March to Victory 2022

March to Victory

March to Victory (MtV) is a brand-new convention in the KS metro. Put on by Jaye and Robin Wiley (Wiley Games), MtV was started to bring convention gaming back to the metro in the absence of Recruits.

A little over a hundred players joined in the fun and there were some absolutely gorgeous tables throughout the weekend. I, stupidly, didn't take any pictures of said games, but there are plenty of places, namely on FB, where you can see pics of the fun.

What I did do was sell some games and gaming-related stuff to convention goers. That's my main excuse for not taking pictures and I'm sticking to it. I also had the chance to converse with several people I've missed since the start of the pandemic, so it was a great weekend.

Thrilling Tales

I offered my emerging pulp rules, Thrilling Tales, to be played Saturday night. I had a full table of five players, so all the factions of my scenario were represented. Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) and his ne'er-do-wells, Falcone and his mob, Lobster Johnson and the heat, and the Upton gang.

I rehashed the plot I've been using to playtest these rules. Fick has a McGuffin in a box, loaded on a truck at the docks. He has to get said box through the gates to win. Standing in his way? Falcone, the cops, and the Uptons. Falcone's goons will shoot at anyone. The cops are focused on the gangs, and the Uptons, while not against the fuzz, aren't for anyone.

The docks, aerial view

I've been working on the vehicle rules for this game. I thought I had them hashed out, but the night's activities proved me wrong. I also made the rookie mistake of telling the players that they could drive vehicles without them asking first. Yes, there were a lot of collisions. Still, this gave me the opportunity to realize weaknesses in the rules and ideas on how to fix them.

The game started with everyone closing in on Fisk and the box. Unfortunately, Fisk's crew got initiative very late the first couple rounds, so he was unable to really get started early. 

Falcone and henchmen

All four factions promptly jumped in vehicles and tried to start the engines. Upton's crew comically failed for a few turns. the police started half their vehicles. Falcone's crew were successful and started moving immediately. They and the Upton clan disposed of Scourge, Fisk's bodyguard/SMG-wielding killer, in a hail of bullets. Fisk's dock workers got the delivery truck rolling toward the gates, but their late start meant that the other factions were lying in wait. Fisk hopped into his car and tried to act as a rolling shield from the upcoming violence. 

Fisk's crew loading the McGuffin

Both the truck and Fisk's car were riddled with bullets. The truck eventually was shot enough to knock it out of action. It was then rammed by Falcone's crew, knocking it into a building. Fisk, seeing that his "mysterious object" was not going to leave the docks and his hirelings dead, fled. Captain Long, also deciding that he didn't get paid enough to die, hightailed it back to his boat.

Falcone's gang take position

Meanwhile, Lobster Johnson and the police worked their way toward the ruckus. Lobster picked off a couple of Falcone's thugs with expert, long-distance pistol fire. Lt. Gorman and Howard tried to block off the dock's exit. They were fairly successful, but eventually they ran across the Marconi brothers, Sid and Sal. Lt. Howard was shot repeatedly in the head and face as he attempted to run over Sal. The upholstery was utterly ruined.

The Uptons showed that they absolutely did not care who they attacked. Initially starting with Fisk's men, they moved on to Falcone's and, eventually, Fireman O'Leary hacked the feet off an officer that was attempting to climb onto a roof with his trusty fire axe. He in turn was killed by another officer that arrived on the scene of the heinous crime. Sir Reginald and Jimmy died in a a hail of gunfire when tangling with the Falcones. 

Falcone got in on the action, too. He ordered his men to attack both Fisk and the Uptons and his Marconi twins died fighting the cops. He decided it was too hot at the docks and faded into the night.

Sir Reginald showing he can be spry at his advanced age

Jimmy Upton, moments before his death

In the end, the Falcone, Fisk, and Captain Long escaped. Fisk's dock workers and Scourge were dead. The Maroni brothers and Falcone's thugs were dead. All of the Uptons were dead. Two police officers and Detective Howard were dead. 

It was that sort of game. There were an inordinate number of natural 20s rolled, meaning that characters were one-shot in horrific ways. Still, pretty much everyone had a blast and several cinematic moments were had. 

