Enfilade 2017!

Enfilade, the convention of the Northwest Historical Miniature Gamer Society is held every Memorial Day weekend in Olympia, WA.  And every Memorial Day weekend for the last three years has found me there.  There were tons of great and imaginative games on offer in the main room, and I frenziedly snapped away with my camera whenever I got a break from hurling fistfuls of dice at the table.  I took a lot of pictures this weekend, more than in the past, and I'm throwing a bunch of them up here just for fun.  Enjoy.

First up, Doug and Seth ran a splendid Battle of Eckmuhl game, using their own rule set.  They always put on a fast, furious and fun game.

Some naive person put me in charge of Davout's enormous corps at the very heart of the French army.

Like some monster Oliphant, my horde fought its way up the table, annihilating my friend Ron's corps and - briefly- taking some of my objectives.  

The Austrians had done a good job at hollowing my formations out on my way there, however, and I turned out to be pretty easy prey when, in the game's final rounds, they threw their entire reserve at me and wiped me out.  Oh well.  Getting wiped out is always worth it if you can destroy one of your friends first.  Thanks to Doug and Seth for another terrific game.

 While the French and Austrians were kicking the hell out of each other, a pretty little dwarven civil war game was going on a table away.  The name of the game was "It all started with a labor dispute."

Reminds me of The Tragedy of Mcdeath....

 That wasn't the only underground battle being fought.   Here Germans are counterattacking in a large and lovely Vimy Ridge game that attracted a lot of attention.

great stuff.

 On Sunday Ron hosted an absolutely splendid Pulp Alley scenario.  Part Casablanca, Part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part ultra violence...

Evil Doers congregate in the warehouse.  This particular bunch never actually got around to doing any evil, but they certainly looked menacing enough.

To win, you have to successfully run some errands around town and then get your schweethheart to the plane before the Nazis take over.

My league was the Vichy French.I wad trying to get things in town more or less under control so as to keep the Germans off my back.

Rick kept following me around trying to talk me into letting him have the necessary paperwork to get himself and his dame out of Casablanca but, unsentimental swine that I was, I wasn't having any of it.

I had achieved all my objectives and was on my way to the plane when these yokels appeared in my path and started trying to kill all my guys!

The nerve!  After all, I was only trying to win.  Eventually I became irritated enough with them that I lost interest in winning and, out of sheer spite, focused on trying to kill them.

 Meanwhile the Brotherhood of the Crescent absconded with the Ark of the Covenant and flew away to win the game, which just goes to show me.

Whatever.  We headed back to Rick's place for a drink.

More below the fold....

Rogue Trader: Space Ork Rokkit Boys and Buzzsaw Boys

Time to add some specialist infantry to my Space Ork horde...one squad of close combat boys and one of heavy support....

I've equipped the Buzzsaw Boys and their nob with chainswords and bolt pistols...

...one fellow has a flamer...to toast the enemy a little before the Buzzsaw Boys make contact.

"Grr...Keep yer distance, you!"

Elsewhere on the field we have the Rokkit Boys...heavy support to clear the way for the advance of the horde...

  

 ...armed with, amoung other things, four of the deadly and versatile rokkit launchers the Orks so dearly love..   

"Smash!  Bang! Boom! Now 'have some fungus beer and enjoy da smoke n' flames.  Heh...Purty, dat!"

...of course the squad also needs a lot of other lads to carry ammo and pull security and stuff like that...

Anyway...big step forward on the Ork horde.  I still want to add two more squads of boys, two squads of Gretchin, a squad of power armored nobs, a dreadnought, a hop splat gun, warboss and a special cavalry unit.  That will about do it.

The grisly green gang so far!  64 foot figures, 5 bikes, a wartrakk and a battlewagon...not doing too bad!  'Ere we go!!

Rogue Trader: Inquisitor Byrne

Another member of the Inquisitorial team dispatched to The Wailing Reach during the 3rd 'Stealer war is shown here, having recently made Planet fall on Geminion Prime during the early phases of the struggle.

Inquisitor Claudius Byrne was the only member of the team to have the distinction of having fought in all three phases of the Genestealer conflict in the Wailing Reach.  Though at an advanced age when signs of a Genestealer  resurgence in the region became apparent, the aged Inquisitor came out of retirement to help 'finish the job' in the Wailing Reach once and for all.

