Upcoming Flames of War Events in Regina Area: 2016

[Lance]

August Anvil Tournament
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
@ 9am to 1730 on Saturday August 20th 2016
♥ $5.00 entry fee
♣ 1500 Early War Armies
♠ lists are due on or before August 6th; please send to cigamnogard@sasktel.net
♦ http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&aff=14&aft=573631&afv=topic

Results:
August Anvil   Player Name   Army   Position
Sean Froc   British   1
Tim Miller   Soviet   2
Lorne Sveinbjornson   Italian   3
Shaun Webster   German   4
Dana Madsen   Finnish   5
Shawn Morris   French   6
Chris Mueller   French   7
Wayne Gardner   Soviet   8
Matt Valgardson German   9
Jace Pippin          French   9
Doug    Indian (British)   9
Stephane Verreault    German   12
Lance Mathew   Greek   13

[Lance]

Demo -> MWWII (Mid War)
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
September 7th
From 1815-2015 (615pm to 815pm)
1,000 point armies provided by FoW Regina Rifles

September 7th, 2016
FoW Demo: Mid War
By Lance Mathew

Another quiet demo – let us call it a phony war demo. Again, I arrived early and again waited patiently to show anyone how to play this fantastic game. But, all for naught - every first Wednesday of the month rain, cold, sickness, and even other commitments I have been at Tramp's to demonstrate Flames of War.

I am on multiple websites, write for a Saskgames Newsletter, have oodles of black and pink business cards, have a huge black and pink banner, Cupcake talks me up and hands out cards, but the last few months I have struck out at having anyone to demo with. I used to have pretty good results.

Wondering what I could be doing wrong? Someone much wiser than me once said insanity is where you do the same thing over and over again expecting different results. So, I need to change things up.

•   I have gotten Tramp's to have a sign-up sheet near the Flames of War section.
•    I have personally invited a few onlookers and given them FoW business cards when they were checking things out at the last tournament.
•   I have signed up on a few new websites and Facebook groups.

Hopefully, things change with the weather turning colder and people begin to look more indoors for hobbies to play. Meanwhile, if you ae looking to try out Flames of War – I am at Tramp's every first Wednesday of the Month but I would be happy to demo anytime – please e-mail me at cigamnogard@sasktel.net

[Lance]

Beer, BBQ, & 'Nam
@ Michael's Place
September 10th
From 1000-1700
2,000 point NVA armies
1,500 point Free World's armies

Beer, BBQ, & 'Nam
September, 10th 2016
By Lance Mathew

In my honest opinion the Vietnam Flames of War era is a beer and pretzels game – well it's a theory.  What I mean by that it is the most laid back and casual game experience: the Nationalists, Việt cộng and PAVN, mostly auto respawn; in slight contrast to the Free World's players who mostly are wounded instead of KIA. Personally, I feel the Vietnam era is more suited for a larger game experience compared to one on one games. And, to test my theory my fellow Tour of Duty players invaded Michael's garage – by invitation of course!

Michael is the newest member of our 'Nam group – his list is comprised of Brown Water Navy boats of which he is still getting a feel for. Jace has also now switched teams and is running an ANZAC Cavalry list of interesting M113s. Chris is still flying high with his 'Merikan Chuppas also known as Sky Soldiers.  And, I am still slogging in da bush with my ANZAC infantry. Since we outnumbered the Nationalists we each had a 1,500 point list. Not to be outdone each of the three Nationalists had a 2,000 point lists to defeat the Capitalist dogs with. Matt rumbled forth with his Ironclad NVA list. Sean had his black pajama wearing Việt cộng  and regular forces Sappers somewhere near our wire. And, Brody assembled two full PAVN companies with as much artillery as possible. 

Michael laid out two 4 x 6 tables side by side with a two parallel tributaries connecting a main river junction which broke up the dense jungle terrain. Two small villages were located - one on the north side and the other opposite on the south side of the table. As the attackers in the scenario the Free Worlders deployed on the table moving up to search the objectives.  As par for the course the Guerrilla Forces of the NVA sprang out of ambush to cause mayhem and destruction. Matt's Ironclad K-2s appeared along the river, Sean sprang his Việt cộng behind Jace and off Michael's starboard side and Brody bushwhacked my ANZAC by dominating the woods in front of me. Brody also did his best to range in his batteries on to Michael's boats and cause as much fire and confusion as possible. 

