Rants & Ramblings of an Unfocused Gamer: Hotlead 2019 in pictures Part 3 of 3

Monday 8 April 2019

Hotlead 2019 in pictures Part 3 of 3

My final picture posting of Hotlead. After reviewing part 1 and 2 I realize that I teased everyone with only one picture of the 1/32 scale What a Tanker game. Well, I took a lot more pictures than just the one shot, so just as this photo odyssey started with that game, this last posting shall end with it.

What also shocked me when I reviewed what pictures I had taken, was how many games that I did not photograph. There were over 70 games scheduled to be played. Some games were repeated from one day to the next, most were not. There were also bring and play games of Bolt Action, DBM and others. There was also the Middle Earth BSG tournament all day Saturday. I took over 150 shots, and yet I have completely missed many interesting games. There were Rapid Fire games, Vietnam games, a nice looking 1/32 scale Aussies vs Japanese in the jungles of WWII, a table dedicated to dreadnought battles in the 40K universe, all these and many more games failed to come under the gaze of my camera. No good reason for this, just did not get around to taking pictures of them. So what is left is a truncated view of the convention games, I like to think I captured the most impressive, but really I know I missed many great looking games.

To sum up Hotlead is a really, really good convention, run and attended by some really great people. I traveled 6 hours (I made really good time from Ottawa), to attend and I am very happy that I made the journey. This year they experimented with online pre-registration for games, a good idea!

Beyond all the games that I have shown, Hotlead is also known for it's bring and buy tables. I have been to Hotlead twice and both time filled my trunk with many great finds.

For what my opinion is worth, I highly recommend this convention.

Brandy Station June 9th 1863 - Pickett's Charge rules

A glorious 20mm ACW cavalry heavy battle. Maybe because it is 20mm, the scale that was the first that I gamed in, maybe it was all the cavalry, maybe it was the scope of the game, but whatever it was this game called to me. The battle mat was great, as were the 'clump' woods and the other scenic elements. There was an ebb and flow to the game, units attacked were repelled then regrouped to attack again. The sight of all that cavalry racing around and engaging each other was, well, engaging.
What follow are most of the pictures I took of the battle, which is a fair amount of pictures.

I say Ivan, there certainly are a lot of them

Grand tactical Napoleonic

I have a soft spot for Napoleonic warfare it was the first figures that I ever started painting, and I had amassed a large collection of poorly painted plastic troops (I was only 12-13 at the time) It was however the only Napoleonic forces that I have ever had, and I have always admired those who can paint them, and paint such large armies.

Mongols with Mausers - Home brewed rules

Every day of the convention seemed to have a big multi-player fun for all game, this one seemed to dial up the chaotic energy to an 11! Not certain how many participated in this, but I did notice a few of the people who had staffed the bring and buy throughout the day blowing off steam, and/or unwinding in this free for all game. Each league had a secret mission, and strove to complete these missions by what ever means was available. Alliances were formed and broken, notes were passed around, bribes were accepted and knives placed squarely in the backs of some. Adding to the atmosphere was the abundance of eccentric head gear, and in some cases costumes. Truly an inspired game!