NEW GAMESTORE IN DOWNTOWN DC!!!

That's right, a new gamestore is opening in downtown DC. I am rather happy about this. A place for us closer in to play. It's in Eastern Market, so the neighborhood's decent, and I think the place is something for everyone.

Details to be found here:

http://www.labyrinthgameshop.com/

I think this is a real opportunity for DC gamers as a whole! I plan to be there to scout the place out for their grand opening and I am holding an event there on December 18th as a way to welcome them to the neighborhood.

Please, if you're in the DC area and like 15mm Sci-Fi, Ambush Alley or just wanna game with like minded folks, come on down and join us!

Blogging the day away!

Small announcement this time. We're going to shoot for the next Victory Comics game to be on the 24th of July. I am thinking probably more of a historicals game this time. I want to recruit some folks as well and I think TW's far enough along in playtesting that we can take a short break from it!

Comments, ideas and questions care of the site!

Other wargaming ramblings from the weekend.

Well, I sent along some of my 6mm Sci-fi to Jage. He wanted stuff to paint, and it's sitting around waiting to be painted. I figure I give him a slow drip of stuff. Keeps him busy and us playing (and easier on the wallet). My limited amount of GZG stuff is next, then it's going to be the Stan Johansen and mix of old GHQ. Then, the rest of the Ogre and Classic Battletech stuff. Once all that's done? We organize it into some units. Probably will supplement it with my moderns and 'Mechs so we can get some games of FWC in.

The Slammers are all painted, I need to get them flocked, 4 figures are already done, and I figure at the rate of four a night...I can have the lot done in 8 days or so. I'll probably do it sooner I suspect. As for what's next? I think getting started on my Caliph's army for Djazlah, which are going to double as French Militia for Aurore. After that, probably the Terminator Humans, then the Colonial Marines. I kinda need the militia done soon as it would be useful for the TW playtest that's coming on the 26th. Shame Jage won't be there, but I hope others will make it. Heck, I even got some work done on Blood Upon the Risers.

I am going to pick up The Crucible book that's come out for the Slammers. It looks like a fine work from the PDF previews I've seen and paradoxically, it's cheaper to get from the publisher than from OMM? Um, huh? I want to get some more done on the 15mm side before I go and work on any of my other stuff, mostly getting my 6mm moderns closer to done and get my Germans out there and played with! I also want to look at what I'm going to need to do US Light and Medium weight forces for FFT (Think USMC, 82nd and 101st, and the sadly lamented 9th Light Division). I already have a regimental sized formation for my Soviet Paras, wouldn't take much to build that into a full division, and frankly, I may at some point do it. As for the Iranians? Probably a brigade is all I intend to build, with another brigade of Pasdaran. (Three-four bags from Hallmark should do the trick).

All in all, I think things are going swimmingly. I've made a real dent in the painting pile, and by end of summer, Djazlah might be well on it's way. I am rather happy about that, and there might be some 15mm vehicles from Old Crow I want to grab, along with some more IF types. I think that might wait a bit, but hey, I've got some time.

DC Gamers are Rescheduling, Part Deux!

Ok folks,
Due to the fact EVERYBODY but Jage and I had to cancel, we're rescheduling for the 26th of June. Sorry it can't be sooner, but Free RPG day is the 19th and Victory told me they aren't giving ANYONE table space. Is what it is I am afraid, so we're going to shoot for the 26th.

In an a related note. Guys, we need input on scheduling. I'm not casting blame, but this is the second month in a row we've had to reschedule, and honestly, it's getting a bit done. So folks, if certain weekends don't work for you, lemme know so we don't pick those weekends. As a rule, we going to try for the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of the month from now on, and I wanna be somewhat more organized about all this, organization will help us grow as an club to a stable membership!

So guys, input is good. I wanna hear from you.

The latest from the painting front, and the family-gaming intersect!

Ok,
The third squad of Slammers is done. Gotta get the platoon HQ done, but that's a small thing, along with the dismounted vehicle crew and the recon section in skimmers. Then it's onward and upward, I'm either tempted to do the Terminator humans and/or the USCMC for my Aliens stuff. It's a conundrum..not to mention my 20mm really does deserve some attention.

Also, wanted to mention our 5th meeting of DC Gamers is June 12th at Victory Comics. I hope by now interested parties know where this is. If not, I'll simply direct you to read the appropriate blog entry here.

In other news, DC Gamers has a potential new member. My stepfather. He's retiring from the Army and as newly retired folks are wont to do...he's driving mom a bit nuts (Mom, I know you and Lou are reading this...I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it's true). So, I figured, get him gaming and around people. Mom, I'm going to say this now, he gets back into the hobby? I am not responsible for the following:

Packages from England or elsewhere being more secret than what he used to work on, the garage being turned into a workspace and enough lead and resin to be investigated by the EPA, not to mention the ever present "Hey, I can make terrain/scratchbuild/something clever out of this!"

