Historicon 2008
I am back from Historicon and I had a blast. I only attended on Saturday to take in a few games I was interested in as well as to go shopping in the massive dealer room. In fact, I spent pretty much the entire morning working my way through trying very hard to keep my wallet in my pocket. By the time I got to the Iron Wind Metals booth, I could last no longer.
Here are a few quick pictures of the Battletech miniature display. As always, Iron Wind Metals brought with them some amazingly painted miniatures. Makes my 2nd Freemen (keep reading for more on that…) look like crap on a hex.
Please bear with me for the rest this post as I will be talking about a few game systems that have little to do with Classic Battletech. (You mean their are games out there besides CBT? GASP!)
Painting Contest
Historicon has a bring in painting contest each year to go along with their epic Iron Paintbrush challenge (paint a given mini in one hour using tools on hand!). I decided to toss my hat in the ring in the Single Figure Other category. Other simply means non-historical. Therefore, I was pitted against all the other fantasy and sci-fi minis.
Here is my entry, a Flashman in Second Freemen colors. I am proud to say that I got second place. Keep in mind that there were only five or so entries in my category.
CBT Grinder and Benjamin Take 1
The morning session of games had a Grinder and a big game featuring the Draconis Combine versus the Word of Blake.
I sat down for the Grinder before heading off to lunch. I randomly selected a Cougar A to start off with and I made the most of it. I ended up getting four kills before prematurely ejecting because I was hungry.
Combat!
The crying shame of the convention was that I forgot to take any pictures of this gaming session. I was having so much fun actually playing that I just forgot.
Combat! is a lightweight WWII skirmish game that cares more about the individual soldiers, like Vinny who wants to run a car wash after it’s all over, than the exact specifications of weapons, grenades, and the like.
The system is fast and easy to learn and works using a deck of cards, a system I found very clever. The game itself is being developed and tested and may be available commercially sometime next year. If it does go to print I will be sure to pick up a copy. It is a fun system that you can play with your friends when you need a break from Classic Battletech.
Iron Winds of War – The Peasants are Revolting!
Iron Winds of War is a light weight fantasy and medieval ruleset sponsored by Iron Wind Metals. The rules are based on Rules According to Ral, ala Ral Partha.
The game itself plays very fast while providing a good amount of strategy. In about two and a half hours, we fought a huge battle to an acceptable conclusion.
The scenario we played involved a peasant uprising. Seems the ‘Man’ has been drunk on power and has been spending all his free time oppressing the poor serfs. The ‘Man’, represented by a Bishop looking character is out and about when the peasants, helped by a group of rebel warriors and a mysterious group of black clad knights, finally have enough and decide to do in the Bishop.
The stage is set. The Bishop is caught away from his castle with an imposing group of rebels in his way looking to slit his throat. The battle commenced and casualties started to pile up. Through most of the game, the Bishop was heavily protected by a group of four foot knight units. Near the end of the game, after a series of disastrous personal challenges, the Bishop was forced out of hiding to rally routed units.
In the end, the peasants did not have the lasting power to close in on the Bishop and they fled only to be oppressed some more.
I played on the side of the Bishop’s forces in the scenario. I apologize to my opponents for rolling so damn well. Seriously, I wish I could roll as well during my Battletech games. I’d be getting headshots every other hit. And then there was the single mounted knight that just… wouldn’t… die… It fought off a full strength group of warriors three times!
Good game. Good enough for me to go out and buy a few clamshells from the Iron Wind Metals booth. I am not going to be giving up CBT for anything but this is a fast game that would be easy to buy into once and be able to play with friends for those Battletech breaks.
More CBT, Grand Melee and Benjamin Take 2
My hat goes off to Commando ‘Speck‘ again for a great con. His games are always well attended and he does a fantastic job bringing CBT to the masses. There had to be almost twenty people participating in the two evening events, maybe more. I didn’t end up staying till the wee hours. I had to get back home before it got too unreasonable an hour. All together a great Con. I am looking forward to many more!
