Happy Christmas... well, Boxing Day.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!

   And now, to the loot! My younger son, who is a mini me, has begun DMing his own friends in D&D 5E, so I bought him a  ton of the prepaint minis and some dungeon tiles from Paizo. He also got some Starfinder stuff to help with that, including the hard to find Incident at Absalom Station adventure... but that's his toys, not mine.

 Merry OGRE-mas!

  I received several boxed sets for OGRE, as well as four singles of the Combine "Minotaur" Howitzer, and a Cigar Box Battle Mat marked in large hexes... That's three more OGREs and sundry smaller vehicles to help pad out the forces.

Leather Bound Limited Edition Hardback of two MHI books

   I lost a lot of my books in the flooding of Harvey here in Houston. So my family is working on replacing them for me! Good family. I got several Larry Correia books, which are a lot of fun, and some David Eddings novels (the Belgariad, original editions in paperback, just like the ones I had before). My mom also pledged a custom "Book of the Month" for me - I just send her a title once a month and she orders it for me! Yay!

   I also got an expansion for SmashUp, which brings me very close to having all of the factions for that wacky game.

Brian Weathersby Reports on MillenniumCon Post Captain

https://mymodelsailingships.blogspot.com/2017/11/post-captain-at-millenniumcon-in-austin.html?showComment=1511154879724#c1200619701041397451

IHMN at MillenniumCon XX

   The third game I participated in at the convention was the game I brought: In Her Majesty's Name. It's a Victorian Science Fiction skirmish/warband game. 

   I provided four factions: the Society of Thule, the Servants of Ra, Lord Curr's Incorrigibles, and the human Minions of Otto Maton. The mission in this game was simple: escape oncoming death. Having disturbed ancient secrets in the Sahara, a curse of flesh eating scarab swarms is chasing all of the factions. Their only hope is to make it to the river boats.

The village of Ruh Naway and the all important boats moored at the docks.

   In order to escape on a boat, a faction had to have control of it - there could be no members of a different faction aboard. Then, on the following Movement phase, it could leave - but not if anyone boarded that turn. Boats then moved up to 9" in a turn (just off the board was sufficient).

The setup.

Lord Curr veers his Incorrigibles away from the Society of Thule

The Society and the Servants mix it up on the right.

One of the Servants, Sairah the Assassin Queen, dashes far ahead of the rest.

Every cultist would lay down his life for Akhenaton.

Maton's Minions move in a disciplined group along the far left flank,

led by the quadcycle.

   The fellow who played the minions stuck strictly to the mission, and it paid off. He got every one of his forces onto the boat, gaining a game-winning 45 points (plus two kills).

In the village square, "Mad" Mick stands alone against the Jaegers and Todtruppen

of the Society of Thule.

   This is the first time I have managed to get the Todtruppen (zombie jaegers) on the field. They are fun, but slow. Mick was abandoned to his fate by the rest of the Incorrigibles.

The boats casting off. In the lead is Akhenaton.

   Note that one boat is missing: Sairah stole it by being first to the docks. This ensured that one team would not be able to escape. A clever strategy. As it turned out, the Society of Thule was doomed. Even more fun, the mummified priest used his power of the Path of Shadows (essentially a teleport spell) to board the boat after it launched.

   After the game ended, we had a bull session about how to improve the scenario. The best idea was to change the motivation of the Servants of Ra. The suggestion was to use them as a blocking force in the village, and reduce the number of boats to three - or maybe even just two. Most importantly, everyone said they had fun, which was the whole point.

   I want to give a special thanks to Jim Johnson for helping me out by bringing a few pieces of really nice terrain. A couple of those buildings are his, made by Crescent Root, and excellent pieces. 

Game 2: Frostgrave

   The second game I played in at MillenniumCon was on Friday afternoon. This time, I was trying out Frostgrave. This is a set of fantasy skirmish rules with a definite campaign / warband building aspect. It's quite popular, and the minis are nice. You can also use random other fantasy figures to help fill in your warband. I bought the rules back in the summer, so it was time to give it a try.

