Winter War 46

Our first event of 2019 was Winter War 46, the largest independent gaming convention in the Midwest, held in Champaign, Ill. 

As always, Winter War features a wide selection of tabletop, miniature and role-playing games in a variety of genres. They include well-known games popular from the 1970s to today, as well as newer games and game systems of more recent invention. Many are based on fictional worlds (e.g., Firefly, Conan, Honor Harrington) while others recreate battles from every phase of history, from ancient Greece to World War II. 

In between stints at the vendor table I got to try out one tabletop war game. Dubbed "Etna Erupts!" the game pictured above is a recreation of a little-known Civil War battle near Etna, Missouri, in 1861, utilizing the Brother Against Brother tactical skirmish gaming system. 

Using a scale model of the battlefield (which consisted of a farm, several dirt roads, open fields and a stand of trees), players may move their soldiers a fixed distance forward in inches on each turn; how far they may move is determined by a dice roll. Players may also use their turn to fire upon enemy forces, with another dice roll determining how many (if any) enemy soldiers are felled. Card draws at the start of the game determine the level of experience of one's respective units and the type and firing range of weapons they will possess. Card draws and dice rolls during the game introduce elements of chance, such as "morale points" that determine how much impact casualties will have upon one's unit in subsequent turns. 

The Brother Against Brother system is particularly useful for games based upon Civil War battles that aren't nearly on the same scale as Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam, etc., but require no less tactical knowledge—and luck—to win. The outcome can be quite different from the historical outcome; I played the Union side and got thoroughly wiped out, whereas in real life this battle was reckoned a Union victory. But I enjoyed the game since it was challenging without being too complicated. 

Many thanks to Mark Lueckenhoff (pictured at left) for hosting this game and for all his work in creating the scale model battlefield. 

Some of the other games featured included: 

All Quiet on the Martian Front, which portrays a second Martian invasion of Earth after that depicted in H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. This particular game is set at Arsenal Island near Rock Island, Illinois, which the Army is preparing to defend from a Martian force advancing up the Mississippi River. 

Here's a real Winter War — a reenactment of Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1812. 

Formula De: Watkins Glen is among a series of tabletop recreations of famous auto races to satify your need for speed....

....meanwhile, Hedley Lamar and his band of gunfighters run loose in Rock Ridge looking for anything they can grab in the 1st Annual Blazing Skedaddles Scavenger Hunt! 

Thanks to everyone who planned and staged this event... it's one we look forward to every year. 

Next up on our schedule is the Big River Steampunk Spring Faire in Hannibal, Missouri, March 30-31. Be advised that this year, Monroe St. Press will be vending at the Spring Faire instead of the larger Big River Steampunk Festival on Labor Day weekend. More details will be posted as they become available.