Bayou Wars XXI, June 7 - 9, 2013

Bayou Wars XXI was held a the Doubletree Hotel on Veterans Blvd in Kenner, LA.  It was a chance to run and play enjoyable games with old and new friends.  This is a very gentlemanly convention, with lots of welcoming gamers.

FRIDAY

On Friday, I ran a 5150 Star Army game in which Planetary Defense Force fire teams were pitted against marauding Lhurgg.  The players learned not to engage the Lhurgg in hand-to-hand combat.  Shoot and scoot, if possible!

Chris Swearingen and I ponder the likelihood of the PDF surviving, and completing their mission of clearing the table.  Due to being an early game, we didn't get started for about 30 minutes, waiting for players to join the con.

The lumber yard, from which a small group of Lhurgg attacked, and the PDF Lt. ran away, though all his troops thought little enough of his actions to remain.

Jeremy (center) and Josh Gremillion capably handled their fire teams, as did the young man nest to them.  The ultimate result was that the PDF cleared the ruined factory, but forgot about the lumber yard.  More time might have seen them succeed.  The Lhurgg were run as PDF's, played by Brian Simmons, who arrived late.

These are shots of a beautiful game that I didn't see.  Theresa took all the pictures.

And here we have Duane Rock and Rudy Nelson of Time Portal Hobbies at his dealer's table.

Next to my dealer's table and game table, Ken of All The King's Men ran 54mm ACW games throughout the convention.

Steve Wirth ran a dinosaur game in the other gaming room, and apparently all had fun getting eaten!

Larry Reeves gets a clarification from Steve Wirth.

JonnyCon 4.5 ran a what if game in which the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1864.  I believe that the Rebels won.

And I tried my hand at the new Star Wars fighter game, and being loyal to the 501st, took a flight of tie fighters to their deaths, though my tie fighter was the last on the table, avoiding damage from a flight of X-wings, with very bad shooting rolls.  Thomas and I gave up both our flight to take out Wedge; an expensive accomplishment.

While we were eating dinner earlier, Elizabeth and Walt Bourgoyne stopped by.  It's always nice to see other gamers wives at the conventions.  Theresa is always there for moral support.

And the Jackson Gamers were getting silly as Jim Campbell puts horns on the svelt Jay Stribling and Phil does his best to ignore them.

SATURDAY

Saturday, of course, is always the big day at a convention.  In order to play in Mark Stevens "colonial" game, I moved my game up to 9am, unfortunately to the disappoint of Mark and Joshua Brown, who didn't arrive in time.

My game was a rip-off of Gunga Din and Mark Stevens' game of Bayou Wars XX.  He's an excellent painter and uses more expensive figures.  I use Ral Partha, being cheap!   I of course used Colonial Adventures 2, by Two Hour Wargames.

Here's the initial layout.

Cutter, Ballentine, and McChesney attempt to fix the the downed telegraph wires.  The buildings were some of the first I built from foamcore about 25 years ago.

Rick Doskey chose the telegraph repair unit and died gloriously to a man, the first unit on the table to do so.

I was quite happy to have Marc Stevens in the game, a dyed-in-the-wool Sword and The Flame man. Of course, he handled his troops well.

Jim Campbell stopped by to take pictures while Duane Guilbeau helped with setting up the Pathans!  Duane is another disciple of Two Hour Games, and active on the Yahoo group.

And we finally got to meet Duane's lovely wife, Theresa!  In the background in the green shirt is Mike Bobbe of Bobbe's Hobbies, Pensacola, FL, who is running Pelicon III on the 29th of June, a great one-day con near the Pensacola Air Museum (Yeah, they're both in Pensacola)

And, of course, I'm carrying the dispatches.  The Brits won the day; the Highlanders were the deciding factor.  Without them, the Indian troops might have been wiped out.  As it was, it was a neat thing.

I'd like to thank brother-in-law Ron Gros for running Saga in that helmet, making sure that I didn't have the silliest hat!

These are the pics Theresa took of Saga units.  Ron ran this all day long, teaching the rules.

Allie of +1 Gaming playing on the Portmouths Games table.  Lovely looking game that never seems to start when I'm available.

Marc Stevens game of Napoleon in Egypt.