One part of the magnificent lost city of Frostgrave

  It is a terrain intensive game, I think. Is this a dichotomy of wargaming, that the fewer figures you need, the more terrain you want? It seems to be...

The Witch and his apprentice.

  I chose the witch as my wizard because, well, it's a cool looking model. Also, I have this pair already, though not painted.

Fallen columns of frost-rimed stone...

A rapid retreat with the loot...

   You always want to be sure to secure some treasure. That's the point of the game. You use treasure to build up your warband over a series of games.

A giant worm erupts from the frozen ground.

   This worm would be responsible for the death of the archer you see there. And also my wizard. Darn it.

   All in all, I had fun. I won somehow, as the rules count how many spells you successfully manage to cast, and I cast one more than my opponent. All other factors being equal, that meant I won the game by a slim margin. Even though I lost a lot more of my warband including my wizard. Well, I didn't set the victory conditions - I'll just be glad they favored me.

Posting about Post Captain

   So the first game I played at the convention was on Friday morning. I tried out a set of Napoleonic naval rules (Age of Sail) called Post Captain, which are produced by Old Dominion Game Works (ODGW). They also make Close Action and some other rules I believe for nval gaming in other eras as well as land gaming. But I digress.

   Being a total Anglophile, and the first to arrive, I got to choose which ship I would captain. I took the British vessel. Hearts of oak, and all that, what? After a couple of turns maneuvering, the French let fly at my rigging from a great distance, doing little damage. We closed to more effective ranges and began hammering one another.

The French (on the right in this photo) have the wind gage. 

I maneuver upwind, eager to bring them under my guns.

My ship, Northumberland (74), the pride of the Royal Navy.

Miniature is Langdon, I believe.

Custom rigging by the owner, Brian Weathersby.

The French fire at my rigging...

I cross his T and stern rake the Frogs!

Up until this point, my larboard battery had not been fired.

   Eventually, I managed to cause some pretty critical damage to his vessel, hitting both his pumps and smashing the wheel. Stuck on a single course, I could maneuver right up behind him for the fatal blow. My last broadside was from my previously un-fired larboard battery, at virtually point blank range, right into his stern. This is about as good a situation as one can find oneself in from the standpoint of being the giver. This cannonade killed his captain, shattered his mizzenmast, sprung the main top, dismounted about half of his remaining guns... he hauled down his colours.

Jeff Hunt, owner of Portsmouth Miniatures.

They make nice ships too.

He's running a different game here.

   I had fun, but don't think I will be getting deeply into this sort of gaming. First, Brian is local and I figure I can get him to come beat on me anytime, and he has plenty of ships. Plus, his are spectacularly rigged out, taking hours of concentration and skill. Really, they are beautiful. Second, I am already working on so many other projects now... and third, it does take a good deal of time. We managed as two beginners to have a one-on-one duel to a conclusion in just under four hours. A fleet action would have been an all-day affair.

MillenniumCon XX Flash Report

   Just got home from Round Rock. Overall, I had a really good time at the convention. Photos will follow soon (ish). Highlights:

• My game went really well. A few bumps, but everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I got some good feedback for a future refinement... this one may return.

• I played in five games. Of those, I won four (one was a co-operative win). The other was determined a draw.

• Bought a good deal of new toys.

• Met a lot of new people, mainly gamers from Texas.

• Ran into a lot of people I have met over the years at various other stores and conventions.

• Best of all, I ran into someone I knew a long time ago. Tim was one of my fish buddies when we were in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. We are both Class of '94 members of Company A-2, 7th Btn, 1st Reg't. We hadn't seen one another in almost 24 years, but we got a chance to catch up some while we played a game of OGRE together. Information exchanged.

   Basically, I have to say that MillenniumCon is the best small convention I have ever attended. The atmosphere is fun and relaxed. The venue is good (could use food service) and clean.

   That's the FLASH report.

