The Bridge— in honor of the United States Army and all who serve

 The Bridge

Lyrics by Howard Shirley

June 14, 2025.

It started in the spring

Just another April day.

All life sang out

To tempt their hearts away,

But they stood on the bridge

From it they wouldn’t stray.

Freedom told them

There was no other way.

When shots rang out

The whole world heard

That they stood on the bridge.

Their blood ran red,

their hearts held true

They gave it all

For me and you

They didn’t know us

We were just a dream—

But when all their fears

Came marching down that road

They wouldn’t run away

They wouldn’t shirk that load—

They stood on the bridge.

They were the first,

But not the last

Others rose 

to claim their task.

From Valley Forge

To Yorktown

From Gettysburg

To France

From Manila

To Iwo Jima

Seoul, Saigon, Baghdad—

In Kabul and at Abbey Gate—

The stood for freedom

In a world that screams for hate.

On bloody fields

In fiery skies

The flag of freedom

Was in their eyes

And with no promise

But their dreams—

They stood on the bridge.

That’s always been the way

It’s always been the truth

Nothing comes without the price

They paid for me and you.

The question now is always what it’s been

Will we give way, buckle, fall and bend

Or will he lift our heads, hold up our hearts

And give it all for why they fought,

When we come to the bridge?

Answer me now

Answer me true

Do you know there’s more

Than me and you?

Will you take up the call

From long ago

And give your all

No matter what

Comes marching down that road?

Stand on the bridge!

Stand on the bridge!

There is no freedom

Without that pledge—

Stand on the bridge!

Stand on the bridge!

Stand on the bridge!

— Howard Shirley, aka Parzival

(If you can write music for this, give me a shout.)

First steps into First Light

Exploring HeroQuest: First Light

In my previous post I unboxed the contents of the new Target exclusive edition of the HeroQuest Game System, First Light. This is not an expansion of the game, but a stand alone, somewhat independent introductory version at a much lower price (less than half the cost of the standard set). If you're familiar with HeroQuest, you know that the rules themselves are not the game- it requires a collection of adventures, called quests, which combine into a full mini-campaign, typically with an overarching story behind it all. First Light thus also includes its own First Light Quest Book, an entirely new collection of adventures different from the ones included with the standard HeroQuest set or the expansions.

Unfortunately, it's not really possible to review any quest collection in great detail without risking revealing the secrets and surprises of the quest— and I will not do so here. But I can offer some general impressions, note quirks different from the main game set, and report on how the quest feels as a player.

A peak inside the covers— rulebook on the left, First Light Quest Book on the right. And, spoiler, you will be fighting the Dragon. But you probably guessed that, so not much of a spoiler.

A few minor rule notes:

The Dwarf's Weapon Dilemma: Only one rule change is mentioned in the rulebook itself. Unfortunately, it happens to be incomplete. The original game gives the Dwarf hero a "Shortsword" as his starting weapon, which allows the Dwarf to roll two dice in combat. First Light changes this starting weapon to a "Hand Axe," which better fits the miniature included (in either set). The Hand Axe also grants two attack dice, but it can also be thrown at a distant target as a two dice attack. However, once thrown the Hand Axe is lost... and that's where the incompleteness comes in. Nowhere do the rules explain what happens to a hero who no longer has a weapon for combat. The book is utterly silent on this manner. Which leaves the possibility that either the Dwarf can no longer attack, or he can still attack at 2 dice because his card says he can, or something else is going on.

Now, if you have the standard HeroQuest set, you will learn in that game's quest book that a hero who has no weapon always rolls one die for an attack (this becomes important about halfway through that quest book).

But First Light has no such rule mentioned in its quest book, and no quest where the matter becomes obviously significant. So the purchasers and players of First Light will be left to derive the answer to the situation themselves, without aid from either rulebook or quest book.

Pass It Around: In the main set, the rule book is a little unclear about whether objects may be shared among the Heroes, or how or when it may be done. Only “artifacts” and “potions” are specifically mentioned as being shareable, but where the Heroes have to be located to share such things isn’t covered. Fortunately, the creators of HeroQuest appear to have realized this oversight, and clarified both in the First Light rulebook and the quest book that any item may be shared— even equipment— but only when two heroes are adjacent to each other, and neither may also be adjacent to a monster. While this not noted as a change in the rules, it is at least a much needed clarification!

