Cangames 2026 - Random Table Shots

Howdy folks,

As has been tradition for myself for sometime now, the past weekend was attendance at Cangames time! A great way to pass the long weekend, and this year was no exception, in fact I think the Con was even better this year. Not only did I build up the courage (and fight procrastination) to run a game, it was fully attended and then some...more on that in a later post.

This post is all about the 'random' table shots that I was able to grab...the games and tables that I was able to fit in between the schedule. It felt like there was an increase in games overall, and the miniature table top was no different in that respect. There were some classic, some that I wasn't familiar with, and some new favourites.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Force on Force (FoF) has become somewhat of a classic staple at Cangames, and there ware folks who travel from abroad to make it just for the FoF. Chris ran another scenario this year, I wasn't able to get in on the game, but this one looks like a different setting compared to years past. Chris runs his FoF in 20mm scale and always has a very dynamic scenario for players.

Ed and Andrew came in from the Maritimes for the day and topped it off with running a 15mm Rapid Fire Ost Front scenario. I tried this one out last year, and really liked the ruleset. I think this scenario is a similar Soviet push against German defenses, but in this case was a little more dynamic with added defense in depth that challenged both players to maximize resources and priorities - do the Sov's get bogged down in mop up or push for the objective prioritizing the threat; do the Germans commit all at once or whittle the Sov's down.

Michael Ball and The Face of Battle was a staple in my 'early' years of attending Cangames, and while he had taken a break from the Con, last year he returned with version 2 of his ruleset. His table is always a treat to look at. I believe he runs his games at 20mm, and in this case we're looking at D-Day-esque adventures.

Last year, Duncan had run a Korean War scenario with B-29's getting bounced hard by North Korean Migs...it was an excellent scenario, and he brought it back this year. The table was pretty straight forward and lots of top gun excitement by everyone. This is the Mig Alley expansion to Blood Red Skies by Warlord Games. The models are great, and hey...who doesn't love a good air combat game?

Chris also ran a couple of serials of The Walking Dead in 28mm. Again, a very popular setting and a lot of fun was had by folks.

Brian always runs a game or two at the Con. This year he had a Pirates inspired game, not sure the ruleset, but the minis looked excellent.

Cangames - Report #3 - Blood Red Skies Mig Alley

Hello everyone,

I hope all is well on your side of the internets. Hot on the heels of my recent painting and interest in Blood Red Skies, both Blood Red Skies MiG Alley and Beyond, I had the chance to jump in on a game of BRS MiG Alley at Cangames. My buddy Duncan did an excellent job of GM’ing and had a great scenario for everyone to try their hand at. I have to say, I’ve been enjoying the air combat games lately, as well as the painting. Duncan’s game also gave me the chance to help him out with models and I got some of my recent works on the table.

The scenario for our game was inspired by some experiences of United States Air Force (USAF) Korean War bomber operations. In this case, we had a flight of 3 x B29s that had to get across the length of the table and exit on the other side. For this op, the US forces had 6 fighters as escort; the North Koreans had 6 x MiG 15s as the main attack force.

Looking at the far edge you can see the three B29 bombers in-line with escort fighters on their left (two separate 2 ship formations) and right (single 2 ship element). The North Koreans are at the lower portion of the picture…3 separate elements of 2 aircraft each). While the B29s were not completely helpfulness, they had turret and tail gunners, the kicker was that they would shoot at any aircraft that were within a few inches of their stand…without worrying about the friend or foe quandry…everyone was a bandit.

The view from the US end of the table…there are a few clouds over the area, and all aircraft start in the ‘advantaged’ position…i.e. nose up position.

B29s moving forward. The MiGs moving in hard to get shots on the big birds. The US fighters are working hard to get re-established on the tails of the MiGs after flying through their formations. If I remember correctly, there were some head-on shots, but nothing of consequence. Any aircraft that flies through cloud loses advantage and/or disadvantage and is instead neutral.

The bombers are starting to feel the heat…MiGs are on their tails and getting some shots on them.

The MiGs are hot on the ‘29s tails…the US fighters are turned around to push through the bomber line and engage the North Koreans.

Not a great moment for the US crew…bombers shooting everything up, escorts unable to get any hits on the MiGs, and the MiGs taking station behind the bomber line.

By this time, we have 1 dead B29…the other two have damage, and the NK’s are throwing out excellent dice.

