Wargames Among the Warplanes Fall 2025

 Yesterday I spent a pleasant few hours at the National Warplanes Museum in Geneseo, NY, attending my second Wargames Among the Warplanes show (write-up of the first here). I was scheduled to run demos of "Perilous Tales," a solo/co-op game from Mike Hutchinson, the creator of Gaslands about heroes taking on supernatural threats and trying to fulfill objectives before time runs out. 

I'd optimistically hoped to squeeze three games into my time slot (9am to 1pm), but ultimately managed two; the first with three players, and the second with two (who stuck around from the first game). I did not take nearly enough photos.

The first match was against the Gargoyles, which in my experience have been a tricky villain to fight. The heroes had to Stop the Ritual, Rescue the Prisoner and Call for Help as their objectives. They opted to largely ignore the objectives and clear the board of enemies; by staying in groups and planning their actions carefully, they were able to eliminate both master Gargoyles and the various bat swarms flocking in their wake. With all enemies eliminated and time left on the countdown clock, they then easily rescued the prisoner and called for help. 

The second match was against the Wolf Man and his lycanthropic minions. This time, the objectives were Flip the Switches, Get the Evidence and Kill the Master. Again, the players focused on killing villains - to their own detriment, as they killed the Wolf Man before they could take a photo of him! The players tried to argue for taking photos of the Wolf Man's corpse, but I reminded them that upon dying he just turns back into a human and if they want trophy shots of that then the police are going to get involved. 

I once again didn't give myself time to play in anything, but I had a really nice chat with the guy running demos of Osprey's Zona Alfa on the next table over. He had an incredible set-up and like me he likes to furnish the insides of his model buildings. He'd shifted the setting from Eastern Europe to Zanzibar and listening to him pitch the game to players made me pull the rulebook down off my shelf when I got home and give it another look. 

I did a little bit of networking and got in touch with some local wargamers who aren't beholden to Games Workshop and the Warhammer juggernaut, which was very nice, and spent some time in conversation with an older gentleman who'd been wargaming locally since 1976 and he walked me through the history of wargaming clubs in the Buffalo-Rochester area and how they've largely disintegrated into small groups of guys meeting at home versus any sort of larger community. We do have new clubs that have formed - the Whiskey 7 Wargamers, the Greater Niagara Wargamers, etc - and events like this one suggest we're working our way back towards that larger community; he described a time when the clubs consisted of some 200 people between the two cities, with about 10% traveling from one to the other in any given week for game.

I had a really good conversation with the organizer for the event, and he made a point to thank me for running these smaller indie games, and showing players that there's more out there than just Games Workshop and Bolt Action. That really meant a lot and made me feel good; I'm thinking I might run a similar demo table of Perilous Tales at Running GAGG next year as well. Maybe finally pick up some winter terrain like I've been meaning to, since the convention's in February. 

All in all it was a really good day; I don't stay for the whole show because I hate being away from my wife for very long given her health issues, coupled with a 2 1/2 hour round trip drive. I do need to invest in some good inserts for my shoes for next time though; only six hours standing on a concrete floor and my feet were feeling it! 

Perilous Tales Refresher Game

 With me running Perilous Tales this coming weekend at Wargames Among the Warplanes, I thought it best I run myself through a refresher game to make sure I knew what I was doing! It's not an endlessly complex game but it never hurts to remind myself how it goes. It also gave me an opportunity to try out the character cards I made for the assortment of heroes I'd selected.

In Perilous Tales, figures are divided into two types: Leaders and Teammates, with the number of each appearing on the table being dependent on how many players are involved. Playing solo, you have one Leader and four Teammates; if two players are playing a co-op game, each of them has one Leader and one Teammate, while with three players everyone has two Teammates and no Leaders. I made eight character cards, each with both a Leader and Teammate version of each character.

My wife supplied the index cards out of her colorful stationary collection, saving me a trip out to the store. I also had her select five characters for me, and decide which one would be Leader. 

So we ended up with:

• Billy Ray, the Mechanic (Leader)
• Lisa, the Veterinarian (Teammate)
• Larry, the Lousy Bum (Teammate)
• Cliff, the Mailman (Teammate)
• Klaus, the Thug (Teammate)

I got the table set up, and selected my villains: the Gargoyles, who are a fun and unusual menace. They operate like the "Weeping Angels" in the modern incarnation of Doctor Who - if two heroes can draw line of sight to a Gargoyle (there's two in the villain roster), it's incapable of moving. If they manage to successfully hit a hero, it's an automatic kill, and they are accompanied by bat swarms that limit heroes' line of sight. The villain roster also includes "Darkness Falls," which once activated limits line of sight to 6" for the remainder of the game. 

