GAMING NEWS: ASL Day! (19 February 2007)

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This is a typical ASL kit, a container of chits, a set of maps, dice, and a handy-dandy kitchen table.

Hi Everyone,

With the flu I've suffered the past few weeks I haven't been able to keep up the blog as well as I'd like to. A few weeks ago, I was able to get together with my friend Charley at his buddy Roger's place and have an ASL Day. It was a good day, and ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) is one of those "cult classic" games that is always a blast to pull out.

Charley can be an intense guy, but don't be fooled.
He's really a "teddy bear" behind the "Ted Kazynski" stare.

Now, Roger can be quite the funny man.
His jokes made me chuckle several times during the day.

ASL is best known as being a rules-heavy game. It was developed over a number of years as a hex & chit game, meaning that the game is based around chits (small square cardboard playing pieces) moving around on a hexagonal map. It has had so many expansions that you practically need a PhD to really master the game. Despite all the rules, the game can be really fun to play with the right group of friends... and this game was fun with the right group of friends.

The briefing sheet for the scenario we played "The Sons of Galilee."
It lists all the of the units involved as well as a few rules and a historical precis.

The game started off with the Syrian invading forces entering from the Southern (bottom) and Eastern (bottom right) ends of the map.
Note that almost all of the forces are covered with question marks since all of the units were as of yet unidentified at this point in the game.

Charley knows that I have a keen interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict so he agreed to play a scenario from the Genesis '48 expansion, which replicates the 1948 Israeli War for Independence. We played a scenario near the beginning of the war in which a Syrian invading force of French and British-built armored cars supported by infantry attempts to overrun an Israeli Kibbutz (village settlement) in the North. Charley played the Israeli defenders and I (Maksim) played the Syrian invaders. Roger moderated and refereed the game as well as cracking jokes all day long.

At this point in the game, you can see that the Syrian armored cars have surrounded Israeli positions as well as the Kibbutz outskirts.

And this last game shot is near the end, Charley's Israelis are clustered in the center of the Kibbutz with Syrians surrounding them.

I (Maksim) won as the Syrian player although, to be very fair to poor Charley, the dice weren't treating him well. We still all had a good time. Roger acted as moderator and offered advice at several points in the game to me since I hadn't played ASL in a LONG time. We all went out to a nice lunch afterwards. Roger is also quite the hobby craftsman as well. I took several shots of some of his fine hobby work.

Roger had several work benches, but this is one in a typical state of disarray.

This is a very interesting diorama piece that Roger built of a 1/285 or 6mm scale science-fiction robot, a "Mad Cat" battlemech from the very popular Battletech background.

This is a beautifully done 54mm "Christmas Sophie" from Reaper Miniatures.
It's still in an early stage of painting.

Roger also build plastic model kits including this excellent AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle), one of many he had displayed.

I want to thank Roger for hosting and Charley for playing ASL with me. Many thanks, guys!

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
You can find all of the photos I took from the session here:

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/ASL_2-19-2007/

MINI WARGAMING: March MWS Meeting (11 March 2006)!

Hi Everyone,

Well, yesterday was the big MWS meeting and what a meeting it was!

The first big hubabub were the elections for club officers, which are thankfully done.Don stepped down and the two Presidential candidates were Brian Fitz and Dick Mitchell. Thanks for your service, Don. Both of the candidates made speeches. Brian talked about wanting to reform the club and had some sort of secret plans to achieve some sort of unspoken goals... which he wouldn't elucidate further on with the voters. I don't know what his plans were, but they sounded like "black ops" to me so I didn't vote for him. Dick ran on a platform of "Just play games" without any secret reformation plans and...

Dick won and is the new President of the MWS club. Mazel Tov, Dick!

Rob Kent stepped down as secretary. Thanks to him for his service. Roger Mark and Joe Bianchi ran for secretary and both had very similar positive speeches about wanting to help out a club that they both have enjoyed for a long time. I'm very proud to have nominated Roger Mark as he's one of the finest men I've ever been honored to know. Roger is a former 82nd airbourne paratrooper and a fine miniatures painter to boot. Some of his artistry has appeared in several gaming magazines. In what may have been the most civil vote ever, the candidates voted for each other. However, in the end of ends, Joe pulled out victory and will become the club's new secretary.

Joe won and is the new secretary of the club. Mazel Tov, Joe!

The last position was treasurer of which the incumbent, Grace, seemed very interested in running again. However, the club bylaws prohibit anyone running for a position for more than two years in a row so that the only way she could have run would have been if there had been no challenger. Thanks to Grace for her fine service as treasurer. I like Grace for all her strengths, but I was ready for new blood so I nominated Mike O'Brien for the position, which he very generously accepted.

And as a result, Mike O'Brien will be the club's new treasurer. Mazel Tov, Mike!

I also want to point out that for all the clubs strengths and weaknesses, the voting was honest and at least one member, Brian Fitz, only came to vote and didn't play any games at all. That's a pretty active voting populance! Brian is running a huge WWII Pelilau game at ConQuest Sac and may every fortune be with him!

