I suppose for my first post I should mention Recon '09, held April 23-26. This was HMGS-South's first con at Cocoa Beach and by all accounts was a success. The economy kept away about a third of the regulars, but all who attended certainly enjoyed the new venue. For my gaming, I again tried to use my Seljuk Turks in the DBA Tournament. The light horse army is a fragile lot, and you need just the right pips, at the right time, to keep them moving. I was able to keep them moving, but the dice failed me when they entered combat. In three games, I had no kills - a new low! Knights are a tough force to fight, if you can't turn their flanks. Many thanks to Marty Schmidt, who always does a great job answering all the questions and keeping the tourney rolling at a fast pace.
I also played in the Qarqar 853 B.C. Big Battle DBA game with the Hebrews and the Assyrians. The game featured three armies for each side, with the Assyrians able to assign the movement die rolls, while the Hebrews had to deal with each army as rolled. This gave a unique twist all gamers should try, if one side has better command control than the other. For a quick summary, the siege tower and the hordes maintained a steady advance on the Assyrian right. We tried a sweeping move with all of our lighter elements on the left, but the Hebrew chariots reached the choke points formed by dunes first. We just could not bring enough force to bear. The loss of the first army on the left flank was the beginning of the end. We called the game at that point, figuring the Hebrews would eventually roll up the flank.
Already looking forward to Hurricon '09. Florida area gamers, this is a don't miss because all genres are played at this con. Although no micro-armour games were present at Recon.....hmmm, maybe this is a hole I will fill this time.