Chris and Barnaby organized a second Lardy Day in Hamilton this past weekend. 10 assorted Too Fat Lardies games and 25 or so gamers at the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Veterans Association Hall in deepest, darkest, downtown Hamilton. There were prizes donated by those stalwart chaps at The Canadian Wargamer Podcast, Dan the Dice Guy, Cardboard Dungeon Games, Crucible Crush and some Too Fat Lardies dice from Big Rich himself, for a raffle which raised $400 for the Hamilton Children's Hospital.
There was a fine cross section of Lard.
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| What a Tanker in Malaya |
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| 15mm ACW Sharp Practice |
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| Infamy, Infamy! |
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| Big Chain of Command |
In the morning I played a 28mm Sharp Practice game. This had the British and their First Nations allies raiding the American camp at Frenchtown during the War of 1812. I commanded the British regulars, while my partner ran the Native allies and the flank company skirmishers. Our cunning plan was to fix the Americans with the Regulars while the Natives worked their way around the flank.
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| British infantry arrive |
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| Americans begin to deploy |
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| American light troops trying to cause trouble on our flank |
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| First Nations attack the disrupted Americans! |
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| The Natives charge in on the flank and then the Regulars gave a volley and went in with the bayonet effectively collapsing the American flank. |
After lunch and a visit to a fantastic old school hobby shop; Hamilton Hobby Center on Kenilworth, I played in a 6mm game of General d'Armee. This was the Mad Padre's first time as a Game Master in a convention setting. It was a good learning game for all of us interested in the system. Lee of Crucible Crush, helped us work through some of the more convoluted parts.
The game had the Austrians defending a road junction vital to Mack's position at Ulm. Descending upon it to entrap the infamous Mack were Murat's cavalry and Oudinot's Grenadier division! Historically our Austrian counterpart formed square and got pounded. But my partner and I were more aggressive, pushing forward to hold some key villages and block the French onslaught. Austrian hussars punching above their weight helped a lot too.
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| Mike's attractive little Built Up Area tiles |
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| Cuirassiers try charging the French artillery |
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| Austrian hussars holding off 4x their numbers |
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| More cavalry action on the other flank |
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| My attack on the town develops |
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| I drive out the defense |
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| More French grenadiers |
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| My hussars try rolling up the French but I roll badly! Curse the damned luck! |
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| Firefight develops in the center |
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| Refusing our vulnerable right flank |
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| Austrians have a firm hold on the town at game end |
It was nice to win both games, but mostly it was nice to get out and play! This culminated an exhausting week of vacation during which we were visited by the grandchildren.
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| Picking flowers for Grandma |
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| Rules? We don't need rules! Grandson surprises me with an obviously cunning stratagem. |
I need to get some plastic figures for the grandson to smash around next visit obviously.
