Miami Vice at Historicon 2023

At Historicon 2023, I ran a game using the 7TV rules.  The scenario was based on the 1980s tv show Miami Vice and was set up for 4 players: Miami Vice, a Colombian Cartel, the Miami Mafia, and the Japanese Yakuza.  As documented in my previous posts, I created the scenario in part as motivation to paint the excellent Brigade Games miniatures that I had for Miami Vice and the Cartel.  Research consisted of watching seasons 1 & 2 of Miami Vice on DVD.  The links below will take you to the posts for the factions that I painted for the game (the Mafia were older miniatures):

Miami Vice

Cartel

Yakuza

Each faction started with 7-10 miniatures.  In 7TV terms, each was 31 points and consisted of a Star, a Co-Star, and assorted extras.  I created custom game cards using the 7TV Casting agency, which allows you to edit the profile cards used for each miniature and add your own photos.  I then printed them out at a larger size.  You never know how the lighting will be and they are easier to read.

Each player also had a chance of reinforcements showing up in a random location during the game  Miami Vice frequently had guest stars on the show, so I chose miniatures that best fit the 1980s setting.  Each had a special ability that fit their character.  All were painted for this scenario except the Cartel ones.

Miami Vice's reinforcement was police officer Axel Foley from Beverly Hills Cop (Eddie Murphy), on vacation in Miami.  Next to him is ex-Taxi Driver Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), who has moved to South Florida and is now a UPS driver, since I have a UPS van.  If he shows up he shoots at a random target.  Both are from Studio Miniatures/Hayland Terrain who have an extensive line of film and tv inspired miniatures.

The Cartel reinforcements consisted of two local dealers.  The one on the left is a Reaper Bones mini; the one on the right is from Hasslefree.  I already had these in my collection and thought they fit the setting perfectly.

The Mafia reinforcements were some associates from out-of-town.  Years before their starring roles in Pulp Fiction, Jules and Vincent (Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) are visiting Miami on a business trip.  Also from Studio/Hayland., 

The Yakuza were able to call on their ship's crew, who have disembarked from the freighter and are visiting local businesses.  They are from North Star's Tong line

Now on to the games.  I ran the same scenario twice, which featured a warehouse complex with various tokens representing drugs, money, guns, etc (the yellow tokens in the pictures).  Setup areas were in each corner of the table.  Miami Vice had the complex under surveillance from a jewelry store (lower left) and moved in when they spotted the Cartel boats had docked (upper right).  Joining in the action were the Yakuza on a freighter (lower right) and the Miam Mafia at Carfagna's butcher shop (upper left).

Some highlights from the first game.  The Yakuza sumo wrestler attempted to crush Crockett and Tubbs in their convertible.  He wounded them but was thrown off the car when it moved the next turn.  The Yakuza leader is at the right holding a sword.  He met his end after being crushed between the car and a building.

Two DEA agents have confiscated some drugs.  Unfortunately there was an explosion and they are now on fire.

The tanker truck was hijacked by the Yakuza, but shot up by the police and has come to a stop.  The police surveillance van was destroyed.

The Cartel are escaping with their goods at bottom.  In the upper left, the Cartel 2nd in command (behind the row of barrels) is shooting at Crockett and Tubbs with his submachine gun.  

At the end of the game, Crockett took his third and final wound thanks to Cartel bullets with Tubbs frantically trying to revive him.  In true tv fashion, I am sure that he will have recovered next week!  The Cartel managed victory with 8 points (3 from killing Crockett), the Mafia 5, Miami Vice 4, and the Yakuza 2.  The Mafia won a shootout with the police to claim objectives, while the Yakuza fought both the police and cartel which wore them down.

The second game started with Miami vice deploying.

The Mafia approach the warehouse complex.

A view of the table.

Cartel advancing

The Yakuza advanced and had an early lead after taking control of the big warehouse to the right.

Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction taking shots at the police.

The Yakuza have forced the Cartel to retreat from the warehouse.  The Sumo Wrestler nearly crushed the Cartel boss (orange shirt) to death, he had one wound left and barely escaped.  The Cartel minion wasn't so fortunate.