Recent Purchases

   Since the storm I have been engaging in a great deal of retail therapy. I know it's probably not real healthy, but I've spent a fair amount of money lately on a wide variety of games and accessories. SO, just to keep it in my mind, and give you faithful few an idea of where my madness has been leading me lately...

Rulebooks...

• Frostgrave Thaw of the Lich Lord

• Starfinder RPG Core Rulebook

• Bolt Action, 2nd Edition
• Armies of Germany

• Gothic: An Expansion for In Her Majesty's Name
• FOW 4E: Desert Rats

And Accessories...

• FOW 4e: Desert Rats Command Cards
• FOW 4e: Desert Rats Tokens

• Dystopian Wars: Cards
• IHMN: Tokens/markers
• Vallejo Paints and Brush On Primer

And boardgames...

• Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City

• SmashUp: Big in Japan
• SmashUp: Monster Movie Mashup
• SmashUp: Cease and Desist

And minis...

• Red Vectors Martian Skiffs (x2), custom scaled to work for 15mm.
• Trollbloods Starter Battlegroup

• Circle Oroboros Starter Battlegroup (old)

• Dystopian Wars FSA Valley-class Airship
• Ogre Miniatures: Hover Trucks and Light Artillery Drones (x3 each)

• Ogre Miniatures: Paneuro GEVs (x6)
• WH40K: Necron Canoptic Scarab Swarm (x6 bases) for use as Automaton Insects
• Bolt Action BEF Vickers MMG Team
• Bolt Action Home Guard Blacker Bombard Team

• Bolt Action BEF 3" Mortar Team

And a lot of terrain, too...

• Battlefield in a Box: Pacific Landing Mats
• Battlefield in a Box: Extra Large Dune
• Battlefield in a Box: Desert Escarpments

• Battlefield in a Box: Desert Scrub
• Battlefield in a Box: Desert Administration Building
• PlastCraft: Colored Desert Building Set (x2)

• PlastCraft: Colored Desert 2-story Desert Building
• PlastCraft: Colored Desert Dwelling
• PlastCraft: Colored Desert Dwelling with Stairs
• Ainsty 28mm wooden jetty
• Four Hirst Arts molds and plaster

   Ummm... I may have a problem.

Red Vectors Martian Skiff

 Made by RedVectors in the UK, these skiffs were custom adjusted a bit to work for 15mm. I am in the process of assembling and painting the first of the pair. The price was quite reasonable, I thought, and the shipment was dashed quick.

   Not quite done. It needs a gun on that forward platform, and a crew. I suppose this calls for a visit to Scale Creep for minis...

Prep for MillenniumCon, Chapter 3: Terrain

   I have ordered and received several 28mm buildings and a bit more terrain - desert oasis, sand dune, and piers.

   These have several advantages: they are lightweight, they are easy to assemble, and they are already painted. So I just have to glue them together and toss them into the bucket. I bought a total of seven buildings to give the impression of a small riverside village.

   For the base, I am using my Cigar Box Battles desert cloth. I love these things. Again, lightweight and portable, but they drape well, and they don't pill up.

   I'm still working on the layout of the whole setup. And I hope to get a playtest or two in before the convention. Next I think I need to finalize which troops each force will be fielding. I'd like to give most of them a vehicle of some sorts, because if not, I fear the minion quadcycle will race ahead to secure the landing stage with its machinegun. I might be able to use buildings to give cover to approaching companies though.

Some Team Yankee Photos

   We've been playing a good bit of Team Yankee around the club the last few months. I enjoy it, especially when I can play the West Germans. That Leopard II tank is amazing!

   Anyway, here are a couple of shots of our last game. The toys are the property of Jim Johnson.

Volksarmee T-64s... lambs to the slaughter!

East German Motor Rifles and Hinds...

   We played two games, with the players swapping sides. Both times, the West Germans won. There is a key to killing those Leopard IIs, but we haven't come up with it yet. In another game, it seemed that the Hinds would do the trick, but the FRG had insufficient AAA. A pair of Gepards in the rear and your Leopards are much safer.

