Platoon Forward! Konflikt 47 Co-op Campaign

Ridolfo and I look to give Platoon Forward! a go as we begin a co-op campaign of Warlord Games' Konflikt 47. Platoon Forward!, published by Too Fat Lardies, is not a ruleset, but a dynamic campaign system that can used in conjunction with any of your existing rulesets. It seems the intended target is the solo gamer, however, it can be used opposed multiplayer games (and there is a paragraph or two covering it).


Since Steven and I have found co-op to be enjoyable in a narrative sense (you can see some of this in posts about our Skirmish Sangin co-op campaign), we will be using this system to enhance our co-op experience. We will both act as NCOs leading a squad in a US Armored Rifle Platoon. Our squad will be an NCO plus 9 others. We'll each also have access to bazooka teams (c/o platoon list in Chain of Command).


We diced off for our characters and our first mission: an ambush! We will lie and wait for the German convoy, along with "unlikely" support from an AFV of our choice as a result of rolling a 1 on a d10. The enemy force uses blinds and we will roll off to see what is headed our way after we set up.



The first campaign game went fairly well... if you weren't in Ridolfo's squad

The enemy German convoy

Rolling for blinds went fairly well and even made sense... we fudged the Hanomag capacity a bit to fit everyone on the enemy side. The German squads were based on Heer infantry out of the CoC book.

View from the advancing Germans side

Setup

The "careful" Sgt Ridolfo was maybe a little too aggressive in his deployment. The first Hanomag rolled down the road and my bazooka team popped out of ambush to fire... and set it ablaze. The M10 then fired but missed. The second half track, seeing the lead truck hit, swerved into the field. Ridolfo's squad was blocking his bazooka team's LoF and had to spend next turn moving out of the way. The Hanomag tried to unload, but everyone on board failed morale, so the machine gunner up top opened fire. The inexperienced squad took some casualties and soaked up pins throughout the turns. They eventually hit the deck and spent the latter turns holding ground.

The M10 awaits in ambush

The M10 moved up and wiped out the squad that had bailed from the knocked out 251 (Ridolfo's bazooka team's doing before their ultimate demise). That was about all it did before being scared off by the German MG42.

Lead Hanomag put the fire out - everyone severely pinned

My bazooka team took a few more shots and missed - including a hit that needed all but a '1' to damage and got a '1'. My squad was a bit out of range and did not have LoS to the German squad that was harassing Steven's squad. They did eliminate the German Platoon Leader before ultimately having to break off when the German relief was set to arrive (after Turn 5).

Ridolfo's bazooka team finished off the lead Hanomag

Overall, a successful mission, but we suffered heavy losses. We tried to get Ridolfo up to regular through a "Freeform Event", but to no avail. Our "Fixed" Post Game Event lead to reinforcements which was good given the amount of casualties.

Lead Hanomag destroyed. Second one closes in on Ridolfo.

Heer squad disembarks and puts a hurting on Ridolfo's squad.

We decide to bug out after Turn 5 as we have taken heavy casualties. The Ambush was a costly success.

Our next mission will be a Patrol in No-Man's Land. Patrol seems to be a pretty interesting scenario where we start in one grid and actually have to sweep the rest of the grids, returning back to our starting point. Meanwhile two German blinds will randomly appear and we'll then determine which is real and which is nothing.

Bolt Action: Germans in the Far East

After much discussion about playing Bolt Action again, Steven and I finally coordinated our schedules to get a game in. I wanted to keep it small and relatively simple to try to ease back in and to get more of a tactical, squad on squad level of action since we (myself especially) have been playing a lot more skirmish type games of late. We played with a little more than 500 points each. We also used the Bolt Action Alliance rules. MMGs are so much nicer with 6 shots. If you haven't tried it yet, do so next game.