A Break in the Search Rules: In the standard game, and in the First Light rulebook, the location of a Hero when searching a chamber for treasure, traps, or secret doors has no bearing on what they find or don't find. The Hero is assumed to have explored the room in detail, and the Zargon player must reveal the treasure, trap or secret door mentioned in the quest book, if any.

However, in the First Light Quest Book, this pattern is broken. In the very first quest, the players are told they need to search certain objects they will find for specific clues. But the quest book does not alert the players that their Hero will have to be adjacent to the object on the board to search it. A latter quest does the same thing, for entirely different objects— indeed, for objects commonly considered searched even if the Hero is located on the opposite side of the room. This to me is bad design— the players must know if the rules have changed, and there is nothing about either quest to indicate that they have. It’s possible for the Zargon player to realize this and inform the players of the change, or simply assume that any search is “adjacent” to an object, whether the Hero’s figure is or not.

Fire Feels Good: Finally, a new concept is added to the game— the “Healing Hearth.” Essentially, in any room with a fireplace, a Hero who searches in the room for treasure may opt to either draw a Treasure card (assuming no special treasures are present), OR heal 1 lost Body Point. Each Hero may do this once in the same room. Of course, if all heroes choose to heal, then all Heroes have given up their chance to search the room for Treasure cards. Granted, this is a clever thing to do with the fireplace, and a nice if minor boon for the Heroes mid-adventure, but the questbook also offered the Healing Hearth effect every time a fireplace appears, which begins to feel a little less mysterious and special.

Cabinets Hold More Stuff: The First Light Quest Book also introduces a "Sly Storage" rule— when searching a room with a cabinet, the first searching player may draw two Treasure cards and resolve both of them (assuming no special treasures are listed for the room). Of course, one or both cards could be Wandering Monsters or Hazards, which makes this a somewhat dubious “bonus.”

Li’l ‘Zilla loves being Zargon. And yes, this is an early quest, using the flipside “cavern” map, complete with “Portals.” Be careful where you step through! (And that’s the only visual clue you get in this review)

So, Other Than That, How Was the Play?

Good Quests, Buggy App: I used the HeroQuest Companion App for playing and reviewing this questbook. (If you’re new to HeroQuest, the App is not required to play; it just gives everyone a chance to play as Heroes with the App taking over the role of Zargon.) Unfortunately, there were a few bugs involved, as some unusual rules kicked in for certain quests, which the Companion App handled poorly. In one case, the app stacked more than one figure in a single square, which neither the rules or the physical nature of the game allow. This was clearly a programming error— hopefully Avalon Hill will address it soon. There was also a special situation where Dread magic was supposed to make certain monsters less vulnerable and more dangerous— but instead, the Companion App wound up freezing these monsters in place— they didn’t attack, but they wound up blocking passage until a lucky die roll allowed them to be permanently eliminated. (I finally got frustrated enough to just declare a die success for each incident of this, as otherwise the effect did nothing but slow the game down.) But these were problems with the app, not the quests.

Happy (and Challenging) Adventuring: App frustrations aside, this is a fairly ingenious campaign. The story is interesting, and there are some curious bits which occur that aren’t fully resolved by the quest, but are linked to other elements in the standard set’s quest book— essentially, this campaign takes place roughly along-side the events in the standard set quest book, and is assumed to involve a different group of heroes (despite having the same makeup of Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf and Wizard). The challenges are solid, and experienced players won’t be disappointed in the variety of what happens.

Nothing Comes Easy: What this quest isn’t, however, is an easy beginning for novice young players. Unlike the standard games’ quests, there is no “introductory” adventure (as difficult as that one— “The Trial”— actually is). This one starts off from the getgo with traps, trickery and tough battles, as well as quest goals that must be fully completed, and might not be if players don’t make the right choices in certain situations. Inexperienced players may therefore find this set a rough start— but then, learning how easy it is for Heroes to fail (and outright die) isn’t a bad thing. The best game should be a challenge, and this one was for me. My advice for either the experienced or budding novice Zargon is to know the rules well, and give the players a break on the above-mentioned searching oddities— or at least remind them that the Heroes should be searching for crucial information, possibly in unique conditions.

So, to sum up, First Light offers a well-done quest series, but with some challenging oddities that might be harder for beginners than is ideal in a starter set. Unfortunately, the Companion App doesn’t rise to the challenge of these oddities, either. But that latter shouldn’t stop you from picking up and enjoying the First Light game with friends and family.

L’il ‘Zilla says Five Atomic Breaths.