Hordes and Armored Bears

   More armored bears! Yep. It's kind of a sickness. Don't know why I like big armored bears so much, but I sure do.

   Privateer Press is expected to release this box set in November 2017. It's the Trollblood Northkin Bear Handler & Battle Bears. It's awesome.

   I bought the starter set for Trollbloods a week or so back. I don't care if these are good in the game or not, I'll be getting these to augment the force.

Prep for MilleniumCon, Chapter 2

   I think I have decided upon the minions of Otto Maton to be the fourth faction in my convention game, just because I like these guys so much. I will probably take the gentlemen of the Sapphire Club as well, in case I need to squeeze in a fifth player.

   And I think they need a vehicle. I happen to have one already painted and good to go - the nefarious All Terrain Quadruple Wheeled Lightly Armoured Autocycle (Machine Gun), more commonly called the "Quadcycle" or even simply "Quaddie." 

You've seen this before, no?

So, I need to stat it up for In Her Majesty's Name. Probably best to treat it as a walker, I think, as far as the rules for hit allocation are concerned. This is what I am thinking:

Pluck: 5+ (2 pts)

FV: +1 (1 pt)

SV: +3 (4 pts)

Speed: 9" (2 pts) - based on Bestiary from HVF

Armour: 10 (4 pts)

Weapon: Machine gun (26 pts)
Equipment: Steam Dynamo (10 pts)
Equipment: Lined Coat (Steersman, AV 8) (1 pt)
Equipment: Pistol (Steersman) (3 pts)
Equipment: Breath Preserver (Steersman) (2 pts)

Note: Can not enter Difficult Terrain

What says the collected wisdom?

Prep for MillenniumCon, Chapter 1

   I will be running a game at this year's MillenniumCon XX, held in Round Rock, Texas, the second weekend of November. I'm running a game of In Her Majesty's Name, my current favorite skirmish VSF rules. Here's the basic story:

  After weeks of exploration in the desert, the Tomb of the Lost Pharaoh was found. Unfortunately, the myths about the Regalia of Osiris being hidden there were just that: myths. Even worse, your rivals followed you and one of those fools triggered the Lost Pharaoh's Curse. Now, a storm of flesh-eating scarabs pursues you across the arid wastes. Your only hope is to be the first to reach the safety of the coastal town of Al Maja, where you can board a ship and escape the doom which follows close behind you!

  I plan to have four Adventuring Companies in this game:

• Lord Curr's Company, 
• the Society of Thule,
• the Servants of Ra (naturally), 
• and either the Sapphire Club or Otto Maton.

   I also have the figures for a werewolf company, or a Scotland Yard company, but they don't seem right for an adventure in the North African desert. My other mad scientist company, belonging to Professor Vardu, isn't ready yet either, and I don't think they'd fit in very well anyway.

   The scenario is pretty simple: 9.1.7: Death at Your Heels, with the following modifications:

• Table size: 4' x 6', with coastline along the long edge.
• Two boats, not one, each having a jetty 18" from the table edge
• Must convince captain to sail*

*Convince the Captain to sail: any figure with a Leadership characteristic can attempt to get the Captain to cast off, but only if there are no enemy figures on the boat. To make an attempt, roll a die in the figure's Movement phase. Add the Leadership characteristic and the total number of figures on the boat. Modify the roll by +1 if the scarabs are past the center of the table; add +2 if they are within 12" of the boat. A total of 8+ indicates the ship leaves, stranding anyone not aboard. The ship will automatically leave when the scarabs would reach it.

   For terrain, I don't have much, all of a sudden. Dammit, Harvey! I have a Cigar Box Battle Mat desert mat, and a few desert palms. That's about it for 28mm compatible desert terrain. I just ordered a number of Plastcraft Colored Desert houses to build a small village along the coast. I think I am going to embellish this with the addition of a few fishing nets hanging to dry, easy enough to make a simple frame and net. I do have some of the sand colored cobblestone roads and some older dirt roads to put out, as well.

