EWG - Mayday Gaming Weekend

It's been a very busy weekend with our running the Mayday Gaming Weekend. I took Friday off to help Jonathan set up the community hall prior to the games commencing.

Friday saw 1 game slot run in the evening. Scott ran a Rebels & Patriots game

George hosted some folks in his Sons of Mars Gladiator game

Rudy ran a game of Mad Dog's with Gun - 1920's Gangsters, which I played in with Bruce, Mark & Craig.

Bruce & Mark were the cops while Craig & I were the Gangsters. The cops were going to Raid our hideout. Craig deployed his gang on the main floor.

The police approach

The Mounties arrived hurtling down the street in their car, which was riddled with BAR fire from the upper floor. The car swerved & rolled after crashing into the building. Of the 4 occupants, 3 were killed outright & the last crawled from the wreckage to continue the raid.

There was a massive brawl occurring in the entry hall. It seemed once you were in melee, there was only 1 way to escape.

I played the Peaky Blinders gang, deployed on the upper floor, where I was able to take out a couple of cops attempting to enter the large open doors.

Saturday was a busy day with the arrival of the Bolt Action group having 14 players in their tournament. They had 7 tables set up along the far back wall.

They had received prize support from some of the local game stores & also had some very cool trophies to award after the tourney.

Some of the bolt action table setups

Arnold ran Europa Universalis throughout the day.

Bruce ran his Fistful of Lead -  Robin Hood themed game.

There were various peddlers & merchants who were going to pass through the town. The Sherriff was providing guards to prevent the predations by Robin Hood's Hoodlums.

An archer begins shooting from an upper window.

The Sherriff's mounted man rode ahead to try & reveal the ambushers. (The cups were the potential locations of Robin's forces.

Robin & Will Scarlet are set upon by the Sherriff & one of his knights. Robin would go on to defeat the Sherriff.

The afternoon saw Bruce run another game of Fistful of Lead. This time is was the forces of Van Helsing seeking to destroy Dracula's fortress.

The villagers encounter some rat & bat swarms.

I ran Van Helsing, with Igor, Dr Frunkensheen & Frau Blucher as my force.

Van Helsing encounters Dracula. I swarmed him with 3 of my gang members.

A fog emerged & enveloped Igor, who was heard to scream before succumbing.

The inspector & his villagers encountered a Wraith, which pretty much spelled doom for that force.

Dracula then took down Frau Blucher. As if things were not bad enough, another Wraith appeared & floated towards Van Helsing.

Determined not to fail, Van Helsing did take out Dracula

Before himself succumbing to the fog.

With no forces remaining, Dracula soon returned & kept control of his castle.

A game of Lion Rampant was also happening, hosted by Dennis that had a lot of players participating.

Taylor ran a game of Battlefleet Gothic

The evening slot had Scott run another Rebels & Patriots Game

While the rest of us played Blood & Plunder. Julien brought out his ships so Colin, Mark, Will & I could try the naval combat. George & Craig did a land battle.

Sunday began with Dave hosting a game of Pillage. George & I were defending the village from bein ransacked by the Normans. Mark & Chen played the Normans.

The Anglo-Saxon reinforcements arrive.

The thundering hooves of the Norman mounted advance.

The battle begins with some charging horsemen.

Soon the Saxons are also charging

It became quite a slog with nearly all the troops engaged. The Normans were losing a lot of their horses.

One of the buildings is lit on fire.

The end of the battle. Nary a Norman to be seen.

Meanwhile Craig ran a Battle of Erewhon game.

I ended the day running my Pirates by Flagship Games. I had 3 players, so stepped in to play a Merchant Caraval attempting to pass through the area while carrying a locked chest.

I ran aground while trying to pass through the area.

This led to the nearest 2 ships grapple me. 

As I was in the middle of this tug of war, both craft were moved towards my ship.

My ship was then boarded at both ends by the greedy Pirates trying to nab the treasure chest.

As the 2 pirate crews slew my remaining Marine, they sought to parlay & agreed to share the treasure (as neither crew had enough to man their own ships). Another pirate was bearing down on them. They did manage to make it & upon opening the chest, discovered 500 Gold Crowns.

Thus ended this year's Mayday Convention. Thanks to Jonathan for getting all the scheduling & securing of the venue. Thanks to Craig for snagging all the drinks & snacks to provide those micro sugar rushes.

I would also like the thank the organizers of the Bolt Action tourney as that builds up the numbers to fill the venue.

There were a lot of photos taken, so I expect we shall see more in the coming days.

Now we can look forward to it again next May!