Samurai Night Fever Game Results.

It took digging, but I found the crumpled stack of papers. Sigh...organizationally challenged for sure.

Here is the list of Bushido points won by the players through their valour.

9 points.
1st place
Joe Crow-Mongol Conquest IV/35
Awarded the Red Katana of Awesomeness

8 points.
2nd place
Mark Stadel-Alan II/58
Awarded the Blue Katana of Bodaciousness

8 points.
3rd place
Don Ray-Southern Dynasty Chinese II/79b
Awarded 'Best in Show' Barker Marker

6 points.
Mark Wall-Early Samurai III/54
Rob Elliot-Golden Horde IV/47

5 points.
Marco Musa-Early Samurai III/54
Mark Leong-Ming Chinese IV/73

4 points.
Mike Johnson-Post Mongol Samurai IV/59b
Sean Devitt- Early Samurai III/54

3 points.
Terry Silverthorn-Mongol Conquest IV/35

2 points.
Liam Devitt-Post Mongol Samurai IV/59b

0 points.
Bill Seney- Han Chinese II/41a

Summary.
I was very pleased to see a Mongol Conquest army take the top spot (albeit narrowly) amidst tight competition. I continue to suggest that it is not the doomed 'great in history, crappy in the game' army many on-line DBA pundits claim it to be.

It was very gratifying to see the breadth of 'eastern' and 'asian' armies contributed to the games and their utter gorgeousness. I loved Mark S's Alans, very scruffy and steppe-ish. As always Joe Crow and Mike Johnson do an ne plus ultra presentation of their craft. Don's Southern Dynasty army had a vivid energy which quite entranced me and with the wobbly jumbo depicted such a strong definitive character. Kudos too to Rob Elliot's Golden Horde, I wish I had more and better pictures of it. He chose a very heterogeneous mix of figures that represented the polyglot nature of that far-flung empire. Mark Leong's funky Foo Dog camp made me very happy who along with Bill Seney's doomed Han Chinese and Marco's sinister and dark Samurai made for very colourful and dramatic tournament.

No real gripes but two. As I stated last post, I really wished we had more raw n00bs for the game. Our two more junior players really didn't count as such. Terry, while new-ish to DBA is an experienced gamer. Liam (the Pre-Teen Visigoth) has played several contests with me and is the co-author of "Pokemon and DBA is sort of the same thing". Maybe published next year. The other thing that annoyed me was having one of the FallCon brass sign up for the tourney and do a no show. Now, don't get me wrong, FallCon people are hard working and friendly sorts. But I see how much gaming they tend to get in over the weekend...very little! On account of the aforementioned hardworkingness. That slot however could have let another player in. As it was we had an uneven number and I had to jump in. Which is dandy, but distracting... I suppose if that's as much crank as I can summon up you can be pretty sure it was a fun time.

This may be the last time I use the 'kill the general with your general' style of scoring. At least without some modification and buffing. The points were too low and with not enough spread. I need to work out a way to balance the 'clever tactician' mode with the 'brave risktaker' mode without leaning too far one way or another.

Some meditations on various armies:

Early Samurai- still remain a favourite of mine. Despite being a fairly 'light' army in DBA parlance, Mark and Marco managed to parlay the Auxilia and Cavalry heavy force to some success. I played with 'Lord Saketumi' my Early Sams with a Bw general and collected a serious beatdown each time.

Chinese Southern Dynasty- really intrigues me. It's a classic Asian 'Zen'* army, with an elephant. But with enough balance of Bw and Bd you can present a reasonable unified front. The game Don played with Rob's Golden Horde was a intractable affair as Rob was very cautious about breaching Don's defended river position. I wish I had a top-down shot.

Mongol Conquest- it's the new black. I really look forward to getting to know mine, as I hurriedly painted it up for the con. Terry liked playing it. Joe's is gorgeous, an essay on how to do it. Every DBA gamer should have this army. Period.

Alans- yeah, Barker-sama's fave. Like the Mongols, it's also an excellent choice for you accountant minded cost-effectiveness sorts. 31+ unique opponents spanning over 1400 years. Cool. And it really doesn't suck on paper or on the field.

Post-Mongol Samurai- seem really under-represented in the scoring for this tourney. But a little examination bears more detail. Liam decided the best way to win was to charge his general headlong into fray and roll 6's. Not bad strategy given the scoring design of the tourney, but doomed without support from the slow Spear and Blade elements that make up the rest. Mike Johnson long ago offended the household gods of FallCon. What impropriety he committed to insult the lares so is unknown, but he has been unable to roll greater than a 3 at FallCon for years. He rolls much better and deadlier elsewhere.

Again thanks to all who contributed and participated!

'Yay our team!'

*Why Zen? Because it's 'one with everything'. Bad-um kish!

Update October 27: Encoded in the timeless prose of the NAGS/CCF format and presented here for you is the match-ups and scores for SNF II.

IV/73 Ming Chinese over II/41a Han Chinese 2G-1

IV/47 Golden Horde over IV/73 Ming Chinese 4-0

III/54 Early Samurai over III/54 Early Samurai 4-2G

IV/59 Post-Mongol Samurai over IV/35 Mongol Conquest 4-3(unclear..)

