Subject:                              Time:  9:11 AM
  OFFICE MEMO         Havoc XII After Action Report (long)  Date:  4/25/96

I ventured up to Boston last weekend to partake in the action at Havoc XII,
sponsored by BattleGroup Boston.  The con expanded to three days this year:
Friday night (one gaming period), Saturday (3 periods), and Sunday (2
periods).  Events covered almost all aspects of miniatures gaming and some
boardgames (ASL and Starfleet Battles) as well.  Highlights included a Space
Hulk game played on an elaborate model ship, and the "Chicks with Sticks"
ancients game for women only.

I played in two Ironclads games on Friday and Saturday.   On Friday, I helped
the Confederacy break the blockade of the James River in 1865, commanding the
casemate ironclad Virginia II.  Other Confederate forces included two Richmond
class ironclads and two wooden gunboats.  Union forces included the two-turret
monitor Onondaga, a single turret monitor, and three wooden gunboats.  The
turning point in the game came when the Onondaga, a fearsome ship, with two
15" smoothbore guns and two 150 lb. Parrott rifles, collided with one of the
Union gunboats.  She sustained minimal damage, but lost all headway.  This
enabled the three slower Confederate ironclads, which had been drawing a bead
on her, to simultaneously lower spar torpedoes and ram her on her starboard
side.  Needless to say, she went to the bottom.   Immediately afterwards, the
other Union monitor rammed and sank one of the Confederate gunboats, but was
pulled under herself when she couldn't disengage from the wreck.  Thus the
James belonged to the South once more.

In the second Ironclads game, the U.S. Navy faced off against the British and
the Guatemalans off the coast of Nicaragua in 1870.  The U.S. squadron
comprised the monitors Roanoke and Dictator, and the Death Star of casemate
ironclads, the Dunderberg.  The British squadron comprised the predecessor to
the modern battleship, the Warrior, and three armored frigates.  The
inconsequential Guatemalan squadron comprised three wooden gunboats.  The
battle quickly boiled down to the Dunderberg sinking the entire British
squadron by herself.  While the point values in the game suggested that it
would be a fair fight, the Dunderberg and the Dictator were so heavily armored
that the British ships could barely hurt them.

On Saturday I ran my Guadalcanal scenario, which I had run for some consimmers
here in Northern VA and also at Cold Wars.  This time the sneaky Japanese
picked a light force, and fired all their torpedoes down the Slot at extreme
range upon sighting the Americans, sinking a destroyer and damaging a cruiser.
 When they spotted the battleship North Carolina with the Americans, they
immediately broke and ran, aborting the unloading of transports on the island.
 The Japanese commander was heard to say as he fled, "F*** the Army!  We'll go
back to Rabaul, reload, come back next week, and put another ship on the
bottom."  The transports  contained an Army brigade plus supplies, to
reinforce the 2,000 mostly starving Japanese on Guadalcanal.  The IJN,
however, won the game on points because of the penalty the Americans suffered
for selecting the battleship.

On Saturday night I played an enjoyable game of The Sword and the Flame and
helped the Dervishes bushwhack a British column of infantry and cavalry.

On Sunday morning, I played in a predreadnought naval game based on the fleet
action in the novel 1901.  The game pitted six German battleships plus an
armored cruiser against six U.S. battleships.  The game ended in a bloody draw
when one U.S. squadron wrecked two German ships operating independently, and
the other U.S. squadron lost a close action against four Germans.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon I played in a riotous game of Circus Maximus
involving 16 chariots.   The competition was fierce, with four or five wrecks
piled up in the first turn alone.  Unfortunately, I spent most of the game
trying to cut dead horses away from my chariot, but it was fun to watch.

In summary, it was a good convention, and I recommend it highly to gamers in
the Northeast who can make it next year.

Sean Barnett

Here's my take:

On Saturday morning I played in a Close Assault game refereed by Gregg
Belevick: Soviet Guards Infantry vs. German S.S. Panzergrenadiers in
1945 Germany.  It turned out that I was on the same side as a couple
of grizzled old grognards, Ed Petrolak and Ed ???.  The fourth member
of our team was teenager whose apparent youth belied his ability.  Our
strategy, suggested by Ed P. and readily adopted by the rest, was for
three elder players to prepare a hasty defense while the youth
performed a flanking movement (which he did flawlessly).  After the
Germans had been worn down, we'd all switch over to the attack.  The
results were devasting as the Germans attempted to press an attack
even though we had their bridgehead, avenue of attack, and even their
staging area under fire.

The post-game discussion focused on the fact that the Russians had
started from a slightly superior position, but it became apparent to
me that there was a tremendous disparity of experience between the
teams.  Three of the four Russian players had over a half-century of
wargaming betwen them while the Germans appeared not to have mastered
even basic tactics.  Lession: When running an event, ensure that there
are talented players on both sides (unless the scenario requires
otherwise :-).

In the afternoon, I played in Sean Barnett's Guadalcanal naval
scenario.  By sheer coincidence, I was again on the same team as the
two Eds.  We decided to use the same strategy: lie in wait, cause
casualties, and then attack if the situation warrents.  We had 112
long lance torpedoes in the water before the Americans even spotted
us.  Unfortunately, we had horrendous dice-luck.  (Sean had replace
Clear for Action's torpedo system with a probabilistic one.)  Our
first salvo of 56 torpedoes missed entirely!  However, our second
salvo did well enough that we won on points even though we had decided
to bug out.  Recommendation: Since the Americans can do little to
prevent an ambush, perhaps the scenario should begin as the Japanese
are still advancing to the unloading point.

In the evening, I played in a seven-player Napoleon's Battles scenario
in which Old Boney was trying to get his troops over a bridge during
the retreat from Moscow while holding off Russians on both side of the
river.  I was given command of one of the two Russian commands on the
east bank.  Being new to this rules set, I made some tactical errors
which resulted in much of my artillery being overrun by Guard Calvary.
However, in his zeal to punish me, Nappy forgot to send troops over
the river where his advance guard was getting pummelled.  Although the
French kept the bridge, they lost on casualties.

On Sunday afternoon (I spent Sunday morning in church - gotta keep in
mind Who's most important), I played in a Sword and Flame scenario in
which the British were protecting railroade workers in the Sudan.  For
once, Ed P. was on the other side, playing one of the Dervishes who
suddenly charged out of the surrounding wadis.  My co-commander was
quickly overrun, but my troops managed to form mutually supporting
defensive positions which were able to resist (with some dice luck)
the mass assaults.  The results were a British marginal.  It ended
early enough for me to catch the end of the Circus Maximus and see
Gregg B. attempt his final suicidal move.  (I could tell it was a
Banzai attack by the way he wrapped his hanky around is head :-).

In the evening, I crashed the con committee's wrap-up dinner, since I
seldom get to see Sean B. (and some other MITSGSers).  Unfortunately,
I would up sitting at the opposite end of the long table.

All in all, a fun weekend.

                                                        - DDH