GAMING NEWS: News From WAB-Man’s Memorial.

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Hi Everyone,

Well, last weekend has now passed and I’ve been too busy to blog…

Here’s some news regarding WAB-Man’s memorial last Sunday:

Gang,
I want to thank all those who made it to Scott's service, and those that were there in spirit. I also want to really thank all those that were at Scott's house today. We raised over $2,000.00 USD. That will cover many of the short-term bills that the family has for Scott. I will be selling mush of Scott's stuff on E-bay and at Flea markets for a while. The money will go to Terry Parson, his cousin who is out here, and to his father. Those of you that sent a list have had as much of it filled as possible.
- We will be doing the Mega game of Zama or some such battle from the 2nd Punic War. This will be a tribute to Scott. The armies are mostly painted by Scott, but several units are being finished by Manny Ruiz. Thank you Manny as that is a big project. Just flocking all those bases will be a major job.
- Roger Mark and I are going to do a Stalingrad game in his honor, using his Russians and Germans. We do however plan on flocking the bases.
- Tony Mark has taken over Scott's Han Chinese and I look forward to seeing them on a table.
- Mark Coumo is continuing to run the Warhammer Historicals Tournaments, and maybe the next one will be called the Hayes Cup.

Scott had a lot of good friends and he will be missed.
Mark A. Steinberg.

And Mark is still selling off much of the rest of Scott’s stuff to help out his family:

Some of Scott's stuff is on E-bay. So far the only items are his Battlecry games by Avalon Hill and lots of Warhammer Fantasy boxed miniatures sets. I used the "I sold it" function on E-bay service to list the items. They stupidly put the items in very illogical lots and I can't get them to change the lots. The lots all have a box of Goblins with them. Scott had 18 boxes of Goblins!

The "I sold it" people put Empire with Goblins, Undead with Goblins, Bretonnians with Goblins, etc. ...all very stupid. If any of you think about it, could you do Scott and I a favor and send them an E-mail asking why they put the lots together in the way they did.

The seller is "Isoldit.ca0231." The lots include item numbers:

- 160049386938
- 160049386956
- ...and others.

Thanks.

I will let you all know when I put up any other lots. Also we will be trying to have another direct sale, maybe in some driveway.
Mark A. Steinberg.

Meanwhile, the memorial game for Scott Hayes has been set up:

Here is the official announcement about the WAB tournament at The Shield...

California Championships featuring The Hayes Cup Warhammer Ancient Battles:

- Sunday 9am
- Umpires: Jim Clarke & Mark Cuomo.
- 2500 pt per side (Each army must have an army general) ·
- Table size no smaller than 6'x4'. ·
- 3 rounds, 2 hours or 7 turns (2500 point games), which ever comes first.
- 2 lists allowed for each army. Each list must be from same `titled' army list
(i.e. You can't mix Early Macedonian and the Macedonian Imperial, but you can use the entire Carthaginian list and have an army in Africa and one for Italy ).
- Each player must present their lists to judge before the tournament for approval.

Go to:
http://www.fantassin.org/TheShield2007.htm
or:
http://www.shieldconference.
…for more details.

And even TMP (The Miniatures Page) featured an article on Scott:

6 November 2006
The Passing of Whitemetalman
It is with extreme sadness that I report to you the death of TMP'er Whitemetalman (AKA Scott Hayes).

Scott succumbed to cancer October 30th, 2006. He was just 45 years old. As you may or may not know, Scott was an iconic figure and ambassador to our hobby in Northern California. Among his many, many accomplishments, he helped form the club that is today the Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento, organized and ran the WAB tourneys at his local conventions (Kublacon, The Shield, Conquest SF and ConQuest Sacramento), and finally, promoted our hobby whenever and wherever he could.

Scott was known as Whitemetalman on the TMP boards.

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And my past weekend was a good one as well…

Kimbo and I took a road trip down to Endgame in Oakland, which is the “center of the universe” as far as gaming goes… shelf after shelf of board games, card games, miniatures games, dice and everything calculated to make a gamer happy. Kimbo’s a great guy and he made the trip a good one as much as Endgame did. I ran into the EBAG guys there and said hi to Mark (Missed Warwick who was out at lunch). They were playing a variety of games including Napoleonics, WHFB, D&D Collectible Minis and gladiator (Hoc Habet) games.

You can learn more about Endgame here:

http://www.endgameoakland.com/

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And this weekend is BGG Con. BGG stands for Boardgame Geek and it’s probably the most outstanding web site on board games in the world. BGG Con is unique in that it is a totally open gaming convention… just bring your favorite games, sit down and play… very cool!

