(fretulinituIess
The MinMesselger is a publicalion of the Historical ln the last issueof The MiniMessengerwe wrongly identified the authorof the front Miniature GamingSociety- Pacific article "Wargamingwith Kids" as Marc Canu.The conect authorwas Duke Southwestchapter. . Thank you Duke for your efforts, and thank you Marc for pointing out this HMGS/PSWis a nor-profit oryanizationdedicated to fte promotionof hislorical miniature gamhg and the studyof history. Our territory is Southem Califomi4 Nevada,and Arizom. Report from MiniWars;The FaIl Campaign Articles may be submittedvia SteveV iva. Mark Parker email or typed manuscript. Advertising ratesare available upon lequest. Pleasecontact the I Treasurer. I Officen; PresidentRobert Runnels [email protected]
I Vice.PresidentAlcx Webstcr [email protected]
SecrstaryPaul Say I [email protected] I TreasurcrTom Black I Thom2l6Olahoo.com J WebmasterAllen cl|(tis I , r"- games HMGS/PSW-* El Presidente'Robert - Runnels hosted his Electric Football IJague Well, the conventionwas fun. This Fall conventionthe gameswere an unusualmess of everythingpossible. In fac! this con's themeseemed to be "Anything Goes". Steve(Flying CatsinYour Face)Verdoliva ran his 15mm Elephantraceljungle adventure/stampede. The winner was Tom Coveny-by a nose(trunk?), winner of the beautifirl 'Non-Elephant Trophy Cup". Terry Stoneagain ran his infamous28mm RomanGladiator Arena bloodbathgame. Unfortunatelythe DBA peoplehad to canceltheir toumamentand insteadthey hosteda seriesof single games. Everyonehad a goodtirne. Conventionmanager Alex Websterwas not able to be there Friday night asthe conventionopened, because his car (ol' Bessie)broke down out in the high desertleaving Alex stranded.When word of Alex's misfortune spreadthrough the con, our chapterofup-standing good samaritansleaped into action with our usual flood of sympathyand emotion-money changedhands quickly as bets on Alex and his car were both won and lost. Undaunted,Alex rode in the next day with Glenn Davis. Thank you Glenn. Saturdaynight seemedto be the night for Victorian ScienceFiction. The Dogs of War qamingclub along with Bill Witthams setup a little "Tangle in the Jungle"that pitted different factions againsteach other in their race to capturea mystic gem from a hiddanternple in the thick jungle. The gameused Bill's incredibletenain he had built from a Hollywood specialeffects studio. George Lucas and StevenSpielberg could use suchterrain! They initially had four playerswith Tim Daun showingup late. The hunl for the mystic gem tumed bloody on *re Aiid tum asatl the hid6entemples were reached.The Japanesewere hit first by JoeNachio with his prussians,and Tim with his AmericanMarines. We onceagain saw our famous"friendly fire" at work as Tim tried to take out the JapaneseTOW vehical and accidentlyfragged his own men. (Tim broughthis first mechanizedman with the small Americanunit madeby London War Room). We had one of the higher casualty ratesin this gamewith all Japaneseunits eliminated,all but 2 of the Americanswere killed, the Russians suffered60%o casualties, but the Prussianssuffered only light losses.The heroic British werebadly bloodied. Tim endedup winning the gameafter stealingthe gem from the Japaneseand barely making it o{f tlre map by having his dtu*o in the round pull. This gamedid seethe winged monkeys(not your typical street comeiorgan-grinden"*i monkeys,"-u.ly think of the evil witches' army in the Wizard of OZ) andthe dog soldiers appearedl .irdo- events.The dogsdid leam that the Americanmechman has a nasty steamsurprise.
