David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 6:12 pm (#22799 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day One Part The First Saturday morning I got up early, packed a lunch, and loaded up my Napoleonic minis and terrain for the ride down the Peninsula to KublaCon, held at the Hyatt Regency Burlingame. She Who Must Be Obeyed let me borrow her SCA wagon to cart my boxes of figs and terrain, which proved a big help, as I was running a game of the Battle of Mockern, using Napoleon's Battles rules. Got down there, parked (I was worried about parking, but I was able to get the exact same spot in the hotel garage both days--$5 each day, so not bad), reported in to the registration desk, got my free Kubla pin, then headed in to set up. Bigger table than at ConQuestSAC (where I ran the same game), so I had a bit more room to spread out. Mockern is the northern slice of the Battle of Leipzig, fought on 16 October 1813. Basically, Napoleon tried to crush the Army of Bohemia south of Leipzig before the other Allied armies could join it, and tried to pull troops from north of the city to help; the unexpected arrival of Blucher's Army of Silesia north of town pulled Marmont's VI Corps and other troops away from Boney's battle and into another one over Mockern. When I ran the game at ConQuestSAC, I used a morning start time, which resulted in a lot of marching about but little combat (the Prussians in particular did almost no fighting). I did some reading after that, and found that the historical battle began around 2 PM (Blucher, acting cautiously, waited until Yorck's Prussians and Langeron's Russian wing were up before attacking), so I decided to go with a 1 PM start and have everyone on the field save Delmas' division of the French III Corps, which arrived around 4 PM. I got four players in all, one of whom was an experienced Napoleon's Battles player. He proved a big help with the rules, and took the French VI Corps. Another player took the Polish division (from VIII Corps), holding the town of Widdersitch on the right flank, and the French cavalry left behind by III and IV Corps. One player each took the Russians (arrayed before the Poles) and Prussians (deployed in front of Marmont). A good game. I won't go into the details of the action (I find it harder to recall those if I'm not in the fight). Suffice it to say that the Allies used their one advantage--their artillery--well, silencing the French artillery and blasting the French out of Mockern (which they did not reoccupy). Some (I thought) ill-advised counterattacks by the VI Corps player, which did nothing but get a couple units shot up and captured a battery or two. The Poles fought manfully, battered by artillery but replusing the first massive infantry assault on them (two big Russian units) before being overwhelmed and hitting their Dispersal levels. Some heavy cavalry fighting in the center, involving the Brandenburg dragoons, Prussian uhlans, landwehr cavalry, Wurtemburg chevaux legere, French chasseurs and dragoons --lots of countercharges back and forth, units forming square, etc. Then the 9/III division arrived and tried to relieve the Poles, but the 'Guard' cossacks, flush with success after routing the Polish lancers off the field, spun and charged into them. Between that and heavy Russian fire from Widdersitsch, that division melted away. The French hit their Morale level on that last (1700) turn, and the Allies won. We even finished with a couple hours to spare in our time slot. Great game, everyone seemed to have fun. Might run it again sometime, but I'm shooting for Craonne at ConQuestSF and Gross Posna at next year's KublaCon. And I took pictures, some of which I posted on my blog. I'll post them here later (they are on my computer at home). David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 6:28 pm (#22800 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day One Part Two Mockern ended early, so I hauled my minis and terrain back to my car, and on the way back I encountered about half a dozen rather hot looking Japanese stewardesses in full uniform (we were near San Francisco International Airport). I cruised the dealer room, but found nothing I really wanted (no Battlegames, no Desert War, no minis mags I didn't already have), got dinner, and waited for word from my friend Ryan Kent that we were good to go with our first RPG of the weekend. Finally, he called, so I headed up to his room for the game. We did a classic fantasy game using GURPS. Ryan had drawn a map of the region, a desolate, dry place with one sea in the middle. Our characters were Ranger types, sent to the town of Ragnar on the border region, near some hilly woods, which had been raided by orcs and other nasties. Rumor also said that the father of the lord of the area had been a necromancer who died in a terrible explosion some years back. Our mission was to find out what was going on and kill orcs. My character, Thorien, was an elven ranger, with very high Bow skills, armed with a bow and broadsword. Other adventurers included two human fighters (one in full plate armor), a female mage, and a bugman who joined us later (this particular player likes to mess with the GM, so he played a beetle like biped with four arms, feelers, a carapace, etc--quite hideous, I'm told). Anyway, the