More information about ConQuest Sac and Brian Fitz's Pelilau game can be found here:

http://www.conquestsac.com/

And now on to the good part of the meeting: THE GAMES!

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First of all, more information about the club including photos of some the games played this past meeting can be found here at this URL:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

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Spartacus & the Gladiators!
Joe Bianchi and Keith ran a Spartacus and the Gladiators Revolt game, which seemed like alot of fun. The Romans appeared to have won. As far as I know, Joe used a ruleset of his own design. It might have been a Stargrunt II derivative as he likes that rules set.

The following folks played:
- Joe
- Keith
- Brad
- Several others who I don't remember...



The above photo (taken by Mike Warde) features some Romans preparing to quash a gladiatorial uprising. Joe does amazing things with a few metal miniatures and scenery pieces.

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Blitzkrieg Commander
Meanwhile, across the room, Mike tried out a new set of rules that he was interested in and ran an Eastern Front tank brawl.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15827

The following folks were involved:
- Mike O'Brien (referee)
- Keith (Played the Germans and won)
- Dan (Played the Russians and lost)

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Command & Colors: Ancients
Roger and Grace played two games of C&C:A and as far as I know, each won a single game. I don't know which scenario/s they played.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/14105
















The above photo (taken by Mike Warde) shows Roger Mark, deep in thought, trying to come up with a way to keep his wife, Grace, from quashing his puny Roman forces. I've observed Grace's uncommonly good skill at playing C&C:A and can sympathize with him. She's a very capable lady and a tough opponent.

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The Battle of The Alma
Keith also brought an old GDW classic board game, which he and one other person played and had a good time. I can't remember who else played.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/6940

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HOTT Campaign!
The highlight of the meeting was the triumphant launching a the HOTT campaign, of which no fewer than ten people arrived and played! We eventually acquired an eleventh player when Tony showed up late.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5369

The following people played that I remember:
- 1. Joe Biddle, playing the Undead Hordes! (Northeastern)
- 2. Mark Carper, playing the One-Pip Ork Klan! (Southern)
- 3. Charles Gomez, playing the Knights of Goodie Two-Shoes! (Southwestern)
- 4. Anthony Gomez, Playing The Mystery Marauders! (Central Eastern)
- 5. Kurt Lambert, Playing the Really Evil Fantasy Egyptians! (Northeastern)
- 6. Stephen (stepson) of the Lambert Clan, playing The Reptilian Destroyers! (Central Northern)
- 7. Tony Mark, playing Guido's Clerical Protection Racket! (Central Eastern)
- 8. Dick Mitchell, playing the Wolfwere Clan! (Southeastern)
- 9. Maksim-Smelchak, playing th High Elves of Smelchak! (Southwestern)
- 10. Mike Warde, playing the Brown Ore Dwarves! (Central Western)
- 11. Connor Warde, Playing the Golden Dwarves! (Southwestern)

I'm not sure how many of the names I got right, but I had fun with the ones I couldn't remember. I am always happy to see fathers and sons out together as well. We had three father and son pairs at the HOTT campaign. And Tony brought his grandson, who didn't play in the HOTT campaign, but still had a good time... chomping on the doughnuts that were generously provided by Joe Biddle for the benefit of all.


















The above photo (taken by Mike Warde) shows Dick Mitchell's Wolfwere HOTT army facing off against Tony's Clerical HOTT army. Tony pulled off victory, but Dick's skill made it a costly one.

And what a layout, Kurt had ready, a huge map for us to fill, action cards, random terrain cards for each empty spot on the map and plenty of opponents.

I fought in two battles, both against Connor's Dwarves who decided to land his two 12 AP boats right next to mine. Our first battle was fought in one of my wonderful desert locations and my hordes helped my to outmaneauver Connor's tough Spear and Blade Dwarven army, which spelled its doom in short order.

My second battle was pursuing the remnants of Connor's army and driving it into the ground. I felt bad about destroying Connor's army, but such are the spoils of war and I only barely pulled off victory. Connor is a tough general and I fear him... not bad for a kid who's only barely into a double-digit age range!

Oh, that and he's very generous with his beef jerky! All hail, Connor the Great!

I later shared my Hot Tamales candy with him.

There were quite a few other battles of which I recall a few:
- Tony Mark vs. Dick Mitchell of which Tony carried the day.
- Kurt vs. his stepson, Stephen of which Kurt carried the day.
- Mark Carper vs. Connor Warde of which Mark carried the day.
- Some other battles that I forgot because I was too busy playing my own.

I also want to give Connor and Mark Carper accolades for being such a good sports as they both took beatings on the HOTT battlefields as far as I could tell at the time. Mark seemed to be winning some battles but Charle's Gomez's forces kept taking the Orky conquests, leaving Mark with very little in the way of territory. Both Connor and Mark are some of the best, most good-natured gamers I know.

The Southern area of the "New World" was far more crowded than the Northern end, which meant that players in the South have already been bloodied far more than the Northerners. Two armies are already perilously attritted, the One-Pip Ork Clan of Mark Carper and the Golden Dwarves of Connor Warde.