One of the great gentlemenof orn hobby, Dave Dandridgeran a great 15mmAK47 game. He setup an ambush for an armedUN food supply convoYthat hadto get tbrougha waning African town- GamersplaYed the rivd - -ffiteFave-iontrol-led"fiida*tetiaDs the convoy. It was a tight bafile, with John Gaftey's government hoops-turnedtraitors (with their tanks and wu bda i armoredforces) Frd vftftlart ed.bd ee m eFn€r.ti@of wegrus in Mke verig's 2orEnrFlam$ of asthe last trap. In the end the good guys won asthe UN fouglrt it's way throughwith most of it's food tmcks intact. we played it all From Naval6attles to Ancients,to the War of the SpanishSuccession to W"WII ' and every scalefrom 6mm up to 28mm were playedthis convention' Dealer The Flea Market was very largethis year filling abouteight long tables. It was almostas lmge asthe Area. This was the con whire g;eatbargains were to be had! Surprisingly, sciencefiction, ala victorian gaslight, continuesto grow. " ThJ Fiea Market wJquite largethis con. It easilytook up almostas much spaceas the regular Dealersarea. Books, new and old "classic" board g3meJrlsmm-lgures aqg Medieval Arab army were up for sale. Onceagain the PSW "Goon Squad"of volunteerscleaned up the Hall beforeand afterwards.They cleanedout the Hall friday aftemoon,broke out the tables,and saturday they cleanedout the garbagecans, packed away our tables,cleaned the whole Boy ScoutHall artd left it in far bettercondition than we found it. Huzzahgentlemen!! Adventures' Guild hosts Flamesof War Tournament
The AdventurersGuild of RiversideCalifomia would like to invite you to our 600 point Late War ReconnaissanceTournament on J arruary276,2007. The toumamentwill be using nrles from FestungEuropa . Missions will be recon-oriented
Thereare the rules to this toumamentin regardsto building your army as follows:
Armv Composition The Adventures'Guild Congratulates o CompanyHQ, combatplatoons, and weapons platoons . No supportplatoons As First PlaceWinner in our November o No air support Flamesof War toumament.Brian's Germanforces won more points than any Armv Organization Lists rival. Brian was awardeda Flamesof o Aufklarungsschwadron(Germanreconmechanizedcompany)War Stingof the Scorpionset. pg3lFE o British Armored Car Squadron(Recon company) pg 64 FE Secondplace was a tie with Dave Matos o RecceSquadron (British reconcompany) pg 70 FE and his Germanforces and Joselito r US CavalryRecon Troop pg 101FE Stotomasand his DAK forces. r RataRazvedki (Russian recon mechanized) pg 127FE
The toumamentwill begin at 10:00AM on SaturdayJanuary 27th2007. Therewill be threerounds (4th round possibly)for the toumament. Entry fee for the toumamentwill be $15.(X).Every player will receivea $15.00participation gift certificate,and lunch for attendingthe tolrnament. Therewill also be a 10o%toumament discount on the day of the eventon Flamesof War/BattleFront products. Pleaseemail your armylists to advguildrivlllhotnail.com or fax to (951)509-6653.If you haveany questions please post them here or emailus at A d\-suildri v r-4hotmail. co m Hopeto seeyou acrossthe table on January27th!
We havehad some questions in regardsto our 600 Pointlate war toumamenton January27'n,2007. We haveposted thissame response on the HMGS-PSWand official Flames of War forumsSo it will reachall peoplewho are interestedin our event. Piease,if thereare any morequestions, feel free to postthem on anyof theseforums, as we are checking themfrequently.
The questionsare postedfirst, and the responsesare postedas bullets.
Are you adjustingtable size or deploymentdistances for the 500point games?
. No. The tournamentwill be playedon the standard4x6 tablewith deployment as statedin the specificscenario for the round. The objectivesmay be changedas neededby scenario.For example, one objectivemay be active,and anotherobjective will be a dummy.
Arethe compositionrules from the hardbackrulebook (p, 185)for 600point games in effect? No. The compositionfor thistoumament will be standardas if playinga 1500point game. We havestated that the organizationof eachrecon army will be as follows:Company HQ, Combat Platoons, and Weapons Platoons. Army list maynot usesupport platoons, divisional support, or air support. *armoured* On the FoWforum, you clarified that the allowablelists include the Britishrecce squadron, but notthe British reccesquadron. You maywant to pointout whether proxy models are allowedfor the requiredHumber lV armouredcars in therecce squadron. Nobody makes a Humberlv-nobody!- -so probably Humber llls ought to be allowedas proxies, withthe player informing his opponents what they are standing in for.On the same point, how much proxying is allowed for othervehicles/weapons/ etc.?
