Battlefields 2020, a photo review

 

the VFW hall provides a great space and the turnout was up significantly

       Another Battlefields has come and gone and a great time was had by all. Despite it being the first truly nice Spring day that we have had here in Michigan the crowd was up and the games were many and varied. The Pro-or-Con guys have done a great job widening the player base by incorporating  fantasy and sci-fi games as well as the usual historical fare. 

       There Will be Blood was presented by Steven Fry using the Warcries in the Wilderness rules and some very attractive 28mm figures. The game had the Continentals trying to square off with the Redcoats in the open field.

       Fire in the Sudan found the British trying to recover a gun captured by the Dervishes in the Sudan, presented by Scott Hansen using The Men That Would Be Kings rules.

       Somewhere in the Indian Ocean was presented by Scott Przybylo gave us the answer to the question "Whatever happened to that package I ordered?" Using this magnificent 28mm container ship and hordes of zombies and well-armed security contractors. Scott had some very well presented home-brew rules that had everybody enjoying themselves immensely. Be careful, that stain on your package from overseas might not be coffee!

 

       The Battle of Cowpens was brought to us by Lowell Hamilton using Regimental Fire & Fury, the American Revolution variant and a horde of 15mm figures on some very nice terrain. 

       Thunderbolts and Lightnings (nice Queen reference in that title) came to us through the able hands of Tom Michael and Check Your Six rules. I love the rules and the minis are wonderful,, but nearly impossible to photograph well.

       The Battle of Pipe Creek Michael Wedding asks where would we have stopped Lee if the South had won at Gettysburg? At Pipe Creek of course. The answer was found using some good-looking terrain and armies of 20mm troops under the Johnny Reb III rules.

       Battle in the Desert The Tireless Toon Warriors of Michigan Toy Soldier Shop presented a light-hearted look at battles in the Western Desert using What A Tanker rules and the hilarious little cartoon tanks from Meng.

       The Witchgate Crisis was presented by Geoffrey Wing using the Freeblades rules and some very effective and eerie terrain. 

 

        Space Hulk was brought to us by William Shauman. I was thrilled to see this game in action. In my (not so) humble opinion it is one of the greatest boardgames ever published and deserves to be seen more of. The beautifully painted miniatures made the look of it even better!

 

        These ARE the Robots we are looking for  In this game Michael O'Brien provided a four-way struggle to secure the memory card from a crashed android's head. The quirky and excellently painted terrain and miniatures made this Pulp Alley game an arresting sight.

       These Bars Can't Hold Me  Mark Magdowski  spread out a very detailed western town where Marshall Dillon had to stave off the James Gang's attempt to free one of their members from the town jail using Dead Man's Hand rules.

       War At Sea The Colby Street Irregulars own Douglas Johnson presented this game using the clubs own War At Sea rules and their custom-made ship models. I have played these rules before and they are a blast, the models are engagingly idiosyncratic.

       Infinity Tournament provided some very colorful eye-candy using terrain from a host of sources and some teams of superbly painted miniatures using the Infinity rules.

 

       Star Wars Armada using the euphoniously named rules and the brilliant pre-painted miniatures was hosted by Chad Marlett

        Shadows Over Narn gave us a galaxy near by and in the future, as the Centuari Republic tries to take out the Narn Homeworld using Babylon 5 minis and rules and gamemastered by Michael Zajchowski.

       Seven Samurai Bob Beatty brought us the game to match the movie using Warlord Games Test of Honor rules and minis (although I understand that the whole franchise has moved on from Warlord Games and is now independent).

       Novi 1799 Tom Jazanoski presented this attractive game using the venerable Napoleon's Battles ruleset and bunches of brightly attired 15mm figures.

       Circus Maximus was brought to life in 3-D by Chad Marlett using the Avalon Hill boardgame as a basis for the game.

       Gleitenpanzers! Douglas Johnson brings us a futuristic battlefield where anti-grav tanks slug it out using the Colby Gang's homebrew rules, it looked fast and fun!.

 

 

       Defend the Supply Line! Saw the Soviets on the defensive in a Cold War turned hot game where the West Germans are counterattacking into the Russian rear. This micro-armor game featured some lovely terrain and models.

       The Fall of Rohan Jake Bavol brought out the Lord of the Rings rules from Games Workshop and presented the fall of Rohan

 

       At The Beginning of the Longest Day was presented by Todd Kershner and used a visually impressive collection of 54mm figures. The game used the still under development but delightfully titled Betty Grable's Legs ruleset.