July 2015

July is in the books. My son and I enjoyed the trip to Historicon and played in some great games. Not too much on the painting front once again, but I did knock out a few small items.

PAINTING5x 15mm figures: 5 points
Tents and pillars: 5 points
TOTAL: 10 points

GAMES
7 games (6 at H'con and 1 at home)
plus 2 more games for JG at H'con

PURCHASES and BUDGET
$0 in the regular budget for the month, $1900 at Historicon ($100 under budget, significant portion of this is hotel, travel, and food), sold $400 worth of figures.

Total for the year: $2504, $446 under original budget. I am planning to keep remaining spending to less than $100 per month to close the year...down from my original $150/month plan. Target is <$3000 total for the year, that will be a 40% reduction from 2014!

A few items for Pulp...I added the crystal ball and statue...I think they look great,

Tents...will be used in the first scenario of Perilous Island.

5 figures! Blue Moon 3 Musketeers range, but can be used for fantasy or pirates projects.

Historicon 2015

Junior General and I made the trip to Historicon in Fredericksberg. Good time once again. Thanks to all the game masters especially Peter Anderson and David Wood. I played in some Field of Battle/Pulse of Battle and Look Sarge, No Charts games...my two favorite sets of rules for convention games. I always enjoy seeing the "Piquet Crew" and the HAWKS club members.

Trip down went smoothly with some traffic on the last 30 miles on I-95. Stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn again this year, just a short walk to the convention center. Food on site was passable...luckily there are plenty of places to eat close by and Wegmans has a great food bar/sandwich shop. Convention center meets the needs...restrooms still need a better upkeep plan during the day. Noise level is noticeable but I think this is at every convention. Vendor count seemed down to me...missing a few of my favorites such as On Military Matters, Splintered light Miniatures, and Rebel Minis. Flea market was OK...no great finds for me. I stayed within my budget this year. Trip home went even more smoothly since we left early Sunday morning.

I did notice a large increase in the number of kids at the convention, a great sign in my opinion.

We will not be able to attend next year due to a military commitment...looking forward to 2017.

Games:
-Gnome Wars
-Operation Cobra
-Ligny
-Zombies (JG)
-Hunger Games (JG)
-Zama
-Fantasy Battle
-Tomb Raid

Loot from the trip...lots of items to clutter the Pulp Alley table

A mix of pictures from our games:

Gnome Wars

Gnome Wars

Gnome Wars

Gnome Wars, my Evil Cultists at the fountain

Operation Cobra with LSNC

The high water mark...almost broke the line

Ligny with Field of Battle Rules, hosted by Peter Anderson

Zombies!

Pulp tomb raiding

Junior General in Hunger Games

Zama with Pulse of Battle rules, I faced off against Junior General

Last game of the convention hosted by David Wood with LSNC-Fantasy version

Junior General took the set of photos below:

 

Gnome Wars

He played in this Mein Zombie Game

Pennsylvania Pete in action

Pulp Alley action

Junior General and a friend asked me to play a Pulp Alley game...perfect opportunity to break out the new Pulp figures for their first battle. Game went smoothly...have to re-read the rules as I know I missed a few points.

The three leagues:
1- Chicago Crime Syndicate (JG)
2- Cult of Crazy (friend)
3- Tsar's Companions (me)

I used the basic scenario with my limited 28mm terrain. Main plot point is the mysterious child located at the top of the temple.

Corner of the regular gaming table...perfect for this size game.

Ivan goes down from a long range pistol shot...he would get back up and almost get me a tie

The Dutchess and Ivanka head for the pile of gold coins in the cave.

The Duke secures the hi-tech rocket after Boris gets knocked out.

Blazing away! The Cult secured some secret ingredients.

The ladies clash with some cultists...coming out on top for now.

Ivan is back on his feet headed for the gold nugget.

This cultist is happy to stay in the shadows with his prize.

Toughs fall like rain, but The Boss still holds the girl.

Ivan and Joe face off!

The Tsar will be pleased.

The battle comes to an end.

Wounded crime boss escorts the mysterious child to safety.

Junior General won 3-1-1 in the end. Great use of fortune and peril cards at the end to keep me from getting a 3rd point, and to knock out my side kick carrying another. Almost had the tie!