The British commanders, Jim Pitts, Al Himmel, Richard, me (GOC) Larry Reeves son, and Larry himself.

Mark Brown and Martha Stevens, French commanders.

Our right flank crumpled as our cavalry was outnumbered 3 to 1.  The worst troops on the board, the Ottomans, led by Larry Reeves crumpled the French right flank, and my Guards brigade threw the French center back.  The French had to occupy the two buildings on the board.  They never seriously threatened the one on our left, and bypassed the one on our right without bothering to occupy it.

Chris Swearingen ran a great early France WWII game using NUTS! 2nd edition.  I took HQ, a squad, and the HMG detachment.  Brian Simmons bravely took the lead ahead of me and suffered for it.  Even the Stuka attack that should have landed on me deviated to Brian.  The Germans were PDF's run by Chris.

Brian and I get last minute instructions from GM Chris.

All of the PDF's have not yet revealed themselves.  A Stug IIIa appeared on the left and held us up, while a German squad with a MG34 did damage to the left until finally a Rep 4 activation allowed my HMG team to do away with them.  We won, but there were a lot of Adrian helmets to put atop rude crosses.

   

                                      

Here a couple of pics of a Star Wars game atop CorSec Engineering's beautiful Red Nova mat.

These are pics of games that I did not get to see.

SUNDAY

Of course, on Sunday many of our friends are checking out of the hotel, but I managed to gather 17 players for my Six Gun Sound: Blaze Of Glory (Two Hour Wargames) hillbilly game.

Yes, I know many GM's despair over playsheets on the table, but it's my Sunday Morning Brain Dead Game, and neatness doesn't count!  The Clampetts were angry because the Skaggs had killed one of Ellie Mae's racoon and made soup.  The Skraggs were in a foul mood because Jethro Bodine had impregnated Laurie Lee and never crossed the river again.

At the end of the game, the last Clampett blew up the kerosene tank behind the store (the only place to replace ammo), and the remaining Skraggs rolled off for the 'valuable' prize of a hillbilly dice bag.

Ron Francis' possum-eatin' grin!

Marshall and Mark Mod

Ashley Nicholls and Jeremy Gremillion

Rick Doskey wisely played Laurie Lee and survived the whole game, for once!  Allie sits in disbelief.

Angela played Ellie Mae and was unfortunately shot down before any of her critters could come to her aid.  The shock around the table as our Baton Rouge star bit the big one!

 The bloody bridge!  I painted it Sunday morning!

 I laugh as silly things happen to Ashley Nicholls and Josh Brown.

 Apparently the far end of the table was invaded by some alien who had no effect on the game.

 Rick Doskey gloats as Laurie Lee survives the slaughter.

And Allie of +One Gaming wins thd coveted dice bag!

Angela and Brian Simmons take their prize home!

The final gasp of JonnyCon 4.5

Duane Rock does all of this terrain.  The fences have plastic tubes inserted into the stryofoam that they fit into quite sturdily.

Well, as always it was a great con.  Special thanks go the the Board of Directors for keeping it going, and to all the GM's and players for making it so enjoyable.

"The hills are alive with the sound of ...gunfire!"

I realized that my NWF  terrain was sadly lacking, consisting of mostly of pine bark that Vince Clyant and I knocked off the trees in his yard.  I had been given some 2" thick pink insulation styrofoam, which is much denser, but not much heavier than, white styrofoam.

I initialy got out an assortment of tools that would have complemented a house builder; hand saw, electric carving knife, hot wire cutter, hunting knife, etc.  After two hills, I realized that, for rugged hills, only the hand saw, electric carving knife, hot glue gun. and a craft (Xacto with a #11 blade) knife, were necessary.

So here are my new hills, first from 4 directions.

The figures are Ral Partha Indian Troops Advancing, since my NWF forces consist entirely of Ral Partha and Frontier true 25s.