The scenario ended up being Top Secret which I think worked well with setting up a back story, but it's still Top Secret (the FAQ helps it a bit). In this case, we'll say these were German Kriegsmarine who arrived by U-boat to obtain information on a Japanese super weapon. US Intelligence caught wind of this rendezvous and sent in the Marines.

The USMC took advantage of their movement and fire ability to gain early ground while also putting out some pins. The German bike and MMG (6 and 7 shots, respectively) started dishing out pins of their own. At the start of Turn 3, two USMC squads (one an engineer squad w/FT) were within a few inches of the objective, but had a couple pins each. The initial die pull would be crucial as the engineer flamethrower was within striking distance of the German squad in the rubbled building. The USMC die is drawn, but the unit fails its Morale Test. The second squad eventually lost its NCO and picked up another pin. They weren't moving either. So finally he 2nd Lt decides to lead the way and charges out onto the objective, killing a German in the process. However, the German Leutnant has yet to go and does a move and fire of his own and kills the 2nd Lt... Corpsman!... But he's out of range.

From here it's a lot of exchanging pins and casualties. The Corpsman did save a few which was an added bonus. However, where he shined was on Turn 5. The German squad  had the objective and was within running distance of the board edge. They had one pin on them. Last activation of the turn is the Corpsman. I initially advance him to be between my two squads when Steven stops me and says you need to run him up to shoot next turn. But it's the Corpsman, I say. Well he has a pistol doesn't he, he asks. Well, sure, but... Back and forth a bit and finally I play along. The Corpsman moves up. Turn 6. USMC die is pulled. Corpsman activates and fires at the squad with the objective. He lands a hit at point blank range. 2 pins now. German die is pulled. The German unit fails its Order Test by 1. It's a Draw. Corpsman saves the day!

He did get shot later that turn by a sniper. The Medal of Honor ceremony will be held Friday.

Mid Year Review

Here we are in early August; seven months now behind us in 2015. I was instant messaging a fellow gamer the other day and we were joking about our backlog of miniatures to assemble/paint/get to the table. It made me think back to the end of 2014, just before New Year's, when I had compiled a list somewhere of my top 10 things to do in 2015. For the life of ke, I couldn't remember where I had placed this list electronically.

 

Well, I managed to find said list, buried in a comment on Facebook in our local historical gaming group. I don't recall if this was meant to be an ordered top 10, or just a list of 10. In any case, here it is... or was:

 

If I had to put my huge laundry list of unfinished projects/things I'd like to do in 2015 into a list of 10, I imagine it would look something like this:

1. 15mm Polish 1st Armored

2. Play Battlegroup

3. Blitzkrieg Germans (for Historicon BA tournament)

4. Attend Historicon

5. Warsaw Rising figures (28mm)

6. Attend more local events; in paricular Catawba Military Gaming Society events

7. At least assemble the moderns to get some walk throughs done on some of the available rulesets

8. Japanese and/or USMC (28mm)

9. Pacific terrain

10. Campaign something - BA, CoC, Battlegroup, something. PTO, Normandy, Blitzkrieg,  something.

 

Seven months later, here is my situation report:

