The sergeants directed their more experienced soldiers to toss a few smoke grenades to cover their exit, and the wedge of troops contracted backwards on itself and exfiltrated the battlefield. 

    Luckily, the battalion colonel scrubbed the mission and the squad didn't have to fight its way through

At the loss of only two wounded, the lieutenant considered it a successful action. He directed his sergeants to tabulate an estimated body count, and mentally began composing his after action report. He checked on the wounded -- the medic assured him both would make it, but they needed Medevac soon. He got back on the horn and reported the successful contact to battalion, and called for the bird to come pick up the two wounded privates. Meanwhile, his soldiers were thankful that another mission In Country had been completed and they were another day closer to that big metal bird ride home!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48 

Gang Rumbles on the 'Mean Streets' of Buckeye Game Fest 2026

    The Mohawks spot the Santanas crossing the street towards the park -- are they looking to rumble?

It had been way too long since we broke out my Mean Streets gang warfare rules and set up some rumbles at an area convention. Jenny volunteered to run a couple games of it at Buckeye Game Fest 2026, primarily a board gaming convention, that HMGS Great Lakes has demoed minis at the last couple years. We had a table full of four players on both Friday and Saturday evening eager to prove their street gang was the toughest. All the players said they had a lot of fun as fists flew, chains were swung, knives and broken bottles slashed, and various crimes were committed!

    Jenny gives a quick rules briefing to the Saturday morning players at Buckeye Game Fest 2026

Each player controlled a gang of five uniquely-garbed street fighters, containing a Gang Boss, Warchief, and three ordinary "Punks." The Mean Streets rules are quick, simple, and easy-to-teach. All the players picked them up quickly and were soon dashing about the table representing downtown Columbus on various missions of larceny, revenge, and mayhem. Each player's gang has a unique mission they can try to accomplish, such as stealing a car from the service garage of the Shell Station, roughing up a factory owner to convince him to pay you protection. money, and so on. They also owe payback to a specific one of the three other gangs on the tabletop who gave them a "beat down" last weekend. And finally, they want to plaster the buildings with their gang logo, getting points for "tagging" each structure.

    The clown-masked Franklinton Flippos set out onto the streets of Columbus looking for mayhem

I like to give players a number of options on what to do, and players consistently take different approaches. Some like dart about the board tagging as many buildings as possible. Some like to split their gang and send part to complete their evening's mission, while others like to keep all five together and simply "jump" other gangs and duke it out. When assigning the missions to the various gangs, I ensure that they have to cross paths with the other gangs, providing a temptation to them to get in fights. My evil plan almost always works and before long there is usually a big scrum as two rival gangs are going at it when suddenly a third (or even fourth) joins in. 

    The Linden Daos make their way past the market & Wallace's Brew Pub, 'tagging' buildings along

This weekend was no different. Everyone who played got into rumbles, some losing only one or two members, while others lost most of their gang. The Hispanic Santanas eked out a narrow victory by one point on Friday night, while the Linden Daos, a black martial arts gang, claimed victory on Saturday. It was fun to see the different approaches the players controlling each gang took on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening saw two gangs battling it out at the top of a stairway inside a stairway of one of the apartment buildings -- first time that has ever happened! Jenny decided to keep things simply and not allow carjacking and attempted vehicular homicide in this particular running of Mean Streets...haha! At least one of the players always ask, though, if their gang can steal a car and use it to run over their rivals!

    Boss of the Indianola Mohawks, Sid, leads Julius & Kira through the Shell Station, ready for trouble

Everyone who stopped by commented on the table setup, enjoying the urban panorama of streets lined with diners, convenience marts, a city park, motel, and more. I made sure to make it come to life with various scatter, including dumpsters, street lights, fire hydrants, gas pumps, and lots of terrified civilians. It was fun to get all the various urban terrain I'd created out onto the table, from the heavily modified MDF kiosks to the buildings named after my friends, including Swingle's Shawarma and Wallace's Brewpub!

    Daring ICE or any gang to stop them, the Santanas walk down the main street, ready for a fight

I'll have to make sure Mean Streets makes it onto the tabletop more often. Thank you, Jenny, for taking the time to run the game at Buckeye Game Fest. Interestingly, when I recently asked on a thread on Lead Adventure Forum for suggestions of a good, free-for-all skirmish system that can take up to six players, I was gratified to see someone respond with "Mean Streets." That comment made me think about a way to use the mechanics of the game, with its simple command & control and combat, in other periods. This actually lead to the game our Sunday Evening group will be playing tonight! So, expect another Mean Streets-"ish" report later this week!

    Friday's players move their gangs forward, each with their own unique mission or mayhem in mind

In the meantime, I have finished the ABC Robot Warriors (post very soon on that), and have begun my next batch of 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant. I'm also working on one of my 3-D printed medieval buildings, too. So, I have a feeling the second half of March is going to have LOTS of posts here on Lead Legionaries. So, stay tuned, as always...!

    The Mohawks shout across the street to the Flippos, who quietly continue their creepy clown advance

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    As the Mohawks & Flippos are trading blows, the Santanas approach and get ready to join the fight

 

    Blood is spilled (my wound markers) as a 3-way rumble breaks out in the middle of the street

Flippo Canuck swings his sledgehammer & down goes Julius! For just a 'Punk,' Canuck did very well

 

    Despite 2 wounds on him, Canuck takes down Manana, taunting him, "Wake up tomorrow, hippie!"

    Bleeding from his wounds, Gang Boss Julio of the Santanas desperately faces off against 4 Daos

   Linden Daos show discipline with the whole gang sticking together...the Flippos ain't scared, though!

    'Hey! That's my shawarma...hands off, punk!' A rumble breaks out between the Mohawks & Daos

 

    Pissed they tagged a building in 'their turf,' the Santanas wade into the clown-masked Flippos