Millenniumcon 16 Saturday Morning

The second of two games I played at Millenniumcon 16 last weekend. This was one of the best morning convention games I have ever attended - the hosts brought donuts, kolaches, and coffee.

Wolves from the Sea

Saturday morning slot. GMs: Matt Kibbe and Adam Rios.

Best. Morning. Game. EVER.

Saga is a miniatures skirmish game set during the Dark Ages by Gripping Beast. It is a historical game, but not in the sense of accurately modelling combat in a specific period. Rather, it depicts what might be said about a particular battle after the fact. The kinds of tales that come out late in the evening after a few drinks, a fine repast, and a few more drinks. This was another game I heard about from Meeples and Miniatures and looked forward to giving a try.

This was an open demonstration. Players were paired off against each other and given a selection of four point armies to choose from. I ended up playing the Irish against the Vikings. The scenario started with the warlords from both sides already in close combat range and the rest of their armies deploying on the edges of the board.

Overall setup. Both mats were divided, allowing 8 players to play in 4 simultaneous games.

First Impressions - Pros:

The core game system is light and fast. Granted, this was a stripped-down demonstration game, but all of the players seemed to pick up the rules quickly. Play time was roughly two hours, including instruction time.

The Irish and the Vikings have a very different flavor and rely on different tactics. The Irish use missile fire to soften up their opponents as the range closes. The Vikings favor melee combat. The special abilities of each faction further add to their strengths.

The custom Saga dice determine what a player can do with his army on a particular turn. Units (other than the warlord) must be allocated dice to act in a given turn. Symbols and combinations of symbols can activate special abilities.

The action on the board is very fluid. Units move up to engage and losing units fall back. The back and forth maintains focus. My attention never wondered far from the board, even when it was my opponent's turn.

First Impressions - Cons:

I generally regard "I-go, you-go" initiative as a weakness in a system. It is not as noticeable in Saga. The fluid nature of the game results in relatively little down time during the other player's turns. The period also helped. There were no large fields of fire to encourage players to hunker down in cover and result in a static game.

Each faction has their own custom Saga dice. Each set of six dice costs around $20.00 USD. I regard that as a little on the expensive side.

Overall:

I had a fun time. The game is challenging and kept my attention until the end. Saga is a candidate for my next game, but I have a number of projects to complete until I can take on a new period.

Millenniumcon 16 Friday Night

Millenniumcon 16 was held in Round Rock, TX last weekend. I only managed to play in two games due to a combination of schedule conflicts and game slots filling up. Of course, that's double the number of games I get on a "good" weekend, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Chain of Command Boot Camp

Friday night slot. GM: Tom Primrose.

Central board set up and initial deployments.

Chain of Command is a game that I've been interested in trying since hearing about on the Meeples and Miniatures podcast. It's a WWII platoon level skirmish game by Two Fat Lardies. Normally, I don't play much in the way of historical games, but this one caught my attention.

This was a demonstration game offering a taste of the system without getting bogged down. The scenario featured an American patrol and a German patrol running into each other in the ruins of a European town. The GM took us through force construction, the patrol phase, using command points, the initiative mechanics, and combat.

American G.I.s pile in and around a ruined house for cover.

First Impressions - Pros:

Chain of Command force construction is based on historical deployments. This helps to avoid the "Tiger Problem" found in some WWII games. No showing up to a minor skirmish in a no-name town with every last Tiger tank historically deployed to this part of the front.

The patrol phase and the fact that neither side starts with forces on the board gives the game a very different feel. It avoids the race line start seen in many other miniature games. Instead, two forces grope to find the enemy and scramble to get available forces into the fight.

The initiative system uses dice to determine which units can activate in a particular round. Officers can use command points to activate other units. Senior officers can activate more units than junior officers since they have more command points. A unit with an attached officer is more flexible than one without an officer. This shows the importance of leadership on the battlefield.

The game succeeds at showing the differences between national armies. Each American rifleman had good firepower in the M1 Garand, but the BAR could only provide limited support. This had the effect of spreading out American firepower. Every rifleman not getting in line of sight to a target led to a measurable loss of firepower.

On the other hand, German infantry was armed with a bolt-action rifle, but was supported by belt-fed machine guns with a rapid rate of fire. This meant that their firepower was concentrated in those machine guns. Getting the machine guns into position was the critical part of maneuvering for the Germans.

Decision point: German infantry deploy to stop the American advance.

First Impressions - Cons:

The game never really came together for me. Every rule makes sense - I understand and approve of the logic behind each individual rule. But I never felt those rules flowing together into a system. The game remained a collection of rules. Part of this might be lack of repeated play or the convention experience of splitting a side up among multiple players.

Endgame: the Americans wipe out the defending Germans with a courageous, but costly charge.

Overall:

This is a good game and I had a good time with it. The tactical challenges were interesting and the game was close up until the end. Chain of Command is a game I'll be keeping an eye on, but it might not be my next game.

Millenniumcon 14 - Saturday Night After Action Report

After barbecued brisket for dinner and some shopping in the Millenniumcon 14 Dealer's Room, it was time for another game of Ambush Alley Games' Tomorrow's War.

The Crusties are Coming!!!

Chris Arnold wrote and ran this scenario. He clearly knew the rules cold and smoothly handled a situation not covered in the book.

