Gaslands at Cape Con 2019

2019 has been a something of a rebuilding year for the South Jersey Gamers Association. The club has a proper logo now, as well as a discussion forum where members can talk about what they're doing (preferably I'd like more activity on there, but you can only do so much).

Visibility has been another big part of the plan to get new members into the club. It's one thing to spread information about the club via word of mouth to existing wargamers, and quite another to introduce the concept of miniature wargaming to an entirely new audience.

The local library system has been a big part of that effort (not least because I'm a librarian in it which offers some advantages). The club currently has a display in one of the libraries with miniatures from half a dozen games, and informational flyers in others.

But a personal touch is always best, which is why I volunteered to be a club representative at Cape Con, a mini comic and pop culture convention hosted at the library system's main branch.

As I mentioned in last weeks post, I chose Gaslands since it fit in pretty well with the pop culture theme of the event. Everyone I talked to instantly understood when I described it as "Mad Max on the tabletop."

There were plenty of questions, and I had about 10-12 flyers go out, and a few more people took pictures of the flyer to save the info.

I explained that the club's focus was on historic tabletop wargaming, with some fantasy and scifi as well. Next month's game of Blood & Plunder also caught some attention - people like pirates and big ships! Other interests were Saga (both Dark Ages and Fantasy) as well as the American Civil War and the American War of Independence.

Next year the event is going to be in February, since September is just too crowded for the library to compete for space. After some discussion with a few members of the SJGA, we're looking at putting on a game of Rebels and Patriots with some AWI figures.

Hopefully this means we'll have at least one or two new people checking out the club in October, but at least we're getting the word out!

Painting Update - Gaslands

With no games played since my last post, my painting progress continues. 

I've got a participation game of Gaslands coming up this weekend at a local comic convention. I'm going as a representative of the SJGA with the hope that we can entice some of the attendees - either the kids, teens, or their parents - to check the club out.

Each team consists of two cars. One has a machine gun, while the other has a "special weapon" (a rocket launcher without the extra rules) with three ammo. This helps to keep the game moving so players won't need to reference different weapons or a lot of equipment.

I had thought about adding some nitrous or oil and glue droppers, but like I said, simple is probably best.

I'll have to review the rules and perhaps run through a solo game since I haven't played in a while. But hopefully this does draw some attention, especially with the fantastic 3d printed terrain Kevyn made.

Also, Gaslands: Refueled was just released, so I may pick that up soon.

Painting Update - Warhammer Fantasy

I've been in a gaming drought recently, so I've spent my hobby time chipping away at one of my biggest projects - a 6th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle Orcs & Goblins army.

It's something I've always wanted to do, but I didn't enter the hobby until around 8th Edition came out, and I wasn't a fan of the massive units required to play or the insane magic spells.

Earlier in the year I stumbled across an old O&G battalion set and some units in the flea market at Cold Wars, and bought them on a whim. I've since grown that force into something that could comfortably play 2000+ point games in 6th Edition, while immersing myself in the Classichammer/Oldhammer community - groups playing in older editions of Warhammer Fantasy without the looming threat of codex creep or the hot new thing.

I actually completed the first unit last month as a test, and I think they turned out well. It's a pretty simple paint scheme that has a lot of black and green but it works well together. This was also a test for the 3d-printed movement trays Kevyn made for me, which I glued magnetic sheets to the bottom. The rare earth magnets under the miniatures' bases keep them in placed for the most part, while still allowing for them to be removed.

I decided to tackle some artillery next. A pair of spear chukkas makes for some decent ranged support in an army that's pretty focused on close combat.

I then went back to the infantry. Two blocks (or a single mob) of Night Goblins from the Battle for Skull Pass set came together pretty nicely. I decided to use the troll from the set as a unit filler, and its blue skin contrasts well against the black and greens of the goblins. I'm still kicking myself for passing up the Dwarf half of that set, however!

Of course, what's a Night Goblin force without a couple of characters and randomness? They need a Big Boss, a Shaman, and a trio of Fanatics.