— Parzival

More HeroQuest: Back to (Before) the Beginning! Unboxing of First Light

 The last few months saw some additions to the HeroQuest line, and thus my collection. In addition to a new expansion pack, The Jungles of Delthrak , the creators of the new HQ have arranged for a new, scaled down introductory set, HeroQuest First Light, sold exclusively by Target (a US department chain, for those of you “not from these parts”). This week Target had a sale offering $10 off $50 for any game or toy purchase (except Lego; sit back down, y’all). The game lists for $49.99 (seriously?), so I had to goose the purchase. I bought a Snoopy Hot Wheels car ($1.20) (search this blog for Snoopy and see what I’ve already done with one of these…).

First Look at First Light

Well, it’s square. And the shrink wrap had a sticker.

All I’ve done so far is unbox the contents; I haven’t tried the quests, but I’ve skimmed the rulebook, which declares there are no rules changes from the 2021 main boxed set rules. Layout’s different, and they’ve done some things to highlight and detail the difference between the Heroes’ turn and Zargon’s. I haven’t read further, so can’t comment, except to say that in this respect it’s the same game.

What’s Old (sort of)

Mostly the same, but different.

There’s no real change that I’ve found to the various card decks, aside from the addition of a few original artifacts, a Dragon monster card, and maybe some fluff wording on the Treasure Deck. I haven’t counted or compared Treasure amount details, but I’m betting there’s no change. The dice have new colors to them (the combat dice are now “bone” colored. The “pip” d6 dice are now white with red pips, instead of the other way around). The set also comes with another pad of character sheets— blue lettering and art rather than brown, but otherwise entirely the same.

What’s New (sort of)

Some new, some old, and a little surprise.

The set only has four hero miniature which are different sculptures, an homage to the original set from the ‘80s-‘90s, in stance and pose, if not in detail. All four hero miniatures are in basic “open” poses which should make them easier to paint (this set is clearly intended for younger players, despite the 14+ label).

The Zargon Screen has different art (neither worse nor better), and at first glance the only difference to the information it holds is the inclusion of the Dragon’s stats.

Lots of (really nice) cardboard. You may recognize some of this.

Instead of miniatures for the monsters, doors and scenic pieces, the game includes printed cards, with full color art. They’re nicely done, but if you’ve been collecting the original repro set and the new expansion packs, you probably won’t wind up using these. But as a starter set, they work fine. The door and monsters  come with plastic standee bases. Online discussion is speculating on using these with the full game to indicate when a monster is immobilized, though honestly I don’t see the need. The doors might be useful for when you run out of the sculpted ones, though with my collection of expansion packs, I don’t see that as a likely need for me!

What’s Completely New (and cool)

…But the flip side is AWESOME!

The set includes the original board map (or a reasonably facsimile)… but brand new is another board on the reverse side, with a different dungeon look and layout. It’s more cavern-like, and a nifty alternative when making your own quests. I am really taken with this board, and can’t wait to see what the new Quest Book does with this.

A familiar, yet different lot. Oh, and a DRAGON!

Also new is an additional monster complete with its own miniature: The Dragon. This critter is not the same as the dragon in the “Mythic Tier” quest pack, but a new beastie in his own right. He’s got formidable stats (I peeked), and should be a fun challenge— in fact, he’s quite deadly from what I glean.

According to the box text the Quest Book contains 10 original quests unique to this set. They also appear to have been added to the Companion App, so I’m going to introduce myself to the quests via that, and then consult the Quest Book when I’ve completed a solo run through (I use all four heroes for that sort of thing— I’m not crazy!).

An unexpected freebie.

And finally, there’s another nifty addition— a dice tray! It’s not touted on the box, and many purchasers might not even realize that’s what it is, but there’s a spacing insert in the box that, when flipped, reveals it has a fully-printed inside of dragon scales. Perfect for containing your attempts to roll skulls or shields and instead getting blanks, and with a much smaller footprint than the box lid.

Is It Worth It?

As a starter set? Absolutely. The current list price for the original Avalon Hill repro set (around $135, I believe) is prohibitive for kids and their parents and grandparents to spring for. At $50, this is a much more reasonable entry set, and in line with other high-quality board games (even cheaper than some). Most new purchasers won’t care that it doesn’t have miniatures for the monsters or furniture or doors.

As a boost for collectors and players of the main set and the expansion packs?