For the most part the Free World's Players were able to weather the storm of fire but Jace had lost a Koala (aka Centurion MBT) and a few M113s – his Tour of Duty 'luck' had continued to follow him. The Free World's counter attack was mostly ineffective except for Sean's Việt cộng which took a pounding from Jace and Michael. Matt had nothing to fear from my Koala who seemed to have problems figuring out which tank to shoot at on the far bank and whiffed most of his/my rolls all day.

Michael's Seal teams faced Sean's Sapper patrol for control of the centre of the board. The odds were heavily in Sean's favor in that fight so Chris and my Chuppas raced to offer support. Blasting away Chris and I thinned down the patrol and pinned the enemy down. However, Brody dropped multiple munitions on to our helos and Matt even .50 caled down a chuppa or three. The Free World's airpower was strewn across the battlefield and a Hog was even at the bottom of a tributary.

The NVA were rapidly gaining the upper hand and continued to pour fire on their outnumbered opponents; turn after turn the NVA seemed to heading for their first win. Then disaster struck – the fickle dice gods betrayed Matt – most of Matt's intact but simply bailed out BTR-50PKs failed their Fearless motivation check and fled leaving the North side of the table in the Free World's hands. It was a stunning reversal of fortune and decidedly gave the Free World's players a narrow win.

It had been a great day – awesome food, great conversation, plenty of fun dice rolling, and an awesome group of guys to hang out with! The theory had proved plausible; pretty sure we will have to test its mettle a few more times before we can mark it off as confirmed!

[Lance]

Tournament -> September Seconds MWWII (Mid War)
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
-September 24th
-9am till 1730
♠1,250 point armies with 150 points shared (1100 & 1400)
♠ Axis versus Allies (no red & blue teams)
♥$5.00 entry fee per player
•please submit lists no later than September 10th to cigamnogard@sasktel.net
♦http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&afv=topic&aff=14&aft=573795

Results (already submitted to WWPD Rankings Canada):
September Seconds   9/24/2016   3
Player Name   Army   Position
Tim Miller           Soviet   1
Shawn Morris   Soviet   1
Jace Pippin      Romanian   1
Lance Mathew   Italian   1
Sean Froc          British   5
Stephen B     USA      5
Brody Mazurick   German   7
Kip Kyle          German   7
Chris Mueller   German   9
Michael Yule   German   9
Brandon W    Canadian   9
Tyler H         Canadian   9

[Lance]

Demonstration Game / Total War -> Early War Invasion of France
Title: Case Yellow
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
October 1st - 1030am to 1630 (1030am to 430pm)
1,450 point armies {Germans limited to Tank & Mechanized / British & French no limit to lists}
* please send lists 2 weeks prior to game day to cigamnogard@sasktel.net
♣ http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&afv=topic&aff=14&aft=573791

Case Yellow
October 1st, 2016
By Lance Mathew

Another successful mega game known as Total War for Flames of War transpired at Tramp's Comics and Games on October 1st, 2016. This event was entitled the Case Yellow.  Historically, Case Yellow was a massive operation launched by Nazi Germany against France and its Allies.  As per usual whenever the FoW Regina Rifles runs these large Demonstration games we get people coming over to see what is happening; having cute looking tanks on a large table never fails to impress.  We had several people stop by to check out the action; three of them took my business cards and will hopefully set up a demo game in the future. 

Lorne and Sean both played British Guards and each had similar list; with minor support differences.  Not to be out done Matt and I both played Panzergrenadier lists – again very similar.  Only a single platoon of French tanks was used and they were one of the last platoons to hit the table – what can I say -> historically accurate? Well...maybe.

Matt and I rolled higher and took the table side we wanted as well as the first turn. Both of us charged our respective 251s down our respective roads.  Meanwhile, my 2IC (second in command) sped off towards a nearby objective which my reserves would double behind him. Our first turn went splendidly and not much happened from the Phony side of the Allied table on their first turn as they did not get any reserves however they were successful in killing my HMG (Heavy Machine Gun) team and pinning my doubling platoon.

Matt and my second turn saw Matt getting reserves but nothing for me. Sean had moved up his Matilda tanks towards Matt's middle objective but Lorne had failed to do move forward. Both Matt and I sent in our planes to take advantage of Lorne's concentration of forces, but were mostly ineffective. On the Allies turn the pivotal part of the game occurred – Sean rolled in his Recce Universal Carrier troop. He machine gunned away at my artillery guarding my back objective and charged in! His assault was highly effective killing two gun teams and contesting the objective. That single point would make all the difference.

