Enfilade 2013 Recap Part 1 - Other People's Games

Well, Enfilade is over for another year and this was a very good year for the convention. We have a record attendance (around 350, including vendors) and the gaming tables were almost full for the Friday night and all Saturday sessions. Everything seemed to go smoothly and I didn't hear of any major issues. While Enfilade doesn't measure up to the eastern US conventions attendance-wise, I think that we would match up nicely on the quality of games.

As with the recaps from previous years, I’m doing two Enfilade posts; one on the general convention and other people's games (including ones I played in) and a second covering the games I ran. This post will cover the general convention stuff and games I played in. For more pictures and descriptions from Enfilade, be sure to check Kevin's blog, Dean's blog. and David's blog. There are some other blogs out there too and I will try to post links as soon as I see them get some Enfilade entries up.

Friday Afternoon 
The first gaming period started at 2:00 on Friday afternoon. This used to be a pretty sparsely populated period. But as more people decide to show up early, there are more games. I was looking for something fairly light to start the convention and jumped into a game of Silent Death (easy space fighters). I took four small attrition fighters and was knocked out pretty early by the heavier fighters. But it gave me a chance to unload my stuff in my room and wander around the other games too.

Agincourt using the Hail Caesar rules

Austria vs. France in pre-Dreadnought action

Silent Death

Viking Run being set up

Guy Bowers' (from Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy magazine) Wrath of Heaven game

Friday Evening 

Wings of War floatplanes try to Sink the Emden

Battle of Dennewitz using Shako rules

Wildcats fight off Zeros and Bettys

Setting up for Circus Maximus

French ships get ready to battle it out with...

German ships

The Gangs of New York

Golden Age Air Racing

Massacre at Fort William Henry (from Last of the Mohicans)

Rapid Fire in the desert

WWII Pacific scenarios (I never did find out what the tiger was for)

Row Well and Live galley combat

Stargate SG-1 game

Zombies!

Saturday Morning and Afternoon 
I was pretty busy running my own games on Saturday morning and afternoon (see my next post for more about those), but I managed to get a few photos of those games (mainly as they were being set up).

Setting up for Assault on Crete (using Bolt Action rules)

Battle of Hanau

Bjork's Drift (VSF on Mars)

France 1940 in 6mm

Wings of War Bombers

1940 French bombers attacked by Me-109s using CY6!

An American Civil War action

Battle of Peleliu

A close view of Peleliu

Desperado game with a train

Saturday Evening 
I played in Mark and Joe Waddington's Vietnam game on Saturday evening, which was visually stunning and a lot of fun to play. I was on the Vietnamese side and we were trying to find the crew of a downed chopper (which included a high-ranking officer), while trying to delay the American rescue effort. Although we didn't really know that was the mission at the start of the game. My squads were able to delay the Americans for long enough to allow the other Vietnamese time to capture the downed crew and march them off the table, but I did lose most of my troops in the effort.

American main force arrives

American airmobile troops land in a village

The downed chopper the played an important part in the game

The Americans prepare to advance on my position

And they spot my dug-in troops a little earlier than I was hoping

Over on the other side of the board, the airmobile troops advanced out of the village into the Rice Paddies

My second squad attacks (ineffectively) the American flank

More American troops arrive

The Americans reach the downed chopper, but a little too late

NVA forces block the Americans, allowing other forces to get the captured general off the board

I was a little too focused on my game and missed out on taking pictures of most of the other games, but here are a few.

The Sword and Flame on Mars

Time traveling Nazis with dinosaurs

a smaller portion of Trafalgar

Sunday 
Sunday morning was the annual member's meeting. It was well attended this year (another surprise for me, since most gamers find it difficult to drag themselves out of bed at 8:30 on Sunday morning). With all the extra people, I was wondering if there was going to be a lot of complaints about the convention. But, for the most part, everyone was complementary of how things went. There were some comments about communications issues (NHMGS did have some website problems this year) and some other minor items, but overall everyone seemed pretty happy with things. The NHMGS President and Treasurer did say that in addition to helping support other region conventions, they are looking to help support some regional game days in Seattle, Portland, and other locations. NHMGS isn't really looking to run the game days, but is looking for local people to organize things and NHMGS will be willing to provide some seed money. It is nice to see that we are getting back into a position to support the hobby in areas outside of Puget Sound. With the meeting over, it was time for some more games.

Sails of Glory demo game

American forces for the Battle of Cryslers Farm

British forces for Battle of Cryslers Farm

Battle of Hastenbeck

Sea Harriers pursue Skyhawks and Daggers over San Carlos

Galley Quest (think Jaaon and the Argonauts)

Martian War machines from War of the Worlds

WWI North Sea Rumble

Siege of Castle Mire (using Tactica Siege rules)

A Spanish Civil War action

Finally, here is a list of the games that won "Best of" for the different gaming periods.

