Another year has passed and What-Khan 2016 is in the books. While there were some hiccups it was another well organized well run event....Kudus to the What-Khan staff.
When I arrived Friday I was informed that this was the last year for What-Khan. Don't despair this is because the name will change back to Rock-CON which is was for many years. The dates will be 20-22 October 2017. Additionally, the venue is moving. This is due to the fact that the sports complex where it has been for years is undergoing an extensive remodel which included installing artificial turf throughout two weeks ago which made it less than ideal this year and will no longer be available for future years. The new venue is the Tebla Shrine Temple in Rockford.
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| Isandlwana set up |
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| Zulu, Thousands of them! |
After Setting up I was invited to join in a game of Mare Nostrum by Beth and Bob who I have played Wings of Glory with in the past. This game was a Kick Starter awhile back and I new little about it. It is set in Ancient Rome with the Mediterranean Sea map. Initially it reminded me of Conquest of The Empire or Civilization. It was very unique with its own special mechanics and multiple ways to win. I imagine that each game is very different. I was only able to play a couple hours before my game began, but it was great fun.
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| Mare Nostrum...a great game |
Link for Mare Nostrum
Once Mike arrived Dan and I helped him set up and judge his Naval Thunder game. We used the Battle of Cape Spartivento scenario from the Bitter Rivals book. This historical scenario pits the Italians against the British in the Med. We had a full table of gamers and the scenario played very well. In the future Mike would like to add destroyers to this game, but we were not quite ready yet. All in all a great game and everyone had a good time learning the rules.
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| Cape Spartivento |
Saturday morning kicked off with Dan running his Naval Thunder Battle of Guadalcanal. This is historical a night action which matches the American Battleships Washington and South Dakota with destroyer escorts against a IJN Cruisers and destroyer force which included the battle cruiser/ battleship Kirishima.
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| American Battleships |
Unlike History though the American Battleships were not able to take advantage of their superior fire power pummel the IJN force. Instead the IJN players including Phil were able to turn the tables with the use of the long lance torpedo and win a decisive victory for the Emperor.
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| Fleets Engage |
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| Fish in the water |
Again all involved had a great time. The Naval Thunder rules really excel in portraying the gun battles and work very well in a convention setting as they are easy to learn.
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| Bad night for the USN |
Saturday afternoon was time for Anglo-Zulu battle of Isandlwana run by Phil and I. Unfortunately Brian was not feeling well and was unable to make it.
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| Phil: "Well actually......" |
We had a full table of 12 players eager to resolve this battle. Two of the players were recruited over to help Phil and I run the Zulu. This is the 2nd time we have run this scenario using the Warlord Black Powder rule set. Black Powder works well, but it does require some tweaks to make this scenario work. Based on what we learned at Little Wars we decided to make a couple more modification.
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| Artillery Deployed |
1. Zulu did not suffer the affects of disorder when it came to movement. Even if disordered, Zulu could still make one move toward the enemy.
2. We had previously limited the British to one 12" move after we told them they could start retreating. This time we did not limit it to one move, but for infantry each move was limited to 6" instead of the normal 12.
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| Thin Red Line ready to face the unknown |
In the end these tweaks allowed the battle to develop faster as the Zulu did not get bogged down and the British could not flee as quickly once they were given the order.
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| Zulu massed to attack |
The scenario goal was to wipe out the British as happened historically, but we used the cooperative play mechanic from the Zulu supplement, so players scored points for each turn they stayed in the fight, successfully getting off the board and bonus points if their randomly picked cooperative unit also made it off the board.
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| "Here they come Lads!" |
The British had an excellent accounting in this game keeping the Zulu at bay for 6 plus turns. Unfortunately on Turn 7 Company F on the far left flank was trying to redeploy back and blundered resulting in a charge. They smashed two of the three Zulu units in front of them, but were now dreadfully exposed and eventually eliminated by the Zulu horde.
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| Holding the Line |
In the end the Zulu rolled through the camp as planned and there were 3 British units hanging on by the hill and road attempting to get off, but they were stuck. We called the game at that point and made them co-winners.
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| CHARGE? Which one of you blokes gave the order to charge? |
I felt that Little Wars went well, but this time it ran even better. No British successfully withdrew, but the game was much closer to a full conclusion at the 4 hour mark which was the intent. Even through we recycled the Zulu units we could probably use another 3-6 to get the full affect.
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| Sir, we just can't take anymore |
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| Orderly withdraw |
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| Zulu smell blood now |
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| For God's sake save the guns Man! |
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| In full retreat |
Once the game concluded I had plans to try and play in a game that evening, but clean up always takes longer than expected and I was exhausted, so Phil and I decided to call it a day after packing up.
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| The final stand |
I returned Sunday morning to run my last game of the weekend, WWII Wings of Glory. I set up a scenario, "Find the fleet" Premise as it is 1000hrs on 7 DEC 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor just took place. A lone P-40 is tailing the remnants of the Japanese attack force. In this scenario the USS Enterprise is much closer to Pearl Harbor and the furious Admiral Halsey is looking for an opportunity to deal and immediate counter blow if he can locate the IJN fleet.
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| P-40 Tails a flight of VALs |
I set it up to accommodate up to 12 players. Sunday is typically lightly attended, but I was able to recruit a few stragglers and ended up with 7 players which included a father with his 9 year old son. All were rookie pilots, but quickly caught on and a couple were aces by the conclusion of the battle.
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| CAP moves to intercept |
The P-40 was able to score 3 kills on the damaged Vals, but failed to follow their course to the edge of the table and therefore did not find the carriers just over the horizon. American reinforcements from USS Enterprise arrived on scene and made piece work of the zeros. In the end the IJN combat air patrol was able to beat back the Americans and keep the fleet safe.
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| Surrounded by Zeroes |
Most importantly all had a good time. Always a good sign when you take a break and players come back from the vendor area with the game and are discussing where they can buy it.
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| Help eventually arrived, but was met by a hail of 20mm cannon fire |
In addition to the three games I was directly involved in there were a ton of other events going on. What-Khan runs a very nice silent auction with buy out prices. I took two boxes worth to find better homes and only returned with one. I exercised great restraint in my purchases. There were several amazing deals including new Bolt Action Metal Infantry box sets with buy it now $20. Phil scored an assembled and painted M8 Greyhound for $10. I bought an assorted box of Soviet Team Yankee items that included multiple infantry companies, 7 Hind Helicopters, Afgansty rules, and the Team Yankee core book for $40.
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| Brian's score |
As usual they had a vendor area which seemed slightly expanded this year. What-Khan also conducted a door prize drawing which was bigger than usual. the organizers received so many donations they were able to support some games with a prize pick table which was greatly appreciated.
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| Vendor area |
Here are a variety of pictures of other games I captured throughout the weekend. Once again people went all out on some of the terrain
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| Age of Sail |
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| All Quiet on the Martian Front |
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| 15mm Pegasus Bridge |
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| Team Yankee in 6mm |
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| 1/1200 Goeben |
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| The Old West is becoming a popular Genre |
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| Armored assualt |
I am sure Phil and I will compare notes and do a recap on the next episode of the Northern front Podcast for any interested in more details.
The Northern Front Podcast
I look forward to attending ROCKCON next year and hope to see some of you there.
