Fall In 2014: After Action Report

 I just returned from the HMGS convention Fall-In, which is held in Lancaster, PA at the crumbling Host Resort.  I think the best way to describe the 'con is it's a great event despite being held in what may be the worst hotel in the world.  I'll leave my whining about the Host to the end but I did have a grand time as usual.  The first picture shows a display at the Architects of War booth and some of Ernie's massive Napoleonic collection - I have many fond memories of trying to cross that bridge under fire in previous games.

 There was a very nice and active "All Quiet on the Martian Front" game - all the players seemed to be having a grand time and it's nice to see the game gaining real traction - there were 5 or 6 AQMF games being put on at the con.

 A stunning Pegasus Bridge WW2 themed game was also present at the 'con - the terrain was amazing and the ruleset used was Chain of Command.  The buildings are the new laser cut and pre-painted models from crescent root and look superb.

 Another shot of the game - top flight scenery can really push a good game to a great one and it looked like no expense was sparred.

 A Fire and Fury Regimental game put on by the rules author, Rich Hasenauer.  These are, by far, the best civil war rules out there.

 AQMF demo game near the Architects of War booth.  The river Monitor was scratch built by Ernie and may appear in future rules supplements.

As for my gaming, I managed to get in a great WW1 naval game based on the Battle of Coronel and was put on by Brian DeWitt.  I was on the British side and we managed a very narrow victory but no thanks to me - I managed to get all my ships sunk!

On Saturday, I played in the Bolt Action tournament and ran a Japanese Infantry with a capture Stuart and a Type 97 Tankette for armored support.  As usual the tournament was a lot of fun - more surprisingly - I won all 3 games and was declared the tournament winner.

My first game was against Duncan and his American regular infantry force.  Out lists were pretty evenly matched but Duncan had a lot of ground to cover while under fire and saw his forces reduced too much by the time they could make contact.  He was a great opponent and a very nice guy.

 The second game was on what we jokingly referred to as a "Indiana Jones" table.  I faced John B and his veteran German infantry force.  John had a halftrack, Puma and a wonderfully painted/based 88 AT gun.  This was a great game where my Japanese were able to gain an advantage in the second turn when both german vehicles were destroyed - the halftrack by a suicide AT unit and the Puma by the Stuart.  John's a great guy to play and his painting is some of the best I've ever seen.  In the end I had too much infantry and wore his force down to win.

The last game was against Judson (of Bolt Action Radio fame/infamy) and his German tank platoon - he fielded three Panzer III's, an 8 rad and a handful of infantry.  This was one of the toughest/funnest games of BA I've ever played and was so engrossing that I forgot to take pictures.  The game went down to the last turn where I was able to spring a counter attack which destroyed most of his armor and pushed the German remnants off the objectives.  Judson really should have won the game but I just got lucky!

Thanks to Stephan (aka Capt'n TO) and his son for putting on yet another great event - I've now played in 6 of his tournaments and always have a great time.