Purchases from Origins 2024

Exhibit Hall at Origins 2024 -- picture taken by another attendee's FB post (thanks Scott Brady!)

I didn't have high expectations for the Exhibit Hall at Origins. It is a multi-genre convention, and to be honest, the role players and board gamers probably outnumber the miniatures folk handily. So, I wasn't expecting a lot of miniatures or terrain that I would want to buy. I do play a decent number of board games, though. There was one I was looking to pick up, and who knows? I might find another one that looked interesting.

    I was looking for this but couldn't find it in the Exhibit Hall

To start with, I couldn't find the one game I was looking for (Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps). It is four years old, but that's not exactly Ancient. So, I was surprised none of the board game companies in the Exhibit Hall carried. it. As for another board game that might catch my eye, most of the big board game companies were not in attendance at Origins. Instead, there were a lot of smaller or mid-size companies in the Exhibit Hall. I glanced at their games, but it was really sensory overload. Dozens and dozens of brightly-colored boards with brightly-colored pieces or counters. Lots of "cutesy" style games, with cartoonish boxes. Nothing really jumped out at me, and other slightly older board games I'd been considering picking up simply weren't on the shelves.

    I liked these 3-D printed "Gatorfolk" miniatures from Beldolor Studies & eventually bought some

I did find one 3-D printed miniature booth that always had a crowd around its table. It was Beldolor Studios. Their figures are anthropomorphic gators, frogs, fish, and other such things. They also had some bizarre, creepy monsters like their Xenocats. Prices were a bit steep at $8 for a 28mm figures, but they also had a bin of misprints. I went back to their booth several times, pondering what to buy. I eventually settled on five of their Gatorfolk -- three misprints that I will change the weapons out on and two Gatorfolk "Thagomizers." Yes, that is Thagomizer, as in a spiky tail from the Far Side cartoon! I will probably use them as aliens for Sci-Fi skirmishes.

 

    I picked up these two bags of 3-D printed bottles to use as debris on the bases of my post-apoc figs

I also stopped by Elrik's Hobbies a number of times, too, deciding what to buy. In the end, I picked up two small packs of 3-D printed bottles to use on bases for my post-apocalyptic and zombie games. I already am tossing 28mm scale bricks onto the bases, as well as rubble, broken pieces of wood, etc. I thought small bottles would be perfect scatter for the bases, too. In fact, I've already snipped off a number of the bottles and put them on the bases of some post-apocalyptic survivors. I also picked up a cavern bridge -- just because it was a very cool model and only $11! Think of the chase scene under the Misty Mountains in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and you'll get an idea what it looks like. 

    I also picked up this Cavern Bridge Set, which at $11 I felt was a steal (it's more than a foot long)

And that's it! Despite being given a $100 Visa gift card recently by a friend, and despite having money from rules sales, I didn't buy anything else. I suppose I will not be so restrained on my purchases next month when Historicon 2024 rolls around. Still, if you look at my tally below, I am still in the green! I've painted more miniatures in 2024 than I've purchased. We will see if that trend keeps up...!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 74

Downtown at Origins, the Streets were Mean!

    The Santanas face off against their rivals, the martial arts gang the Daos, at Origins Game Fair

Many years ago, miniatures were a major part of Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. Then came a period when the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) focused instead on the big box companies, and the individual GMs running cool miniatures events were shunted to the side. If you didn't want to buy space, they didn't have a use for you -- or at least that's how it felt to us. Time changes all things, though. We began to hear rumors that the new management at GAMA was much more friendly to the humble miniatures game master. That Origins wanted us back, and were seeking us out. 

    The Eastmoor Kings arrive in the turf of hostile gangs, hoping to fight their way through to home

As a member of the Great Lakes chapter of the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS-GL), this was intriguing. Origins used to be one of our most fertile recruiting grounds. The people who attended this multi-genre convention were already gamers, and may of them miniatures gamers. We would run dozens and dozens of events, and people from all over the country would see and play in our games, and sign up to be members. The Great Lakes board discussed going back, and agreed it could be worth the effort. Last year, we "dipped our toe" in the water and a handful of us ran games. We learned the system, how things had changed since we were there before, and felt it was worth the effort to try again.

