Song of Drums and the Spirit World?

    It's 'Song of Drums and Tomahawks' with mythological creatures from the "Spirit World" added in!

One of my co-authors of Song of Drums and Tomahawks (my French & Indian War rules) mentioned he was intrigued by incorporating fantasy and horror elements in skirmish warfare on the American frontier. Mike S also knew I had done some preliminary research into creatures from various tribal myths with a look towards doing a similarly themed expansion for our rules. Since family and school have my writing tied up for now, I urged him to pursue it.

    "We come from the land of ice and snow..." -- the Viking invaders of Newfoundland

Last night, we sat down with our Sunday evening gaming group and gave it our first playtest. Mike liberally blended rules and traits from various other games in the "Song of..." series, both Basic rules and Advanced. Interestingly, he had set up three one-on-one scenarios from wildly different times on the American frontier. My game against Allen was set in the Middle Ages with Vikings vs. Skraelings in Newfoundland. Mike faced off against Keith in one set during the Salem witch trials. And finally, Joel and Mike's son Jason played English and French forces set upon by a Wendigo. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the other games -- just my own. 

    The shaman urges the Skinwalkers forward, the Bear having already changed into his animal form

Allen took the Vikings and had a force of a Hero, four spearmen, three archers, a priest of Odin, and three brothers who were berserkers/weres. Similarly, I had three Skinwalkers (Bear, Wolf, Puma), a shaman, tribal chieftain, and a half dozen bow armed Skraeling warriors. We each moved our forces up to rocky outcrops in the light woods, while sending forward a handful of troops to scout out the enemy. The difference was I sent my three Skinwalkers to attack the enemy while Allen had sent ordinary Viking warriors. 

    My plan takes shape -- 3 powerful skinwalkers ready to pounce on two ordinary Viking warriors

My plan was to pounce upon the spearmen with my much-tougher Skinwalkers and hopefully get a "gruesome kill" (which Mike was re-introducing into these games). Allen was also struggling with activation rolls, and it looked like my plan was set to be implemented as the three Skinwalkers faced off against two trembling Vikings. Allen's dice came to life, though, and in a flash, three werewolves howled towards my trio and it was now 4 to 3. Still, he hadn't made contact, so I was able to begin the melee on my next turn. I sent the Bear Skinwalker, the mightiest creature on the table, forward to attack the werewolf on the end with a "powerful blow" (-1 to the enemy). Up +2 on the die roll, the mighty bear knocked the werewolf down. My Wolf Skinwalker surged forward and slew the disadvantaged werewolf. First blood to the Skraelings protecting their homeland!

    But it was not to be -- two werewolves race to the aid of the trembling Viking spearmen!

My plan was to next begin working on his ordinary Viking warriors. The chieftain, noticing that his Skraeling warriors were hanging back (bad activation rolls), raced forward to support his mighty skinwalkers. He launched arrow after arrow at the Vikings, keeping them from helping each other. Meahwhile, the Bear-sark Viking changed into his animal form and hurled himself upon the Bear Skinwalker. He was swatted backwards with a mighty sweep of the skinwalker's paw. Time and again, the bear would hurl himself upon his ursine rival. Each time he was driven back or his attack stopped.

    First blood! The Bear Skinwalkers knocks down the werewolf and my Wolf then leaps in for the kill

As a Viking and member of an honor culture, Allen fought fair, one-one-one matchups. My Skraelings had no such scruples. We ganged up on enemy warriors whenever we could. The plan was to try to get a gruesome kill -- tripling an enemy's total in combat. This would cause a morale check for all within a Long distance and likely shatter his line. This should leave more lone, unsupported Vikings to pick off. Eventually, the Wolf and Bear teamed up against a Viking spearmen whose head soon went flying through the air. The Viking line duly fragmented, but none fled the field completely.

