RECON 2016 TSAF - With Lawrence at Shahm (Mike Lucas) and The Mine (Dwight Jones)

As I mentioned before this is the first time I went to Recon in Orlando.  I have to say that it was a great time.  We did drive it so we could take some stuff with us but it was worth it.  I met a lot of new friends that all share the same passion of Wargaming.

So they had setup a TSAF table that had back to back games all convention long.  This is similar to Recruits on how they setup the Dealers all around the tables along the walls.  Great job by the HMGS South staff.

Dwight Jones put on two TSAF scenarios in Darkest Africa called, "The Village" and "The Mine."  Both were a blast to play.  I played in The Mine where I had to personally had to kill a rampaging Elephant with Spear and Knife (Damn TSIA Action Deck).  That could have gone bad.  Dwight's games always look great and using The Sword in Africa he incorporates those sometimes evil random events.  Fun!

Mike Lucas and Bernie Chambers put on a TSAF scenario called, "With Lawerence at  Shahm." That had the Turks and Germans fighting the British and Arabs.  I was stuck with leading some Turks on the left flank.  Held on pretty well but the inevitable happened.  Both of our flanks were ready to collapse with Arab Cavalry pouring in on one flank and the Brits on the other.  Nice game and the figures painted by Bernie were beautiful!

Bill Hogan put on a very nice scenario of "San Juan Hill."  It looked great and unfortunately I didn't get to play in that one.  All of these games were maxed out on players which is great to see.  I really wanted to play in this one because I don't get to play enough Colonial battles when U.S. Forces are involved.  When I checked in it looked like the Spanish were not doing half bad.  Nice! We didn't get many pictures of this game so I apologize.

There were many other battles and if you look at the PEL you can see that.  You will find the pictures below that Jeff, Mike and I took.

So Thanks to all that played in these games and to those that purchased just about every boat I brought.  I really appreciate it.   Let's keep in touch!  Enjoy the pictures.

Last Stand Dan

Standby, I will get Jeff's, The Raid and my Nile battle posted soon.

Recon PEL
http://hmgs-south.com/PEL.pdf

Capt. Lucas's - "With Lawerence at Shahm"

Dr. Jones: "The Mine"

Blood and Plunder, by Firelock Games at Recon 2016

I just wanted to throw a quick word out about Mike Tunez's new Pirate game and Kickstarter called Blood and Plunder (by Firelock Games).  I got ta chance to speak with him and his colleague to get a high level view of the gaming system and it sounds great.  I haven't joined any kickstarter to date so this is my first one.

If you take a look at the picture gallery and watch the video I think you will be impressed.  Brings back many memories of great Pirate movies old and new.  I got to see these figures and they are very well cast and will fit right in with other well made 28mm figures.  The ships are resin and they look look very nice.

Well take a look at the link if you get a chance and you can see for yourself.

http://www.firelockgames.com

More blogging on Recon 2016 to follow.  Have to sort through all the pictures we took.  And after driving for 27 hours through 6 states to get back to Denver with Bill, well give me a little break. lol.

I wish Mike and his staff at Firelock Games good luck, and look forward to seeing it all succeed.

Last Stand Dan

The Last Stand Boat Yard

Well its been a while since I have had a chance to blog out to you.  Got a little sick there for about a month but I am back!  lol.

I wanted to let you know what I have been up to preparing to go to Recon in Orlando next week.  This will be my first time and thought it a good idea to build some boats to take with me in case anyone was interested in one.

So these new Dhows that I have built from the ground up I think you will find interesting.  I don't boast that these are "scale" models at all.  These are built by a Wargamer for Wargamer's so I really simplified the design.  Meaning that when using boats in any game rules you usually have to tack and jibe your boats taking into consideration wind direction and current.  So you will see in the pictures below how I handled tacking a lateen sail.

Additionally, the boats you see here are all pretty much my prototypes.  They are primarily basswood but used various thicknesses.  I have decided after all these builds that the thicker wood works best for the rails and structures and the thin pieces for the decks.  You might notice that the Dhow sail plans are all a little bit different.  A little longer, some fuller, one even has a different cut completely. So I think I like that because these boats were built with many different methods.  I will keep to a basic design and let imperfections remain as in any hand built project.  I will get better at this.

I hope you enjoy the blog,  I will report on Recon 2016 in a couple of weeks.  Mr. Bill Daniel (Bill's Gamer Garage) and I are driving down from Denver.

Can't wait, hope to see you there, it's going to be fun.

Last Stand Dan