Pro or Con 2018

     Another Pro or Con has come and gone. This year was again notable for several  spectacular games: from Hastings presented by Rodney Cain (of Flintcon fame) using the soon-to-be-published rules "Triumph"which was instantly recognizable from across the room with serried ranks of 28mm Saxons facing off with the ever-formidable Norman knights, to  "Charlie Don't Surf" using the TFL rules of the same name and featuring the claustrophobic Mekong Delta also in 28mm, and joined by "Mad Dogs With Guns" and "Gangs of Rome", two games with wonderful terrain that looked at the actions of criminal organizations twenty centuries apart. That is not to slight the other beautiful and well-organized games that filled the hall.  Below you will find a brief review of the games that I saw, my apologies to anybody that I missed, but I was running a game in the first session.

 

Senlac Hill: can William earn his sobriquet "The Conqueror"

ACW 101

     This game featured a promising looking new set of rules and mobs of beautifully painted 20mm plastic miniatures

 

the QRF

 

the display behind the unit records the strength and morale of the units

(and leaves all the pretty figures on the table!)

 

things have certainly come a long way since Airfix introduced their ACW sets decades ago, 

just look at the detail and animation of the figures

 

the players all seemed to be having a good time and remarked favorably about the rules 

Twilight of the Gods

     A massive 15mm WW2 game featuring tons of beautifully painted minis, Germans trying to cover the retreat of civilians from the advance of the Soviet Steamroller

 

any game with this many tanks is good by me

 

caught from the flank the Russians were in trouble 

 

I particularly liked the terrain, very effective

 

every commander's nightmare; flanked by Tiger IIs

Shattered Crown

     Gaddis Gaming presented Shattered Crown a WW1 era (I never know if that is steam-punk or diesel-punk?) post-martian invasion game. I only saw it between sessions and managed to miss Lee Gaddis, which is too bad as I wanted to ask him about the exciting 28mm WW1 figures that his company produces

 

a delightfully awkward looking German tripod

 

and a British tank that was a cross between a Russian Tsar Tank and a British Mark IV

all the terrain was well done but the models were an absolute stand-out

Mad Dogs With Guns

     1920s alcohol-fueled disagreements in the warehouse district were the subject of this massive and visually stunning game featuring 28mm figures and terrain. Another game from the Osprey stable, Mad Dogs With Guns

 

those are some darned large buildings!

 

excellently painted and presented this game was a delight to the eye

plenty of vehicles and figures really made it pop

Just "Roman" the Streets 

     Gangs of Rome rules and miniatures. Another game replete with an imposing selection of terrain. The forum, back alleys and side-streets  of Rome, filled with mobs, lawmen and roving gangs of criminals each with their own agenda to fulfill. This game kept eight people working at cross-purposes  throughout the entire session.

 

wow, that is a LOT of MDF buildings

 

of course the players could take the action indoors as well

 

the game system is easy to learn and fast to play

 

not knowing the other players objectives kept everybody guessing to the end

The Cruel War in the Spanish Netherlands

      An army from the League of Augsburg is surrounded by a combined Franco-Spanish force and must fight its way out of the trap. Almost 200 points of troops using Pikeman's Lament rules slugged it out for the better part of three hours before the French and Spanish troops emerged triumphant. All of the 28mm figures are from the Warlord Games War of Spanish Succession range.

things went badly for the Dutch from the beginning as the Franco-Spanish managed to get almost all of the flanking forces onto the table in the very first move

the Franco-Spanish blocking force consisted of some standard infantry and a couple of guns

 

the forlorn hope suffered casualties  as they approached

on the western flank of the column the Danes flooded onto the field
 and were met with  courageous charges by the Dutch and English horse

on the eastern side the Spanish troops had much further to travel, 
while waiting for the infantry to get engaged both sides threw their cavalry into a swirling melee that consumed almost all of the units involved

at the head of the column the forlorn hope pounded its way through a storm of cannon and musketry fire as it tried to clear the escape path

the Spanish infantry had trouble with command rolls and were slow to engage

the French Carbiniers pressed the rearguard fearlessly

as the battle continued  the rearguard was slowly ground down

the forlorn hope continued to batter a path through the blocking force, crushing unit after unit

