Black Powder - Glory, Hallelujah! review

Since the release of Black Powder by Warlord Games, I've been using it to play games set in the American Civil War without difficulty. Still, I was looking forward to the release of their American Civil War supplement book, "Glory, Hallelujah!". I was interested to see how they suggested handling some of the defining aspects of the war that aren't particularly reflected in the main rules. These aspects include the different role of cavalry, presence of river gunboats, susceptibility of brigade and even division commanders to falling casualty, and varying sizes of artillery batteries (some 4 guns, some 6) and infantry regiments (which could vary greatly in size). Also, having more scenarios never hurts, though I already have plenty of scenarios I haven't played yet from other sources.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 3

Zeus, Ares, Athena, and Aphrodite set out to hunt another white lion. This would be Aphrodite's first time out of the settlement. She and Ares, Zeus's children, are given full sets of rawhide armor for protection, and Ares is armed with the bone axe. Zeus carries the newly created king spear, which has the advantage of extended reach.

On the trail of their prey, the survivors encounter refugees of a destroyed settlement. Zeus offers them his cloth covering to aid them in the journey ahead. In gratitude, the refugees tell the survivors about the monster who besieged their settlement. (As a result, at the start of the showdown the first 5 AI cards would be revealed, and could then be returned to the top of the AI deck in any order). Armed with knowledge of the beast's methods and weaknesses, the group quickly locates the white lion they have been tracking.

Little Wars 2016

This year, for the first time, I attended the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) Midwest Little Wars convention. This year it was held at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois. The convention runs for three days, all day Friday through Sunday, but I was only there for about the first half of Saturday. I played in one game Saturday morning, a game of Black Powder set in the American War of Independence. It followed the Bemis Heights scenario from the Rebellion supplement. I had a lot of fun playing, and met a few people in the area who might be interested in getting together some time to get in a game of Black Powder, so hopefully something comes of that.

After the game I wandered around the gaming room a bit having a look at the other games. There was a huge variety in the games I saw being played, so it seems like there must have been something for everyone. Then I checked out the vendor area, located in a separate room, which also had a great variety represented. The afternoon game I wanted to play in was filled up before I got a ticket, so I ended up leaving early in the afternoon. But I had a good time, and hopefully I'll be able to make it again next year. See below for some pictures of the game I played in, and some others that looked particularly interesting.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 2

Having built themselves a settlement, now known as Olympus, the survivors start to run low on food and other resources. They realize they will have to go back out into the darkness to explore, and hunt the monsters that dwell there for precious resources. Original survivors of the first white lion encounter, Hera and Dionysus, head out with Ares, the son of Hera and Zeus, along with another woman from the settlement, known as Athena. Hera and Ares wear the rawhide armor the settlement crafted, with Hera wielding the Bone Axe. Together the four of them set out into the wilderness in search of another white lion, with the survival of their fledgling settlement at stake.