Pics from MCon

Apologies all around. I didn't actually take any pictures, and though I got these from my helper Ray, I have had some family issues taking up my time. I hope you enjoy these.

Ed

Wrap up...pics to follow

Here is my much delayed post on the Big Battalion Seven Years War game at MillenniumCon over the past weekend. I'm sorry, but familial health issues are reducing time for gaming-related activity.

First, I would like to thank Bill Protz for joining us in Austin. That's a long way from Wisconsin! He was a fun and interesting addition to our game, which of course used his BAR rules. It was a pleasure to finally meet in person.

We used-errr-took advantage-ummm-asked Bill to run a learning scenario on Friday night, with just 2 battalions, 2 squadrons, and one gun per side. The Imperials won that game quite handily.

Second, thanks to everyone who brought troops and terrain to the game! I tried to get more table space, but I wanted to stay in the foyer area for the maximum advertisement. I know many people stopped by to gawk and drool. There were at least 2,000 figures on the table at any one time, and nearly 3,000 cycled through. I must admit, though, that the Britannian infantry brigade's four battalions were sadly forgotten by Landgraf Bogey and spent the battle in reserve...under the table.

Finally, thank you to the players. There would not have been much point without them! Apologies to any names I forgot or misspelled:

Electoral
Paul
Jim (Col Campbell)
Chris
Clay
David
Two others...lost their names

Imperial
Bill Protz (link)
Paul (Herzog von Pfalz-Kognat-Obersayn)
Brad
Gilles
Father & Caleb team...lost Dad's name!

The map was laid out on a 32 foot by 6 foot (or so) table using a ground cloth. Trees and shrubbery were added for visual effect, but were deemed too light to effect game mechanics. This was one of several simplifications used to speed play and simplify the rules.

Another simplification was troop quality. Since I had no idea how many players would show up or what their level of familiarity would be. I never intended to use historic national differences, but had considered using "earned" values as per the BAR rules. However, we used that everyone was "Veteran" to speed the game.

As mentioned elsewhere, we did not have enough players to manage the whole length of the table. Rather than slow the game by overloading players with too many units, I simply kept players with about 4 units each, and ignored one end of the map. The game was scheduled to run through two "periods" of the convention, so I used the second period to move the remaining players and two new ones down to the unexecuted end and ran through that. I think it worked well.

I spent most of my time answering questions (when Bill was otherwise occupied), drawing cards for movement and firing, answering questions to kibitzers, and toward the end of the game by beginning to pick up the figures. So, sadly, I have few pictures and even less of an idea how the game went.

Feldzeugmeister von Blei-Sammeln's pronouncement aside, I believe the Electoral forces were in the ascendant on the Electoral right flank.
However, when the afternoon session moved to the Electoral left, the Imperials won a resounding victory. This was due in no small part to young Brad's measured decimation of the Germanian infantry in and around the farm. He even kept a fresh regiment out of the line, throwing it in at the end to seize the objective. Pretty impressive!

Finally, rather than clutter up the blog with the pictures, I will put up a link to an album containing the ones I have collected.

Thanks again to everyone! It was a pleasure!

Ed
Secretary to His Excellency the Landgraf of Hesse-Fedora

Bags are packed...

...see y'all at Millennium!!

For those Blogging vicariously, I may or may not have time to post over the weekend, so look for pics Sunday or Monday.

If you are traveling to MCon and need to identify me, I will be wearing red or blue LSHM polo shirts, have a distinguished hairline somewhere near my ears, and the surviving hair is cut extremely close. Think Patrick Stewart from Star Trek: The Next Generation only more handsome and less of a voice!

Ed

Fourteen boxes of miniatures on the wall, fourteen boxes of minis...

Twenty-two brigades, 34 battalions, 43 squadrons, and 22 guns, plus a slew of generals and AdCs...whew! Almost ready for the day!

See Hesse-Fedora for some pics.

Ed

2,194 SYW figures later...

That's how many figures I have now completed the basing/rebasing for this game! Yikes. Just some flags and movement trays are left.