    I filled up 32 of the 36 slots in my six games over the course of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!

This year, we signed up as a "club" to have our own space at Origins. We would recruit game masters, schedule our events, and act as a liaison between the convention organizers and our members running games. That's how GAMA likes to do it, these days, and it worked well. It worked for us because GL member Jenny Torbett stepped forward and volunteered to be the organizer and made our effort possible!We had 47 events scheduled prior for the convention. I decided to go "all in" and run Mean Streets in the morning and evening on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. After last year, I felt it was my best fit for the Origins crowd of the rules sets I have written. The vibe at the convention is more fantasy and Sci-Fi and less historical than most of the shows I attend. Of course, we were taking our first steps to change that, and quite a few historical miniatures events were run both in our area and in other club areas.

    Quiet before the storm -- downtown Columbus set up & tense, waiting for gang warfare to break out

I decided to go with my most recent scenario which casts my Eastmoor Kings gang into the role of the Warriors from the movie of that name (and my inspiration for the rules). I was gratified that nearly every person who came up to my table and spent some moments eyeing it was familiar with the 1979 cult movie classic, The Warriors. I had definitely picked right when trying to fit a game and scenario to what would be popular with the attendees. The scenario has six player slots and I filled 32 of the 36 positions over the course of my six games. I was ecstatic with the player turnout. I honestly couldn't have expected much better than that.

    Five members of the Eastmoor Kings seeking a way through the Mean Streets of Columbus

In the scenario, the Eastmoor Kings have been lured to a gang parley. When no one else shows up, they know they've been duped. Now, they have to try to make it back home to the East side of Columbus through the turf of hostile gangs. Two players take on the role of the Kings, each with a Gang Boss, Warchief, and three Punks under my Mean Streets rules. The other four players each control a different gang of the same composition, with its own secret objectives and hatreds of other gangs. None of them want the Kings passing through their turf, but they dislike their neighbors just as much.

    Before they get home, the Kings have to pass through the turf of the Daos - black, martial arts gang

I ran this scenario earlier this year at both Cincycon and Drums at the Rapids. It went over very well at both shows, and I was hoping it'd be a hit here, too. As it turned out, the players were some of the most enthusiastic I've had yet with my game. I saw so many different possible scenario outcomes over the course of the six games. In the two games where I had only four players, I actually removed the invading Kings from the game and instead hosted a free-for-all among the other four "local" gangs. I think the enthusiasm of my players made me enjoy it as much as them. Even on my last game, Saturday night, it was a riot watching the Santanas carjack vehicles and use them to try to run over opposing players. It may not have been a wildly successful tactic, but it was hilarious for both those at the wheel and those they were attempting to run down.

    'Halt, police!' The police show up in the middle of the board near the end of Saturday night's game

There were games when none of the Kings made it to the bridge and its bus stop on the opposite board edge (their destination was to catch the bus home to their turf). And there was also a game where eight of the 10 Kings made it to the bridge -- the most ever in all my times running this game. There were games when the police arrived early and others when they didn't show up at all. I had police officers (controlled by the player whose gang has nearly been eliminated) shoot opposing gang members and other times when the cops were knocked out by the gang members. Years ago, I had come up with the game mechanic that, when a player is down to one or two gang members left, I give them control of a police car which can arrive on any street board edge. It gives them a chance to get some revenge or even affect the outcome of the game. What's more, it takes a player who may be disappointed with what is going on and turns them into someone eagerly looking forward to mess with his opponents! Win-win for the player and me as GM!!