1. I did start working on #1. I have a handful of Sherman Vs, a Firefly, a Crusader II AA, a Sherman ARV recovery vehicle, three Bren Carriers, and 30 infantry - all in various stages of completion.
2. I did get to play two games of BattleGroup at Historicon. I would like to play some more, but part of that relies on making more progress on #1. We do have a BattleGroup Kursk game planned, which of course does not require any of my Brits modeled as Polish.
3. The Blitzkrieg Germans aren't moving lightning fast off the hobby table. I did get the vehicles assembled and even used them in a local game, but I never did get them ready in time for Historicon. In hindsight, I may have faired a little better in the tournament if I had.
4. I was fortunate to attend Historicon for the second year in a row. I'm hoping that trend continues.
5. I've really been slacking on #5. It remains high on my want list; however, finding time with all of the others things has been hard. A part of the lack of motivation may also come from the lack of Bolt Action games I've played this year. I imagine they will go hand in hand - if I get the partisans further along, I would be more likely to get in a game of BA.
6. I'm 0 for 7 on this one as I've not attended a single monthly meet up.
7. #7 is going well and there has been a strong push on the Skirmish Sangin front of late. Even earlier in the year, I managed to finish up what insurgents I have and we played some Flying Lead, Hearts & Minds.
8. I did at least get most of my USMC done for #8. There are still a few vehicles left to do and possibly some more plastic figures, but I did compile a list and completed the modeling, painting and basing for it. The Japanese on the other hand... Only a few plastic figures have been assembled, and even then, I don't know to what level of completeness.
9. I have started on #9, but haven't followed through yet to have a complete (or even a partial) game board.
10. Sad to report that I have not participated in any campaign games to date. There are some campaign rules in Skirmish Sangin's Despatches No. 1, so perhaps that will see the light of day.

So there you have it. The list of goals set out at the start of the year and where I stand to date. If you find yourself struggling to complete your own laundry list of tasks, I highly recommend making a list. I had not gone back to it at all in those seven months, but as you can see, just writing something down can have a lasting effect and may help you stay the course.

 

 

Lessons Learned: First Tournament since Historicon

My first trip to Historicon (2014) also lead to my first two major tournaments - both 1,000 point Bolt Action tournaments. The list I put together for both tournaments was a project I was working on for a local Stalingrad multiplayer game. It included a heavy hitter (StuG 33b) which was also a heavy point sink. In a 3v3 matchup, that's not such a big deal. In a 1v1 tournament match, sinking over 30% of your list into one element can be hit or miss. Unfortunately there was a lot of misses at HCON... Except when being shot at. The mobile heavy howitzer was an AP shell magnet and was knocked out in the first couple turns in several of the matches. In the matches where she did last, she rarely made up her point value in enemy kills. Of course, it just as easily could have gone the other way as it did in my local matches leading up to HCON where the massive 3d6 HE rounds eliminated several large units in one swing.

Almost immediately after HCON 2014... Scratch that... While sitting around after Saturday's tournament at HCON, I was already listing for next year's tournaments. I was considering an early war Blitzkrieg list with more order dice and lots of bullets (i.e., MMGs). One die to do lots of damage didn't work out so well, so how about many dice to do a little? Perhaps playing the percentages would serve better than playing the 3d6 lottery.

So I'm trading in the StuG 33b for a Rad 6 and two Panzer Is. With the points leftover and some other list modifications, I'm planning on adding two leFH 18 10.5cm medium howitzers. The nice thing here is they can still dish out a respectable 2d6 HE and unlike their sIG 33 heavy howitzer brethren, can be moved around without the need of a prime mover.

Unfortunately, for my tournament Sunday, I did not have either 10.5cm ready and instead shuffled things around to get two Forward Artillery Observers - which given the scale of the game is probably more realistic than indirect fire from a 10.5cm howitzer firing from and landing on the sane table anyway.

Game 1: Hold Until Relieved

My first opponent was fielding a Japanese list. Given the infantry centric nature of the Japanese and the large quantity of rounds I'd be sending down range, this was probably the best matchup I could hope for in my first game.

I was thinking I'd rather attack than defend, but my opponent won the dice off and chose to be the attacker. I stuck my 7 man, all SMG Pionier squad and 9 man Regular Rifle squad in the building/ruins surrounding the objective. My forward observers would have to be in the First Wave to utilize their Forward Deploy rule, so I chose them, my pair of Pz Is, and the 6-Rad to form my First Wave. The truck, loaded with the two 2nd Lts and two 5-man fire teams (one a Pionier squad with 4 SMGs and a flamethrower and the other a Regular LMG squad with 3 rifles, an SMG, and an LMG) and the Motorbike would form my Reserves.

