Wargames Among the Warplanes, Spring 2025 Show

 I had an absolutely amazing time today at Wargames Among the Warplanes, a twice-annual 1-day event held at the National Warplanes Museum in beautiful Geneseo, New York. I went to college in Geneseo, and never knew there was a warplanes museum five minutes from campus, until now. 

Truth be told, I almost didn't make it to the show today - in the past week I've pinched a nerve in my shoulder and had my car break down (was thankfully able to get it repaired - to the tune of $1500 - on Thursday!) and this morning I woke up queasy, with last night's dinner disagreeing vigorously. I'm so glad I soldiered through and made it though. 

I ran a homebrew scenario for Fistful of Lead for four players, with me just standing to the side and refereeing. Here's the precis the players were given:

 Angela Dellamorte, the daughter of the head of the Dellamorte crime family, has been kidnapped by the Jamaican Kings, an upstart gang newly arrived in town. Her father has tasked his top lieutenants with getting her back and punishing her kidnappers. The lieutenants see an opportunity to get each other out of the way and ensure their own advancement in the family. After all, once the bullets start flying, who's to say who shot who?  

Everyone except the Jamaicans were armed exclusively with short-range weapons - pistols, submachine guns, and shotguns. The Jamaicans had a trio of submachine guns, as well as an automatic rifle and a LMG being carried by their hulking behemoth of a leader. I figured the Jamaicans could stand to have a little extra firepower since they were under siege and outnumbered, and the shorter ranges would make players move their figures around the board instead of just hunkering down and sniping at each other.

Additionally, there were a few side-missions that could be undertaken for additional victory points - collecting pallets of laundered money and hard drugs and carrying them off the table, giving a sympathetic interview with the TV news crew, and trading in their small arms for an unlicensed automatic rifle from the guy running the fireworks stand. 

Not to toot my own horn too hard or anything, but my table looked great and I got a ton of compliments on my terrain and my figures as well, which felt really good. 

To my very great surprise, I actually had more buildings than would fit on the table. Go me!

The players had a great time, especially once they learned they could hotwire the various vehicles on the table and go on vehicular manslaughter joyrides. One gang quickly piled into the Taco Truck and went on an absolute rampage of destruction before totaling it against the front of the bingo hall. Most of the pictures I took were of that rampage:

Get in, youse guys, we're going on a rampage.

They didn't even run these guys over, just gave 'em a driveby shotgunning.

Ramming speed!

The destruction smelled amazing, though.

The mobster known as "Fat Paulie" was ultimately the winner - having rescued Angela Dellamorte, put two rival gang leaders (and most of their henchmen) out of action, and having a gang member upgrade their weapon at the fireworks stand. The Jamaicans came in second place, having given an interview and collected the laundered money.

Make sure you get my good side, or you'll get on my bad side!

All Paulie is thinking about is the tragic destruction of the taco truck.

I didn't play in anybody else's games (though there was a biplanes vs. King Kong game I would have loved to have played), simply because I had a very long commute and my game took three hours to play through. I did walk around during the lunch break though and took a look at some beautiful tables.

I also had a couple people encourage me to bring my game, or something similar, to Running GAGG - the annual gaming convention put on by the gaming club at the college, which I've been attending for the past 20 years - next year, to increase the number of wargames being played there, and to better promote "Hey! There's more to wargaming than just Warhammer!" to the next generation of gamers. I'm open to the idea, but I might choose to bring something where I don't need a giant tote bin of terrain and can run 30-minute demo games instead of one 3-hour scenario. 

***

Today was really, really good for me. Like, being at Wargames Among the Warplanes today nourished my soul. I've taken a few knocks in the hobby lately - some verbal scrapping with people who think I'm an elitist for wanting to play with painted miniatures, people telling me that seeing my painted miniatures makes them feel bad about their own painting, and so, so, so many people who think tournament Warhammer is the alpha and omega of miniatures wargaming and refuse to even acknowledge that anything else exists. 

It gets discouraging after a while to be steeped in all that, but the congenial atmosphere, good sportsmanship, and just general community spirit I saw today - I helped carry drinks and snacks from the organizer's car into the venue, and had offers to help me carry my tote bins of stuff back to my car when I'd packed up - was reaffirming. This is what I want out of the wargaming hobby. I want more of this atmosphere, this community. I want to spend more time surrounded by people who just want to have a few laughs pushing painted figures around on a table with some nice terrain on it. 