    Lucky long range arrow knocks down a Viking warrior while the Puma Skinwalker wades in, too

The Viking leader saw the situation was dire and stepped in to intervene. He charged the Puma Skinwalker and slew it with a might stroke of his sword -- worthy of the Sagas! However, encouraged by their tribe's success, the Skraeling archers had finally crept within range. Whenever a Viking was knocked down by an arrow, a Skinwalkers or the chieftain would race over and finish him off. A key mechanic in Song of Drums and Tomahawks if a combat can result in a figure being knocked down. If they are beaten a second time before they have a chance to clamber to their feet, they are knocked out of action. My rolls that night were definitely better than Allen's. At key moments, I knocked down his troops and then was able to activate another figure to finish it off.

    With his Skraeling bowmen hanging back, the chieftain in red moves forward to support his attack

Morale checks happen when a force falls below half, and Allen was teetering that direction. Soon, he had lost two both of his werewolves (the mighty bear fought on), all four spearmen, and Odin's priest. One more loss and he his force would test morale. The Skraeling chieftain took aim at the Viking warleader and was able to knock him down. The skinwalkers had already acted that turn, so it fell to a Skraeling brave to attempt to finish him off. He raced forward and used his flint knife to slice Olaf's throat as he tried to pull himself to his feet. A mighty roar went up from the tribe's warriors. Victory!

    Skinwalkers then began to attack the Viking warriors, hoping to get a gruesome kill and scatter them

Allen and I agreed to call the game at that point. He had just lost more than half his figures AND his leader, so would likely have men running for their lives at this point. The Skraelings had lost only the Puma. I was very careful about sending my Indians into the fray. The archers had stayed back as a firing line in close support of each other. The chieftain used the skinwalkers as a shield and shot his bow from behind their protection. The trio of skinwalkers stayed close to each other and cooperated well.

    Olaf the Fearless wades into the battle, and in a blow worthy of the Sagas, takes down the Puma

Despite the seeming one-sided nature of the battle, Allen and I had a lot of fun. I definitely think Song of Drums and Tomahawks works with mythical creatures thrown into the mix. I asked the others how their battles went, and they both seemed very close. The magical duel between Keith's native shamans and the freed-from-prison Salem witches was apparently a tightly-contest of wills. Everyone seemed to have fun, so not only was the evening a success, the playtest was off to a great start. Mike plans on running these games at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, June 19-23. So, we will doubtless see more evenings of tweaking the rules and crafting a competitive and fun convention game.

    Bear on bear and wolf on werewolf - the battle in the primeval American forest rages!

The miniatures were a mix of mine and Mike's. The mythical creatures were all his except for my Wendigo, which is a very creepy looking 3-D print from Thingiverse. I have picked up various Reaper Bones or other figures that will work for creatures from various tribes' mythologies. Mike seems intent on painting them up, so my contribution will likely remain either the rank and file or human heroes.

    After Olaf is knocked down by a Skinwalker, a brave native warrior rushes forward and finishes him

If everything goes well with the rules, Mike is interested in publishing an expansion book for this period. He wants to chat with Andrea Sfiligoi from Ganesha Games first, though. Ganesha and First Command Wargames cooperate closely on the "Song of Drums and Tomahawks" line of rules, so we want to make sure he's on board first, as well. So, look for more "Spirit World" games in the future...!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures purchased in 2024: 15
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 26

Clifftop Battle - Song of Drums and Tomahawks at Historicon 2023

Huron raiders lead women and children captives north to Canada after their attack on a Seneca village

Most people remember the climactic skirmish on the clifftops in the movie The Last of the Mohicans. So, it was only natural that when I first got into the French & Indian War, that I'd want to re-stage that fight. I created a scenario actually using Magua, Hawkeye, and their companions and ran it years ago for Cold Wars 2015. When deciding which scenario to run at Historicon 2023, I decided to bring that one back out. Well, a version of it, that is! I didn't include the heroes, but instead players represented either Huron raiders leading away captives or their Seneca men attempting to rescue them. In fact, this scenario, Clifftop Battle, will be in our upcoming scenario book which is entering its final editing stages.