Well, it does have new sculpts, a new monster, and the brand new alternative dungeon map, plus other stuff, and 10 new quests, at around the price of an expansion pack. For me, that wouldn’t be a $50 value. But at $40, which is what I wound up paying thanks to the Target sale, I think it’s a pretty good. But I like having new minis to paint.

Again, this set is only sold by Target. Keep an eye out for their game and toy sales, and you might get a good value, too.

— Parzival

Ogres to the left of me, ogres to the right…

After being “stuck in the middle” for a bit, I have completed another round of HeroQuest painting. This time I took on the Against the Ogre Horde expansion pack, which, unsurprisingly, consists largely of ogres. It does have a few other elements, including two new Druid figures (a little more Celtic-looking (and realistically dressed) than the Mythic Tier set’s “Earth girl” druid).

Please keep in mind that I paint to an arm’s length get-‘em-on-the-table standard. With that out of the way…

The Little People, and some Ogre Stuff.

For starters, here are the non-ogre elements. In the rear, some nifty vertical doors, some stone monoliths (or maybe doors… I haven’t checked the text yet to know), and a stone throne (with comfy cave-bear skin through— or maybe it’s an owlbear— those could be feathers…).

Our cast includes a goblin “archer” (though she appears to be lobbing a lit grenade!), the Druids’ wolf companion, the Druids (female and male), and another goblin “archer” (with a boomerang… not exactly a dungeon weapon…). Behind these are some skeleton archers.

“About FACE!”

Shake, rattle and roll!

Next up we have two “ogre warriors.” Growl for the camera, lads!

Ya’ know what they say: Some people are just better walkin’ away…

And we’ll follow with two “ogre mercenaries” (who appear to have migrated from a hockey game?), and a bunch of just plain ogres (armed sensibly with axes), the latter of which are actually from the Mage of the Mirror expansion set, but were painted on the principle of “get ‘em all done.”

A penalty box period just waitin’ ta happen.

Backside shuffle. Maybe they were offsides?

Next we have the “Ogre Commander” and the “Ogre Champion”— and yes, they are much larger than our previous runway walkers.

Not what you want to meet in a dark dungeon…

Whew… they’re moving off!

Finally we have the “Ogre Lord,” an impressive fellow with a suitably, uh, “noble” bearing, and… wait, what’s that in the background?

“I want you in the Ogre Horde! For dinner!”

“I see my Mary Ann walkin’ awaaaaay…”

Okay, intruder, you’ve made your point, but your paint job ain’t done. Back to the table with you! And save the nukes for the post-apocalyptic future wasteland.

(These AIs are gonna be a problem— ask any gamer from the ‘80s!)

Well, I’ve got loads more painting to do. But I’ll sign off with wishes for a Merry Christmas to all of y’all!

— Parzival

A Day (or Two) at the Con

This past weekend was the annual Nashcon wargaming convention, hosted by the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society— MidSouth chapter. Nashcon.org Held at the “Music City Sheraton” in Nashville, this convention has been going on several years, though the location and dates have changed. The events formally last for three days (or two-and-a-half), from Friday through Sunday morning, though this year opening gaming was offered on Thursday night as well. 

I could only do two days, despite the location being about an hour’s drive. Typically I drive in/drive back (arrive early morning, back way too late). But my wife and I had some credit card rewards built up, and used it to spring for Friday night stay— she got a relaxing hotel room with no pressing household necessities, and I got to sleep in a little later and not fight Nashville traffic (which is horrible). But y’all don’t care about that— y’all care about the games! 

 SO without further ado… 

A FIGHT SO NICE I RAN IT TWICE

 As in previous years, I ran the classic Games Workshop game The Battle of Five Armies. It is, of course. based on the eponymous concluding clash in the world’s greatest novel ever— The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. (I will die on that hill.) (And yes, fellow fans of the book will note that it’s not “The Battle of Five Armies,” but “The Battle of the Five Armies.” For whatever reason, GW left off the second “the.” Frankly, it’s the one mistake in the game, and we can ignore it.) 

 The figures are 10mm, molded as strips, and mounted on 20mm x 40mm bases. And they are fantastic. From a dragon’s eye view looking down over the battlefield, you will see two armies maneuvering about, not just a handful of men. My personal collection, consisting of two of the original game boxed sets, totals around 2,000 individual figures on over 200 stands. Yeah, baby, that’s a battle. I ran this twice, divided over the two days. Next time I think I’ll try to back-to-back this sort of game over two sessions in the same day— 200 elements (not counting terrain, dice, etc.) takes a lot of clean up and repacking— by the time I was finished with the take down, I was too late (and too beat) to join in any last session gaming. 

