Historicon Procrastination

Click on the picture for a link to the Tomahawk Campaign blog.

May was a busy month for me at work, and then I ended that month with a weekend away at a roleplay gaming camp which fired up my enthusiasm for all things related to roleplaying.  My miniature soldier painting took a back seat to all my free time spent buying and reading all the latest RPG rules in PDF. But I have still been paying some attention to my favorite gaming blogs, and I was definitely excited to play a some games at Historicon coming up in July, games I’ve been watching develop on some blogs with posts updating progress about figures built and prepared for the event.

I have played a few games of Muskets & Tomahawks and really enjoy both the game and the historical setting of the French & Indian War.  In particular, I was watching a blog started by a fan of M&T  planning to run a game at Historicon.  The pictures of the painted rangers and trees in the background certainly beat my own painting of the inexpensive plastic figures in 1/72 scale, so I don’t feel so bad for not running a game of M&T myself at Historicon; others will represent the game better than I could have done myself.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated: today is the last day to pre-register for Historicon and sign up for games, and the Muskets & Tomahawks game set for Saturday night is sold out. I’ll still stop by the table and take some pictures, but I’m not going to play. But I’ve already played the system, and better to think of some interested players are signed up to try the game for the first time.

Click on the picture for a link to the MisterNizz blog on WordPress.

But I’m still always a fan of naval games, and I’m particularly interested in a big fantasy naval game put together by a fellow fan of The Uncharted Seas game system.  I’m particularly interested in this project because of the larger scale of the ships, definitely more than I managed to put together myself for a big game of BOTTLESHIPS on the lawn with empty beverage containers. I’m pleased there are still slots open for this game, and I signed up for one. I want to take pictures, of course, but I really want to see first hand how these homebrew rules for a fantasy naval game in an epic scale and designed by a fellow naval gaming fan actually play out on the table.

Last month I almost didn’t get my own naval game listed for Historicon because I missed the preliminary deadline (I was in the woods playing dungeon world RPGs instead), but I’m pleased to see so many games on the schedule and I look forward to walking around and seeing games in progress even if I can’t actually participate as a player.  Historicon was a big show and plenty of fun for me last year, and I’m looking forward to taking the extra time off to spend several days at the convention.

Game of Muskets & Tomahawks

Our first game of M&T to kick off the Fancy & Lintyan War of 1757:  Winter on the Iohi Campaign

Grover’s Corner is a simple homestead at the intersection of the Southbank River Road and the Grover’s Branch Trail which winds into the Shell Hills where a Royal silver mining mill is in operation.  Captain Barksmith, of the 13th Royal Rearguard which is tasked with protection of the mill and the trade route along Southbank Road to Habernaki Station, received report of a Fancy Marine company operating in the Shell Hills with an allied Hornbred Lintyan Warband.  The Captain dispatched Lieutenant John Harvey with a single platoon of regular redcoat light infantry from the 13th Regiment to supervise and assist the First Iohi Provincial Guard, along with their single field piece, a 3-pounder, to set up at the intersection of Grover’s Corner.

Choosing a Scale

I have a new set of historical wargaming rules, enthusiasm for the period–paints and brushes stand at the ready on my desk.  Now I need some figures!  My local games store carries a variety of board games and miniatures for roleplaying, fantasy and science-fiction games.  The closest figure I could find to 18th century French & Indian War is a Reaper miniature in fringed leather jacket and coonskin cap with a long rifle cradled in his elbow.

I remembered seeing some plastic figure packs at a local hobby store, and I went to buy several packs of Indians and Revolutionary War figures in plastic 1/72 scale produced by IMEX (and I bought several packs of wire pine trees on severe discount from the previous Christmas season).  The plastic figures are single pieces, easy to paint, and mounted on pennies (thanks to the federal government for subsidizing my hobby–there is no way I could purchase metal bases at a single cent per base, not even with cheap metal washers); they look good and stand ready to serve on the tabletop, and I’ve played several games with them already.