Star Fleet Battles Campaign - Strategic Turn 8

A couple of weeks ago, we got together and finally completed strategic turn 8 in our Star Fleet Battles campaign.  Despite the passing of many months, relatively little happened during this turn.

There was a lot of Klingon and Lyran movement, though only a single battle at the Kzinti battle station in hex 0701, which yielded little surprise.  A 14 ship Lyran task force featuring  a battle tug, battlecruiser,  four heavy cruisers and their escorts managed to destroy an undefended Kzinti station without any losses.

Lyran space is to the left, Klingon to the south.  Kzinti fleets 

are represented by the white markers, Lyran by yellow, and Klingon 

by black.  The Kzinti have lost two planets and two battle stations 

to the Klingons thus far.

The battle on the tactical map, with markers, rather than miniatures, unfortunately.

The Kzinti battle-station is represented by the large marker, surrounded 

by a minefield.  The attacking Lyrans are in the foreground.  

The Lyrans took three turns to destroy the bae's fighters and 

pound it to death with disruptors and phasers.

Otherwise, the Klingons advanced further into Kzinti space, and moved into Hydran space.  The Hydrans and Kzintis in Lyran space continued to move toward a rendezvous, and Lyran forces continue to consolidate for a big event in hex 0710.

Hydran space is the blue toward the bottom, Lyran to the left, 

Klingon to the right.  the green markers are the Hydrans, 

which actually out-number and out-gun the Lyrans. 

The Kzinti are clearly in trouble as all of Kzinti space is probably defended by fewer than a dozen ships at this point.

Similarly, the Lyrans look to have a problem in the southern portion of their territory, and they can almost match numbers, but not nearly the size of the Hydran ships.  Some very curious situations could develop between the Lyrans and Klingons, depending on how the battle at Hex 0710 turn out.

6mm Cold War Models from Heroics & Ros (7-15-19)

My latest batch of Cold War era 6mm models from H&R include the following:

This is actually from their WWII US line, but was used well into the Cold War by a number of nations, the US-29 M1A2 155mm towed Howitzer.  This is a nice little two piece casting.

Another WWII leftover is the US 50 GMC 2.5 ton Truck, Soft Cab.  Again, this truck in one form or another served a number of nations into the early portion of the Cold War.  Mine will serve the US, and stand in for the hard cab version used by the French.  

US-150 is the Honest John artillery rocket.  The model is distinctive enough, but has the truck has a particularly "flattened' appearance.  The casting looks rougher in the photo than in person, as the flash picked up the "grain" which is not actually as obvious seen in person.

SM 107 BTS-M Heavy Amphibian, a nicely detailed model of this huge vehicle.

SM 36 FROG 7 rocket, another nice model.

SM 83  The T55 IMR engineering vehicle.  I was a little underwhelmed by this model as the miniature seems much less busy and cluttered than the actual vehicle.

I got a little ahead of myself and had started priming them, when I realized that I hadn't taken photos yet.  So some of the castings have the start of the coat of grey primer on them.

I should have a Shapeways order in  later this week, and am waiting on one from Scotia as well,so hope to share some more pics soon.

Updated My Book Sale Page

I've updated my "books for sale " page, removing a couple,  dropping some prices,  and adding a bunch of titles.  The list currently includes mostly historical with a few sci-fi and fantasy titles.  Please take a look if you like old school print on paper books, click on:

BOOK SALE

Where Have All the Conventions Gone?

So, things are changing a little in my life, and I might start having more opportunity to go to gaming conventions on weekends.  Earlier today, I decided to do a little snooping around on the net, chasing down various convention calendars and whatnot, and was surprised to find how much things have changed.

Years ago, I went to as many as 20 conventions per year, 12 per year was average for a few years.  Most of these were in Ohio, but a few were out of state.  Currently, I'm more interested in the in state conventions.

Of the old conventions,  a few used to be held at large universities, a couple more at high schools, a couple more at National Guard armories.  Others were in various halls usually run by small gaming clubs.  I was quite surprised to find that, sadly, none of these exist anymore. Nor was there much in the way of newer, similar type conventions within a couple of hours of driving distance.

I was also surprised to find a number of conventions identifying themselves as games conventions, but not welcoming miniatures games, or simply not featuring any.  In one case, I found a con that used to welcome miniatures, that now pointedly does not.

I also found a number of one day events sponsored by clubs or groups, sort of mini-conventions or game-days, but mostly they seem to be intended for members only from what I can tell. 

There were a few that I did find: 

CincyCon (not one of my "old conventions") looks to be a pretty good convention, but comes at a terrible time of year for me.  Still, it looks to be my only shot at a "weekend of gaming".

Origins, is in my back yard, but to be honest, during my last couple of visits, the time invested to park and get into the con (even when I was pre-registered) was greater than what I spent at the con.  The miniatures gaming was a bit of a letdown for such a huge event.  It was the first convention that I had been to, where players in a tournament had figures that hadn't been assembled, involved in the game.  Unpainted torsos glued to a stand, with little piles of arms and weapons setting next to them.  Anyway, it just cost too much in time and money for the return.

HMGS- Great Lakes has a couple of good cons, Advance the Colors and Drums Along the Rapids, but I noticed that they are Friday/Saturdays cons now, having dropped Sundays from the schedule.  A little of a letdown, but still consideration for day trips on a Saturday. They also are affiliated with two other one days events, which also will be consideration for days trips.

I don't doubt that I've missed some, but all things considered, I'm a little let down that the gaming scene has changed so much over the years.  I guess it is probably due to people like me, who for various reasons stopped supporting the little cons for so long. 

I'm familiar with a number of HMGS conventions out of state, as well as a few other big or long running events, but all involve 8 hour drives or more, each way, so don't fit into a two day weekend real well.

I'll have to continue my search, but I'm not holding out much hope for a couple of summer weekends immersed in miniatures games at this point.