A Picture of my son from College & Some New Gaming Loot

I received this copy of the formal class of 2017 picture from Carnegie Mellon in a recent alumni email.  The mascot for CMU is a Scottish Terrier and I thought it was a pretty neat formation - I hope James B over at Exiles blog gets a kick out of the picture as he's a Scottish Terrier fan.  Sean is in the front leg, extreme right of the second row.

The big news we have from his ongoing orientation week is that Sean has been moved up a few levels in Physics by the department chair who is actively swaying him from engineering to physics with a very creative tag line "Engineers are hired to fix problems that are know, Physicists are hired to find those problems first"  Very catchy, but I'm not sure how many jobs exist for physicists outside of academia and the government.  Oh well, at least he's very excited about school.

On the war gaming front a few odds and ends arrived as I begin to stock up for the fall/winter painting season.  First up I just received 2 box sets of Windsor Newton Series 7 paint brushes. Each set has 4 brushes sized 0 through 3.  Dick Blick was having a sale (through Amazon).  If you haven't tried a Windsor Newton brush I really recommend you give them a shot.  While they are expensive, I've found my painting has improved dramatically with them AND, if cared for, they last much longer than other less expensive brushes.  All of the ACW stuff I painted was done with just 2 Windsor Newtons and those brushes are still serviceable as almost 9 months of use.  The guys over at the WWPD blog did a review of the Windsor Newton Series 7 which can provide more information - here's the link.

I also received my copy of the new ACW rules and cards from Sam Mustafa, "Longstreet".  My initial impression after a quick read last night is very favorable.  I'm looking forward to putting a game on in the next few weeks to try the rules out.  The game looks to have a very nice balance of simplicity and command friction (via the cards).

As for the gaming room, progress has been made toward final approval by executive management (AKA my wife).  I think I'm beginning to see her master plan with this project.  It seems that a recurring response to granting an approval for some aspect of the project goes like this.  "That's wonderful dear, but if you're going to repaint the game room, you might as well repaint our dining room and replace the old dining table chairs that you've been promising to do for years..."  This game room project may require me to redo the entire house!

Redoing the Game Room

 An unexpected benefit of becoming an empty nester is that I've received an edict from the wife to make the game room "presentable".  Our downstairs has taken a beating from 5 years of robotics teams beavering away for 8 months out of the year so it does need a bit of a sprucing up.  This is one "Honey-Do" task that I will not shirk.

The picture above shows the gaming room with the 8x4 foot table in the center.  The room measures 21.5 feet long by 11.5 feet wide.

 Running down the right side of the room is a storage closet that's 4 feet deep and 21 feet long so there's lots of storage.  Of course 3/4 of that space is taken up with non-wargaming stuff most of which hasn't moved in years so we're planning to have a pitch out / sell weekend to clear some space.  You can see the how I've used the space I've got to store my ancients, Napoleonic naval and War of 1812 collection (in the blue boxes).  I'd like to add some display cabinets to the room.

In a fit of madness, the wife has also allocated me the space that leads into the game room which is 14.5 x 14 ft.  This is where we used to set up the 12x12 ft robotics field(*) and now will become my gamers "lounge".  There's some storage in the pictured closets but that's been labeled as off limits by executive management.

I've been given a good bit of space to play with (approx 450 square feet).  So now I need to figure out what to do with it.  So far of the "to do list" consists of:

- Build / Buy some display cabinets for the minis and 30+ robotics trophies.  IKEA make some nice and inexpensive cabinets so that may be the way to go.

- Improve the lighting over the table

- Build leafs to let me expand the playing surface of the table to 12 feet long and 6 feet wide

- Add some seating to the lounge area including a recliner for my more "reflective" moments

- Add some game room appropriate "decor" military paintings the odd musket or saber

- Redo my sectional terrain the consist of 2x4 ft panels rather than 2x5 ft.  I'll get more flexibility and they are much easier to store / transport.