Quick question for the mess:

Does anyone care if their cavalry is combined with other players to make viable brigades?

Or do you want to command all of your own toys?

Ed

Players for Millennium Con

Gentlemen,

If any of you that I am expecting cannot make it, please let me know ASAP.

If there is anyone who plans on attending with their own troops, please let me know ASAP.

If there is anyone who plans on attending without troops, let me know your side preference and I'll try to make it work.

I have finally cleared the decks of business and family commitments and can put some serious work in final preparations this weekend.

Cheers,
Ed

Does anyone need movement trays?

Bill and I originally offered to provide movement trays to participants bringing their own figures. I have not heard from anyone asking for trays.

Does anyone need me to make some?

Ed

There have been some changes...

in the alignment of the small countries of Uropa.

The counties of Zolms and the Duchy of M’Uedail have withdrawn from the war. The itinerant Weisspferdheim Cavalry Division of Graf von Piepenbrink has been recalled to its allegiance to the Emperor, much to the relief of the Emperor’s generals.

However, based on current projections, the Emperor will be sorely outnumbered on the battlefield come November:

Here are the units committed so far:

Elector
Germania (Youngstrom)
1st Grenadier Battalion (5/13/18/20)
2nd Grenadier Battalion (35/36/GR3/GR4/NGR)
Infantry Regiment Alt-Braunschweig (IR 5)
Infantry Regiment Jung-Kleist (IR 9)
Infantry Regiment von Itzenplitz (IR 13)
Infantry Regiment Prinz von Preussen (IR 18)
Infantry Regiment Prinz Heinrich (FR 35)
Infantry Regiment Alt-Münchow (FR 36)
Cuirassier Regiment von Seydlitz (CR 8, 2 sqd)
Dragoon Regiment von Schorlemer (DR 6, 2 sqd)
Hussar Regiment von Puttkamer (HR 4, 2 sqd)
Germanian Artillery

Germania (Bump)
Infantry Regiment Jung-Kleist (IR 9)
Infantry Regiment von Knobloch (IR 10)
Hussar Regiment
Germanian Artillery

Germania (Michels)
1st Grenadier Battalion
2nd Grenadier Battalion
1st Musketeer Regiment
2nd Musketeer Regiment
3rd Musketeer Regiment
4th Musketeer Regiment
1st Fusilier Regiment
2nd Fusilier Regiment
3rd Fusilier Regiment
4th Fusilier Regiment
1st Cuirassier Regiment
2nd Cuirassier Regiment
3rd Cuirassier Regiment
4th Cuirassier Regiment
5th Cuirassier Regiment
1st Dragoon Regiment
2nd Dragoon Regiment
3rd Dragoon Regiment
4th Dragoon Regiment
5th Dragoon Regiment
Germanian Artillery

Carpania (Pitts)
Musketeer Battalion Zweibieren
Musketeer Battalion Teutonica
Fusilier Battalion von Stuppe
Grenadier Company Zweibieren/von Stuppe
Freikorps Company Warsteiner
Carpanian Artillery

Hesse-Fedora (Youngstrom)
Grenadier Battalion von Dobbs
Jagerkorps
Infantry Regiment Leib
Infantry Regiment von Blaine
Infantry Regiment von Earle
Infantry Regiment von Spade
Fusilier Regiment Landgrafin
Garde du Corps
Karabinier Regiment von Marlowe
Dragoon Regiment von Gunn
Hussar Regiment von Steele
Hesse-Fedora Artillery

Brittania (Youngstrom)
Grenadier Battalion (11/20/37)
11th Foot
20th Foot
37th Foot
Brittanian Artillery