And I'm going to get it. Because in chatting with the organizer, he asked if I'd be open to doing more wargaming outreach-type programs like this. He was so happy to see me add Fistful of Lead to the schedule, because he's played it before and thinks it's a great game, and regretted that he had administrative work to do alongside refereeing a Bolt Action tournament that forced him to miss out on playing it. He mentioned how happy it made him that everybody brought painted figures and terrain to the event today; there was no bare plastic or metal to be seen anywhere except the flea market table. Hearing him say that was music to my ears and affirmed that I was among my tribe. 

Plus, I bought a T-shirt so I'm now officially part of the Greater Niagara Wargamers; next up will be joining the organizer's club, the Whiskey 7 Wargamers. They've got snappy short-sleeve button-down shirts with embroidered club logos. 

I'm excited for the next show, and for what the future holds. 

organizer's photo of me talking through some of the rules with some of my attendees.

Continuing the Wolf Clan

 The last figures I needed for the Wolf Clan, my Cro-Magnon warband for Mana Press' game Tribal arrived today! With my miniatures and terrain all finished for Wargames Among the Warplanes, I'm ready to take a break from modern stuff and spend some time in another era - in this case, the Paleolithic. I paused work on the Wolf Clan while getting things ready for Saturday, but I resumed work on the two units I'd started last month tonight.

They're an exercise in earth-tones, that's for sure. 

At this point, it's pouches, shoes, wrist- and leg-wraps and weapons left to go on these 12. One or two more sessions should be all I need to finish them up. Maybe a third session for bases. 

After this, I've got another unit of five warriors to clean up, base and get primed, along with my new warlord:

Doesn't that just scream "I am MAN! Pointy tip of the food chain!" to you? Tribal calls for characters to be on larger bases, so he's on a 40mm round built up with cork. 

Fistful of Lead: Grace Under Fire

 I managed to squeak in a second solo game of Fistful of Lead today, meaning I'm still meeting my self-imposed quota of a minimum of two games a month. One week from today I'll be at Wargames Among the Warplanes, so I laid out some of the modern terrain I've painted recently and got out two of the gangs I'll be taking to that event to test-drive. For a scenario, I reached for my copy of Osprey's "Rogue Stars," by Andrea Sfiligoi. Using the random scenario charts in there, I came up with a Rescue Mission, in a city setting, with a complication of flammable atmosphere.

That came together nicely - the Jamaican Kings gang needed to rescue one of their members from behind a police cordon. Complicating the situation, a broken gas main makes every gunshot a potential explosion. 

"This much space would be $1500/month to rent."

The police would be at -2 to Shoot for the first two turns of the game due to civilians in the area; by the beginning of turn 3, all civilians would have left or taken cover and the penalty would be lifted. For this game, rolling a 1 on a Shoot roll wouldn't result in going Out of Ammo. Instead, it would trigger an explosion - a 5" template would be centered over the shooter, and everyone under it would roll on the Wound chart at +1 to see how much damage they took. 

The first turn was uneventful, with the police largely milling around and the Kings advancing towards the cordon. Winston rounded a corner and made eye contact with officer Beck. The second round opened with her moving into short range and taking a shot, putting him down with a Wound.

Meanwhile, Rosemary entered the pawn shop through the back door and took a shot at officer Rosina through the glass, putting a Shock token on him and sending him running for cover. Delilah moved forward through the alley between the pawn shop and the gas station, and was shot by the police sniper, Ed, who put her Out of Action. 

Garfield, the Kings' leader, moved forward and found himself in a shoving match with officer Scott, a kevlar-clad behemoth as big as he was. The battering ram the SWAT officer was swinging around as a weapon really stung, dealing two Shock tokens with each successful hit.

Winston activated with a Queen of Hearts, shaking off the Wound, standing up and charging officer Beck, putting a Shock token on her. Captain Riggs charged into the pawn shop after Rosemary, arresting her and putting her Out of Action. 

Garfield took another two Shock tokens, only remaining on the board because his "Large" trait gave him four Wounds instead of the usual three. Pushed back by Scott, he unslung his heavy machine gun and opened fire on Scott and Rosina. Winston, knocking Beck out, moved up to join him.

Ed, the sniper, moved into position and shot Garfield in the back, putting him Out of Action (and at this point I'm getting a little frustrated that no one's rolled a 1 while Shooting!)