first night there we were in the local tavern when an alarm was raised--orcs raiding a homestead outside town! We hightailed it out there, to find the homestead in flames, destruction everywhere, and the farmer distraught. Using my tracking skills, we pursued into the woods, getting into a running fight with the orcs. I took a rock hit which slightly injured me, and also killed an orc. Eventually we came to a clearing, to find a strange shape. Creeping up on it, we discovered a dead cow, behind which popped up a wyvern. I got off a terrific shot, mortally wounding it (something like 24 points of damage), after which the other characters finished it off. Then we continued. By morning we had found the orcs' lair, in a cave at the end of a trail that wound up the side of a ravine. I stayed behind to provide covering fire while the two Men and the bugman rushed the opening. My fire was good, nailing four orcs, and soon swords were crossed as we fought our way in. Not only orcs, but Uruks, an ogre, and a cave bear crammed in the passageway to fight us. I probably should have stayed back and tried to fire arrows, but Ryan said it was hard to see in the narrow corridor, so I drew my sword and charged in. Failing my Dodge roll (of course) I was badly wounded, falling to the ground. I would have died, but the bugman leaped over me, fighting off the orcs and other baddies with claws and sword so I could crawl over the dead cave bear to safety. One of the Men, surrounded by four enemies, was also badly wounded but fought on until his comrades could reach him. An epic fight. Someday they will make a manly painting of our exploits and put it on the cover of a cheesy RPG supplement, but only after adding a half-naked gravity defying warrior babe. Anyway, we killed or drove off the enemy, capturing an orc chieftain. Fortunately my friends, knowing of my bad dierolling, equipped my character with three healing potions, Two of those and I was golden. So we tied up the orc chieftain and had him lead the way into the next room, which had an underground river spanned by a bridge. Two exits out of it--one at the end of the bridge, one across from us over the river. The orc said that was where the spiders went. Anyway, as he led us across the bridge, he tried to escape, leaping free and leaping to the other side of the bridge. The lead fighter tried to pursue, but got stuck in corrosive slime on the bridge (which the orc had leaped over); I shot an arrow at the orc, but missed (he was under cover). Soon we had the orc captured again (he was hobbled and couldn't get far) and our mage burned off the slime, though the fighter's foot armor was damaged by the slime. We then entered the next room, which had three pools of water (like fountains or wishing wells, with walls around them). Each had a different inscription (Fools drink this one, enemies drink this, and so on). Only the fighter who had been stuck in the slime was brave enough to try one of the pools, which made him very morose and depressed. We held the orcs head in another one until he passed out. On to the next room. This one had three staircases leading down into it, with a pedestal in the middle. On the pedestal was a brass arrow, pointing to the (from our perspective) righthand stairs. I sensed a trap, so we tossed the orc down the stairs. The second step from the bottom triggered a trap that shot green slime onto the stairs. Our mage burned it (and the orc) out, then we carefully leaped over the trapped steps into the room. Finding the righthand corridor blocked with rubble, we took the other one, and soon we found it was cursed--it was an endless stairway with no exit. Our mage (who had also removed the curse from the fighter who drank the water) cast a spell to get us out of there, flinging us into a random room in the dungeon. We ended up in another room with the river, strewn with spiderwebs . . . David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 6:36 pm (#22801 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day Two Part One After our RPG game it was very late, so I headed home, showered, and went to bed. In the morning packed a lunch again and got my Flames of War army ready for the tournament that day. For those who don't know I field a Late War British Rifle Company, modeled on 4th Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment, part of 130th Infantry Brigade, 43rd 'Wessex' Division in Normandy. I have Limited Air Support, Churchills, M10C Achilles, machine gunners (8th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment), and a battery of four 25 pounders, plus a carrier platoon. The tournament was run by the guys at Gamescape San Rafael. Nineteen players showed up, with one of the Gamescape guys borrowing an American army to make it an even 20. Three rounds in all; the winner got a 1500 point army of their choice and a trip to the National Championship at Historicon. There was also a prize for Best Painted Army and for Sportsmanship. I had no illusions about winning anything--I just wanted to play well and have fun. Which I did. Anyway, in Round 1 I drew a player with a panzer/panzerpioneer force--two platoons Panzer IVs, a panzerpioneer platoon, a rocket battery, four Brummbaers. Impressive. Round 1 was Fighting Withdrawal and, since my army is Infantry, I got