Kingdom of Katzenstein: Historicon 2014

Junior General and I are back from Fredericksburg, Virginia and a nice trip to Historicon.

Trip down and back from NJ took about 4 hours with minimal traffic. Avoid rush hour and I-95 is not as bad as people say. Food on site was passable, we used the Wegman's next door several times including getting breakfast items every day. Stayed at one of the 3 hotels next to the convention center. Not cheap, but convenient. Picking up pre-registration was a breeze and quickly done once the line opened. Dealer hall was active, very active on sat from my observation, but several vendors were missing including some of my favorites such as Splintered Light Miniatures, Rebel Miniatures, On Military Matters books, and The War Store. I think the ease of online purchases rather than any down turn in convention goers is more to blame. My two criticisms...no water coolers (might be a convention center rule) like at Cold Wars, and the bathrooms. Pay for an attendant to keep them clean (and the convention goers could do their own part too). Overall, while I would much rather have Historicon at Valley Forge an hour from home, we will be back next year. Info on games below...plus a shot of my loot at the end.

Special thanks to all the game masters...we were in some fantastic games and they were (almost) all superbly run. Junior General did have one game (not listed above) that did not go well..sci-fi game with some serious need of playtesting. I am proud that he stuck with it and was courteous in a very frustrating situation.

The Games-----

T-482 The Forsaken Inn

Fantasy; 10 AM; Length: 2 hrs; Hosted by: Del Stover; Scale: 25mm; Rules:
Games Workshop’s Lord of the Rings Battle System; No. of Players: 4.

A day’s journey east of Bree, the Forsaken Inn is a lonely way

stop for travelers who risk the Great East Road that runs from
the Shire to the Misty Mountains. Only a year after Bilbo
Baggins’ return from the Lonely Mountain, a young ranger
named Aragorn arrives at the inn with a warning that an orc
raiding party is approaching
JG played is this game and the forces of good prevailed. LotR rules played very quickly and the board was very nice.11 A

The Inn

JC ponders the defense.

Scaling ladders were a nice touch.

T-440 Rescue the Prince Theme

Fantasy; 2 PM; Length: 4 hrs; Hosted by: Dave Wood; Scale: 28mm; Rules:
Bear Yourselves Valiantly; No. of Players: 6.

The Elven commander knew that burning a goblin village would

teach them to stop raiding their land. But he miscalculated the
forces needed, and is now trapped in the village. The elves are
determined to rescue their forces (and would have been just as
determined, even if the commander wasn’t the prince.) Will the
relief force make to the camp? Or will the goblins retake the
village? With Bear Yourself Valiantly there are no large chart
cards to spoil the aesthetics of your game. Fight the battle, not
the rules.

I commanded the Bugbears as a part of an evil alliance. While we never captured the Elven Prince, we did keep him from being rescued. The LSNC series of rules make for great convention games.

My Bugbears on the hill face off with some Elves

We were having more fun than this picture would indicate

Trying to capture the Prince...he held up behind the stone walls

Bugbear Hill...almost surrounded

T-510 Anything Goes! Crazy Wild West

Shoot Out! ADDED
Western; 7 PM; Length: 4 hrs; Hosted by: Leo Walsh; Scale: 25mm; Rules:
High Noon; No. of Players: 12.

Bring your own figures (2 per person) or use mine. There is

an assortment. You will make up your own objectives, plans,

alliances.... even secret ones. The good, the bad, the ugly, and

people of any age or gender. Just remember you only get 2

figures! Kids should be able to understand and play on theirown, unless mom or dad wants to play too. Fast and crazy!

JG and I played in this since I did not get in the Downton Abbey AVBCW game.Every played had two figures and made up their own objective. Two teams quickly developed but I went it alone...my goal was to ride down the length of the board, pick up the pocket watch I dropped, and ride back to town. JG opened fire when I hit the ford, but I rode past with everyone starting to shoot at me. I convinced him to switch sides when I rode back...I lost my female sidekick, gunned down by the other kid playing the game. My main figure did accomplish his objective and won the game...after leaving JG's two turn coat figures to get shot up by his former friends.

A long road to ride

Trading shots with JC...I hit after he shot first

Lost one on the way back

Must be one valuable pocket watch

JG gets shot up at the end

F-447 Battle of Dertosa Theme

Ancients; 10 AM; Length: 3 hrs; Hosted by: James “Tank” Nickle; Scale:
10mm; Rules: Bear Yourselves Valiantly; No. of Players: 6.

The Scipio Brothers continue to harass Carthaginian territory

in Iberia. Hasdrubal Barca leads his Libyan and Iberian
infantry and elephants against two Roman legions and
auxiliaries on the south bank of the Ebro river near the town
of Dertosa. Hasdrubal is planning to make his own Cannae
but will he have the leadership to pull it off or get crushed
in the attempt. The Bear Yourselves Valiantly Rules are
newly released

I led the right flank legion to victory in a close fought battle. The opposite flank involved a massive cavalry and elephant battle that went back and forth until the elephant's rampaged away. Our center steadily pushed the enemy back while I attacked aggressively. I traded losses with my opponent around the hill and drew over the enemy reinforcements from the center. A victory for Rome, but not enough to crush Carthage.