It'll be good for him, honest. I think...All else fails, you and my wife can commiserate. If she doesn't get you reading TMP first...and really being horrified. Just kidding.

But really, it'll be good all around, I think. And look at it this way..if he's out late...you'll know without a doubt where he is! Which considering I am not as young as I used to be...and that whole real life thing, is NOWHERE near as often as it used to be. And to be honest Battletech is probably the only game I play where things go on for that long. And how often, dear reader, do I write about that anymore?

DC GAMERS ARE RESCHEDULING!

Hi all, due to some unforseen events all around, we're going to reschedule the meeting for next week at the same time and place.

So, it's at Victory Comics

May 22nd, 2010
at 11AM

Questions, concerns and comments can be made to me here at the blog, or at jason.weiser@gmail.com

REMINDER: 4th Meeting of DC Miniature Gamers

The Date: May 15th, 2010

Time: 11ish (we're not fanatics about this)

Place: Victory Comics
586 S. Washington Street
Falls Church, VA
(703)241-9393

We'll be having a closed playtest of TW, but I think an after game with straight FoF rules can be accomplished. I may even, possibly, by some bloody miracle, get the damned Slammers done before the game...

Let me know one way or the other whether or not you're coming. Also to be discussed, more frequency in meetings and or variety of games as well as the discovery of some folks in Alexandria.

SITREP and some other matters.

First off, I got some new paints and figures lately, including some Khurasan Resistance guys and Cafferta APCs for my QRF marines. I'll keep you posted on that, but I wanna finish the Slammer infantry first. I just haven't had the time to do a lot of painting recently due to some home fires that needed tending.

In other news, the next meeting at Victory Comics is scheduled for May 15th at Victory Comics. It's a really nice place and we got a good table for the purpose. Now all we gotta do is get some more playtests in. TW is going to be a great rules set, I promise you.

Blood Upon The Risers is slightly delayed, as I need time to work out the nature of the scenarios, and it will be the next "guinea pig" I subject the group to when we're done with TW testing. But then again, sci-fi's real popular with us..but hey, you got time and an idea? Come on by!

That's all for now. Hope to see you there!

Also, I forgot to mention, we have a meetup group now, so if you're in the area, let us know and we'll love to have you attend our events!

Link to Meetup Group!

AAR 4/24/10 Meeting of DC Gamers

Well. We came, we saw, we gamed. We playtested the AAG Game "Tomorrow's War" that's currently under development. I can't get into too many details, but suffice to say, it's going to be a good game. I am very confident in it's quality. We identified some tweaks that might be needed, but nothing too glaring that we saw.

All in all, Sci-fi gamers are in for a treat. I have some pics of the game as well as some scratchbuilds from one of our members, Jage, who well, beats me all hallow.

Here's some pics from the game. Happy Gaming all.

Next meeting of the DC Gaming Group and a status report

First off, the third meeting of the DC Gaming Group is in it's new location:

Victory Comics
586 S. Washington Street
Falls Church, VA
(703)241-9393

Drop on by. I am really excited by this and I think this will lead to some nice developments!

As for the painting front, I was slightly delayed in finishing the Hammers Slammers Infantry due to some RL stuff. I'll be done with them in time for the 24th I think, but that might remain to be seen. In any event. We'll see. I also paid a visit to the Hobby Works in Rockville for their annual sale. I managed to get out of there for less than $20 and mostly got some paint, brushes, and a MRC Jagdpanzer IV for $10. Wish they had some of the BTR-80s they make, but c'est la vie.

So come on by. We'd love to meet you, game will be TBA at this point, but I am very sure we'll come up with something, in fact, knowing AA/FoF, we'll probably manage to get two games in!

Next meeting of the DC Gaming Group

Our next meeting will be at Victory Comics in Falls Church on 24th April beginning at Noon. Game will be some form of FoF but if you wanna come out, come on by and say hi.
For details about Victory Comics, see this post.

Hope to see you there!

A little Force On Force, a new meeting place, and date.

Well, the second meeting of the DC Gamers worked out very well. Curt showed up, as did me and Jage. We ran a scenario of Curt's design that was about the fighting in Anzio during the static phase of the beachhead fighting. It simulated a local push by German 3rd PzGrd Div (mot) against the perimeter of 3rd Infantry Division as part of Fischfang.. The players were the US side (me) and the Germans, ably played by Jage. The US was understrength, with two squads, a .30 cal MG and a Bazooka team.