This was the first hill I carved.  The extreme elevations on all the hills were built with cutoffs from the rectangular pieces I cut with a handsaw.  They were attached with a low-temperature hot glue gun, since white glue requires evaporation to dry, and the styrofoam is impervious to air, water, etc.
If you click on the picture, the three figures descending the ramp are the well-known Ballentine, McChesney, and Cutter.  These are quick and dirty conversions of Ral Partha officers.  Ballentine's pistol was exchanged for a mounted officer's sword hand (he now has the pistol.)  Cutter had his pistol cut away and the Thugee axe made from a sword for a set of Abyssinians from Reviresco (not on his list.  You have to ask for them. The are also true 35s, with a plethora of weapons)

This hill is ascended by the steep ramp.

On the long hill, I cut steps near one end, and...

a ramp on the other.  I stupidly made it too long to fit in the box I intended to store all this terrain in.  sigh.

To paint the hills, I first went to Lowes and found a gallon  (whining)"I wanted you to match the other side of the drapes" of  tan for $5.00, which was applied with the cheapest 2" brush they had.  This is to for a barrier for the spray paint.  The vertical sides were sprayed with Krylon Low Odor Jungle Print Satin, after the latex had dried.  The horizontal surfaces were sprayed with Valspar Stone Santa Fe Sand.

So, quick and dirty hills!

OH, no Bayou Wars is around the corner!

Yep, Bayou Wars is just around the corner (June 7 - 9) so I'll be working on goodies for my 3 games.  This will leave me no time for solo wargaming.  So, I'm putting up a few more pictures of mostly recently painted figures.

First off are 3 Chronoscope figures, Eden, Farrah, and whatever his name is.  Eden will be called Fuschia for obvious reasons.  A very simple paint job.  There is an interesting flaw in the figure.  Both semi-auto pistols have their ejection ports on the left side of the gun.  All auto-pistols have their ejection ports on the right side.  She will be Big Bad Leroy Brown's main squeeze, and will be a Poser in Two Hour Wargames rules.
Farrah is so 70's with her big hair and sunglasses, that I painted her in 70's high fashion, with all accessories in shiny white.  And Big Bad Leroy Brown will be a gang leader in 5150 New Beginnings.  I never could warm to the figure, so his paint job is a bit uninspired.

And here's a Hasselfree and two more Chronoscopes.  I painted the Hasselfree in work-a-day clothes, so she's pretty plain.  Note her gigantic eyes!  Next is the Smuggler girl from Chronoscope.  I had just rewatched A Boy And His Dog, so her pants were inspired by Vic's shirt, one of thos late 60's multi-stripes (I had several).  She has had a bit too much callogen in her lips.  And finally Decker Detective from Chronoscope.  He has a gaudy tie, like the best film noire detectives.  My stepson really likes this figure because "nothing matches, because he's too poor to use anything but what he's already got."  Hey, how come no one has made a Vic figure?

The first two figures are old GW figures.  The alien is proof that some figures can't be improved with a paint job.  The center figure is probably Talisman, and an Indiana Jones rip-off.  Nice figure though.  The last was given to me, and I have no idea who the manufacturer is.  I call him Officer Unfriendly, with his sideburns and cigaret in his mouth.  I intend him to be a Freddy Kruger figure in my zombie games.  You can kill him, but he'll keep coming back in another episode.  I found a Chevy Tahoe diecast police vehicle for him, from Maquette.  I have a friend who is a Louisiana  State Trooper who wants me to paint another in their dark blue with yellow piping.  If another shows up, I'll do it.

And finally, this is a Reaper figure that my stepson gave me for Christmas.  I tried to do a little more exacting painting on him before washing him with my brown wash.  The staff was painted a medium grey and then washed with Windsor Newton Nut Brown followed by Windsor Newton Peat Brown.  I find it gives a good worn wood finish.

This will probably be my last post until sometime after Bayou Wars, so I hope you enjoy it.

Fantasy, Science Fiction and Bond!

My job has not left me freedom to run another game, although it is set up.  But I have been painting, so I'll show you what I have been up to.
First of all, the rangers from Mega Miniatures, who will be closing by the end of the year, and whose inventory is lessening by the minute.

These figures are extremely well sculpted.  When I ordered them, I expected average figures.  They are well above average.  I suspect that they are old Metal Magic molds, from the round bases.  Each of the eight figures is different, and has a different quiver, so I'm going to Vampifan them and show front and rear, 4 at a time.  You cannot go wrong with these guys.  The faces have full eyes, so that I was able to put upper lashes (as a solid line) on some.  The cloaks are not blue, but Alpine Green from Ceramcoat.  The girl to the left above is one of my favorites.