. Yes,you may useproxy models as longas theyare similarto the unitbeing represented. The exampleof using the Humberllt modelforHumber lV is acceptable.The Sovietmodel forthe SU-57is not availableby Battle Front. A SU-76,American or Britishvehicle of the samedesign as the SU-57is acceptable.
Are you expectingthe US CavalryReconnaissance T.oop to be fielded as in the army list?
. The US CavalryRecon Troop army listwill be playedas is statedin FE.
Arethere any restrictionson the Sovietrecon company's weapons platoons, which includenot only assault guns,but heavyassault guns?
. The Soviet Rota Razvedkilist on page 127 states that they may have 0-1 of the followingunits: 8A64 Light ArmouredCar Platoonpage 126, MobrizedMortar Company page 119, Heavy Ant-tank company page 118, AssaultGun Companypage 141. Whatis writtenin theirarmy list is whatwill be allowedfor the event.
A Word From OrcGon 2007 byJoseMendiola
Greetingsall, I just want to remind you that there is still sp,aceavailable for the FebruaryOrc Con ghaming convention.The dates are February 16tb to the 19th, 2007. e,pFifis alreadyup andrunning on our www.Strateqicon.net websile,or my emailis [email protected]
If you or any other person(s)are interestedin running an eventplease go to the websiteand submityour event, or contactme to get your eventin the PEL and so I can sendyou a copy. For thoseofyou that don't know yet' Strategiconis mder new management.HOWEVER, I am still here and I am still the convention'sMiniatures Co-ordinator.I will be hereuntil the new ownersfind someonebetter or until I'm dead.
Editor's Note; Gentlemen,last year this conventionwas a monsterbash of historical gaming.I believe it wasthe largesthistorical wargamingtumout SoCalhas seenin a long long long long time. Rememberthat at this con last yem GamesWorkshop demanded all the centertables in the massiveMiniatures Room, and was going to pushhistoricals to the remainingtables along the walls, remember?
In responseHMGS and other history gamingclubs bombedthe convenionwith tons of games.We endedup playing someof ihe gamesout in the hallway, remember?This was Historicalsfinest hour. On Saturday we actually madeGames Workshop cower, remember? Lets do it again! That was fun. StrategiconSold to NewOwners by Wyatt the Odd
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One ofthe biggestdevelopments in the local conventionscene has nothing to do with Gen Con. but with the 30-year-oldStrateqicon series ofconventions. After a wonderful long run with Rocky and the other owners ( which included HMGS/PSW old curmodgeon Steve"The Cardinal" Verdoliva) The company was recently purchasedby the owners of PolJCor.r. One of the principals, Eric Alderich. was very forthcoming in describing the direction they wished to take this long-time stapleof SouthemCalifomian gaming:"Wish to exoan:' everything," he began."Miniatures is possibly faring the best at the moment, but there is room for expansion there as well." One ofthe first things to be expandedis the gaming schedule.with more eventsto be held on Friday and Monday to make them viable. Advertising will also be increased.Manufacturer involvement will be encouraged- including sponsoredevents and toumarnents. "We need more peopleto attend," said Eric, "and we want gamersof all sortsto feel welcome. We want to know what you want to play. We want to build the whole SouthernCalifomia gaming community, and that includescooperating with other conventionssuch as Avalon (ConQuest)and CienCon." Outreachis also plannedfor local gaming groups.including llN'lCiSas well as college and university gaming ciubs. "lf you want to mn a game,we'd like to have you." As for attendees,he says,"We needto have the people in San Diego, SantaBarbara and Barstow all wanting to come to our conventionand seeingit as a worthwhile trip."
Eric acknowledgesthat it will require a lot of work. "At first, it'll be by the seatofour pants in order to be able to havethe cons ready on time." But he stressesthat it is their intent to build the conventionwith more events for gamersof all ages."We needto rebuild the trust," he says."Hold us accountable.If we screw up, I want to hear about it - just be nice, please. We have our work cut out for us, but we look forward to making our conventionsbetter than before." ReportFrom Gen Gon
By Wyatt the Odd and RobertRunnels
Gen Con SoCalbegan its 4'year on Thursday,November 16thwith a retum to having gamingevents throughoutthe day, as opposedto merely opengaming while the dealersset up. While I had to miss Thursday's eventsdue to work deadlines,those who did attendthat day reportedthat volume waspretty substantial.
