Long time no blog, and lessons learned from my first Historicon run!

Well, it has been a while since I last posted to this humble blog. I am surprised I have any readers left at all! But, I have crossed off an item on the bucket list!

I ran events at Historicon.

So, what did I learn....a lot!

In fact I wrote the lessons down because I think they bear out for anyone considering running a game at any convention!

Historicon 2015 Lessons Learned

1.       Prep is everything. I could have been better prepared and well, I forgot some crucial items that made the first demo into a near disaster. The second went well because I did crash prep with Annie’s help. No more of this. I want to be ready 30 days out from the convention from now on!

2.       Looks of my table. My tables were fair to middling at best for the demo, and the second game while very good, could have been better. So, how do we fix this?

-          More terrain (build it or buy, I am thinking build)

-          Better storage arrangements (Preserve what I do have longer).

-          Get rid of anything that doesn’t contribute to the look I want.

3.       Poise, I have to stop being nervous. I am good at this, really good, and I have proved it in the past as I used to run Battletech successfully, a lot. So, you have slain the Historicon beast, now, let’s do it again, only better.

4.       Organization, get a system and stick with it!



After a long slumber

It’s been a long slumber here at PF 150′s blog. I am currently kinda in a holding pattern game wise. Mainly, this is due to needing to find the wife a job. It’s been a real pain. Moreso then when I was out of work. Guess I am one of the lucky ones. So, not much time for gaming anything, though I did get in a delightful game of Fistful of Tows 3 at Eagle and Empire. Good fun was had by Dave Luff and I, though I think we may have to plan the logistics a lot better. It was your typical US/Soviet Sunday Drive to the Rhine game set in 1987. Not too much to tell, and silly me forgot to get photos, but the game played as well as I remembered FFT 2 played.

I liked the fact the Soviet tanks were tougher and T-80s are now a very scary thing, especially to US Dragon armed infantry. TOW armed Brads have a lot of trouble with them too, but not as much. M1s…well, M1s are still playing “pull” with just about any Soviet tank out there.

We didn’t finish, but it looked as if the US was going to win (played by your humble blogger) as I’d only lost a pair of Brad Stands to watching the heart ripped out of at least a regiment’s worth of Soviet tanks. He still had at least two fresh battalions and some motor rifle troops, but I didn’t think it was enough support to get a win of exploiting off the table.

As for other news. Well, it’s almost here. Amazon has informed me that Force On Force is on it’s way to my humble home. I don’t have the wargaming dollars I used to, so this is a BIG deal for me. Early reports from the UK state this is a match of Osprey eye candy, good print quality and a darn good editorial standard. All of this is good for AAG, as I think this will be a very fruitful partnership for both sides. I am looking forward to this and their new Cold War Hot supplement….and some more has been released on the contents:

1) Cold War Fears…this is a collection of essays, scenarios and stats for what we thought was going to happen. E.g., Fulda Gap, Soviet breakthroughs, etc. The main thrust of these scenarios is getting back into the mindset that existed during the 1980s when NATO and the US were trying to figure out a way to survive the Soviet/Pact superiority in numbers.

2) Cold War Realities…this section will focus on what we know today about the 1980s. The declassification of documents on both sides shows that the Soviet Union was a lot tougher on paper than in reality. Think, The Bear Went Over the Mountain applied to all the likely theaters of conflict. Would the Soviets have been able to achieve a breakthrough? How would the Warsaw Pact forces handle a major slugfest with NATO?

3) Cold War Hollywood. We all have our favorite movies and books…we’re taking it one step further and writing scenarios in that vein. If you’re a fan of fictional encounters like Ice Station Zebra and Red Storm Rising, you won’t be disappointed.


All I can say is I can’t wait for November. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Been a fairly good week thus far, things are beginning to pick up again

Ok.
It's been a productive weekend, sort of. I got my entry for Ambush Alley's Raid contest done, but I think it probably needed a lot more polish IMHO. Oh well, an improved version of it will be in the "Blood Upon The Risers" project of mine. I missed the Britannia contest deadline on the Guild, but with all that was happening, making it might have been a bit much to expect.

Speaking of Ambush Alley, I picked up their new Operation Uruzgan supplement. It's nice and though I don't play Afghanistan or Iraq, it's got some good sci-fi adaptability for a little sci-fi universe I am gelling in my noggin. More on that later.

I am also trying to score a ride to the HMGS Game Day , so if anyone in blogland out there is in the DC area and going, I can split gas money or come to some arrangement? Let me know care of this blog. Blackstone, already know this month is bad for you, so I know the answer already. It's cool.

I promise more activity soon, but I just wanted to keep everyone apprised, as it has been quiet of late. Ta-Ta for now all!

Wow, I made the TMP news headlines!

I didn't think this would happen, who knows, perhaps this will get more people reading the blog...and playing Ambush Alley!

Check it all out here