The Painted Thumb

Blake has been instrumental in starting a Beyond the Gates of Antares group here in town. We have been meeting on regular Sundays at Multiverse Games. I had already purchased a basic set called "The Xilos Horizon" and a bunch of small box sets. I got them at a nice discount from a local store that was trying to clear them out. At the time, my plans were to paint them and use them as a Rogue Stars list. I attempted to play the game a few times before but those games involved some very basic lists.  A couple of Concord Strike Squads (basic infantry teams) vs. the Ghar Assault Squads (basic heavy troops, with thick armor) with no supporting drones or weapon options.  So, these games were very generic and didn't inspire me to play again. But, when Blake started a regular group, I decided to join in and give the game a fair chance. I've played a few game sessions up to this point. With each game session, we've been including new units that required us to employ new...

Joe and I have are at it again with the another huge Cold War simulation board game. Last year, we started a big game of 7th Fleet in which a WWIII type scenario escalated in the Eastern Pacific. This year, we started another game of Gulf Strike. This game focuses on Land, Air, and Sea combat in the Persian Gulf! The region is full of potential wargaming scenarios. However, these rules were written in the early 1980's so it reflects the best military analysis available from that specific time period. The scenario we chose was one that did not involve forces from Iraq. The reason for this was to keep an otherwise huge game from getting even larger. As it was, we took several hours just to arrange the counters and setup the game. The following is a brief description of the political situation and lead up to the conflict. In September of 1984, peace is concluded between Iran and Iraq and the three year war is at an end. (note: the real-life war lasted 8 years). Iran was able t...

Another year, another great MillenniumCon ! Attendance was up this year! That's great to see new players showing up. That's another testament to the success of our little convention. Typically, I'll spend a lot of time with administration of the event. This year, I wanted to participate in more games. So, I made myself scarce around the registration table. It seems like when I am close to that area, some kind of task comes up. My attention gets pulled in some direction. I got to play in Desert Scribe's Ogre Miniatures game called, the Siege of Steelville . Click on the link to see his battle report. Scribe always puts on a good Ogre game!  I was part of the team defending the city, which suffered not one, but TWO cruise missile detonations. I wish I could say how bad I feel about letting the nukes past the defense perimeter, but in the post-apocalyptic genre, there's gonna be a nuclear detonation from time to time. I also participated in the Annual Hordes o...