Palatine, Illinois
After hearing Tod Fisher's presentation at HISTORICON in which he described the activities at Little Wars, I thought it would be worth a trip west to see if it was as good as he suggested. A 5-hour trip to Palatine would be much easier to take than the 10 hour drive to Baltimore had been. I had been having discussions with Larry Robinson of Iron Brigade Miniatures about his new Boxer figures and he proclaimed Little Wars to be the best convention he had attended. He suggested that I run a Boxer episode Sword and Flame game. A call from Tod with an invitation to do so convinced me to go.
My son, Rob, who has been gaming for 10 years, since he was 4, and Pat LeBeau came along. They each have different interests in the hobby and would provide perspectives different from mine. Our common denominator is that we all play The Sword and the Flame.
FACILITIES
The Convention was held at a good sized hotel just off a major highway in Illinois so access was no trouble (as long as you did not miss the correct exit as someone did). Rooms were adequate but there were not enough roll away beds to go around. The hotel restaurant was highly priced and slow according to others; we did not eat there ourselves. There were no other sources of provisions within easy walking distance. Con organizers, in general, should consider telling prospective attendees about the lay of the land so they can come prepared.
Gaming was held in a large meeting type room which held some 20 tables with overflow of 3-4 in the basement meeting room. Dealers were in the main hall but on the other side of a movable room divider which was shut so as to allow the dealers to be secure while the gaming continued into the night. One complaint I had as a game master was that there was insufficient lighting. This was probably beyond the control of the organizers. in those areas where the organizers did have some control they did a fine job, for example keeping all the conflicts on the tables and not on the floor between game masters who were having some scheduling problems.
ACTIVITIES
The ACW games covered just about all current rules and ranged from 15mm to Airfix to 25mm. I was surprised to see so many Column Line and Square games and so few Empire. It was strange for me who got into organized wargaming with CLS and played only that for some 4 years and then not play for 12 years to talk to people who still are enjoying themselves with that level of game. Maybe I could take it up again and not feel embarrassed that I have not adapted to the newer complex options. There was not a multiple event WRG tourney, just some final games of midwestern playoff. WWII was represented in both 1/285 and 25mm scales with at least three Pacific Theater land games. The modern era was represented, East vs. West both in Europe and Indo-China. I was surprised to see so many of the latter, but maybe enough time has passed to erase any emotional problems associated therewith.
There were a couple of future/fantasy games but they did have great terrain and well-painted figures (ok Dick?). Skirmish games were present with both TSATF and Samurai types. TSATF players had two Boer, a Boxer, an Arab slave raid and a Pathan game to choose from. There were also some home rules. Musket period covered English Civil War, Pat Condray's Marlborough period and AMR. There was something for every gaming taste.
The terrain was generally fantastic, with many games played on foam 3d contoured modules. Steve Lawrence's prehistoric event, Bill Protz's French and Indian game and Rafe Garza's Arab slave raid presented top of the line terrain.
Rob played in the first and third and was very impressed with the games in general. The prehistoric game pitted cavemen types against animals and other humans. The animals were under the control of the gamemaster who guided them with various dice throws. Each tribe of humans had as an objective to obtain some food before it ate them. Communication had to be in as primitive a language as the players could devise with penalties if too complex a vocabulary was used.
The table was covered with beautiful terrain straight out of One Million B.C. and inhabited by brontotherium, dire wolves, baboons, wooly mastadons, and other assorted creatures. A good time was had by all players. The Slave Raid game used TSATF rules but pitted Arab slave raiders with black helpers against a native tribe. The Natives were in an excellent handmade stockade constructed by sewing reeds together. Native huts were made by covering Legg's container halves with hemp strands. To add to the fun, a party of Boers were also attacking the village to retrievea herd of cattle.
Rafe handled the tripartite movement by using a deck of cards with only three suits -- clubs for natives, spades for Arabs, and diamonds for Boers. A number of modifications were used but the game was balanced and interesting to the participants. Pat LeBeau, on the other hand, played in a TSATF game which seemed to have a number of modifications that favored the British and thus diminished the enjoyment of the participants. Game masters need to be careful not to change rules too much from the original or introduce concepts that detract from the game.
There were a number of other interesting games which I observed. Beachhead was a game in 25mm scale with players taking on the part of U.S. Marines attacking a Japanese airfield, the Japanese were played by the gamemaster. Tod Fisher ran a very attractive medieval game in 15mm using his new "Revenge of Agincourt" rules. Tony Adams, editor of The Heliograph, conducted a skirmish game of French Foreign Legion vs Arabs in a super model of a Beau Geste style desert fort. There were of course many other games going on and everyone seemed to be having a great time, especially those folks playing a Japanese island invasion in 1/300 scale with individual figures.
There were a number of dealers present doing a brisk business. Larry Robinson of Iron Brigade was showing his new Boxer range as well as his excellent older lines of Dervish, Foreign Legion and Arabs, American Civil War and Revolution all in 25mm; and a new line of paint. Larry Robinson, by the way, showed that he is a gamer at heart by taking time out to play in my Boxer game. Der Reiter was present with a vast supply of Mike's Models, the new Falcon Foreign Legion and Arabs and Boxer range, and a good selection of Frontier Miniatures. Jim Parcella of Falcon provided a gift certificate redeemable at Der Reiter for the winner of my game. The Legionary had a vast stock of books, Ral Partha brought their line and sponsored an interesting painting competition wherein an entrant picked a figure and had one hour to paint it. ASP Imports had a nice sel~ction of Irregular Miniatures and other UK products, RAFM was well stocked including their fascinating collection of interchangeable ancient bodies, heads, and weapons (I was ableto piece together some figures for Hereros using a bare chested trousered figure with a curly haired head). Jack Husley of The Stonewall Brigade was showing off his new line of 30mm U.S. frontier and Civil War figures. Sorry if I missed anyone.
One important event took place Sunday morning; a meeting of organizers for the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) - Midwest. There is a vast number of gamers in the Chicago and midwest area who are interested in getting a bit better organized and have chosen to affiliate with HMGS. Indeed, Bob Coggins, HMGS games organizer for ORIGINS and Pat Condray, HMGS Treasurer, were on hand. A small executive committee was created to make plans for the future. Hal Thingum, energetic editor of the Midwest Wargamers Newsletter, is the chairman of this effort. Any historical miniatures gamer in the Midwest should contact Hal to get the newsletter and be registered for HMGS-M.
The Little Wars organizers awarded prizes to various gamemasters for terrain (Bill Protz), best painted army on the field (Curt Sabo and Tom Tuck) and best game overall (Bob Pavik's Samurai game). This seems to be a nice practice, giving recognition to the gamemasters for their time and effort.
All in all,Tod Fisher and Ken Kaufman did a superb job of organizing and pulling off the convention. We will be coming back and recommend anyone within reasonable distance to do so. You will not be disappointed.
The Courier Dispatch News of the hobby.
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