Cangames 2017 - 'Random' Tables

Hello everyone,

I hope all is well with folks.  This past weekend in Ottawa, the annual CanGames convention was held.  I was in a pretty unique situation in that I was flying solo as the family was out of town...though, that is to say, I've been a steady attendant of the Con since I discovered its existence back in 2008.

Now a couple of my fellow gamers have already beat me to the punch...so if you want to see some other post-convention write-ups, please check out:

Mike's post - games he ran...
Mike's second post - games he played...
Terry's post - Cangames, the weekend

So, as the post title says...this is my post of random gaming tables that I saw over the weekend.  Some of them, I had the opportunity to check out more than once...and some I was only able to get a pic or two.

With that...I hope you enjoy the pics...I will have a couple of follow-up posts of the games that I played over the weekend.  NOW THE PICS!!

I believe this game was called Pirate...it had a cool looking multi-deck ship...

 

A Cangames staple...David Redpath's Bandits 2 ruleset...this scenario was an Egyptian/Soviet attack on an Israeli facility 

 

If you've looked at the links above, you'll already recognize this as Mike's Epic Armageddon game

Giving version 4 a shakedown, one of the fellows from the Ottawa Miniature Gamers ran a Flames of War desert theatre game...a large scale tank on tank battle pitting the Italians against the British...

Another one of the gents from the OMG Club ran a Great War game using Flames of War's ruleset, but he instead ran it in 20mm...it was a very good looking table with trenchlines and shattered ville's and a bunch of troops and a few tanks...

Fleet on Fleet action at Leyte Gulf...I believe this was a homebrew ruleset...

I believe this is a D&D Monster Mash run by one of the local groups...IIRC this is from the 'Red Shirt Society'...great looking table...I always enjoy taking a look, and it is a well received game.

More Pirating goodness here...I didn't bother them to get a rundown on the game, but looks like Pirate Seas is a small fleet on fleet action...looked fun!

 

 

Xwing Demo...I unfortunately didn't make it in time for this one...but I was fortunate to get a quick look after their setup...very awesome gaming mat...and the Corvette looks great. 

 

 

Rex Brynen's home-brewed Zombie/post-Apocalyptic ruleset...a nice preview as I was able to catch the second gaming of this one on Sunday... 

...perhaps a photo capture of those moments before Reality TV sensation Dick Danger (aka Terry, see link above) is consumed by zombies...RIP Dick...

Cangames Report - Bandits 2 Modern Air Combat

Howdy folks,

One of my Cangames traditions is to try to sit in on at least one of David Redpath's excellent modern air combat games...the scenarios are always dynamic and one of the highlights comes from their historical context and David's research into the history of the scenario.

This year, the scenario was a recreation of an air raid during the Iran-Iraq war that had taken place almost 30 years to the date of our game.  The Iranians were tasked with hitting an Iraqi airfield that was a base for attack helicopters.  The base was set in a valley with mountains to the north, hills to the south and a fairly clear east-west axis.

Pictured below is the enemy airfield.  Targets included 3 x helicopter flightlines (large, easy targets), 2 x fuel depot (medium target), and 1 x ammo depot (small, difficult target).

Clouds roll in...weather deck a little south of the field, and just to the north-west...SA-2 SAM batteries deployed to the north and south of the airfield.

Strike package elects to ingress via the south...unaware that the southern route has extra radar coverage...they are quickly picked up by air defence operators...

Who waste no time at all locking on and firing the first of many telephone poles...inbound strike aircraft are broken up in 3 packages...the Iranians rolled poorly and could only bring on minimal aircraft.  In this case, a 2 ship of F4 Phantoms coming from the south, a 2 ship of Phantoms that come in from the east to south-east, and a 2 ship of F5 Freedom Fighters from the west.

I had actually taken a bunch of pics by this time, but they turned out like total crap and were hangover blurry...so I trashed them...sorry folk.  After the first SA-2 launch, the southern 2 ship were targeted at least 4 more times by the SAM battery...the 2 ship that I was part of came in from the east and were loaded out to strike the field with ASM's and defensive AA missiles.

Fairly quickly we were bounced upon by a 4 ship of Mig-23 coming from the northern ridgeline...my flight lead kept focused on the field to get the ASM's off and I broke right to engage and block the Iraqi aircraft...this was fairly successful as Serge was able to loose off all 4 ASM's...

...and raise some hell on the airfield...one flightline of attack helo's taken out...and 1 fuel farm reduced to smoking ruble...well done.

At this point I really didn't get any discernable shots...the game ended in partial victory for Iranians as we had destroyed 2 fuel bunkers and 2 1/2 flightlines...the ammo bunker survived...as well, we were able to splash about 4-5 aircraft, however the cost was fairly high as most of the strike aircraft and a couple of late comers were downed or damaged.

As you can see by the furball below, the resistance was heavy with little 23's buzzy about the much larger Phantoms...

Take care.