You can learn more about BGG here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

Kimbo’s the only person I know going from around here (Northern California area), but I know a lot of folks down there attending including the TLC Unit (Todd Loves Crystal) and I hope they have a great time!

Safe travels to you, Kimbo!

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And lastly, this weekend is the MWS (Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento) meeting:

Title: MWS Monthly Meeting
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Location: Rancho Cordova Library

Learn more about MWS here:

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

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And a great three-day weekend to all who can get it!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: The WAB-Man is Gone.

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Hi Everyone,

Preparations are under way for a memorial service for Scott Hayes. Mark recently wrote and shared the following information:

All,
For those of you that did not hear, Scott Hayes passed away on October 30. His family is having him cremated and his ashes spread over Puget Sound per his request. There will be a memorial service but the family has not yet located a place. It will likely be Friday night.

On Sunday his gaming buddies and I will be hosting a get-together at his house and will buy his stuff from his family. We wil trust you to pay a fair price to his family to help them pay off his debts. We will be on hand to apply the guilt factor to pay a fair price. Get there about Noon.

His family would rather the local gaming community have the figures that he painted than have them go on E-bay to people who won't appreciate them. Many of the painted figures are parts of largely completed projects. The unpainted and boxed stuff will be sold on E-bay. The stuff that we will be selling on Sunday will be his paints, his projects, his board games, magazines etc.

Bring your own box and cash. See you there.

Mark A. Steinberg.

Please contact Mark or myself for more information (location, time, etc.).

Another gamer remembered Scott:

A sad day for all gamers... Scott was a great guy.
Salute!
Michael H.

And Manny Granillo, owner of the local SHIELD convention and a fine gentleman to boot, has already announced the following:

Gents
Scott's passing came as a shock to me this morning. I had come to know Scott pretty well since he was one of the few people I could count on to help with running the WAB tournament at The Shield.
In his memory, I will rename the WAB tournament prize to The Hayes Cup and dedicate this upcoming Shield 2007 to Scott Hayes and all the wonderful things he did to promote the hobby and just be a good friend.
He will be sorely missed.
Manny Granillo.

Another local convention, ConQuest Sac 2007 also has plans for a memorial convention. The ConQuest Sac 2007 effort has been led by Roger M., a fine gentleman and a scholar as well as a former 82nd Airbourne paratrooper.

You can learn more about The SHIELD 2007 here:

http://www.geocities.com/ancientconference2004/

And ConQuest Sac 2007 here:

http://www.avalonconventions.com/conquestsac/

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
WAB is an abbreviation for Warhammer Ancient Battles, a popular game of ancients warfare using miniatures. Learn more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Ancient_Battles

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: The Revenge of Dick! And Kimbo! (5 April 2006)!

Hi Everyone,

Well, another Wednesday has come and gone and this Wednesday revealed a long untold justice, both Dick and Kimbo finally had a chance for their long-deserved triumphs! Mazel Tov, Dick and Kimbo!

Yesterday's gaming theme seemed to be "number, trump and trick" games because almost every one we played used one or more of those game mechanics.

Both Kimbo and Dick launched the "Maks always wins" shtick so I had to lose today and I royally did! I came in rock bottom last in most of the evening's games. Fate has been tempted one time too many by the "Maks always wins" shtick. I do win a pretty good amount of the time and they both tend to lose a pretty good amount of the time so I can understand their frustration and why I'd be an easy target for their shtick. I tend to have a good head for strategy and that fairly uncommon skill often helps me to win games. Although, at the end of the day, I always tend to break about even. I'm sure glad that Dick and Kimbo had their triumphs yesterday though!

Players present:
- Dave
- Dick
- Kimbo
- Maksim
- Todd & Crystal

The Todd & Crystal "unit" brought donuts, Krispy Kremes, to be exact! Very generous of them again! Thanks, Todd and Crystal!

Mike O'Brien and his lovely girlfriend Donna showed up later for some small business, but were unable to play any games due to time and gastronomic constraints. I really like that Donna. She's a really kind person and it shows.

On to the games:

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1. Who's The Ass?

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11104

Players:
- Crystal: 100+
- Dave: 60+
- Dick: 100+
- Kimbo: 47+ WINNER!
- Maksim: 200+
- Todd: 100+

Kimbo brought this charming little game and it's a fun one... it's a sort of "hearts" or "spades" with the "awful anchor" (major negative) card being a donkey / ass. And thank goodness that Kimbo won this game! Mazel Tov, Kimbo!

He took the donkey at least once although he played his other hands very well. All of the scores are my best guesses as I didn't memorize the scores.

