The H.A.W.K.’s held their BARRAGE convention in Havre de Grace, Maryland at the end of September 2018. They had over 70 gaming events, and it had been on my “hoping to attend” list for most of 2018. Also on my wish list was to be able to run my “Attack of the Warbots” game using the Combat Patrol™ card-based system. I was hoping to attend but was unsure (for several reasons) up to a week beforehand as to whether I was going to be able to go or not. In the end, the stars aligned, and I also got to run my game! Box checked!
There was a lot going on here – and I saw a lot of great games. The following is just a snippet, through my eyes, of the experiences that I had. The games and the game masters that I saw did an incredible job. Truly impressive. Certainly, the H.A.W.K.’s put on a great gaming convention and my kudos to all of them and the other game masters.
I started on Friday with running my latest iteration of “Attack of the Warbots” with my Archive, Mega Miniatures, and Wargames Supply Dump figures, all of which are OOP. I had seven players, with three on the Warbot side, and four on the defending side. Of note, I was lucky to have had as players both Buck Surdu (my old West Point buddy and the author of the Combat Patrol™ rules) and Dave Wood (my old West Point roommate who introduced me to tabletop gaming in 1982). I also had the good fortune to have Greg Priebe playing alongside Buck – and Greg wrote the Star Wars supplement for Combat Patrol™. Buck is very fond of ducks (in a good way of course), and was in command of Duck Wader and some Star Ducks, while Dave was on the Warbot side with a couple of Mark 1 Sphere tanks. Greg commanded the Aphids and the Frinx. A few other players were there but I did not get their names (sorry). The Warbots needed to recapture a lost Mark 1 before the defenders could repair it and get it off the board.
I then turned into a player, and decided to try a Lion Rampant game ably run by Philip Jones. We were the Vikings who had seized prelates, monks, and treasure in a raid, and were trying to escape to their longship, while being pursued and blocked by Welsh troops.
Our casualties mounted! The game points were tallied, and rightly called for the Welsh. I did find the system fun, and Philip ran the game in a very fun way.
After this, I was walking around, and was recruited for a “What a Tanker” game run by Brian Lipscomb. It was set in North Africa, 15mm scale, with the British set against the Germans and Italians. Brian asked if I wanted to have a German or Italian tank. Being a sucker for a challenge, I of course said Italian. I was given a Fiat M13/40 tank.
Needless to say, I really enjoyed this game and the mechanics. Brian is a superb GM. More on that in a bit…but this was a fun way to end Friday!
On Saturday, I had really looked forward to playing Buck’s Sea Lion game. There weren’t enough players, so it was called, BUT I wanted to share the unbelievably beautiful game set up. Buck will run this game at Fall In and you can read about a play test of the game here.
So again, I wandered around, and saw another Brian Lipscomb “What a Tanker” game, this time set on the Eastern Front. After Friday, I was happy to give it another go. I was teamed with two others who had not previously played the game. We had a certain number of points, so I volunteered to take a lesser tank (a T-70 light tank) so that they could have better ones – in this case a T-34 and an SU-76.
At this point, Don Hogge and Buck Surdu visited the table put up a dollar each for anyone to kill me! Talk about motivation! We were being outmaneuvered by the Germans at this point, so I moved back and used my kill points to upgrade my T-70 to an SU-85.
The scenario that Brian devised also had infantry (controlled by him as the GM and using a random events chart) – with the town as an objective. I used the SU-85 to hammer the German infantry as Soviet infantry was arriving. I killed four stands and got a bunch of kill points. I reminded my teammates that I had started off as a T-70, and they gave me one extra kill point, which allowed me to get a monster ISU-152. At the same time, the Germans were reinforced with a Jagdpanther and a Sturmgeschutz III.
Immediately I maneuvered the ISU-152 to hit more infantry. The Germans decided to try to get me with their Jagdpanther and the Sturmgeschutz III. I moved my tank destroyer next to a building to face the Jagdpanther down the main street. He fired.
He missed!
I returned fire and destroyed the German tank destroyer.