    Overhead view of the board for the 'Clifftop Battle' featuring my scratch-built cliff sections

Another reason that I wanted to bring this battle back is because the scenery is gorgeous. I feel it is perhaps some of the best that I have ever scratch-built. I created my three cliff pieces by using two different sizes of wooden boxes turned upside down and glued to styrene plastic. The cliffs were covered with pine bark which actually looks very realistic depicting a rocky cliff. For anyone interested in doing the same, I followed this series of steps:

• Dry out the pine bark in the sun thoroughly
• Glue it to the surface (I used Tacky Glue) and fill in whatever gaps between the pieces with Woodland Scenics ballast
• Thoroughly spray paint it black
• Brush paint it with a mix of 50/50 acrylic black paint and water, so it seeps into crevices
  
• Dry brush it in 2-3 shades of either gray or bleached brown
• Seal it thoroughly with clear coat

    Huron warriors leader their captives along the clifftops back towards their villages in Canada

I looked for my blog post on creating the cliffs, but I must have done them before I began this (relatively) newer Google Blog. So, don't bother searching Lead Legionaries for it -- sorry! Anyway, I really like how these cliffs turned out and they are always nice eye candy when you're trying to attract people to your table. And since getting people's attention was kind of the whole point of our First Command Wargames visit to Historicon, the Clifftop Battle was on!

    The way was long, rocky, and hard for the captives, who were suffering and exhaused

In this version, Huron warriors have raided a Seneca village while most of the men were out hunting. They captured a number of women and children and headed north across the mountains towards Canada. They plan to adopt them into their tribe to replace losses from the unending tribal warfare. The returning Seneca hunters discover what has happened and race to catch them. Using pathways unfamiliar to the Huron, they send one party ahead to cut off their march while pursuing with the rest of their force. When the battle begins, one Huron party including four captives is on the tall, center clifftop section and the other is behind it. Their goal is to make it off the opposite corner edge and off-table. The mission of the Seneca is simple -- rescue their women and children!

    Shots ring out, echoing from hillsides -- the Seneca rescuers have arrived and are attacking!

As I mentioned in the previous post, all four of our events were completely full with 8 players (four each in Clifftop Battle and four in Attack on Fort Michilimackinac). Since I was running the fort scenario, I didn't get to see much of the action in the four runnings of this skirmish. I heard everyone had fun -- which is the main point, of course. Also, the running score was fairly close. The Huron won twice, Seneca once, and they tied the fourth time. The only tweak we made over the course of the games was to allow Seneca Player One to move first before Huron One (followed by Seneca Two and finally Huron Two). Jenny said this really tightened the scenario up even more. I'll be sure to make that change in the scenario book, too -- although we have played this one a number of times, already. 

    Seneca rescuers have freed two of their women from their ropes and prepare to lead them to safety

Both sides have important tactical decisions to make. Once the Seneca catch up and force battle, they need to decide whether to focus on freeing captives or killing Huron. On the other hand, the Huron need to decide how big of a rearguard to leave to delay the Seneca and how big of an escort to send ahead with the captives. Too small of a rearguard and they will be overwhelmed. Too big and Seneca can race ahead and steal away women and children from their string of prisoners.

    The steep terrain hampered both the Huron raiders and the Seneca rescuers

The game had a suitable climactic finish in our final running. Four friends signed up to play and they were quickly lubricated with the white man's "fire water." War whoops were let out and dice rolls were celebrated -- exchanging historical Indian high fives...ha, ha! It was obvious they were having an absolute blast. Poor Phil Viverito's players gaming his World War I trench game did not seem as thrilled as the volume steadily escalated during the evening! Still, sitting down with friends, rolling dice and having fun, is the core of what we do as wargamers. It warmed our hearts to provide the opportunity for fellow gamers who would obviously go to their rooms razzing each other about each other's successes and failures.