I'm also quite fond of the shooter on the left in these pictures.  The girl second from the right doesn't really seem to fit with the others, yet it is obvious, to me at least, that the sculpture is the same

Now we have a not-Bond bad guy that my stepson gave me for Christmas.  A very nice, simple figure from Reaper.

And now to Celtos.  I never bought Celtos because their weapons were too large for my taste.  But these were given to me by long-time friend Paul Harruff, who realized that he had no interest in painting.

The figures are well sculpted, clean, and with good anatomy.  The one with the axe in the center is my favorite in this group.  They are all painted in plaids because they are all in kilts, and I am obviously a masochist.  They are early plaids though, so easier to paint.

Here are the rest.  You will note that the girls have all naughty bits covered.  sigh.

And here are a bunch of figures from the lead pile, manufacturers uncertain.

I'm pretty sure that most of these are old Citadel figures, mostly from the huge bosses intended to go through their shields and hold them on.  They were all also intended for slotta bases. I had to sand them down, or drill holes in the shields to attach them.  The two girls were painted long ago, but revitalized recently.  They were litterally in the lead pile, and had become chipped.

Now we go to Alternative Armies.  I got these recently trying to get my nude girls with sword and shield up to 10, but was unable to do so, since Alternative Armies substituted another figure in 2 pack.

The two figures in the center also came from the lead pile, and I am uncertain whether they are still available. The second figure from the right has a helmet 3 or 4 sizes too small for his head, so I wouldn't give him a very high Rep.  I rather like the left hand figure.

And here are the rest.  I hate fantasy standard bearers.  They never fit in the box.  Hence the fact that he so far has no banner, but the finial at the top was too interesting to ignore.  The second figure from the left could fit in any Dark Ages army as an earl, though all the shield are incredibly ornate.

I have no idea who made the following figure.  He was also in the lead pile, but I like him so much he gets his own front and rear shots.

The rear picture is from a little too low angle, I think.

And finally, Bronze Age Miniatures not-Rogue Trooper.

The figures are typical of the sculptor; extreme poses but beautifully executed.  You either like his stuff, or you don't.  I do.

Really nice.  Really extreme.  And now for the not-Nords.

Kinda goofed with the two left figures.  The sergeant in the center has his antenna added from a piece of  brass wire and brass tube, with a  dollop of super glue to round the top.

These were painted a good while back, but I never got around to taking pictures.  I do plan to get the snipers at some time, but BAM doesn't have a shop.  You have to email him what you want, and upon his reply, send him a Paypal, and I am spoiled by shops.

Well that's it.

Looting the farm, a Warrior Heroes Legends skirmish

I wanted to become more familiar with the combat in WHL and the heroic melee optional add-on.  So I set up a little skirmish in which 4 barbarians would attempt to overcome a Milesian farm.

The background:
Barbarian raids had become a little too familiar in the area of Heimdal's farm.  So when he and his brother-in-law Golroth decided to add a new compound to the farm, they kept their weapons nearby.  Heimdal's first wife had died several years back, and he became acquainted with a young shield maiden, Friztkie, and married her.  His teenage son Hymie didn't seem to care, since she was a better cook than his father.  Hymie had just returned with their flock of sheep and was practicing with his sling, his only weapon.

Toondar the barbarian had convinced some drinking buddies that a farm raid was just the thing to keep them in ale.  Maki, a mongol bowman, Ali, a Saracen, and Raquel, a spearwoman liked ale enough to join him.

The Barbarians

All the figures, except the missile men,  have the standard Warriror attribute of Resilient.

Ali, Rep 4, spear, AC2, and Vicious.

Maki, Rep 3, bow, sword, shield, dagger, AC2, no attribute.

Toondar, Rep 5, 2-handed axe, AC2, no additional attribute. The leader.

Raquel, Rep 4, spear, dagger, AC2, Brawler.

The Milesians

Golroth, Rep 4, 2-handed sword, AC2, Strong-willed.

Hymie, Rep 3, sling, AC2, no attribute.