This will be the final run for this conventionin Anaheim.Beginning with the Star W'arsCelebration cnnvenlon in May, Gen Con will be holding its SouthemCalifomia eventsat the [.os AngelesConvention Center next to StaplesCenter sports arcna
The eventthat I most regetted.missingon-Ihrusday was not on the offciallis+-It *asthe 2nd Annual Brian Young Memorial "Zombies!!!" Game.This event- put on by Dearcyand her husband, in honorof gaming friend Brian Young ( who died suddenlylast year) - was madeall the more poignantby the surprisedeath of Brian Young'sfather last month.
This year'sevent had many retum players,as well as fresh faces.Unfortunately, there were foo manypeople wanting to play, in fact, and five peoplebad to be tumed away oncethe maximum nrunberof 12 playershad beenreached. Two six-playersessions were held with the first endingat 12:30Fiday moming with the sole femaleplayer, StephanieNasti, victorious. The secondgame ran into the bitter end, with David Milar reaching the helipadat 1:58:56am. Even relatively early on Friday, therewere many people- and more importantly, many miniaturesgames going on. In the WOTC eventarea, games of Axis and Allies, Star Wars Miniatures andD&D Miniatures werein full swing.Privateer's Warmachine and games of Dark Age weretaking up severaltables. There were also severalgames of The l{ar Game- an enlargedgame based on the original lxls and Allies - taking place. nSmffirru ffi wA& In addition to the games,the Paint and Taketzble had peoplewaiting their tum to paint a figure. A new addition was the paint-and-takein the children'sare4 whereyormgsters were being introducedto applyingpaint to plastic or metal. Elsewherein the children'sarea, several kids were playing with largerStm Warsminiafittes.
Another new gamewas beingpresented at Gen Con as well. ShadowstarGames. Inc. owner Mark O'Bannon createdFantasy Imperium, a historical fantasyrole-playing game.While that combinationmay seemlike an oxymoron,the gametakes pains to presenta world basedon Medieval Europe,its culturesand technology. Fantasyelements srch as Dragons,Elves and Dwarvesare added.Chaxacters do not haveclasses, levels or alignments,but professions.They can havemagical abilities as well. Someexample characters are a vintner who's wines act as potions,a beggarwho can literally cursethose who areuncharitable, and a fortune teller who really is gifted with the ability to seethe future.
The book is heavily illustrated with irnagesmaking up abouta third of the content.Included in that are 500 illustrations of historical weaponsand armor- eachkeyed to indicatethe time period when they became available.There are two frrll-color mapsat either end ofthe book. The first showsthe political boundriesof Europeand North Africa in 1121AD, while the map in the rear irside cover depictsthe situationin 1348AD.
Wizardsof the Coasthas alsobeen very active.Their Star Zars Starship Battles rangewill feature60 miniaturesdepicting space craft from the originat trilogy, the prequels,and the ExpandedUniverse. These miniatureswill be releasedon Friday, November24, but somewill be sold at the conventionstarting Saturday.
Also being releasedare the figures from the Lrrs & Allies Battle of the Bulge, which include an M-4 Sherman with Calliope rocket launcher,the Dornier Do-335 'Arrow" andthe Me-262jet.
Flamesof War toumamentwent well, but we only up with about 14participants- Kind of sadsince I 2&f army lists and emailsfrom peopleplanning to However,between the FOW toumey, Steve erdoliva's elephantrace and other gameswe at leasthad 5ignifiqantplsssence at the convention.ln the future, cotr movesto StaplesCenter. ..I don't know ifthat hetp or hurt it.
Wilcox won Best Overall, Best General,and Best ..geez!Bill's AufklarungsKompanie looked awesomein their winter paint schemeand gave opponentsfits. He finished 2-0-l
Hyngstromwon 2noplace overall, only one point Bill. He also won for Best Historical army. His Rifles were a well painted,cohesive looking
Actionat the Flamesof War tournament;Marc Canu brings on his Sovietreinforcements, after losing his
platoonof l(V-1'sto Americanpazooka teams Ivar wasalso tied for BestSportsman. Ivar's forcewent 2-1-0. BestSportsmanship was a4waytie. ButI had the tie breakervote and awardedit to Marco Quesada.Marco SouthAfrican arrny was quite formidableand I enjoyedpitting my DAK panzergrenadiersagainst them in a losing effort. Marco also went 2-0-1 .
