From: "Lou Coatney" Subject: For www.Grognard.com: 1998 Cons: Spring Offensive (Peoria IL) and ... ... At-Last-A-Con (St. Louis MO) Peoria, Friday evening, 17Apr98, Spring Offensive I wasn't exactly sure when my event was supposed to start, Friday evening, but I left Macomb early and arrived at the Illinois Central College campus between Peoria and Washington at about 5:20. I'd like to get my hands on the architect and/or traffic engineer responsible for the maze you encounter there, and I finally made it to the registration desk at about 5:40, to find that my game was scheduled for 5:30! (I didn't see MilHst-L co-moderator Steve Alvin at the convention, although he is an ICC instructor.) No problem. Everyone was still there, including my old Western Illinois University friend Bob Klannukarn, waiting with great expectations. Dave ... of the excellent Game Room in Washington (TheGameRoom@MWOnline.net) ... is the convention sponsor/organizer. There were 9 of us(!), and Dave had set aside the far end of the lobby in front of the ICC admin offices for us to spread out ... which we did after I roped off the area. With so many players ... all of them new, I believe ... we subdivided the ships. I retained control of PERTH and BOISE, Bob was with the Japanese and commanded the fast battleship HARUNA. Having learned traumatic lessons at Little Wars, I counseled my fellow Allied captains to keep the "Long Lance" sporting Japanese cruisers and destroyers at arm's length. I also urged that we too keep our ships together (assuming the Japanese would). The game thus began and remained for a time at long range ... to the frustration of the Japanese. I might mention that the sun was setting, and we got a firsthand sensation of what it must be like trying to see/target an enemy with the sun directly in our eyes. Also, our PRINCE OF WALES captain had trouble getting any hits and kept noting this for everyone's benefit. ?? :-) Then the Japanese destroyer commander broke off from the main body, apparently trying to set up a torpedo crossfire. Without forewarning my cohorts, I pulled PERTH and BOISE 180 degrees about and began (warily) taking them under fire. An Allied destroyer commander, Alex Estrada, followed me south. A couple of turns later, though, so did *HARUNA* ... like a hungry, interested lion. All this time, our battleship captains had been banging away at KONGO and the Japanese cruisers, shifting (and thus penalizing) their fire frequently, with little or no results. Then KONGO's captain decided to head directly for PRINCE OF WALES and HOOD to close the range and gain hits. Of course, the range closure was mutual, and before he could score, they were pounding KONGO to junk which soon sank, leaving heavy cruisers ATAGO and TAKAO at their mercy. (Note that I had been careful to maneuver my light cruisers to the far side of the battle area from the Japanese heavies, this time.) Our game was then interrupted by a *very* shapely young ICC administrator ... in a cling white sweater ... and friend who were looking/waiting for a janitor to open their office for them. With great amusement and courtesy, she declined my invitation to join our game. (She was also wearing a wedding ring, so .... :-( ) My light cruisers had been happily mangling the errant Japanese destroyers ... as was their designed intent ... when HARUNA started firing bow/ranging salvoes to spoil our party. I immediately broke off firing and beat-feet east, with Bob/HARUNA in eager pursuit. However, Alex seized this closure opportunity to make a Balaclava- style torpedo charge on HARUNA! In the meantime, Bob lobbed another "exploratory" rear 14" battery salvo at HOOD ... within 2/3s range ... and CONNECTED! :-o ... with maximum possible damage!! (If HOOD had been just a little farther, he would have gotten plunging fire penetration, to boot.) And on that very (following) damage control phase, HOOD's Heavy Damage "worsened" (despite the "good" Commonwealth damage control) and she sank!! Despite tertiary, secondary, and then even *main* battery firing by an increasingly desperate HARUNA (and Bob), Alex's destroyers bore in and finally boxed H. with a 4-torpedo spread! ... :-) ... all of which missed!! :-(( The lobby had to be cleared by 10 PM, so we started picking up. We had gotten through about 12 (?) turns in 3 hours, maintaining the 3:1 time ratio I/we experienced at Little Wars. With Allied ammo running short, the destroyers mangled, and KONGO for HOOD, we figured a slight Japanese tactical victory, plus Japanese strategic victory. