This was PrairieCon 2022!

So this past weekend, Conscript Mike F and I travelled to Brandon to attend and run games at PrairieCon XLI, the 2022 iteration of, as an old program wonderfully put it, "Western Manitoba's Only Gaming Convention." :-)

I ran the old reliable Gaslands (twice) and my Battle of Hoth game with Star Wars: Legion models and using the Bolt Action rules. First up - Gaslands. I ran a game on Saturday morning with two players and me, and it was fun - but I think the early hour (first slot of the convention, 9am) maybe trimmed off some participants.

 

Anyway at 2pm I ran the game again with 5 players, mostly all buddies. Each player picked a pre-generated 2-car team, put them on the table and blazed away. Here's some photos from the games...

In game 1 the new player picked up the rules very quickly and was executing tricky maneuvers in no time. 

Rear-facing rocket launchers on the buggy made short work of a biker!

The brown buggy took a lap around the table staying out of trouble.

With only one hull point left the driver lined up his opposite number for a head one crash.

KABOOM!

In game 2 the group of friends picked things up fast as well.

Collisions and carnage definitely abounded.

On Sunday morning I ran my Battle of Hoth game. Rich and Darryl took control of the Imperial forces. Their objective was mainly to enter the Rebel deployment zone (behind their trench line) with secondary objectives to destroy Rebel units.

The Rebels deployed in the trench line mostly, prepared to repel the Imperial assault.

The Imperials were pretty disciplined and engaged Run orders to move across the table. The Snowtroopers had the "Recycle" special rule and when a unit was destroyed, it reappeared 18" behind its point of furthest advance. 

Luke appeared from Reserve on the Imperial table edge, trying to make it back to Echo Base after crashing his snowspeeder and destroying an AT-AT off table. He used the Force to put Pin markers on the Imperial E-Web Blaster but ran into a squad of elite Imperial Naval Troopers - it did not end well.

Luke never got a chance to charge in with his lightsaber - the Naval Troopers activated first and even though Luke deflected most of their blaster bolts, he ultimately failed a Deflect roll and was... "defeated". 

On one flank the Imperials continued the advance.

Meanwhile on the other Rebel flank, Vader ran ahead of his snowtroopers and engaged a heavily Pinned Rebel squad all by hisself. This almost ended badly as well, because although Vader cut down a bunch of Rebels, one trooper managed to roll "6 followed by 6" to wound! Vader only escaped defeat by using his Parry rule to make the trooper reroll that successful wound, and sadly another 6 failed to come up. 

Way to go, Dark Lord of the Sith - you defeated three Rebel soldiers. Good for you!

The game concluded with the Imperials having destroyed four Rebel units (4 VPs) and managing to get one unit in the Rebel zone (2VPs). The Rebels destroyed four Imperial units (including the mighty AT-ST!) and didn't exit any units of their own in the six turns we played. A really fun game and I have to give props once again to Jay of  Jay's Wargaming Madness for the basis of the Bolt Action conversion I used for the game. I did make a few more changes to Jay's original mods but I think it worked out great for a convention game.

Pretty cool right? That's some commitment to cosplay right there... 

PrairieCon was a great time as always. Getting to see my old gaming buddies again (after three years away!) was amazing, and running games and auctioneering at the world-famous game auction was a blast as always. I did make one big purchase at the auction too - a large cardboard "mystery box" full of about 10lbs of old lead figures, for which, after hotly contested bidding, I paid a sum that was significant. Suffice to say that the product boxes in the big box weren't exactly 100% accurate as to their contents, but I figure I did OK, as the lot game with a full boxed set of Eldar Harlequins from the Rogue Trader era, most of the box of Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers, plus a LOAD of original plastic and metal Squats, and some RT Imperial Guard, RT Chaos Space Marines, RT Space Orks, etc.... so we'll call that fair. I have a feeling it'll be a "tale that grows in the telling" though, as the day after the auction I was told that I'd actually spent DOUBLE what I paid for the lot. By next PrairieCon I'm sure I'll be said to have spent five thousand dollars on them or something. 

Galactic Heroes - "Boba Fett? Boba Fett! WHERE?!" - Game 3

Conscript Frederick pointed out that I failed to post Game 3 of the Star Wars Campaign to the blog. Have to rectify that. 

During Game 2, the Imperials took heavy casualties but prevented the Rebels from getting off-planet with vital intelligence. Plus, both Luke and Darth Vader were put Out Of Action and will have spent the next couple of games in bacta tanks.

Awhile ago, I ran Game 3 of the campaign for four of my fellow Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, using the Galactic Heroes sci fi skirmish rules set.

Both sides have rushed in what reinforcements they could. The goal in Game 3 for each side was to get their models into the enemy deployment zones; 1 VP for every trooper or specialist, and 2 VPs for every Leader. As an added bonus, Boba Fett is trying to obtain a bounty on Han, garnering an extra 2 VPs if he defeated the smuggler.

