Gaming

By Kreighton Long

On 11 October, sixteen players gathered at the Call to Arms Convention in Williamsburg, VA for a 1250 point Bolt Action tournament hosted by Kalissa Skibicki.  This is Kalissa’s fifth time running the Bolt Action tournament for Southeastern Tabletop Gaming Organization (SETGO)’s autumn convention.

This continuity has allowed relationships to grow between the repeat attendees even if it is limited to a once-a -year interaction over a tournament involving toy soldiers and measuring tape.  The camaraderie is ever-present throughout the weekend especially as players arrive to the event and are heartily greeted by their soon-to-be competitors.

By Troy Hill

I began to write this a week ago, on 7 October. But new bits of information were trickling out of Mantic HQ so fast, the trickle was more of a typhoon. Or, at least, it was “Blowing a Hoolie” with news from Nottingham UK.

Now that Ronnie, Matt, and Kyle at Mantic have the information deluge at more manageable levels, let me recap the last several weeks for those living outside the world of Pannithor.

Mantic Games flagship game, Kings of War (KOW) is on the road to a new edition! And it’s been designed by one of the grand masters of the fantasy gaming genre, Alessio Cavatore. The reigning King (of Wargaming Rules) is back, baby!

Even though he’s been busy recently, ushering one of his other flagship designs, Bolt Action, by Warlord Games, into their 3rd edition, Alessio is recharging another game (KOW) he hasn’t touched since it came out back in December of 2010.

In the following article, I’ll share what a broad overview of what we know about the new edition at the time of this writing. Most of the images link to pages on the Mantic Website, so be sure to click them to learn more.

By Kreighton Long

After completing my North African Italians I committed to building a set of desert terrain for them to fight in.  In addition to the standard dwellings and walls I wanted to build palm groves to add some soft cover and greenery to the table.  While wandering around a Michaels store I came across bags of palm trees on sale and decided the time to start the palm groves was now.

By Kreighton Long

As many a tabletop war gamer has learned, the winter holiday season is a wonderful time for terrain builders.  This past winter I stocked up on the three styles of Lemax mats in stock at Michaels with the idea of using them to build European style cobblestone roads for my urban tables.

I wanted to build 6 x 12″ sections of road that will allow me to easily stack and store the road sections as well as drop them down on the table as needed.  I found a pack of 20 basswood sheets measuring 6 x 12 x 1/8 inches on Amazon and added them to my cart.

By Kreighton Long

Nearly a decade since the release of Warlord Games’ first edition of Konflikt ’47, we are on the precipice of a new edition set to be released this September.  Since it’s release in 2016, I must sheepishly admit that I have not taken a stab at this science-fiction, alternate history, cousin of Bolt Action.

I am hopeful that that will change soon as I have become more and more invested in the aesthetics and gaming of a competing science-fiction universe as well as having an advance copy of the new rulebook in front of me.  As a veteran Bolt Action player, I have a familiarity with the foundational rules and an abundance of 28mm WWII miniatures and terrain.  With this head start, it looks like a fairly simple leap to add Konflikt ’47 to my wargaming repertoire.

Rumble on the Rivers game convention is returning to the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne Indiana, USA.

Date: October 24-26, 2025

• The Grand Wayne Center,
• 120 West Jefferson Boulevard
• Fort Wayne, IN 46802

Housing/Hotels

There is NOT a roomblock. There are several hotels that connect to the Grand Wayne Center. Please visit the hotel directory here to explore your options.

https://www.visitfortwayne.com/hotels/downtown/

Hours: (more information coming soon)

• Friday: ?
• Saturday: ?
• Sunday: ?

Demo and Learn to play games will be featured on Friday

Friday Oct 24

Friday, October 24 we will have an army shop & swap event, as well as open play tables for anyone that doesn’t want to participate in the tournaments. Our vendors will be set up, and everyone is encouraged to come! There is no cost for entry to the convention hall itself all weekend long. This page will update as new events are added to the schedule.

Tournaments on Saturday and Sunday

Events:

Here’s the rundown of current tournaments, and where to go to register for each:

Warhammer 40,000

Rumble on the Rivers 40K GT

2 day tournament, $100.00 entry fee.

Register here:

https://www.bestcoastpairings.com/event/9LBOSyQP0bkF

Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings

This is a two-day, five-round tourney. World Points pending approval.

Saturday Oct 25, 26

2000 pt using the latest rules and faction updates from Para Bellum Games. Follow the Tournament Rules from Para Bellum www.para-bellum.com/tourn…

No painting requirement, but there will be a painting competition.

