I am back and recovering. Overall impression of the convention is I was more impressed last year, BUT that is likely because last year was my first attendance at this convention. Also, the DUKE ran a "Lord of the Rings" game this year and last year he did World War II. That meant one less big event to look at. I noticed there were several Sci-Fi games being run -- WH40k, Starship Troopers, Lord of the Rings. Compared to the historical games there weren't many, but those that were run mostly had some very good scenery and well painted figures.

I managed to play in two games during the three days I was there. I was in a Spearhead World War II game on Thursday -- 1944, the Bulge in 10mm. The scenario was from the U.S. scenario book. We lost in the first four turns because not all of us knew the Germans could win by exiting the table! However, the judge had the Germans turn to attack our advancing infantry battalions and tank battalion after conceding the Germans could have made it off the table (assuming their gas rolls were good!). As a result, when my flank march came in I arrived behind the 2nd Panzer Panther battalion squeezing it between my tank battalion and the U.S. tank battalion we had on the table. The armored infantry battalion dismounted to reduce its losses to anti-tank fire and attacked on foot. I moved my armor to join him. We quickly found out the high ground in the middle of the table (did I mention fog had reduced normal visibility to 12"?) who could fire on us without our being able to see them. The game ended with their anti-tank guns ambushing my battalion -- knocking out my last M5 light tank -- but with both tank battalions advancing using the terrain to hide from the German guns (SGIII/G) on the high ground. Probable U.S. Win (on the second go around).

Saturday was a "blind" home rules 1/285 Russian front in 1944 game. I was Soviet this time. Our intrepid force of infantry and armor pushed towards our objectives, with no idea of exactly what German forces faced us or where they were. The Germans, dug in and wondering where we would attack, waited. The judge ran this as a double blind game. By this, I mean that he had two tables with a curtain between them, set up exactly the same, with the Soviet forces modeled on our table and the German forces on the other table. A sighting chart could enable an opponent's forces as spotted and then it would be placed on the table. This meant as we moved forward our forces became visible to the Germans (but not all of our forces were spotted) and as we moved in or the Germans fired, they became visible to us. Several nasty fights broke out. A German Mark IV battalion attacked our left flank, forcing us to reinforce that side with one of our supporting T34/76 tank platoons. We received a Soviet tank and a trucked motor rifle battalion as reinforcements. My suggestion that we concentrated them all together (under my command of course) was rejected by the other players, so they were parceled out to the five of us.

This game ended with a Soviet win. The judge felt that we were more aggressive then his other Russian players, and the Germans didn't fall back like his other players did. That cost them as we overran their defenses on our side of the table and were rapidly pushing towards our objectives with almost no one left to stop or delay us. If we had concentrated our armor and motorized infantry and hit the Germans on the side of the table I was on, we would have punched through to the high ground. The Germans weren't prepared for that.

Friday, I ran three 28mm World War II skirmish games using 1/48 armor and 25/28mm terrain. I changed the terrain on the table between games. The U.S. force was an armored infantry platoon (5 squads) in half-tracks. In the first game, they were supported by two M4 Sherman and two M10 GMC. Their recon jeeps had pushed past the German defenses, and the advancing armored infantry on the German right flank spotted the German tank only as they bypassed it. I put a Tiger model out to represent the Mark IV/H ("Every tank is a Tiger") and the U.S. tried to give it some room. They never got a shot off at it. The Mark IV/H took out a Sherman and a M-7 GHC as it slowly pulled back. A German infantry squad, cut off by the Americans, knocked out an M-8 GHC and both M-10s with panzerfausts and grenades, then surrendered to the Americans.

By then the Americans had secured their objective. U.S. infantry losses were only six men dead, no wounded. They had been lost when a panzershreck round punched through a half-track, knocking it out and killing half of the infantry in it. One nice touch by the Germans early in the game was on the right. A Pak 40 75L46 anti-tank gun was hidden there and in position to ambush the Americans as they came up the road. It had been position to fire two or three shots, then limber and be pulled out. As the Germans left they were to fire a red signal flare to call in 120mm German mortar fire on a registered point in front of the gun. This would cover the gun's withdrawal. Instead, the Germans fired the flare when the U.S. half-tracks entered the target zone. Too bad several of the rounds fell short killing, 2/3 of the German crew. This was repeated again taking out the last crewman and not a shot was fired from that gun. U.S. win.

The second game had the U.S. platoon dug in on the defense. The Germans were supposed to attack but I hadn't written the mission orders clearly enough. Based on what they thought as the orders, the Germans choose to use long range fires on the U.S. troops from a SGIII/G and Mark IV/H tank. The German infantry fought fairly well, with two quick actions taking place the night before (Germans could place units on the U.S. side of the table, and chose two locations the U.S. had occupied. This resulted in one turn of hand-to-hand representing the fight during the night, and both German squads were repulsed). One German squad eventually was down to three men and the U.S. forces were slowly pushing in the right flank of the Germans. A tie.

The third game was a German win as they stopped the U.S. attack. Although losing a 232 armored car, the U.S. forces failed to take the bridges (which were their objectives), and suffered heavy loses to German fire in armor and infantry. Their two recon jeeps were badly shot up, but they did prove the worth of the Jumbo tank and the M2 HMG. A Jumbo took two panzerfaust hits in its frontal armor with no damage. A U.S. M2 HMG on one of the half-tracks got two long bursts off at a German squad trying to cross the road (chicken joke?). That squad fell back leaving half their number on the pavement.

All in all three good games. Prizes were provided by Dick Bryant and The Courier magazine and by Joe Conejo and All Front Armor Depot.