Game Day at the Veterans Museum and Upcoming Plans

Saturday, August 24, NHMGS held a game day at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, WA. The museum has a nice collection of firearms and uniforms in the main exhibit hall and jeeps, 5 inch guns, and a Huey Cobra outside. There is also an F-105 Thunderchief outside that looks like it is under restoration (sorry no photo of the plane).

Outside view of the museum

I joined with Kevin and David to support the group and play in Kevin's buffalo hunt game, which was slated for the afternoon session.

We arrived in time for David and I to get into the What a Tanker game. We each grabbed a German Panzer IV J and were off for some shooting. The other Germans had a Tiger and a Stug.

My Pz IV making its way across a field

On the other side, the Americans had a couple Sherman tanks, an Easy Eight Sherman, and an M-36 Jackson tank destroyer.

Tiger crossing the bridge to hunt Shermans

David and I spent a lot of time beating up the Easy Eight and fending off other tanks. David was knocked out by the M-36 and I took a hit from a Sherman just before the game ended. I like the basic What a Tanker rules, but I would like to see more of a scenario some goals (other than just shooting up other tanks) for the game. It is something I need to think about. 

In the afternoon it was off to hunt buffalo. Kevin had modified the Tusk Mammoth Hunting rules to use with his Comanche figures and a horde of buffalo. There were six clans in the hunt, each with slightly different abilities and goals, but the main goal was to get meat for the upcoming winter. The buffalo, and any predators that showed up, were controlled by the rules.

Where the buffalo roam

I was part of the Horse Clan, which got horses for free, and had a couple bow armed men and three other warriors. The other clans had a mix of foot and mounted figures, with 5 or 6 figures per clan. 

A few of my warriors closing on the buffalo

The hunt turned out to be a lot more deadly than expected. I was expecting a few men to get taken down by the buffalo, but most of the fighting would be between the Comanche clans, or other predators, over control of the dead buffalo. But the buffalo were aggressive and had hot dice. Several of the clans were reduced to 1 or 2 figures by the end of the game.

The killer buffalo calf stomping Comanches

The player that took a bunch of bow-armed foot warriors ended up winning, mainly because he was able to keep away from the buffalo. Overall it was a fun game and certainly different.


I also grabbed photos of the other games that were being run.

An ironclads battle using the Hammering Iron 2 rules

A giant Memoir '44 game with 15mm figures

The Zeppelin Pulp Alley game (an award winner from Enfilade)

A World War I trench attack

The Sword and the Flame in Sudan

Overall it was a fun day. The gaming space was above the main museum, with room for 6 gaming tables. Turnout was good for a first time event that isn't near any large towns. I expect there will be another event here in the future. 

End of Summer Plans
With summer winding down, I'm starting to look at what to do for Fall and Winter. Top of the list is preparing for my annual naval game (DANG) by putting together the list of scenarios for voting. Once we've decided what the game is, I'll work on putting together the ships. I also need to reorganize my modeling/painting area, along with my storage shelves. I've got several items taking up space that need to get finished or packed away.

I haven't really decided on any game projects (other than whatever comes up for DANG) and I will probably just follow where my nose leads me for the rest of the year.