Rick said: through the Red team had taken over 3/4 of the map, [Tomb] Yes, my bold plan to try to take down Adrian with one fell swoop ended up taking me down with much automatic weapon fire in the rear quadrant from Herr Crimmins, the Marksman of Death! and it was looking like they would win handily. I was afraid that I had dreamed up an awful scenario and that the game was going to end prematurely, but the tide turned and the game ended up being a very close contest at the end. [Tomb] IIRC: Green side: 1 squad (3 men, shaken), 1 squad (1 man, broken) and Red Side: 1 squad (1 man, broken), 1 squad (2 man, broken). As the shaken unit was the only one that could actually leave cover, it made it a green victory. (PS - when I called the artillery down, you said we were using the AOL template for deployment - what you didn't mention was that there would be THREE, not ONE, thus making my charge into the near area of the artillery much more dangerous looking.....) Now, on to my AAR: Fri Day: Long drive from Canada and hassle at the border ("What kind of convention did you say you were going to?"). Lots of fantasy baseball (APBA) on the way down in the Explorer. Fun drive as usual with Jim, JP and Adrian. Friday Night: Aaron's B5 Game. My criteria for side selection was "Which side is JP not on?" (after all, I live to fire at JP.... and he at me... and Jim likes to shoot at either of us). I got my chance, leading my mostly ineffectual Drahzi (Green-Purple Alliance). The Salvo-ish Missiles were thwarted by the Plasma nets and my guns just weren't up to White Star/Shadow levels. But it was fun and we barely won. Fri Late: Board game dot-com with David Raynes, Mike Hudak, JP, Aaron, and Chris. I think Chris one, after a hard fought battle. The salescreature can apparently avoid bad projects (the game is full of them) and get venture capital at just the right moments.... Saturday Morning: Convoy Ambush by Adrian J. The least bloodless SG2 game I've ever played, and one of the most well played by both sides (in terms of the execution of mission orders and the focus of the teams). Our side had orders to draw the rebel's mercs into combat (we were a convoy that was 'bait' but we had lots of infantry and a tank) and then destroy them and capture their leaders. My big fear was when I started disgorging infantry, Chris' would break and run. So I was careful not to let the cat out of the bag until he had commited. My PA was going to VTOL in once I'd located his command unit (he tried to head fake me after I did so by having a small scout unit flee, but his command unit was still EWing and transfering commands, so I didn't buy it.... I knew his command unit was still hidden in the trees). I made sure not to lose a squad in the first vehicle (made them ride on the tank instead as I knew the APC would be taken down by the attackers). I fired a fair bit, but Chris' side had good dice and survived with nothing but a case of the jitters. Come to think of it, I captured two mercs (a plus for some intel), but I didn't score a SINGLE casualty in the entire game. Chris got away with a truck full of supplies when my driver bailed (I thought it had *empty boxes* aboard - missed the *real supplies* bit in the briefing or I might have moved it further off). Anyway, Adrian ran a great game, and Chris' side ran a great attack and I think I ran a good solid trap, even if the dice sucked. My plan was good, I got them to commit, I got them dug in, and I got behind their command unit with a very dangerous asset. But the dice were fickle. At the end, it came down to Chris got some supplies, we got some prisoners, and I might have gotten to his command squad with an APC and some infantry (given he'd shattered my PA with one lethal artillery shot). They might have ended up prisoner or not. The problem for Chris' side breaking contact was we still had an APC and a tank and thus a mobility advantage. If he killed them, he'd probably get most of his force away. If not, I'd probably have destroyed a half of them and captured some important figures. Brilliant game! And Lee, on my side, new to the game, had a lot of fun and got a copy of the SG2 rules as a prize! That was great! Sat Aft: Con Queso Carnage..... and some good cheese! Thanks Rick! Great game, though I died early. Watching you frustrate over 90% of Adrian and JP's comms rolls and watching JP score six hits in one salvo of fire and not get through the Unobtainium Armour of Tony Finan was amazing. ("Must be the goo"). And it ended up balanced ish. Fun, silly, and entirely appropriate for Con Queso. Tony volunteered to run next years cheese game. Sun Night: Had there been an event, which there wasn't, it might have involved sheep, thieving NAC and OU teams, and the FSE defending the sheep and the honour of Lady Eliza Ful...errr... maybe Chris was right, that one isn't mentioned. It would have (had it happened) seen the likes of Allan MacCajun of Southfen, de-frocked Anglican Minister Jon of Needham, Rabbi "Magic" Makowsky on a flying carpet (including augering in after a run in with the Mosque gaurds), Death and Resurrection (and subsequent rescinding of the Resurrection) of Stuart "Scot-Free" MacMurray, Mary "Not So" Gentle commanding the Full Metal Attack Sheep (and trying to re-cock same), "Mad" Brain of the OU, Fiset of the FSE shooting through his sergeant, Dynamite as a sheep hearding technique, a missing geiger counter, the use of Joe Louis (a savory chocolate and creme pastry from Canada) as a seduction aide, the French defending a woman's honour, acts of cannibalism as sheep were lured with MRE (Tripe), Honest Abdul, purveyor of previously enjoyed Dromedaries, Oh-Oh Ohlsson and his big rocket launcher, the fight with the lightsaber and scots kiss, followed by the dropping of the lightsaber on the toe, much mental trauma, comments about sheep that I don't even want to think about, and the attempt by Roger (Ornery Ful...errr... again best not mentioned) to bribe a ride out of the area with the UN (who had he and Mike under arrest for shenanigans surrounding a young doctor from the Gezundheit Institute of the-back-end-of-the- back-end-of-nowhere), followed by everyone else bribing the UN to keep them there while the Fissionable Mass (or was that Final Minute?) Atomic Sheep went off. I guess the only good thing you could say is that this never really happened and therefore the mental damage is entirely illusory. Sat Late: Formula De, 1 lap, demolition derby style. Sat Later Still: A 4 way game of nuclear war which no one won (all died). Sunday: Cruel and inhumane treatment. (Jon D's backwoods militia bumpkin accent). Fought a chapter in the 2ACW over Huntlington West Virigina. Provisionalists (Initially, provincialists, so we assumed the Canadians had invaded) vs. Constitutionalists. Similar tactics from me as leader of the Cons and Stu as leader of the Provs (board split by a river with three bridges, each picked an end bridge and tried to roll the others flanks while pushing on the center bridge). Stu made one bold stab into our rear with some GEVs and nailed my 3 VTOLs behind a hill, thus turning my flank. Our GEVs crossed the river, and the infantry battle was raging at the end. I think based on damage done and assets on the board, Stu got a victory. The odds were about 60-40 he'd get the main bridge and we'd either get run out of town or hold one bridge. We *might* have stopped him if we'd killed enough of his infantry as his tank and VTOL advantage doesn't mean a lot in urban terrain. A great battle! Good scenario Jon, and a great honour to play against an enemy commander as good as Stuart. Sun (day): Long drive back to the great white north through a storm and some freezing rain. Long discussions about XML/XSLT, etc. and many other matters. Summary: A great con. A great trip. Great people. Can't come again soon enough. And great to meet a few other known- virtually listers in the flesh. Great to have Roger from England!