   'Student Body Right' - all 10 of the Kings quickly move towards the right side of the board to escape

One of the most cinematic moments was on Friday night when the two Kings players decided to run a "Student Body Right" maneuver. Both gangs crossed to one side of the board, attempting to overwhelm and blow by the Franklinton Flippos. After initially holing up in an alley in their turf, the Flippos player grew bold and formed a line at the playground behind their two apartment buildings and the board edge. It was the narrowest point and the 10 Eastmoor Kings could get at the five of them only three wide. Marvin, the Flippos Gang Boss (and would-be Leonidas at Thermopylae), stood up the Kings and began knocking them down. In line beside him were his Warchief and his punk who had the "Scrapper" ability. Great and brave tactics!

    The Franklinton Flippos take a page from the Spartans and hold off the Kings at the narrowest point

Soon, the rival Indianola Mohawks from across the street were inspired and launched themselves into the back of the Kings, diverting their attention and weakening their push. Although the Kings outfought the Mohawks and began knocking one punk rocker after another out, this ended up having an effect they didn't expect. When Kings punk Cy -- the only player in the game armed with a pistol -- fired off some shots early, the police arrived soon after. Since the Mohawks had lost the most gang members at that point, they were given control of the cops. The police car contains two officers, one with a billy club the other a pistol. Both are "Warchiefs", which makes them difficult opponents. Now, the Kings had to face not only the determined and resolute clown-faced Flippos and the punk rock Mohawks, they had the police on their backs, too (cue The Clash song...).

    Racing to the aid of their bitter rivals, the punk rocker Indianola Mohawks crash into the Kings rear

Fortunately for the father and adult son playing the Kings, the other two local gangs, the Santanas and Daos, did some serious dawdling on their way to join the fight. Ostensibly, all four gangs claimed they'd show solidarity and fight off the outsiders. In practice, the effect of these two gangs was to cut off any straggling Kings who tried to escape from ever reaching the bridge. It was fun seeing those two gangs role play their gangs, though. I think we all knew they were simply waiting for the other four players to wear themselves out and then they'd come in and sweep the streets! They talked tough, but were short on action. It was hilarious to watch them justifying their foot dragging.

    Even the police got in on the act in trying to squash the Kings and their attempt to reach home!

The Kings lost that scenario, but the next morning the opposite happened. The Flippos, who had stood like a stone wall in the face of invasion the previous night, absconded immediately. They dashed into Santana territory and concentrated on their secret mission -- stealing snacks for tonight's party. While they stuffed twinkies into their clown pockets, the poor Hilltop Highlanders (who I had swapped out for the Mohawks that game) were beaten down almost to a man. They stood no chance against the combined force of the Kings. It was still a very interesting game, but in the end, the Eastmoor Kings won with 19.5. It was very close, though. The twinkie-eating clowns came in third with 15, edged out of second by the Santanas at 16, who showed no shyness to rumble.

    A 3-gang rumble in the middle of the streets between the Daos, Kings, and Mohawks

The final game on Saturday night was the closest of them all. A father and middle school aged daughter played the Kings. They got a respectable four Kings on the bridge by the end of the game. However, the car-jacking, vehicular homicide attempting Santanas edged them out by a HALF POINT. That was, without a doubt, the closest of the finishes I've had in this scenario. There was every chance I could have been tired and burnt out by my sixth time running the game, but the players were simply too fun to let that happen. We laughed throughout the game and everyone had a good sense of humor. 

    The Daos try to fight off an invasion by the Hilltop Highlanders, who seem intent on stealing beer

All in all, Mean Streets at Origins was a success. I ended up selling all six copies of the rules that I had brought, which is the most I have ever sold at any convention (not counting wholesale to exhibitors). There was a constant stream of people stopping by my table and praising how it looked, which is always gratifying. Running a game can be stressful, tiring, and hard work, at times. However, there is a dynamic that when players are obviously having blast, it seems to GIVES you energy. I fed off of my excellent players' energy for three days.

