Drums at Ft. Meigs 2015

May 15th and 16th was the annual Drums at Ft. Meigs.  The two day event hosted 28 games ranging from historical to sci-fi / fantasy.  Organized by the "Colby Street Irregulars" based in Toledo, Ohio this HMGS Great Lakes group does a good job of bringing old players together along with new blood.  The event is held at Ft. Meigs, a War of 1812 fort located in Perrysburg, across the Maumee river from Toledo.  The price of admission not only gets you into the gaming event, but also allows access to the Fort and it's Museum / Gift Shop.  With games spread out over 4 rooms in the Gift Shop / Conference Center here are a couple of shots of the main gaming room:

Because I ran games both Friday and Saturday I didn't get many pictures of the other games...sorry guys.  But the ones I did get are here:

First, Mike Konwinski's hand built set up for his "Mad Dog's with Guns" game.....Gangster in the Roaring 20's.....



The Theater signs actually light up!!



Next the Battle of Fort Stedman-March 25, 1865.....a beautiful looking ACW game......

On Friday night and again Saturday morning I ran my Rorke's Drift battle.  I got the Warlord Games set for Christmas and have been busy assembling and painting since.  I painted the 40 Zulus that come with it and all the walls and buildings.  Unfortunately I got only the Hospital finished before the event, so it really wasn't Rorke's Drift......but I do have the last building in my work area as I type.

And since I am the self-proclaimed "World's Slowest Painter" I sent my British off to the Pictors Studio painting service.  Scott and I are friends and he (or his partner Jamie) did an outstanding job on them!  http://pictorsstudio.com/home/pictors/Pictors_Studio/Home.html

Anyway, both the Rorke's Drift games played out badly for the British.  In the first game they were defeat in the compound, but in the second, they made an escape and a last stand outside the walls....last stand being the key words here......

The Zulus pour out of the trees and brush from the north.  The British were exchanging gunfire with the Zulu Riflemen in the hills and were caught off guard!!

Trying to hold the wall against the onslaught!!

 

Losing the battle on the wall and a 2nd Zulu Impi appearing, the British pull back hoping to use their fire discipline to stop the charging Zulus.  They didn't and eventually evacuated the compound.

My second game of the day was "All Quiet on the Martian Front", a real crowd pleaser....I had 3 sets of Fathers / Sons / Daughter players, so they paired off, Dads vs. Kids.  The Kids chose the Martians forces.  The scenario took place in the swampy land in SE Michigan.  A Martian Tripod had bogged down and crashed...it's pilot was loose in the Michigan countryside.  The Humans were trying to capture it and get it off the board ("for probing" my brother kept saying).  The Martians were trying to rescue their downed comrade.  I placed 6 "blips" on the board around the crashed Tripod, possible Martian locations.  Only the US Infantry could spot it (they just needed LoS).  Their armor is too clunky.  The Martians needed to move into contact with the blip to reveal it.  



The swamps of SE Michigan.  The crashed Tripod is in the middle of the board with the 'blips' around it.
 

The Martians advance to the rescue

But the Humans find the Alien!  Kevin's infantry discovered the Martian on the 2nd blip checked.  Matthew, Kevin's son then used his black dust launcher to wipe out his Dad's ground troops (with much laughter and glee I will add)

Matthew then grabbed the downed Martian and beat tentacles to his board edge.  The other player on his side ran interference for him, some of them paying the price....

Dead Tripod

Another dead Tripod.  In all 3 Tripods were lost in the rescue of the Martian.

The game only took half our time slot so I offered up another....my players all heartily agreed...but sides were changed.  Now the Dads were the Martians (Ack, Ack, Ack!!!) and the Kids were the Humans.  I set my MBA Infernal Device out as a Martian Power Node and the Humans were to destroy it.  Since the Martians took such a beating in the first game, I made each Tripod roll for first turn deployment.  4 of the 5 machines made the roll, the 5th entered on turn 2.

The 24th Michigan leads the charge to destroy the Martian Power Node!!

The Martian move to (unsuccessfully) defend their device

Luck was with the Kids this day and they just WHOOPED UP on their old men!!!!!  End result, Kids 2, Dads 0.

