Bungle in the Jungle, Ambush Valley

core rules

supplement

 

 
  Phil Flores's interest in gaming the Vietnam conflict has taken him from Charlie Company to Ambush Valley rules. Phil has a nice selection of 20mm figures and terrain that he has been collecting over the past years, off and on. Always searching for that perfect set of rules, there never is, Phil has found Ambush Valley suits him best for now. I have played in a couple of his games but never got around to posting them, and so here they are. Once at his house and another time at ConnCon, pretty much the same scenario both time, with a few minor differencess. Forces consisted of a few M113 ACAVs supported by a couple of M-48s, along with six squads of grunts, and in one game a Huey Slick. All on their way to "liberate' a VC held village. They were expected and ambushed by the garrison, luckily the main force was elsewhere. Of course the VC forces were hidden with each group represented by three dummy counter each, to be revealed on a successful spotting check. Both games were fun and very different. Phil also plays Lock 'N Loads
" Forgotten Heroes"  Nam board game, lots of fun and challenging.


Here we are at ConnCon 2012. That's Phil on the left, Greg Moore in the black tee, and Tedd Conn in the blue tee.Phil has set the game up and explaining rules and objectives.

Zippo time

Greg eyeballing that slick, he is a VC player

 Now we at Phil's house with Brad Jenison, in the white tee and glasses the on he left, and Jim Harbison the other guy sitting.

                                  Brad playing the VC, planning his ambush.

   Pictures from the games.

Eclipse Space Strategy Game

   Another of Angela and Donnie Williams latest acquisitions from Gencon. I consider this a worthy rival of Twilight Imperium, not better but very fun, that is until the combat starts then, viscous. Main difference is the space exploration vs knowing what solar systems are available.  Donnie introduced Eclipse to Phil Flores and I one evening and we had at it. It easy to learn mechanics, and being our first game Donnie helped us through. Eclipse is fun and not overly complex, but with a lot of strategy. Unique is having to fight NPCs over a newly discovered system. I would also say it has a high replay value with 2-6 players. Having a well organized storage system helps speed the pre game set-up.Visit  BBGs:  http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/72125/eclipse  for a comprehensive review. Thanks Donnie for a fun evening of gaming!  

                       Last phases of the game, no place left to explore, now only war!

                                             Donnie helping Phil on ship configurations.

  ,     Phil must go through the dreaded center Galactic Council Territory to gain access for conquest.

Lyssan Medieval boardgame

 Angela and  Donnie Williams are the boardgame drivers in our little circle, and have many interesting games and the most current. They go to Gencon and bring back all these awesome games, seems more than we have time to play, but we try anyway.
  The latest is "Lyssan" touted as a Medieval strategy/combat game, fast playing and with a high replay value. See a comprehensive review at BoardGameGeek: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/97939/lyssan, they do a much better review than I can. I only wish Lyssan could accommodate 5-6 players instead of 4.
  A pleasant evening of gaming was provide by Angela and Donnie, both gracious gamers and hosts indeed.

                                                           Angela and Donnie
                                                 Donnie in his official Lyssan t-shirt!
                         

                                                                      Lyssan

Axis & Allies 1940 Global

  I have been playing Axis and Allies 1940 Global for about three months, almost every other weekend. Yes this game takes 8-12 hours to play, but is a blast! Even so we always have 6-8 players. The group I play with is studies WWII actively and we are tweeking the rules. I bought the Pacific 1940 and opened the box, then down loaded the 10 page errata/rules corrections. What a broken piece of crap it was! Rushed  into production. I was obsessed with getting the Europe game but it was going for $225 on ebay. I lucked out and got it for $88 new! I've tried my hand playing each of the factions. This game is fun and frustrating to play and time flies by. My only complaint is that America can't declare war until the end of the 3rd turn, because  historically Congress were "Isolationists" and wouldn't let Roosevelt declare war. Japan gets to invade Russia on turn one even though historically the Japanese invaded the soviet union twice, the first time it was 1937 and the last time it was 1940/1941. The Japanese were beaten back with heavy losses both times due to heavy fire power from Russian tanks-artillery -infantry by Marshal Georgi Zhukov.The game doesn't allow for this.

Recruits-Con Fall 2012

http://recruits.mtswebsites.com/index.php

  Recruits-Con Fall 2012 has come and gone. Thanks to Duane Fleck and his band of merry men and ladies, I and many others had a wonderful game filled weekend. There were a few regulars missed but there were many new faces and venders. The thing that stood out the most to me was the large number of under 16 year old attendees, whom I refer to as the future of our hobby. Indeed this convention is aptly named and very successful in it's mission. 10 years, 20 shows, and still  recruiting!!

  There were so many great games to choose from, allocating my time was difficult. The theme was "Old School" and many veteran gamemasters brought back golden oldies from earlier shows.I could of spent the whole show walking around taking pictures, but that what the Recruits-Con website is for, check out the gallery for the latest pictures when it gets upgraded, http://recruits.mtswebsites.com/Gallery.php     

 Chris Cluckey's amazing French and Indian War, Battle of Quebec.Using John Jenkins limited edition 54mm figures and Iron Ivan Games, "This Very Ground" Rules. Chris ran this game the whole convention and always had a table full of participants.

Kenneth Van Pelt's awesome 1/35th scale WWII skirmish! Mamayev Kurgan, Break through in Stalingrad, home rules. I would have loved to play in this one

 Kenneth Van Pelt's   "N" Country, Airmobile Operations in Veitnam.. N scale, home rules.
All of the players will take the Chain of command for a US air-mobile battalion in Vietnam. The enemy encounters are generated from a deck of cards when US forces are searching areas of a valley. The encounters generated in the search mission are researched typical events that occurred for American soldiers. This is a simulation game that is difficult to decide winner and loser- only experience.
 

Ambush Alley Games, Contracting Trouble. This is one of my favorite AAG games hosted by Shawn and Peggy Carpenter. A ton of fun in a very small package, full of suprises!

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It Came From Beyond The Still by special guest Robert Adams, ran by Mike Williams. This game is a hoot!

    Hillbillies vs. Aliens, is the ultimae miniatures skirmish game of down-home alien butt-kicking. Come play as the Hatfields, McCoys, ODaries, or Grangers and fued to the last man. Or, play the Grey aliens, blobs or The Green Menace From Uranus and probe or destroy all life on Earth. Other factions include Cultists set out to summon Great Old Ones and lessor servitors, those Meddling Kids, the Men in Black, The Boys Scouts or Revenuers. 

 16 Miniatures on a Lead Man's Chest,  28MM,  Fist Full of Seaman rules.
 Set Sail and weigh anchor in the Largest Pirate game in North America. Immerse yourself in over 700 square feet of playable terrain where you decide your scalawag’s fate. Trade goods, plunder shipping lanes, hunt for lost treasure, destroy the enemies of the crown, feast with cannibals, or haunt the seas for eternity aboard the ghost ship Petit Mort.