    I subbed in & moved the starting spot for the Hilltop Highlanders around to change up the scenario

Not only was my own personal experience a success at Origins, our chapter's venture there was a huge positive, as well. Dozens and dozens of folks came by and found out about our chapter. We gave away lots of flyers for our flagship convention, Advance the Colors, Oct. 11-12, Springfield, OH. We gave out a stack of handouts with information about our chapter and what historical miniature is to people who stopped by. The editor of our bimonthly magazine, The Herald, gave us a couple dozen previous issues as promotional materials. We handed all of them out. And guess what? New memberships to HMGS Great Lakes are already starting to roll in!

    The Flippos watch other gangs invading their turf from their apartment, contemplating their move

So, just like many years ago, I think our chapter can sit back and call our venture at Origins a success. I know my own games were a success, and I am already thinking of how I can one-up my scenario next year! If you are a historical miniatures gamer -- or any minis gamer at all -- I encourage you to make plans to attend next year's Origins Game Fair. It was a great time, and lots of people had lots of fun this year. I'm glad that we decided to go!

    Despite the threat from the Kings, rivals the Daos and Santanas rumbled in more than one game!

    The choices made by the Franklinton Flippos, on the edge where the Kings invaded, were crucial

    All across the 5'x3' battlefield, rumbles broke out and gangs traded punches, knife thrusts & more

    As a reward for her organizational work for our Great Lakes effort, Jenny played in my game twice!

    Julio, Gang Boss of the Santanas, hops atop a car and taunts the other gangs in an early game

    Saturday morning's game saw Liam and Brian, at the table end, score the most success for the Kings

    Gang members from the Flippos, Santanas, & Daos square off - oblivious to the police sirens!

    My players were wonderful and had a great attitude in all six of my games

    'Stop! All of you! I mean it...!' Columbus Police try unsuccessfully to corral a gang fight

    Twice I had just four players, in which case I would simply do a 4-on-4 gang free-for-all

    The spacious, airy gaming hall at Origins is the perfect place to host a miniatures event!

Two Warlord Prizes for Origins 2024 Saga Tournaments

    One of the two warlords I painted up as prizes for the Saga tournaments at Origins Game Fair 2024

When some of the Saga Ohio guys decided to run events at Origins, I promised to paint up some warlord stands to give away as prizes. That's becoming a signature prize in my tournaments, and from what I hear from players, the warlord stands are appreciated. Since one of the tournaments is Dark Ages and the other is Medieval, I figured it made sense to paint up one of the appropriate theme for each.

    A side view of the Gripping Beast mounted "Brian Boru" that I used for the general figure

I dug through my unpainted lead, looking for suitable miniatures. Awhile back, I'd purchased a mounted Brian Boru (famous Irish who fought back against the Vikings), and knew it'd be perfect. Typically, I have a mounted general on my warlord stands, but a foot standard bearer. That way, whoever wins the prize can deploy it as either mounted or foot -- at least that's how I look at it! The third figure on the circular base is sometimes a musician, bu this time I decided to go with a dog (or dogs, plural). For the standard bearer, I found a foot figure holding his arm out that would be work well to attach a banner against. The figure also had a tunic and cloak, like the Brian Boru figure.

    A close up of the 28mm wolf figure that I used for the general's pet

For the dog, I decided to use a 28mm wolf and paint it up as a wolf/dog hybrid. I used Google Image searches till I found one whose color I liked. It somewhat matched the general's horse color and the standard bearer's tunic, so I went with it. I used a green and blue color scheme for the mounted general, going with lighter sleeves and paints and a darker cloak. The tunic is a medium blue, and I repeated those colors in the decorations on the hems and headband. I really like how his light reddish hair and beard came out, too.

    The Medieval general used a Teutonic Knight figure, a mailed foot soldier, and two 28mm dog figs

For the crusader figures, I believe I chose a Teutonic Knight general figure as the mounted warlord. It is a big, beefy figure with a mailed horse, large cloak, and big triangular shield. There are lots of pieces of equipment fastened to the figure, so this one was more time consuming than you might think. Of course, the decorations along the hem, chest, and horse added to the work, too! I was happy with how the tiny white dots turned out inside the red cross blazoned across the general's chest. I think his auburn hair and beard look nice, as well.