   So, any ideas for improvements? Especially terrain. I was hoping to put some sort of ruined wall up on the desert side.

The Damage (Flooded Part 2)

 It has taken me a while to work up to posting about this. What did I lose in the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey?

What I didn't lose is most important: my wife, my kids, my dogs, my friends, my home, my faith, or even my job. What I did lose is hard enough.

I lost a lot of things I have collected over the years, going back to when I was a kid. Nutcrackers -dozens of them - and books. Oh so many books. Hundreds of books. Enough to literally stuff a dozen tall bookshelves. Highlights include:

• Most of the Bibles in our family, including those given to our sons at their birth. Thankfully, my old family Bible (dating back to the 1870s) is in a safe in a house that did not flood.
• Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, given me by my grandmother
• Fifteen first edition Casca novels
• Monster Hunters International Limited Edition Leather bound
• All of my Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novels (I had all 21)
• About half of the Horseclans books, again, first editions.
• Everything S.M. Sterling has written, in hardback if available that way.
• Most of my Harry Turtledove books.
• My Richard Scarry books from when I was a kid.
• All of my sons' Series of Unfortunate Events books - the entire series
• My Odyssey and Iliad, gifts from my grandmother
• My language dictionaries (German, Welsh, Spanish, and Latin)
• All of the Song of Fire and Ice, first print, hardback.
• My hardback Lord of the Rings.

I lost a bunch of game related stuff, too. Including...

• Original Ogre Pocket Box
• All my D&D stuff, from red box to 3.5
• Star Frontiers, several editions
• Twilight 2000 and 2013
• All my GURPS stuff, including several rare ones (Swashbucklers, for example) and Man to Man.
• A lot of terrain.
• All of my Ospreys
• Almost all of my board games.
• Custom terrain boards
• But, as far as I can tell, no minis.

   Plus furniture. And clothes. And a lot of my sons's stuff: trophies and martial arts belts and stuffed animals and school projects and... well, you get the picture.

I have a few dry boxes left to go through, so I may have a few things yet I'm hoping that I didn't lose.

Sorry for the whinging post. In perspective, I have friends who lost basically everything they own. People lost their lives (thankfully, no one I knew personally). I lost stuff, and most of it wasn't an everyday useful item - it was in storage, after all. But it sucks. Thanks for listening.

Flooded.

Hi everyone. I know not many of you are still reading since I rarely post anymore. Sorry about that.

Long story short: if you've heard about the flooding in Texas, that's me. I live in Dickinson. I'm in the process of moving house. Luckily my homes have remained dry so far. But my temporary storage unit (which held a lot of my game stuff, furniture, tools, and so on) is probably a total loss along with many others'. I don't know for sure because I still can't get there.

My friend Zach, whom I have mentioned here before, lost everything but his family. They had to escape through a hole he cut in their roof as water rose into their home.

Just... devastating.

So, if you're of a prayerful mindset, we could use them.

Pandemic

   Hey all. I played a new boardgame last night, and enjoyed it a lot. My usual Tuesday night Pathfinder game was canceled because the game master is in DC for a couple of weeks for work. So some of us got together and played boardgames. Anyway, Steve brought his favorite game, Pandemic. It was my first time to play it, and it was fun, but kind of tough.

   Players take the roles of various members of an epidemic control team. The goal is to come up with a cure for each of four plagues (blue, red, black, and yellow) before time runs out or a worldwide panic ensues. It's a cooperative game, so everyone wins or loses, like Arkham Horror. In our first game, we lost, because one of the diseases began a series of outbreaks and we couldn't keep up. Our second game of the night we won, but only just before time ran out.

   Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and the cooperative aspect made for a very social game. 

Survived Historicon and the Move

  Hello all! Just a quick note to let you know that I did, in fact, survive Historicon and the move that took place immediately after returning. How immediately? We got home late Monday, and the movers arrived Thursday morning bright and early. So, pretty immediately.