I definitely need to tweak the vehicle rules to accommodate collisions and some other areas. I look forward to the challenge!

The hiatus is over...

Looking at this blog, it has been almost two years since my last post. It seems that the pandemic cut into my gaming life as much as, if not more than, my "real" life. 

I can't even say that I've spent the time huddled in my basement, painting figs, making terrain, and prepping for truly epic games as the pandemic slowly marches toward an endemic. Rather, I have done those things, but not at the level one would expect after two years. As my buddy Ken says, we "fell out of the habit of gaming".

Instead, I took the time to reorganize and prioritize.  In the interim, we finished the basement, so the gaming area is "legit" and storage of my gaming collection is now more finite. I also filled the void with DMing a virtual D&D campaign, which is still rolling. It is fun on many levels, but doesn't quite scratch the gaming itch.  

During the process, I ran across an old calendar (2017) that featured many of the games from 2016. It was a great year. I finished the pirate campaign and ConnCon was a good one. Revisiting that time helped me look ahead and think about what I want to accomplish in 2022.

2022 Gaming Declarations 

First of all, I want to get the gang back into the "habit of gaming". The idea of "if you invite them, they will come" has taken a hit since 2020, so I'll try to make game nights as enticing as possible. 

Second, I am going to try to stay focused on multiple fronts. Rangers of Shadow Deep has piqued my interest. I plan on using that system to bolster my medieval fantasy collection by finishing projects, such as building and painting already-owned terrain, painting minis I've owned for a while, and putting a product on the table I'm proud of and players want to play. 

As creation for that game winds down, Rangers itself can be played with the fruits of my labor. That's when I'll start finishing my western collection. I have many minis to paint, a town sitting in a plastic tub to be finished, and new rules to try out (Ruthless: The Fastest Rules in the West). 

That is not to say that I'll solely be focused on those two projects. I know there will be weeks where I'm not quite ready to play either game. In those instances, I plan on actually playing some of the games I already have on tap. Crazy idea, I know. 

Third, I want to keep this blog going. I know I should shift to FB, but I'm loathe to do that. I do so in the hopes that 'net searches will find this spot faster than something on FB. If what I enter here helps a fellow gamer, all the better.

Okay, then. There's a novella in the books. My next post will be about a game I'm running for the upcoming March to Victory convention in March.

ConnCon 2016

It was a wonderful day of gaming in the Conn basement!

Game 1:

My friend, Scott, brought over medieval FUBAR.  He had a full table of six players.  I gladly gave up my seat for a somewhat late arrival, but that was fine by me.  I had jalapeno poppers and other snacks to prep!

Blind set-up

It sounded like everyone had a grand time.  Judging by the awesomeness of the layout on the table, how could someone NOT have fun?!

Thanks again, Scott!

Game 2:

The second game of the day was a homebrew Western game from Kenny.  It combined aspects of Fistful of Lead, Song of Blades and Heroes and Nerf guns!   We got a couple of games in before we broke for lunch.

Kenny, explaining the rules...

...and the targets.

My weapon of choice.

And our mugshots of the dead...

Game 3:

 Ken had also brought a Viking lawn game called Kubb.  Behold the fun pics!

Thanks again, Kenny.  You brought a lot of fun to ConnCon!

Game 4:

The final game of the day was one of our favorites: Aliens.  This is my homemade copy, thus the white board (it should be dark and scary).

The first scenario is the Colonial Marines against the Bugs.  We fared fairly well on this one.

 

 

 

The second scenario was the Operations room and airducts.  We did okay, but lost Gorman and Vasquez.

 

 

  

All in all, it was a great day of gaming.  Thanks again to everyone who attended and brought their fun games to play!  Next August, fellas!

ConnCon 2015

Well, it's August, which means it's time for ConnCon!  A Saturday of gaming in my basement, with snacks, beverages and fun for all.  I start the day at 9 am and end at midnight, so the day is long, but fun.

Before I recap the day, I'd like to thank everyone that attended.  I had a record turnout...well over a dozen gamers that came and went throughout the day.