Many thanks to everyone who played in my games and to Doug and the Colby Street Irregulars for organizing this great day of gaming.  And many, many thanks to the Ft. Meigs for allowing us to use their site.

And a special shout out to my 2 new friends from Columbus, Dana and his daughter "Christmas".  I hope to see you at ORIGINS and again at the Fort in November!!

AQMF - US Command Post

Ready for action, I have finished the Command Post for the US Forces as they battle the Martian Invaders in All Quiet on the Martian Front.

The observant of you will notice the Commanding Officer is reading a dispatch from a runner of the 24th Michigan! http://pzgeneral08.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html

 The US Army still relies on semaphore flags to give instructions to the platoons on the lines.  A radioman sends and receives transmissions to higher command.

 "You Michigan boys stopped the Martians and counter-attacked at the Temperance crossroads?  BULLY, Man....BULLY!!"

"Anyone who tells you lads they aren't scared is either insane, a damned fool or a liar....but I have no doubt you men will do your duty...."

B-17 Queen of the Sky

The Avalon Hill game B-17 Queen of the Sky has long been a favorite of mine.  As a matter of fact I own a copy of the original version from a small company called "On Target Games". 

As the years drug on I introduced my friends to it and they became fans too.  Soon we began playing missions as a "Squadron"...3 or 4 of us would get together and all fly missions together....we'd take turns running the charts or roll the dice for each other.  Good times.

Then Mike had an idea....and some cash.  When WotC came out with "Angels 20" he bought up the number of planes that appear in the game and enlarged the game display.  Now the second Tuesday of every month is "B-17 Night" and thanks to Mike we've taken the game to all new heights! (Pun intended).

Our Game ready to start, original display on the right, Mikes version on the left
 

P-51s and a Spitfire indicate our fighter cover

The Luftwaffe
 



A close up of a frontal attack!

 

Kevin's got problems!

The 24th Michigan

With the coming of the Martian Invasion of the United States, a Patriotic fervor swept the country.  When the call for volunteers to join the Army was placed, men of all ages and backgrounds rushed to join and fight the Martian Invader.  In the early 1900s America was still a mostly rural Nation; but the enlistment centers were located in the cities.  Not everyone who wanted to join up could afford the trip “to the Big City” so States began to recruit for local Militias.  These Militias were designed to get men organized and trained and to supplement the formal Army units when the fight came to the State.

Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula were no exceptions.  The Lumbermen and Miners there joined the Michigan State Militia and received their Military training at Camp Grayling.  Because of the distances involved and the crush of volunteers to the regular Army, there were not enough of the 1906 pattern uniforms to go around.  To get the men outfitted quickly the uniforms issued to this Militia were of the 1880 pattern last worn at Fort Mackinaw.  When first publicly seen, the Michigan Militia became known (rather disparagingly) as “The Mothball Militia”.

 

Hopping the rails and heading south, the unit found itself outside Detroit.  Near the rail yards a number of Baldwin Mark II tanks were found awaiting scrapping.  Using the ingenuity and skills gleaned through their hard mining and timber jobs, the men soon repaired and repainted these tanks and they traveled with the Infantrymen to the front lines.

 Seeing hard fighting near the Ohio-Michigan border the unit took part in “The Frenchtown Campaign”.  Because of their determined resistance to the Martian attack on the town of Monroe the unit was officially renamed the “24^th Michigan”, a name that brought back memories of the famous State Civil War Regiment.

 

 

 

During “The Battle of the Temperance Crossroads” the 24^th Michigan not only held the line when regular Army units fled, but mounted a counter-attack on the Martians, destroying one of their Power Nodes.  It was after this performance the 24^th shed the name “Mothball Militia” and began to be called by a name once earned by their Fathers and Grandfathers in battle during the Civil War. 

They became “The Iron Brigade”.

 

HMGs and Rough Riders ready for battle!

I have a Heavy Machine Gun Squad and a "Rough Rider" squad ready to face the Martian invaders.  There has been some rumbling on the AQotMF forums that these units are over powered, I hope to find out tonight.  I'll let you know in my next post.......