{"id":117,"date":"2010-11-02T23:42:41","date_gmt":"2010-11-02T23:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=117"},"modified":"2010-11-04T18:32:20","modified_gmt":"2010-11-04T18:32:20","slug":"jj-con-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=117","title":{"rendered":"JJ Con 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

For several years, my friend JJ Dziadziola has hosted a gaming weekend at his house in North Carolina. \u00a0This even was originally designed to get our old high school gaming buddies together, but it has grown to include several other folks, including Dave Wood, whom I met at West Point, and the Schlegel brothers of the HAWKs. \u00a0This year, the gaming began Friday morning with an ironclads game, using Beer and Pretzels Ironclads<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David (Ook) Dziadziola, Nick Cirocco, and JJ harassing each other about the Beer and Pretzels Ironclads game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JJ, the GM for this game, pulled a fast one on us. \u00a0I was part of the Union force that was sent to rescue a fellow Union ironclad stuck on a sandbar within range of shore batteries. \u00a0As our boats got close enough to haul the boat off the sand bar, we discovered that it had been boarded the night before. \u00a0We discovered this when it began firing at us. \u00a0Big surprise! \u00a0It really spiced up the game.<\/p>\n

Our next game of the weekend was Poland 1939, using Look, Sarge, No Charts: World War II<\/em>. \u00a0This was a play test of a portion of the Lvov extravaganza described in a previous post. \u00a0In this game, Ook ran the Polish cavalry, trying to slow the German armor and infantry. \u00a0Nick commanded the Polish armor which conducted a spoiling attack around the German right.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mark (second from right) pushes his tanks around the Polish cavalry toward the town of Zboiska<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ook’s cavalry screen managed to strip off the German infantry, leaving Mark with just armor to assault the town. \u00a0As that is a very difficult prospect in LSNC, we called the game a Polish victory at that point.<\/p>\n

\"German<\/a>
German infantry and armor push through the Polish cavalry screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third game of the night was a Blood and Swash<\/em> cowboy game. \u00a0Eric used the factions and victory conditions from an Italian card game, Bang<\/em>. \u00a0I was the marshall, and I didn’t manage to survive the fight.<\/p>\n

\"Eric's<\/a>
Eric's cowboy Blood and Swash game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday morning we played Wellington Rules<\/em>. \u00a0The scenario was based on the action around Laon in 1814. \u00a0We were part of the French rear guard retreating through a defile. \u00a0The Prussians were trying to stop us and block the road to prevent the French main body from escaping. \u00a0Everyone seemed to enjoy this game, because both sides needed to maneuver, rather than one side being on the defensive.<\/p>\n

\"Prussians<\/a>
Prussians (Mark and Kurt) prepare the attack my retreating French<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was the rear guard of the rear guard. \u00a0My division was tasked to hold the end of the road closest to the enemy. \u00a0As the enemy neared, I turned to face them. \u00a0Mark and Nick hit my two battalions in line with six battalions in column. \u00a0One of my battalions evaporated. \u00a0Fortunately, I had a third battalion ready to plug the gap. \u00a0By the end of the game, my division had been completely destroyed and my guns overrun and captured. \u00a0It was a lot of fun, but the end was ugly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The French rear guard prepares for the Prussian onslaught<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final game on Saturday was another play test of Kurt’s Stones River LSNC extravaganza. \u00a0We had planned for this game to only last four hours. \u00a0We started at about 1300. \u00a0At 2100 I realized that we hadn’t stopped for dinner. \u00a0It was gratifying to note that all the players were busy and engaged in the game until the end. \u00a0We rarely play any games, let alone LSNC, for that many hours. \u00a0In fact, I can’t remember when I played the same game so long in many, many years.<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/a>
Several echelons of Yanks at Stones River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JJ Con was the weekend before Halloween. \u00a0JJ’s wife, who puts up with the annual gamer invasion of her house, went to a Halloween party, dressed as a pirate, to escape the madness in JJ’s gaming room.<\/p>\n

\"JJ<\/a>
JJ and his lovely (pirate) bride, Karen, who graciously puts up with a house full of gamers every year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the miniatures games, we also played a few games of a card game, called Mag Blast. \u00a0These are short, light games that we could play at the end of a hard day of gaming to unwind. \u00a0If you haven’t played Mag Blast, you are missing a fun game. \u00a0One of the gimmicks is that when you play an attack on an enemy ship, you have to make sound effects or the shot is a miss. \u00a0Nick never seemed to quite get the hang of the sound effects, even with Dave whispering in his ear.<\/p>\n

I think a good time was had by all, and I am looking forward to JJ Con 2011.<\/p>\n