Wargame SITREP 25-45 ~ A small assembly at Fall Assembly sponsored by The Armchair Dragoons

Fall Assembly

The 2025 running of Fall Assembly, a small wargaming convention hosted by The Armchair Dragoons ran from Friday, 10 October to Sunday, 12 October in Cary, North Carolina which is the hometown of the Dragoons. Unlike the previous two runnings of Fall Assembly this years event was held at the VFW Post in Cary in a small “cottage” out back. I did not get a picture of the nice locale but here is one Regimental Commander Brant provided in the pre-con materials.

Brant hosted a pre-con meetup at a local dining establishment Thursday evening that I was unable to make. As it was, I drove down late Friday morning to be in place in time for my first event at 5pm.

World at War ’85 Team Play

My first engagement of Fall Assembly was a two-team, six-player game of World at War ’85: Blood and Fury from Lock ‘n Load Publishing hosted by designer Keith Tracton on Friday evening. Unlike my one-on-one play at last year’s Fall Assembly, in 2025 we had the British (of which I was part) trying desperately to hold off a multi-regimental Soviet breakthrough. About half the players had played WaW ’85 at least once before but with Keiths help I think all were able to quickly grok the game mechanisms and get onto play. Bruce Maxwell, designer of Air & Armor Würzberg from Compass Games (2024), played on the Soviet side and provided awesome commentary during play as to why or how the Soviets approached different tactical problems as well as pointing out where Keith’s model of warfare differed from Maxwell’s model in Air & Armor. Participating in that banter alone was worth the price of admission.

A small By Swords & Bayonets engagement

Thanks to the generosity of GMT Games, The Armchair Dragoons received a review copy of designer Allen Dickerson’s new By Swords & Bayonets entry in the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series. I was fortunate enough to get that review copy in hand in time for an accelerated self-teach of the game to ready myself for play in a four-hour Saturday event at Fall Assembly. The scenario was Big Bethal and I played the Confederate side. That self-teach and Assembly battle will be the subject of a separate column for The Armchair Dragoons coming in the near-future. Suffice it to say that Dickerson’s intent to create a wargame suitable for new players to enter into the GBACW series was met. My thanks also goes out to Cary local Rich for hosting and my opponent Alex for putting up with my deliberate—if not occasionally pedantic—pace of play as I felt my way through the new game system.

Afternoon Dawn’s Early Light

My second Saturday engagement was a short session of Corps Commander: By Dawn’s Early Light – Red Hammer (Lock ‘n Load Publishing, 2015) by designer Peter Bogdasrian. The play of this out-of-print game was hosted by Regimental Commander Brant. I have the the original 2010 version but played it so long ago that I really needed the teach that Brant gave to myself and my opponent Seth. Although the game is relatively simple to teach and play—making it a great convention title for play—we found ourselves out of time way too early. Nonetheless it was a very enjoyable play.

Not a wargame – Plague of Dracula

My last event of Fall Assembly was a Saturday night demo/play session of Plague of Dracula, hosted by designer Mike Nagel. PoD is intended as a solo game but it has a very good cooperative play mode. The game is very much a gamified version of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula where the player(s) try to prevent Dracula from terrorizing a dark and dreary London in late 1890—a cool rain Saturday night helped build the mood of the game. It is obvious that designer Mike Nagel is a huge Dracula fan (fanatic?) and this game is a great homage to the novel. It is also very fun to play. As one observer from another table told us, “It sounds like a deranged cooking show. ‘I got the garlic, do you have a knife? Holy water? Even better. We can kill the vampire now’.” Look for this game to be released soon from Blue Panther Publishing.

Assorted Assembly

I took part in the usual swap table at Fall Assembly. The rules—as they are—simply ask you to leave-one-take-one. The reality is that a few people bring games and everybody is welcome to take. I brought several games to swap—including a few that GMT Games provided as review copies for The Armchair Dragoons—and did my best to “sell them” to others for their enjoyment. Yes, I did pick up a new game; There Must Be Victory by designer Paul Rohrbaugh from LPS as found in Against the Odds Nr. 26 from 2009.

My only piece of swag I purchased this year was a very nice Armchair Dragoons “leather” dice tray. I have larger wooden dice tray that is very useful on larger table but this smaller tray will get lots of everyday play.

My deepest thanks goes out to The Armchair Dragoons Regimental Commander Brant for hosting Fall Assembly. The new location is great; a small, somewhat intimate setting that works well for gaming. Bruce Maxwell pointed out that the sound levels in the room never got overwhelming with little echoing. It was also very nice that the VFW Canteen in the nearby Main Hall sold very reasonably priced (ok, very inexpensive) adult beverages that we could bring back to the cottage.

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Feature image courtesy RMN

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