Canvas Eagles Newbies

  My friend, Doug, asked if I could bring over a  WW2 game for his son and and his son's scout friends. They had gone to Recruit-Con and gotten bitten by the wargame bug. My WW2 stuff was in a bit of dissaray so  asked if  WW1 Canvas Eagles would do. I had been working on some rules mods and welcomed the opportunity to give them a run throughly.
   I decided to keep this event simple and focus on learning the basics, not tracking fuel or ammo. They flew 3 Dr1s vs a single Brisfit, flown by the dad, an experienced CE player. After setting up a little too far apart the boys each picked  different approach to their prey. Two were cautious Ryan skirting high on the right flank, Will on the other flank choosing a lower approach. Joe, flying a red tripe, opted for a more direct approach from a slightly higher altitude. Doug knowing the strengths of his Brisfit and weakness of the Dr1, welcomed the attack of these pups. The first casualty was Joe, although getting a stinging hit against the Brisfit, he was taken out by a Pilot Killed result, from a long burst of a single Vickers gun. Ryan and Will gasped and eyed the Bristol wearily. Too late for caution as Doug's Brisfit dove down on Will's lowflying  blue triplane. Engine hits were scored and smoke began to steam from Will's engine cowling.  Will flew past the Bristol and circled around to attack the Bristol from the rear only to fall victim to a long burst  from the rear  Lewis gun, causing Will's Blue triplane  to explode from a Fuel Tank Hit! But the Bristol was belching smoke from it's engine. Now Ryan became more hesitant, meanwhile the brothers, Joe and Will remounted their tripes and were eager for payback! At one point both the Brisfit and a tripe were spinning side by side from critcal hits, but recovered the next turn.  In the end Doug's Brisfit suffered from numerous wing hits and finally a Fuel Tank Explosion, delivered by his son Ryan, who had closed in on the ragged Brisfit.
  The boys did well for their first taste of miniatures 3D  air combat. Canvas Eagles is a bit daunting at first but plays easily after  few rounds.
 The room was a bit dark so picture quality on my iPad suffered.

left to right,Doug and son, Ryan,  friends, Joe, and his brother Will.

Rugged Brisfit

smoke aplenty

The crowded sky

Vultures circling their prey?

A good time!

Fortune and Glory

 

 Tonight brought another boardgame night at Angela and Donnie Williams home. This  time it was Flying Frog Productions, Fortune and Glory, the Cliffhanger Game.
  The setting for this pulp action adventure set in then1930s. Full of action and adventure, loaded with exotic locations, treasures, mobsters and Nazis. Players take on the roles of uniquely talented adventurers.  I felt like I was playing in a Indiana Jones adventure movie.
 I had bought this game shortly after playing it once at ConnCon. I was impressed enough to shell out the $80 for it. I really like Flying Frog's stuff. Fun games, well constructed, high on replay value.
  Tonight was a three player game, like my first experience. Donnie had play in an eight play game at Ted Conn's and was more familiar with the rules, so he ran the game. After set up the game ran smoothly, stopping only to clarify a few points with the rulebook.The game was eventful with a lot of unexpected events with players and npcs in the game, Mobsters, Villains , and Nazis  seemed to be around every corner to thwart our endeavors.

  The game is designed to accommodate up to eight players, but plays best with three to five, more if experienced players. We played about fifteen turns in three hours, referencing  the rules to be sure we were doing thing correctly. Donnie took the lead at the beginning of the game, with Angela close behind.. It wasn't until the last third of the game that I finally made progress. Angela pulled a coup when a Villain beat her to a artifact, and the Angela snatched from him. I used all my resources to slow her down but in the end it was not enough.
  Fortune and Glory is a great game.  I can heartily recommend it.

Fields of Honor, Gameorama!

  I was  fortune enough to attend Fields of Honor, game con again. I thought I had a great time last year, this time it was even better! Trent Burg, Jeff Hyland and their wives give their all to make this con a success, as well as all the great game masters. Five full sessions of awesome gaming, with some hard game choices to make!

  Friday night I participated in Ryan Skow's,  28mm game, Down on the Farm-1970.  ZANLA guerrillas attacking a Rhodesian farm under cover of darkness, defended by well armed farmers.There was Rhodesian  police force as a relief force that showed up on a random die roll. Rules by Ambush Alley Games Force on Force, and supplement Bush Wars.

 Ryan is a master modeler and worked from photos of the real farm to make this wonderful compound. I played this twice, once as the ZANLA, then as the Rhodesians. Afterwards we sat around and discussed the scenario. Ryan ran this a couple more times Saturday morning, with many people admiring this awesome gameboard. I will post a separate review with more pictures. 

  Saturday morning I played in Trent Burg's Star Wars Starfighter game. Rebel X, Y,and A-wings attacking an Imperial convoy escorted by TIE  fighters and interceptors. Rules by Trent and minis were micro machines. I am a big fan of Trent's Warbirds in Miniature WW2 air combat rule, and this rule set is just as good. I flew 2Y wings and followed the X and A wings in the fray. Destroy the freighters and bug out was the mission.

Imperial Convoy and escorts

My Y-wings running the gauntlet!

 

  All Imperial Freighters destroyed, as well as a lot of TIEs . I lost a Y-wing but destroyed a freighter and a TIE interceptor. I was able to fly my two ships and work them together to defend themselves. This rule set is great and three dimensional combat blows the two dimensional. You really feel like your dogfighting, you can always add the bells and whistles of the newer game. Great job Trent, I can't wait untill you post the rules on the yahoo group! This game is FUN!

   Saturday midday I played in Jeff Guillin's  Kings Musketeers skirmish game, One For ALL, One For All!, using his own rules, Ilse de France Swashbuckler miniature rules. I played two of the King's Musketeers aiding in the search for a insolent merchant, who has defied the courts summons.

Gully running the game.

   This game was extremely fun and very Hollywood, rules easy to learn.

Saturday evening  I finally got to experience SAGA Dark Age rules. I've read  a lot about them and was anxious to play. Not your average rules,the battle boards a huge factor in the game. We were in a dark side of the room so the photos aren't great and I was more focused on the game.

My Vikings

The Bretons

 troops closed. My Beserkers were charged by his cavalry and got too  close and were decimated, Fun game I hope to play more of. My thanks to the gamemasters for providing figures and gracious opponent whole helped me learn this interesting games.

  Sunday, I had signed up to play a wild west Bar Room Brawl, but was lured to play a gorgeous 28mm WW1 trench action game. Rifle Grenadiers to the Forward SAP!  Warhammer Historicals, The Great War rules. Beautiful figures and awesome terrain provided by Jude Becker. I enjoyed myself immensely and plan to do this also, possibly in 20mm though. I will provide a later post to further detail this game .

Jude,in the white shirt

The Huns move forward

The French under mortar fire

   The will be another post on this Event showing games I did not get to play in as well as more detailed reviews of A couple of games. I'm already looking forward to my next Fields of Honor. A great convention with great people!