And to finish up the Night Goblins, I painted up a couple units of archers. Since I wasn't using the unit commands, I had to use a couple totems and a squashed goblin, but I think they add a little flavor to the units.

While I'm working on some vehicles for Gaslands now, I'm going to get back into the Greenskins to finish of

Painting Update - Battletech

I've been dealing with a lack of playing or painting recently so I wanted to do something that was fairly simple and would be quick to finish. I decided to paint up the battlemechs that came with the Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat starter set.

Since the eight mechs in the starter fit pretty easily into Alpha Strike lances, I decided to paint the mechs as a combined mercenary company - the 12th Vollone Dragoons.

The Shadow Hawk and Wolverine are decent Mediums with some maneuverability thanks to their jump-jets, and the Commando can punch above its weight-class with some careful placement. The Locust is a good old speedboat that cruises past enemy mechs, potentially spotting for long rang fire. Together they make up a Recon lance that can hold its own against enemies of equal tonnage, but be able to escape in the face of superior firepower.

The other mechs in the box make up a Heavy Battle Lance. The Catapult and Awesome are long range mechs capable of pounding the enemies with waves of missiles or staggered PPC fire, respectively. The Thunderbolt and Battlemaster are brawlers whose firepower increases the closer they get.

They're a good start to a mercenary company, and I'll be adding on to them with another lance pack from the Clan Invasion kickstarter releases in the future. They'll be up against whichever Clan I decide to paint the other mechs as, likely Smoke Jaguar or Jade Falcon. In the meantime these Battlemechs will hopefully be hitting the table either in games of Classic Battletech or Alpha Strike.

The Battle of Charleroi - Contemptible Little Armies AAR

This past weekend was the SJGA's monthly meeting, and the featured game was Contemptible Little Armies being run by John. 

The scenario was based on the Battle of Charleroi. After a supposedly "devastating" artillery barrage, the French were to advance in force against a depleted German defensive position. While outnumbered, the Germans were in good cover and started in concealment. The French would have to advance across the open ground before being able to assault the Germans and take hold of the buildings.  

Most of the French force consisted of regular infantry, with a couple units of marines to prop up the assault. Also included in the attackers were a unit of cavalry, an heavy machine gun, and a 75mm field gun.

For the first few turns, the French moved unopposed towards the town.

It wasn't until the French had entered into small arms range that the Germans revealed themselves, firing into the closest opposing infantry squad and causing casualties.

Still, the solid wave of red-pantsed Frenchmen continued onwards.

The rest of the German defenders revealed themselves as the French approached the road. A defending HMG opened fire and another German squad moved forward to the edge of the woods they occupied.

However, the press of Frenchmen was enough to put the Germans on the back foot. The HMG was assaulted and defeated, and the German squad in the woods tried to retreat to a building, only to be left out in the open.

The French continued the assault into the ruined town. The squad of Germans on the right tried to fall back into the building to their rear, but the random roll for movement left them just short of reaching cover. This left they vulnerable to an assault from the French marines. The squad on the right was forced to assault the building that had been taken by the French, and were rebuffed.

However, since the French had finally occupied a building, German reinforcements began to show up. The first units to arrive were two squads of infantry and a small squad of cavalry that assaulted a dawdling French infantry squad.

With most of the German defenders out of the way, the French began to occupy the defenses with the anticipation of having to hold on to the territory they had taken.

The next set of German reinforcements to arrive were two more infantry squads and an HMG, to the unfortunate surprise of the French infantrymen that were holding the walled garden on the edge of town.

With the enemy reinforcements approaching, the French began to move their mauled units back towards their support units, which had been left vulnerable during the attack.

The French commander watched on as his men prepared to defend the town from the encircling German units. 

Unfortunately the game had to end at that point as we had run out of time! But the French would likely have been able to hold the town long enough to ensure a strategic victory had we continued. 

While we got some very important rules wrong (like not needing to roll to activate units, and the choice of either moving or shooting) the group enjoyed the game. John's considering a rematch with the actual rules in use, and I may get a copy of the rules for myself if I can find them at a convention. I've never been a big fan of WW1 rules, but I do find the early part of the war where engagements were more about fire and maneuver to make for great games.