Now, how could a single point make a difference? In Total War the game is scored by points you receive from holding an objective. There are six objectives on the table; two in each of the deployment zones and two in the centre. By losing or better yet not gaining a point for two turns will and did cost Matt and me the game. That being said we managed to break for lunch – which was not rushed and we were all able to enjoy a sit down and a chance to chat about our lives and of course – Flames of War.

After lunch we resumed the game but that two points was kept and held by the Allies and the Axis were never able to catch up and by the end of the battle the lead had even increased to three points! Ah well – a great time was had by all. I was able to hand out a bunch of black and pink business cards. Thanks again to all the players and if you are interested in a game -> please e-mail me at cigamnogard@sasktel.net

[Lance]

Demo -> LWWII (Late War World War II)
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
October 5th - 1815-2015 (615pm to 815pm)
1,000 point armies provided by FoW Regina Rifles

First Wednesday of Every Month
October 5th, 2016
By Lance Mathew

I arrived exactly on time – well I had been about fifteen minutes early but I went and grabbed a warm drink as it was snowing like crazy! Yes, the first week in October with snow on the ground – loud audible sigh. Meanwhile, I was prepped and ready to go for the Late World War II Demo.  However, with the nasty weather I settled down to expect another wasted night of not demoing Flames of War. Which was very disappointing as Late World War II is the most popular.

As I was walking in with my French Vanilla Latte I saw Brad killing time. I have tried to recruit Brad before both for Flames of War and Battletech. He has always seemed interested but the stars have never aligned to allow it happen. 

I am happy to say today the stars planets and moons unleashed the Kraken! Brad went with the Soviet Peredovye Otryad (Forward Detachment) which has the Always Attack rule while I went with German Sperrverband. Brad at first was unsure which objective he should smash so almost went with every beginner's first instinct – smash both! I looked at him and shook my head saying, "please heed my advice - concentrate your forces on one and use the terrain to your advantage. This is not a shooting game but a tactical game."

So, Brad listened to my advice blasting my 8.8s with his M3 Lees and then sent in his infantry to crash into my pioneers. My small line of gray infantry stood no chance against his red horde!

We both had a great time and Brad shared with me stories of him playing around on a real tank and how his grandfather had told him to work the hatches. I found the stories extremely interesting and hope to hear more!

Our next event is Tanksgiving on October 22nd at Tramp's Comics & Games – come on out and check it out! Hope to see you there!

[Lance]

Tanksgiving!
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
- October 22nd
- 1030am-1630
♠1,555 point Late War tank armies

Tanksgiving
October 22nd, 2016
By Lance Mathew

Another successful mega game known as Tanksgiving, very similar to Total War, for Flames of War transpired at Tramp's Comics and Games on October  22nd, 2016. This event was entitled Tanksgiving. As you may have guessed it the forces brought must be at their core a tank company. This was the second annual Tansgiving for the Flames of War Regina Rifles. We had such a good time mixing red (Axis) and blue (Allied) versus blue and red last year that we decided to it again this year. This year Alex, Brody, Doug, and Jason made up one team while Matt, Michael, and myself made up the opposing team.

Last year the Big Cats dominated the field destroying everything in sight. This year there was only a single JagTiger list, brought by Brody, and another that had a mix of mark IVs and mark Vs (aka Panthers), brought by Jason, and a mix of Tiger 1Ps Elephants, brought by Michael, and the rest were almost all medium tanks lists. The most dangerous medium list I thought was Alex's Pershings, Easy 8's, and Jumbos. However, I had underestimated Doug's Chafee list which zipped across the board and seemed to lead a charmed life. I firmly expected Matt's S.A.R (South Albertan Regiment) to dominate but facing four players he was stopped cold. And, for my list – it was the exact opposite I had brought mostly EW (early war) tanks to a LW (late war) fight; now, that being I had brought enough artillery to give me a devastating bombardment template of AT5 2+ Firepower.

Outnumbered Matt, Michael, and myself were the defenders facing a hard charging force. Brody was their team captain and he pushed his troops hard, mayhap a little too hard for a fun game. But, in the end they dominated the game killing more platoons and getting more objectives than we did. At one point in the game it was 22 to 14! Hard to argue with results and everyone had a good time. Michael was able to delay their horde coming down the middle with his interlocking 40" fields of fire but the lack of AA was our downfall as their planes steaked in slowly knocking out our tanks one by one. My large template eventually had to be split up to cover all the avenues of approach and became very ineffective.