At this point, the Sturmgeschutz III was maneuvering to get a flank or rear shot on me. As the ISU-152 is very heavy and slow, I was only able to spin to face the Sturmgeschutz III. It was a question of initiative – and I got it, hit the German assault gun, and got kill #6 for the weekend (and the $2 bounty on me!).
I then participated in a play test for a near future warfare scenario using cyber warfare with the Look Sarge No Charts system. It was run by Dave Wood and was interesting to do.
Every BARRAGE there is a pickup WWI air combat game that is a hoot. I’ve never managed to get a kill in the game before, but I did this year as a German. Eventually, I got shot up and had to glide home.
The last tabletop game that I played in was a First Boer War Combat Patrol™ game. I was on the Boer side and we had to defend our wagon from being seized by the British. The game was fun, but there was a low point. We had a couple of players from New Jersey who vanished mid-game without so much as a notice that they were leaving. I think they hated defending. Anyways, we struggled on and ended up winning the game. The other players were great sports, and were great company.
After this game at the end of the con, I got to play in the traditional LARP pirate game. I had a nerf crossbow (treated by the GM as a musket) that took out Buck with a shot to the glutes. My weapon later misfired, and the resultant damage took me out. That LARP is always a fun game though!
The flea market presented many vendors and items for sale. I grabbed a Verdun game that I had last played with a gaming club in Monterey, CA in 1985! I’m not sure when I will get to play it, or with whom, but it was OOP in 1985, so a nice find! Buck and I visited the Verdun battlefield in 1987 or so, so it was nice to get this game here.
I must congratulate again the H.A.W.K.’s on a well-run con. Little Wars TV attended and filmed so you can see more of the convention here.
Thanks for looking and as always, I love any feedback!
Mark A. Morin 
Thanks for running the game, Ma’k. It was a lot of fun. Glad you could attend Barrage.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your Duck Wader assault was epic, followed by close assaulting the tanks with satchel charges. I had a blast.
LikeLike
Glad you got to attend and that those warbots saw some action!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was fun, and lots of mayhem ensued!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks like you had a great time. Some good looking games there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks it was fun to see all of them, let alone play in them. These guys set a high bar for sure.
LikeLike
Sounds like an awesome weekend mate – so many gorgeous games, and I’m glad you enjoyed ‘what a tanker’ so much! I had a 40k flavoured game of that in the summer, and it was great fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I gotta look at getting myself into that game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like you enjoyed it, Mark, so glad you got there! Enjoyed seeing your game played again on that nice mat with your great troops and scenery! I enjoyed reading Chris’ post on Barrage and watching the Little wars TV video as well!
I can’t believe you were that lucky with an M13/40 – on that basis, you’re unlikely to win any more games this year!
Cheers,
John
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, luck was involved for sure BUT it helps to have an appreciation for terrain and maneuver. And John, thanks for my excuse for losing for the rest of the year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
FYI, there were two different Brians there running those games. Brian Lipscomb ran the North Africa game and I (Brian Cantwell) had the Eastern Front game. Obviously we shared a lot of the set up and such.
The M13/40 is not a total slouch in 1942. Sure the armor is pretty crappy and it’s not as fast as the Honey or Crusader, but the 47mm main gun packs a bigger punch than the 37mm or 2 pdr. You found the secret to overcoming that liability – just don’t get hit 🙂
Enjoyed having you in both of the games Mark. Your duel with the Jagdpanther was a lot of fun to watch. I thought he might have you when your first shot glanced off his armor, but then he whiffed and you crushed him with that next shot.
Hope to see you at Barrage next year (or before)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry for the confusion on my part Brian – you certainly were both impressive GM’s, and you asked me to try to play, and I am so happy you did. Of course any weapon system is only as good as the training of its users and the doctrine of its implementation. One would only need to look at how the French used armor in 1940 to see that! My impression of Italian armor (outside of the Semovente) was low, so I thought it would be fun to try the M13/40 in your game, and man I am glad I did. The ISU-152/Jagdpanther duel was epic, and will stick with me for a while. I know you told me that you got your tanks from someone in Tennessee who was clearing out his stuff. Are those still available from a manufacturer in that scale?