Inquisitor Byrne arrived for the 3rd time on Geminion Prime with the same weapons that `had made him famous in his greener years, a combi-weapon incorporating a flamer and las pistol and a terrible Daemon weapon with a white hot edge.

Byrne was well known for his preference for fire-based weapons, firmly maintaining that 'That which has been shot, hewn, beaten or broken to pieces may yet return to life, but that which has been reduced to a pile of ash and char is far less likely to return to trouble The Emperor's peace."

He is shown here accompanied by two menacing henchmen` and one of the cherub constructs he preferred to use to simultaneously announce summons to trial, determination of guilt and passing of sentence upon heretics and aliens alike.

"This is your trial.  The verdict is guilty.  The sentence is fire."

Rogue Trader: Dead Men Space Marines Librarians and Cataphract Robot

From a manuscript discovered in the depths of the Scriptorum, The Emperor's Palace, Terra.

To:  His Excellency, The High Inquisitor Josephes T'Resque
From: Yacobe Scrivenius

Excellency:

Beneath my hand, a door of steel.  How thick?  A foot?  Two?  On the other side, passages to the upper world...ramps, stairs that should bear me up once more into the world of undying light could I but reach them.  But the door is shut.  And there is no other exit from this, my tomb.   I am not yet dead, yet truly I am a dead man.  All that remains is for my food and water to expire, and then will come an end.

I am still deep in researching the history and customs of the Dead Men Space Marines Chapter for you.  Shown within this set of datafaxes are two Librarians of the chapter and a Cataphract battle robot.

Attached here, please find a datafax image of the great Librarian Henc Morgunn.  Morgunn seems to have been a pivotal figure from the days of Battle Group Omega, and his name is still spoken with awe and reverence by all Dead Men.  It is from the writings of Librarian Morgunn and the great Chaplain Willym Pil Grimm that many of the doctrines of the Dead Men were formulated.  Morgunn is chiefly remembered now for a last stand made on a bridge against a horde of Space Orks amid the ruins of the first colony on Geminion Prime.  The image of the Great Librarian making his lone stand on a narrow bridge against impossible odds in order to buy time to allow settlers to escape is often repeated in the art and iconography of the Chapter.

Another, unnamed Librarian who often appears in photographs and datafaxes with Henc Morgunn.  The skeletal hand on his left shoulder plate and the skull on his visor mark him as having likely been a Librarian of The Death Eaters Space Marines before that chapter was dissolved and its survivors integrated into the Dead Men.  Obsolescent chapter imagery and symbols continued into the formation of the Dead Men, and this Librarian's appearance is actually not at all atypical of Dead Men Librarians of the present day.

Robots were in widespread use in Battle Group Omega during the heresy and many robots remained in service with the Dead Men long afterwards.  Some were made honorary Battle Brothers.  This Cataphract robot, named "Digitus Mortis" has a history of service with the 4th company that passes well beyond living memory.

Digitus Mortis...

...and friend...

...The faithful Tech marine.

Henc Morgunn on the fatal bridge on Geminion Prime...

"His wrath shall consume you...greenhide scum!!"

Warhammer Ancients Chariot Wars: Syrian-Hyksos Spearmen

Sunday evening brings the latest addition to my Chariot Wars Hittite army:  this regiment of Syrian/Hyksos/Canaanite spearmen.  My Hittite Warlord conquered the city of these warriors years ago, now they fight for him against Pharaoh's  armies.  And anyone else who's within reach.

Like the other models in my collection so far, these are 1990s Ral Partha figures.  Lovely sculpting on these.  Think I'm hitting my painting stride on the ancients, now.   I think this unit looks better than the other two I've one so far.

.I still have a squadron of Hittite chariots, a Hittite infantry regiment, the army commander and some skirmishers to finish before it'll be time to take a break from Hittites and spend some time on my Egyptians, but I'm making pretty good progress so far.

Painting these fellows has been fun.  All the sculpts have lots of life.

Have at you!

Precious little of Hyksos myth and folklore has come down to us, but ancient Hyksoi texts do speak of one terrifying night creature which haunted the lonely roads and highlands of the ancient near east, a giant 2 year old known only as Tom.   Here Tom is shown stalking his prey.  Alas for our poor spearmen.  They are surely doomed.