Tuesday 27 January 2015

Cancon 2015

Cancon is the largest wargaming event in Australia and is held over three days (the Australia Day Long Weekend) in Canberra, the national capital of Australia and perhaps the epicenter of Australian wargaming.

To attend, I drove in excess of 2,400 kilometres, round trip, in a borrowed motor vehicle and paid for my accommodation over three nights.  It’s a commitment I make to a hobby I enjoy.

Unfortunately, the organisation of such an important event is deficient and gives the distinct impression of being quite laid back and perhaps typifies the well known Australian mantra of ‘she’ll be right!’

Without being overly critical, my experience was:

(a)       The canteen provided a wide range of food, both healthy and non healthy options with hot and cold drinks, but it must be said at an excessive price, for example, $A6.50 for a egg and bacon roll comprising a hamburger bun, one fried egg, barbecue sauce and two rashers of bacon.   Due to the location of the event, there really isn’t an alternative for gamers on low incomes/families, who have travelled to attend the event,

(b)       The gaming tables, used by the DBA competition were crammed into an inadequate space.  A walk around the other games being played in the same hall, found this to be quite common but not consistently applied. By cramming competitors together, not only does it make for an uncomfortable experience in quite hot weather, but it also prevents spectators from viewing the games in progress, thereby preventing the promotion of DBA to a wider audience, 

(c)       Absence of a guide/map/layout of where different events were located, and

(d)       By Sunday, hordes of flies had descended into the interior of the venue, without apparent cause, speculation abounded!

I might merit the tag of ‘grumpy old man’ from these comments, but competitors pay a relatively high entry fee and the basics are not being addressed.  For a start, why not charge an entry fee for non players, as is common in the UK?  This could be as simple as a gold coin donation and instead of guys standing around in the air conditioning with wearing fluro vests, have them operate entry desks collecting the money and providing material explaining where events could be found, and background to the various games.  

The Cancon organisers were charging a $A1 for a promotional die, something which is given to competitors at MOAB, just seems ill directed.

Wargaming incorporates an eclectic mix of various, and often differing sub genres such as role play, which can be broken down into fantasy, sci fi and steampunk devotees, boardgames, card games, fantasy and historical themed miniature gaming systems, or even combinations of these groupings.  All of these were represented at Cancon, and makes the event more entertaining for families, as its not just guys playing games with toy soldiers.

Given the volume and diversity of people who are attracted to wargaming this event makes for some entertaining moments.  I especially enjoyed watching an attractive young lady, dressed as a steampunk character, complete with a brown leather jacket, googles, knee length lace up boots and armed with a rifle based firearm patrolling the hall on a regular basis   She was working on a trade stand and had really made an effort to look the part and provide some entertainment.  Well done that lady!

As I have done for the last four years, I competed in the two day DBA competition organized, to a high standard, by the affable Greg Kelleher.

I am very appreciative of the time Greg dedicates to ensure this competition is an enjoyable experience for all competitors, no matter their age or level of experience.  Similarly, the work of Mark Baker and David Lawrence should also be commended.  Both were playing, but took the time to assist Greg compile the scores for each round and develop the draws.     

I have always strived to run new armies at DBA events, hence armies that are unknown to me, before I start playing against my first opponent.  This has, no doubt, contributed to my continual poor showing in these competitions, but at least, I have seen the number of completed armies in my collection increase.

This year was unique as it may be the last year DBA 2.2 is played.  At the dinner, held on Saturday evening, there was some spirited debate, fuelled by good Turkish fare and red wine at Mecca Bah, as to the future of DBA in Australia, with the South Australia contingent championing DBA 2.2+ over the mixed reactions of other attendees.

As I have not read DBA 3, on that basis, I’m unwilling to comment on my preference at this point, but I am keen to see consistency applied across Australia be that DBA 2.2, 2.2+ or 3.

Turning to the games, on Saturday, I elected to run a New Kingdom Egyptian army (I/22a).  This is strictly not a new army as I purchased some of the elements on eBay and one or two from Peter Callan prior to 2007.  I regard it as ‘new’ because this was the first time these elements were run as one army on newly flocked and painted bases.  I am really pleased at how the bases came up, largely due to my use of tufts supplied by Barry Scarlet.

For the Sunday rounds, I decided upon an Ayyubid Eypgtian army (IV/20).  This army matches some elements from an eBay purchase, perhaps my first and date from 2006, with more recent purchases, made around 2008 from the same source.

Essentially, both armies are cavalry heavy, supported by a variety of differing types of infantry and light horse elements.  Neither are competitive armies in an open tournament so I was pleased with my result.  It might not be evident on the score sheet, but I found I was more competitive overall, having a battle plan for each game, being aware of the match up of elements and looking to use PIPs to set up future moves.  I owe a debt of gratitude to Marcus Tregenza for providing me with some of his insight into the nuances of DBA!

I ended day one with my NKE, winning two games out of six.  Interestingly, my first game was a win over David Lawrence, who I regard as a very experienced and competent player, who I always enjoy gaming against.  I must concede that my opponent bravely, or audaciously, run an Early Libyan (DBA 1/07b) army so was at a disadvantage from the start.

Taking another cavalry heavy army on the Sunday I went up against several knight heavy armies, which produced some interesting match ups, and resulted in me taking three wins from six games, including a victory over a father and then the son!

Unfortunately, my final game was a walk over for Peter Braham.  I just didn’t have anything to take on the two knight blocks and two war wagons of his Later Hungarian (DBA IV/43c).

Saturday’s winner was Stephen Hopkins, who went through the day without loss.  Thankfully, I avoided falling victim to his Persians (DBA II/07) by not being drawn against him.  I have known Steve for at least ten years, having worked together at one point.  He is a great competitor.

The winner of Sunday and overall winner was Peter Braham, a NSW barrister.  Peter should be commended for his efforts promoting DBA his sons are all excellent players as are some his family's friends.   He is always a strong competitor and like all of my opponents, over the two days, played within the spirit of the game.  

A special mention must go to Marcus Tregenza, or the newly titled ‘Monsieur Fromage’ for fielding a Tamil Indian army (DBA II/42b) on Saturday and David Lawrence who run a Hindu Indian army (III/10c) on Sunday.  Both armies comprised three elephants out of the twelve elements – cheesy!

I forgot to mention that I finally tracked down the figures I need to complete two more armies for only $A15.  I have been tracking down these Outpost Miniatures for a very long time!  I will now be able to field: Burmese (DBA III/9) three elephants and Khmer and Cham (DBA III/23) two elephants, but the optional artillery piece is mounted on an elephant and no its not cheesy if I do it!


I sponsored the 2014 – 2015 Magister Militum per Capitoline Territorialis, following the withdrawal Nic Robson, of Eureka Miniatures.


I put together an unique trophy for the winner, painting a 40mm Viking miniature, sculpted by the talented Mike Broadbent. I was privileged to have been gifted this figure by Mike, about 2006 and to my knowledge, it never went into production so is a one off!  Or, so I thought until I spent some time examining Nic's catalogue for an unrelated task.  There is was and I found that it should come with a shield.  I'll get a spare shield off Nic, paint it and send it to Mark.

The winner of this trophy is the consistent Mark Baker.  It should be pointed out that Mark also came overall second in the tournament, Peter beating him only on a count back.