Since most of his infantry started on board right away, I had quite a few targets to sight my off board artillery on. He had his three suicide bombers on my side along with a small squad and an MMG team (which was setup in Ambush). After getting the FAO Fire orders out of the way, I brought the first Pz I on. It Advanced and fired at the MMG team taking out one crew. The Recce capable 6-Rad moved up close to the lone suicide bomber toward the center of my long table edge. Using its light auto cannon, it shredded the AT bomber, leaving the center of the table free to roam. The second Pz I moved up that center path and fired some long range rounds into a large squad advancing on the Objective.

At the start of Turn 2, both of my artillery strikes hit, including one 6 which wiped out the remaining 11 Vets from that large 13 man squad. A great start indeed. The remaining arty rolls dished out several pins, but that wouldn't matter much on the other large squad as it just kept using its Banzai ability and running toward my squads holding the objective. That is a nasty National Rule by the way!

The game continued in a similar fashion - the massive amount of flying lead would eventually dwindle down the Japanese fighters and lead to a German victory.

Game 2: Demolition

Game 2 saw Germans face off against Germans. Both players were 1-0 and with a small pool of players, we mutually decided this game would settle our fate: Win, Lose, or Draw.

This opponent had two large Pionier squads, each loaded up in their own Hanomag; with AT support in the form of a Hetzer. Similar to last game, I knew I would not have a highly effective way to deal with the armor, but the thin sides Hetzer did present a means, albeit never the opportunity to possibly knock him out. 

Since this scenario has a First Wave and units held in Reserve, I chose not to fire my FAOs on the first turn; waiting instead for the Hetzer to appear. My opponent made a bold and daring dash with his Hanomag - running it across the table and within striking distance of my marker. This through me off my game a bit as now I had to deal with an immediate threat that MMGs could not destroy. They did a fine job of applying pins, but if I wanted to remove the threat, I would have to deploy my truck loaded with my flamethrowing Pioniers - something I had hoped to deliver in the vicinity of his marker; not mine. I also placed the nearby Pz I into Ambush hoping to spray the Pioniers with lead as they disembarked... However, my flamethrower destroyed the 251/1, forcing his Pioniers to take some hits, but go down rather than move. A bit of a wasted turn for the Pz I.

The other Pz I was on my right moving up toward my opponent's marker, but was KO'd by the Hetzer. My two FAOs were largely ineffective this game, one coming on board on its first try and the other delaying for a turn and then rolled to come on. In both cases, no more than 1 or 2 pins resulted. I made progress up the right side with my SMG squad, 6-Rad, and motorcycle; but his second Hanomag brought on his other flamethrower squad and wiped out my Pioniers just inches from the marker.

I loaded up the truck in a last ditch effort to get men on the objective quickly, but the order die drawn after the truck moved was his and his Hetzer destroyed the truck and effectively everyone on board. The remaining Pz I darted toward the objective and eliminated his Regular squad guarding it. The motorbike made a running dash but came up short when time was called. A Draw!

The Results

Not a bad outcome for the new list, 1-0-1. The FAOs can bring some Pins and some pain, but it left me wondering if getting a shot each turn (or 4-5 even per game) out of two medium howitzers would be better. That was the original plan after all. So, I know what to do... Get assembling! We'll see how the intended Blitzkrieg list fares next time.

Itinerant Hobbyist: 10 Games Challenge

Check out Itinerant Hobbyist: 10 Games Challenge

What 10 Games (or Game Series) would YOU focus on?


Here was my response:


If I had to focus on 10 games (or 10 game series), it would likely look something like this (in no particular order):

Miniatures:
Bolt Action - My first major dive into the miniatures scene... and man has it been a dive off of the DEEP end!! It's not a great simulation, but it is fun and easy for folks from other genres to come in and play. That has helped grow the community.

Chain of Command - This is where I'd like spend some more time. The beauty part of miniatures, just buy the rule set and go (already have minis from BA). This one focuses more on the doctrine of the time. It feels more historical than BA and leadership/command plays a much bigger part.

