Five Second Flick Theater: When All Else Fails, French Indochina Version

My friend Tim likes wargaming the French Indochina War.  A couple weekends ago, he hosted a game at Fall In!

He and a friend took several pictures of his game.

And of course, I couldn't leave well-enough alone and concocted another Five Second Flick.

Five Second Flick Theater: Somewhere in French Indochina

My friend Tim has a collection of figures and vehicles based on the French Indochina War and hosted a couple of games at last year's Fall In! and Cold Wars game conventions.

I selected a couple of photos I thought would make good Five Second Flicks.

First, there's the Indochina weather...

...and then there's the "typical patrols."

Fix Bayonets 2018, What A Tanker Game Report

The second game I played during Fix Bayonets 2018 was What A Tanker, run by Damond and assisted by David.

What A Tanker, produced by Too Fat Lardies, is a tank vs. tank skirmish game.

Each player controls one tank, although running more is possible, through the use of a "dashboard."

(Image from:  Skirmish Wargaming's game review)

This is used to determine the status and possible actions your tank.  After determining the initiative order, each player will roll up to six 6-sided dice (d6) and put them in the Command Dice box when it's his turn.  (When your tank takes damage, you will roll less than  6d6, depending on the severity).  The results are:  1-Move, 2-Acquire, 3-Aim, 4-Fire, 5-Reload, and 6-Wild Dice.  The Wild Dice can be used for any other action, or saved for next turn.

Damond put together a Breakout from Normandy scenario.  The American players needed to advance across the river, while the German players needed to defend.

The American force consisted of a few M4 Sherman tanks, and a M36 tank destroyer.

The Set Up

Setting up the scenario and going over the rules.

The four German players.

Two of the American players and the Gamemaster (GM).

The Battle

A Tiger tank advances up to the bocage on the north flank.

Two Panzer IVs maneuver around a farmhouse. 

A Sturmgeschutz III ("Stug III") advances up to the bocage on the south flank.

An M4E8 ("Easy 8") advances up the road and comes under fire from the Tiger.

The Panzer IVs guard the river crossing.

My M36 advances up to the bocage on the southern flank.

My M36 and the Stug III exchange shots.

The StugIII is hard to hit, but is destroyed by my M36.

Another Sherman tank advances over the bocage but is caught in the open.

Another Stug III arrives to reinforce the Germans.

My M36 takes a long range shot at the newcomer, but to no avail.

Another Sherman tank arrives in the American center.

One Panzer IV takes up a position on the south side of the farmhouse...

...while it's companion continues to guard the bridge.

While on the west side of the river, the Tiger tank moves to another position behind bocage.

The newly arrived Stug III takes out my M36!

One of the Panzer IVs backs up behind the barn.

The Tiger and the Easy 8 begin their cat & mouse game around the woods. 

The Tiger advances.

The Easy 8 advances, just far enough to take several shots at the Tiger.

Both tanks are struck several times.  The Tiger suffered minimal damage, but the Easy 8 became hard-pressed.

One of the Panzer IVs advances around the farmhouse and attempts to take some potshots at some Sherman tanks.

Another M36 arrives to reinforce the American's stalled advance.

One Sherman takes a shot at the newly arrived Stug III

The Stug III returns fire.

My newly arrived M36 provides supporting fire against the Stug III.

The Panzer IV moves to the front of the farmhouse looking for targets.

The Tiger doubles-back towards the woods on the north flank.

The Easy 8 and Tiger at a final stand-off.

Conclusion

This was an enjoyable, yet challenging scenario.

This was my first time playing the game.  The only problem I, and us newbies had was understanding the results of the command dice die rolls.   A quick reference chart could alleviate this problem.

Otherwise, What A Tanker is fun, easy and quick to play, that requires less resources than "more serious" games.

Upcoming Game Convention: Tactical Solutions 2018

Enfilade is just one of several gaming conventions sponsored by the Northwest Historical Miniature Gaming Society.

Next weekend, Tactical Solutions will be held at the Red Lion/Centennial Inn, in Spokane, WA.

I've been wanting to attend this convention for years, but haven't been able to coordinate the time off from work or other commitments.

And unfortunately, this year's no different.

To "atone" for my non-attendance, I concocted a few e-card/webcomic advertisements for this upcoming convention.

The pictures are from the Fix Bayonets Game Day I managed to attend a couple weeks ago.

One of these years, I'll make some webcomics for Tactical Solutions from pictures I take while attending Tactical Solutions.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these.

Game Day Report: Fix Bayonets 2018

("Quarters 2" where Fix Bayonets has been held since 2010)

Introduction:

Last Saturday, I managed to have the day off--and--attend this year's Fix Bayonets game day. 

This event, hosted by Lawrence, a member of the Fort Steilacoom Historic Society has been going on for eight years now.

I attended the very first game day in 2010, but wasn't able to attend another Fix Bayonets until 2015.

At least this time around, it hasn't been a five year gap between these annual events.

Anyway, not only did I show up, but participated in two games, noted below, and will be the subjects of later posts.

For now, here's some pictures and overall impressions of the set-up and games I didn't play.

(The entrance, registration desk and the Bring & Buy)

The Set-Up & Gaming Schedule:

The entry fee was a $10 donation to the fort.  Just off to the right of the entrance, the folks from Stonehouse Miniatures set up shop.  Not only did they bring their own excellent model terrain, but they obtained about a dozen boxes of boardgames from an estate sale.


There were two gaming periods, morning and afternoon.

The morning events included:

1. Napoleonics, using the Black Powder rules, hosted by Dean.*

2. Colonial American skirmish, using Songs of Drums & Tomahawks, hosted by Kevin and David.

3. American War of Independence battle, using the Sharpe's Practice rules, hosted by Mitch.

The afternoon events were a more modern/alternate history and sci-fi fare:

1. A space battle using Star Wars Armada rules, hosted by Scott.

2. An steam-punk battle using the All Quiet on the Martian Front rules, hosted by Dale.

3. A WWII tank battle using the rules Whatatanker, hosted by Lawrence and Damon.*

(*Note:  Games I participated in.)

(The set up for the morning games)

All Quiet on the Martian Front:

(Dale setting up the Earthlings' defenses against the invading Martians)

Songs of Drums & Tomahawks:

Iroquois and Huron warbands come to blows in this game.

(Kevin & David setting up the game)

(On the warpath!)

(Kevin & Mark discussing their cunning plans)

(An Indian village--and plethora of game sheets)

Most, if not all, the figures and terrain for Songs of Drums & Tomahawks were made by Kevin, author of A Gamer's Tale blog.

American War of Independence:

(The battlefield)

Mitch used a stunning ground cloth made by the Cigarbox Battle Store, which helped win him Best Looking Game for the morning period.

(The British and Loyalists advance)

(The "rebel scum")

(Players listening to the GM)

(The British and Loyalists forming a firing line along the fence)

(An overall view of the battlefield)

Mitch, author of the West Sound Warriors blog, wrote a game report, of a similar, if not the same battle replayed during Fix Bayonets.

Star Wars Armada:

(Image by Dean.  The Rebel and Imperial fleets prepare for action)

Epilogue:

I took over 200 photos, of which 160 were usable.  Most of these were divided between Dean's Black Powder game, and Lawrence & Damon's Whatanker.

These games will be the subjects of two upcoming posts.

That is--as soon as I sift through the photos, choose the best ones and concoct a coherent story.