Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016

Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016

Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016
held at Valhalla Inn, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
with Matthew Vanson

For the historical wargamer, history is our bread and butter, our K-ration, and Flames Of War embodies both history and chance, allowing us to research, create, deploy, wreak havoc, and gnaw our knuckles over that last ditch effort to take the objective, in a way making our own bit of history.

Last year Flames Of War made its first appearance at Thunder Con, Thunder Bay’s premier gaming and fan convention, which was held at one of the finer hotel venues in Thunder Bay, the Valhalla Hotel.

Flames Of War turned out to not only to be a hot seller but brought droves of people out to the feature gaming table, the Paint-a-tank modeling demo station and to the game demo table which allowed convention-goers an opportunity to try their hand at commanding an army on the field of battle.

This year’s Thunder Bay and Thunder Con had the opportunity to host the 2017 regional tournament series, Assault on Valhalla. The tournament had 11 competitors and five professionally laid out tables ranging from a Holland table complete with raised roads and tulip fields to North Africa, Italy, central Europe and the feature terrain table representing the Eastern front.

With the matches set, the dice began rolling at around four thirty in the afternoon and by the time the smoke cleared and the victorious armies marched forward to receive their spoils of war it was well past midnight.

Right & below: Flames of War action on the street of Stalingrad.

Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016
Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016 Most of the players had spent the day wandering around the convention and trying their hand at various other games and activities and by the time the last gun was silence and the trophies were handed out, many of the tournament players began feeling the effects of the day and retired to their rooms to prepare for the following days events, with the exception of a few of the troops who decided to toast their victory at one of the many local watering holes.

Sunday’s events centered on a beautifully constructed urban table that served as the backdrop for the Battle of Stalingrad and gave the convention goers a taste of the bitter street fighting that took place in the city bearing the name of Hitler’s biggest adversary.  
The new commanders were given a baptism by fire commanding either a German Grenadierkompanie or a Soviet Strelkovy Batalon complete with a T-34 support.

Just across the hallway, it was standing room only as young and old jumped at the opportunity to try their hand at painting an Allied or Axis tank or infantry stand. By five o’clock on Sunday evening the convention was starting to wind down with people still were waiting in line to try their hand at the Flames Of War demo table and squeeze out every last dice roll before the doors finally closed.
Below: Both young and old were keen to try their hand at painting Flames Of War miniatures.
Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016

It’s clear that Flames Of War is growing in popularity in Thunder Bay. The city was excited to host such an event and we look forward to growing our wargaming community in the future.

Until Next year troops; over and out!

~ Matthew.

Right & below:
Tournament action at Thunder Con 2016.

Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016
Flames Of War at Thunder Con 2016


Last Updated On Wednesday, November 9, 2016 by Blake at Battlefront