The escorts finally take a couple of MiGs…but the NK’s are doing a great job…a second B29 falls out of the sky.

The NK’s spin in another 2 ship element into the fight.They make short work getting within range of the bombers and keep up the pressure. The final shot of the game as the last bomber takes 1 more point of damage…and succumbs to the relentless MiGs.

Beyond Mig Alley - BRS - North Vietnam Rumble

Howdy folks,

Here's to the first battle report of the year! I was able to get together with Duncan and Mike and we had the chance to give a try to Blood Red Skies/ Beyond Mig Alley. We have each been painting up fabulous aircraft that Duncan picked up from Lead Pursuit Podcast and this was a great chance to get them on the table.

The setup for the game was Vietnam War, US aircraft are pre/post strike (actual timing was irrelevant) and they get 'bounced' or ambushed by North Vietnamese aircraft (Vietnam People's Air Force - VPAF). So force composition was:

• US - 4 or 5 x F105 Thud's - strike aircraft, self-defense machinegun; 1 x F4 Phantom - air superiority on top cover, no gun, armed with AIM-7 and 9 air-to-air missiles; and
• VPAF - 5 x Mig 19's - air superiority aircraft, air-to-air missiles and guns.

A few quick thoughts: it was a pretty fast paced affair, the missiles were a little frustrating (so maybe they lived up to their historical references), and the gun shots were epic. The jet age is extremely fast, even with the movement distance capped, several aircraft end up moving at the cap of 16” which is about 3-4 times the average speed of WW2 BRS.

The game was a lot of fun…Mike was on fire with his gun rolls…and definitely looking forward to next iterations.

And now the pics…enjoy.

The Setup & Start: the Thuds blend in pretty good with the mat…but they’re heading South when a bunch of MiGs jump on their 6.

Mike was able to bounce in and be in advantage. If I remember correctly, Duncan’s Thuds were pushed to neutral. Mike lined up a few shots and is able to splash his first Thud. I think the MiG gets a heavy hitter rating and that ends up being pretty devastating. You can see the token where the Thud falls to the earth.

I was able to jump into the fight from my ‘high cover’ position on the edge of the table. I was able to take my full 16” move and get in behind the MiGs and reduce the advantage of one of Mike’s aircraft. Unfortunately the shot didn’t take, but it put him on the defensive a little.

Mike fended off my F4 attack, but was able to splash another Thud (second token on the table)

The furball move inch by inch on the table, Duncan was able to get into a tail chase situation as well, so Mike had to drive one of his MiGs into the clouds for cover. At this point we had taken enough boom chits that the Thuds would’ve left the field. Mike elected to keep the fight going…so we did.

Again, I try to line up a shot with my Phantom…no gun onboard really sucks, but I let loose another missile with no effect…or maybe I scored a damage, I can’t remember.

I try doing a maneuver in order to change my facing back northwards…given the characteristics of the F4,  this meant that the high G combined with the ‘complex’ layout kept me at neutral for the turn while the crew sorted out their bearings…

This gave Mike the chance jump in behind and put me at disadvantage which gave him the chance to hit me with a gun shot…which he did quite nicely…and down I went with a ticket to that fancy hotel in the North’s capital.

Latest Distraction - Blood Red Skies MiG Alley

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your respective sides of the internets. So yeah, another squirrel moment…I’ve played a game or two of Blood Red kids with Mike and Duncanover the last year or so. Most recently we gave it another go to give Duncan some prep for a tournament that he had signed up for. Well, we got talking about the game and the modern spin with BRS MiG Alley and the expansion from Lead Pursuit Podcast, Beyond MiG Alley for Vietnam and 1960s/70s Cold War.

Anywho, long story short…I’m now getting into MiG Alley…sigh/lol. I recently picked up a box from Amazon and finished up the 4 aircraft that came with it, a couple of F86 Sabre’s and MiG-15’s. The box comes with the cards, models, and decals to complete the models, USAF for the Sabre’s and Soviet Air Forces or North Korean Air Force for the MiG’s.

Hope you enjoy the pics…it was a bit tricky getting the silver finish of the aircraft paintjob without just hitting them with silver…you know what I mean, an OCD sort of thing.

Enjoy.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          4, +4

15mm         134

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        12, +4 (mig alley box) 

Progress   +172

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.