to defend. I had three objectives to cover, so I stuck my Middlesex machinegunners (sans carriers) to cover the one on the right, backed by the three Churchills of Third Platoon, B Squadron, 7th RTR. One of my rifle platoons hunkered down in buildings to cover the center and the objective behind it; they also had the observer for the 25 pounders, which were behind them. On the left I placed my last two rifle platoons, covering the objective there and a building next to it. My Achilles stayed off map in Ambush. My opponent decided to stack up on my left, sending all his tanks and infantry that way, with the Brummbaers in the center. His rockets fired a volley into the town, forcing my lads' heads down; in came my Tiffies, who took out a rocket launcher and pinned down the battery. They fired no more that day. I sprung my ambush, brewing up one panzer and bailing another, as heavy fire pinned down my infantry in the building next to the objective on my left. He sent in his panzer pioneers, but my men, showing the same bravery as in their last battle, hit on five of six shots, inflicting losses and pinning down the assault! Undaunted, he sent in the other tank platoon and the company commander to assault the objective. A terrific combat ensued, with counterattacks back and forth. The rifle platoon there took heavy losses and failed Motivation, leaving the field, but taking a Panzer IV with them with a PIAT hit (the ONLY one of six or seven PIAT shots I took all day that actually hit something). One objective in German hands, as the tanks did a breakthrough assault and pushed the other platoon back into the buildings. I had started my Churchills over from the right, but I didn't know you could doubletime tanks. I love my Churchills, but sometimes 8" is too slow to move. Anyway, I threw in my carrier platoon (which I had also held in the center) to buy time while I swung the Achilles into action. I took out two more Panzers, enough to wipe out the platoon, but I lost all my carriers and two of the Achilles (other two failed Motivation and bugged out). Turn 3 now, and I had to pull a platoon off the field, so I chose my machinegunners. I tried to shift my center platoon and my still lumbering tanks over, but now the Brummbaers were up, and blasting away at the remaining infantry on my left. Further air attacks were met with blistering AA fire. With the Germans holding an objective, game over. A good hard fought game, and a good start to the tournament. Most observers said I had drawn a tough army for the first round. And I hurt him badly--four dead tanks, his panzerpioneers taking nearly 50% casualties. And I took some photos, some of which I put in my blog. David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 6:38 pm (#22802 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day Two Part Two Round 2 was Breakthrough, which I've never played. Since I have an Infantry army, I figured I would defend. However, my opponent (who I knew--one of the kids who plays at Gamescape San Rafael) also had an infantry army, and I won the roll, so I got to attack. Breakthrough is a weird scenario--the defender sets up on alternate map quarters, the attacker pics one of the others to start on. The attacker must also designate at least one platoon, and up to half his platoons, as a flanking force that arrives via dieroll starting on turn 3 on the opposite corner from where he sets up. Attacker wins on or after Turn 6 when he has one of the objectives on the board. So I chose my Churchills, my machine gunners (in their brand spanking new MG Carriers), a rifle platoon, and my carriers to be in the flanking force, setting up two rifle platoons, my 25 pounders, and Achilles on table. My opponent had three infantry platoons (hard to tell what exactly, as they were unpainted and/or in the primer coat, which is why I took no pics of this game), two 88s, two 105s, two Brummbaers (actually smaller vehicles pretending to be Brummbaers--I hate that sort of thing) three Marders, and a King Tiger. He held the Marders and King Tiger off map, deploying the 88s and one platoon in one quarter of the table and two more platoons and the 105s on the other. I set up my two rifle platoons in woods opposite HIS rifle platoons, with the observer with the one opposite the 88s. 25 pounders were back by my edge of the table, and the Achilles I set up to shoot at his Brummbaers on the first turn. Which they did, brewing both up. Then I kept firing smoke whenever I was able at the one 88 that could shoot at me. Otherwise, my plan was to sit tight until the flankers arrived, then shoot them on to an objective. And that was pretty much how it went. His King Tiger arrived right away, and took out two Achilles (the other two failed Motivation and bugged out). He sent one of his infantry platoons to cover the objectives, but I hit them with my Tiffies, slowing them down. He also sent his third platoon to try and dig one of my platoons out of the woods, but I spanked them good, counterattacking out of the woods and driving them from the field. His 105s and arriving Marders counterattacked in turn, forcing my battered Tommies back into the woods with heavy losses. By then my Churchills had arrived. Losing one to fire from the other 88, I took an objective with the other two, and got into a firefight