From: "Louis R. Coatney" <mslrc@UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU>
Subject:      QUAD CON X Report: That Malayan Unpleasantness.

CAPITAL CON (in Springfield, Illinois) has a serious rival for best
  little game convention.  QUAD CON is a friendly, enthusiastic, and
  helpful operation.  Because I was running events all day and because
  we needed floor space for "The Battle for the Malayan Shore," I was
  given a perfect size, *quiet* room for my events all to myself ...
  and I didn't have to pay admission because I was running at least
  2 events.

The guiding spirit of QUAD CON has always been Donna Lemaster, of
  The Gamer's Emporium, in Moline (Illinois).  Quad Cities gamers
  owe her a lot.

Anyway, I got to the Davenport (Iowa) Ramada Inn exactly at 8PM, Friday,
  when Mike Welsh's INVASION: IOWA "Schnellbooten" miniatures game was
  scheduled to start.  I took command of PT 118 (powered by Velie
  engines discovered in one of the old factory warehouses in the
  Quad Cities ... I was told) and led the flotilla out from behind
  Arsenal Island onto the (Mississippi) River, where we ran right
  into the Iowa heavy stuff:  the two Iowa floating casinos.  I
  had retained (the risk of my) torpedoes and at top speed
  approached to attack, once I had cleared the wing dam.

We had finished a few minutes of game time ... and about 1.5 hours
  of real time ... and I had units to cut out and model ships to fit
  out for the next day, so I asked Mike to be excused.  I heard
  later that I "had been killed at the helm" and my boat had rammed
  THE PRESIDENT, heavily damaging her and making her an easy target
  for PT119's torpedoes ... or so Albert ... the high school student
  conning PT 119 ... excitedly reported to me, the next day.  :-)

As it turned out, Illinois won that night's battle, "liberating"
  considerable stores from a burgeoning Iowa grainery and blocking
  off our operation from any interference from the Iowa boats still
  upriver.  My dad's old wooden Chris Craft ... upon which Sylvia
  and I dallied, many a steamy summer hour, on the Mississippi
  ... would have been proud.  Ahh ... riverine "warfare."  :-)

On Saturday morning, Mike was passing out "Corn Wars" victory prizes:
  what else? ... ears of fresh corn!  :-)

The 1st ALAMEIN tournament started promptly at 9 AM ... I had gotten
  *4* hours of sleep instead of the previous night's 2 ... and the
  two early-riser opponents were a good match.  Both were experienced
  gamers:  Mike P. is from Ottumwa IA, and L. is Pakistani-American and
  was happy to play the Commonwealth.  (I believe he said his grandfather
  was in the British Indian Army, and he has some hair-raising stories to
  tell about Northwest Frontier fighting, in any case.)  L. had downloaded
  1st ALAMEIN's rules, a day or two before, and was eager to see how it
  worked.

L. spread out his units and had them in a forward deployment.  Mike
  approached cautiously and kept Panzerarmee Afrika dispersed, to
  minimize Desert Air Force harrassment ... although L.'s
  attacks were usually succussful ... dispersing some of Mike's
  key units for the next turn ... and he suffered no antiaircraft
  disruption at all.

On the (July) 6th (turn), with 2. Armoured Brigade in the game,
  Mike saw a pincer attack against 1. Armoured Division and an
  infantry brigade at Deir el Shein and took the 1/6th chance to
  annihilate them, even though he was exposing his best (4-4) unit
  -- the 15. Panzer Division -- to certain retaliation in kind if he
  failed to roll the 1/6 th chance to do so.

He did it! ... and L. ... who had been doing quite well, despite some
  positional weaknesses which neither of them saw ... conceded.  Mike
  was incredulous that 1st ALMEIN is FREE, and noted my webpage
  address.

Mike P. was also in my next (3 PM) event, the 1:700 "Battle for the
  Malayan Shore."  (During the game ... when I had the time/occasion
  to be a mere spectator ... he told me the last time he had naval
  wargamed was some years ago, in Florida.  He sank the favorite ship
  of an opponent who expressed his displeasure by hurling his tape
  measure at Mike.  MP ducked, the projectile took a chunk out of the
  wall behind him, and he decided he didn't need the kind of wargaming
  they do in Florida.)