Crockett and Tubbs have exited the car (after running down a Mafia soldier) and are exchanging shots with the Mafia.

The Yakuza were in the lead with 6 points, but the tide has turned against them.  They have moved through the warehouse, into the alley, and are now trapped in between the Mafia (top) and the Cartel (in the building at center right and the wharf at bottom.). Three of them are down and the 4th was shot while retreating.

Miami Vice have cleared the upper warehouse and left side and are moving against the Mafia.

The Cartel attempted to recover their drugs but were whittled down by the Mafia.

At the end the Cartel managed a narrow victory on points with 8 (1 from objectives and 7 from killing opposing stars and co-stars), Miami Vice 6 (and satisfied that they had confiscated a large quantity of drugs), the Mafia 1, and the Yakuza 0. 

Both games were fun to run and the players all seemed to have a good time.  7TV is a great set of rules that are adaptable to a wide range of settings.  I am already working on ideas for next year.

My Very Late Historicon Report

I started this post back in July then got sidetracked.  I'm trying to catch up on all my activities over the summer.

I left Thursday morning at 7 am and arrived at the hotel just after 1 pm.  It is a nice drive from South Carolina.  We stayed at our usual hotel, the Hampton Inn across the parking lot from the convention center; I like staying close in order to be able to make short trips to drop things off or take a break.  After checking in I made my way over to the convention center, picked up my badge and made my first circuit of the vendor hall.  I like to do a walkthrough of the vendors before buying much.  Although I bring a shopping list, there are always new things to be seen.  After taking a break for a work-related conference call, I met my friends who had arrived from Columbus.  We returned to the vendors and ran over to Wegman’s for a quick meal.  I found my first game, ‘A Hot Time at the Oasis’, using The Sword and the Flame rules.  It featured the French Foreign Legion defending a fort against Tuareg rebels.  It turned out that my friend Tom from South Carolina had also signed up, and we valiantly defended the fort until we were overwhelmed.  Fun game.  Played Seven Wonders afterwards in the hotel breakfast area.

On Friday, I skipped the SAGA tournament I usually play in and wandered around looking at games and buying things on my shopping list.  I had a table in the Flea Market in the afternoon and sold the most I ever have, paying for my trip and purchases; the only thing remaining unsold was a painted SAGA Viking army.  Anybody need one?  Friday night I played in ‘The Secretary Denies Any Knowledge’, using the 7TV rules.  This was a great game with beautiful terrain.  The players cooperated to stop a terrorist attack on the Canadian coast while the GM ran the terrorists.  We succeeded with minimal casualties.  After a late night visit to BW3 it was time for bed.

Saturday morning I played a demo of the upcoming Triumph ancients rules, a Romans (me) vs. Gauls battle.  They have some similarities to DBA but also a lot of differences.  An easy set of rules to learn; I’ll be keeping an eye on their development.  Saturday afternoon I played ‘Saving Prince Kishan – A North-west Frontier Adventure’.  This game was run several times over the weekend and featured hundreds of Pathans, fewer British and a visually stunning set-up by Bob Giglio.  My British held on for a while but crumbled under the Pathan assault.  After venturing into the vendor hall again, I played a Very British Civil War game using the Trench Wars rules with my friends Mike S. and Jenny.  I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are not interested in trying those rules again.  We rounded off the night by playing Seven Wonders a couple more times.

Historicon was a good convention this year.  It is always a pleasure to spend a few days with friends from back home in Ohio.  After going to Cold Wars instead in 2015, it was also nice to be back in Fredericksburg.  The loss of Architects of War was noticeable; I usually picked up a few things from their stand.  It was good to see Reaper there and there were some other new vendors with different stock.

So what did I buy?  Starting at the top (l-r):

Five 28mm trees in the flea market.