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, no models had been damaged (again!), and my BOISE finally had an IJN destroyer's scalp under her belt. My thanks to Dave, his fair lady, and the Spring Offensive staff, for all their effort and patience on behalf of mid-Illinois gamers. Spring Offensive is (and has always been) an excellent little con. This (1999) spring, it is April 9-11. St. Louis -- Ferguson, actually: After overnighting back in Macomb, I drove the 3 hours to At Last A Con ... to find that I was early, no one had signed up for my event, and that the con was lightly attended this year. Organizer Ray Runge said that *he* would be in the game and that Andrew Waller -- grandson of HMAS PERTH Captain Hector Waller (+) was expected to be there. I went ahead and spread out my model ships ... to the interest/curiosity of those present ... and waited for victims. Sure enough, Andrew arrived. He is a tall, rangy fellow -- proud of his family ... and of being a father himself -- of aristocratic bearing. He has a doctorate in *chemistry*. :-I I had made space for us on the floor, and we got right down to business. Andrew commanded HOOD and (of course) the light cruisers. Ray commanded PRINCE OF WALES and heavy cruiser EXETER, which I had included in case Andrew's older brother Richard *was* able to make the game. Andrew and ("Naval Action"-experienced) Ray proved to be wily opponents. They waltzed back and forth, in and out of my torpedo range, baiting me to expend all my destroyers' torpedoes and most of my shells. I did nail HMAS VAMPIRE with a longrange torpedo hit, though, and EXETER was slowed with Heavy Damage (a la Java Sea, historically). It was intriguing to watch the Allied ships making mass/flank turns/maneuvers ... rather like watching schools of fish turning and dodging en masse. Ray and Andrew quickly caught on to the possibilities of having their ships "evasively maneuver" individually -- chasing salvoes, etc., thereby penalizing my shooting at long range *decisively* ... which I haven't heretofore appreciated, it seems. I had very unwisely intermixed KONGO and HARUNA with my heavy cruisers, obstructing the latters' torpedo-fire among other things, and in the south ... again ... hmmm ... our destroyers closed. My superior destroyers decimated theirs ... until BOISE got into the act, coming out of evasive maneuvering and heading directly for my tin cans ... somehow eluding all the 8" salvoes in her direction ... and Andrew directly closed one of the Allied destroyers and skewered one of mine with a precisely aimed torpedo spread. In the meantime, KONGO was staggered with damage from PRINCE OF WALES (?), which she somehow immediately recovered from (considering the "poor" Japanese damage control). Again, the large scale of the models adds greatly to player enjoyment, it seems, and both Andrew and Ray (who has a digital camera) got some good shots of the situation and the models themselves. They seemed to think the cardstock models hold their own in appearance alongside the plastic ones. (Hey! I'm prejudiced: I agree! :-) ) After 11 turns, the Allied battle line ... having pulled my Long Lance "fangs," as Andrew put it ... turned to make an end run in the south. I had few torpedoes and shells left to stop them. We called the game a tactical draw and Allied strategic victory. We had played about 3.5 hours. Afterwards, Andrew told me that Richard is actually the *naval* historian in the family ... not that Andrew himself doesn't know every detail and major factor of early Pacific War naval operations himself ... and had coached him on what strategy to use in our battle. When Andrew indicated that Richard too would relish a game sometime, I began to understand how the troll in "Three Billy Goats' Gruff" really felt. :-I :-) Andrew then gave me a copy of the launching ceremony brochure for HMAS WALLER, the conventional Australian attack submarine. His mom -- a bonafide English(-Australian) beauty -- smashed the champagne bottle on WALLER's bow, and Australia had the whole Waller family there. (Andrew's dad is an engineer of some sort, also: a very productive family.) I noticed how intently Andrew played the game, and it was both meaningful and eerie having present/participating a descendant of an Australian national hero of this desperate chapter of human history. In any case, I think CAPT Waller would have approved of how capably Andrew handled his ship(s. PERTH led the formation and consequently was a secondary/neglected target at long range, until HARUNA flung a futile salvo at her toward the end. Andrew says that CAPT Waller liked to handle PERTH like a destroyer, tactically.) I don't know if there will be another At Last A Con this (1999) year. Exhausted but having enjoyed the weekend immensely, I somehow stayed awake behind the wheel, the 3 hours back to Macomb, to crash and sleep for the rest of the weekend rather like Jack Ryan at the close of "The Hunt for RED OCTOBER." Lou Coatney, ElCoat@Hotmail.com 626 Western Ave. Macomb, IL 61455 USA 309-836-1447 (but I cannot afford to return long-distance calls) http://members.Tripod.com/~LCoat (Free "1st Alamein" lunch-hour boardgame and cardstock model ship( plan)s--of USS MONITOR and SAMUEL B. BUTLER Destroyer Escort--to print off, assemble and play ... with.) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com