Fire and Fury Games' Battlefront WWII HISTORICON 2001

Fire and Fury Games We give history a second chance.

HISTORICON 2001

The Fire and Fury Team (Rich Hasenauer, Greg Lyle, Dave Choat, Mark Hayes, Mike Pierce, and Jim Baker) attended the Historicon convention to debut our late-war supplement. We were joined by John Rigley, who put on several excellent Pacific theater games, Jerry Lannigan, who put on an absolutely awesome Omaha beach scenario using our rules, Pete Landry, who ran a bocage scenario, and Eric Feifer, who ran an early war battle. We spent 3 days running games, "networking" with our friends, and running our convention booth. I (Jim B.) helped put on a seminar on wargaming and the web. We were extremely pleased with the way our game has been received. Below are some photos of the convention.

Omaha Beach

I must start with pictures of Jerry Lannigan's incredible setup. Spanning several game tables, 20mm American forces swarm the beachhead. One game went down to the last die roll (and ended in narrow German victory). In a second game some DD tanks managed to break through and clear a way for following infantry. Gerry has posted some of his rules for the invasion on the forum.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
A panoramic view of the beach	Jerry set it up so that each American player would be able to assault a beach exit. This gave many people a chance to participate. This is a view of the battle from the West end. The bunkers in the foreground represent Point du Hoc.
DD tanks come to grief on the beach	The 88mm on the right of the picture takes out two assaulting tanks.
One of the beach exits.	The defences of one of the beach exits as seen from the sea.
Life is a beach.	More of the defences
Infantry move up.	American Infantry start to move up one of the exits.
Moving up the left flank.	On the East end of the beach, American Infantry move up the cliffs.
Breakthrough.	In the second game, a DD tank survives and breaks into the German defence.

Early War Battle

Eric Feifer put on an early-war scenario in 20mm. Here are some pictures of German tanks from his game.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Pz38t	A Panzer 38t (or is it a 35t) moves up through a village. Eric Feifer runs lots of interesting early war scenarios. The early-war armor is nowhere near as imposing as the late-war, and often results in games featuring lots of maneuvering.
PzII and Armored car	A Panzer II and an armored car move up through the same village.

Rumble in the Jungle

John Rigley put on several Pacific theater games. Here are some pictures from a Japanese armor attack.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Corsair on the prowl	Rich Hasenauer helped John set up his terrain in the second game. The result was eye-catching. Here a Corsair flies over the battlefield
U.S. Defences	A view of the U.S. forces lying in wait.
Closeup of U.S. Defences	A closein view of the U.S. position
Japanese Infantry moves out	The Japanese infantry start to move up toward the U.S. positions
Moving through the Jungle	The Japanese infantry infiltrate through the Jungle
Japanese Armor	The Japanese armor follows their infantry.

Bocage

A bocage battle by Pete Landry.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Photo 1	Bocage Photo 1
Photo 2	Bocage Photo 2
Photo 3	Bocage Photo 3

Hill 112

Richard H. was trying a new scenario based on the battle for Hill 112 in Normandy between the British and Germans.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
The British Move up	One of the interesting features of this battle was the sparse terrain that allowed the British infantry to advance without being seen. As they get close, the British player lays down smoke
The British Move up	One of the interesting features of this battle was the sparse terrain that allowed the British infantry to advance without being seen. As they get close, the British player lays down smoke
Airstrike!	A typhoon joins the struggle.
The team	This photo is of primary interest in that it shows Rich Hasenauer, Dave Choat, and Mike Pierce (in the hat), three of the Fire and Fury design and playtest team.
Contact	Covered by smoke, the British infantry contact the German positions. This wave was thrown back.
Tanks join the fray.	A squadron of Churchill tanks join the struggle.
Melee in the Middle	Tanks, Infantry, and guns mix it up at the top of the hill.

Pick-up Game

While the struggle for Hill 112 was going on at a nearby table, Germans assaulted a Russian infantry force.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Tanks break through	The German Tanks broke through the Russian lines but the halftracks and PzGr stay behind to clear the Russians out of the village. However, this is easier said than done.
Another Angle	Another angle on the previous situation. The Russian infantry set up behind the edge of the woods, forcing the Germans to come in after them. They were backed up by a RU-12 regimental gun, useless in long range combat but...
Germans prepare.	Backed up by a Grille, the German PzGr prepare to root the Russians out of the woods. The effective Russian tactic was to shoot at the Germans as they came in and then close combat the vehicles. The German tanks couldn't come back to help without exposing themselves to flanking AT fire. By staying back inside the cover, the Russian infantry didn't expose themselves to the deadly fire of the Grille and supporting arms.
Halftrack Motel	German halftracks check in, but they don't check out (for our overseas customers, this is an allusion to an American television commercial for a pest control product called "Roach Motel"). As the Germans bogged down in the closed terrain the Russians continued to pick off the lighter vehicles.

People

Here are some photos of people on the team. I am sorry that I only took a few shots, I was concentrating on wargaming equipment!

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Mark Hayes.	Mark Hayes smiles for the camera.
Dave Choat and Greg Lyle	Dave and Greg man our booth.

Top of page

Home Page