- Do so on a very limited budget - I'm still in budget negotiations with the Boss on this but lets say she's figured out the only real way to control this endeavor is the financial lever.  It is very difficult being married to someone who is WAY smarter than you.

- Get all this done by Nov 1 - why Nov 1?, all projects need and arbitrary and unrealistic deadline in order to get done.

So here's my question to you - if you had the game room of your dreams what would you like to see in it?

(*) I'll still be coaching robotics this year but we will be setting up shop at another parents home - the wear and tear of 18-20 high school age boys for 5 years has proven a bot too much for the house and my wife.  I do expect to fund some of the project from the reduced grocery bills I'll have - you will not believe how much food those lads can consume!

Taking My Son to College

 This past Saturday and Sunday were a bit bittersweet as Mary Beth and I took our son, Sean, to Pittsburgh to start his freshmen year at Carnegie-Mellon.  The first picture is of the SUV being packed up.  At first I thought we were over-packing as we almost filled the whole thing up and had to take two vehicles to Pittsburgh, which is a 4.5 hour drive from where we live in Maryland.

 Sean, sitting on our front porch just before departure.  You might be able to discern from the photo that he is more than a little excited to be going to CMU.

 Our route took us past Sean's elementary school and we stopped off for a quick picture - when he first started at Triadelphia Ridge he was shorter than the bushes!

 At bit of history.  We stayed at the William Penn hotel in downtown Pittsburgh and the Terrace dining room is a 60 foot mural of "The Taking of Fort Pitt" during the French and Indian Wars.  The William Penn is a grand old hotel which is a lot of fun to stay in.

 To be honest, I was dreading the move in process as Sean's room is at the top of a hill and all his crap - oops I mean, important school supplies would require multiple trips.  We were all very pleasantly surprised that once we parked in the designated spot our car was descended upon by an army of CMU students who carried everything to Sean's room while he went and got his student ID. All I had to do was stay in the car and then move it out of the way once it was empty after a few minutes.  It was an amazingly well organized affair.

 Here's a shot of some of the academic buildings at CMU, which has a very nice campus in Pittsburgh.  Sean is enrolled in the Mellon college of sciences and is currently planning to major in physics and robotics.  The university is a temple to geekdom, which means Sean will fit right in.

 A shot of the room after we've finished unpacking.  As I indicated earlier, I thought Sean was bringing too much stuff to college but after seeing what the other kids brought he's definitely one of the lighter packers.  We do need to get some wall art for the room.  Sean will share the room with one other student.  As far as dorms go, it's a very nice room - he was very pleased with the wi-fi speeds.

We had a wonderful day at CMU and there were some programs to occupy the parents while the students got acclimated.  There was also a firm deadline for parents to leave which we adhered to.  While I'm very excited for Sean - college is a great experience and CMU is the finest place in the world to study robotics, it will be very different not having him around the house.  Did I cry as we left?  Lets just say I had something in my eyes...

We've returned from Sea Base!

Sorry for the limited activity on the blog but we just got back from two weeks in the Florida Keys.  The first week my son and I went on his last Boy Scout outing at Sea Base.  What's Sea Base?  It's a Boy Scout high adventure (survival) camp that's located on a 110 acre island that's owned by the scouts in the Florida Keys (on the Atlantic side).  You paddle out 6 miles in a war canoe (a twin hull canoe) and then stay on the island of for a week with limited food and no running water or other facilities.  The boys learn basic survival skills and I got to fish every day to provide dinner.  It was also lobster season in FL so we also got to "bug hunt" and had lobster for 2 nights (they're harder to catch by hand than you might think).

