Rock Con 2018

For most of the last few years I've gone to Rockford, IL in October to Rock Con.  A reasonably priced convention with a lot of variety, excellent staff and decent vendors.  This year Peg came along and sampled the offerings.

The con has five game slots, one Friday night, three Saturday and one Sunday so you are done by 1:00 on Sunday for that drive home.  An easy three hours for us.

My Friday night, Porto Playa Aftermath using Close Action.

Looking around I was struck by how "mature" we're all getting.

Five English ships engaged four larger French.

Team Yankee 1985

All Quiet on the Martian Front

For those that pre-registered you got a gift bag of goodies and a raffle ticket for some cool giveaways.  The con also has a silent auction on Saturday.  They don't take a commission but each lot entered has a flat fee.  My things were too small for the potential return so I brought my stuff back home.  However, I did score a replica British gorget from the 18th century for a whopping $2.

A Song of Fire and Ice, Peg's Friday game as a Stark.

Cold Steel and Canister 15mm Napoleonics.

Easy 8 Battleground in North Africa.

Vietnam: Just Another Day on the Mekong.

Battleground with 20mm, a Pegasus Bridge variant.

The Brown Water game was a big draw.

There were plenty of games this year with a large board game area set aside which saw lots of use.  I'm not sure about attendance.  Either there were more games or fewer players as many games didn't hit their max participation.

My game play, Sharp Practice for the ACW.

My command, which accomplished their game objective were
very well painted by GM Paul Scrivens-Smith.

Melee & Wizard: The Fantasy Trip Lair of Zanphrer.

Formula De Grand Prix in 1/144.

Age of Eagles v.2 Battle of Eylau in 15mm.

In the second session I played in a 3mm(!) session of Fate of a Nation from the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  We got a rather historic result but the scale and basing required a major mental adjustment.  Peg played in a Pathfinder game.  There were a lot more games not pictured like Wings of War, Pikeman's Lament, Jagdpanzer, Utah Beach, etc. etc.  Something for everyone.

My pico scale game.  They are so tiny!

Session 3: The famous B-Movie game.

I played Blood and Plunder with 28mm figs and scenery.

Fate of a Nation 15mm: Battle of Rafa Junction.

An English corvette (near) vs. a Spanish frigate.

The objective of the pirate raid, aided by my natives.

Peg's 4th session game, which made more progress than ours.

I played in a 5th edition session of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Sunday morning while Peg slaughtered Spanish (she also randomly got the natives).  Enjoy a good role-playing game and got to give my own party a zinger at the end.

On Sunday morning they stop all play for a bit and give away any extra gift bags, a few more prizes and anything from the auction which didn't sell but they don't want to drag home.  Always a fun time and they keep it from being a scramble.  Unfortunately all the plastic tank sprues were gone by the time I got there, though I got some fun foam dice.

Next year it is October 25-27th.  Cost for the weekend was $30 with no other fees required.  The only irritant is that you can't bring in any outside food and drink.  The Tebala Event Center provides food and beverages on site.  Good food but limited choices and convention prices.  But with an hour between sessions and lots of fast food within an hour drive it isn't a big deal.  Heartily recommend the convention.

BAR Imagi-nation Game

The plan had been to play one of the games generated in our Imagi-nation mini campaign but critical drop-outs called for a change of plan.  But not game.  We still continued with Batailles de l'Ancien Regimes and a small(er) game.

The scenario was loosely based on the historic battle of Mollwitz in 1741 during the First Silesian War.  The table and OB comes from the book and rules that got me hooked on miniature gaming decades ago, The Wargame by Charles Grant, Sr.  However, with our timeframe and lack of helping hands I cut it further in half.  The Rondovians (Prussians) have an advantage in infantry numbers and quality with a sixty man unit of grenadiers, while the Venarians (Austrians) have twice the cavalry.

Movement and firing are card driven with brigade activation for this particular game.  Hits are given out in large numbers but saving throws mitigate the damage.  Sometimes.  To the game!

The Venarian army marching to battle.

Looking down the length of the table, cavalry in the distance.

The Rondovian perspective.

Each side was organized into three brigades so card turning would be equal.  The first three movement cards drawn were red so the Rondovians got/had to commit early. 

Cavalry moves aggressively from the start.

But the Rondovians initiate melee.

Reserve squadrons add weight to the melee.

Unlike the movement, when we got into firing range all the first fires favored the Venarians.  For almost the entire game.  This in spite of the fact I was playing the Venarians.  People have been saying for a long time that I love the game but the cards and dice hate me.  So even though I was running the cavalry I was gratified to see us shooting first.

Both sides have the challenge of forming lines from columns.

When the lines were set, both sides advanced.

Even though the Rondovians had more and heavier artillery ours got into action first and with effect.  Coupled with good vollies and poor saving throws the numeric advantage held by the enemy almost evaporated early.

Despite outnumbering the Rondovians my poor saves kept them
in the game.

The cavalry melees swirled about and one Rondovian squadron was able to charge into the flank of an advancing Venarian unit.  Great saves by the infantry and average saves by the cavalry led to a tied melee and the cavalry bounced back.

In order to get into the line, one reserve formation formed the
rare four-rank line.  Shooting cards continue to favor us.

The Rondovian attack on our left has been thrown back.

Charge and counter charge!  With a flank attack for good measure.

All the Rondovian cavalry is routed or at 25% strength.

The Venarian light cavalry charged into the flank of a possibly over-aggressive Rondovian unit.  I had no expectation of winning, but I had armored cuirassiers waiting for the next round after they were disordered by melee.

The rump of the Rondovian grenadiers look across the field.

"There's still a chance..."

As the center routed away, the chance ended.

We wrapped it at this point.  Had it been a campaign game we'd have continued for the body count but as it was the outcome was clear.  The combination of firing cards and way below average saves early on helped our cause immensely.  What made the game appealing was the disparity in infantry and cavalry set each side with the challenge of playing to their strength and minimizing their weaknesses.  Fun time for the five of us.  Gathered at 12:30, clear result and picked up by 4:00.  Perfect.