A MDF Cargo Ship and Police Station from TT Combat.  This is a new manufacturer to me and they have a lot of good, reasonably priced 28mm terrain.  I have wanted a police station for a long time and the ship will be useful in a variety of games.  Terry Jones at www.wargametools.com was very helpful in showing me the TT range and carries a lot of their products.  My friend Mike D. of http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com also bought a Cargo Ship, for use in his Pulp Alley games.

Four Reaper Bones figures: Horace ‘Action’ Jackson, Ape-X (both for use in my 7TV games), Aina Female Valkyrie and a Female Centaur (both for my daughter to paint).

Congo Merc, a Decision Games boardgame dealing with mercenary actions in 1960s Congo.  A quick solo game.  It may be adaptable as a campaign system for Mike D.'s Modern Africa rules that he is finishing up.

Four packs of Blue Moon 15mm AWI I needed to complete my AWI project.

A free Warlord Crimean miniature given to attendees.

Ten of Brigade Games' new 28mm Post-Apocalypse range.  Great detail on these, I noticed a lot of details I didn't see in the online pictures..

Four 28mm deer and 3 dogs from Iron Wind.

A pack of 4 28mm North-west Frontier Afghan Riflemen by Artizan; I needed one for my 7TV SHIVA cast and failed in my attempts to find a suitable single miniature.  I am sure I’ll find a use for the other 3.

Not pictured: 8 bottles of paint that have already found their way to my painting area.

Game Report - Doctor Who

Here are some pictures of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game scenario I ran at Siege of Augusta on 18 January, 2014.  All were taken with my iPad.  I used a modified version of the 'Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Daleks' scenario written by Crooked Dice (creators of the DWMG rules).  It is set during the last 2 episodes of David Tennant's first season as the 10th Doctor, 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday' while the Daleks, Cybermen and Torchwood are engaged in a life-or-death struggle for London.

Below is the table setup.  It was my first attempt at a city game board.  There are a variety of buildings, most of which were acquired for use in this game.  I used a mix of manufacturers including Demo's Laser-Cut Designs, Ainsty and Paper Terrain.  For the base, I used 6 2x2 foot pink insulation boards with a coat of primer, 2 coats of medium gray and 1 heavy wetbrush of light gray.  They turned out a bit lighter than I wanted, so I am considering how to darken them a bit.  There are styrene strips with a sidewalk pattern lining the streets and painted the same light grey but they don't show up well in the pictures.  Perhaps I will try an ink wash so the pattern is more distinct.  The TARDIS and the Doctor are visible at the top left.

An early game picture.  The Cybermen have set up their machines to convert humans into Cybermen in the 3-story factory in the middle of the board with the antenna on top.  The 2 good factions are approaching the factory, the Preachers from the left and Torchwood from the right.   The Daleks are advancing along the street on the left.  I was short 2 players so dropped 2 other factions (Police and Geezers).

Dalek Caan is picking off humans as the opportunity presents itself.  A dead Preacher is in the bottom left corner.

Inside the factory, 2 Cyberman (1 converted from a human captive) defend the 3 cyberconversion machines from Torchwood and the Preachers.  The Cybermen had a rough game, they often avoided being killed due to their armor but rolled terribly on their attacks.

A street view outside the factory.  A dead Cyberman lies in the street, killed while taking a captive to be converted.

Dalek Caan moves to capture the Doctor.

The last Cyberman vs. a Torchwood trooper and Rose Tyler.

The other humans are going after the Dalek.

Just as the last Preacher (Mickey Smith) got in range of Dalek Caan, an event card brought Dalek Sec in the game.  He only stayed for 1 turn, and I don't seem to have gotten a picture with him on the board.  His assistance turned the tide in favor of the Daleks.

End of the game.  The Cybermen are all dead, but the Daleks have captured the Doctor and exterminated all their nearby opponents.  Doubtless the Doctor will devise a cunning plan to escape and defeat the Daleks in the next episode!

I had a good time running the game.  I plan on running it again in June at StormCon, a new convention in Charleston, South Carolina.  I may make a few changes to the terrain, including adding some signs to the buildings and perhaps altering the color of the boards/sidewalks.  When I get the buildings out of storage I will take some individual pictures of them.

Thanks for looking!
Jason