Back from Fall-In 2013

 I got back from the HMGS Fall-In convention yesterday and I'm pleased to report I had a great time.  I spent both days playing in tournaments - Friday was the Flames of War doubles tournament and Saturday was Bolt Action.  Both events were a blast.  Pictured are the three objective markers I made as gifts for my opponents in the Bolt Action tournament, which is now becoming something of a standard practice and is useful in reminding us that these games only are fun if everyone is having a good time.

 I was fortunate to be paired with Luke Melia (WWPD) for the FOW doubles tournament.  Luke is great guy and a very experienced Flames of War player and I was grateful he let a tournament noob like myself tag along and learn the ropes.  He also designed the list and provided the troops!  Yes, I was pretty much just dead weight.  We fielded a german infantry teams that were backed up by 8 Marder IIIs and a King Tiger.  Pictured is our first of three games vs a US armored force and we got stomped!  We lost the second game but it was a much closer and then we won the third.  Perhaps that was me coming up the learning curve.

I did have a great time at the event and definitely want to get more playing time in with FOW.  Thanks Luke!  I spent Friday evening playing the Board game Eclipse, which was fantastic - it's a really fun game that rewards strategic thinking and will be added to my Christmas list.

 Saturday brought around the Bolt Action tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  My first game was against Mike P (Mike with a Plan) and his Brits.  I fielded my Japanese force and we played on a table that featured the 4Ground Hotel Complex which is an amazing model - all the interiors are detailed (Ok, it's more doll-house than war gaming terrain!).  My game with Mike was fantastic and went down to the last turn.  Mike earned a well deserved win.

 My second game was against a very new player who was borrowing my 8th army to field a force. He played well but didn't understand the rules so I managed to win very handily so I received my first win - but it should have an "*" next to it, since I beat both a new player and my own army!

My third and final game was against John Brader and his mixed US force.  This was yet another great game and showed how the variability of the rule both given and taketh away.  This games example involved US Airpower.  He rolled a "1" for his first strike which means I got to place were it arrived and he lost a squad.  On turn three, John called in his second strike and rolled much better and I lost a squad and got a bunch of pins on 4 other units.  The game went back and forth but I managed to eek out a win on points as neither of us could capture our objectives.  At the end I had 2 wins and 1 loss and, more importantly, I had a great time.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but I tend to focus more on the games than taking pictures.  Overall it was a great con and I'm looking forward to Cold Wars which is the next HMGS con.