Friday afternoon-Viking Run by Lloyd Bowler and David Mebust. The only game with spectators. The runner up for best of show overall

Friday Evening-Massacre at Fort William Henry by Darryl Nichols. If you've seen Last of the Mohicans, you've seen this game. Darryl also won the best game that reflected our "At the Movies" theme.

Saturday morning-Assault on Crete 1941 by Mark Sieber

Saturday Afternoon-Liberia 1920 by Bruce Smith

Saturday Evening-Vietnam 1968 by Mark and Joe Waddington

Sunday Morning-Galley Quest: Jason and the Argonauts by Tom Condon

The overall Best of Show winner was Vietnam 1968 by Mark and Joe Waddington.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks again to everyone that helped out with the convention and put on games.

Final Enfilade Preperations

The Enfilade gaming convention is this weekend and I’ve just been finishing up the final items I need for my games.

I haven’t talked much about the other game I’m running, The 2nd Battle of St. Leonard's Creek, mainly because there wasn’t a lot of stuff to paint up for the game. The British ships are borrowed and American gunboats were built for last year’s DANG, which only left some land units and ships’ boats needed to move those units around.

I ordered the ship’s boats from Bay Area Yards. They make a lot of nice accessories for ships and forts, including the boats. Here is a shot of some of the boats with a couple gunboats.

Gunboats and Ships' Boats

For the land units I wanted things to be in the same (or close to the same) scale. So I ordered some infantry from PicoArmor’s Napoleonic line. The infantry are pretty small and I had to use my magnifier to paint them up. I think they turned out okay (I won’t win any painting competition, but they are good enough for gaming). Here are some shots of the U.S. and British troops. Unfortunately, I didn’t include anything for size comparison, so you’ll just have to believe me when I say they are small.

A sample of British troops (representing Royal Marines)

A sample of US troops

Enfilade Naval Games 
I was looking over the Enfilade preliminary event list (you can find the full list here) to see what games are being put on that I want to try to play. Overall, it looks like there are some interesting games. As usual, I like to see how many naval games are on the schedule. Last year there were 11 naval games, including the two I put on. This year we are back up to 15, which is nice to see. There are also a good number of air games this year (including the attack on Tirpitz, which I didn’t count as a naval game). As with previous years, I thought I’d keep with the theme of the blog and post the list of Enfilade naval games.

Friday Afternoon 
Iron Castles Afloat (Rules: Fire When Ready) After the battle of Lissa (1866) the navies of the 1870s developed central battery ironclads, armed with rams and forward firing barbettes as well as traditional broadsides. While none of these ships saw combat, this game simulates an encounter between the Austrian and French navies of the period.

Friday Evening
Row Well and Live! (Rules: Row Well and Live!) Roman Proconsul Quintus Arius has tracked down and brought to battle a squadron of Macedonian pirates.

You may Fire when ready, Pierre! (Rules: Perfidious Albion) French and German Pre-Dreadnoughts battle each other in this Fictional "What If" encounter set in the 1890's. Easy to learn system and fast play will have Gamers in fear of the dreaded Magazine Explosion in no time.

Battle of the River Plate (Rules: Supremacy at Sea) Re-enact the classic naval battle portrayed in the movie "Battle of the River Plate" as the Graf Spee first lunges at, then flees from, a small British cruiser force.

Saturday Morning 
In Harm’s Way (Rules: Seekrieg IV) From the classic John Wayne movie of the same name. Can a line of US Heavy Cruisers, a few destroyers and a small flotilla of PT Boats do enough damage to the Yamato to make her turn around and return to base? Give it a try!

Learn To Row - Introduction to the Rules (Rules: Galleys & Glory) Learning Scenario for Sunday's Quest. Learn the rules and mechanisms of Ancient Navel combat with Galleys & Glory.

The 2nd Battle of St. Leonard's Creek (Rules: Sail and Steam Navies (modified)) Com. Barney's gunboat flotilla is trying to break out from St Leonard's Creek into the Pawtuxent River during the War of 1812. This is a mixed land-river action; the US Army and artillery are supporting the breakout from the land side, while the Royal Marines and Royal Navy try to stop them.

Saturday Afternoon
Napoleonic Naval Warfare (Rules: Sails of Glory) Learn to play Sails of Glory. It is a brand new 1:1000 scale naval miniatures game from the same company that makes Wings of Glory. No experience is necessary and instruction will be provided

Saturday Evening
Row Better and Live! (Rules: Row Well and Live!) Hellenistic squadrons battle for supremacy of the eastern Mediterranean.

Thunderboats! (Rules: Thunderboats) Popular hydroplane racing rules creates a certain sense of nostalgia as players design their boats and drivers, take their risks and win the Enfilade Cup.