    The banners for my warlord stands are all designed in Photoshop using clipart and then printed out

The standard bearer is a typical mailed infantryman that I felt I could pose his hand to be holding a banner. I gave him some extra decoration along the hem and a fancy white cross on a red shield to go with the general's white wolf design. He was probably the easiest figure (beside the dogs) to do on the two warlord stands. Most of his body is covered in mail, which I do with a base coast of Iron Wind Metals Steel and dry brush of silver.

    This warlord is accompanied into battle by his loyal Norwegian Elkhounds

I decided to give this general a pair of dogs using some of the many 28mm dog figures that I have collected over the years. With their size and look, I felt they'd fit well as Norwegian Elkhounds. I did my usual Google Image search to get the coloring as close as possible. I really like how they turned out.

    These two warlord stands will be given away as prizes at the Origins Game Fair tournaments

Finally, the banners are all designed using clipart found on the internet and Adobe Photoshop. I like how it lets you select a color and change it to whatever. you choose. Speaking of color, I probably should have made the Dark Age warlord's green banner a little lighter. Well, it LOOKED lighter in Photoshop, but once printed out on an Office Max laser printer, it seemed darker. I'll try to remember that in the future to go lighter if there is a question. All in all, I'm happy with both warlord stands and hope the players who win them will be, too. If you're a Saga player in the area, you really should come to Origins Game Fair, June 19-23, 2024. Dan Neal, Lee Parker, Joe Dihrkop, and Rusty Parker have collected a LOT of prizes and set up some really fun events. There is a "Learn to Play"/open play on Thursday, a Medieval tourney on Friday, and a Dark Age one on Saturday. 

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 74

PT Boats in the Black Sea

    A convoy of 1/300 scale coastal vessels attempts to evade an ambush in the Black Sea during WW II

One of the advantages of having a friend like Keith (here's the link to his blog), who owns figures for virtually every period of warfare, is that you get to PLAY games from virtually every period of warfare! This past Sunday was a perfect example. In all my years of gaming, I don't believe I have ever gamed WW II PT boat actions. Yet there we were, playing out an engagement between Italian, Romanian, and other naval forces as one side was escorting a convoy that the other wanted to sink.

    Keith taught us a new set of rules for small scale coastal actions called, 'Hunters on the Shoreline'

Keith was using a set of free rules he'd downloaded from the internet, Hunters on the Shoreline. They bill themselves as "Fast Rules for 1/600 WW II Coastal Miniatures." Keith's miniatures were 1/300, but I can't imagine that really affected anything. Just bigger and easier-to-see ship models. We had six players, and each of us was given a small force of three ships or so. Mine were two F Lighters -- big (for this type of action) armored ships with a 3" gun and some smaller caliber weapons. Most ships simply had what was called an Autofire Factor to account for their 20mm guns or whatever. My third ship was a heavily-armed Romanian torpedo boat. Our side also had three freighters we were escorting.

    Two of Jenny's torpedo boats veer off to meet the attack of Allen's ambushing flotilla at the top

The enemy decided to spring their ambush early. Allen's four torpedo boats roared out to attack the escorts between him and the freighters. Spotting is a crucial factor in this game, with size, speed, and distance all making it more difficult to see an enemy at night (when most of these types of battles took place). We had two turns of taking this into account before Keith's bigger ship fired off a starshell which illuminated the entire battlefield. 

    Three dark gray freighters surrounded by the defending escort vessels attempt to make it through

Allen's early attack meant he was potentially facing at least half our fleet while his two cohorts were far away, out of range to assist him. True to form, Allen's dice were hot, though. He knocked out the steering of two of Jenny's torpedo boats forcing them to slow to a crawl to avoid running aground. Between Jenny's return fire and my own attacks with the my Romanian vessel, Allen's force of four PT boats was soon either sunk or fleeing the table. My Romanian vessel had also created smoke to keep Allen from attacking our freighters, which I think was a crucial point to our success (if I must say so myself...haha!).

