February 10, 2025

Inaugural FoxCon – 2024

Aaron Danis, 30 November 2024

My friend Lance and I attended the Desert Fox Games’ FoxCon convention held from 8-11 November at the Dallas Games Marathon game center in Plano, Texas. We normally drive to Compass Expo in Connecticut for Veteran’s Day wargaming but were lured to Texas with the promise of playing Battles in the East series (BitE) games and the opportunity to see new DG products. We were not disappointed!

Day 1

Conference badge and swag sticker

click images to enlarge

 

Ready to play!

 

We flew from Baltimore to Dallas Love Field on Friday morning and were somewhat surprised when we arrived to discover that we likely were the only non-Texans at the convention (besides Doc and Callie Cummins, our happy DG hosts, who came from California). The event drew around 50 gamers1, not bad for a first-year event up against the long-established Compass Games Expo on the East Coast and SDHistCon on the West Coast. This convention is angling to become middle-America’s wargaming event on Veteran’s Day Weekend.

We didn’t get to the venue until about 3 pm, so we missed a few of the planned first day’s seminars, learn and play games, and previews. After Doc signed us in, we walked into the game room and were greeted by the new oversized Deluxe Edition of the old SPI game Operation Typhoon. As a long-time SPI Operation Typhoon player, it is an impressive sight to see, and it dominated the room. Newly upsized to 5/8” hexes and counters, it measures a whopping 46×86 inches, using 4 full and 4 partial maps. But I will discuss this more in the day 3 readout.

Massive Operation Typhoon looking from north to south

 

Getting back to planned events, Doc and Callie an ambitious schedule for events each day to provide a break to regular gaming. Some of these overlapped so you had to choose. For day 1:

Presentations

Time Topics Presenters
1300 World War I Strategy Analysis Ty Bomba
1400 Operation Fu-Go Vernie Liebl
1500 Return to Europe Christopher Perello
1600 Berlin Airlift Patrick Baker
1700 Siege of Jerusalem Joseph Miranda

Learn & Play Games

Time Title GM
0900 Campaigns in Europe Keith
0900 Over the Rhine (GOSS) Doug
1300 Battles in the East (BitE) Doc

Previews

1100 Operation Typhoon Joe

Because of our late arrival, I only caught a little bit of the Berlin Airlift talk. Unfortunately, many of the seminar presenters appeared in person; Vernie Liebl’s talks were live. The video teleconference setup worked great, however, so the talks went off as planned, and there was plenty of Q&A. I have to be honest, however, and say I was a bit disappointed that there was no opportunity to talk to Ty or Joe in person and ask detailed questions about their game designs.

Another soon-to-be released design I drooled over is the Deluxe Edition of Danny Parker’s old SPI game Battles for the Ardennes. It has beautiful mounted maps (and an extra folded map with the Celles scenario map on one side and the Sedan 40 scenario on the other), nicely redone counters and a single, longer, rulebook, and several play aids. I have this on pre-order so now I am extra-excited to get it in, which could be by Christmas. I will discuss other new games in my Day 2 & 3 reports.

I have the original SPI gem, now here comes a new, shinier version of my favorite Bulge game.

 

As far as game play was concerned, there were about 30 players in the room the remainder of the afternoon (which would be the same each day as players came and went). The venue was open until midnight, but my friend and I were gone by around 8 pm to eat and check into our hotel about 10 minutes away (players were on their own concerning hotels, but some were recommended in pre-event e-mails). My friend and I set up and started playing BitE Volume 2 Guderian’s Final Blitzkrieg to prep for the BitE Learn and Play scheduled for 0900 on Saturday morning with Doc.

 

Day 2

A great poster of the BitE publishing schedule.  Volume #3 is coming out shortly. The plan is to end the series at 5 volumes, but who knows?

