Final Combat (9/19/2009)

54 MM For King and Country Miniatures using the Final Comflict rules. Germans were Adam Gesser, Lamay McKnight and RIchard Wheet. American 101 Airborne were Lee Fisher and Everett Chun. Game master was Mike Gesser.

Building Middle Age Structures - The Watch Tower and House .. Brick by brick (6/10/2009) - photo album

I made a semi step by step album of the building of a house with attached watch tower. The blocks are cast from dental plaster using Hirst molds. The structure itself used the layout from a Hirst model but was modified to get it greater access to miniatures and an additional level was added to the tower.

Building Middle Age Structures .. Brick by brick (5/25/2009) - photo album

Since most of the local members have been busy in other parts of Texas and Central America, I got kind of bored so tried by hand at building some middle age structures using old school techniques... brick by brick by brick. Lots of trial and error... mostly error...

Gangsters - 25mm - Two Hour Wargames (3/28/2009) - photo album

Field of Glory - 15mm Greeks and Thracians (12/20/2008) - photo album

Marty came up to Waco from Austin to go over the game mechanics for Field of Glory with Jim and Richard. Marty was the Thracians and Jim and Richard ran the Greeks. The Greeks were well on the way to a victory until Jim made a fatal tactical error. He left the room and had Richard roll for the Greek side. Upon his return at the end of the combat phase, the entire Greek army was in rout. Even though many of the individual combats went well, all the Greek segments failed their moral tests from observing one rout... kin of like a domino effect. It was an impressive feat to roll threes and fours for all the moral tests on 2D6.

The game mechanics ran well with the capacity to maneuver which is lacking in most ancient rules. It was not a "push and shove" ancient game rule set. It was decided that FOG will be the game of choice for ancients in Waco. Jim is now ordering numerous ancient armies since ancients are Jim's assigned period in Waco.

Northwest Frontier - Great Hall Games (12/14/08) - Pathans versus British regulars. Rules - TSATF - photo albums

The Pathans were ransoming captives to the British for gold. The Pathan plan was to keep both and the British plan was similiar. The British retained the gold but were wiped out except for the gold which escaped off the board by a matter of a 3d6 being 2 short of contacting the gold and capturing it.

Pulp Fiction - Lance's Lair (12/15/08) - photo album

Mike Miller and Lance Hardaway's prototype Pulp Fiction game in its very rough stage.

This Very Ground - French and Indian Wars - 28 MM Conquest Miniatures (11/29/08)

Using Iron Ivan Games This Very Ground, we played pitting the France and their Indian allies against British regulars and the pioneers. The British regulars (Lee) were secure in their fort with the settlers (Mike) to the west. There were two groups of French allies, the French/Indians (Everett) and second group of Indians (Richard). Jim acted as GM.

The game began with the noble Indians attacking the invading settler compound. The settlers and a group of pioneers (Mike) fought a very brief exchange at their settlement with the Indians (Richard) before the settlers ran through the forest with the pioneers fighting a rear guard action. One group of Indians were delayed by having problems torching the invaders settlement.

The French (Everett) started sniping at the fort using the forest as cover. The British regulars were slowly being picked off since the French had rifles and the British were armed with muskets.

The settlers made it into the fort due to the delaying tactics of the pioneers. Unfortunately, as the pioneers broke out of the woods and made a mad dash for the fort over open ground, the Indians (Richard) had arrived in full force and cut them down to the man.

By this time, the French (Everett) had eliminated most of the British regulars and the settler women were forced to man the walls. A group of Indians (Richard) were also sniping the fort as a second segment approached the rear of the fort in an attempt to torch it. All the while, the settlers at the walls were being eliminated one by one with the British commander falling. The settler women then surrendered and were never heard from again.

Some seriously wounded British regulars were heard moaning about how if only Colonel Hardaway had arrived earlier with the promised poxed blankets, none of this would have occured. The seriously wounded were never heard from again. (post note: Colonel Hardaway was delayed in New York after being mugged outside a house of ill-repute).

For details on the figures, refer to the article directly below.

French and Indian Wars - 28 MM Conquest Miniatures - Jim Dunnam Collection - photo album

English Civil War Scots - 28 MM - Jim Dunnam Collection - photo album

Longstreet's Assault at Gettysburg - First Place Millenniumcon 11 - Jim Dunnam - photo album

Hood, McLaws and Anderson's division attacking the Union left flank at Gettysburg. Uses actual to scale terrain boards with elevations based on geographic maps, 15mm figures. Peach Orchard, the Round Tops, Devil's Den, and the Wheat field. The game took the entire LSHM Waco Chapter about a year to complete. Jim Dunnam, the game host, won first place Millenniumcon 11 Convention Challenge Cup. November 15, 2008. 15MM Battle Honours - painted Fernando and Wig Graves - Rules: Carnage and Glory ACW (computer based)

The Rule of LGOP’s - Third Place Millenniumcon 11 - Mike Gesser - photo album

LGOP in its purest form, small groups of pissed-off 19 year old American paratroopers. They are well trained. They are armed to the teeth and lack serious adult supervision. Happily they go about the day's work...and wonder into Hiesville early one morning disturbing a group of Germans just waking up for breakfast…can they take the village.... and meet the German counterattack late in the afternoon, can they keep the village? 54 MM King and Country Miniatures - Rules: Final Combat

Moby Dick - Rise of the Kraken (Millenniumcon 11) - Mike Gesser

Call you Ishmael. There she blows! Join with the whaleboats of the Pequod in the search for Moby Dick. Each player will man one whale boat with crew. Harpoons provided. BYO Grog ! Oh... don't lose a man over board.. there be sharks! This year a new twist...the kraken will make an appearance! The game was a bit noisy with yelling and screaming at the Kraken and sharks... if it had been on a Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning, it might have given Circus Maxis a run for the money in the noise department.

Marburian - 25 MM - Perry Miniatures - Carnage and Glory II - photo album of not so good photos

On Labor Day, Waco tried a new rule system for the Marburian period.  The rule set used was Carnage and Glory II, which is a computer assisted playing aid with Jim Dunnam as the lowly clerk typist.

The French (Richard Wheet (right, left, center and reserve wings) and Mike Gesser (who appropriated all the wine and stinky cheese and in actual life went running back to France leaving Richard with the wineless French). The Allies (British, Swiss and Prussians troops) were commanded by Lance Hardaway (right wing) and Lee Fischer (left wing), neither for obvious reasons would claim the center wing.

The French left and ring wings were initially crushed with the Allied center being routed with the capture by the French of General Ouverkerk.

The fresh French reserve Guard, held behind the center, then swung around to the flanks and retook the left flank and possibly the right flank.  The French center brigade was practically untouched. The Carnage and Glory computer program declared the French as the winner.

After an initial slow start with all the players being harassed into giving the charge and firing information in the exact sequence needed for computer input (attacking unit, target unit, range, did the unit move, then any other important information like flank attack, 50% firing on targets), etc), the game really picked up speed since all the dice rolling, charts, and calculation were done by the computer. The program also kept track of casualties, moral, fatigue, ammunition, units being shaken, pinned, rested, routed, rallied etc. The players could concentrate on tactics instead of the normal chart cross referencing and die rolling mechanics.

A few badly taken photos are in the photo album. It’s difficult trying to take photos and being shot at by the British and Prussians all the while the wine being spirited out of the country by General Gesser.

French Foreign Legion - 15 MM - Stone Mountain Miniatures - based for The Sword and the Flame - photo album