 

 but they lost many men to the well-served cannon

eventually their efforts were in vain as the Dutch defense collapsed

the rearguard was overrun as the advance troops were wiped out trying to force a pasage

Battle of Hastings 

     There are a few battles in history that are instantly recognizable due to the combination of the terrain and troops. Hastings is one of those battles. While setting up my game I glance across the hall and saw this magnificent beast of a game, the huge hill looming over the troops and crowded with the packed masses of Saxon warriors, I knew in a instant what I was looking at. The rules used were Triumph which can be downloaded from Wargame Vault and has an expansive set of free army lists.

 

I do love a game that actually LOOKS like a real battle
this captured that perfectly

the sheer size of the thing was breath-taking

a view of the Saxon battle-line from a Norman point of view, rather daunting indeed!

 

the Saxons certainty look like a tough nut to crack

 the packed ranks of the Saxon  army looking down at the Norman invaders

with the unenthusiastic peasants in the rear

 the very large number of figures really made the look of the thing
no puny skirmish game this!

 

 the size of the hill was impressive as well,

 it gave a sense of the enormity of the task before the Normans

 all of the figures were painted to a very high standard as well

 I enjoyed a long conversation with the presenter, Rod Cain, about rules set that he was using, Triumph is available as a PDF and a hardback copy is due to be released soon; it is very promising. There has long been a need for a good set of "big battles" rules and this set might just be the one to fill that void

 

Battle of Vienna 1683

    Michael Zajchowski brought this lovely game to the table using Field of Glory rules and lots of beautifully painted 15mm figures. The game depicted the relief of the Siege of Vienna by the Polish army of Jan Sobieski. 

 the Ottomans desperately try to stop the advance of the fearless Poles
 

 I do love cavalry armies, especially  nicely painted ones!

 and this game was a swirling spectacle of cavalry

 

 not to forget the solid masses of infantry

but how can you not love Polish Winged Hussars? 

Charlie Don't Surf, the Mekong Delta 1967

     A huge a stunningly detailed game using the "Charlie Don't Surf " rules from Two Fat Lardies this massive game featured everything you could want of you were the producer of a Viet Nam action movie; choppers, patrol boats, sampans, jungle.....the only thing lacking was the mosquitoes! 

at last a delta river that looks like flowing mud!

the game captured the look of the dense vegetation of the delta

 the brown water contrasted nicely with the lush greenery

 

and of course the ubiquitous rice fields

 

 a helicopter, a patrol boat, a sampan, a sunken ship and a suspension bridge......
all in one shot! The only thing missing is Quentin Tarentino!

GASLANDS  

       MIchael Konwinski presented Gaslands! and "Mad Max" set of rules a dark future gladiatorial automotive  combat game. It looked great and seemed like real reckless fun!

 

Battle of Fredricksberg

      Mike Wedding presented the Federal assault on Marye's Heights

Save The Mead! 

     Steve Fry presented some Dark Ages mayhem as the peaceful Saxon villagers tried to defend their homes from a vicious horde of Viking raiders

Between Wind and Water

     Douglas Johnson presented this Age of Sail duel that had everyone involved talking about the simplicity of play and the brilliant use of templates to move things along. 

Check Your Six! Gunships Galore

     Tom Michael says to heck with your nimble little dogfighters, I want lots of firepower in this presentation of heavy fighters and attack gunships using the classic CY6 rules

 

Vampire's Revenge

      Micheal O'Brien presented this Pulp Alley Halloween nightmare in 28mm.

Wrong Turn at Albuquerque
      Chris Maes presented a Force on Force game set in 2003 Iraq

X-Wing 2nd Edition
      Chad Marlett ran this game using those lovely Star Wars minis from X-Wing

Battle of the Denmark Strait

     Lawrence Smith gave us the Bismarck up to no good in 1/2400 scale......I didn't hear any huge explosions so the Hood might just have survived