Friztkie, Rep 4, sword, shield, AC2, Rage.

Heimdal, Rep 5, 2-handed axe, AC2, no additional attribute.  The leader.

The barbarians crept up on the farm, and saw the two men working on the fences, and the teenager practicing with his sling.  They did not see Friztkie bathing in the stream behind the house.  There was a large open space to cover, and though the men were busily mending the fence, they saw the barbarians long before they could reach them, except Hymie, who went down with an arrow and not a sound before he knew the barbarians were there.

Turn 2: Barbarians 1, Milesians 2

Heimdal and Golroth advance to charge range and do so!  

Friztkie hears the commotion and comes running, but can't get within charge range.

Heimdal and Toondar swing and miss, neither gaining advantage.  Golroth rushes Raquel, and is pushed back in heroic combat, with Raquel following up.  Ali charges Heimdal, and is pushed back.  Heimdal can't follow up because he's locked in with Toondar. 

Activation now goes to the barbarians.  Toondar and Heimdal keep one another at bay.  Golroth knocks Raquel down, even after being pushed back.  Maki fires at Fritzkie and misses.  She is caught unprepared, and runs for the cover of the house.  Ali charges Heimdal again, and is pushed back again.

Turn 3:  Barbarians 6, Milesians 5 (this was going to become familiar to the barbarians)

Toondar knocks Heimdal down.  Golroth keeps Raquel prone.  Friztkie is too far to benefit from Heimdal's leadership.  Besides, he's prone, not Carrying On.

Turn 4 Barbarians 6, Milesians 4

Heimdal safely stands up.  Raquel successfully holds Golroth off, but Friztkie charges in and kills her.

Turn 5: Barbarians 5, Milesians 2

Toondar and Heimdal tie again, and Ali charges in, and gets knocked down!  Golroth and Frizkie charge Toondar.  Golroth is evenly matched, and Friztkie gets knocked down!

Turn 6: Barbarians 2, Milesians 5

Heimdal pushes Toondar back, and then knocks him down. Ali stands up.  Maki fires at Golroth and misses, and Golroth ignores it!

Turn 7: Barbarians 5, Milesians 2

Since Toondar is prone, his Rep cannot be used to motivate his troops.  (This may have been a GM error, since he would stand up at the beginning of the turn.)

Heimdal probably makes a strategic error and choses to charge Ali, since Toondar can only stand up.  Ali pushed Heimdal back, and then is knocked down by Golroth, who also charges in.

Turn 8: Barbarians 1, Milesians 6

Toondar attacks Heimdal again, and is killed for his trouble!  Ali stands up.

And gets knocked down again by Golroth!

 Maki looses an arrow at Friztkie, which enrages her and she charges him.  He fires again and misses.  And

is killed by Friztkie!

Ali is an NPC and outnumbered 3 to 1, and flees.

If you haven't obtained the heroic melee combat, some of the Knock Downs may seem a little strange.  The Recover from Knock Down chart is exchanged for one in which, condensed, pass 2d6,loser is pushed back 2" with the winner automatically remaining in contact. Pass 1d6, knocked down and must spend one full activation prone before arising.  Pass 0d6, OOF.  This makes the melee in small groups like the ones I used more detailed, and perhaps last longer.

I tried to make the groups as equal as possible, since I was getting used to the rules, and wanted to learn the mechanics without too much falderol.  Of course, this little skirmish didn't take into account People and Savvy skills, but those are more role play goodies.

I'm very happy with this, my first attempt to use the system.  I was a little disappointed that the slinger had no chance to return fire, but, oh, well.  

All of the Milesians are from Alternative Armies.

Toondar is a slotta-base figure of I know not what manufacturer.  Maki and Raquel are old GW, and Ali is from Harlequin, now Black Tree Design.

The totals, and after battle dodads.  Maki OOF'ed 1 figure, and then missed 4 times.  Heimdal killed Toondar, his opposite number.  Friztkie did best, killing 2 figures.  Hymie died of his wound.  The Milesians have gained 1 helmet, a sword, a shield, a bow, a dagger, and a 2-handed axe.  Friztkie may be able to wear the fur bikini after some alterations.  Probably no one wants Toondars fur loincloth. But boots are always welcome.