  So how was Historicon? It was a lot of fun, as usual. I think I came home with less stuff than I left home carrying, thanks to a decent showing at the Sunday morning Wally's Basement (aka gamers' flea market). I got to play games with and chat with a lot of people that I usually only get to see at the convention: Buck Surdu, David and Kalissa Skibicki, Jon Lundberg, Lon Weiss, Martin Goddard, James (whose last name I can never remember, but he runs lots of 40K themed games), Frank Chadwick, and others. I missed Howard Whitehouse this year, as he couldn't attend. I also made a couple of new acquaintances, so new folks to look forward to seeing in future years.

 As for the games, well, I played in several. I posted photos to Facebook from my phone, since that was the only camera I took with me. I'll get a few shots up here soon, I promise. The table for the Frostgrave games was truly amazing, and I need to get some photos of it up. Sadly, I couldn't get into any of the games they put on, but they looked just great and the players all seemed to be enjoying it. I ended up buying a set of the rules and a few figures for a pair of starter bands (a Witch and Apprentice and a Sigilist and Apprentice). So the games I did get to play...

• Dystopian Wars 2.0: Just about the same as far as I can tell to older versions, though we didn't get into deeper strategies, so maybe that's where the difference lies. I did hear that a newer edition is on the horizon. I played as part of a Japanese force against a FSA fleet. We lost, but it was a near thing.

• Congo: Probably my favorite game this convention. I tied for the win. The system for initiative and activation is really interesting, as it requires planning ahead but is still pretty flexible. It's also a pretty simple resolution system, which I liked.

• Empire of the Dead: While I did horribly in this game (the victim of two factions ganging up on me and killing off all of my guys, barring my Packlord), I had a lot of fun with it, too. The 28mm scale Martian screw galley (a Whispering Death-class, IIRC) was amazing. So amazing that I bought a kit for it. God only knows when I will get around to building it. Anyway, I had the werewolves, and did my best to make sure it was 'night' throughout the game, but to no avail. If I had a bit more influence, it would have been night and a full moon. I did manage an eclipse, which lasted six turns with the help of the vampires. Anyway, Jon Lundberg put on another great game on the Miniature Building Authority table.

• Bolt Action 2E: The Defense of Grammercy, Sicily. This game was amazing - it won the award for Best Theme Game (100 Years of Tanks) as well it should have. A big table with great scenery and models. The Skibickis (David and Kalissa, two of my favorite gaming folks EVAH!) really went whole hog on it and it showed. I was on the victorious German side, leading some Panzers and a few hapless infantry who never really got a chance to do much until the very end, where they assaulted and killed a Canadian Sherman. So that was fun.

• And One I am Forgetting: I also forgot what time one of my games was and flat missed it.

  As far as toys purchased, I mentioned a couple already - the Frostgrave stuff that I bought from Brigade Games. I also bought a lot of trays and stuff from Dave's Baggage Train to help me organize my existing collection of minis. I bought a few test figures for a 15mm fantasy line by Battle Valor Games, mostly because they looked fun to paint. I got a paint rack and some 15mm huts from Impudent Mortal (nice folks, turns out the wife went to school with my sister a few decades ago) - and check out their upcoming Kickstarter. The giant ship I bought in the flea market, and I bought a few gifts for friends back home, also mostly in the flea market.

  Offspring #2 (Dane) who also went, spent a bit of time in the Hobby University, and has mentioned an interest in painting. I will need to get him a good basic set soon. He did spend a little of my hard earned money buying a few figures to paint, primarily Reaper Bones.

  So there's my brief, un-illustrated convention report. It's a long three and a half days, and a long five days of driving roundtrip, so I got home really tired only to have to pitch in to the move, but it was a good time and I really enjoyed the time I spent on the road with my son who is about to head off to college (uni for my UK friends) in a few weeks.

On the Road to Historicon 2017

   Hi guys and gals! Long time, no post. I've been crazy busy - we are moving! This means lots of packing over the last month or so and not much gaming. So I have been very much looking forward to this trip with my youngest son (who just graduated high school and earned an Associate's Degree at the same time !). We are driving from League City, Texas, to Fredericksburg, Virginia. That's about 1,550 miles (2,460 km). One way.

