PACIFICON 2021

 Well, I finally got around to writing this blog post about the 2021 Pacificon Game Expo convention.   Due to the Covid virus Pacificon 2020 had been cancelled.  Sadly, attendance was down from 2019.  Several of the local gamers had gone to Enfilade instead this year.  Normally, Enfilade is held on a different weekend from Pacificon, but this year it was held on the same weekend.

The miniature and board games were in the same room again, but the room was smaller than 2019.   The number of games offered was also less than 2019.   I ran two games, one on Saturday morning and the other on Sunday morning.   In all there were about 24 people participating in the miniature games  on Saturday.   My Saturday game was Breitenfeld 1631 using Repent or Die from Hoplite Research.   Sorry no pictures and an inconclusive result.  I left early from the convention after my game to take care of some things at home.

My Sunday game was Blenheim 1704  using slightly modified Rank and File rules.   The result was a French victory.   Afterword I participated in the Panzer Korps WW2 game.   I commanded the Germans with the aid of Keith against the two British players.   Our units started out hidden and visibility was limited due to the Bocage terrain.   

The British right flank force arrived first and was immediately thrown back.  After regrouping they again attempted to advance.   Meanwhile my ersatz tank destroyer unit had been sniping at them.

The British left flank force arrived on the second day segment (each day segment is two hours and can have 1-4 turns depending on die rolls).  Their advance was also halted by infantry and our other ersatz tank destroyer unit.   This unit also continued to cause problems for the British left flank for the remainder of the game.   The British never saw it due to attempting to spot the wrong location.   It was further away than where they were looking.

The British also had some offshore naval guns bombarding the area, but this fell on areas where our troops were not deployed..   We had deployed in depth with four infantry (panzergrenadier) battalions up front the two ersatz units behind them, and tank battalion and a nebelwerfer battalion further back.

We also had some anti-aircraft companies that were attached to various units.   The one attached to my ersatz unit caused the British air strike to break off its attack.  Time ran out with the British attack stalled and the Germans still holding all the game area that they had started with.

Below are photos of the Blenheim and Panzer Korps games.

Anglo-allied army on left and Franco-Bavarians on the right.

The following are from the Panzer Korps game

Initial British advance thrown back.   One panzergrenadier battalion on left edge of game area.

My ersatz battalion in its initial starting position, having been spotted by the British after causing them problems

The British regroup and advance again

My ersatz battalion had redeployed to avoid British artillery barrages on its original position.

End of game .   British are no further forward than their initial turn.    I forgot to take pictures of the other flank.

New additions.

Since my last post I have not been able to do anything with wargaming except some internet browsing.   Things are back to normal now and yesterday I received some GHQ items I ordered.   Fortunately they arrived a day earlier than scheduled and I spent last evening gluing turrets onto the hulls.   Today I primed them with green spray primer and added the other two NATO camo colors.   I am also working on the Lace Wars figures that I have.  Getting them painted and based and determining what additional figures may be needed.   So far the only infantry that I am going to need are a couple of packs of grenadiers.    I may have enough cavalry.  The only uncertainty is the number of Hussars that I may need.

There are 10 Leopard 2 Revolutions, 10 Pumas, and 30 Boxers.  I was able to find painting diagrams for the Boxer and Puma by searching the internet and some help from people on The Miniatures Page.

T

JWW2 Japanese Army and Visitors

Just complete another project.  This is a WW2 Japanese infantry regiment with a supporting tank battalion.  Test of Battle games has released a scenario book for the war in the Pacific called "Road to Tokyo".  Hoplite Research has also released a scenario book on the same subject called "The Emperor's Finest".  While the formation is scaled at one base = one platoon, I can upscale it to one base = one company for "The Emperor's Finest" scenarios.

 The tanks.  Lights on the left.  37mm medium next then the 45mm mediums.

 The infantry.  Three infantry battalions in front.  Supporting guns and engineers in back.

After putting everything away, I noticed that a flock of migrating birds had arrived.   They pass through in the early spring/late winter and late fall.

Projects for 2018

Time to set some goals for the coming year.  In no particular order I hope to accomplish the following items for the coming year:

Finish painting and basing 18th century armies (Duchy of Clove-Hamhock and Principality of Turanschlag).  I will need to purchase some additional Hussars and maybe some grenadiers and heavy cavalry from Heroics and Ros.   Got some new figures from a friend.

Expand Franco-Prussian War armies.  Need quite a few additional figures from Heroics and Ros.  Fortunately they are easy to paint.

