New Games for the New Year - Naval Warfare?

Hi, 

I just wanted to share what is hitting my gaming table lately. A weird collection of games and scales, plus some new Euro style games. I've never been into Naval games (no terrain), but because I bought a game called Fighters of the Pacific, I wanted to add additional ships to the game at 1/2400 scale to match the small number of ships that come with the game. Of course, I can't just add a few ships!

Naval Thunder - Savo Island Game

Now, my local gaming friend, Daryl, decides to run a Savo Island scenario using the Naval Thunder rules at Cape Fear Collectables game store! He wasn't using miniatures, but rather 2D top-down miniatures that match the counters from the Fighters of the Pacific game. Alarm bells go off and I now know where I can get additional ships for Fighters of the Pacific! 

Daryl is using Top Side Miniatures. 

A photo of two of the ones I purchased. I bought the hard copy version that comes on beautiful vinyl paper with a peel off backing. I just stuck mine to thick black Presentation board that you can get at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

You may notice that the first picture has Italian ships! I ended up buying the two Battle Sets: Pacific and Mediterranean. There is a Kickstarter for Fighters of Europe and I hope to add ships into that product when it arrives.

The Battle of Savo Island

Naval Thunder Rules

Daryl's summary of the battle:

"Savo Island proceeded today at CFC. The Japanese were played by Daryl as Flag Commander with Michael and Eric. The US were played by Harrison as Flag  Commander with Bill and Rob. The Japanese enjoyed early success sinking the Chicago on turn 2 while suffering little damage. The fates turned however when the Vincennes, Quincy ,and Astoria inflicted a heavy toll on the lead Japanese cruisers. The fight of the day goes to Rob's Bagley class DDs  that, although losing 5 of the 6, sunk 2CL and 1 CA with precision torpedo strikes. The night action belonged to the Allied forces. A well earned victory!"

Post Analysis

"OK, a little research into the battle and the rules and the flaw in the way the scenario was written becomes obvious. The exhaustion rules should be replaced with hidden rules.  This would require the Allied ships to spot the Japanese ships before they could engage them.  The Japanese historically were able to close on all of the Allied ships, in two separate engagements, and fire torpedoes before the Allies were even aware of them. The fire from the first fight did not alert the second group of Allied ships. In fact, the setup for the allied ships was incorrect. They were in patrol line formation, not attack fronts, and of the DDs only 2 ever engaged and they fired one torpedo spread and disengaged.  A 3rd DD, the Jarvis, was so badly damaged it was on its' way to get repairs and was torpedoed the following day and sunk with all hands.  The 2 picket DDs never were involved.

Suffice to say I've learned my lesson on trusting scenario setups.  I will do my own research from here on."

I only took a few photos and only one is worth showing:

Spanish Armada

So, what the heck am I doing? I saw a nice Armada miniatures game at Historicon with simple rules and the players seemed to be having fun. I then remembered that Peter Dennis, Paper Boys fame, had drawn out the entire Spanish and English fleets for this period of time. So, with a $10 purchase at Siege of Augusta I picked up the Spanish Armada book. Just need to cut and glue and I will have two entire fleets to recreate some of the action of that period of time. Why not?!?! Hahahaha.

Links to WoFun, Hellion, and Peter Dennis Site

Bloodstones

Ok, this game is gorgeous. The components are just amazing. I've played solo and it was good fun, but can't wait to play with my group. It is a very lightweight wargame, which I may be able to get the wife to even play. Innovative and unusual game. Here is a review from a more experienced player which coves all aspects of the game.

Review

BGG Link

Below are three of the six factions included in the game. Horse Lords, Corsairs, and Dragon Lords.

Maps are hand-drawn and are made of psuedo-silk.

Other Euros

Every Sunday night my wife and I get together with Bill and Linda to play Euro games. Here some of the new ones we have purchased and\or started playing already

I've heard tons of great reviews on Obsession and fits into my wife's obsession with Downton Abbey! I can't wait to break this one out. BGG Link.

Next, I picked up this massive Castles of Burgundy Special Edition game at Siege of Augusta convention. This has been on my purchase list for a long time and just fell into my lap at the convention. BGG Link. 

Lastly, is Ark Nova which is HIGHLY rated and we started playing this about two weeks ago. I give it an A so far. We have really enjoyed it and has emmence replayability.  BGG Link.

Cheers! That is all for now!

Eric

PS - Look for a Sikh War battle in 15mm in February! Kudos if you read this far!!!

Siege of Augusta XXXIII - Convention Report - Jan 2024

Main Site: Siege of Augusta XXXIII | Siege of Augusta (siege-of-augusta.org)

Event Listing Page: Events | Siege of Augusta (siege-of-augusta.org)

Another Great Time at Siege of Augusta (Georgia)

Six of my wargaming buddies in the Wilmington\Southport, NC area jumped in two cars and drove for about 5 hours to get to this little gem of a convention. They announced record breaking attendance for the weekend which is fantastic news. Tons of games, tournaments, flea market and dealers here at the show in Augusta, GA. I love going to this convention and comes right when the winter doldrums are kicking in!

As usual, click on the photo for a larger version.

Below, Jerry Frazee is running his first edition of War of the World (All Quiet on the Martin Front) set of rules and miniatures. Jerry always puts on a spectacular game and his painting skills are legendary! 

Martian tripod just turned into molten lava! 

American armor is advancing to try to save the civilians that were sprung free by special operations teams!

Oh no! Tripod moving in on the flank.

These ships below are just gorgeous. I think this is Distopian Wars, but can't remember.

Friday night I got into a Boer 1881 battle pitting the British vs. Boers. I was one of the Boer Kommando commands. This game was four Kommando groups versus 4 British columns. I had a lot of fun and we used simple THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING rules from Osprey. The rules didn't have enough chrome in them for my tastes, but great for a convention. 

Below is the British column closer to me.

All figures are 20mm and I love the characters like the stretcher teams. 

Heliograph station!

Overview of all four columns

Field ambulance

One of the random locations where my Boer Kommando units could arrive.

Me, my Boer Kommander. :-) 

My friend Rich and Michael put on a pretty 1859 game of Fire & Fury with Austrians vs Italians. I look forward to playing this game in the coming weeks. The convention game went well per reports.

This post doesn't really cover all the things that happened or were played at the convention, but I did love the look of this table and miniatures.

In the Dealer area someone was selling buildings for the new Wars of Ozz miniatures from Old Glory. Several Ozz games were run at this convention.

I'm a sucker for terrain add-ons and these pumpkin patches look great!

Some of the Wars of Ozz figures painted ready for battle.

DEAD RUN! This is one of the must fun Zombie games I have played. I got to reuse my character from last year. Hope he survives so I can use him in 2025!

Well, that is all for now. It was a great convention and so nice to see friends from all over the Southeast as they poured into this venue to have a great weekend of fun!