Campaign Against Cancer: X-Wing Miniatures Event 2017

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!

On April 29, I joined others at the Island Games in Centreville, VA for the 3rd Annual Campaign Against Cancer X-Wing Miniatures event. Players raise money for the American Cancer Society in an effort to help find a cure. I found out about the event in January of last year and signed up almost immediately! My grandfather died of melanoma (which spread to his brain) on September 15, 2010 so I played in his memory. That was the case again this year. 

My grandpa, Bob Abel, served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1976, and was a naval aviator from 1948 on. He told me once that his squadron's nickname was the Green Angels, because they weren't nearly as good as the Navy's elite flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels. He also loved building models and helped me paint some Revell Civil War Union soldiers when I was maybe 5 or 6. So I wanted to do something special for this year's event.

I decided to name my squadron the Green Angels and base them off of Grandpa's old F4U Corsair squadron. I'd actually painted these ships up for last year's event but couldn't bring them out after misplacing some of the pilot tiles. They were a big hit! A lot of people thought they were pretty cool, especially so after I told them about the backstory. I ran them was Wedge Antilles. Wes Janson, and Biggs Darkligher. Perhaps this was a little more elite than the Green Angels should've been, but I wanted to give them a fighting chance in a game whose meta has not been favoring the T-65 X-Wing lately.

As I'm finding out is usual with me at tournaments, I didn't get a whole of photos and have forgotten what round these exactly were taken in. So just sit back and enjoy these photos of simulated space combat in a galaxy far, far away!

Now, I do remember the specifics with this! My opponent had laid mines in an effort to trap Janson, but only dumb luck skilled flying was he able to avoid detonating any of them!

Another example of the dumb luck skilled flying witnessed throughout the tournament.

 

What a great day of gaming! I never actually won any of my games, but several were close and came down to the last few seconds and less than 5 or 6 points. I didn't take this list to win anyway, so it was nice to see that it could hold its own.

Besides, I ended getting the raffle prize that I really wanted: a custom painted green A-Wing so I've got nothing to complain about. All in all, it was another successful event and I can't wait until next year!

MAY 10, 2017 UPDATE

It was our biggest year yet! X-Wing players raised a grand total of $22,597! Centreville, VA contributed $560 of that through tickets, challenge coin sales, and t-shirt sales. 

READ MY 2016 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.

Campaign Against Cancer: X-Wing Miniatures Event 2016

A few weeks ago I played in the 2016 Campaign Against Cancer tournament at the Island Games in Centreville, VA. Our location was just one of several throughout the country raising money for the American Cancer Society. 

This was a deeply personal event for me: I lost my grandpa to melanoma (which metastasized into brain cancer) on September 15, 2010. So when I learned of this event in mid-January, I instantly signed up and participated in his memory.

Wanting to try something new, I decided to fly Rexler Brath in a TIE Defender with Wampa and 3 Academy Pilots in TIE Fighters. It was more or less a disaster. Even with a 1st Round Bye and 6th Round win, I was thoroughly trounced and finished dead last. But since this was a fundraising campaign, I really can't complain. It was fun! It was enough to convince me to return to a pure TIE Swarm though.

Here are a few photos of the game play. I only realize now that I didn't get all the rounds, so I apologize for that.

Round 3

Round 4

Round 6

All in all, players around the country raised a total of $20,299.81! Our location contributed $855 of that final amount through entrance fees, t-shirts, and challenge coin sales.

Holiday Starkillers Casually Serious X-Wing Tournament 2015

Back on December 12th, I had the privilege of playing in the Holiday Starkillers tournament at the Anacostia Arts Center in Washington, DC. While I had played with friends a few times at home, this was my first foray into the world of Tournament Play. It was a blast, and I did better than I expected I would. I flew the most basic list you can think of: 8 Academy Pilots. Basic, no frills, and thoroughly Imperial. 

Because this was so long ago, I have no idea what rounds correspond to the photos. So just enjoy the ensuing dogfight photos! 

When the tournament was all said and done, it was time to announce final standings and dole out the awards. I ultimately ended 15th or 16th place, but was surprised to learn that I'd killed the most Rebel ships of all the players present. For this, I was awarded the 2015 Force Choker trophy! To quote a great man, "It's a major award!"

::cue Throne Room music::

Overall, this was an awesome event and a great introduction into the world of X-Wing Miniatures Tournament Play. Many thanks to the players who were kind and patient enough to put up with my newness and general inexperience. It was greatly appreciated.

Over the Hills and Far Away...

Greetings all! It's been a while since I last posted, and I do sincerely apologize for that. Things have been busy and I've not had the time to work on much of anything until recently.

I've been on a terrain kick these last few days, and I'd like to show off my latest creation: stylized wargaming hills!

I'm currently building a Napoleonic Peninsular War force, which means I'll needs quite a bit of terrain to go along with my troops (some of whom can be seen above). 

As you can see above, stylized wargaming hills actually work pretty well for Spain! So I tried to base my terrain off these images as best I could.

It all became with a board of pink insulating foam. Unlike when I was living in California, this stuff is readily available in Virginia. I followed (as best I could with my given supplies) the tutorial put together by the ever-helpful Terrain Tutor on YouTube. The video I used can be found here: http://youtu.be/JX1I4M7V2Eg

Using a steak knife, I made cuts into the foam and gradually worked it until I was satisfied.