Jutland +1 (Rules: Supremacy at Sea: Great War) In another timeline the major battle between the Grand Fleet and High Seas Fleet doesn't occur until May 31, 1917. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt ensures that the U.S. Navy is deployed to Britain in time to play a crucial role in trapping the Kaiser's fleet.

Trafalgar - the good parts version (Rules: Close Action) Command a British, French or Spanish ship of the line in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. Close Action is an updated version of the classic board game "Wooden Ships and Iron Men". Each player will command one, or at most, two ships. Detailed 1/1200 scale ship models by Langton Miniatures.

Utsire Island (Rules: Fleet Action Imminent) von Spee bypasses the Falklands and makes it to the North Sea. He is intercepted by RN armored cruisers off Norway on Christmas eve in a daylight fight!

Sunday Morning 
North Sea Rumble (Rules: Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnaughts) Rumble in the North Sea: Meeting engagement by equal forces of The Royal Navy and German High Seas Fleet. Battle cruisers charge in with dreadnought closing fast.

Galley Quest (Rules: Galleys & Glory) Tournament for Galleys & Glory. Players will attempt to complete a quest from the gods, while beating other players to their goals. Prize to be awarded to winner!

One More Playtest

Last Saturday Kevin and I ran a playtest of the “Hunting the Beast” scenario. Kevin and I set up the board, including some new light flak emplacements from the Fight’s On store. The guys from Fight’s On were kind enough to provide the emplacements, along with some markers to give away to the players at Enfilade. So I want to say a big “Thank You” to them.

A couple light flak emplacements from Fight's On

We were short a player, so there was only two German fighters airborne for the game. The German player chose to add an escort destroyer for some extra light flak, but to keep the flak “tight”, which restricted the range it would attack planes at (for this game flak shoots at any plane that is in range, so the tight restriction allows the German fighters some more maneuver options). The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) chose to make a morning attack with six Barracudas for the bombing, escorted by four Corsairs, and a pair of Fireflys for flak suppression.

After everyone was set up, we made the navigation checks for the FAA and flak manning for the Germans. The FAA ended up missing their check, which shifted their entry point putting them further away from the German fighters, but still in a good position to strike Tirpitz. The German flak was not alerted before the raid and it would take a turn for them to fully man their guns.

The FAA strike enters the map.

The German fighters (a pair of FW-190As) flew off to meet the raid head-on. The high rate of closing speed prevented the FW-190s and escorting Corsairs from engaging each other. Then the German heavy flak opened up.

Heavy flak greets the attackers

The heavy flak showed that it was completely impartial, damaging a few Barracudas along with one FW-190. The FW-190s were able to take a couple shots at some of the Barracudas as they passed, but one of the Barracuda tail gunners was able to hit the flak damaged FW-190 and shoot it down. The heavy flak got a little revenge later by knocking down a couple of the bombers.

The bombers approach the battleship

The Corsairs pursued the other FW-190. It dove away but got too close to escorting destroyer, which promptly shot it down (German flak did a pretty good job of shooting German planes in our playtest). The four remaining Barracudas were able to dodge the flak and drop their bombs on Tirpitz scoring three hits. But that was only enough to damage “The Beast”, not cripple it. So we gave the Germans a marginal victory.

One hit and one miss from this pair of Barracudas

The playtest went pretty well and the players seemed to enjoy the game. We did decide that the flak might be a little too powerful, so we’ll tone it down for the Enfilade game. We also thought that we would give the FAA the option of taking up to eight bombers (instead of six). Overall, I feel pretty good about the scenario and think it is ready to go for Enfilade.

Hunting the Beast Walkthrough

This post is a little late (okay, a few weeks late), but here are a few photos and description of the walkthrough Kevin and I did for the Hunting the Beast scenario.

We started out talking about the general plans and options for both sides. The Germans will chose which fighters are covering the zone, if there is some additional flak in the area and the general orders for the flak gunners. The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) players get to choose the timing for their attack, the approach for the planes and the planes in the mission. The FAA can have 12 planes on the mission and will have to choose from a mix of Corsairs, Hellcats, Martlets, Fireflys, and Barracudas. They will have to take some Barracudas, since those are the only bombers in the game (the Firefly could carry a torpedo, but the German defenses negate the use of torpedoes). The other planes will be there to provide fighter cover and flak suppression.

Tirpitz at anchor

We quickly talked through the German options and then spent a lot of time going over possible FAA options. After coming up with a good mix of FAA planes, we stepped through an attack plan. With the battleship setup, we looked over the ways the FAA can get the bombers in quickly to attack the Tirpitz (assuming their navigation rolls turn out okay) and went through a few things to refresh the Mustangs rules in our minds.

Barracudas approaching the target

The Barracudas start their bomb run

We made a few notes about extra information that is needed for both sides. We then decided to plan a full playtest for May 11. It should be entertaining to see if our plans match up with what players are thinking. We are trying to get some space at The Game Matrix in Tacoma for the playtest. Feel free to drop by if you're in the ares.