The Anchor Award for last placewent to Tim Knapp. He finished with 28 points, but took it all in in good cheer.
We might get only one or two qualifiers for the nationalsfrom this. If so, Bill Wilcox and Ivar Hyngstrom would get the nod. Ifthere is only one qualifrer, Bill defersto Ivar, sincehe has alreadyqualified previously.
ReportFrom Gen Gon - Anotherview
Personally,I found the con disappointing,as usual.It's far too corporatefor my tastes,pushing product and salesinstead ofjust cateringto gamers.And whereare the retailerson the exhibit hall floor? Whereare the used gamesellers?
You know something'sfunky when companieslike Edenand MargaretWeis Productionshave booth space,but don'tshow up.. .
This is an "ugly" con dominatedalmost exclusively by the major companies(Wizards, the CCG publishen, etc.).
The boardgamearea was in the far comer,poody lit and underattended(I t)"icallyonly saw 5 or 6 gamesbeing playedat any onetime), the dealer'sarea was stuck in the rear ofthe largesthall and sparse,the RPG rooms wereloud and over-populated...
With all that said though,I did manageto havean OK time with my friends,but you know somethingis seriouslywrong when you wonderwhat you re really getting for your registrationfees.. . CCGsdominate this convention,but I haveZERO interestin them.
And as for next year... I can'thelp but shakemy headat the decisionto move from family-friendly Anaheim (right acrossthe streetfrom Disneyland)to DOWNTOWN L.A. (a placethat is definitely NOT "family friendly", is universallyoverpriced (restaurants and hotels)and is relatively tough to get accessto (traffic is a nighhare). Oh, and next year,it opensup a whole sectionfor computergaming companies ala the trade show, 83. . . Is that a deathknellI hearnner
GenGon Views byDearcy
The board gamearea was pretty active between10pm and anywherefrom l-2am most nights. I countedat least 15 different groupsplaying (mostly pick-up games)at one point on Saturdaynight.
I've hearda lot of grousingabout the move to L.A. and therehave been some valid points. Is Gen Con overpriced?Absolutely. Will I continueto attend?You bet. Since1987
Scarespeciarties supportshi#;1"tr#J:::#lli";111,["i:ilft#?r" 2r,tcentury). wesuppryyour miniatue military needsfor WWI and WWII, and beyond.We carry the leadingmanufacturers of microarmor, as well as the new 15mmremastered Minifig Feudalline. We havePerrin's 10mmWWII figures andthe entire new Minifig 10mmSamurai range. Don't forget ScaleSpecialties own line of decalsfor your land and air forces.Check out our greatstock of rare WWII and Modern armor books. New WWII uniform guidesand armortech manualsfrom Polandhave just arrived. We also havethe new 3'dEdition of GeneralQuarters.
Sigred Military Art "GermanU Boat U123" by Buck Braden.Signed and numberedby the artist and signedby I(K ReinhardHardegen.
"GermanRocket Fighter ME163" by Lonnie Ortega.Signed and numberedby the artist and signedby Wolfgang Spaete.
Visit our electronicstore and seenot only the goodieswe haveto offer in our catalog,but browsethe samplings of our many publications.We havein stock the 5t Edition of JapaneseArmor and Self-PropelledArtillery!!
ScaleSpeialties Telephoneus (714) 553-7486 PO Box 4996 Email us at [email protected]^t Anaheim,Califomia Seeour Websitehttulu|llllls:rmscqm 92803-4996
THE WARHOUSE IF YOU CA]\'T FIND IT HERE, IT PROBABLYDOESN'T EXIST! Remember,HMGS membersreceive a speciall0% discounton regularly priced items
630 WestWillow Street Telephoneus at (562) 424-3180 Long Beach,Califomia 90806 Email; [email protected] The California Mission
In 1769Catholic priest FatherJunipero Serra began, along with his fellow Franciscanmonks, a questto build a string of Catholic missionsalong the west coastof America. Thesemissions grew into morethan simple cathedrals.With their military garrisons, they quickly becameimportant centers of leaming, agriculture,trade and the true beginningsof Califomia history.
Pleasesend your ad to [email protected] mail it to our HMGS/PSWPO Box-There is no costfor yourad.