Once the top piece was cut out in the same manner, I used white glue and stakes (made from one of the hundreds of wooden coffee stirrers I've collected over the years) to connect the two pieces.

After adding texture and priming, the piece was painted using acrylic craft paint and given several black washes. This done, static grass and small tufts were added. Once sealed, this was the result:

Considering this was the first time I've worked on something like this, I think it turned out pretty well. So well that I made two additional pieces to accompany this one.

Thanks for reading! Any questions or comments? Please comment and I'll respond.

Flames of War: Romanian TACAM T-60 Tank Destroyers

After being recently sucked back into Flames of War, I became incredibly interested in the Romanians. It started when I picked up a copy of Red Bear with the intent of building a Soviet armored force. That's still happening...but I noticed something interested with the Romanians. Not only can you take them as Axis, but since the country switched sides in late 1944 you can also play them as Allied forces. I was drawn to the versatility of this idea...and I was hooked.

As such, I've just finished my first Romanian platoon. It consists of three TACAM T-60 tank destroyers. Romania lacked a solid industrial base and had to be creative when it came to armor. This particular vehicle utilized captured Soviet equipment: T-60 light tanks and dismounted M-1936 F-22 field guns. Records show that 34 of these were completed between 1943 and 1944, seeing service until the Soviet Union repossessed them after Romania defected to the Allies.   

Battlefront, the company that produces Flames of War, made these wonderfully detailed models. My local game shop had a discount bin of older products and so I was able to pick these up for $7.50 per vehicle. Score!!

Here's a view of some of the crew before I glued them into place. It's been a long time since I've done an entire 15mm figure and I was worried that I'd gotten really rusty. Thankfully this was not the case. These Romanians were a breeze to paint up!

A view of the tank hunter platoon from the front. Note the different positions of the crew inside each vehicle. 

The platoon from the rear. Although Battlefront makes some spiffy Romanian decals, I opted to not to put them on the vehicles. Of all the period TACAM T-60 photographs I examined, only one vehicle had any sort of national markings. This leads me to believe that the practice was quite uncommon (but I will be including them on an objective marker I'm working on...but more on that later).  

So that's my first Romanian platoon! After the Soviets repossessed the TACAM T-60s in October 1944, the country once again needed to find an adequate tank destroyed. The solution? Take an old R-2 tank - better known to the world as the Panzer 35(t) - and replace its turret with a Soviet supplied ZiS-3 field gun. The result was the TACAM R-2. This will be covered in a later update.

Capture the Triton!

The other night my friend Kyle came over, bringing along some recently acquired ships from eBay. Using the Trafalgar rules from Warhammer Historical, we established a scenario set in 1778. The French have stolen a marine chronometer from the British and are transporting it back to Paris aboard Triton. The Admiralty has received word of this and dispatched a small force to retrieve it. Kyle elected to play as French, and so I played British.

We assembled a few extra boards in the basement to make an impromptu gaming table. Not ideal...but I'm working on a solution. That, however, is a post for another time.

The French ships move to attack the oncoming British.

With HMS Diana in the lead, the British sail towards their French foes.

While Diana sails off to engage and distract the French, Bellerophon and Drake sail around the far side of the island in an attempt to surprise the enemy.

While maneuvering to counter the British, Marquis collides with Revere! Both ships are temporarily out of action until their crews can sort out the mess. 

The French ship Venus opens fire on HMS Diana, initiating the battle!

Diana returns fire!

Venus and Diana pass close together...

With the British ship distracted, Triton attempts to make a run for it.

That is, however, until HMS Bellerophon finally rounds the island and opens fire! The French ship takes some damage but continues sailing.

A lucky shot sets Venus ablaze! Before long her crew has either died or abandoned ship, leaving the French vessel to drift aimlessly.

Revere turns to engage Bellerophon. Severely outgunned, how will the French ship fair?

Revere broadsides both Bellerophon and Diana! The latter ship is disabled and out of action.

Meanwhile, the chase is on! HMS Drake spots Triton through the billowing smoke from Venus. Her captain sets sail in a desperate attempt to stop the French ship. Revere's captain orders a pursuit.

Clearing the burning wreckage of Venus, Triton begins cutting across the bow of Drake.

Before the British can do anything, however, Revere's captain rams HMS Drake in the stern! This action causes major damage to both ships. 

"Go between them? Are you crazy?!?"

Seeing no other means of escape, Triton's captain boldly decides to sail his ship between Drake and Revere.  

"I said DON'T go between them!!"

The bold move failed, as soon Triton was also involved in the collision. Damage sustained to Drake and Revere is enough to sink them.

Though seriously damaged, Triton is eventually able to clear herself of the wreckage and make a dash for safety. With Bellerophon too far off to catch her, the French have won the day. But Bellerophon's captain will not forget. It's still a long way to Paris...

All in all, this was a really fun game! The rules made it so the ships had to move each turn. This did a great job of capturing the nature of naval warfare. Since there was a great deal of movement, there was a great deal of strategy required. This is a game that we will definitely be playing more of!