(TBD) Modern rule set (playing Force on Force at Historicon) - I've heard horrors of the rule book for this one, but seems once you get into it it's an enjoyable Skirmish level system. It also has the benefit of covering multiple theaters. Building on a theme here... Focus on one core system to cover multiple theaters.

Smoke on the Water (ACW Ironclad rule set) - This was truly my first miniature purchase. I bought a couple ironclads, painted them up and found this rule set for free! Having played and enjoyed the board game Wooden Ships & Iron Men, there were some additional features here that really stood out - like rate of fire... bigger guns take longer to load.

Dead Man's Hand - I bought the rules and some minis, but have only gotten through a few pages and primer. It intrigues me, but haven't had time to focus on it just yet.

Board Games:
LNL "Heroes" Tactical Series (to include WWII, Day of Heroes, Ring of Heroes, etc.) - Once you get through the rules, there's a really good tactical game with some chrome and even better covers a wide range of theaters. To your point, once you focus on the series and grasp the core rules, you'll have hours of tactical goodness.

Combat Commander Series - Almost dropped this one since LNL covers a similar level of game play but is broader (Vietnam, Falklands, etc). However, every time I play it, I'm reminded how much FUN it is. The card play, while random and frustrating to some, is what differentiates this from the other and makes for some good chaotic fun.

No Retreat Series - Fairly accessible Operation level game series. Eastern Front to N. Africa are different enough that you need to read through the rules for each, but most of the core rules and counter markings carry over.

Labyrinth: The War on Terror - I've only played it once so far, but really enjoyed getting into it. It also plays along with my recent interest in moderns.

Thunder Alley - I'm going to throw this one up here for now... Our group has played this one a couple times now on Vassal and it seems like some good fun. Grab some beers, grab some friends, and let's go racing boys! The only thing missing here is running someone into the wall ;)

EDIT: After posting, I realized I had forgotten about LNLP's White Star Rising / Nations at War Series! I recently acquired Desert Heat and prior to that the expansion to WSR, Operation Cobra. This is one I would like to focus on as well.

Building Sandbags with Air Dry Modeling Clay

28mm miniatures for scale comparison:

Time lapse:

Now just to wait for our all to dry...

Intro to Chain of Command

I started messing around Chain of Command the other night after being told about it by a fellow gamer. We had discussed it over the course of a few days and some things really jumped out as being appealing. Leaders in this game play a huge part. The "lists" are meant to be historical based on doctrine of the time. LMGs/MMGs have a much higher ROF than in Bolt Action. (There will likely be comparisons, but these are really apples and oranges for what their intent is - at least IMO). Another BA deviation, and one for the better IMO is the absence of heavy guns, mortars, etc. 45mm, 5cm, and 60mm mortars will be seen on board, but an 81mm mortar (medium mortar in BA terms) will be called in by a Forward Observer. To me, this is a much better representation of what should and shouldn't be on board in a skirmish level game of this scale. 

This is Scenario 5. An attacker/defender scenario where the attacker is moving from the left and rear as seen below. The defender started in the quadrant to the upper right. 

The Patrol phase didn't gain much ground for either side on the small board (4'x4' as opposed to recommended 4'x6'). The black and brown BA dice represent Drop Off Points (DOP). These all say Rally as a reminder. All German DOPs had to be moved back to the edge. The Polish DOPs are behind cover of the ruins and wall.

There's a blue BA dice out there on the German Senior Leader that says Down. I'm using this to represent that he moved Tactically. If needed, I'll likely use an Ambush order die for Overwatch. 

There are also markers available - free to print from TooFatLardies (TFL)

The bluish-gray dice with copper pips are the Command Dice. The Command Dice are a cornerstone of this game system. 

For my intro game, I have down sized the Polish Platoon to one section (same as described in 1939 list) - Jr Leader, BAR with 3 crew, and 14 riflemen. This is all one section - no separate teams. 

