Convention Scenario Ideas and Ramblings

In February Denver Gamer's Association will be hosting one of their 2 conventions called Genghiscon.  This is the larger of the two conventions they host every year and usually has a decent crowd for miniature games.  This year I wasn't motivated enough to put on any games at Tacticon in early September, although I did help my friend Matt out and helped run the booth of one of my friendly local game stores.  I have been brewing a few ideas and would like some input from the community.  All of my games will be done using the Force on Force rules by Ambush Alley Games as I really enjoy these rules and I feel very comfortable teaching others how to play.  I also have painted miniatures and terrain for this rule set.

The convention itself starts Thursday, February the 13th to Monday the 17th.  Not much goes on Thursday and Monday so I don't really plan to do anything those days.

Friday: I was planning on hosting a game set in Afghanistan.  I am just about finished with my last 60ish Taliban putting my total at over 120 painted insurgents and civilian types.  I also have an over sized platoons worth of British Army/Royal Marines fully painted and I am working on the rest of my British Vehicles which a full list can be found here.  I do have some USMC started, but only 1 squad fully painted so would require a decent amount of work to get to convention standards.  I also have tons of terrain already done for Afghanistan.  Haven't decided on a scenario yet, but was thinking some vehicles would be nice.

Saturday: Was thinking of doing two games based on Cold War Gone Hot "what if" situations.  I don't have anything painted for this period, but I do have a BAOR platoon cleaned primed and base coated along with a bunch of vehicles built and a ton of Soviets nearly prepped for priming with a bunch of vehicles built with others to be built too.  I also have an entire European style village's worth of buildings, schools and factories that are in random stages of being built.  This project would take the most effort.  I figure something grandiose would be best as I want this to be the game that attracts the most people.  Vehicles on both sides with lots of infantry to push around.  My ideas were anything from a hold until relieved, breakout, fighting withdrawal or a capture and control mission.

Sunday: Since I will be working on Soviets, and I have a ton of Afghanistan locale painted up, I figured it would be fun and different to do the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.  I already have the terrain for it as the country looks the same through out history.  I will have to dig up the scenario, but I believe someone wrote up one based on the movie The Beast.  I will have to look into this one some more, but I believe this could be quite exciting to play.

So here are my ideas.  I have 4 1/2 months to get ready.  Any input would be appreciated.  What kind of scenarios do you prefer to play at a convention?  Would you do something different?  I don't want to venture too far from these time periods/regions as this is what I already own and have a decent amount ready for.

On a side note, I finally found and bought some Winsor and Newton Series 7 brushes.  I have always wanted to try these, but could never find a distributor once I had the money to buy them.  I have been using a #1 on my Taliban and have been really enjoying them.  They definitely hold a lot more paint than an Army Painter of Games Workshop paint brush and have a much nicer point.  In total I have a 00, 0, 1 and 4.

Hopefully I will have some finished pictures of my Taliban soon.  Also planning on finishing my Warriors very soon.

GenghisCon 2013

This past weekend was one of the local conventions called GenghisCon. My friend and I hosted numerous games, most of them using the Force on Force rules as a basis.

On Friday I helped my friend Matt run a near future game called "The War of Southern Aggression".  Was a fun little skirmish between two equal forces.  I believe the South one with some very aggressive tactics.  The North force seemed to be way too conservative and allowed the South to get much better fire lanes.

Saturday I ran 3 games of Force on Force based on the Cold War Gone Hot supplement.  The scenarios were sort of a 3 stage invasion by the Soviet Union.  Scenario 1 represented the initial invasion and the blocking/delaying forces that NATO would have to use in order to try to stem the Red Tide.  Scenario 2 was a retreat by NATO forces along with strategic town/city defenses.  Soviet companies would plan to surround and crush all resistance.  Scenario 3 was the NATO counter-attack into the overextended Soviet Forces.  These battles were very quick and bloody.  My first real dive into engagements involving multiple vehicles on each side.

Then on Sunday I hosted 1 game of Force on Force based in Afghanistan.  The scenario was for the British forces to escort a person of interest back to base.  Of course the Taliban had other ideas...

Was a very fun weekend, but I am glad it was over.  Work has been kicking my butt, so preparing for this convention was very hard and stressful.  I did not get nearly as much done as I would have liked to.

I will plan to write at least one blog post a week.  I have written out a plan for what I want to get done this year and in the next few months.  Going to set aside a few hours every week to work on miniatures.

I was curious if people would be interested in a detailed review of how to play Force on Force.  Basically it would be a multiple post guide that goes through an entire turn of Force on Force and the different aspects of the game.  I was either thinking pictures with explanations or maybe try to webcam it.  Any thoughts?

If you guys would like to see anything in particular let me know too!  

Tacticon 2012

Back in September of 2012 I attended one of Denver's local conventions called Tacticon.  As usual I ran some Force on Force games (3 to be exact).  These were based on actions in Afghanistan involving the British in the Helmand Province roughly around 2006.