Emperor
Imperium (Youngstrom)
1st Grenadier Battalion (7/14/42/52)
2nd Grenadier Battalion (1/12/37)
Infantry Regiment Kaiser (IR 1)
Infantry Regiment Neipperg (IR 7)
Infantry Regiment Moltke (IR 12)
Infantry Regiment Salm-Salm (IR 14)
Infantry Regiment Esterhazy (IR 37, Hungarian)
Infantry Regiment Gaisruck (IR 42)
Cuirassier Regiment Alt-Modena (CR iii, 2 sqd)
Cuirassier Regiment Serbelloni (CR 12, 2 sqd)
Cuirassier Regiment Ferdinand (CR 4, 2 sqd)
Converged Horse Grenadiers (DR9/19/31/i, 2 sqd)
Dragoon Regiment Prinz de Ligne (DR 31, 2 sqd)
Dragoon Regiment Savoy (DR 9, 2 sqd)
Dragoon Regiment Zweibrucken (DR i, 2 sqd)
Imperial Artillery

Imperium (Rogers)
Infantry Regiment Kaiser (IR 1)
Infantry Regiment Neipperg (IR 7)
Dragoon Regiment
Imperial Artillery

Courland (Pitts)
Musketeer Battalion Ducal Liebgarde (C'land)
Musketeer Battalion Livlandischer Orden (C'land)
Militia Company (Campostella)
Cossack Sotnia (Courland)

Gallia (Youngstrom)
Infantry Regiment Conde
Infantry Regiment La Sarre
Cavalry Regiment Rougrave
Cavalry Regiment Royal Allemand
Gallian Artillery

Saxe-Jungbach (Youngstrom)
Infantry Regiment Prinz Maximillian
Infantry Regiment Sachsen-Gotha
Saxon Artillery

Weisspferdheim (Piepenbrink)
Horse Regiment von Beverdforden (2 sqd)
Weisspferdheim Leibgarde (2 sqd)
Dragoon Regiment Der Blauens (2 sqd)
Hussar Regiment Herzog Septimus (2 sqd)
Hussar Regiment Reinholtz (2 sqd)

Still cooking, just not posting!

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a busy summer, but I've got almost all of my troops rebased for BAR. I hope you are making progress, too.

We need to start pinning down the participants for November. If you think you are a good bet to participate, please leave a comment or drop me an email so that I can update my list.

Thanks!

Ed

Terrain Features, Buildings, Etc.

Chris has asked a question about bringing a building that he scratch built, and others have asked about terrain as well. We are still "ironing" out details of the scenario, but I can tell you that it will include some type of walled farm (similar to La Haye Saint) and at least one village or built-up area. It may also include a river feature running the length of the table that will require both fordable areas and constructed wood and stone bridges as well as a couple of small copses of trees or lightly forested areas. There may also be one small reinforced earthwork for an artillery position that would require gabions and some "hasty" earthworks to cover 4 to 6 guns. I will probably plan on making this feature, but if one of you already have one you would like to volunteer, all offers will be considered and greatly appreciated. Ed will be providing his always excellent painted terrain cloths (see last year's Napoleonic game write-up on Ed's blog) and I will be providing some of the other terrain features as well. At the beginning of this post are some great pic's of a very nice walled farm that Chris built that I suspect will feature very prominently at some point in the game. You can just imagine the skirmisher's moving about through it!

If any of you have any items that you feel would work for what I described above and it wouldn't be an inconvenience for you to travel with them, they are certainly welcome. If you're not sure about the appearance, or just want us to preview them, feel free to send pic's to Ed or myself using our e-mail links from the Blog. Or, just attach and send them to wpmchenry@charter.net and/or ed_youngstrom@yahoo.com

Sir William

Are Your Paintbrushes Getting a Workout?

As the date for MilleniumCon XI draws nearer (only 5 months now), Landgraf Bogey, Der Alte Fritz, Mssr. de Chevert and myself are busily working on the scenario for the game. I won't divulge too much just yet, but it won't be your typical Convention "Line 'em up and go" scenario.

Just to whet your appetite's a little, we are using an actual battle from the 16th Century, whose tactics and tactical challenges were somewhat duplicated in the 20th Century, all neatly sandwiched into our little Imagi-Nations 18th Century setting. There will be variable Victory Conditions for each army, some tactical challenges to either overcome or avoid (possibly at your own risk), and a bit of the old "Fog of War" present in the scenario. As the scenario develops we will share a little more of it here, but not all. After all, we do want there to be some suprises awaiting those who journey to Austin! I will offer one word of advice though, communications will be critical in this game, so be sure and paint up at least two or three ADC's to accompany your General, they just might have a busy day ahead of them.

