For those of you who are unfamiliar with the gaming conventions on the West Coast, Pacificon was long the premier wargaming convention in Northern California.  Featuring the efforts of numerous manufacturers, dealers and the redoubtable South Bay Game Club, one could always find the very best in miniature wargaming events here until the recent shift of support to a new convention, Conquest.

Flagship Games has always made a point of presenting top quality games at conventions whenever possible.  Through the efforts of the Flagship staff, and their #1 flunky (that's me), response has been tremendous.  Check out the events below and you'll see why. . .

While Pirates! plays very well for historical battles, out here on the West Coast there are a lot of folks who are into fantasy wargaming in a big way, so a lot of our demos have a fantasy flavor.  Ogre Hunt was one such game.

The intro to the scenario went something like this. . .

"Be it known by all that the villainous Ogre, Blackjack, and his evil crew have been raiding the realm's shipping lanes for far too long.  Therefore, in his wisdom, King Hasalot has generously offered a 1000 crown reward plus a captaincy in the royal fleet for the man who brings an end to Blackjack and his reign of terror!"

The game started out normally enough.  All of the players' ships were set up with their afts touching the edge of the board.  There were a couple of small islands, but no terrain except open sea otherwise.  Blackjack, in his Ogre crewed Cog, the Crusher, was set in the center of the board.  Although his crew looked fearsome enough, the players were all anticipating an easy kill, considering the 25:1 odds.

Blackjack and his ship, the Crusher, await the onslaught of the 25 player controlled ships!
 
 
 
 
 
 

When the game actually started, though, things quickly fell apart.  The players, each vying to be the first to get to Blackjack, were busy blasting each other with close range cannon fire!  With so many ships on the board, it was almost impossible to miss; crew were falling, masts were snapping, and ships were starting to sink as players indiscriminately fired on each other.  Contributing to the mayhem was Blackjack himself, as he and his crew provided some deadly long range fire to the confusion.

Still, with so many players on the board, many survived the initial chaos to close the distance with Blackjack.  Although the Ogre Captain had a fearsome reputation, he was still just flesh and blood, and his ship just wood, and it appeared that he would soon be visiting Mr. Jones' locker.

That's when it hit them (the players, that is).  As they approached, the Crusher rose out of the water, revealing that the ship was nothing but a large hat for a submersed Giant!  The Giant, named Pediculus, first grabbed a small submersible that had ventured too close and used it as a giant dart, tossing it at a nearby ship.  Unfortunately, Pediculus' eyesight is none too good, so he missed his intended target, only to see the novel projectile impact in the forecastle of an entirely different ship!
 

The destruction didn't end there!  Pediculus started using his fists to good effect, using them to batter nearby ships into kindling.  Then, when it was revealed that some of the players' ships were actually allies with Blackjack and the Giant, things really went wild!

Things were looking pretty bad for the players until the brave and foolhardy Ratmen ship rammed Pediculus square in the head!  Then, using their corvus ramp, they swarmed aboard the Crusher and attempted to overwhelm the Ogre crew.  While the end result was rat paste, they did manage to distract the Giant and his Ogre pals long enough for the remaining ships to close and let loose with some devastating broadsides that eventually killed Pediculus and Blackjack, but not before Pediculus managed to create a wave with his hands large enough to capsize a couple of ships!

Ogre Hunt was very well received, and for that we are very grateful.  Everyone had a good time, and the game was the first to win a "Best of Show" award (it was called something like that - all I remember is Dave handing me $25 and saying, "It was between you and Pig Wars. . .").

For those of you who may recognize Pediculus, yes, I got the concept from "Time Bandits".  If you've seen the movie (highly recommended, by the way), then you'll know.  The model itself was made with mannequin parts and a wig head, with liberal re-sculpting and painting so that it would look better on the gaming table.  It was a labor of love, but well worth every moment.

Another event hosted by the Flagship gang (now wanted in six states) was the ransacking of an ancient, Greecian-style temple.

This event featured some beautiful, scratch built terrain and ships, along with the usual dose of Pirates! craziness.  While the author of this web page did not have the good fortune to be at this event personally, it also won a "Best of Show" award, thanks to the efforts of Thomas Foss and Peter, whose last name escapes me at the moment.  Both of these guys have more talent in their little fingers than I have in my entire body.  If anyone every gets their little fingers together. . .  Watch out!

This was also one of the first public games to feature airships and some other fantasy constructs, all of which are doable with the fantasy portion of the Pirates! rules.  In fact, there are special rules for building your own custom vehicles, monsters, whatever!  Besides the Dwarf Aerocraft shown in these photos, we have also seen a Leonardo DaVinci style steam tank guarding a dock, a giant shark, a sea monster with a howdah, and several ironclads!