The heroic objectives were to Kill the Masters, Flip the Switches and Call for Help. The environmental hazards were Putrid Stench, Utterly Horrible (everyone in 6" takes a Horror Check at reveal) and Earthquake (everyone within 6" falls down automatically at reveal). The Threat Markers (covering both the villains and the environmental hazards) were arranged in the "Aggressive" pattern as determined by a die roll. 

I'm going to cut to the chase.

This game did not go well for the heroes. 

FIVE of the eight Threat Markers revealed at once. Both Gargoyles, a Bat Swarm, "Utterly Horrible" and "Earthquake" all went off at once. 

"Go ahead, Klaus. Try flipping the switch."

Klaus and Billy Ray were taken down by Gargoyles almost immediately. Lisa, Larry and Cliff spent most of the remainder of the game getting swarmed by bats as the Gargoyles crept forward slowly but surely. Cliff, especially, kept getting swarmed by bats, failing Horror Checks, falling down because he was being swarmed, and then getting up, getting a new swarm of bats on him, failing another Horror Check, and falling down again. He was up at down like three times. All three of them were killed "death by a thousand cuts" style by endless bat attacks. 

The heroes were all wiped out and didn't score a single victory point. 

I haven't laughed this hard during a war game since last Wargames Among the Warplanes when the taco truck got weaponized. 

I do think I may have unwittingly penalized the heroes with the big moving truck in the middle of the board. The heroes might have been able to do more against the Gargoyles if that hadn't been protecting the villains from heroic line of sight. I may replace that with the taco truck or leave it off all together. 

All in all, the game took about 45 minutes so I may be able to squeeze in more games on Saturday than I'd originally planned. Or I can wrap up early and finally play that Biplanes vs. King Kong game! 

Figures Acquired in 2025: 158

Figures Painted in 2025: 139

Wargames Among the Warplanes Fall 2025 Show Next Weekend

This coming Saturday is the fall show for Wargames Among the Warplanes, my localish (about an hour and 20 minute drive each way) twice a year one day wargaming show. It kind of feels like this one snuck up on me; I feel like the spring show was just a couple weeks ago! While I'd initially planned to bring Devilry Afoot to run a demo table of at the fall show, I feel like I haven't practiced enough with the system to feel confident teaching it. So I've pivoted, and will have a demo table of Planetsmasher Games' Perilous Tales going. I figure I can get at least three games in during my time slot, so I'm bringing three different villains and an assortment of modern figures to respond heroically. I'll keep the terrain set up the same between games so that I only need to bring a couple of buildings and a 2x2 mat.

More Modern Terrain and Some Early Modern Monsters

 I made my way to the print shop tonight after work, and printed our some floors and a sheet of posters I'd made by resizing images off the web, which means this weekend I can make some serious progress on terrain. To begin with, tonight I finished off a piece that's been sitting *mostly* done for a few weeks.

This is a construction office made from a shipping container, produced by Things From The Basement, who I highly recommend checking out if you're in the United States. This is my first kit from them, though I have my eyes on a few more; they use a thinner sheet of MDF than I'm used to from companies like Sarissa or Atomic Laser Cut Designs, but everything was really cleanly cut and fit beautifully. Each side of the shipping container is built up in layers to allow more depth to the detailing. 

I sprayed everything but the roof with "Sahara Beige" from Montana Gold spray paints, and did the roof in a flat red paint and primer combo I got at the hardware store. The door was picked out in "Deep Red" from Reaper Miniatures' paint line; I'm not sure why it cracked like that but I think it ended up looking good. 

I tried using some Green Stuff World weathering pigments my wife got me as a gift along the bottom of the container, but it just went on like paint and didn't dry to the texture the packaging promised. I tried to salvage it with a heavy drybrushing of tan craft paint, which I think will remain my default method of weathering model buildings.

Inside, I've glued a table stacked with cash and a money-counting machine that I got from Miniature Building Authority; could it be that there's something illicit going on in here? Money laundering? Drug dealing? Or is this just the payroll office for a junkyard or chop shop? I'm really pleased with how perfectly the table fit. 

