Next door to the Bay Area Open this weekend, Kublacon was is full swing. Saturday saw some extremely impressive wargames on display and provided a nice change of pace from the standard GW fare and more competitive atmosphere of the BAO.
Kublacon is much, much more than miniatures games. It is a con for board games, RPGs, card games… really any kind of game and general nerdery. But miniatures tend to be my primary interest, so that’s what I paid $50 on Saturday to go find, and I was not disappointed!
Men of the West
You would be forgiven for assuming this was the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, as I did. This colossal game was hosted by Jay, of Jay’s Wargaming Madness blog fame. The two forces consisted of just about every unit type available to Mordor and the forces of Gondor and Rohan. There were Orcs of all shapes and sizes, trolls, Haradrim, Khandish, Corsairs and five freaking Mumaks! Not to be outdone, the Men of the west mustered enormous formations of Rohirrim, Knights of Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth, huge blocks of warriors and an entire brigade of Fiefdom troops. At an estimated 2,500 models, this game was truly a sight to behold.
Mortem et Gloriam
At least five tables were covered with 15mm historical miniatures that spanned periods from the late medieval all the way back to Biblical. They were all being used to play a game called Mortem et Gloriam, which enjoys an active and very collaborative fan base. The players were extremely friendly and the games looked to have a unique activation mechanic where you are trying to goad your opponent into moving first.
I loved the effect of the massed units in this game. It really struck home to me how a basic paint job and a ton of these small minis together can really look great. Close ups almost do them a disservice, since that’s not really the point.
The Siege of Altdorf (Day 37)
The real show stopper for me, and the single game most responsible for making me purchase my ticket in the first place was the enormous Siege of Altdorf (Day 37) game, played with 10mm Warmaster miniatures (mostly) and using modified Hail Caesar rules.
The forces arrayed for this game were truly spectacular. Again, a little goes a long way with these miniatures, and the effect of so many individual models in one place was awesome. The scenario was an Orc siege of the city of Altdorf, well before the End Times took place in the Warhammer setting. The game took quite a while to play, going long into the night. The Empire players kept their dwarven allies in reserve, ready to plug the gaps that the Orcs had made in the walls.
As the game wore on, the giants, trolls and monstrous spider of the greenskin forces made their strength felt and forced their way into the city. Troll slayers and Reiksguard Knights countercharged over the ruble of the outer walls. The game could not have been more cinematic in scope and made my weekend all on its own.
This is just a portion of the fun that was to be had alongside the BAO. The proximity of these conventions is an opportunity of which every gamer should take advantage.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
