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Pyrrhic Airborne Victories at BMHGA's Barracks Battles 2009
This weekend, the Big Muddy Historical Gaming Alliance is hosting a full-weekend wargaming convention at the St. Louis Mills shopping mall, running from Friday, May 15, through Sunday, May 17. The theme of the convention is Pyrrhic Victories. Further details, such as events and vendors, can be found at the Big Muddy web site at http://www.bmhga.org/index.html .
Also running at the convention will be a couple of board wargame "mini-marathon" sessions of a couple of the more famous Pyrrhic victories involving large-scale paratroop drops of WW2: Operation Mercury, GMT's classic game of the German invasion of Crete; and Hells' Highway, VG's classic game of the Allied attempt to breach the Rhine River in Holland and end the war by Christmas '44.
There are plenty of open seats for these games, and they lend themselves very well to multi-commander, team games, due to the nature of the two operations. Isolated groups of paratroopers fight to gain footholds and achieve their objectives, while waiting for stronger reinforcements to arrive in the nick of time.
If you enjoy quality, classic wargaming action, make plans to come to the convention and mix it up on two of the best depictions of airborne assaults ever designed. Hell's Highway details can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2077 , and Operation Mercury can be previewed at http://www.gmtgames.com/p-134-operation-mercury.aspx and http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5751 . Scans of the rules will be posted here for those interested in getting a head start on how to play.
Hope to see you there!
Chris Fawcett
Also running at the convention will be a couple of board wargame "mini-marathon" sessions of a couple of the more famous Pyrrhic victories involving large-scale paratroop drops of WW2: Operation Mercury, GMT's classic game of the German invasion of Crete; and Hells' Highway, VG's classic game of the Allied attempt to breach the Rhine River in Holland and end the war by Christmas '44.
There are plenty of open seats for these games, and they lend themselves very well to multi-commander, team games, due to the nature of the two operations. Isolated groups of paratroopers fight to gain footholds and achieve their objectives, while waiting for stronger reinforcements to arrive in the nick of time.
If you enjoy quality, classic wargaming action, make plans to come to the convention and mix it up on two of the best depictions of airborne assaults ever designed. Hell's Highway details can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2077 , and Operation Mercury can be previewed at http://www.gmtgames.com/p-134-operation-mercury.aspx and http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5751 . Scans of the rules will be posted here for those interested in getting a head start on how to play.
Hope to see you there!
Chris Fawcett
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on -
Here is the first set of files...
Hell's Highway is broken into four files, and they are set up for duplex (front-to-back) printing. - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on
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And here are the rest!
Operation Mercury is also set up for duplex printing, in two separate 10-sheet (20-page) files. - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on
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Anyone downloaded the rules?
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Permalink Reply by Mitchell Land on -
I glanced at them. Does that count?
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Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on
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Moreso if you plan to play, Mitch... ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Mitchell Land on
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Chris,
Are these games going to be all day events or do they have specific start/stop times?
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Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on
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We're going to start either Hell's Highway or Operation Mercury this afternoon or evening (depending on when the "critical mass" gets off work and shows up at the con. We'll play that one through for a time, then we'll probably pick up playing the other one. I'm going to be there this evening and all day tomorrow, but nothing on Sunday.
But anyone's welcome to drop in at any time and the rest of us will bring you up to speed quickly. Both of these games are pretty straightforward for moderately experienced wargamers (although a little on the "chrome-y" side)(, and the basic systems are easily grasped.
P.S. If we don't actually get to one of the games this weekend, it'll get on the table for an upcoming "team/project game."
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Permalink Reply by Mitchell Land on
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Unfortunately, this weekend is already chock-full of activities. Sounds like it'll be fun!
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