Winston put more hurt on both Scott and Rosina. Ed took a shot at Winston, who dove for cover behind some crashed cars.

Scott and Rosina tried to make Recovery rolls to stand up despite their wounds, but both not only failed, but bled out! 

Using the freight truck for cover, Winston darted for the Fireworks Stand where Jammin' Trevor was hiding out. Riggs tried to shoot at him but missed wildly. Diving inside, he pulled Trevor to his feet. A rescue had been performed, now to get out!

Riggs tried shooting at the two of them through the open window of the Fireworks Stand and...ROLLED A 1! FINALLY! Normally I roll 2-3 "1s" on Shooting rolls in any given game so I was very surprised it wasn't happening here. He was the only one in range of the explosion and blew himself up, scoring a "9" on the Wound roll for an Out of Action result. 

As Ed rounded the corner, he found himself faced with two angry gang members. Trevor Wounded him and knocked him down, and the two surviving gang members used the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat before reinforcements showed up...

This is what I love about Fistful of Lead. When Delilah and Rosemary were put Out of Action, I felt certain that the Jamaican Kings would lose. They were starting at a disadvantage with one character unavailable until rescued, and losing half their viable crew that fast, I was confident they wouldn't win. So for it to turn around like that was a really nice surprise. 

I think the scenario worked well, though the shooting penalty for the police on the first two turns didn't really come into play at all. I would have been really disappointed if nobody had rolled a 1 while Shooting; like I said, it normally happens 2-3 times a game so I was surprised that it wasn't happening. Luckily, we did finally get that gas explosion and it was pretty satisfying - and helped turn the tide and help the Kings win. 

I'm feeling really good about bringing Fistful of Lead to Wargames Among the Warplanes next week after these practice games. And I'm in the home stretch for painting terrain pieces...I think.

Figures Purchased in 2025: 77

Figures Painted in 2025: 85

More Buildings Finished (Plus New Acquisitions)

 I've finished the last two buildings that my friend Dave printed for me - "PayMore Shoes" and "TeeVee Shak," being nods to the brands "Payless Shoes" and "Radio Shack," respectively. These are pretty simple paint jobs done almost entirely with spray paint and cheap craft store acrylics, and I'm not going to do detailed interiors for them at all. They're good table fillers though! 

Secondly, I got some goodies in the mail today from Badger Games - I'd ordered some more of The Assault Group's Modern Africa figures to round out my collection with another character and some militia with heavy weapons. I also got a pack of "Diplomats/Politicians" to use as objectives in games, and a pair of Crocodiles from Wargames Foundry - one of which will go in the swimming pool Gina got me, and the other will be based up and included in my Cobra forces to go with the character "Croc Master."

Which means it's time to update the tracker:

Figures Purchased in 2025: 77

Figures Painted in 2025: 85

GI Joe: Mission of Mercy

 I got the table cleared off today and set off for another solo game of Fistful of Lead; my first solo game since January, actually - and my first since we'd adopted Poppy, a young, energetic and curious cat. How was this going to go? 

I decided to get my GI Joes out for a game, and pulled together a scenario that would let me use some of the generic military terrain that my friend Dave gifted me. 

***

A French colony prior to WWII, Kalingaland was wracked by civil war between Soviet-backed rebels and the US-backed federal government until the fall of the USSR. Since then, the anti-democratic Kalinga Rouge rebels have received funding and armaments from the international terrorist organization known as COBRA. The garrison at a remote National Army base has been struck by a virulent new strain of sleeping sickness; the special missions force code-named GI Joe has been dispatched to deliver a cure. 

With the future of Kalingaland hanging in the balance, Cobra plots to prevent GI Joe from delivering the vital medication. Can they make it through Cobra's ambush in time?

***

The GI Joe team has to cross the table diagonally to reach the Kalingaland base. The character Lifeline is carrying the medications in his case; if he is put Out of Action before reaching the base, the game immediately ends in failure for the GI Joes. At each barracks (the quonset-style huts), Lifeline can attempt a 5+ Task roll to deliver the medication; success results in a Grunt Group of Kalingaland soldiers being deployed and an activation card for them added to the Joes' hand. 

GI Joe Team:

• Stalker (Leader; Ranger, Impervious, Camouflage) armed with a submachine gun
• Beachhead (Specialist; Indomitable, Infiltrator) armed with a submachine gun
• Lady Jaye (Regular; Dodge) armed with a pistol and explosive javelins
• Lifeline (Regular; Medic) armed with a pistol
• Airborne (Regular; Nerves of Steel) armed with an automatic rifle.