It seems some of the people came to the convention to play in/with
  my "Naval Action" rules, again, and there was general rejoicing
  ... and displays of appreciation ... :-) ... at my announcement that
  "Naval Action" was *finally* FINISHED.

I took command of my cardstock 1:700 HMAS PERTH, Mike Welsh wanted HOOD,
  a taciturn fellow who had been in previous NA games took PRINCE OF
  WALES, Ted S. took destroyers ELECTRA and EXPRESS, and Bill C.--new
  to naval wargaming--took destroyers JUPITER, TENEDOS, and VAMPIRE.
  On the Japanese side, Mike Rach took 2 destroyers, Mike P. took cruisers
  ATAGO and TAKAO, another Mike P.--a WWII-knowledgable high school
  sophomore who had never naval wargamed before, hereafter known as
  "The Kid"--I gave command of fast battleships KONGO and HARUNA to,
  and Jason J.--an experienced "Naval Action" player, also--took
  the last 2 destroyers.

As usual, it was the British objective to break through the Japanese (with
  their dozens of 24" "Long Lance" torpedoes), to plunder the Malayan
  invasion Japanese transports somewhere beyond ... not that the dozen or
  so additional Japanese cruisers and destroyers wouldn't have then had
  something to say about *that*, of course.

We had JUPITER in the lead with 2 destroyers on either flank, followed
  by my PERTH, then HOOD, and then POW.  Our plan was the one used
  successfully at CAPITAL CON:  to head for one flank, hoping to defeat
  the Japanese in detail, as we end-arounded them.  The capital ships were
  soon in range, and The Kid started shooting KONGO's 14" guns at my
  PERTH.  (... visions of dyed, cathedral-like 14" shell spouts
  surrounding, dwarfing, and inundating my doughty little light cruiser.)
  I jerked PERTH out of line with a 90-degree port turn and went into
  evasive maneuvering ... to sarcastic hoots of derision about "Australian
  courage."  :-[

The next turn, HOOD began shooting, and the Japanese battleships on the
  left flank we were approaching went into evasive maneuvering.  The
  following turn, I completed my circle to fall in behind HOOD, hell-bent
  on its end run.  No one was hitting anyone, what with all the evasive
  maneuvering, but the range was closing ... fast.

On the next turn, everyone broke out of evasive maneuvering ... to
  increase accuracy/hitting ... and that is exactly what happened.  KONGO
  ... which had shifted fire to HOOD ... landed a longrange salvo on
  'OOD's deck armor ... and she was heavily damaged!  :-I
  The Kid was ecstatic.  :-)

If you ever meet Mike Rach in a naval wargame, don't let his John
  Belushi-like "wargame party animal" demeanor deceive you, like it did
  me ... or us.  I had considered the possibility of Japanese torpedoes
  ... already ... but the range/probability *seemed* distant, and Rach
  *seemed* to be more good-timing than ... calculating.  Uh huh.

With the gunfire over, out came the torpedo tracks.  Rach had fired off
  4 3-torpedo salvoes.  If HOOD had not been heavily damaged by KONGO,
  she would have left them in her wake.  UNfortunately, she intersected
  2 of the spreads PERFECTLY with her new speed, and they sent her to the
  bottom ... shall we say ... ABRUPTLY.

Now, I had been waging a safe, sensible battle with PERTH ... for a
  change.  I had been doing everything I was supposed to do, like a
  GOOD little light cruiser captain, and I certainly didn't deserve
  to collect the other two *perfectly* aimed spreads ... especially
  when you consider they had been aimed and fired the turn before,
  at EXTREME range ... (their limit being only 2" on the floor beyond
  our ships).

To the gleeful gratification of everyone present, *my* PERTH ...
  shall we say [2] ... VAPORIZED?  :-I  :-0  >|+{

There is NO JUSTICE for game designers who play our own games!