Finish painting and basing additions to American Civil War armies.   Also print flags for them.  Almost finished painting them.  One of six unfinished items from last year.

Finish painting and basing the Carthaginian figures I was given.

Finish painting and basing the barbarian infantry additions.

Finish painting and basing the early Byzantine cavalry,

Finish painting and basing the Sassanian cavalry.

Finish painting space ships.  About a dozen to paint.

Flock bases for Napoleonic armies along with any repairs that need to be done.  Most boring project.

Place a special order with GHQ for a couple of replacement tank gun barrels, a 5cm AT gun and crew, and a 7.5cm AT gun and crew for WW2 Germans.  WW2 done except for those items.

Add helicopters to the two fictitious modern countries (The Peoples Democratic Republic of La Cucaracha and the Federal Union of Buena Vista). Already ordered and on their way.

Choose a set of ancient naval rules for large fleet actions along with printing and basing ancient fleets.   Might be the most time consuming project when cutting and gluing them.

Peanut Wars at Game Kastle Fremont

This past weekend Dan Rygasewicz ran a mini convention at the Game Kastle in Fremont.   Games were limited to 10mm or smaller scale figures.  A complete listing of games is as follows

Saturday April 26th

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SESSION #1

Tiny Drome. WW 2 Air Game

Scutari. Ancients 

Pz8. Age of Sail. 1805 Sailing Ship Combat 

Panzer Korp. WW 2 Land Combat 

5150 Battalion Commander

SESSION #2

From Manassas to Appomattox ACW Combat 

Zulu Colonial Game 

Ridiculous Vanity  Battle Lille.

Sunday April 27th

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SESSION #1

Pz8 Coastal Warfare 

Cold War Commander Modern WW 2 Land Combat 

Starship Sci-Fi space ship combat 

Boot Hill TSR old west combat 

Star Trek Attack Wing. 

 Drop Zone Commander pt 1

SESSION #2

Hail of Fire. WW 2 land combat 

Pz8 Air rules. Mediterranean

Drop Zone Commander pt 2

 Trafalger  The British lost this time

 PanzerKorps Germans halted Russian advance

 Tinydrome  apartment sized air combat.

I will have separate postings for my Ancients and American Civil War games.

Second Raid

Attended the Second Raid gaming convention on Saturday October 6. There was a good variety of games there with a WWI battle, a naval battle, a French and Indian War game, a Flames of War Nattle of the Bulge game, and several board games. I ended up commanding the American forces in the Battle of the Bulge game.  As the game progressed my intention was to lure the Germans into a position close enough so that my infantry could attack theirs.  In order to accomplish this I had to fall back on both flanks.  However, the platoon on my right ended up being pinned and could not fall back, being caught by the advancing Germans.  As expected he moved one of the two platoons on the other flank towards the village leaving only one platoon to face mine.   I was fortunate that he was only able to roll one hit out of eleven dice for his defensive fire and saved the one hit.  On the other flank his platoon was pinned and only had five dice for defensive fire.  In all my counter attack eliminated about 18 stands of German infantry for the loss of a couple of my infantry stands.  This left the Germans with one platoon at full strength and a second platoon at reduced strength.   Of my original forces I had lost one platoon and had a second platoon badly hurt.  The other two original platoons were still in good shape and I had three more arriving platoons marching towards the village.

Manny Granillo's WWI game

Manny presenting scenario to participants.

2nd table for flames of war game

first table for flames of war game

initial starting positions for naval game

WWI game in progresss

German commander deploying troops

another view of WWI game in progress

American re-enforcements arriving.  105 battery at top left.

German platoon at center left has just destroyed an American platoon.

Two German platoons advance against a single American platoon on other flank.

One of the two German platoons prepares to assault village at bottom center. German platoon in center halted by indirect fire.  STG platoon in top center badly hurt by towed 3" anti-tank gun platoon

German attack has captured part of village and one objective on previous turn.  However, the Americans then launched a counter attack on both flanks.   German platoon at top has been eliminated and Americans are now formed on flank of German advance.

American attack on right flank was not quite as successful.  German platoon was almost eliminated, but Americans failed morale check and had to fall back.

  Same turn.  American re-enforcements have almost reached the town.  Germans conceded game at this point as Americans were in position to reclaim the village. 