   We are taking it in easy stages going out but have to hustle back home after the convention. So tonight, after two days in the car, we are in beautiful Charleston, WV. Actually, I don't know if it's beautiful or not - it was dark when we got to town. But the hotel is nice (Embassy Suites Downtown, got a heck of a deal on Priceline).

  So that's what is going on here in my world. I have been playing a weekly game of Pathfinder with a small group of adults, which is nice. The GM is right at my age and does a good job of storytelling. I've died three times already, but it is more an issue of each of the players dong their own thing rather than supporting one another. Oh well. My newest character is designed to be supportive. Maybe that will work out better.

Tabletop Gaming Day 2017

   Last year I participated in a a local Tabletop Gaming Day event put on by a nice guy named Curtis. He invited me back again this year, and I went. I even brought a few other people, four guys from the Pathfinder group I am playing in now.

   I stayed a lot later than planned. Like, until midnight.

   Played a lot of games, some for the first time, some not. I did okay in wins/losses, too, which is unusual for me. I usually lose a lot more than I win, but have fun playing the game anyway so that's what matters most. Here's what I played, and my thoughts about the games.

• King of Tokyo: Played twice, showing one guy how to play for the first time. I won both times.

• Tsuro: Played twice, the first time for me. Okay with two players, but would probably be more fun with three or four. Very Asiatic and Zen in its play. Follow the path...

• Dominion: First time. Played against three other people. The owner of the game, who was showing the rest of us how to lay, won handily. Still, it was fun. He had some expansions to the basic game in there as well.
• Smash Up: I really like this game a lot. We play at home fairly often. I brought my copy with three (or is it four now?) expansions. I was the only experienced player of the seven (that's right, 7!!) playing. I played a new combo, Ghosts and Zombies. It was my first time playing Ghosts, and I didn't like them much. I still won, but it took FOREVER with that many new players. Like three hours.
• Machi Koro: A neat Japanese deck building game where you try to finish off your city's landmarks. I played with three other people, I think the Bright Lights, Big City edition with the Harbour expansion as well. It was a lot of fun. I also won, which doesn't hurt the fun factor.
• Cards Against Humanity: A group of about eight of us played. When we quit, I was tied for the lead with five cards. I'm a little ashamed of myself...
• Werewolf: In this game, you have people who are secretly werewolves, and the rest of the players are villagers (well, some are special villagers). We played twice, with about 15 players each time. I was killed in both games, but the villagers discovered the werewolves the first time around. The second time around, I was the last villager and two werewolves got me. Oh well. It was a lot of fun, but I think it needs a lot of people. Playing with only five or six would be dull, and with less than four would be pointless.

   The cost for the event was a $5 door fee. They held raffles, and I won a $25 gift certificate to a local game store. They also provided food and non-alcoholic beverages all day, including donuts and pigs in a blanket in the morning, lunch of home smoked bbq brisket sandwiches, a variety of sides, a killer buffalo chicken dip, and pizza in the evening.

  All in all, considering I got three meals and made $20 while having a good time for about 14 hours, I would say it was a great day of gaming. Can't wait until next year!

Team Yankee Game Photos

   I was cleaning out my phone's photos the other day and ran across these photos I took of a game of Team Yankee we played back in January of this year. It was fun, although the freedom-loving workers and peasants of the Glorious Soviet Union were not victorious in their attempts to spread their more enlightened socioeconomic system to the capitalist drones of the decadent West.

   Yep, I played the Russkis. I loved this book back in the 80s, and enjoyed the game a lot.

No capitalist artillery? Close order, Comrades! 

Blasted Americanski infantry!

Comrade! Abrams tanks coming out of the woods!

Conscript drivers cowering from American tanks?

The Commissars will have 'words' with them!

Luckily for the T-72s on the far end, Abrams tank guns don't 

penetrate through the first two dead Soviet tanks.

The Highway of Death