And the eye candy:

The Battle of Five Armies: Wargs and Warg Riders advance on the eastern mountain spur, where the Dwarves and the Men of the Long Lake prepare their defense. To the west, the Goblin Infantry is entering the battle, piece meal, to approach the ruins of Dale and the Elven host on the western spur.

Same scene, from the east.

The fearsome warg cavalry advance!

On the east, the Dwarves and Men have taken a beating, but still hold the spur. To the west, elven archers have moved to protect the ford, while the goblin horde has moved into combat range.

Beorn arrives on the goblin flank! The elves join in with a massive assault on the goblin forward line. Elven archers block the ford to the east— and Thorin has joined the fight.

Ouch. The goblin line is hard pressed, with heavy casualties,

On the east, the Dwarves charge the wargs— the archers hold the hill.

There are a lot of wargs on this side… who will win?

The penultimate turn (battle ends on turn 8): The goblin horde is crumbling, and the dwarves and men still hold the heights. The battle has tipped towards the Army of the West. On the next round, the Eagles arrive on their World Tour. The Free Folk triumph.

NEVER SHOOT THE BEER TRUCK, aka LESSONS LEARNED FROM FULL THRUST

Despite being wiped for the evening games, I did play in other morning games. The first was a Full Thrust game of spaceship combat. Now, obviously, I prefer G.O.B.S.! (My own spacefleet game https://thegobspage.com/ ), but I know of FT as a classic in the genre, and have read the rules. So I thought it would be fun to give it a whirl. 

Finding the table, I was impressed. There was a nifty little collection of ships— some from the defunct Cold Navy line, some from Brigade Models, I believe (I didn’t ask), and others I recognized but couldn’t place a manufacturer. All were terrifically painted, making for a stunning array. The host had created some excellent space terrain bits, including a massive asteroid complete with mining structures, and a “MI6” “listening post” consisting of a converted golf ball (you really had to look closely to realize that’s what it was). The most impressive element, however, was the space station. Awe-inspiring enough on its own, it was mounted on a motorized base that slowly spun the station throughout the game— an effect reflected in the scenario as a difficulty for the attacker in aiming on any specific system. 

The end of the battle. My forces and allies circled in blue, enemy in red.

And so began the Attack on Redback Station. As a somewhat latecomer, I entered the battle in command of a rag-tag fleet of Not Supposed To Be In This Fight craft consisting of “Hef’s Seventh Heaven” (a pleasure yacht), a cargo hauler, a tug manning the Shell Fueling Station, and two luxury cruise liners just passing through. I also had command of the HMS York, a battle cruiser who could be summoned later to the fight by the listening post (enters on a die roll— I lucked out, and it entered fairly early). 

The scenario involved some angry German vessels (“Neu Swabian League,” aka NSL), swooping in to take out the central “Redback Station,” a quasi British station built in a galactic “no go” zone. 

 The battle got bloody quickly— my freighter was promptly destroyed, which angered the station as this ship carried their much longed-for beer supply (bonus for defender attacks). The Germans followed up by going after a cruise liner— though the latter surprised its attackers by shooting back with a forward torpedo system! (Alas, to little avail; she got obliterated the next turn.) You’d think Germans would remember the repercussions of attacking a passenger vessel, but it appears historical habits die hard.)

Much shooting back and forth, and the fortuitous arrival of the HMS York and three destroyers, set the Germans on their back feet, with some smaller ships destroyed and one of their heavy cruisers forced to withdraw (pursued by the remaining cruise liner!) The game ended for time, but the victory was awarded to the station defenders, as the Germans were rapidly becoming outgunned, despite inflicting damage on the station. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenario— lots of Love Boat themed jokes got made when the cruise ships wound up in the fight! 

 MARTIANS AT THE… MARNE? 

My second outing occurred on Saturday morning, where I joined a game of All Quiet On the Martian Front (modified first edition in a second edition European Great War setting). Another impressive table, this one featured a long battlefield with German and French entrenchments/fieldworks facing each other across one half, while a suitable tri-division force of Martian tripods arriving to attack them both. This was purported to be an “early war” battle, despite the presence of French and German tanks!(?) But hey, there are giant Martian walking machines, so it would be a bit hypocritical to play the “real life”card on the tanks…

Hang on… somebody is “doctoring” our completely made up history! Will the abuses ever stop?

