CANCON 2014

CANCON 2014 was run here in Canberra over the long weekend 25-27 January. Hordes of gamers, shoppers and sight seers attended. I ran a participation game I call 'Hold the Gap' which is a simple affair where 13 Heroes attempt to prevent 80 or so Orcs releasing their evil wizard master from imprisonment. There were several other public participation games - French Indian Wars, Aztecs vs Conquistadors,WW2, Martians vs. America, and Bolt Action. There were also a number of demonstration games - Napoleonic, Modern Africa, First Crusade. CANCON also hosted a large number of competitions from just about every genre of wargaming, hundreds of gamers played in these competitions for the three days and all had a lot of fun. Here are photos of the event. 

The table for my 'Hold the Gap' game. The Orc army is closest to you, the Heroes with the captured wizard have yet to cross the bridges.

The Hero players being Heroic!

 

In one game the Heroes decided to defend the bridges. None shall pass!

 

The mark of a true Hero - one man standing firm against overwhelming odds

Another brave lone Hero fights to hold the smaller bridge

Having overcome the heroic defenders and crossed the bridges the Orcs surge up to the Heroes' line at the gap

Hard pressed the Heroes fall back to defend the staircase - the wizard is held inside the enchanted archway!

Orcs rush against the defenders of the staircase

The last Hero fights to deny the Orcs access to their master

 

 The last brave Hero falls beneath Orc blades and the Wizard is free!

 Bolt Action demonstration game

Bolt Action game - part of a well supported competition

 Aztecs vs. Conquistadors

 Big Boys with their big armies - a very nice Napoleonic game

All sorts of games - 40K, War Machine, Warhammer, Napoleonic, 

FOW, FOG, DBM, DBR, DBA, board games, Magic Cards etc.etc.

 Busy trade stands

 Flames of War

 A plethora of board games

 Pegasus Bridge - part of a Bolt Action demo game

 WW2 game set in Eritrea 1940

 Part of a game set in modern Africa - very nice town

 More of the modern Africa game - great set up

 Martians versus America game - the Martians conquered America more than once

 Fantastic collection of large scale remote control tanks

PSC Panzer IV 1/72

Bronze age worshippers

Here is a Bronze Age European command stand that is made by Foundry.  I don't have any inclination to create a bronze age army- but like the way the figures looked.  I've put them together as a little diorama stand, where they are worshiping the altar of the skull of an ancestor and the bronze hound. 

The Ugly Thing

This miniature has been sitting in my bits box for a while.  It was given to me by a mate ages ago.  Made by Ral Partha as a 'Demon Beast', it has sat there awaiting a likely fate of getting melted down to make something else.  However, fortune shone on the 'Ugly Thing', and I decided to give him a lick of paint.  I like the hero he has under his arm and the one on the end of his axe!  What an ugly brute!

Evil Vizier

Here is an evil chap ... wonder what he has in that skull. He is a Reaper mini I have had for quite a while and I painted him yesterday. The minis in the background are Perry Azerbaijani swordsmen.

Sunday's Games - Orcs, Heroes, ACW and Napoleonics!

Last Sunday our group met for its monthly meeting and played several games. I ran a game I call 'Hold the Gap' which I have designed as a public participation game. I will run this at Cancon which is happening this coming weekend in Canberra. The game involves a group of 13 Heroes fighting a mass of Orcs (100 at last count) who are attempting to release a Wizard that the Heroes have captured and imprisoned within a magic archway. The Heroes retreat across the table to a gap in the ancient city walls. There they must hold off the Orcs for 90 minutes of game time. If at the end of that time they have prevented the Orcs breaking through to release the Wizard from the archway they win the game. The Orcs of course win at any time they manage to release the Wizard. The game works well, is fast moving and gives everyone who plays lots of opportunities to roll dice, banter and have fun. The other games played were two games using Blackpowder rules, one ACW and one Napoleonic, a 15mm Napoleonic game using homegrown rules and a 15 mm DBM game. Unfortunately I did not get any photos of the DBM game. Overall the day went very well, the games were fun and looked superb, the food was great and the company excellent. Here are the photos I did take.
 

 Orc Masters gloating as their horde advances and the Heroes retreat

 The Heroes reach the gap in the wall and form their line of battle

 

 The evil Wizard is secured in the archway - in the distance you can see the Heroes standing firm

 The Orcs mass before they rush at the Heroes

 The Orcs rush in and battle begins

In an effort to outflank the Heroes Orcs rush up to the wall and attempt to scale it

 

Being truly Heroic one of the Heroes fights those Orcs who have managed to climb the wall

 The Fight gets desperate in the gap. Many of the Heroes are wounded but they grimly hold their ground as the Orcs relentlessly attack

Determined not to allow the Orcs to release the Wizard two Heroes place themselves in front of the archway

The fight on the wall becomes a grim contest between Orc brute force and Heroic courage

The battle ends with the Heroes battered and having lost several of their own but still holding the gap!

 A nice looking 28mm ACW game using Blackpowder rules was also played

 

A spectacular looking 28mm Napoleonic game also using Blackpowder rules was played

 

 Another Napoleonic game, this time in 15mm and using homegrown rules was played