    A string of captives descend the cliff path nearing the board edge -- their hopes of rescue dashed!

All in all, Jenny and I had a great time running Song of Drums and Tomahawks at Historicon. If you are interested in a quick, fast-moving set of skirmish rules that are easy to pick up...and ahem, obviously fun...I recommend them highly. Of course, the fact that I wrote them along with my friends Keith and Mike has NOTHING to do with that at all! At only $15 a print copy, how can you go wrong?

    A close up of my native women figures with one brave escorting them along the path

Some photos taken by one of our players at Historicon, Charles Sherrange

    Seneca warriors race to catch up with the Huron rearguard and exact their vengeance

    High above the forests below, Huron raiders lead their captives along the cliffs

    A desperate struggle ensues at the exit from the cliffs between Seneca and Huron warriors

    Massed on the cliffs, the Huron warparty readies itself to repel the Seneca attack

Demo Day at Dragons Lair in Polaris area (Columbus, OH)

Indianola Mohawks check out O'Brian's Pot O' Gold motel at our recent game day at Dragons Lair

Our marketing specialist Jason Stelzer arranged a day at the Dragons Lair Comics & Fantasy game store in the Polaris area in Lewis Center, OH. We ran two of our rules sets, the ever-popular Song of Drums and Tomahawks and our most recent rules set, Mean Streets. There was quite the crowd in the store with lots of traffic, especially around our 1pm start time. 

    Jason teachers Song of Drums & Tomahawks to two store customers who said they had a great time

Jason kicked things off running the "Wagon Train Through Peril" scenario for Song of Drums and Tomahawks. This game features two or more families loaded up into wagons and trying to make the safety of a frontier block house across the river before being ambushed by rampaging frontier tribesmen. Jason had a number of players and ran through parts of the scenario three times over the course of two hours. Tim P and Jeff G, local historical miniatures enthusiasts, also showed up to join in on the fun. They played out one vignette while Jason walked two new players through on the other half of the board.

    A family seeks to escort a wagon with women & children through woods full of raiding tribesmen

The new players seemed to enjoy themselves, and at least one of them purchased the rules (which hopefully Dragons Lair will be carrying soon). There were a lot of swings in action with the women in children in the wagons getting in their swings against attacking Indians, as well. Cheers rang out through the store as crucial rolls saw a frontier family scoring successes or falling captive.

    Local gamers Tim P and Jeff P showed up to play the scenario and join in on the fun

Kirk, one of the new players, wanted to try another scenario so he staged a bloody attack on the blockhouse as a second game. It looked like his tribe's warriors couldn't summon up the courage to sprint across the open area into the blockhouse to attack, at first. However, overconfidence and aggression at leaving the door open and taking the attack to the Indians proved to be the downfall of the blockhouse defenders. Eventually, Kirk's warriors summoned up the courage (and activation rolls) to make a push through the door and into the blockhouse itself.

    Indian raiders hidden behind stumps open fire on a family wagon, seeking captives and mayhem

It was a bitter struggle inside the thick, wooden walls, but eventually the frontier fortification fell as the final Indian warrior took control of the upper levels. It was a good time and Jason did a great job teaching the game to new players.

    A 4-gang game of Mean Streets followed as our second event at the Dragons Lair

After a quick tear-down and set up, we ran Mean Streets for four players. I got a chance to play in this game and it proved that just because you wrote the rules doesn't mean you're the best at playing them! I controlled my Hispanic street gang, the Santanas, whose objective was to make it to the far corner of the table and steal a car from the Shell Service Station. Also vying for ownership of the streets were the Franklinton Flippos in their creepy clown masks, the Hilltop Highlanders, and our nemesis this game, the Indianola Mohawks.

