The editor is trying to encourage the Saga staff to provide more material on several topics. His cajoling inspired this article as it touched on two of his subjects, conventions and games involving his rules. It also gave me the opportunity to write about Canadian activity, which receives less attention than that in the United States. One reason for the lack of publicity is that Canada does not have any events sponsored by large organisations like the Historical Miniature Gaming Society (HMGS). A more obvious reason is that Canada has a much smaller population from which to draw attendees for such events.

Hot Lead 2001 was a typical Canadian event. It is run by a small group of enthusiasts, namely the members of a wargaming club in Stratford, Ontario. They have been successful in providing a good event for the past few years, which does draw from a large geographical area, namely the most populated region of Canada (southern Ontario and western Quebec) and that includes groups from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa plus many other Canadian locations.

It is also known to groups in the US, particularly those in New York and Michigan. The event was held during the last weekend of March at the Victoria Inn in Stratford. The town is located west of Toronto and is accessible from one of Canada's major highways, Route 401 (which forms part of the Trans-Canada Highway linking the country). Major roads of both Canada and the US connect with the 401. Stratford is well known by theatre buffs because of its annual Shakespearean festival held in the summer. Thus it has numerous hotels and restaurants to cater to convention attendees.

The venue caters to a wide spectrum of games, although the primary focus is those involving miniatures. There were, as usual, a variety of games from all the well-known historical periods and miniature types, and a few fantasy/science fiction games. Most of these events were of the participation type, in which attendees are encouraged to try their hand at playing with the only stipulation being the number of positions available to be filled. In addition, there were two tournaments, each involving a set number of rounds. One was for DBM competitors using 15mm armies and the other was a Warhammer fantasy competition for 25mm.

The DBM tournament was for 200 AP armies and had four players. The organiser was so pleased with it that he is planning a full scale 400 AP DBM tournament for next year. The Warhammer tournament had eight players involved.

Of note to the readers of this magazine were the following events.Phil Viverito of Buffalo NY presented his "Siege of Tyre" a 25mm Ancient spectacle using his "Classical Hack" rules. Phil has been a regular game master (GM) at the convention and has presented a variety of games using his "Hack" rules and his well-constructed terrain (so much so that he has been excluded from convention awards to give others a chance to win). Those of you, who attended Fall In 2000, may have seen his model of the city of Tyre or even participated in this game. He ran his scenario twice during Hot Lead.

There were 15mm Roman chariot races (which won Best Ancient Game) in a beautiful stadium model. This attracted a variety of players including fringe gamers and hard-core historical types. These were held throughout the convention and created lots of audience noise.

The rule set "Might of Arms" was featured in two games; a 20mm Punic Wars scenario and a 15mm game involving Later Imperial Romans and Germanic tribesmen.

The Baltic Crusades of the Teutonic Knights were featured in a DBA mini campaign for 15mm figures. The title was very appropriate being "De Bellis Mauri Baltici". Participants commanded armies of the knights and the various regional forces that were the target of the knights' religious campaigns.

For those that prefer naval gaming, there was a 25mm scenario involving galleys. A skirmish game based on the "Pig Wars" rules was done with 25mm figures.

A large-scale 15mm DBR battle between Poles and allies, and Turks and allies won the Best Horse and Musket Game. This game included well-produced notes about the combatants with pictures of the commanders.

Some of the games from other periods included the following: "The Hand of Fu-Manchu" 25mm Victorian Fantasy skirmish (won Best Alternative Game); 15mm ACW "Devil's Den and Little Round Top" (won Best of Show); "Escape from Colditz" (won Best Modern Game); 25mm African big game hunt; "Adventure of the Poonah Vulcunah" and "The Mad Mullah's Revenge" 25mm colonial scenarios; and a 25mm War of 1812 game based on the Battle of Blandensburg, which was fought near Washington DC.

The convention attendance figures were 141 on Saturday plus 25 GMs, and 63 on Sunday plus 11 GMs. There were also nine dealers representing local stores, distributors and painting services, and nine convention staff. Forthose wishing to learn more about the convention, you can access the website at www.hotlead.com.

MW Game – Battle of Nisibis 589 AD

Not mentioned above was my game based on the battle between Byzantine and Sassanian Persian 15mm armies. The event was one of the many engagements between these two neighbours in the 6th Century. This was my first presentation of a game using the Medieval Warfare rules.

I chose the two armies, as they are the only two historical opponents that I can field from collection in large numbers. The battle was selected at random as there is little information about it apart from the location and that the Byzantines, under the future emperor Maurice, won the battle and prevented the Persians from capturing this vital Roman urban centre near the frontier with Persia.

The game had six positions for players allowing for three each per army. My participants represented experienced and inexperienced players of various ages, none of whom had previously played the rules. I provided everyone with a copy of the Quick Reference sheet, dice and rules, and then I gave a summary of the rules using the sequence of play as a guide.

Prior to this game, I had play tested the scenario twice with members of my club in Ottawa. I think this is important if a game master wants to determine if the scenario is well balanced (even if weighted in favor of one side but with achievable victory conditions to make it interesting for all players).

Unfortunately, the Byzantine army won both of these games so I was concerned that the armies were not balanced. I had given each a similar number of points and units, although they were not exact as the Persians had a few more points. The Persians did have more units; 15 to the Byzantines' 12, however, the latter's units were in the majority bow and lance armed cavalry (one rank of each). The Persians' had two dual armed cavalry units, and three bow and three lance armed cavalry.

After discussing both games with the participants, I concluded that the armies were balanced. What the Persians needed to do was ensure that their more numerous units attacked the Byzantines so that Persian quantity opposed Byzantine quality.

As it turned out, the Persians did win at Hot Lead, although the outcome was not apparent until the game was ended after about three hours of play. Victory was assured by the Persian ability to oppose the Byzantines with larger numbers, usually two units to one.

I enjoyed the game because all six players were active throughout the game and there was lots of enthusiasm expressed for the rules and the scenario balance. The players were able to quickly understand the rules and needed little guidance from me during the game.

Either side could have won and not because of better dicing, but rather because of the good co-operation amongst the players. They liked the "god" roll (ability to re-roll one time per turn in an attempt to improve the outcome).