III/54 Early Samurai over IV/59b Post-Mongol Samurai 3G-2

IV/59 Post-Mongol Samurai over IV/59 Post-Mongol Samurai 4-0

III/54 Early Samurai over IV/35 Mongol Conquest 3-2

II/58 Alan over III/54 Early Samurai 4-0
III/54 Early Samurai over IV/73 Ming Chinese 2G-1
II/58 Alan over IV/59b Post-Mongol Samurai 4-1
IV/47 Golden Horde over II/79b Southern Dynasty 3G-2G
IV/35 Mongol Conquest over II/58 Alan 4-1
IV/35 Mongol Conquest over II/41a Han Chinese 2G-0
II/79 Southern Dynasty over IV/59 Post-Mongol Samurai 4-1
III/54 Early Samurai over III/54 Early Samurai 4-1
III/54 Early Samurai over IV/35 Mongol Conquest 4-2

Samurai Night Fever II: The action!

Havoc, treachery, suicidal charges and victory.

Clan Toho (Post Mongol Samurai) as played by the Pre-Teen Visigoth contest the crossing of the Mongol Hordes (Conquest) as played by Terry Silverthorn.

In all, Samurai Night Fever II: The Wrath of the Khans was a ripping success. I had a blast running it. It's always a treat to play with such brilliant and convivial players and their beautiful and dramatic armies.

The tourney was organized loosey-goosey in a deliberate yet random way. Which I did deliberately. The Friday tourney at FallCon has always been a relaxed, warm-up sort of gig. The real blood gets shed on Saturday with the themed tourneys and Sunday with the Alberta Open. And given how un-acrimonious our serious tourneys are, the Friday games can be a little goofy.  

Now as to results..I lost those.....(don't worry Paul, I think I can reconstruct the results)

But I do remember the top 3:

1) Joe Crow/Mongol Conquest awarded the Shiny Red Katana of Awesomeness 

2) Mark Stadel/Alans*awarded the Bright Blue Katana of Bodaciousness

3) Don Ray/Southern Dynasty Chinese awarded the 'Best in Show' mostly for being able to work an elephant into this tourney...

The Wakazashi of Atonement went to Bill Seney and his Han Chinese, who uncharacteristically did not 

manage to score any points.

It was great to have Mark Wall and Terry Silverthorn from Edmonton come down for the game. They've just started a DBA group over the summer with other fine people up north.

If I had any grump or gripe, it would be that no complete newcomers were in the tourney. I love having new comers. First Samurai Night Fever in 2008 was won by a new player. Must think about how to get the word out better.

*(Yeah, that was the most western army I'd allow. Mostly cause Genghis Khan himself had a bodyguard of these guys.)

So, enough of that! Let's roll the pictures!



The turbulent river and the bows of Don Ray's Chinese stymie Rob Elliot's fearsome Mongols.  

Detail shot of Mike Johnson's Post Mongol Samurai in Takeda colours.

Another shot of Mike's PM Samurai from the rear. Sneaky ninja attempt to infiltrate the enclosure.

'Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!' Check out Mike J's taiko camp in the rear.

Crunch time! Seconds before the impact. Mark's Alans and Joe's Mongols come to the clinch.

Joe Crow's Mongols commence a flank run around their Alanic foe.

Mark Stadel's Alans charge the Early Samurai army captained by Mark Wall. There were three Marks in this game...yowza.

Bill Seney's Han Chinese take the fight to Joe's Mongols.

Mark Leong's Ming advance under the magical gaze of his Foo Dog camp.

Don Ray and Joe Crow array their respective forces.

The charge of Lord Saketumi's horse was valiant but doomed.

Lord Saketumi himself regards the failure of his cavalry with disdain.

Desperate circumstances call for desperate actions!

The Pre-Teen Visigoth arrays Clan Toho into his signature 'wedge of death' formation. 

Valiant for sure, but results varied.

'Hey Mark, over there...YOINK!'. Bill Seney (l) and Mike Johnson (c) look on unworried.

There's always got to be an elephant. Don Ray's Chinese southern Dynasty army shows it hues.

Thanks for looking! More pics to come.

Oh Snap!

So all those great pictures I promised are not going to happen soon.

Gravity and my camera had a death match and as always, gravity wins.

Like the wind from the steppes...

Samurai Night Fever II is but 2 weeks away (Oct 15th!) as is the other cavalcade of DBA action presented by the Calgary Camp Followers. (see the links section for both).

Myself, I've been painting. Much less than I'd really like to as work and family issues have sprung up like so many time draining hydra heads (what's that in old schooly D&D terms? a Chrono-Vampiric-o-Hydra?). Such is life. I've finished off painting my second Early Samurai army. I'll be basing and dull coating it tonight. Here's some teaser pictures.



So far so good. I envy my contemporaries like Neldoreth and Tim in Saskatoon who seem to be able to rattle off beautifully painted and based figures at a surprising rate. And if you haven't been to either of their sites, go to the links and check out their stuff (again, go to the links) which will make you wonder why you're reading my site.

Particularly, visit Neldoreth's site as he will be running 'Visigothic Romance' on Saturday. I'll be playing in that for sure. But in a surprising change of identity I'll be running my new Early Lombards which in another shockeroo is the first army I will play in a tourney that had not been painted by me. This time I out-sourced to the redoubtable (and slightly scary) Mike J. I hope this mob of Knights, Warband and Bow will kick those lousy Romans in the teeth. If not, it will be still be GLORIOUS. As a side note I will be lending my vicious Later Visigoths and ghastly Gepids as loaners for those who don't have period armies.

As to the Samurai Game, I have at least 3 loaner armies. But first come first serve, be quick about it.
I'll have two Early Samurai armies and a Mongol Conquest ready to go. The Pre-Teen Visigoth will be playing my Post-Mongol Samurai aka 'Clan Toho'.


Next up, some pics...