I also included their two Sr Leaders and ATR team. I do not have the light mortar at this time.

For the German list, I included their 1 Sr Leader and 1 of their 3 Sections comprised of their Jr Leader, an LMG team (LMG, 3 crew, 1 rifle) and an 8 man Rifle team. 

Normally, the Force Morale of these two would be +5 for the Poles and +1 for the Germans. But since I had broken up the platoon structure, I wasn't quite sure how this would be affected. I went ahead and gave the Germans a medic (List 1) and a flamethrower team (List 3). That still came out to a +4 difference. Hopefully it's not too skewed.

The photo above had just seen the German Sr Leader send the Jr Leader and his attachment of riflemen to the left on the Double (3d6" -yes, the maximum distance for movement is randomized by die rolls), moved himself closer to then remove their Shock from the Double Time (need to make sure that was legal use of Command Initiatives), and then ordered the LMG team to move into a firing position where they opened fire with half effect (all missed). 

The play is dynamic. How long will the Turn last? Which side will have the next phase? Who will be able to activate in the current phase? All of this is a focal point of the Command Dice. And it instills a bit of randomness or chaos. War as they say, is chaos. If I were to draw similarities to board games, Chain of Command has the feel of GMT's Combat Commander series or Lock N Load's Band of Heroes series (both favorites of mine) which is why I think I will enjoy this set of rules for 28mm WWII skirmishes. But what about Bolt Action? As I said before, there will be obvious comparisons, but I feel these are comparing apples and oranges. Overall there is a place for both of them. For some, the relative ease of entry into Bolt Action and lack of excessive chrome will appeal to many. For others, the more historical centric lists and tactical gameplay with a focus on leaders will be a bigger draw. While others will split their time depending on their mood or game partner.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off last night before having to pick up my Poles for tomorrow's Bolt Action Escalation League game. Stay tuned for more Chain of Command... That's an order!

It's been One Week...

It's been a productive week after getting the air brush. Monday and Tuesday were a struggle - even to the point of nearly throwing in the towel - but Thursday and Friday were very productive. It's like it suddenly just "clicked". I've gotten a lot better with mixing and flow control.

Mind you, assembly of everything pictured was done in advance. But still, 23 Polish, 24 French, and 32 British figures base coated; two ruined buildings and a corner wall section near complete; another ruined building almost there; and an M10 beginning to weather. Yeah, it's been a very productive week! This little experiment is starting to pay off tremendously!

Painting vehicles will definitely be an improvement. I had been using a spray can base coat and then just washing it with some ink and brushing on the Army Painter dip. I was happy with those, but this is going to take my vehicles to the next level - weathering, camo, etc. Even painting the tracks was a vast improvement over brushing them. 

I'm pretty much hooked at this point. I wanted to try a color scheme for some Rangers/Mediterranean GIs and thought this would be a good test to see how well I can airbrush in tight corners and to a finer level of detail (as opposed to the monochrome basecoats)

Not too shabby. 

As for the color scheme, I think it could work... I may try one monochrome in Field Drab and use the Khaki more for packs and gear with the occasional Khaki jacket (NCOs, weapon's crew, etc.).  That and maybe trying a slightly greener or darker khaki on top with the brighter khaki for packs and gear.

Perry Miniatures Desert Rats

The British have arrived and are assembling to counter attack Rommel's Desert Afrika Korps. 

The value in this box is great - 38 plastic infantry with some support weapons available, including: 2" mortar(s), Boys anti-tank rifle(s), and Bren light machine guns. There is also a radio operator and officer. For even more customization, there are separate heads for SAS/LRDG troops: nine with Arab headdress and nine commando caps.

The detail on these hard plastic figures is excellent. As for the size, they are slightly smaller than a comparable Warlord Games Bolt Action miniature. The Warlord units have a slightly "heroic" build, whereas the Perry Miniatures are perhaps closer to scale when it comes to girth. 