Finally, I added a pinup of Tanya Roberts from her time on the TV show Charlie's Angels; I like having my "Modern" games seem to be a blend of everything over the past 40-odd years, with smart phones, CRT TVs, classic TV shows and the like all appearing side by side. I'm planning to put some old "Joe Camel" cigarette ads on some model billboards in the not too distant future. 

In other news...

I'll be returning to Wargames Among the Warplanes for their fall show next month, bringing Devilry Afoot with me; I've planned my gaming around having to paint as few figures between now and the day of the event as possible. I've finished off the last couple figures I wanted to use as monsters in games on that day.

On the left is a Black Dog/Hellhound/Dire Wolf type, intended as Dracula's wolf form, from Crooked Dice's relatively recently released Dracula set of figures, and accompanying it are a pair of animated scarecrows from Crooked Dice's Folk Horror line. These will be appearing as a Barghest and a pair of Bogeymen in the games I'll be running in about 4 weeks' time. All that's left to do for these three is a good coat of varnish, and all that's left to paint for Wargames Among the Warplanes are a pair of Innocents for the Bogeymen to menace. 

Figures Acquired in 2025: 127

Figures Painted in 2025: 127

Devilry Afoot: The Beast in the Fog

 Well, I'd had every intention of going to Harlequin and playing Warhammer: The Old World tonight, but I slept really poorly last night and just didn't have the energy to fight rush hour traffic, play a 2 1/2 hour game and then drive home and need to sit up awhile to relax enough to try sleeping. I did still want to get some gaming in, however, so I cleared the dining room table and set up for a game of Devilry Afoot.

I couldn't find my roster sheets from last game, so I wrote up some new ones:

• Captain Tennille, a Soldier armed with a sword and musket, with the dark secret Gambler.
• Squire Root, a Gentleman with a sword and lantern, accompanied by his Follower Robert the Musketeer. Root is also a Gambler.
• "Frother" Martin, a Religious hunter armed with a sword, Bible and Hound, with the dark secret Drunkard.
• Goodwife Patience, a Goodwife with a pistol and lantern, with the dark secret Slovenly.

I used the scenario "The Beast in the Fog" from the rulebook, replacing hellhound the scenario calls for with a Werewolf. The scenario would open with four tokens at the corners of the board, each potentially representing the Werewolf; the hunters would be scattered across the board, and a heavy fog would restrict visibility to 4". 

During the first turn, the tokens all moved closer to the hunters, with three of them revealing themselves as decoys. Squire Root and Goodwife Patience moved towards the bridge to rendezvous with their companions; Martin rolled a "1" on his first activation, resulting in his drinking habit leaving him hungover for the duration of the game. Captain Tennille became disoriented in the fog, wandering past the bridge until meeting with Martin. 

On turn 2, the werewolf revealed itself, immediately catching a pistol shot from Goodwife Patience. She rolled phenomenally well for damage, putting three wounds on the monster immediately. It only had 5 wounds to begin with, so it was well on its way to being defeated.

Maddened by its injury, the werewolf charged Patience, but failed to successfully hit her and turned and fled back towards the shadows. Recovering its composure, the werewolf turned back around and leapt at Squire Root, killing the gentleman instantly and sending Robert the Musketeer fleeing off the board.

Captain Tennille charged on to the bridge, firing his musket from the top of the arch (mea culpa - I forgot about the 4" visibility limit) and putting a fourth wound on the werewolf. The beast towards the nearest shadows it could hide in, and then leapt on to the bridge, attacking Martin, who had just staggered up level with the Captain. Wounding the preacher, the werewolf then changed its tactics; it gave voice to a devilish howl, intimidating Martin into fleeing while the Captain struck at the werewolf ineffectively with his sword. 

The werewolf used its intimidating howl again, sending the Captain running. Patience was less than impressed, and shot the werewolf in the back at point blank range, killing the beast. 

The surviving hunters divided up the 60 shilling reward for killing a werewolf between the three of them. Martin, having been wounded but survived, is now infected with lycanthropy. Fortunately, for the low, low price of 20 shillings and a handful of hair off the werewolf that bit him, a cure can be brewed! 

This was a great way to spend the evening, and I'm really glad I was able to get some gaming in after all. I've also submitted to run demos of Devilry Afoot at the next Wargames Among the Warplanes show in September, so this was good practice for that as well. 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 120

Figures Painted in 2025: 121

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.