We played probably four of five rounds of "WTA" and I was horribly stomped. I made 200 points, which is about as nigh terrible as you can get, but I had a good time!

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2. David And Goliath

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/44

Players:
- Crystal: L
- Dave: Winner!
- Dick: L
- Kimbo: L
- Maksim: L
- Todd: L

This is a simple little numbers game with an odd mechanism of having a high and low trump card. I seem to recall that Dave won this won. However, the highlight of the game was a particularly "vibrant" scuffle between Kimbo and Dave, which made the game much more enjoyable to most of the players. When those two get going, they match anything that simmers between Mike and I. Laurel and Hardy come to mind...

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3. Poison

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17025

Players:
- Crystal: Winner!
- Dave: L
- Dick: L
- Kimbo: L
- Maksim: L
- Todd: L

This is a vicious little game about handing poison pots off to each other and trying to avoid the poison. I didn't... POISON CITY for Maks!

Crystal is a talented sneaky gamer and I seem to recall that she pulled off victory in this one. Dave and Kimbo were busy letting each other have it again.

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4. Saboteur

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9220

Players:
- Crystal: WINNER!
- Dave: L
- Dick: L
- Kimbo: L
- Maksim: L
- Todd: L

("Saboteur" photo courtesy of BGG)

I think that this game is going to be one of my new favorites. It reminds me a little of "Citadels," but is very light-hearted despite the decption theme. In every round, one or more of the "happy little gnomes" is a saboteur trying to keep the other fellows from mining towards a gold nugget. He (or them when there are two saboteurs) fibs, deceives, causes cave-ins, sabotages other miner's equipment and otherwise makes a nuisance of himself.

The miners managed to win (find the gold) almost every round and I'm not sure whether that was due to a shortage of saboteurs or due to the ineptitude of the saboteurs. The saboteurs tended to talk FAR TOO MUCH and that gave them away as much as anything else. It was almost a given that whoever squawked loudest was inevitably the person / saboteur trying to flummox the group.

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5. 6 Nimmt!

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/432

Players:
- Crystal: L
- Dave: W
- Kimbo: L
- Maksim: L
- Todd: L

We only played one round of this a little later in the evening and that was as much as anyone had the stomach for... or at least, what Todd and Crystal could take. Both "WTA" and "6 Nimmt!" are number/trick games and too many of those in a row can be tiring.

Dick sat out this game as Mike arrived and they matters to attend to.

I don't remember who won, but I think it was Dave. As is typical, I didn't track exact scores, only rough rememberances of what happened.

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6. Coloretto

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5782

Players:
- Crystal: L
- Dave: L
- Dick: Winner!
- Maksim: L
- Todd: L

We played two rounds of Coloretto and the first was thankfully won by... Dick! Mazel Tov, Dick!

Kimbo left before this game. He might have mentioned something about not wanting to miss the television program "American Idol" or something like that. As I understand it, he structures much of his life around pop television programs like "American Idol"... when he's not being a total "game geek."

Dick played a very good game and deserved the win unlike all those second places he often ends up with. I got greedy and tried to take too many cards each game, which was a huge mistake. I came in last place almost every game of the day.

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7. Coloretto

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5782

Players:
- Crystal: L
- Dave: L
- Dick: L
- Maksim: L
- Todd: Winner!

Todd won the final round of Coloretto and he's sneaky one, he is. He is really good about saving a killer wallop move for the end of the game.

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8. Cartagena

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/826

Players: L
- Crystal: L
- Dave: L
- Dick: L
- Maksim: Winner!
- Todd: L

And lastly, we played a game of Cartgena, which is basically a card-driven path game that is very similar to the old classic, "Candyland," with a few twists. In some ways, it reminds me of "Checkers" as well. I somehow managed to get all my pirates onto the escape raft first so I won. That victory was the light at the end of the tunnel in a day in which I came in last place consistently and it would have to be at a game that is more about luck than skill! All in all, "Cartagena" is a simple but fun little game.

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Have a great Thursday and get by ConQuest Sac this weekend if you have the opportunity!

http://www.avalonconventions.com/conquestsac/

We want the convention organizers to return next year and we'll need a success this year to help make that happen...

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: The Shield Convention Report & More...

Hi Guys,

As many of you might know I attended The Shield gaming convention this past weekend and had a good time.

Here's a short encapsulation of the convention:

Hi Mike,

I attended (Saturday-only) and had a good time... definitely $10.00 USD worth, although not $20.00 USD worth.

I only played in two games:
1. Pirates Games hosted by Flagship Games guys.
2. DBA Tournament.