    Jason's Mohawks were out for blood (and a little revenge against my gang, The Santanas)

Jason took on the role of the Mohawks and came after my gang right away once we made it out onto the main street intersection. He may have regretted picking a fight with my leather-jacketed thugs as our counter-punch knocked two of his gang members out of action. One of them was his Warchief, so I was feeling pretty pleased! I was also a bit overconfident, as I sent El Lobo, one of the Santantas' punks, away on an "end around" to complete our mission. Thinking my four Santanas could easily take out his three remaining Mohawks, I misjudged the situation.

    The Franklinton Flippos took the scenic route to their eventual goal of stealing some brews

While the Franklinton Flippos feinted at the diner and then headed for their true destination, Wallace's Brew Pub, the battle raged between Mohawk and Santana. Meanwhile, the Highlanders chased the clowns to no avail, eventually busting into the diner to fulfill their own mission of convincing the owner to put their gang on the "take." Four West Side gang members have a way of doing that when surrounding and putting a beat-down on an elderly restaurant owner!

    El Lobo, Manana, and Julio check out the action in front of the O'Brian Motel early in the game

Things slowly deteriorated in my battle with the Mohawks. Maybe, with her length of chain knocked out one of my Warchief Cruz and then another one of my gang members. Pretty soon, Julio was battling it out with three Mohawks who had him surrounded. He gave as well as he got, but pretty soon succumbed to overwhelming numbers. 

    

    Suddenly, our gang boss Julio is bum-rushed by a horde of freakish Mohawks out for blood!

Still, it was fun to get the gangs on the Mean Streets of Columbus, again. Dragons Lair is a nice, clean, well-lit shop and had a lot of customers of all ages roaming the aisles and playing games. The managers encourage folks to reserve a table and run a game, so the First Command Wargames crew will certainly be back -- probably in January! If you haven't already, check out this game store on the north side of Columbus.

        

   The Santanas rally to their gang boss's side and soon begin to knock out a couple punk rockers

    Meanwhile, the Highlanders follow the Flippos to their target: Jack & Benny's Old Time Diner

    Initially, things are looking good for the Santanas, as we knock out two Mohawks

    The tide turns and soon Julio is on his own fighting Mohawk gang boss Sid and Ian and Maybel

    While the Mohawks and Santanas were rumbling, the Flippos were crashing the brew pub for beers

    Early in the game, the Mohawks investigate O'Brian's Pot O' Gold Motel

Finally giving "Of Gods And Mortals" a Try...

On the neighboring battlefield, Angels war against an army from Celtic legend using "Of Gods and Mortals" rules

So, we had been talking about trying Osprey's "Of Gods And Mortals (OGAM)" a try for a couple years now. Seriously -- it has been that long that at least three of us in our Sunday night gaming group owned the rules, but none of us stepped forward to set up an evening to try it out. Well, Keith finally shouldered the load and scheduled an evening and sent out lots of sample lists and tip sheets.

My Elves, led by the Valar Orome and assisted by Ents, war against an army from Norse mythology

One of the main reasons we'd wanted to try it out was that we have tons of 15mm fantasy armies for Hordes of the Things (HOTT) which we don't play anymore. I brought along three Plano boxes and another larger box with 28mm creatures to use as Legends and Gods for the 15mm rank and file. As it turned out, we had only four of us show that evening, so only one loaner army was needed. I pulled out my 15mm Elves and sat down and created a list when I arrived. It contained:
• 1 God (Orome, Huntsman of the Valar)
• 2 Legends (Ents)
• 2 units of 6 Elven spearmen
• 1 unit of 6 Elven archers

The Huntsman Orome positioned atop a rocky area dealt "Legolas-style" barrages of arrows across the battlefield

My small army faced off against a Norse mythology list with a couple giants, several units of spear, and a Thunder God of sorts (not Thor, though). My opponent, cleverly seeing I'd purchased Forest Walk for a number of my Elven units, placed no forests as defender, but did put a rather large rocky area in the center of the table which I seized with my first deployed unit. OGAM has players alternately deploy units anywhere on the board, as long as they are not within two medium distance sticks of an already-deployed enemy unit.