Quite a few players expanded without battle, conquering virgin territory left and right. I wasn't so lucky. My forces were in tight contact with Connor so I had to fight my way through enemies to acquire fresh land. Connor had originally offered me a treaty, but I didn't want to leave my few territories intermingled with his as I know for a fact, that dwarves are ornery and none too loyal to those without beards.

It was a very fun game and I can't wait to see where else the campaign will lead the next time we play it.

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Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

GAMING NEWS: Fun two weeks culminating in the 10 December 2005 MWS weekend meeting!

Hi Everyone,

I've been blessed the past two weeks or so...

Last Sunday I had a chance to play Assyrian Wars by Udo Grebe with my friend Vince Blackburn AKA Vynnie at another friend's house, Dave Hanifan. George and Jeff also showed up and we all had a good time. The components could have used better color differentiation, but all of us had a good time upon final consideration.

The Board Game Geek link to Assyrian Wars is here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8626

Last Tuesday, I found out that one of my favorite local gaming shops "Hobby Monkey" is taking a turn for the worse... less operating hours and several cancelled game tournaments including the immensely popular Formula De tournament, which really irks me because my racer had one of the top standings. The owner wants to close by 9:00pm on weeknights now (...sometimes 8:00pm) which really reduces the amount of time for gaming. Bummer...

I showed up on Tuesday at Hobby Monkey to find the poor Flames of Wars guys from Yuba City walking into an empty shop. We played a Formula De game, which they all liked. I was in first place until my car blew up in an unfortunate accident. Eric-Chern of Epic-Armageddon and Babylon-5 fame came in last place, but he finished unlike THREE of the rest of us! There were seven racers... pretty lethal race.

Yesterday, MWSS (Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento), had our monthly games day. Three games were hosted:

- 10mm (N-scale) WWII Eastern Front game with adapted ASL rules...
- 6mm/15mm HOTT Fantasy campaign...
- 15mm War of 1812 with Guns of Liberty rules...

I played in the 6mm/15mm HOTT Fantasy campaign and had a great time. I played two smaller HOTT battles (1 decisive win, 1 moderate loss) and played on the winning side of a Big-Battles-HOTT game which featured six armies (three a side) battling it out. General HOTT Dick Mitchell's "good consortium" (Elf army, human army and my magician's army) carried the day against Ork despot General Carper's hordes (Orc behemoth/archer band, Orc blades band and Orc shaman band).

I tried out an interesting HOTT army of eight spearmen supported by two magicians in the last game. It was fun although my sides didn't do much more than have my magicians toss spells at the enemy (which scared a key enemy behemoth which was forced to flee) and have my spearmen hold part of the line looking tough.

While the games were technically part of the HOTT campaign, we won't officially kick off the campaign until the January meeting so the games were really "practice" ones. I'm already afraid of the really tough Orc armies. Marc Carper really knows his game. And what a beautiful miniatures painter he is!

Photos of his minis and all three of the games can be found in a folder labelled "12-10-2005" at the MWSS E-group here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

After yesterday's game, Diana and I were invited to a wine-tasting by our friends Roger and Grace. Roger's my idea of a good guy to taste wine with, a former 82nd Airborne paratrooper with an attitude! He's also one of the world's premier miniatures painters and his work is regularly featured in gaming magazines in the UK and USA. We had a good time even though we weren't behaving according to "wine-tasting decorum!" We both got in trouble with his wife at one point so we mellowed out. She takes "wine tasting" much more seriously than we did... at the time! Although I still insist that a few of the wines we "sampled" wouldn't have been good for lubricating even a Peugot. More like pee-eeuhhh!

We tried three French wines and three Napa Valley wines. I much prefer the Napa Valley wines from California. The French wines almost all had a bad aftertaste and I was happy to toss the rest of them in the "slops" bucket.

After the "wine tasting" there was a "white elephant" gift exchange. It's Murphy's Law that if you're Jewish, you will always end up with a Christmas ornament at a "holiday" (really Christmas) gift exchange. We (Diana and I) ended up with a set of diet books (The South Beach Diet Book and The South Beach Diet Cook Book) along with a... yeah, guess again... a Christmas ornament. I might just make a vow someday to make a version of Frosty with a Yarmulke! Dagnabit!

We gave the Christmas ornament to Grace and were able to swap our "books" for some kind of a "fancy shmancy" lemon liqueur from Italy. It's called "Limoncello" (spelling?). I haven't broken it open yet.

I've decided, all in all, that wine-tasting may not be my thing. The husband host was good and has started his own wine label, but the wife host, was bit shmarmy and her red thong underwear were hanging out in the wind. I wasn't going to say anything though... However at the first glance of her red thong, I vowed to not imbibe generously of the wine... get my drift!

Besides enjoying the company of Roger and Grace, I met someone who was an appreciator of Russian literature so I had a good time. Diana talked Baltimore football with the host and a few other folks.

All in all, the past two weeks or so have been good to me.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.