Anyways, hope to see you and the other Brian again too. Best, Mark
LikeLike
Despite the simple mechanics, What a Tanker so far passes my #1 historical game litmus test – do you get historically reasonable results when you do historical things. You did those things and had success.
Both of our games are in 15mm scale and in that you can find almost every armored vehicle that fought in WWII. Most of the vehicles in my game were either Old Glory or Quality Castings, both of which are definitely still alive and kicking. Old Glory (www.oldgloryminiatures.com) gets a bit of a bum rap as some of the models can be a bit rough if they haven’t changed the molds lately, but they are decent (to sometimes excellent) and the price is right. Quality Castings (sold by http://www.oldglory15s.com) are very nice models but a little bit smaller and so less in favor these days. If those don’t grab you, you can look at the Flames of War line, Peter Pig, Forged in Battle, or a host of other smaller companies. Also, if you don’t mind (or prefer) plastics, Plastic Soldier Company and Zvezda do nice 1:100 tanks (most “15mm” tanks are nominally 1:100). People play What a Tanker in a variety of scales, but I like 15mm as it looks pretty good, is affordable (meaning I can have a wide variety of stuff for the same $$, even when not receiving generous gifts from Bob), and gives you plenty of maneuver room, even if not using a huge convention size table like we had.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks much. I do agree with you on the historical assessment. I think I’m going to have to get on that bandwagon. Would be a great addition to my club’s gaming sessions!
LikeLike
Busy weekend man hehe you had a ball.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post- looks like you played in some great games with great people- what gaming is about at the end of the day.
Really pleased to hear that your own game went down so well.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Pete, my game was a personal goal that I was happy to achieve,
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was born 1985… damn. Looks like it was fun. Verdun in my language means dilute🙂. Like the pictures. Thank you for sharing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked the post savageddt! Don’t worry, my daughter is your age (and she plays). I studied the Battle of Verdun at West Point and even wrote a paper on it (also before you were born) 😁.
On a serious note it was a horrible place to be a soldier in 1915. The ossuary there is heartbreaking.
LikeLike
Looks like you had a great weekend Mark, though a bit non-stop by the sound of it!
Lovely pictures by the way.
Cheers Roger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, it was indeed. Thanks Roger, glad you liked the pics. Best, Mark
LikeLike
Looks like quite the weekend, Mark. Good to see how well (and how good looking) your game was, and I’ll have to have a look at What a Tanker (because I really need more rules systems to never get around to playing…) Shame about Buck’s game – the table certainly looks amazing in the photos, but good to hear he’ll be able to run it still, albeit a bit later.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah, Buck will run his game at Fall In. It was just a work of art, really, to see all the elements he had there. His club (H.A.W.K.’s) runs a ton of games there, and one day I hope to make it to that convention. Glad you liked the game as the mat you helped me find was a hit. I’m definitely getting What a Tanker. Simple system but very fun, and passed the “realistic” test as Brian said above. Of course, after I get it I’ll need tanks and commit to a scale, which means terrain. But for a game anyone can learn and play in no time it’s tough to beat.
LikeLike
Great setup for your game, the new terrain and mat, just take it to the next level. I gather it was a hit?
I also really liked the magnetic unit sheet idea. I’ve thought about something along those lines for different games, but never got around to it. Problem is, I’d have to magnetize the pieces, etc. and I have too many games that would need it. Ah, well. Start small, right?
Sounds you like you had a blast. Glad you got to go, and share with us in turn!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks on my game Faust, it did take it up a level, and I hope to run it again.
The magnetic sheets that the GM’s used for What a Tanker were very simple. He photocopied the data sheets and had a suitably shaped document protector that had a magnetic sheet already in it. So the data sheet just slid over the magnetic sheet and the magnets were on the outside. They were cheap magnets he got from Wal-Mart and painted. Looked super simple to make.
Thanks again for looking and the feedback!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the magnets would be most applicable to some board games, that use tokens to keep track of things by placing it in a sheet. The tokens almost always get knocked over and then it’s like “umm, I was on 11?!?”.
Yea, it’s an easy enough thing to do, but I’d probably do something super elaborate. Like laminated custom cardboard sheets with embedded metal sheets and magnet tokens. That’s why I should never start these things! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person