However ... *meanwhile* ... the wily, experienced Ted S. had slipped
  ELECTRA and EXPRESS ahead and into torpedo-firing position, themselves,
  and a turn or two later, he nailed HARUNA ... to The Kid's shock ...
  with his two, deftly-delivered 4-torpedo salvoes. :-)

All this time, Mike P. and Jason J. had been obligingly sailing
  on past our right flank, popping away at Bill C.'s destroyers,
  "evasively maneuvering" right up the center.  When HARUNA went down,
  two things happened:  Bill ... apparently sensing an opportunity for
  crushing victory ... broke his destroyers into a straight run and
  then launched as many torpedoes as he could, in all directions.

He had perfectly aimed spreads at the KONGO and the 2 right flank
  Japanese destroyers.  Unfortunately, the short-legged Allied torpedoes
  ran out of gas/steam/electrical charge *just* before they (would have)
  made contact, and ...  :-(

Retribution was swift and methodical in coming.  Mike P.'s ATAGO and TAKAO
  executed VAMPIRE, JUPITER, and TENEDOS, one after the other ... with
  secondary assistance from the indignant KONGO ... and the battle rushed
  on.  (Mike had been sitting over there calculating his accuracy values
  with relish, for some turns.)

All this time, our POW captain had wisely hung back ... being taunted
  and insulted by Mike Rach, who had immediately reloaded his torpedo
  tube, of course ... ranging in on KONGO.  Having survived near-disaster
  from our van destroyers' torpedoes and hungering for another shot like
  what had devastated HOOD, The Kid turned KONGO toward POW to close
  range, racing toward her at top speed.  BIG mistake.

POW finally got a decent ... nay, SPECTACULAR ... shoot result and
  staggered KONGO with a Heavy Damage result!  At the end of the
  turn, Japanese damage control finished the job ... worsening the
  result unto sinking.

At this point, a British withdrawal seemed in order to the POW captain
  and Ted S.'s surviving ELECTRA.

2 Japanese fast battleships, in return for HOOD, PERTH, and 4 British
  destroyers, seemed like a very slight tactical victory, navally, and
  a decisive victory strategically, for the Japanese.  The Battle for
  the Malayan Shore is a desperate scenario, for the British, as it
  was historically.

The thing about this game, though, was that *everyone* seemed to have
  a good time, evidenced by the good humor and sportsmanship during and
  after the battle and general feeling that it had been a good battle.

That evening, we had the SKY, SEA, AND *JUNGLE* tournament.  Mike Welsh
  and I took the American side in our separate games.  L. and The Kid
  took the Japanese.  Mike had played the game before, and quickly
  took a one-sided lead in his game.

Against me, on the other hand, The Kid got to sortie from Truk on the
  first turn and absolutely smeared me at sea and in Iron Bottom Sound.
  SARATOGA died, in poor return for SHOKAKU being knocked out of the game
  for only a month.  My broken cruisers littered the floor of the Sound
  and the dockyards of Australia.  However, on the 4th/Sept II turn, my
  Henderson-based Marine and naval aircraft massacred his transports
  coming down the Slot in broad daylight, expecting to "liberate"
  Guadalcanal.  AND, as had happened in Mike's and L.'s game, my B-17s
  caught carrier ZUIKAKU, no less, in Rabaul's Simpson Harbour and
  bottomed her!  :-)

Unfortunately, I was not able to damage, intimidate, or otherwise beat
  off MUSASHI(!) and KIRISHIMA ... and assorted friends ... when they
  cut loose with a BOMBARDMENT later that night... wiping out all aircraft
  and some troopies on Guadal canal.

Nevertheless, my pile of dead ships was decisively higher than The Kid's,
  by this time, and his playing time was running out, so we packed it
  in, after playing about 5 turns in 2 hours.  The volcano hadn't so much
  as tremored, in either game.

QUAD CON X was a good and productive (albeit exhausting) convention,
  and I spent most of the next day recuperating ... with a little help
  from Yen Ching's excellent Sunday buffet, in Moline (Illinois).

Lou Coatney, mslrc@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
  www.wiu.edu/users/mslrc/  (*Free* simple/lunch-hour/introductory
    1st ALAMEIN boardgame and cardstock model WWII Destroyer Escort
    (plan) to print off and assemble.)
Macomb, Illinois