 Here's a shot of out camp site - we had a propane stove, half a tank of propane and a small cabinet to store food to keep the animals out.  The Island is called "Big Munson Island" and has Key Deer, Vacaoons (a type of raccoon) and lots and lots of rice rats.  All of these mammals have become very adept at stealing Boy Scout Food.  The island also has a lot of Iguanas, which are labeled as an invasive species.  In fact, the scouts are encouraged to hunt down and kill them for a treat from the Island Commissioner - it was very "Lord of the Flyish" and very fun.  One tip, a Nalgene thats full of water makes a very lethal projectile with an accurate range of up to 20 feet.

 The camp site offered some tents, but they're very hot so we brought hammocks which are very nice to sleep in.  Some of the boys put the high up in the trees - see the upper left of the photo.

 Sitting down for the evening meal, which we just caught 30 minutes ago.  The fishing around the island is the best I've ever experienced - Mangrove Snapper, Mahi-Mahi and Yellow Fin Tuna were our mainstay.  We ran out of propane 2 nights in and resorted to grilling our fish over a fire - it was an improvement.

Here's the view of the Atlantic from the camp site.

 A shot of the war canoes we used to get to the island and fish from.  A war canoe is a ungainly craft.  Sean managed to find a 20 foot piece of bamboo in the surf and fashion a sail for our canoe which made getting around a lot easier.  I'll put up a of picture of the sail rigged canoe in a future post.  Sailing is much better than paddling.

 The boys gathered for a game Hodgie-Pogdie on the beach - it's a silly word game that brings the kids out of there shells and is hilarious watch.

 Big Munson island has lots of interesting trees, but my favorite is the gumbo limbo tree which was crazy branching structures and just cries out to be climbed.  The tree's peeling bark can be used to make tea and is a natural source of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol).  Trust me when I say that tea was wonderful for an old guy like me after fishing / paddling all day.

 The boys are choosing two scouts to go with me to set the chum line for night fishing.  It seems the losers had to go with me.  We had to wade out 300 yard to set the bait and the chum attracted lots of sharks, rays and tarpon.  Don't worry the sharks where only gray reef or nurse sharks and under 4 feet.  We caught some great Mahi-Mahi that evening.

The second week of our trip we stayed in a very nice resort that close to Big Munson Island called "Little Palm Island".  Mary Beth came down to join us and we had a very nice week together.

 Surprisingly, Little Palm has nicer facilities than Big Munson!

 The most famous resident of Little Palm is a Great Blue Heron named Spencer (seen here eating a snake).  Spencer is very tame but aggressive - he'll walk up and take fish right out of your hand.  When a charter boat comes up to the dock, Spencer will be waiting to get his "cut" of the catch.

I did a lot a salt flat fishing while at Little Palm.  Here's a picture of me with a 4' barracuda I caught - they put up a heck of a fight.  Don't worry we released him after the photo and he swam away fine but I doubt he'll be biting any shiny / green plastic lures in the future.  Lesson learned.

All in all it was a great two weeks.  I'm now helping my son get ready for college as we're heading off to Pittsburgh tomorrow to drop him off at Carnegie Mellon.

:(

Historicon 2013, Final Thoughts

Yes your worst fears have been realized, yet another one of those wordy semi-thoughtful blog posts from me.  Think of this post less like the babbling ramblings of a semiliterate gamer and more like a tour-de-force in abnormal physcology and you might just make it through the post.  The key word in the last sentence is "might".

Anyway, this past Historion was the fourth one I've been too in a row and the second held in the FCC center in Fredericksburg, VA.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly and have already made hotel reservations for next year.  My friend Mike and I GM's two civil war games - one on Friday night and the other on Saturday afternoon which seemed to go very well.  Having Mike's 31" 28mm scale model of the CSS Tennessee helped a lot with setting the right mood for both games.  I also was able to hang out with Ernie and the Architects of War crew (they tolerate me in return for helping out).  The AofW booth (along with their Sci-fi / Fantasy brand Alien Dungeon) were spectacular this year and seemed to be always busy - I hope some of you got to check out the new "All Quiet on the Martian Front" minis, they are fantastic.