I felt that there was good vendor attendence for a smaller convention and ran into tons of friends that I've made over the years. I didn't see Ron's B-17 game (Avalon Hills B-17 Queen Of the Skies) although I did see him and his son.

One of the odder things I encountered was there being no registration when I arrived. I actually had to track down Manny (the convention director) to pay him!

If I had to capture the feel of The Shield, I would call it a slightly larger and more glorified MWS meeting... nothing fantastic, but there was plenty of good, clean and fun gaming.

I would go again.

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The big reason I attended the convention was to play in the DBA tournament with my friend Dick. Dick was kind enough to bring armies for both of us. He played a Roman army and I played an Indian army.

The DBA torunament rules can be found here at The Shield web site:

http://www.geocities.com/ancientconference2004/conference_002.htm

Northern California 15mm DBA Tournament
- (4) Rounds
- DBA Version 2.2
- Preset Terrain
- BUA's treated as bad going and all BUA rules ignored.
- No dismounting during the game by armies capable: must be dismounted at deployment.
- 2 Variations of army list may be used.
- Rounds will begin at 6pm on Sat.

I used the following Indian lists:

We were allowed two different variations of one list:

#1.
x1 Elephant general
x2 Elephants
x2 Chariots
x2 Cavalry
x5 Bow

#2.
x1 Elephant general
x2 Elephants
x2 Cavalry
x6 Bow
x1 Blade

I may be off a unit or two, but that's it or close to it off the top of my head.

The biggest news for me on a personal level was that I WON the torunament!

I really wasn't expecting to do well... let alone win.

I think I was out-maneauvered and out-strategized almost every match, but...

I wasn't out-fought!

Sometimes, that's enough...

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One of the bigger vendors there was Monday Knight Productions:

http://www.mondayknight.com/

I spent most of my "play money" with them and came out with quite a lot for my purchase... several stackable Battletech buildings, some small starfighters, some 6mm MAATAAC AFVs, a bunch of mini bases, and a 25mm resin vehicle.

The 25mm vehicle I ended up with was a big six-wheeled high-mobility affair. I couldn't find a link to it in 25mm, but I found its 6mm counterpart:

http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1....0.12070

It's product code and name are: DSM-115 STRIKER MMRAV rocket artillery vehicle (MRL)

The top hull comes in two pieces and I'll covert a flatbed cargo area for the rear of mine to take the place of the rocket launcher. I plan to make the rear flatbed module magnetic so that I can switch the rocket launcher and cargo module in and out.

I'll be using the 25mm vehicle as a "Salvage Dog" for the Star Mogul campaign that my friend Mark is running.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I almost forgot to share a link for the Pirates Game from Flagship games:

http://www.flagshipgames.com/

http://www.flagshipgames.com/Pirates!.htm

WARGAMING: The Shield Gaming Conference & Starfleet Battles With Vince!

Hi Guys,

The apartment move is really coming along... most of my belongings are packed and the old aprtment is slowing being moved (scrubbing every surface, filling in holes with putty, repainting any off spots, etc.) although unpacking is nearly as daunting a task as the packing and shlepping itself! Ugh!

However, I am taking a break for most of this weekend and here are the plans:Tonight, my good friend Vince and I are heading down to Lodi (...about an hour or so away) to play Starfleet Battles with our friend Jeff. At least the last game he mentioned that he wanted to play was Starfleet Battles... who knows what we'll actually do when we reach destination. One things for sure though, I'm sure that we'll have a good time!

For those of you who don't recall Vince, he is an inveterate gamer and a great guy with a really varied interest in miniatures.

POLITICAL DISCLAIMER:
Be wary checking out Vince's site as he is decidedly NOT political correct. Warning given...

Here's a link to his web site:

http://www.recon-in-force.com/index.html

And since I know that there are a number of fans of Colonial and VSF games out there, here's a link to the VSF / Colonial section of Vince's site. As a side note, I've played in many of those games...

http://www.recon-in-force.com/Queen-and-Country/index.html

Eat your heart out, Tas and Vanvlak!

Tomorrow on Saturday, my friend Dick and I are heading down to The Shield Gaming Conference for the day. We'll be playing in the DBA tournament and generally having a good time.

Check out this link for more information about The Shield:

http://www.geocities.com/ancientconference2004/

And Sunday, Mark and Kurt as well as Dick have expressed an interest in playing a agme of Star Mogul. We are all three creating our salvage companies / Necromunda gangs and it should be fun!

I am organizing my company / gang around two combat squads and a third salvage team squad supported by some kind of truck for hauling the salvage. Dick had an old 28mm hover truck that I'll probably convert into a wheeled hauling truck for the campaign.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.