The map was mostly open, with a couple small stands of woods and a line of ruins over mostly muddy terrain. The ruins were mostly towards the German side of the table, and they used them well to get in position to launch the assault on the US position on a rubbled building forward of the main line set up in the woods.

The German objective was to get at least a squad or more off the US end of the table, or failing that, to take the house. The US job, hold on for dear life. Both sides pulled one asset card before the game, I pulled a sniper card, and Jage a Light Artillery card.

The Germans opened by gaining initiative and shooting up the house, even with the cover the US troops had, the casualties began to mount. US fire was somewhat effective, but did little in the way to slow the Germans down. In the center, the US squad holding the woods traded fire with two German squads set up across the muddy fields in the line of rubble.

On turn 3, the Germans had killed all the Americans in the lower floor of the building and were in the process of assaulting it. But, as the Germans moved forward, the US sniper and remaining Americans on the upper floors took their tool, wounding or killing several Germans.

In the center, the casualties began to mount as the Germans found that even the cover of the buildings didn't protect them completely. Casualties on both sides piled up.

On turn 4, the worm turned, and I finally won initiative. The Americans stymied the German assault on the house just short of their goal. The squad in the center failed it's morale check, but the Americans paid for it...with German counterfire mauling the squad in the woods, the remaining defenders of the house falling and an attempt by the Americans to reinforce the line with the .30 and the Bazooka ending badly, as both elements were shot to pieces, the bazooka team fleeing back to the safety of the woods.

On turn 5, the game ended with more fire being traded by both sides and a German fire mission finally arriving to pound the woods to little effect. After that, it was agreed that the US had won a marginal victory on points...as the Germans had effectively taken the house, but they had bled so much taking it that the US could simply pull back and set up a new line based on the woods. Two German squads were combat ineffective, and the third had two seriously wounded members and wouldn't attempt an assault on it's own, even with three halftracks...the Bazooka was still out there.

Here's some pictures:











In other news, we have a date and place for the next meeting, 24 April at Victory Comics in Falls Church. You can find name and contact information in the previous Battletech post here.

We might have a sooner 15mm sci-fi event either at Pallisades or Victory Comics, but that's space dependent. Watch this space for details...and hey, if you're in the DC area, reading this, and like any of the AAG games, come join us!

A little late, but here goes. DC Gamer Meeting this weekend.

The DC Gaming Group is proud to announce it's second meeting! March 20th at 1:00 PM at the Pallisades Neighborhood Library in Northwest DC. This is the last meeting at this location, Future meetings will be held at Victory Comics.

We'll be playing some Force On Force 20mm WWII, the scenario's set in the sunny seaside town of Anzio. The natives are showing their typical Teutonic hospitality. So come on by, it will be the Large PAL meeting room.

We'd be especially grateful if you happen to have a groundsheet. Mine is not going to make it in time from Hotz Mat.

Yesterday's Classic Battletech Game.and a review of Victory Comics

Well, I did promise to mention this...and frankly dear reader, I should have written this sooner. The game was held at a relatively new establishment called Victory Comics. Do not let the name fool you, it's planning to do more, a lot more.

The location is about 1 1/2 to 2 miles from the East Falls Church Metro. The location's nice, parking isn't too bad, and the location itself is airy, well lit (extremely so much to our very happy surprise). The owner is a nice, no drama guy who trusts his staff and the staff is knowledgeable and one even sat down and gamed with us for a short time.

I am planning on holding a DC Gamer's meeting there either the 17th or the 24th of April and I'm thinking this will probably be a switch from the library. It's very close to the bus lines from the metro, and the store closes at 9, so getting out of there isn't going to cause very much in the way of drama. Snacks and soda are sold for VERY reasonable rates on site and there are a few very good places to eat, Elevation Burger being one I highly recommend.

Selection of hobby materials is limited, for now, but the store owner and staff both told me that they do plan to get more stock in, depending on what people play. In short, I rather like this place, and I do plan to return as often as I can manage to get out there. The place has something FOR everybody.

Anyway, here's the address and POC information:

Victory Comics
586 S. Washington Street
Falls Church, VA
(703)241-9393
Ask for Jeff, he's the Big Kahuna there and a really nice guy.

Here are some pics of the gaming area to give you an idea of just how nice this place is.





As for the Battletech game, well it was a surrounded Jade Falcon unit being set upon by some Wobbies. Things went bad for the Falcons the first couple of turns. We had our Ryoken hit by a 'Mech taser...not fun, and our Stone Rhino taking a Heavy PPC to the head, hell of a way to get one's portrait taken, eh! And we had a Night Gyr down with an Engine and a Gyro hit. Well, things turned around, first, Blackstone nailed one of the offending bad guys with a series of AC/20 rounds from a Hunchback IIC...Hunchbacks in the city...never fun to deal with. And Blackstone proved why..He had two AC/20 carriers (the Hunchback and a Executioner), a Star of Elementals, and 4 Tyr Hovers. The Manei Dominei we found out, for all of their C3 advantage, which is not a good thing to begin with, don't do well in cities. And Blackstone is an artist with light units.