A word to potential traveler's and attendee's, try and plan on a Friday arrival if possible, as we are trying to finalize arrangements for a meeting room or area for Friday night to go over the scenario and to allow Mssrs. Protz and Purdy the opportunity to answer any rules questions that you might have and possibly even demonstrate a few things on a tabletop. There will, of course, be a Staff Meeting before Saturday's Battle, but attending Friday Night's little soiree could give you a leg up, as well as the opportunity to share a libation or three with your opponent's for the coming battle before all that powder smoke and "Fog of War" clouds your minds.

Sir William

Ta-Da! (pretend you hear the kettledrums beating and the trumpets blaring)

We have a home! Huzzah, Huzzah! This just in from LSHM:

November 14 - 16, 2008

Friday - Sunday

We are pleased to announce the home for the eleventh annual LSHM Gaming Convention.

Millenniumcon 11 will be at the Wingate Inn and Conference Center in Round Rock, Texas. Discounted room rates are available at $87 per night. Ask for the Millenniumcon discount when registering.

And we have recently been advised of the impending arrival of two additional Brigades and Commanders making the trip from the Dallas area, one Prussian and one French. Assuming that they don't "bump" into each other trying to cross the Brazos in Waco and contest the river crossing, our gathering forces continue to grow. I'm sure that Ed will be providing an update shortly with a list of the forces that our scouts have detected.

Bill & Ed

Sir William of M'Uedail
Landgraf Bogart of Hesse-Fedora

7 and 1/2 Months and Counting...

Well, yes, it has been a long time since we've published an update. For that we should probably be flogged severely with some form of pasta by a pair of lovely tavern wenches! However, we are somewhat in a "holding pattern" at the moment as we await the official results of Lone Star Historical Miniatures signing the actual contract with the hosting hotel for MilleniumCon XI.

The tentative dates, based on the last information available, are November 14, 15 and 16, 2008, and the host site should still be the same, just north of Austin, Texas. As soon as either Ed or myself know anything "final" we will update this Blog post-haste.

We can share some information with you. For those not already aware of it, Ed hosted a "trial run" B.A.R. event at ChimaeraCon in San Antonio this past weekend that appears to have been a great success. There are excellent write-ups on the game on Ed's Blog (Hesse-Fedora) and a "plug" from Der Alte Fritz (aka Jim Purky) on his Blog. And speaking of that esteemed Gentleman from the midwest, we have been advised that both he and his "partner in crime" Mssr. Chevert (aka Bill Protz) WILL be in attendance for what will now be the second Big Battalion Game in Texas at MilleniumCon XI. In addition to these two esteemed Gentlemen, we have tentative committments from traveler's from California, Mississippi and Arkansas, who will all be venturing forth to join our own Texas crew for this event.

We are making plans to host a "pre-game" event on Friday night where we will have at least a small scenario laid-out and Mssrs. Protz and Purky available to field questions and demonstrate certain mechanics of the rules to any and all interested parties. We will also have packets available describing the scenario and Orders of Battle (such as we are aware of) for Saturday's Main Event. I am also quite confident that, after exploring the mysteries of "Batailles de l' Ancien Regime" for a time, we will be able to adjourn to a convenient location for some liquid courage and "munchies" to prepare us all the more for Saturday. In all, it promises to be a most entertaining weekend in the southern part of Texas.

Sir William of M'Uedail
Bill McHenry

Ten months to The Game, and armies are growing!

As you can see from the graphic at left, multiple contingents have been added, but most threw in with the Elector.

I will be adding Orders of Battle over the next few days. I will experiment with several methods, so the appearance of the blog may change slightly.

Four of the contingents that have been added have been "mixed brigades" of almost the exact composition as M. Chevert-Protz recommends as a starting point in BAR. When we get a lot closer to November, I will start consolidating the various armies into a single whole. Or maybe not, as things go.

I just noticed one thing: I left the "Generals" label, but in reality it is "Brigades."