with the Marders, taking two out to the loss of one Churchill (the remaining one stayed in the fight). He tried to rush his other infantry over, but my 25 pounders, shifting targets, hit them and pinned them down. He did get up the infantry he had sent to the objectives originally, though, taking one of them and trying to take back the other. My machine gunners arrived, guns blazing, taking back the second objective momentarily before panzerfausts and panzerschrecks took them all out. But time was running out for him--my carriers and infantry arrived, reinforcing my lone tank, and I held on for the win. Great game, hard fought. I have to hand it to the kid--he made me work for it. Of course I'd wager I've been tramping through cardboard mud and blood before his parents met . . . David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 6:45 pm (#22803 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day Two Part Three Round 2 took a lot out of me, so I was pretty tired by Round 3, which at least was a scenario I've played a lot: Encounter. Fought another infantry force--German again (and I am so glad I didn't have to fight another Allied army--we had a good mix of sides), with Jagdpanzers, an 88, a six gun mortar battery, couple infantry platoons, self-propelled AA guns, and some towed 75mm AT guns. Nicely painted, but I was too tired to drag out the camera for this one. Anyway, in Encounter you have to hold off half your force, which arrives on Turn 3 via die roll somewhere on your side of the table (also determined by die roll). I held off my Achilles, Churchills, and two rifle platoons, leaving the other on the field. I set up my machine gunners (sans carriers, as I wanted them to hold an objective) on the left, 25 pounders to the rear with a rifle platoon in support in front of them covering an objective, and the carrier platoon in the center as well to go raise hell. Kind of a quiet battle--neither one of us took much in the way of offensive action. My machine gunners failed SEVEN straight Dig In rolls, despite the Tiffies protecting them by flinging themselves at the 88 to try and knock it out (which they did not do, though they at least drew fire away from the stupid machine gunners--tough day for the RAF, who kept pressing attacks through heavy AA fire). As punishment I have taken away their MG Carriers until they redeem themselves. Anyway, the heaviest action was on my right. I sent my carriers roaring in, firing machine guns and keeping the mortarmens' heads down until they got assaulted by infantry wielding panzerfausts. The mortars then zeroed in on my 25 pounders, and the Jagdpanzers did too, inflicting losses (my gunners do not usually come under fire). Then my Achilles arrived, and in a really bad spate of dierolling, only got ONE Jagdpanzer before they all got brewed up. A bad end to an otherwise good day for them. Things didn't get much better when the Churchills arrived, as they only managed to bail out one Jagdpanzer (the crew got in, and they escaped). I was finally able to get something going on this flank, though, once another rifle platoon arrived, sending the Churchills in to clear out the woods next to one of the objectives. The Churchills, machine guns blazing, pushed into the woods, infantry coming up behind. On my left, my poor Middlesex machine gunners eventually failed their Motivation test and left the field, but fortunately my last rifle platoon arrived to backstop them, taking fire from the mortars in the process. They fought it out with the AA trucks and secured the objective there. My opponent got his AT guns up into the town in the center of the table, and my Tiffies made their last sortie of the day on them--a wonderfully target rich environment. Alas, they only got one Kubelwagen . . . Time ran out, with neither one of us holding one of the others objectives. So gamewise it was a draw, but for the tournament I lost on points, having failed to destroy a single platoon (but I should have gotten those Jagdpanzers--stupid dice!!) Oh well. Again, I had fun, and I thought I played pretty well. Might take the lads out again Saturday night at Gamescape. David R. Moody - May 27, 2008 7:04 pm (#22804 Total: 23182) What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises-- no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love . . . . It's not for fighting. KublaCon AAR Day Two Part The Last By then it was after 7 PM, and I was worn out, but one more RPG to do with our group--the continuation of our GURPS Old West campaign, in the Shattered Frontier, where it's 1870 and Texas is an independent republic, the Confederacy exists, Oregon Country belongs to Britain, and Maximillian still sits on the Mexican throne. Not to go into too much detail, but we decided to ally with some rather unsavory Confederates to fight Mangas Coloradas' Indians, devising a two-pronged attack to draw him out of his lair. We got into a firefight in a wooded ravine, first with Indians then with our erstwhile Confederate allies. I was pretty zonked by then. So I went home, tired and covered with glory, to detox and do chores yesterday. Set up South Mountain (MMP) at home to solitaire. I forgot how rugged that area is. Fortunately not a lot of troops are on the map until afternoon, so I can ease into the situation and the system.