Sunday, 23 October 2016

Pacificon 2016

Ok, I've been a bit sluggish with posting lately, but that doesn't mean I've been idle on the gaming front!

Last month I visited Pacificon, a modest sized gaming convention for roleplayers, board gamers and miniature gamers. I was mostly interested in the latter, and on Saturday there was definitely a lot of eye candy to go around. I took part in an Alamo game (it was the 180th anniversary) and tried a Wild West skirmish game. I also made some purchases, but unfortunately I was quite disappointed with the merchandise available - there were very few miniature related products and a whole lot of roleplaying stuff and board games (especially non-historical games). Nonetheless, it was a fun event.

Knuckleduster miniatures (Wild West)

Forrest Harris was demonstrating the 3D sculpting process used at Knuckleduster, together with his splendid range of 28mm Wild West miniatures. The miniatures were amazing, and I naturally bought a few. The demo game of Desperados was also fun and quite cinematic, though the game seems like it might bog down if more than a handful of characters are used.




Scifi



Battle of San Lorenzo 1867


Zombies!



"Naval" games



 

Ancients







Black Powder era

I think this game was from the War of 1812, but can't remember. It looked great!






Napoleonic warfare (Command and Colours rules)





Napoleonic Peninsular War (Sharp Practice rules)








Iraq 2003







World War 2





The Alamo

I took part in an Alamo game, which was fun. The exact replica of the Alamo and the models were truly stunning. The rules, designed by Texans, were perhaps a bit too partisan, but that didn't stop the Mexicans from storming the fort (after horrendous casualties).















18th century

I love these 60mm woodblock miniatures. They were made by gluing three laser-cut MDF layers on top of each other and then painted. Very old school toy feeling, and definitely durable. The game used Black Powder rules and the guy running it owned a company that makes these.










Racing game




US Civil War (Regimental Fire & Fury)





The loot (aka my purchases)

Besides the three Knuckleduster miniatures, I managed to pick a large lot of scifi minis quite cheaply at the flea market. I love the old GW Necormunda "ratskin scouts". There were a lot of other models also, though I don't know whether I'm going to ever use them. I also picked up two games and a puzzle made by a local family owned gaming company, Lumenaris. The puzzle and 19th century matchmaking game "Suitors and Suitability" are Christmas presents (man am I early this year!).








Wednesday, 17 August 2016

South Bay Game Club

After a recent move to California, I haven't had much time to tinker with miniatures. Things are starting to settle down though, which means I've been able to open up my hobby "travel set", paint a few minis and, naturally, order new ones. Last weekend I was happy to pay a visit to the local South Bay Game Club. The club meets about once a month at a local church, where a number of different games are run. This time there were about 25-30 people present and five games: a Napoleonic naval game, a WW2 fighter game, a Mare Nostrum board game, a skirmish game between French Foreign Legion and Mexicans, as well as a large Saga game. I played Saga, which was a practice game of a Battle of Hastings demo to be run at Pacificon in a few weeks time.

I had a great time! The locals are very open and friendly, and I had a great time chatting about all manner of topics. These guys definitely appreciate historical gaming as much as I do. The game was fun as well, with some spectacular (and funny) moments. In the end, the Anglo-Saxons managed to counter the Norman's cavalry charge, slay William the Bastard and win the day!


The venue - a Lutheran church

A  54-60 mm game of Foreign Legion vs. Mexicans

The Foreign Legion seemed to be holding their own

Napoleonic naval action

Aerial combat in the Pacific


Norman knights

William the Bastard


The Bastard is cut down


There was also a good looking Bring & Buy section at the venue