KublaCon 2013 Event Report with Bruce Nemet Our first West Coast Flames Of War National held this year in Burlingame, CA at Kublacon was a hit!  It was a change of pace off our normal beaten path with palm and eucalyptus trees abounding, the San Francisco Bay just around the corner and a swimming pool just twenty yards from our gaming pavilion. For the full results and photos check out last week's article...

The group photo that you see on our site was due to the inspirational and undying efforts of our very own Dave Taylor whose task required him to contain a motley and hungry group (it was during their lunch break) with the sun in their eyes for what seemed an eternity.  Dave was a true professional – but one minute more and they would have thrown him in the pool!

This was a first for many of the players.  Just shy of half our group had never been to a Flames of War National and many still had never played in a multi-day tournament.  So although everyone had fun they also learned that playing in a National is exhausting!  That pool was starting to look pretty good after that last round! The tournament for many was a general slugfest between allied infantry and axis armor. Some of these armor vs. armor games were truly fun to watch. But six 76mm Shermans and three Fireflies against five IS-2s and eight SU-122s is brutal! The missions we played (chosen by Gamescape North) were:

Round 1: Dust Up	I thought this was a great start for the tournament.  It gets the action going quickly and for both sides.  (And thanks guys for pairing me against Riha the first round.  Just understand that I gave that one to you Eric – it’s part of the job.)
Round 2: Surrounded	In this round I actually played first-hand witness to one of those armor vs. armor battles.  In fact it was against the same Soviet list – and it was me on the other side playing Hungarian tanks.  It’s not much fun to have your Tigers surrounded by ISU-152s on one side and IS-2s on the other!  The funny part was watching Devin Moore run his Battalion IS-2 command tank through a building only to discover two German panzerschreck teams in it left behind from the previous round!  I immediately attempted to draft them into my pathetic remnants of an army but Devin wouldn’t go for it.
Round 3: Counterattack
Round 4: Breakthrough
Round 5: Pincer	We had a German armor vs. German armor in this one that was decided in round two!  And our ranking winner by this round, Chris Jackson, was left at the end of it with only a battery commander surviving.  By round six it was anyone’s tournament!
Round 6: Free-For-All	We had one woman playing this weekend who had come with her boyfriend.  Apparently, they must have plenty of time to practice at home because they were both quite good.  And…well, of course we had to pair them against one another.  We told Josh that this was a lose-lose proposition for him and he had to take it like a man!  He did end up winning the match – at least the part we saw in the tournament.

Some Highlights: • On Saturday night a big group headed out for a Mexican dinner following the day’s rounds.  The camaraderie was great and the food was good – it was worth the thirty + minute wait for our bill at the end.  But it was absolutely priceless seeing fifteen or so guys walking down the street back to the hotel in 59 degree weather and a 25+ mph wind with no jackets and only our wit for comfort.  That was one of the longest walks I’ve had in a long time! • At some point during the evening Reno Besseghini was bet $50 that he wouldn’t wear the hotel bathrobe throughout the entire next day.  Now for those who know Reno they would tell you that this was not a safe bet to make.  Later that evening, however, something had separated said robe and Reno and the former was ejected from the hotel window and the bet was made safe! (It’s all about whom you know guys!) Reno at least it wasn’t the latter that was ejected! • The Kublacon even itself gave up several painting trophies to a few of the players.  I do (If you want to know more of the Kublacon convention I can refer you to a couple who could tell you a bunch more.  I was too busy playing Flames of War.)

• The hotel was great but I’ve never seen a 400 yard walk between elevator and room – I didn’t need a gym! • But the swimming pool right next door to the tournament definitely needs another honorable mention. • And congratulations to Adam Carroll for acceptance to West Point! I truly enjoyed co-hosting our first West Coast Flames of War National Tournament along with the guys at Gamescape North and thanks to all the players who participated in it!  Let’s try and get all these NorCal guys to go next year and I’ll get some of the East Coast guys to come out and give you a challenge.  I’d really like to meet that 60+ player goal! And I look forward to seeing everyone at the other National events later this year.  As a reminder I’m still taking army lists for the Late War National at Historicon in Fredericksburg, Virginia this July so be sure to get your name on that list! ~ Bruce.