As you may have noticed above, this LRDG soldier is mounted on a 25mm plastic base that you'd expect to find in a Bolt Action kit. These are not the bases that are included in this box set. The included plastic bases are also smaller. Since bases play a part in movement and range, I'd prefer that all my models be based on the same size bases when possible, so I purchased some extra Renedra 25mm bases to use with this kit. 

After assembling a few figures, my one complaint is with the manner in which the parts are fixed to the sprues. These lads won't be falling off - in fact, they'll have to be cut free and then filed down extensively to stand level. I suppose a minor quip, but one that will add some significant time to assembly.

I've also posted an unboxing video on YouTube which can be seen here: http://youtu.be/54uXoDu8Lz0

UPDATE (1/7/2014): It would appear that I never actually published this post back in August when I composed it. Since that time however, I ended up selling off the Perry Miniatures, along with the Armies of Great Britain book (which I later received new again as a Christmas present). I've replaced the Desert Rats with a platoon of Airborne and Commando models from Black Tree Design to be used as an SAS/Commando raiding platoon. The Perry Miniatures' figures were top notch; it's just that I've grown tired of assembling all things plastic. That Warlord Games Japanese Banzai Starter Box and Plastic Soldier Company Russians are still looming, but at least the Tommies are now all metal.

Mixing Business with Bolt Action - Part 1: Tennessee

A recent project at work has had me on the road for the better part of August. It started in Knoxville, TN and wrapped up near LA. Along the way I was seeking out local games stores to see who had some Bolt Action goodies stocked. 

Knoxville, TN

I found an LGS in "Olde City" and a few others in surrounding areas, but unfortunately, no Bolt Action. 

Nashville, TN

A 10-20 minute drive from the airport landed me at The Game Keep. After having a look around at several miniatures, I asked the shopkeep about BA. He mentioned they have had a few people inquire about it and even had a few people order some of the books. They actually had an Armies of Japan book on the shelf. Wanting to support the local game store scene, I made a small purchase - some Army Painter Quickshade Inks.

 Man these thing do wonders things for these minis.

Unfortunately, their historical miniatures crowd gathered the following night and I would be on the road to Memphis...

Memphis, TN

Ah, Memphis. You delicious dry rubbed ribs... 

Oh, right, Bolt Action...

Even without the ribs, I was in for a treat. I asked some folks on the Bolt Action FaceBook group if there were any shops in Nashville an Memphis. The response was that I needed to check out Mid-South Hobbies. And I'm glad that I did. When I walked into Mid-South Hobbies, my mouth dropped. This place is huge and it's filled with R/C you name it, model trains, Boardgames, miniatures, and of course Bolt Action. So, after my 30 or so minute tour around the place I settled in - standing in front of the Warlord Games display (yes, they had other Warlord Games miniatures as well).

It wasn't long before (well, it may have been - I probably lost track of time) another gentlemen approached and began to inspect the wall of Bolt Action goodness. I'm not usually one to strike up a conversation with someone standing in any typical store, but this was no typical store. So I began to ask about the his interest in Bolt Action and the BA scene in general here in Memphis. That led to some discussion of a possible game later that night. I checked in to the hotel, ate dinner, an returned to find him assembling his latest purchase - some Wargames Factory Germans. It turns out that many of the Bolt Action regulars were up in Indy for GenCon2013, so we ended up playing some BattleTech - my first time playing it and it was also enjoyable.

I ended up leaving Mid-South Hobbies with some new recruits: a Bolt Action US Army Command blister pack and a US box of the Wargames Factory minis.

The next night, while i was in Memphis, a couple guys from out local gaming group were playing some Bolt Action back home. Through the marvels of modern technology, I was right there on the battle board with them. 

Spent the weekend at home and then it was off to the southwest! Next stop: El Paso, TX... (To be continued...)