Tundra Con 2022

On January 8th, 2022 we held the 7th Tundra Con at the American Legion Hall, always on the weekend after New Years.  With the surge in COVID variants we didn't know what to expect but wanted to forge ahead anyway and let people decide for themselves about their risk comfort level.  In the end we were below average for attendance, but did better than expected.  The Legion Hall is ideal for a one-day convention, featuring adequate space and food and refreshments available on site.  This year they had an expanded menu of specials for us.

We had eleven game masters running an assortment of games on land, sea, air and the dungeon.  Participants paid a $10 fee and could play in as many games as desired.  Some games were longer than others but many played three games and all could get in two.  Take a look at the pictures below to get a feel for the day.   

Battle of Midway, a possible surface action with 
Naval Thunder, Adam Apell game master.  Savo Island
followed on the same table.

Walking in a Winter Killing Field with Flames of
War, Michael Mathews game master.

Relief of Fort Kasala with The Sword and the Flame,
Greg Miller game master.

Battle Tech Grinder - A Learning Game

Battle of Lake Takitwithya with Drums Along the
Mohawk, Todd Prochniak game master.

Bolt Action demo games all day.

Encounter Appleton with All Quiet on the Martian 
Front, Bob Rondou game master.

Dan Verssen Games, one of our valued vendors.

LOD Enterprises, another regular vendor.  Not pictured,
Jadeco Hobby.

Action heating up in the Battle of the Bulge game.
Will Peiper take the bridge in time?

British relief column vs. the Mahdi looking to rescue
the Egyptian garrison and missionaries.

Ireland Forever, Maybe! with Nevermind the Billhooks,
Todd Prochniak game master.

Invasion at Normandy with Memoir '44, Todd
Chirhart game master.

Rescue and Ambush with Flames of War 'Nam.  Paul
Alaniz game master.  One of three tables.

Relief just needs to drive down this road to rescue
the L,R.P.S. team.  No problem, right?

NVA regulars intercept and engage the now distracted
US armor.

Puff the Magic Dragon and heavy air is available
to support the drive.

A heavy toll is exacted, but the insurgents win in 
the end.

Shadows of Brimstone, Alex Drumm game master.

 

A view of the Legion Hall in the morning.

Yes, I was even seen smiling.

Not pictured are the evening games of Wings of War with Bob Rondau and Mind the Gap with Armageddon '89 with Dan Wideman.

Finally, a shout out to the American Legion Post #38 who has worked with us for years to bring this event to life, and to the men and women who have served with honor.

Mars Attacks - the 2nd Wave

 Squinting through the viewport Captain Lambert commanded his eyes to penetrate the haze in the distance.  "I'm sure I saw movement out there."  Instinct won out over uncertainty.  "Runners!  And crank up the phones!"

For those familiar with the classic "War of the Worlds," All Quiet on the Martian Front represents the 2nd wave of Martian invasion.  In the intervening time both sides have made improvements and preparations.  The humans, in this case Americans, have steam powered tanks, armored infantry (think old style diving suits), long range artillery and gimmick attacks intended to immobilize the Martian walkers.  Think ATATs in The Empire Strikes Back.

The Martians have the heavily armored tripod walkers, armed with medium or heavy "heat rays" and black gas generators.  In our game they also chose a "Slaver" which was armed but also controlled three unmanned drones and two units of lobotomized humans.  The range for controlling them was limited and it would turn out to be critical.  

Each turn the sides dice for initiative and declaring who moves first.  After a movement phase for both sides, there is shooting, followed by another movement or assault phase.  

The Martians move into the clear.  Earthers are mostly
hidden.

A trio of guns with twice the range of anything else
and some infantry are all that is visible.

Cranking up the steam, three tanks, each with three
cannons, move, fire and retire behind the hill.

From the official post-action report: "We were immediately blessed when one tripod turned, just in time to receive a shell squarely in it's hood, detonating with a tremendous roar, sending metal and bits of Martian flying in all directions."

Infantry aggressively assaulted the drones with rifles
and grenades.  Taking out one drone.

The human slave infantry, drones and heat rays
decimated the two infantry units in return.  The red
blob in the upper right represents the destroyed tripod.

Amazingly, as the infantry routs away, the long range
artillery hits, penetrates and another tripod goes down.
A "forlorn hope" fails to hook a tripod on the right.

All day the human tanks were able to pop up, shoot 
and retire to cover.

Finding infantry hiding in the woods the tripods
gang up to eliminate them.

The earthers got lucky again here.  A serious mobility hit was registered on the Slaver tripod.  Each time the Martians wanted to move there was a dice-off.  If they won they got to move, if the humans won we moved it.  For two out of three tries the humans won and moved it away from their drones and lobotomized slaves.  Being out of control they reverted to the standing order, shoot at anything within 6".  Destroying another Martian unit.

The Rough Riders race out to entangle a tripod with
wires, along with some gun hits.  It became very easy
to hit and chunks of armor were flying off.

The Slaver tripod is walked to the back of the table
and the immobilized tripod is doomed.  Drones and
lobotomized humans have been eliminated.

And so, much diminished in numbers, the Martians retired, leaving the military to gather the bits and ashes, and prepare for the next round.  Each side had a break point assigned, based on the number of units they had at the start.  While the humans shot well, the Martian players did themselves in when resolving the few penetrating hits.  But, we all know the bad guys keep coming back for more, so I'm sure a rematch is coming.