    Mike S's torpedo boats race towards Keith's flotilla, hoping to screen the freighters and launch torps

As Joel and Keith's flotillas closed with our fleet, Mike S had zoomed ahead with his PT Boats to cover our front. When he got near enough, he began the countdown to firing his torpedoes. Strangely, you declare you are firing them and it takes two full turns before they are actually launched. Mike did a great job with timing because as soon as they hit the water, Keith's big warship was within close range. Lots of dice rolled later and Keith's vessel was struck twice by torpedoes and quickly sinking. It did get off a long range hit on one of my lighters, knocking out its 3" gun. 

    My Romanian vessel lays a smoke screen to prevent Allen from launching against the freighters

The rules for firing the 3" guns really annoyed me. To hit, I needed to roll a "12" on 1d12. What's worse, if my target was small like a torpedo boat, I would then need to roll a "6" on an additional 1d6. My autofire factor on the lighters was only a "1", so my secondary weapons were useless at more than 12" range. I realize in these actions the navies are throwing everything that floats into the battle, and some ships are going to be underpowered. However, I would think a 3" gun would be more effective than that. A direct hit would probably not be necessary to cause damage on small vessels like we were fielding.

    The Romanian warship fires its impressive array of auto cannons and sinks one of Allen's MTBs

Then again, I am assuming the author of the rules knows way more about this style and period of warfare than I do. It just seems unsatisfying to roll 1d12 turn after turn and know you have only the slimmest of chance at hitting. I thought the rules for the smaller caliber guns -- the Autofire factor -- worked well. The modifiers made sense and hits were realistically more or less likely depending on the tactical situation. So, kudos to that aspect. I think it would have been fun to play the game without the starshells turning everything to daylight, too. Ships moving slower are hard to spot, but once spotted, are easier to hit. A nice decision-making conundrum for players.

    Allen & Jenny with a rules question during -- Allen rolled lots of criticals, but Jenny drove him off

Did we enjoy that game? I don't think anyone was ecstatic and champing at the bit for another game. Equally, I don't think anyone felt it was a waste of time or unplayable. That often seems to happen when we first play a game, though. Learning new rules and trying to design a balanced scenario for a rules set you haven't played is difficult. Often it takes just getting one rule wrong or something off in the scenario to prevent you from getting full enjoyment. So, kudos to Keith for taking the risk, as well as time and effort, to let us test out these rules.

    Allen's torpedo boat pierces the smoke screen, but is promptly damaged & driven off by autofire

Keith's 1/300 miniatures looked great, I felt. They were small enough that we could play a naval engagement on a tabletop, yet big enough you could see the details. It was easy for me to tell my torpedo-armed Romanian ship from its sister ship that didn't have torpedoes. 

    Mike W wasn't there, but his cat Jack (who Keith was watching) was & made himself a nuisance!

Keith did make some slight changes in the sequence of play. Those of you who read my blog regularly are probably thinking, "Did Keith bolt on the Wiley Games' card play mechanic for sequence?" Why, yes! You would be right! And I honestly feel Keith made the correct call. The rules say movement in simultaneous, but we all know how that works out when two sides are moving at the same time. One side watches the other and reacts to their movement. With no "plotting" mechanic, there's no way of avoiding this situation once the ships are within range and shooting at each other. So, I felt it was a solid modification and I'm not really sure if there was a downside to it.

 

    Screen shot of the 'Hunters on the Shoreline' rules, which Keith downloaded for free of the internet

We declared our side the victors since we sank Keith's big warship and scattered or sank Allen's fleet. Our losses were small -- a damaged lighter and three ships with their steering temporarily knocked out. Most of the ships on the table were undamaged, including our freighters. So, it seemed like a win for the defenders. All in all, a good time and a chance to play something new and different. Thanks, Keith!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 67