Monday, February 9, 2009

Little Wars 2009 After Action Report

We spent the weekend at the Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire, IL to attend Little Wars. Let me start by saying that this property continues to disappoint. It just doesn't seem to be a good value, we will likely stay at the Courtyard next door in 2010.

The convention was inside the hotel for the first time since being in this location. I liked it much better than in the tennis club. I think attendance was down, it just didn't feel like the usual number of people. Of course it is harder to judge with the new facility. The dealer area was nice but again I am sure there were fewer booths than I remember from years past. I just couldn't find things exciting enough to spend my money on (but I persevered and was able to empty my pockets and fill the trunk).

I only played in two games over the weekend. Friday night I played in a 50's era alien attack. I played the little green men. Here are a few photos I took with my phone.
The initial invasion and my ally to my left.
All is quiet at the drive-in and my ally to my right encounters the civil defense.



A helpless victim and Mars needs women.




The, ahem, Inseminator and and a failure to launch.





Reinforcements arrive (the drive-in screen is a portable DVD player built into the scenery).
Ultimately we all failed. The National Guard kept shooting all the women before we could capture them. Martian high command decided to blast the town after our failure. Though, I'm sure the Army would have nuked it to stop our taking over the Earth if we had been more successful.

Saturday morning I took command of His Majesty's forces in North America as General Howe in an American Revolution Battle of Brandywine what if? scenario. Though most of the forces under my direct command took quite a beating my overall plan succeeded and the British earned a well deserved victory. The commanders on my left and center flanks did very well and even followed my orders when they weren't convinced of the plan. Eventually they shattered the American center and sent Washington's army packing. We won't discuss what happened on the right (where I and another commander took charge of the dice) other than to say that the Americans fought well. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the battle. The guys from the Last Square always put on an exciting and visually appealing games and this was no exception.

I really didn't buy as much as I usually do at this convention. I am most excited at having bought The Uncharted Seas and an Orc Fleet. Jeff already has it and an Imperial fleet and he picked up the Elven Fleet. You can see some of the ships at his blog Jack of All Games. I hope to finish my Orc fleet before he finish his second ship (yes that is a challenge). Picked up a couple of resin trucks from Ramshackle Games. Nice kits with a lot of extra parts, highly recommended. I really enjoy Battlelore and the way it plays, so on an impulse I picked up Commands and Colors Ancients. It focuses on the Punic Wars and I hope Jeff will give it a try with me.



Overall I enjoyed the convention though I wish I played at least one more game. Of course this is a can't miss event for me. There is no question if I'll be back next year. One of these times I should run a VSF game.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alright Dan, you're on! Let's make this a bit more interesting, however. To give me a fighting chance, I challenge you to do something you wouldn't normally do to your ships. Doesn't have to be extravagant, just something like painting a orky glyph on your battleships mainsail (assuming you weren't planning on that already) or some other level of detail.
For those of you reading this besides Dan, I'm not saying I'm a better painter than Dan. He can arguably out paint me by popping out 10-20 good tabletop quality guys in the time it takes me to paint one that I'd be happy with displaying. I blame years of reading White Dwarf for making me think that every damn mini has to be 'display case quality'.
Oh and by the way Dan, better get hopping. I started on my frigates tonight. All 6 at once. ;)

Dan said...

Jeff is a much better painter. I cannot paint to the level that Jeff can. I believe quantity has a quality all of its own.