Orome comes down from his rocky hilltop to drive the Norse god onto the spears of the elves and secure final victory

My plan was to seize the rocky area as a firebase, and have Orome and the archers pepper any enemy units within range. I ended up feeling kind of cheesy with how I purchased my Valar. I gave him Shooter (Long), Legendary Shooter, and Combat Master. I maxed his statistics out with a Quality of 2 (best in the game - lower is better) and Combat of 5 (similarly best).  The rules allow you to forego activating Mortal units (my spear units and archers) and have them "Invoke" the god instead, giving him an extra die to roll for activation. That was pretty much my mode, giving Orome up to six activations each turn. Legendary archer allowed him to make multiple attacks. So, if his target was a Legend (my opponent's giants), I would take one shot at the maximum +3. If targeting rank and file, I took individual shots -- one per activation, withering their ranks.

My opponent quickly gave the center firebase a wide berth, but he had to engage us sooner or later -- otherwise my elves would shoot them to pieces. We did have our losses, too, though. Their god had a Lightning Bolt he could cast each turn, which he used to fry my Ents, and begin to wear down my archers. However, we had the upper hand pretty much all game. After Orome killed their god with a well-placed shot, he was re-invoked by his mortal worshippers. I realized I needed to kill half of his Mortals and all his Legends, and THEN kill his god to end the game. Orome decimated a Norse spear unit and then proceeded to engage their got in melee. He pushed him back into a unit of Elven spear, who got in the final strike and banished the Norse god forever, securing victory.

We discussed the rules afterwards. There are certainly a lot of Traits you can use to customize virtually any army from mythology or fiction. Even though I benefited from it, I felt the system is definitely open to some clever min-maxing and Trait combinations to produce devastating forces. I think we were all a little disappointed that it did not have that "big battle" HOTT feel. The play seemed more like simply a big game of Song of Blades and Heroes, rather than a tactical battle. I have never been a huge fan of "units" of 6-8 men. Of course, we were playing the minimum 900-point size forces in one-on-one battles. Mike S suggested we try it with bigger forces and utilized the multiplayer rules.

So, perhaps my Elves (or many of my other HOTT armies) will see the tabletop again, one day. Either way, it was fun to see them on the tabletop again.

Some Indians and Frontiersmen

Some 28mm Native Americans originally intended for the raffle for Advance the Colors 2018, but not finished in time

This batch of 6 Indians and 5 Frontiersmen were intended to be my donations to the Advance the Colors 2018 raffle. However, with about a week before the convention, I realized that I wouldn't get them done in time. So, I stopped work on them and donated some from my collection. Since then, I was able to continue working and now finally complete them.

28mm Native Americans from (I believe) Irregular Miniatures

Only one of the 28mm Indians is from my favorite manufacturer, Conquest. He's the guy in blue loading his musket. The others are -- I believe -- from Irregular Miniatures. I am happy to be corrected if what I'm saying is not true. I am pretty sure the two poses that are firing are Irregular, but I can't swear on it. Anyway, I painted them up in my standard way, and decorated them each with individual warpaint. My favorite is paint is probably the one with the half blue, half red face. I should do more like that, but I think I'm worried about it not turning out and "ruining" the figure.

Some 28mm Frontiersmen from a huge bag I picked up at a flea market long ago

The frontiersmen are all from the large bag I bought at a flea market years ago. I am not 100% sure of their manufacturer, but I have painted a number of these up already. I painted them in a buckskin kind of theme, and was fairly happy with how they turned out (like the Indians). They're not the greatest figures in the world, but when painted up, they do the trick. Not that I really need more French & Indian War figures right now, but since I'd begun painting them I felt I had to complete them.

