Borderwars 2023.5

Borderwars was held on November 10-12, this was the second time this year due to it transitioning from spring to fall. Overall, the attendance was decent, and we had some great vendors that seemed to sell a lot. I saw some pretty large and fantastic deals go down, Including some for me. One group from Oklahoma probably had a pretty tight ride home after all their purchases. Anyway lets get on the the games.

Friday night is usually an after work crowd, and this time was no different. I thought proportionately Friday was busier than it should be, but that is a good thing. Our Friday showcase game was an Oz Wars setting with Pete Panzeri putting on the game with his Wicked Witch rules.

The guys playing seemed to enjoy it, it is quite colorful!

We also had some Battletech, and a Mars Spaceship race, kind of a Space 1889 vibe.

On the historical side we had the Battle of Perryville in 28mm that drew a crowd, I think the rules were 2 Hour Wargames

 And we also had the Great Northfield Raid, It was played using the Ruthless rules, which are quite similar to Fistful of Lead. I got to play in it, and had a great time, The Younger James gang had a more successful time of it. Mostly because my townsfolk could hit the broad side of a barn.  

The gang did leave one of the non family members hanging, but, all's fair in bank robbin!

Saturday dawned  and so did another day of gaming! George Knapp had an area movement game of Lexington and Concord that he ran a couple times. Looked like a lot of fun.

We also had a three table game of Poland 1939 using the KISS Rommel rules.

In the other room, Jaye Wiley, of Wiley Games ran a really cool Viking raid game using his FFL Might and Melee rules. That one drew a nice crowd.

The afternoon featured a very nice looking modern table using the Battlegroup NORTHAG rules. That one drew a big crown, and it was a very well done table.

Another well done table was the Byrams Ford table. Byrams Ford was fought over on 2 consecutive days, the first day Price's cavalry forcing their way across the day before the Battle of Westport, the second time was Pleasanton forcing his way across during the Battle of Westport. A beautiful table, the game using Johnny Reb 3 rules. The Union managed to pull back successfully after my lead cavalry regiment routed. Proving I can roll poorly using other peoples dice as well.

The MOKAN SAGA guys came out and ran a SAGA demo/learn to play. 

Saturday night we had a modern tank skirmish sorry no pics, I was busy setting up and running my Battle of Stones River  for Fire and Fury Brigade. I used first edition just because it is much simpler in a convention type setting. Most people had no trouble navigating it after a few rounds.

This is the third time I have run this, and each side had won once. If you have played this, you know that the Confederate surprise attack is absolutely crucial. Well after two rounds of combat over there the Confederates were soundly defeated and over to the defensive. 

On a little side note, I first used these boards at an HMGS-PSW con probably around 30 years ago at the Saddleback Inn. There the Confederates won a resounding victory. I guess things had to balance out. I picked these boards up from my mothers house in California during my 2 week vacation at the beginning of October. My initial thought was to get my already completed boards for Fair Oaks, however, I could not fit them into the car with some of the other items I was picking up. The Stones River boards were just painted, and needed a lot of work to get them to the quality I wanted. I had almost a month, but a cold snap prevented me from working on them for a week. So it was a crunch to get them ready on time. I have a few hills to make and glue onto the board, but they turned out ok anyway. 

Sunday was light. There was a fun modern infantry combat game going on. Sorry, again no pics, I was busy cleaning up my game from the night before.

And what is a convention post without a loot report. Like I needed anymore projects, However, I had been eyeing the Song of Ice and Fire Stark v Lannister set for a few months now, and I got a hella deal on it so I took the plunge, along with all the other stuff that had come with the initial Kicjkstarter.

Between this and a few other purchases I think I broke my painting pledge big time. Guess I'll have to work harder.

That is it for this time. Between my vacation, and the con I had little time to do much else. I will have a post on my vacation, with some cool historical stuff, and of course a ton of painted minis in the coming weeks. Thanks for taking a look, and Happy Thanksgiving to you folks in the US.