 I joined the Martian forces, in command of several unusual tripods and an assortment of “lobotorans” (or something like that), which are essentially zombies controlled by a tripod— some had short range blasters, some had nothing but giant blades for arms. (How these were supposed to fare against the approaching line of German armor, I have no idea— I never got to find out, as they either got blown up or had their controlling tripod destroyed before they could shoot. So “not well,” I guess…) 

The Martian forces, including, uh, zombies? That’ll make up for German tanks…

Hey, here’s an idea… why don’t you and him fight? We’ll just clean up after you? Deal?

Okay, that is waaay too many tanks.

This one turned out to be quite an interesting fight, especially with the arrival of an Apparatus of the Kwalish (a D&D armored submersible mechanical crab), recast as an American submersible, and the French getting a number of lucky strikes on the Martians approaching their side. (One caused the tripod to explode, taking out fellow nearby tripod).

Mmm… wiener schnitzel in convenient cans!

KABOOM! Oh no! Those French canned hams took out a buddy! We’re supposed to be cooking THEM!

All lined up— let’s cook some Germans!

Another Martian commander and I teamed up on the Germans, with far better luck. Again, time ran out on the game, but the French commander was awarded the victory. (The French and Germans were not considered allies, and would have won points for kills against their opposite, but instead ignored each other and went after the tripods. Not that one blames them… primates before aliens, as it were.)

MY IMPRESSIONS 

(In which I ramble on about rule systems) 

I came away from Full Thrust with mixed feelings. The scenario and set up were fantastic, but the game itself I found overly complicated in how combat was conducted. Too many things to determine, especially in how damage is conducted. The threshold checks across multiple systems I found tedious. Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, mark off, roll, roll… it just took too long. But that may be a curse of tabletop wargames.

I never did quite figure out how the order and movement system were supposed to work, and as far as I could tell, everyone pretty much ignored it and just moved their ships without referring to the control sheets at all. 

 Nevertheless, I enjoyed the feel of the evening, despite not really having a satisfying conclusion to it all. A fun element (which I don’t recall from the rules) was the introduction of special fleet cards that could be played at points during the game to alter what was happening. I played “Traitor” to steal a card from an opponent, followed by a card that let me repeat the Traitor card and steal another one, and then a “Picard Maneuver” to bring the York in more quickly, and lastly a card that let me randomly move ships a random distance— it turned out to just be one, so I advanced the York into missile salvo range. I think these cards were homemade, or found on the Internet, as the images were all stills from Star Trek or Star Wars films (hardly licensed). Official or not, these were a fun addition. 

 

The Martian game was more straightforward on movement— just measure the distance and move. Easy. Initiative was from drawing random chits out of a bag, which could be boosted by a side giving up special tokens for a turn. Slip a token into the bag to increase your chances of winning initiative, or keep it for an opportunity to move again after shooting (or for the Germans and French, rally a routed unit). 

Combat was again too complicated. Roll to hit. Roll to damage. Roll to see result of damage (if Martian). Roll morale (if German or French). It doesn’t sound too bad, until you consider that the German and French forces each had about two or three dozen individual units shooting at the Martian foes. Sit back and wait while they roll, roll, roll… I felt this could be simplified considerably.* 

Compared to the novel (or any movie based on it), the military forces were far more effective against the tripods than one might expect… but then, it wouldn’t be much of a game if they couldn’t win, would it? Despite these minor grumbles, it was a hoot to see and command the tripods. 

( *Yes, I know. Nothing says “roll lots of dice, over and over again” like a Rick Priestley game, which Warmaster/Battle of Five Armies are. But I still feel that Warmaster offers more player involvement— both sides are rolling dice for combat at the same time, which removes the “wait and see” aspect which I think hampers AQotMF— or at least the 1st edition. 2nd may have changed things, so I can’t comment on that.)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Rule critiques not withstanding, I had a great convention. Nashcon is extremely well run, and keeps growing every year (I have heard that attendees topped 600– pretty awesome for a local convention!). There is always a variety of games, and I am forced to pick and choose between some fun sounding games, as well as some old favorites. The tables were impressive throughout— I saw a 6mm Roman game featuring a full scale Mediterranean fortified city— alas, I did not recognize the battle, and it wasn’t listed in the PEL, nor was the system, but what an absolutely gorgeous board! Likewise there were battles from all eras (and genres), too many for me to even cover.

So a hearty “Thank you and well done!” to our convention organizers and HMGS-Midsouth.

Now, time to plan for next year…

— Parzival