Anyway, here are my thoughts day by day through the con

Thursday
I arrived Wed night and checked in to the Hampton Suites, which is next door to the FCC.  That's a big plus as it proved to be very easy to roll the minis for my games over and then roll them back to the room.  The only real downside from Thursday was due to some non-gaming issues I had a board meeting that went way lonngggggg, I missed the games I had planned to play in on Thursday.  It's a rather depressing state to be sitting in your hotel room, with gaming going on a 100 yards away, participating in a board call where the management team seems to enjoy using a 100 words when 1 would suffice.  I did have a fun dinner with Ernie and some of his crew and made a lot of vendors very happy on thursday.

Friday
Missed my morning game due to more board calls (crap) but spent some time socializing with the WWPD crew and finished the final touches on the civil war skirmish game.  I started setting up the game at 4:00 for it's 6:00 start.  The game seemed to go great and it was a lot of fun to put on.  We took the game down and I wandered back into the main hall in time to get into a board game of Battlestar Galatica with the WWPD crew.  The game was a bit confusing for a first timer but it was A LOT of fun.

Saturday
OK, I signed up for a civil war game (via the onsite ticket system) and arrived to help set up (I always appreciate it when players help with setup or take down and try to return the favor).  The game was just about to kick off when a player showed up and had pre-registered to play.  He seemed quite upset and since I was the last one to get a ticket, I offered him my spot which he took without saying thanks.  Well that means more time to spend money in the vendor hall and contemplate todays declining standards of social behavior.  Mike and I started setting up our big Black Powder game which started at 1:00 and went to 4:00.  Again, I think the game went really well and I had another blast being a GM.  One thing that made the game a lot of fun was there was a kid's game a few tables over where the one of the objectives was to make as much noise as possible (which they succeeded at).  It was a lot of fun to see the kids have such a good time and I even got my players to yell back which was a hoot.

I do regret missing the Bolt Action tournament on Saturday but I had scheduled the Black Powder game before knowing when the tournament was.  Saturday night I sat in on the WWPD podcast (what a geek I am) and then played a rousing game of "Spartacus" - wow that's a fun game - every phase has unique game mechanics and options - what a hoot.  I also played a silly "castle attack" game which was a lot of fun and I got to give unsolicited advice to WWPD's Chris H on the proper use of a wingman.

Sunday
Packed up - one last stroll through the vendor hall and I went home

Closing Thoughts
Due to some scheduling issues, I never got to participate in any PEL-listed games other than the two Mike and I put on but I still had a blast and look forward to coming back next year and also to attending Fall In.  I did have some key learnings:

- When GM'ng multiple games try to do them on the same day as in AM / PM.  It cuts down one full cycle of setup and take down thus preserving more time for participating in other games.  Mike and I would have an extra 1/2 day free if we ran the first game in the am and the second in the PM.

- Make sure you know the tournament schedule before committing to a game time - The only thing I regret is not playing in the Bolt Action tournament on Saturday, which I could have done with a bit more planning

- Come back to the FCC after dinner for pick up and board games - those are as much fun as a scheduled games and it's a way to meet more gamers - thanks to the WWPD crew for supplying all the board games and getting a new HCON tradition started.

- Be flexible - stuff happens and the HMGS registration system isn't perfect, if you get bumped from a game or it's over booked that's not the end of the world.  I also need to plan better.

- All gamers want to have fun in a game, so as a GM you need to focus on that rather than the adherence to every rule minutia.  Mike and I were very fortunate to have great guys for all our games but we did spend some time streamlining the rules and making sure people are having fun during the game.

As for the facilities, there was an improvement over last year.  I'm sure all of you have seen the postings on TMP that gleefully list the deficiencies of the con.  The sound in the main hall was loud but better than last year.  I found it tolerable.  The chairs were awful, so next year I'm bringing a few fold up camping chairs - problem solved.  The bathrooms could have been better but that's a staffing issue (need more help).

