Memorium

A little while back, our little fur baby crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. I miss Surie and I wanted to post a tribute to her.

	As a puppy maybe 3 months old.
	Surie at 6 months with her half-sister Milou.
	Surie was a child-certified St Johns Ambulance therapy dog for 9 years. Here she is taking a well deserved rest after meeting so many teenagers at a technology camp. Most therapy dog sessions are under an hour in length. Meeting people is very draining and one of our duties as a handler is recognizing when our dogs have had enough.
	Surie would visit regularly visit residents at a nursing home and special needs students at a high school. She would also attend fund raising events and other special events.
	We attended a number of Remembrance Day parades. Surie hated the cold so these weren't her favourite events. But she enjoyed the afterparty in the Legion Hall.
	Surie's favourite game was Fetch. Or rather putting the toy down, waiting for me to reach down for it, and then snatching it away. After some wrestling time, she would let go so that I could throw it again.
	Surie was an amazing traveller. She had her own booster chair so that she could look out, but most of the time, she just slept. Here we are on our drive from Ontario to BC, stopping in Winnipeg for this picture.
	When we picked up Surie as a puppy, she was accompanied by a plush pink rabbit. This was her constant companion and she used it as pacifier/comforter every day of her life. As a puppy, she quickly shredded the tennis ball body that bunny had, but otherwise left Baby intact. One squeaker in a leg was still working to the end.
	Me carrying Surie carrying Baby.
	One of our last pictures of Surie. She couldn't see me but she knew I was there.

KEGSCon 2022

 Wow, it's been a long time since I posted.

In terms of gaming, it has been pretty quiet. I went to Hot Lead. I started to create a post for it but never got around to finishing it. I unpacked a couple more gaming boxes into my hobby area but that is far as I got.

But I did go to KEGSCon last weekend in Chatham. I ran a game of Chain of Command, which went fairly well. I find that most CoC gamers in conventions tend to be cautious, and this game was no exception. While the Russians were getting pretty shot up, since we were playing the Probe scenario, they did have a chance for a win if they got some good movement rolls and resolutely pushed on.

After the initial deployments, with Russians on the right and Germans on the left.

The Russians at the top have been massacred to ineffectiveness while the Russian pressure at the bottom is taking effect

Near the end of the game, the Germans advanced at the bottom as did the Russians at the top.

In the afternoon, I played in a game of late medieval Swiss against Burgundians. The Swiss really need to close quickly and get stuck in, but were doomed by poor morale rolls at inopportune times.

Swiss advancing against the steady Burgundians and then failing morale rolls. Only half the Swiss units are still on the board

Other games included an IABSM featuring a British assault on a German fortified hill late D-Day.

A Charlie Company game with the Viet Cong assaulting a US position.

Finally, a Mexican Revolution game (using Sharp Practice 2 rules)

Borodino: Practice for Hot Lead

Right flank French are repulsed from the redoubt and capturing Borodino on the other side of the river.

On Family Day, a group of us gathered to try out a scenario for Hot Lead. The scenario was a refight of Borodino on a grand scale using Sam Mustafa's Blucher rules.

The game is intended for 6 players at Hot Lead but we had to make do with two players a side. The set up had the Russians defending with scattered bits of corps, which were generally smaller in size to the French corps.

(Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures until half way through)

The game started with a general advance by the French across all fronts. The one difference was that a French corps on the other side of the river changed direction to cross back over the river, leaving one division and artillery to try to take Borodino, which was held by a Russian division.

Russian left where things were going well,until they weren't. French corps in middle being worn down

The Russian response was to advance and take a village on the left and generally get ready to receive the French. As the French closed, they suffered a couple of devastating cannonades followed by a couple of cavalry charges. This action disrupted the French attack on the centre-left, but didn't slow them down much on the centre-right.

The arrival of the French reserves made a huge difference on the far left, where the combined impact of French infantry, artillery, and cavalry began pounding the Russian forces. It was looking decidedly grim for the Russians by the time I left to return home. In the center-left, the Russians were doing well and were more than holding their own. The only real concern was the emergence of French cavalry from the woods and onto the left flank. I think the Russians could hold out with the arrival of a fresh division of cavalry and Russian guard. 

Just before the Grand Battery wipes out the French garrison in Borodino and the Russian cavalry charged

On the centre-right, the Russians hold the town and ridge were suffering from French bombardments and several divisions had to retire. However, the troops in the redoubt in front of the town managed to fend off two charges and looked to be able to hold for another attack or two. 

On the far right, the French managed to take Borodino, but suffered the loss of their artillery to marauding cossacks. The division that took Borodino was then wiped out by a couple of massive bombardments from a massed grand battery. The grand battery also hammered at the French hordes that were flanking the redoubt. A cavaly charge vapourized one French division and caused some of the horde to beat a hasty retreat.

When I left, the Russian left was in real trouble, the centre-left was holding out but there was cause for concern. In the centre-right, the Russians were being thinned down but still holding out. The real question was whether Kutusov's fresh infantry and the grand battery could deliver the hammer blow before the Russians gave out in the centre and far left. I'm not sure they could because there were still a lot of French troops there.

I had a lot of fun with this and we learned a few things about how to run the scenario in Hot Lead, so that is a bonus.