Pegasus Bridge

Played a PanzerKorps game of the June 7th battle for Pegasus Bridge. The game was umpired by the rules author, Manny Granillo. The British were deployed in the central part of the table. I deployed two battalions on the West side of the canals, three battalions in towns on the East side, one battalion in reserve near the North edge, and the artillery battalion near the center. An FO was placed with the battalion in the Southern town with the church. The Germans attacked with three different Kampfgruppes. One from the West, one from the South, and one from the North. Each KG had four combat battalions and an artillery battalion. KG1 attacking from the West ran into heavy defensive fire and was thrown back. One battalion fled the battlefield.
KG2 arrived a couple of turns later on the Easternmost road on the South edge. After advancing for a few turns, they came under bombardment from the artillery battalion and naval gunfire. The naval gunfire was the result of a random event die roll. Fortunately for the British the forward observer, who was the only one who could direct the fire had a clear view of KG2. All the artillery was on target. Due to each targeted battalion rolling a 1 while being fired upon, resulting, in maximum damage, and then rolling a 2 for morale, all three battalions broke.
Both KG1 and KG2 eventually recovered and advanced again. KG1 was reinforced by an additional battalion. KG3 finally arrived on the Northern edge and the lead battalion of the British forces from the beach also arrived. KG1 again came under heavy fire, with the British re-enforcements attacking them from their rear, and were thrown back a second time. KG3 made slow progress, pounding the Northern village. This finally resulted in the British battalion occupying the town surrendering. Fortunately, the battalion that we had kept in reserve happened to be deployed in the patch of woods next to the town and was able to re-occupy it while the Germans were rounding up the prisoners.
The game ended with a British victory as the Germans were not able to secure control of the bridges before the British relief columns would arrive. Both sub-ordinate commanders on the British side had extremely good luck with the die rolls. Our forces only took minimal damage from the German attacks and were able to regain full effectiveness each turn. The only time luck deserted us was the surrender of the one battalion on the North. This occurred after coming under fire from artillery and three German battalions.
In some ways the game reminded me of the battle of Antietam. Due to random arrival rolls the German KGs attacked one at a time instead of together. This allowed us to direct our artillery on each in turn and drive them back before the next KG was able to attack. Only KG3 was able to avoid receiving enough damage to be driven back
Manny provided the gliders, figures, and much of the scenery. I provided most of the villages, roads, woods and hills. James Poli brought the canals.

First Raid convention

This past weekend I was at the First Raid convention in Alameda, Ca. Although attendance was not crowded, there were a number of very good games and people had a good time. I enjoyed it and would definitely attend again. Thanks, Dan for putting on a very good gathering. The event was held at the Naval Air Museum in Alameda with all entry fees ($800) going to support the Museum.

The first photo is of Ed Texeira of Two Hour Wargames on the left, myself, Rob Schmidt, and Dan Rygasewicz, organizer of the convention. The second one is of Dana Lombardy giving his seminar. The others are from the Saturday games. In order they are Stalingrad, Battle Cry ACW, Rorkes Drift, Tsushima, PanzerKorps attack on Peleliu Island. One game I failed to take a photo of was the Fire and Fury ACW game fought on a 5 foot by 18 foot table.

After finishing the ancients tournament I participated in the PanzerKorps game as the Japanese commander. By the time the game ended the US Marines were in a precarious position. In the third photo only four companies were still on the beach head with the two at the top and one at the bottom of the photo in serious trouble. The Japanese had a company with tank support in reserve that was about to advance and fire on the two companies at the top, which Manny determined would cause them to be lost. This was my first time playing Manny Granillo's rules and they very good and fun to play.

The final set of photos are of the Lost Battles Ancients tournament. There were only two participants, Tom McThorn commanding the Romans and Rob Schmidt commanding the barbarians. Since both were fairly new to the game system the battle of Bibracte was chosen for the game as it had armies matching their choices. Per the tournament rules Rob's army was adjusted to a fighting value of 73 by adding an Inspiring commander and an average commander.
The battle lasted four turns and ended with the last of the Helveti routing from the battle. Rob had managed to destroy the Roman cavalry on his right and had moved his cavalry into the Roman rear using his average commander. His left wing cavalry had also shattered the one reserve veteran legion that it faced. Although one other Roman veteran legion had been shattered in the center, Roman morale had held throughout the battle. Tom had captured both of the Helveti flanking center zones. Almost all Roman units were spent, but by the end of the game Tom had shattered nine units of Helveti warriors, and all the other Helveti were spent. Final score was 118 to 69 with the Romans winning. None of the generals were lost during rally attempts. Thanks to both for participating.