The fantasy/ancients version of the Look Sarge, No Charts (LSNC) rules are expected to be out in the Fall. I like them a lot...nice mechanics and fast playing.

My Hastati take the hill to kick things off

Battle lines close

Steady progress as the second line gets into action...the enemy began to fail morale

F-217 Search for the Statue of Isis - A

Pennslyvania Pete Adventure
Modern; 10 AM; Length: 4 hrs; Hosted by: Annemarie D’Amato; Scale:
25mm; Rules: Homebrew; No. of Players: 4.

The world famous PA Pete is at it again. This time in the

recently found Tombs of Two-Ton Kommen. He is searching
for the lost Statue of Isis. The tomb is a maze of rooms that are
waiting to be explored. What mysteries and adventures are JG played in this game after having such fun at Cold Wars. His Arab band made it almost to the end before going down in a hard fight that involved killing one of his own guys with the dynamite he planted...friendly fire :)
Annemarie puts on a fast paced convention game...great for kids or anyone just in the mood for a lighter game.

Tomb complex is amazing

BOOM! One dead Arab.

F-419 Battle of Five Armies Theme

Fantasy; 7 PM; Length: 4 hrs; Hosted by: Chris Palmer; Scale: 10mm; Rules:
Bear Yourselves Valiantly; No. of Players: 7.

The classic battle from the end of The Hobbit. Elves, Dwarves,

and Men, fight off a horde of Goblins and Wargs for control

of the Lonely Mountain and the wealth it contains. Throw in

some giant eagles and a huge angry bear as well. Come try out
our new, soon to be published, rules for fantasy mass combat.
Children under 14 with playing adult only. My Goblin warband could not help defeat the Alliance of men, Dwarves, and Elves. We had a traffic jam with wargs running all over the place. I took the hill in the first picture, but the Elven spearmen and archers held on until the Dwarves crossed the river to threaten my flank. Victory to the forces of good.

The hill would be the focal point of combat on this side

Wargs in the foreground would be more of a problem to my goblins than the enemy

Morale fails...Goblins begin to stream from the field

Dwarves crossing the river on my flank spelled the end

S-168 The Emperor Strikes Back -

Battle of Montmirail, February 11,

1814
Napoleonic; 10 AM; Length: 5 hrs; Hosted by: Peter Anderson; Scale: 25mm;
Rules: Field of Battle, 2nd edition by Brent Oman/Piquet; No. of Players: 8.

Awakening from the doldrums that afflicted him after Leipzig,

Napoleon waged a brilliant “Six Days Campaign) in France.

At Montmirail he pounces upon Sacken’s isolated Corps
with virtually the entire Old and Middle Guard, while York’s
Prussians attempt to succor their Russian allies in a classic
contest of Quality vs. Quantity. Kids age 14 and above welcome. JG and I took on the task of commanding the Guard Cavalry. His command on the far right would take a pounding (worst die rolling I have seen) but he held on after some close calls with failing morale (he is getting used to not having it all go your way). He did make a successful counterattack in the end and he held the arriving Prussians in place. Meanwhile, I led the cream of the crop forward into the Russian cavalry...only to initially get stopped cold. A second round of charges swept the Russians from the field and threatened their flank. Napoleon had ordered the rest of the army forward and after a hard fought slugging match (both sides out of morale pips at one point), the Russians broke and the Empire survived another day.

That's a lot of sabres

The lines close

JG had more success with the Lancers as they overrun some Russian guns (saving me from their fire)

See-saw cavalry battle lasted most of the game

Russians almost gained the flank, but JG held on

Old Guard Cavalry thunder forward

JG pivoted to protect the flank from some pesky Hussars

The end of the Russian cavalry

Fierce fighting for the town

Prussians arriving on the flank

My cavalry face the enemy flank...only their general is left on the field

VICTORY!

S-303 Zombie Town
Modern Horror; 4 PM; Length: 4 hrs; Hosted by: Nick Leyva; Scale: 12mm;
Rules: Mein Zombie; Sponsor: Old Dominion GameWorks; No. of Players: 8.

This is a game designed to teach the rules for Mein Zombies.

The dead have risen, and you’ve somehow managed to last
longer than most. Now your supplies are running low, the
ammo’s beginning to dry up, and you and your fellow survivors

need to find a way out. Can you call for help in time to survive?

Rules Taught. Beginners Welcome.
At JG's suggestion, we joined a Zombie game...had a fantastic time. Nick ran a great game and everyone at the table was very engaged. One young man provided constant entertainment (both in and out of character) while we fought our way to the objective. We finally reached the building and fought our way to the top as time expired in the game...mission accomplished but we lost the valiant Jeff (for the second time) when he led the way up the stairs at the end. We all cheered him on as he died to save the girl. Then we cut off his head so he would not become a zombie.