Overall, I'd give the event a strong "A" grade - with a few more improvements in the facility it can be an A+.  By the way HMGS, I'd be willing to pay a bit more ($5 or $10) to afford additional staff for cleanup and/or carpet tile rental to reduce sound at the FCC.

One last thought - what is it with TMP these days.  I used to enjoy going there but over the past year there seems to have been an even more significant turn to the negative - there was actually some knucklehead complaining about kids yelling at their games this year at HCON - I think the phrase was "need more consideration for older people"  What a lode of crap - we need more gamers and kids yell when their having fun so I say let'em do so.  Anyway, it just seems to me that TMP is devolving into a series of posts that can be best summarized by the phrase "get off my lawn!"  It's really a most depressing place.

My Next Project: British Force for Bolt Action

As I come down off my post-Historicon high it will soon be time to return to the painting workbench.  Right now the workbench is covered with ACW "stuff" but I think a change of pace is in order.  While at Historicon, I picked up a bunch of the new Blitzkreig 28mm scale tanks from the Architects of War booth.  Wow - I have never seen better casted 28mm vehicles.  A few months ago I picked up one of the new Desert Rat plastic box sets so it's time to get cracking on a British force.

The forces theme will be early to mid war and I'll use them in both Western Desert and Pacific scenarios.  I did go a little overboard with the Blitzkrieg models so my Brits will have a lot of armor choices - Crusaders, Grants, Honey's and even up to three Bren Carriers.  I'm building the force with Bolt Action in mind as a ruleset but I think they'll do for any 28mm WW2 skirmish rules

As you might suspect from reading this blog, I'm a bit of a Perry snob (OK, drop the "bit of a" from the previous phrase).  That said, both the tanks and the figures are really superb and I hope my painting skills are up to the task.

This project is set for August and then it will be back to either more ACW or War of 1812 in prep for a game at Fall-In.  Mike's Confederate ironclad was so popular at Historicon that I think a Union monitor might be in order!

Historicon 2013: More Sink the Tennessee Pictures

 I've received several requests for more pictures from the Friday ACW skirmish game Mike and I ran at Historicon: "Sink the Tennessee!"  The game used the newish ACW skirmish rules from Architects of War and depicted a Union raid to sink or capture the ironclad CSS Tennessee.  Uncivil War works great in a convention center as they are simple but allow a lot of tactical flexibility.  The first picture is the initial setup.  There were four union players - 2 calvary troops of 18 troopers armed with spencer repeating rifles.  1 infantry regiment of 24 figs and an amphibious unit of 18 Marines and 6 Engineers.

 I was surprised that one of the convention speakers, Paul Westermeyer, and his young son played - they commanded the northern most Union calvary regiment.  Paul is a historian with the US marine Corps and a bit of an expert on civil war marines - I was very relieved that he choose not to point out the many historical inaccuracies with my confederate marines!  There were four confederate players, one commanding the ironclad and her crew, another for the town watch , a calvary detachment and a large encamped regiment.  The confederates would also receive reinforcements as the game went on which means time was not a friend to the union.

 The Westermeyer clan proved to be very aggressive calvary commanders and managed to get about 2/3rds of their command shot up tangling with  the confederate infantry.  Things would improve for them a bit later...

 The Union Infantry made a series of very quick forced marches and made a run to overwhelm the confederate marines guarding the dock.

 The second Union calvary troop took up a position along a stone wall that allowed them to contest both the town militia and the calvary patrol.

 Desperate fighting at the water's edge where three confederate marines attempt to hold off the union infantry.  The Amphibious force made a surprise move and rather than attempt to board the  ironclad directly they landed on the far shore and had to march to the dock.

 More desperate fighting as confederate marines spill out of the ironclad to hold back the union swarm.