Looking from the southern table edge, the Rebels set up to the west and the Imperials in the east.

The Shoretroopers, unhindered by the shallow water, advanced along the southern table edge, using the fallen AT-AT as cover. The Rebel Veterans, survivors from Hoth, moved to give fire on them. Boba Fett jumped along the northern edge, accompanied by Stormtroopers. Han and the Pathfinders moved to meet them.

Long story short, the Imperials moved their forces sooner, getting the jump on the Rebels. Some bad die rolls left several Rebels out of ammo, with not a lot of time available to reload.

The anticipated Han/Boba Fett showdown never happened. Han went down to a lowly Stormtrooper mid-game. Boba Fett missed with his missile and flamer, and was hit by multiple Rebel blaster shots, including the tripod mounted heavy gunner (who was man of the match for the Rebels). Another Rebel Trooper, out of ammo, rushed Fett and managed to roll hot in close combat, striking him down with their rifle butt.

The Shoretroopers mostly got to the Rebel zone unscathed, but took some casualties in short range firefights and close combat.

The Rebels, trying to rush up the middle, didn’t get as many troopers into scoring position as the Imperials. It was a tense, close game, decided only on the final turn.

Galactic Heroes - "The World Between Worlds" - Game 5

The heroes that could be summoned using the Jedi temple (the "Force henge").

The available Rebel forces.

Available Imperial forces.

The table. 

Last Wednesday was the 45th anniversary of the release of the movie Star Wars. I remember seeing the movie with my kid brother, opening day at the Grant Park Cinerama. To celebrate, I ran the 5th game of the ongoing Star Wars campaign, using the newly released 2nd. Edition of Galactic Heroes from Wiley Games: https://wiley-games.myshopify.com/collections/galactic-heroes?sort_by=created-descending 

The Rebels won the previous game, seized an Imperial ship, destroyed a clone experiment, and have now focused their attention on an ancient Jedi temple on a verdant planet in the Outer Rim. Unfortunately, the Imperials tracked their stolen ship to the same location. Both sides seek allies out of time and space to aid them against the true enemy, the Emperor. Who can access the World Between Worlds? 

Set Up 

3’ x 3’ table. The verdant table was covered in woods and fallen trees. The Jedi Temple was in the middle of the table. The Rebel side picked the East table edge; the Imperials had the other side. Staring with the Rebels, players alternated setting up squads, within 5” of their table edge. 

Special Rules 

Both side were trying to enter the World Between Worlds and obtain assistance from a hero of times past, future, or another timeline entirely. If a figure stands in the centre circle of the henge, as an action they can attempt to open the gate. As an action they must pass a Hard Task (8+); if they are a Force Sensitive (like Leia Organa), the Task is Regular (5+), and if they are a Jedi or a Sith (Luke and Vader), the Task is Easy (3+). If the Task is passed, they may choose a hero from the list of heroes; the latter will appear at the start of the next turn, and that side will be issued a card from the deck for the new ally. If there are no more turns, the hero will be a available for Game 6. 

Ending the Game 

At the end of turn 6, we were going to roll a d8. If the die resulted in 6 or below, the scenario is over and the gate to the World Between Worlds closes. If the roll is 7 or more, that becomes the last turn number for the game. As it turned out, the game was mutually called (see below). 

The Game

Rob ran the Reb el leader, Princess Leia, who was accompanied by some Fleet Troopers. Kevin and I ran Farmboy Luke and a couple of Taun Tauns and their riders. John ran Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers, and Frederick ran aa squad of Shoretroopers.

With good card draws, the Imperials got the jump. A couple of heavy weapon troopers were able to go into overwatch, and Vader Force jumped into the temple. summoning an Alternate Universe version of himself, a middle aged, unarmoured Sith Anakin.

Luke got Wounded by a heavy weapon. The Taun Tauns moved forwards, one to cover Luke, and the other threatening the Imperial northern flank. Leia and the Fleet Troopers moved forwards. 

Things soon got hot and heavy. The Taun Tauns avoided most Imperial fire and hit both Imperial flanks, wounding or putting Out of Action a few Troopers. Leia and a recovered Luke managed to summon Count Dooku from the time when he first left the Jedi order, and old Ben Kenobi, from just prior to his final fight with Darth Maul (see Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels). Vader, foregoing more offensive action, summoned Asajj Ventress from the height of her power as an apprentice to the Sith version of Count Dooku. 

Realizing that they wanted to preserve their forces for the 6th and final game of the first "season" of the campaign, both sides pulled back. Vader and Anakin (!?) jumped west, attacking the Taun Tauns. Man of the match was a Shocked Shoretrooper, who managed to put the K.O. on a Taun Taun rider just before Anakin's saber struck home. 

We then called the game, thinking ahead about how the assault on the Emperor's Throne will go.

Thanks to Frederick, John, Kevin, and Rob for playing with me. Also, thanks to Dallas, Perry, JP, and Jeremy for dropping by to quaff beer and kibitz.