The scenario involved a  British convoy of 4 MRAPs and 2 Landrover WMIKs.  One of the MRAPs had hit a rather large IED and had been disabled.  The convoy had to rescue the crew of the MRAP and head back to base to treat the wounded.  Taliban forces in the area swamped the convoy and attempted to kill as many infidels as possible.

This is how the board was initially set up.  The Apache was not on the table, but was an asset that the British force could call in.

British Troops attempting to create a perimeter.  

This building became Taliban central command in every single scenario.

Overall a very fun scenario.  Very tactically challenging for both sides.  Sorry about the delay in getting this one up.  Will try to be better about posting.

I am finishing up a post about this past weekend's GenghisCon that I ran a bunch of games at.  Was a pretty good convention.  Will probably post it up Friday night.  I took some pretty good pictures and I am just combing through them.

Work in Progress

Thought I would give a quick update on some things I am currently working on.

I am working on a LAV squadron (Not really sure what the correct term is). I have 4 LAV 25s, a command variant and an AT variant.  All of the kits are from Trumpeter.  These were fun and easy to put together.  There is still some assembly to be done as I am debating how much I want to pimp them out with accessories.

These are 2 Britannia Scimitars that will be done up for my Brits in Afghanistan.  These need some love an attention as there are some extensive air bubbles and cast errors.  There are a few metal pieces like the the barrel that will be added once I clean them up and magnetize the turret.

Donkey Cart from Britannia.   This is one of my favorite pieces.  I will probably add some junk in the back of his cart to make him even more fun.

Goat herder and his wife (not sure which one is his wife still) from Britannia .  Another fun addition to my range.  Great for Fog of War cards.

Hot spot markers from S&S models.  These are very flavorful and have the numbers on them which makes them super useful.

A Viking from Britannia.  I have 4 of these in total to transport my Royal Marines.  A very odd vehicle indeed.  Each kit has 2 gunners.  These will require a hefty amount of cleaning and fixing.

Taliban motorcyclists from Britannia. I have 3 of these in total.  Always a fun to have guys on motorcycles.  A few scenarios call for these and I really want to play with them.

IED markers from S&S.  Very useful for force on force.  Some are quite cool.  There are a few more in my box.

News reporter group from Britannia.  What is not to love here?

Some cleaned and built Landrover WMIKS from Britannia.  Really cute little vehicle/kit.  Still need to green stuff up some patches as they suffer from air bubbles.  Were not fun to clean at all.  I do not like the resin used by Grubby Tanks on the Britannia line.

An S&S MRAP along with a bag full of bar armor to go on it.  I have 3 more MRAPs and enough bar armor for them all.  I also have one mine roller.  These are the Mastiffs so they will go with my Brits.  These will need some pretty extensive cleaning... waiting for a nice day to go outside with a mask or respirator to grind away some resin chunks.

Part of my technical fleet.  I have some plastic trucks too.  I haven't decided what I want to do with them fully.  The dark one is from Britannia while the rest are from S&S.  I really like the idea of Technicals dueling my Landrover WMIKs.

So I have a lot of work to do.  These are all things I would like to use in my Convention games in September.  Well... back to being productive!

Force on Force at Tacticon 2012

Tacticon is usually the smaller of the 2 conventions run by the Denver Gamer's Association in the Denver Metro area of Colorado, but this year the historical miniatures section is chock full of games, tournaments and demos to participate in.  My friend Matt August and I will both be hosting a couple of games of Force on Force each for this years Tacticon convention.  This year I will hopefully have an assistant (Bill) which should make the game run really smooth and allow for a lot more picture moments.  For more information on the convention itself, go to http://denvergamers.org/

Here are the listings:


4023 Force on Force 20mm Modern
Force on Force Demo, Hosted by: Nick Johnson
Co-hosted by Bill Kehrman. 
Introduction game to Ambush Alley Games, Force on Force rule set. Expect a fast paced, objective based game using an action and reaction style format. Scenario will be based on the actions fought in Afghanistan between 2001 to Present. Brought to you by Ambush Alley 'Pointman' and the League of Extraordinary Gamers. Beginner, rules taught. Figures provided. Table 40. Limit 4 players.
4023.0 FRI 07:00PM - 11:00PM
4023.1 SAT 09:00AM - 01:00PM
4023.2 SAT 07:00PM - 11:00PM

4024 Force on Force 1/72 Near Future
Take that HILL!, Hosted by: Matt August
Twilight 2013 post WW3 Roznava, Slovakia: Someone has decided to put some heavy artillery in the hills outside of town. The soldiers of the town's defense force need to silence the weapons before Roznava is reduced to rubble. Can you help them? Beginner, rules taught. Figures provided. Table 46. Limit 6 players.
4024.0 SAT 02:00PM - 06:00PM

4025 Force on Force 1/72 Modern
Hell on Earth?, Hosted by: Matt August
The Chechens have been given TOO MANY chances. We will roll into Grozny and crush the rebellion! Come my boys; the Motherland needs you! Beginner, rules taught. Figures provided. Table 46. Limit 6 players.
4025.0 SUN 09:00AM - 01:00PM