 The Union calvary along the wall decimate the confederate cav and town militia but are ground down by the reinforcing confederate infantry - the dread Louisiana Tigers!  At the top of the hill you can see the other confederate infantry regiment advancing on the town.  In the Lower right is the remnants of the Westermeyer command - glory awaits them...

 Give those Yankees a whiff of the grape!!!!!  Despite several rounds of canister the Union manages to clamber on top of the Tennessee and begin to fire on the command deck.

 Booommmm!!!!

 Against all military logic and parental advice, young Lt Westermeyer charges the larger Confederate infantry regiment and succeeds in holding the massed rebs off for three critical turns

 That delay is not without cost

 A view from the northern edge of the battlefield.  One of the very innovative features of the Uncivil war rules is that the presence of fallen troops negatively impacts morale so casualties are left on the battlefield.

 The LA Tigers try desperately to re-board the Tennessee

The Union engineers manage to blast open the top hatches and the Union infantry poor into the interior - we had three turns of see-saw fighting between the confederate crew and Union infantry and victory went down to the very last dice throw when the final confederate crewmen fell.

Victory and possession of the Tennessee went to the Union!

This game was a lot of fun to put on and we had great prize support from Ernie and the Architects of War crew.  Mike and I were also very surprised at Paul Westermeyer's generosity as he gave each of three of his books on Marine history, including one about confederate marines in the civil war.  I am very grateful to his generosity and now understand  I have a bit re-painting to do!.

Historicon Report: Battle Along the Mississippi

The second game Mike and I ran at Historicon was a set-piece battle loosely based on the Vicksburg campaign (it was along the Mississippi river, which was about the only link to Vicksburg).  The battle featured a slightly larger confederate force attacking an Union force.  The objective was simple capture at least two of three objectives.  The objectives were the chicken coop in the lower right, the hill in the center, and a small plot in the upper right corner.  The first picture shows the initial setup.  Both sides had 3 brigades on the board and one in reserve.  The CSA had 8 batteries of artillery to the Unions 5, but that would change later in the game when the captured ironclad (see the previous post) makes an appearance.

 A shot down the confederate line.  The CSA had four players (each with a brigade).  All of the miniature on the table are Perry.

 A shot down the Union line - similar set up to the CSA with four players each with a brigade.  We used black powder as the rule set with some minot simplifications to facilitate convention play.  All of the players we had for the game were great and it was a real pleasure for Mike and I to host them for a few hours of dice rolling.

 The initial confederate advance.  The original plan was (I think) to seize and hold the hill in the center with two brigades and send the other two to attack the Union's right flank.  At least that was the initial plan....

 More units advance and a Union calvary unit attempts to charge the CSA guns but rolls poorly on the order dice and comes up short in a bad spot.

 The Confederate reserves arrive and march towards the Union right flank.  The Union reserved (4 calvary regiments) arrive the following turn along the river edge.

 The Union shuffles back trading real estate to keep the advancing confederates under fire - it was a good strategy.  The initial confederate plan of just holding the hill got thrown out for a general advance - it may not have been a sound strategy but it was great fun and just what a convention game is all about!  Good Show!

 Oops- the capture Tennessee shows up - think super "artillery battery" in Black Powder terms,  The confederate brigade on the extreme right begins to take a pounding.

 The main confederate attack forms up slowly due to some command dice issues.  One of the really fun things about black powder is the command system which is very clean but can lead to some unpredictable results.

 More confederate advances but losses are mounting....

 FInally the main attack strikes!

 The high water mark of the attack.

 The confederate right flank collapses as it's exposed flank is pounded by the Tennessee and Union reinforcements.

 Another shot of the climatic Union counter attack.  We called the game at this point with the CSA having two of four brigades broken and a limited chance to regain the initiative.

A view of the guns from the Tennessee.

All-in-all it was a great game and I'm very grateful for the help Mike and I got from the players - they were a great bunch.  We also had very nice prize support from Architects of War and every player got a certificate for store credit at the AofW booth.

I'm looking forward to my next convention game!