What's next on the painting table? Well, I have done the flesh on a big batch of 13 28mm Dark Ages archers for Saga. I thought I was cleaning out my unpainted bin of them, but recently found another stash of them in my "Unarmored Vikings" bag. Not all in that bag were Vikings I noted. So, I may pull out  more and do them up more specifically for Viking, Briton, Saxon, etc. Or I may leave them sitting and do something new. We'll see...stay tuned!

Running Games, games, and more games at Historicon!

The First Command banner in the Main Hall of Historicon 2017

As most of you know, my friends and I started a wargaming company a couple years ago called First Command Wargames. This year, we decided we would attend Historicon 2017 as a company. We would all go and run all of our released games (plus one about-to-be-released one). Everyone agreed, we sat down and created a schedule beginning on Thursday evening, and running through Saturday night. It would be a long slog, as we committed to running our games often (in my case, twice a day Friday and Satuday). We expected to be tired at the end of it, but we thought it was a great way to promote our miniatures rules to players from all around the country.

Tom running his For Queen and Planet game, while our friend Terry ponders how that huge thing could fly

And so it was! Tom ran his Victorian Sci-Fi game, For Queen and Planet, four times, Steve ran his Seven Years War rules, For King or Empress, five times, and Keith and Jenny filled in for Mike S who couldn't make it, running Raid on Deerfield, 1704, using Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules, five times, as well. I ran my Wars of Insurgency modern Africa miniature game four times (and helped Keith and Jenny on Thursday evening). I was incredibly pleased with the turnout for our games. Virtually every slot in all four games was full. I know I had the full five players in all of my events. We had steady sales, too, of all of our rules sets plus the Beaver Wars campaign rules that were just released a month or so back. I have one last bit to tally for total sales, but we were all pleased.

A slice of my Congo table with my MDF container ship, Acheson Creations pier, and view of the town square

The interesting thing about a large game convention like Historicon is it teaches you humility. After I'd set up my "That's My USAid - Congo Chaos" table, I was pretty pleased. I thought it came together really well, what with my new ramshackle tin huts and the big MDF cargo freighter that were on the table. Throw in the Acheson pier, destroyed concrete wall sections, some cool buildings, and I was satisfied. That was until I looked around...there were LOTS of great looking games. I realized that, no matter how pleased I am with any table I set up, there will always, always be someone whose artistry outshines my own. Just like in the Lead Painters League, I know I will never be top tier, but will have to be satisfied with being second tier. This year, the eye-catcher was the Frostgrave table -- a stunning medieval-fantasy winter stronghold city with an iced up harbor, long spans of elevated walkways, and even a flashing wizard's light that puts my burning cabin on Deerfield to shame. It was amazing to walk around an admire it. Heck, it made me want to go out and buy the rules, and I really don't know much about it other than it is really popular now and involves some sort of magical skirmish/roleplaying aspect.

 

The showstopper - a 28mm Frostgrave set up that made me feel, well, second tier at best!

I did not get a chance to look around the whole convention hall, having to be content with wandering the Main Hall where the First Command games were. We were up near the front, a few rows back from the entrance. Steve's banner he'd created for the company hung proudly, announcing our presence next to the display of our rules sets. I never made it to the side rooms, where I'd been trying for months to land us a spot. We were supposedly penciled in on one of the small ballrooms to the side, but a late influx of games by an established gaming group shoved us back into the main area, I was told. In all honesty, it was probably better for visibility to be in the Main Hall. It was just really hard on our voices, and for our players to hear us. The main hall of pretty much any gaming convention is always crazy noisy. I think I do a pretty good job of projecting my voice, varying the tone and stuff to allow my voice to carry to my players. However, all of us said our voices were shot by Saturday night.