For Sale: I have putmy 15mmMujahideen army for AK47 upfor sale.I don'tthink I willcomplete the armyand I am wonderingif there is a wargamerwho wouldbe interestedin buyingit. I have severalpacks of unpaintedHardened Militia and otherMujahideen. I will acceptreasonable offers. Pleasefeel free to emailor call me. DavidPeters 818-957-0686 after 5:00PM or [email protected]
For Sale: I havea 1OmmAncient Roman army up for saleon ebay.There is 1,335points in the army.Ebay id# 230059148183.Please take a look.I also hopeto havethese figures in full productionsometime in the newyear. Stephen oates@vahoo,com
Wanted: l'm attemptingto balancemy forcesa littleand am lookingfor 8 FoundryBeluchi sword and shieldmen. I haveeither 8 FoundrySikh guide infantry in NW frontieruniform (with fur trim) mounted on washers and primed white as trade, or I can pay by paypal. Lel if anyone is interestedlet me know.Thanks. [email protected]
For Sale: I live in Tucsonand lurk heremore than I game.Myname is Miehaeland Fcastminfatures as a hobby.lown severalold lines,mostly Heritage 25mm. I ownthe old 1970'sRal Partha 1Smm Napoleonicsline and haven'thad the time latelyto makeor promoteit. I am consideringselling the line (lP rights,molds, masters) to furtherepand my 25mmfantasy offerings. lf anyonehas an interestlet me know.My samplesite is@ my emailis [email protected]
For Sale: I havea collectionof books,rules, and gamingmagazines up for sale. I knowl'll neverget a chanceto gameall the rulesI own,and the booksand magazinesmust go to makeroom. I also havea crmplete28mm Medieval Arab armyfor sale.Come by my Riversideshop to take a look. Emailis
A Question on Aquebuses byEd Forbes
Whatdoes an Arquebussound like whenit l-rres?Does it soundlike a modemrille shot?
I own a selectionofboth modemand vintageweapons, and so I have someexperience conceming this question.I do not own a replica arquebus,but I do own a wheel-lock.The only differencebetween these two is the methodof ignition. An arquebuswould soundquite different from a modemrifle shot mainly due to the differencesin the speedof the projectiles.Most modemrifle and pistol bullets exceedthe speedof soundand so they project a much higher frequencyofnoise. You hearthe distinctive "crack" when they breakthe sound barrier. A modemshotgun and an arguebuswould be aboutthe sameas they both are sub speedprojectiles. A modernblack powdershotgun and a renaissancearquebus would soundfunctionally identical in the soundthey produce,except for the small differencesseen in the wider rangeof powdermixes that existedin the early developmentof gun powder. Orc Con 2007 February 16thto 19'h 2007at the Westin llotel in Los Angeles
Run an Event.
Ifyou want to run/GM yow own event,then enter its information hereand submit it. If the dept headapproves it, it will go live on the site.Not all information is needed,as not everythingapplies to any given event,but make sureyou fill out as much as you can. It will increaseyour oddsof getting your eventapproved. Dept Mnhtures :l Iitle GameSystem Desc J
J ..l I _rl GMName: (RPCOnly) Frilay,February 16 StartTime . I I I r l oo nu e:l -l:-l | -Jl-ll SetupTime o Mio Est.Duration il"o*rfil* Max Players n - (0 = Unlimited) llo Ioumey? :l Yes For Kids? :l lrto Private? :l Any Maturity :l Experience B€ginner JJ o PlayersPer Board (o : uoli-it"d) Rect Iable Type :J
-{fter filling out this form, pleasesend it to JoseMendiola, Miniatures Co-ordinatorc/o Strategicon P.O.Box 92103Long Beach, Califomia 90809. If you prefera fasterreply email us at www.strategicon.net
Good Luck to all. Hr srd Hi UXH,' tliti$'lH'ilfi Ssl Bfiittk * J" PACIFIC SOf]ITII WEST CIIAP{IIER P.O. BOX 701 NORWALK. CALIT'ORNIA 90651-O701
MichaelVeritY 9025Rathburn Ave. Northridge,CA 91325
Los AngelesRoman Legion reinactors(Legio VI VICTRIX) As they preparefor their weekly marchthrough Grifftth Park.