Southern Front Wargaming Convention

 

 

  Southern Front 2021 has come and past! This is one of the smaller conventions that Kalissa and I try to attend. As silly as it sounds, this convention tends to be one of the harder conventions to get to, despite being only and hour and a half drive. Yes, this is held in Raleigh, NC, which in pretty close to us. However, the amount of events that interrupt this convention of the years was amazing. Most of them were hurricanes, so this one is the third on we have been to after knowing about it for ten years. We were have to be there!

    I like to think of Southern Front as the spiked punch bowl of historical wargaming. It is small with around about 60 to 80 people, but it is blessed with some grand historical gaming. It was about 90% historical games with some (I think) heavy hitters of the hobby in eastern U.S. There were a lot these guys I see running games at other major conventions, own miniature companies or write rules. I find it really cool to ask rules question to the writers themselves. Though, we only showed up for the Saturday part of the show. I was told I missed out of some awesome games on Friday. It was pretty full for a Friday. Saturday had a lot going on. I only shot a few photos and forgot most of the evenings games. I regret that, since there were some interesting medieval games going on. Anyway, here was what I took.

ECW Rules: A Fun Playtest.

   Kalissa and I were invited by our friend, Eric to come playtest some ECW rules that he was developing along with another friend, Alan. I cannot remember for the life of me what they were calling the rules, but we were told by Eric that we were to play and try to break the game. These would be the first rules that I know off that Eric would be publishing. Alan has quite and few rules out there in the wargaming world with Ancients and Medieval Era, so there is a pretty good chance of seeing these published. Plus, we were told we could get the rules free!
   The game that we were playtesting was based on the Battle of Aberdeen in 1646 during the Scottish Civil War. I am not very familiar with this time period, but I figured that we were playing this based on our game was played in Aberdeen, NC. The rules were made to be fairly simple. Morale was based on a color system using casualty markers. Each unit shot or hit in melee changes color of their casualty as more damage is taken. Green is good. Red is nearly dead. Each unit had a captain that could burn of a hit of damage to reduce the effects. Also, the overall commander had a number of coins that could be used at nearly anytime to do special actions. These coins were a "one time" use for the whole game, which opening up some possibilities. As far as we could tell for the first good, it is a fun game. We did not get to finish it, because a lot of playtest questions came up about different rules and answers that can stream line the game for easier play. We will try out more of these rules later. I am sure.

Nashcon 2018: Isn't It Good to be Alive and in Tennessee!

    "Isn't it good to be alive and in Tennessee!" said from the man, myth, and legend Charlie Daniels as I crossed the North Carolina border into Tennessee. I picked some old school country CD's to listen to as I entered the state snaking my way through the mountain passes on I-40. The destination was Franklin, Tennessee for this year's Nashcon. I had had plenty of people ask Kalissa and I if we were ever going to go to Nashcon over the years. Last year was our first one where Kalissa was convinced to run the convention's Bolt Action Tournament. The request was based on trying to create an awesome tournament for that year and beef up the convention's tournament scene for the same game for the next year. The year of 2018 was going to be the convention's 30th Anniversary. The idea was a great success that year,despite the interesting journey. And we decided then and there to come back the next year. In this case, this year! So for the next couple of postings, they will be Nashcon related. And if you are in the U.S.A. or particularly living near Tennessee or surrounding states, this convention is worth the look.
   Anyway, as in the previous one Kalissa and I had an interest situation attending. Since my wife is a elementary school teacher, she is unable to take off for school during Nashcon's  time due to all of the school's end of the year testing. This has made attending Nashcon more of a challenge to run a tournament. This entails me driving up to Tennessee to set up the terrain a day in advance. Kalissa has to venture out to the convention on a Friday after school, so she usually arrives after 1 a.m. on Saturday. This is on Central Time Zone time! Because I come up on Thursday, I am left to my own devices! Dangerous, I know!
   For this year's Nashcon, I actually played way more games than the first one. On Thursday evening, I found myself playing a meeting engagement in ACW using Johnny Rebel III rules. I cannot say I am a fan of these rules, but I got to meet up with some great gamers to talk to. It was more of a social game than a serious game. And that is a good thing for light-hearted fun. I enjoyed myself. This was the first game I played.

    Friday morning, I somehow got sucked into a Naval game. For those who know me gaming-wise, you are aware that there is a very slim chance that I will play naval warfare. I find most rules are rather on the boring side. My wife will not even play them! So this was a rare gem, indeed! Two gentlemen invited to play their game, since both were signed up for our tournament. I had nothing better to do at the moment, so I agreed to play. I sided with a nice guy named Lee running a French fleet. The Gamemaster or Empire for those overseas was a nice man named Bud. For whatever reason, I cannot remember our opponent's name running the British, and it will most-likely come to me at work or some place were I cannot turn instantly and edit this post. Highly annoying, but Murphy's Law-like, regardless! Maybe, Lee will correct me in the comments.
   Anyway, the game was a "home rules" one. I should have asked for a copy, because they were fast and easy Napoleanic warfare on the water. Bud had mentioned that this is one of the games that runs with the sloan: " If you want to sink ships, this is the game for you!" And it was! Despite loosing three out of my four ships in a squadron, I felt satisfied in the results. Lee and I won as the French, despite some losses. I played my line as shields for the greater ships. I referred myself as the shields you would use in Star Trek. It was the best naval game I have played. I hope to see Bud's final rules in the near future.

   The next game I played was a bit of a surprise based on timing. I actually had the chance to join in on a game both of my friends, the Gray brothers, were playing in. Since we have been going to conventions, Kalissa and I have met up with the same group of gaming convention buddies. Most are from our area in Fayetteville, NC. The list of names are usually Scott, Eric, Eric, Pat, Allen, Hugh, and Lonnie, in not several others. Every convention, these gamers run unscheduled pick-up games that seem to always be during something I am doing. Kalissa gained the nickname "Attilla the Hun" from this group. This happened to have happened when Kalissa keep the guys in check for there own random Pike and Shot game. I believe the statement after that game about her was the she was "Bossy." She describe the affair as  "Herding Cats!" So to get into one of the Pike & Shot games was a happy surprise, despite rolling horribly with the rest of our side. We did not win by even a close margin. But it was great fun. I will eventually get stuff for Pike & Shot someday.

    The last game I played was a "Brother Against Brother" game with Stephen of the ACW Gamer Ezine Magazine. Unfortunately, Kalissa did not bring up our computer, so we could not upload photos. Our phone ran out of storage, so I could photograph the game. It happens!  I played as the Confederates defending a road position. The Union army swept myself and them off the field in the end. But we did take out quite a few Yanks in the process. It was a fun game to play for a Saturday evening. Below are the rest of the photos of games played. Enjoy!