I bought this fun board game in the Dealer Hall

I actually didn't mind my schedule for running Wars of Insurgency. I ran it the same times Friday and Saturday -- 9am and 7pm. That gave me a long break in the middle to have lunch, relax, and hit up the Dealer Hall. I ended up not buying very much, actually. This was probably my most restrained purchasing year at Historicon, yet. I bought a board game -- Kings of Tokyo (mainly for my student board game club); Howard Hues paints that I needed; two 3-D printed zodiac boats from Sea Dog Studios; and three "Technical Crew" packs from Stan Johansen Miniatures. As you can see, the only miniatures were for my 20mm Africa games, so I guess that's where my focus is now.

I picked up two 3-D printed Zodiac rubber boats from Sea Dog Game Studios

Of course, we had some fun while we worked. My buddy Jason was there with us at Historicon, as usual. It is the only time all year we see him anymore, it seems. I know, I know...I can hear him saying: "Come back down to Siege of Augusta and you'll see me twice as much!" Every evening, we went out for food and a beverage or two. So, it was fun to reconnect and razz each other.

The only miniatures I bought were 3 packs of this set from Stan Johansen Miniatures

Speaking of good times, I had some great, fun players in my games. I think this year's group of players are some of the most pleasant that I've had at East conventions. I heard the same from the Deerfield GMs. They said everyone seemed to be having an awesome time. So much so that Keith won a Pour Encourager Les Autres (PEL) award for the game. That's the second time that Song of Drums and Tomahawks has won the award at an East convention. Good stuff! I will add some photos below of my best iPhone shots at the convention. It was a great time. The drive is long, but the good times are worth it!

For Queen and Planet: "55 Days to Helium"

Tom ran his Victorian Sci-Fi game 4 times. It was the first time my Da Vinci flyer made it to a convention tabletop!

The British War Machine provides covering fire for the advance of their troops

The steampunk version of Leonardo Da Vinci's aerial screw that I built

The Martian walker takes aim at the oncoming British war machine

Song of Drums and Tomahawks: "Raid on Deerfield, 1704"

We've been running this game in Great Lakes country all year, so it was a natural to take to Historicon to showcase our very first set of rules we released! Keith (assisted by Jenny) ran it five times - a grueling schedule, but one that saw a full table every time.

Eight players - a full table - refight the wintertime raid on Deerfield, MA, at Historicon

The French & Indian raiders begin to fan out and look for townsfolk to capture in the cabins

For King or Empress: "The Seven Years War"

Steve ran his big battle Seven Years War game five times over the course of the convention. He taught dozens of new players the rules. His hard work meant his rules were our best seller at the convention...great job, Steve!

Steve points out the tactical situation developing on the tabletop and explains how the rules resolve it

 

Another running of For King or Empress, and another packed table!

Wars of Insurgency: "That's My USAid - Congo Chaos"

Although the rules aren't in production, yet, I ran four games of my modern warfare skirmish set. The scenario took place in The Congo in the 1960s as the country gains its independence. It was a free-for-all scenario, with each player controlling a different faction, all with their own agendas and goals.

A UN peacekeeping contingent from Ghana guards the food and medicine offloaded from the cargo ship

Congolese paratroopers demand that the shipment is turned over to them (graffiti displays what they think of the UN!)

The local militia, the Leopoldville Leopards, marshal their forces to seize the shipment for themselves

A force from the Congolese army -- archrivals of the paratroopers -- move into the outskirts intent on getting the goods!

The final faction -- river bandits from Boma, Congo -- followed the freighter and now swoop in to attack

Congolese army squads move through the shantytown and past the destroyed factory

 

The .50 caliber jeep-mounted machine guns of the Leopoldville Leopards begin to hammer away at paratrooper positions

The army enters the outskirts of the town square and begins to fire upon the paratroopers

The river bandits from Boma race their outboard canoes into contact with the dock and fire at the UN from close range

Afraid their riverborne rivals will make away with all the loot, the Leopards redeploy their jeeps to fire upon the canoes

One squad of the rivermen actually seize the bridge of the freighter and open fire on the peacekeepers below

A canoe veers off to assault the Leopards to try to knock out their .50 caliber guns