Once more, humans were defending their homes against the Crusties. This time, Bowie Company of the 141st Aerospace Mobile Battalion most hold the line as three APCs load up with civilians and make a run for it. Wave after wave of Crusties were ready to overrun the brave men and women of Bowie Company.

This time, I decided to play on the alien side. You know, for a change of pace. Total number of players: six, three on each side. The scenario would end in six turns.

The Crusties began the scenario with the initiative. Worse, any unit of Crusties other than the "boss" could reappear at a randomly determined hot spot after getting wiped out.

Meanwhile, Bowie Company could not move the APCs until the beginning of turn two. It takes time to load civilians, after all.

The Crusties spent the first turn either moving into position or exchanging fire with Bowie Company.



On turn two, the APCs started up and hauled off. Fortunately, the Crusties' had an anti-armor team in position to fire on the retreating vehicles. I picked up the dice...



...and both of my units got wiped out. I did get one of the APCs. And my units respawned elsewhere a turn later.

Bowie Company spent the rest of the game trying to get around the destroyed APC and through everything the Crusties could throw at them.



So Bowie Company got desperate.



And desperate times involve pulling concepts out of other miniature wargames. That's right...



...tank shock!

But even this was not enough to change the outcome. By the end of turn six, none of the APCs had escaped the board.



All in all, the scenario had some rough edges, but everyone had a good time. Thanks to Chris Arnold for a good time and all the players for a good game.

Millenniumcon 14 - Saturday Afternoon After Action Report

I only managed to play two games this Millenniumcon, but both were good. Both also used the Tomorrow's War rules from Ambush Alley Games. I picked up the rule book last month and wanted to get as much play experience as Millenniumcon could offer me.

Battle: Austin

Micheal Scott Miller ran this scenario pitting the modern US Army against the Crusties in the ruins of Austin, Texas. The US Army was looking for a crashed helicopter and its VIP prisoners. The Crusties were looking for the data collected from two of their reconnaissance robots. Neither was leaving without a fight.

I joined the US Army team along with three other players. The US Army had eight fireteams supported by a medic, two machine gun teams, and a sniper team. They moved north from their deployment zone, looking for the crashed helicopter. Air support was available, but the Crusties air defenses were formidable.

The Crusties also spread out, scanning or searching each building for their lost robotic assets. Both sides met in the middle of the table and spent much of the game exchanging fire from defensive positions.

Casualties mounted on both sides until the Crusties charged into close combat with the US Army soldiers. The US Army's defense began to fall apart as their left flank collapsed and the Crusties just kept coming in.

Ultimately, the Crusties were able to recover the data from their lost robots and inflict heavy losses on the US Army force.

Looking back, the US Army deployment could have been better - the left flank was too exposed and some units were out of position to support other units. It's hard to gauge the balance of the scenario, which was a work in progress. It felt "off" to me, but I can't put a finger on what exactly is wrong. Maybe move the scenario a little further into the future and give the US Army some higher-tech toys? Not sure.

Overall, I had a good time with Tomorrow's War and this scenario. Thanks to Micheal Scott Miller for putting this scenario together.

Next: More Tomorrow's War.

Millenniumcon 14 - Saturday Afternoon Arrival

I've of two minds when it comes to mornings and events like Millenniumcon 14. On one hand, I don't care to miss out on morning events. It was something that I used to kick myself about when I was young enough to miss out on some sleep with no real effects. On the other hand, I kicked myself last year when I showed up early and crawled home exhausted from a full day of gaming.

So, I skipped the morning this year to sleep late, exercise, grab lunch, and show up both fed and rested.

Since I showed up with time to spare, I took a look around at some of the tables folks were setting up. Terrain building is tricky enough. Getting enough terrain for table and the playing surface itself transported and set up for a convention game is something that I'm not yet ready to try. Fortunately, people are usually happy to share some of their tips and tricks when asked politely.

First up is this table full of fantasy monsters. I'm not sure what game this dungeon / wilderness set up was for, but I'll have to keep an eye out for it next year.

Next is this huge replica of Helm's Deep. The pictures don't do it justice. This is one I was hoping to try, but it filled up before I could get my registration in. Maybe next year. In the meantime, I wonder how the owner can spare the space to store it?

Below is an example of a first attempt that came out well. It was built by Howard Barasch for a Russian Civil War scenario and is still a work in progress The board was constructed of square expanded polystyrene foam boards laid out in a grid pattern. This let Howard expand the board over time instead of having to commit to completing it all at once. He plans on adding some trench sections later.

Last is something I've never run across. The board below is constructed from interlocking play mats. It makes sense - the stuff is durable enough to resist the worst that a bunch of kids can do to it. It bends without breaking, which is a weakness of insulation foam. And it's lighter than MDF or other wood boards. Plus it breaks down for easy transport and storage.

Next: A Tomorrow's War After Action Report.

Millenniumcon 14 - Friday Night

Millenniumcon 14 - a weekend of miniature wargaming goodness in Round Rock, Texas.

Too bad I was too darn tired to do much when things got rolling Friday night. I did make it out long enough to pick up my registration packet and take a look around. Attendance looked pretty good this year. There was an empty table here and there, but all the rooms had games going on.


Next: Saturday afternoon arrival.