As for me, after losing the Stone Rhino, and facing down 2 100 tonners (An Archangel piloted by Beirith himself) and a Titan II, and a Raptor II. I collapsed the position as best as I could. I was under pressure on the other flank where I was using the left hand lower corner of the woodland map with the wooded hills as best as I could, but even with the cover I had, the shots were telling. But, the Clanners rallied and killed a Wraith the old fashioned way by coring a torso. We also crippled the Raptor II by the time we called the game. All agreed, as much as the Wobbies had lost two lighter 'Mechs to our one (An assault), neither side could claim a win. Yeah, we were shot up, I had engine hits GALORE, but the Wobbies were sporting a lot of 'Mechs with head hits and had taken a lot of missile fire from Elementals.

I learned a few things yesterday:

1. ECM is vital when going Wobbie hunting, don't leave home without it.

2. Faster Wobbies need to die first, they're going to spot for the C3 network and then you get the missile/PPC/VPL/god knows what at close range.

3. Wobbies have a tough time in close terrain, they're faster, but they don't pack JJs as much in the heavier designs, I know, they're Omnis..but take a look in the 3075 TRO sometime. They're very tight designs for the tonnage because all the bennies that make them hard to kill are very, very bulky. More often than not, you'll have the firepower advantage. Lesson to Wobbie players? Don't go ANYWHERE alone, just like the horror movies.

4. Wobbies die like everyone else in cities, and Elementals, like cats, may have most people believing they work well alone, but they work better in pairs..and SRM-20 on Wobbie 'Mechs that don't for some reason, usually pack AMS? Yeah, Clan players STILL have options.

These were hard won lessons, and I expect to learn more as I play them..but the number one thing, they're tougher to kill than any 'Mech you'll ever face. Big guns are a must shooting Wobbies..even the light ones..Pulses are also good party favors.

Our First DC Gamer meeting

Attendance was good, with three out of our six members being in attendance, myself, Jage, and an old friend of mine, Chris Hyland. I decided to run Fistful of TOWs because I had a lot less painted 6mm than I thought I'd had (With the exception of Battletech 'Mechs). So, onward and upward!

The game was a British Armor Battalion with elements of another one, plus some scratch Brit and German forces against a Soviet Regiment of T-64 and BTR-70, I had a shot up Polish Regiment backing them up (T-72 and BMP-1). Well, I led off with the T-64s on the right, and the Brits opened up at long range. Forced a platoon to run. I returned fire with AT-8 (Only thing that would scratch the paint on a Challenger), didn't even manage that...then the slaughter really began. In the next turn, the T-64 Battalion evaporated under 120mm fire. So, I brought in the Polish T-72s....they didn't even last that long. So, I tried to get the Infantry forward under cover of the hills...no dice, the Brits hung back, and shelled the Soviet infantry into submission. That battalion broke, then the regiment failed it's quality check, at that point, the Polish battalion wasn't going to go forward alone, so it was game over. Only Brit casualties was some Challengers forced off with 120mm Mortar fire. My one airstrike bombed the wrong target.

There was some thought about modifying the scenario, reducing the brits, which I think would have worked, or starting them further back, also a good suggestion, both from Jage, incidentally. I think I probably also should have had more Soviets. Probably two full regiments, or perhaps three. FFT eats battalions, especially Soviet ones like popcorn. Then again, that's not totally unrealistic.

Sadly, I forgot a camera. Do'h! Next time, I will remember!

Mark the Date! Feb 27th!

Hi all,
The DC Gaming Group is proud to announce it's first meeting! Feb 27th at 1:30 PM at the Pallisades Neighborhood Library in Northwest DC. This may not be a permanent solution due to time constraints and such, and I am looking into other options, stay tuned on that.

We'll be playing some Dirtside II 6mm stuff to kinda get to know each other and get our feet wet. So come on by, it will be the Small PAL meeting room.

New DC area Miniatures Group forming

Hi all,
I and a few like minded folks are forming a group to handle the gaming needs of folks who aren't up to making the drive out to either Fort Belvoir for Eagle and Empire or Game Parlor Chantilly for NOVAG nights. We're talking about the Palisades Neighborhood Library in NW as a place to meet. It's looking good for our purposes. And what do we need now? Members! So, if you live in Falls Church, Kensington, Northwest, Silver Spring, Wheaton and other places close in to DC that I haven't mentioned, come on in. We'll have a date decided soon! So, join the group here:

DC Gaming Group Page