What can I say it was a good day! We had two new players – Alex and his dad Jason meet up with our group and play out a fun game. We gave out some prize support that Matthew our Battlefront rep had sent us. And Doug also got to finally play in his mega game.

Of course we also handed out Flames of War Regina Rifles business cards and let a bunch of onlookers/spectators know about the game – always a win win! And, if you are reading this and interested in a demo let me know by e-mailing cigamnogard@sasktel.net or by showing up at Tramp's Comics and Games when we do a demo like we do the first Wednesday night of every month! Hope to see you there!

[Lance]

Demo -> November 'Nam
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
November 2nd - 1815-2015 (615pm to 815pm)
1,000 point armies provided by FoW Regina Rifles
♣ http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&aff=14&aft=573792&afv=topic

First Wednesday of Every Month
November 2nd, 2016
By Lance Mathew

I arrived exactly on time – well I was early – about fifteen minutes early. I looked around it was a very quiet at Tramp's but it was supper time so began to set up. I went looking for the sign-up sheet unfortunately I could not find it anywhere. I put out all the ANZAC with their chuppas and the PAVN; which is what I have for the Tour of Duty also known as Flames of War Vietnam.

I waited patiently for anyone to show up. I had even posted on the Sask Games Forum that I would bring any other era – so I had brought my Late War tank heavy demo kit as well. No one showed and other than the Wednesday D & D crowd downstairs it was pretty quiet.

With the foot traffic quiet I began to think about the family vacation to Edmonton. We were of course all participating in Danny's annual Remembrance Weekend tournament. And, when I say we I mean –> Cupcake and her Finnish, –>Levi, my son, with his Red Banner Soviets, –> Brody, my younger son with his German StuGs, –> and me with my German Panzergrenadier Lehr. Of course we had shopping and West Ed trips planned as well. Wish us luck!

No one did show up. I picked up a couple of blisters to quickly assemble for the Edmonton tournament and said good night to the Tramp's staff.

[Lance]

Demo -> AIW (Arab Israeli War)
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
December 7th
1815-2015 (615pm to 815pm)
1,100 point armies provided by FoW Regina Rifles

Flames of War Demo - First Wednesday of Every Month
December 7th, 2016
By Lance Mathew

With the weather at -31˚C; it was cold and the temperature did not instill in me that anyone would be showing up for the AIW (Arab-Israeli Wars) Demo. I was wrong – sometimes I like being wrong – both, Kyle and Michael had braved the bitter cold to come and try out the most lethal era of Flames of War. While I consider Vietnam a Beer and Pretzels type of Flames of War I firmly believe that AIW is the most unforgiving and lethal era for Flames of War – of course I love it!

Coincidently Michael only had about ten to fifteen minutes – I said that's all you need for AIW. He seemed a little doubtful but was completely convinced by turn two when six out of his eight IDF (Israeli Defense Force) tanks were brewed up on the table. Kyle who normally plays IDF faced off against him with my Jordanians. Kyle has been on the receiving end of my Jordanians a few times and was eager to try them out. Kyle wasted no time in showing off what he had learned – to Michael's dismay.

After Michael had gone Kyle and I discussed the Turan tank. Kyle is very interested in making an AIW list of them but so far Battlefront has yet to move on from the 6 Day War to the Yom Kippur/October War. The Turan tanks were captured T55 that were up-gunned by the IDF. Kyle has already purchased the T55s and has gotten some extra up-gunned barrels from my parts bits cache. We also discussed Mid War moving into Flames of War Version Four and are curious to see where it is going.

Finally it was running late so I headed home to Cupcake and Minnie-me. Cupcake had been crocheting and Minnie-me had been constructing Hind helicopters.

[Lance]

Tournament->December Duels
@ Tramp's Comics & Games
@ 9am to 1730 on Saturday December 10th 2016
♠ 1500 EW armies
♣lists are due on or before November 25th; please send to cigamnogard@sasktel.net
♥$5.00 entry fee
♦ http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&afv=topic&aff=14&aft=573794

Results are in and submitted to WWPD:

December Duels   12/10/2016   3
Player Name   Army   Position
Shawn Webster   German   1
Jace Pippin   Italian   2
Shawn Morris   French   3
Brody Mazurick   Soviet   4
Lorne Sveinbjornson   Italian   5
Brendon MacLeod   Japanese   6
Justin Scherban   German   7
Alex Berkan   French   8
Lance Mathew   Greek   9