Cobra Team:

• Major Bludd (Leader; Deadeye, 9 Lives Tactician) armed with a pistol
• Storm Shadow (Specialist; Swordsman, Street Fighter) armed with a katana
• Copperhead (Regular; Brawler) armed with a submachine gun and a knife
• Cobra Officer (Regular; Slippery) armed with a pistol
• Cobra Troopers (Grunt Group; Tough as Nails) armed with automatic rifles

Using his "Infiltrator" trait, Beachhead took point, sticking close to a clump of trees and observing Cobra as the Troopers fanned out ahead of the named characters. Airborne moved up along the western river, sticking to the clusters of dense jungle, and took a quick shot at the Cobra Officer, startling him.

Beachhead got the Cobra Troopers in his sights and squeezed the trigger on his submachine gun, intending to catch them all in a hail of burst-fire. Except...click! Rolling a 1, he went Out of Ammo without effect. As the rest of the Joe team moved forward, Lady Jaye hurled an explosive javelin at the clustered Cobra troopers, putting one Out of Action and sending the rest scattering for cover. 

Meanwhile, Major Bludd swept forward, shooting Beachhead even as he was clearing the jammed mechanism. Beachhead went down with a Wound. Shrugging off his Shock token, the Cobra Officer charged Lifeline, intent on stopping him from delivering the medicine. 

"You can't stop me!" Lifeline yelled, aikido-flipping the Cobra Officer into the jungle mud and sending him Out of Action! 

Bypassing the wounded Beachhead, Storm Shadow charged Lady Jaye, putting a Wound on her and sending her to the ground. Airborne opened up with burst fire on Copperhead and a pair of Cobra Troopers, only managing to startle Copperhead; Cobra's Florida Man responded by moving up into range and shooting Airborne in the belly, putting him Out of Action. 

Lifeline made it past the fence into the army base, pursued by a pair of Cobra Troopers who opened fire on him; he took a Shock token but managed to dart into the first barracks. Stalker fired on the Troopers, sending them diving for cover, before getting attacked by Storm Shadow.

Unfortunately, that first round of fighting didn't go the way Storm Shadow expected - Stalker won the combat, dealing a Shock token to the ninja. Meanwhile, Beachhead managed to stand up, just in time for Major Bludd to charge him through the woods. Even injured, the Joe was more than a match for Cobra, knocking the Australian mercenary Out of Action! (I had forgotten about Major Bludd's "9 Lives" trait, which would have made a big difference here by converting this Out of Action result into a simple Wound.)

Lady Jaye struggled to her feet and hurled a javelin at Copperhead and some nearby Troopers, only managing to distribute some Shock tokens. Lifeline managed to wake up the first Grunt Group of Kalingaland soldiers, while Storm Shadow managed to get up and Wound Stalker. 

Beachhead used burst fire to try and take out Copperhead and one of the remaining Cobra troopers, only succeeding on eliminating the Trooper; Copperhead responded by charging and putting Beachhead Out of Action.

Switching to her pistol, Lady Jaye tried shooting Storm Shadow but rolled a 1, going Out of Ammo. Despite being Wounded, Stalker got back up and Wounded the Cobra ninja. Copperhead shot Lady Jaye in the back, putting her Out of Action, while Storm Shadow used a Ninja technique to feign death (he rolled a "1" on his Wound Recovery roll, going Out of Action).

With the first group of Kalingaland soldiers on their feet and fanning out of the camp, and Lifeline administering medication to the next group, Copperhead and the remaining Cobra trooper decided it was time to withdraw from the battlefield. Until next time...COBRAAAAA!

That was a really good game. I got some figures I hadn't played with before on the table (Stalker, Airborne, Copperhead, the Kalingaland soldiers) and it was a nice first outing for the terrain Dave had gifted me. Plus it was a nice refresher on Fistful of Lead before I go into Wargames Among the Warplanes in two weeks; I haven't had the free time to schedule a game with anyone lately, so I'll probably try to keep the table clear and set up again next week with some of the figures I'm using for that. 

And Poppy behaved himself and didn't insert himself into the middle of things, batting figures and terrain around! He jumped up on the table once, went "Nope, don't like this" and jumped right back down. 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 66

Figures Painted in 2025: 85