Ken showed up first around 9:45.  We piddled around and played darts for a while, waiting for Chad and Terry to arrive.  We started the day playing a couple of games of Villa Paletti, a dexterity game that needs a very steady hand. 

I went upstairs to prep the snacks while the guys played the second game.  After noshing on jalapeno poppers, meat log pieces, crackers and cheese, we got out Sons of Anarchy.  It's an interesting game and I'm glad that Ken brought it.  While we were in the midst of guns, drugs and cash, a few more players arrived.  They played D-Day Dice while we finished our game.  I've wanted to play D-Day Dice for quite a while now, but it wasn't meant to be this day.

King of Tokyo was up next.  Most of us had never tried this game before.  Easily learned, but fun!  This one may get added to my collection at some point.

We had eight players ready to go, so I got out Fortune & Glory.  It took a while, but was well worth the effort.  While we played, even more people arrived.  They played Star Realms or read rules while they waited for our game to end. 

After Fortune & Glory concluded, we ordered Chinese food and conversed about the games we'd played and what was next on the docket.  We decided to try Flick 'em Up.  Man, am I glad we did!  It'll be a game I'm on the hunt for in the near future.  We all busted up laughing at how well or lousy people did and how the game evolved.

With eight players still available, we decided to split up into two groups.  My group played Imperial Settlers, while the other group played Blood Rage.   Both were great ways to end the day. 

We concluded around 1 am.  A couple of guys hung around, so I introduced them to Exploding Kittens.  We were exhausted by then and I wound up getting to sleep around 2 am. 

All in all, a great day of gaming with a great group of guys.  There were a lot of laughs and we tried out several new-to-us games.  Thanks again to everyone that attended and mark your calendars for next August!

Conn Con 2014

I held Conn Con, my annual "gaming convention" in my basement, last weekend.  It was a wonderful 15 hours of gaming!

I want to give a hearty "Thank you!" to everyone who attended and especially to Kenny, who hosted his awesome Vietnam game.

Vietnam:

Our mission was to locate and destroy a radio tower that was hidden somewhere in the valley.  Enemy elements unknown.  Secondary objective was to set-up a forward staging area in the valley (i.e., make our presence felt).  For an excellent bat rep of the game, head over to Kenny's blog Conn Con opening game Vietnam.  I'm merely going to post my own photos and let you soak in the glory of the game...

Kenny, Chuck and Greg

Greg, Jeremy and Pat

The view from the GM's spot

The M113, brewed up

a rice paddy LZ

We used the village as our fire base

By the end of the game, the US succeeded in their mission, but at some loss to its units, especially Bravo Company.

Next up, we played a few different board games.  The first, since we still had five players, was Adventurers: Pyramid of Horus.  This is a grab-and-go, push your luck game that is highly thematic in the vein of Indiana Jones.  In essence, you want to get as much treasure as you can and escape the pyramid before the falling blocks trap you in and seal your fate.

Nyah, nyah!

The game ended with Chuck's character being the only one to escape the pyramid alive!  As you can see in the last picture, two others were so close to escaping...but didn't.  It was priceless!

The next two games we played, Las Vegas and Lightning: War on Terror, I didn't get any pictures of us playing.  Las Vegas was a fun dice game (we played it four times) and Lightning was a card game the others played while I set the main gaming table for the final minis game of the night.

Our final game was a group favorite: Fistful of Lead.  It's everything you want out of an Old West gunfight...easy rules, lots of blood and plenty of moments you'll always remember.

I didn't have much of a plot in mind, so I made the story go something like this...

The English Moore Gang hates the Scottish Morrissey Gang (even though the name's Irish.  Go with it.) and wants them dead.  The leader of the Morrissey gang, Jefe Morrissey (he was evidently Mexican-Irish Scottish), felt the same about Moore and his boys.  Thus, the fight was on.  Long story short, Jefe died against the side of a building.  The only survivors of his gang were his Injun compadres, who quickly left town and were never seen again.

Walkin' down Main Street

Blood Alley

Blood Alley close-up

  

Jefe's demise

All in all, another great Conn Con!  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.  I can't wait until next year!!!