Scenarios from the official Conquest scenario pack will be announced day of (each round a surprise).

Register here: https://www.longshanks.org/event/27157/
Entry  Fee: $50 – payable via Paypal (address at Longshanks)

Marvel Crisis Protocol

Tourney Sunday Oct 26

Standard MCP Sunday event at the Grand Wayne Center. We will be using the current rotation of crisis, tactics cards etc. 3-4 rounds based on attendance. 90 minute rounds, hard dice down after an additional 15. Round 2 at 1pm, Round 3 at 3pm. BornMinis Steph to stream table 1. Awards for top placings, best theme and best spirit. Prizes: TBD. Entry is 20$ via cash or PayPal

https://mcp.longshanks.org/event/27556/

Warhmammer: The Old World

Saturday, October 25 will be a 3-round 2k singles tournament, $25/player
https://www.bestcoastpairings.com/event/ppAhFOFohQs4

Sunday, October 26 will be a 3-round 2x1k DOUBLES tournament, $50/team
https://www.bestcoastpairings.com/event/Ar8dPBu8n1J8

We’re also running a charity raffle during the weekend for armies, units, and in-game rerolls to help support the family of one of our community members who passed from brain cancer.

By Troy Hill

Created by the dragons to be a subservient race, the Dweghom became anything but! Punished for rebelling, forced to delve deep into the bowels of Eӓ, the subjugated became the hunters when they unlocked the very prison of the demigod War!

The game of Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings (TLAOK) provides new and interesting takes on common fantasy races, and I’ve started–and mostly finished– building a third army for the game.

The Dweghom were one of the first factions created for Para Bellum’s Fantasy rank-n-flank game. They currently sit awaiting a faction rules update, which is coming in September, when the company releases the last of this year’s rules updates. I started collecting them to build a low meta army for TLAOK. Knowing their glow-up in the rules is about to hit, I’m worried that their play style may become more complicated than the sweet-spot (for me) they currently sit at.

This is not a look at competitive army builds, since the new faction rules are only a few weeks away. Instead, I’ll present the lore and the background of the faction and units.

By Paolo Paglianti

When I found out I’d be traveling to Historicon 2025 for work, I took a look at the tournaments hosted at the event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and saw that there were no fewer than three Art de la Guerre tournaments— the 15mm ancient/medieval wargame that’s so popular both in the Old and New Worlds.

Although I played a few ADG tournaments in Italy a couple of years ago, I never really got into it too deeply, since the club I attend in Milan has remained loyal to DBMM, which—along with FOG—is something of a “parent” to ADG. But since the miniatures are the same and I have about 7,000 ancient and medieval 15mm figures at home, why not have a bit of fun?

By Troy Hill

I admit it. I hated studying the American Civil War (ACW) ever since Junior High School. But, the title says I made a visit recently to Gettysburg. Since I’m about to turn 61, you might be wondering why I had this change of heart?

First, why did I not care for the war? The best I can say is that reading The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, in the 8th grade. I’d had a good dose of ACW studies in the 7th grade as well at Brookdale Junior High, as my social studies class covered it in depth for about three months. Then the 8th and 11th grades went even farther.

And Stephen Crane’s book kept coming back to haunt my dreams, so I tuned out the lessons. Study enough to pass the tests, then forget about it. I just wasn’t interested. But, after having spent most of two decades studying and gaming World War 2, I was ready for something fresh. Napoleonics! Yeah….? Well, no. I wasn’t into figuring out the uniform facing colors for each unit. Best to not upset the gaming grognards with the incorrect facings or pom colours. But I still wanted another period to get into that was older than WW2. The Great War was too tied into WW2. Though different, it was too much the same.

What about ACW? Union blue vs Confederate gray, butternut, brown, and whatever else Johnny Reb was wearing… Yep. That’s more manageable on the painting front. And a lot of the battlefields are only a one-to-two day drive away from Indiana. No hopping on a jet plane to Europe or Africa to go see what happened. So, ACW was my next historical gaming stop. As long as I didn’t have to read Stephen Crane again.

Where does the pilgrimage to Gettysburg fit into all of this? And, most importantly, how did I as a wargamer, get my non-wargaming wife to agree to one of the most required pilgrimages in all of ACW-dom?

By Kreighton Long

Last autumn I wrapped up my capstone Bolt Action tournament of the year and began dreaming of my next army project.  This transition coincided with the release of Bolt Action Third Edition, and I drafted my new army knowing that my experiences with the new edition would likely evolve how I built and played my list.  You can find the first two articles in this series where I share my original ideas and how I painted my work.