Cangames 2015 - Bandits 2 Battle Report

Howdy folks,

In may haste this weekend to post my Force on Force battle reports, I accidentally stated that those would be my last post from Cangames...I was lying...at times like this I often conjure up my best Arnie accent and paraphrase Commando...

"Remember when I said I'd post you last...I lied"

 

-------------------------------------So...here we go----------------------

 

Once again this past Cangames I took the opportunity to try my hand at David Redpath's Bandits 2 ruleset.  I met David some time ago at Cangames...funny enough, when I signed up to play one of his games (at that time Bandits).  Since then, I have immensely enjoyed every game I've played whether it be Bandits, Bandits 2, or Shipwreck.

David tries very hard to have a modern or ultra-modern scenario for the game...and not just that, the scenario has some feasibility for occurring...maybe not so good when you think of it, but it makes it very tangible and certainly gets folks involved in the scenarios.

The scenario was this...China was encroaching on international interests in the South Pacific...they had established an artificial island that housed a Chinese Air Force base and the US was preparing to strike with air power.  The year was 2018 and the attack was at approx. 0400 hrs.  Both forces were equipped with stealth fighters...the US with the F35 and Chinese with the J20(?)...

The objective...US to strike, China for the defense...



There were 2 of us on the US side and 2 on the Chinese side.  Unfortunately, it was the evening slot so we did not have a full compliment of players...this meant we were limited to 4 aircraft per side.  Each team had to make their plan, present it to the GM, and then weather was set and we began.

South Pacific cloud decks...within 20 nautical miles of the Chinese island...SAM ring around the island approx. 15-20nm.  The clouds are (moving clockwise from top left) at 7 O'clock, 11 O'clock, and 1 O'clock from the island...

 

The US plan was fairly straight forward...deploy at table edge at approx. 3 O'clock position from the top of the island...roughly the point of view from the picture above.  We would push with two 2ship formations configed for air superiority...we wanted to maximize stealth so we would be going with no radar emissions...our second wave of aircraft would have 2 configed for ground attack (internal and external stores) and 2 configed for air superiority.

 

My Gorilla flight pushes from our edge...a little north and due east of the 1 O'clock cloud deck...as it turned out one of the Chinese players deployed near our corner, the other in the opposite corner (essentially as far away as possible)...

 

Overview of the US push...Gorilla's on the right, 'Cost Overruns' on the left...Chinese straight ahead...IR searches picking them up...we remain invisible... 

 

My wingman, Cost, fires off IR missile in hopes of bagging one...this would be the first missile shot of many many for my teammate.  His shooting was very consistent...I continue moving forward, #1 veering left, #2 straight ahead both looking for side or rear aspect shots.

Unfortunately Cost Overrun was consistent in a not so good way for us...as this shot shows, the missile sails by off the side of the Chinese aircraft...

I bank in tight with both my aircraft as the Chinese now have my partner painted on their systems...the Chinese player has his missile shot sail past Cost Overrun as well...I launch with #2 when I can, holding with #1 until the last minute...

#2 scores a hit and damages the Chinese aircraft...my #1 scores a dramatic kill at very close range with an IR shot...not a bad start...the Chinese player elects to display his mood dice...

The following time sequence, my #1 brings the power back, the damaged Chinese plane goes past the nose, and I hit him with a gun attack destroying his aircraft...very lucky rolling... 

 

The Chinese are able to launch a 2 ship from the islands airbase in response...they get airborne and immediately head towards our position...the Chinese aircraft furthest from the fight elect to light up the skies with their radar trying to paint us...IIRC they lock onto my cohort, but still haven't found me...aircraft elements start playing javelin with each other...the missiles fly...

 

Our luck finally runs out...Cost Overrun evades IR shot, but cannot shake 2 radar homers...F35 down...

At this time we switch aircraft so that we can launch the second wave...I push with the bombers from due north of the island and Cost Overrun continues his push westward...unfortunately the Chinese are able to splash 2 more F35s...this allows us to push 2 more air superiority to escort the bombers...

 

Action happens fast, the bombers don't have benefit of stealth with external stores and are pushing hard for the island...I light up the sky and act as radar picket for my escort as they push behind me...the escorts engage and I try to launch radar shots...

 

A flurry of chaff, flares, and jinks...missile shots defeated...we continue our push, the Chinese continue their pressure...

I launch JDAMs strike at range...targeting airfield and fuel farm...flurry of missile shots continue as Chinese and Cost Overrun trade shots...my cohort is now at missile shot 18...and no kills or damage yet...

 

 

 A very dramatic furball occurs as I'm trying to launch my bombs...my cohort launches radar shots behind me...my first bomber is damaged...his missile races in...AND...AND...

A very dramatic fireball as his missile HITS and destroys a Chinese stealth fighter!!!

 

We did not win the fight...the end result was four US F35 splashed...3-4 Chinese aircraft destroyed with one making a successful recovery on the island.  Fun game nonetheless.