 

Day 2 began with an early big Texas breakfast of biscuits and gravy so we could get to the venue for the 0900 learn and play with Doc Cummins himself. The packed daily event schedule looked like this:

Presentations

Time Topics Presenters
1300 Operation Holland Ty Bomba
1400 The First Raids 1942 Vernie Liebl
1500 AGN 1941 Joseph Miranda
1600 Wilson’s Creek Patrick Baker
1700 Khalkin Gol Joseph Miranda

Learn & Play Games

Time Title GM
0900 Battles in the East Doc
0900 Red Dragon Deluxe Keith
1100 Over the Rhine or Hurtgen Doug
1300 Campaigns in Europe Keith

Previews

1300 Blue & Gray Deluxe Doc

Doc was getting ready when we arrived and found out we would be playing Bagration Stopped in BitE Volume 1. He went over the basics of the rules and answered my many questions from playing a bit the day before. We quickly got into a game with my friend Lance splitting the Germans with Brian, a true grognard who would prove a formidable foe…too formidable, in fact. I split the Russians with Noel, who was also a seasoned grognard.

Doc gives the rundown of Bagration Stopped.  The large stacks would be spread out when setup began in earnest (no, this isn’t the OCS system!).

 

My friend Lance watches as my partner Noel sets up his Russian attack

 

Doc explains a Russian supply rule that I screwed up to the detriment of my vulnerable bridgeheads

 

The battle shows the Russians at the end of their Bagration supply line in the Spring of 1944. While we were initially on the offensive, that turned and the Germans counterattacked to stabilize the line. My German opponent, Brian, used the Herman Goering panzer division to eat my infantry like a PacMan because I had no armor support in the south. I gave my partner Noel some unsound first-turn advice that cost him a tank corps, and the northern flank settled into a stalemate after 3 turns as Russian supplies became sporadic. We played for a couple of hours and reset so we could try a gambit where the Russians try to grab an automatic victory town on the first turn. We found out it had about a 50-50 chance of succeeding, and the Germans could not retake it. We discussed it with Doc and he had the same result when he played it in his hotel room that night. Of course, if the Russians don’t take it, they likely will be cut off and destroyed because they are over-extended.

All 3 BitE editions on display, with the 2nd edition rulebook on the table

 

All in all, the system is sound. Unlike the Panzer Gruppe Guderian (PGG) system on which it is closely based, column shifts rule the day. There are shifts (not doubling of combat power) for divisional integrity, and leaders, headquarters, airpower, terrain, etc. provide shifts both left and right. Yes, there are overruns and a mechanized movement phase (at half movement points). The physical systems and play aids are fantastic. Please note that there is a second edition of the rulebook is coming out in BitE Volume 3 that incorporates errata, and it will be made available online as a PDF according to Doc. Volume 4 will shift to 1943 for both of its battles.

Per Doc, “Tony and I have planned 10 volumes in the Battles in the East series. Volume 4 will be out in 2025 Q2. Volume 5 (Kalach and Mars West) is entering design. If there is sufficient interest, we’ll keeping publishing.”

 

Dallas Games Marathon host Bill Dufton gives me a hearty Texas handshake!

I had some down time while waiting for Ty Bomba’s after-lunch talk on Operation Holland, so I chatted with Dallas Games Marathon owner Bill Dufton. He said the idea for this convention came from discussions with Doc about a year ago. The venue has a huge library with all sorts of boardgames to play. I found an old bookcase copy of SPI’s Firefight in the stacks (with two sets of maps!), amongst several other wargames. Bill said the venue has a capacity of 175 players in multiple rooms. The second Saturday of each month is a dedicated wargame day, to include miniatures, but you can go in most days and play whatever you want.

We got your games right here…too many to count!

 

Bill breaks out a classic from his collection.

 

Ty Bomba speaks to a full house on proposed German 1944 plan Operation Holland

 

At 1 pm I sat in on Ty’s excellent virtual talk on Operation Holland, which is the subject of a alternative Battle of the Bulge game in S&T 347. I spent more time looking over other new/upcoming DG products. There was a display on the Campaigns in Europe (CiE) 4-game series in World at War magazine, issues # 97-100. According to Doc, there is an expansion kit with four additional counter sheets and 17 additional scenarios to be released in 2025 Q2. Depending on gamer demand, a second expansion kit may be published with further scenarios. He also indicated if gamers like the Campaigns in Europe system rules, they could form the operational core of a new edition of War in Europe. This will be discussed with gamers at game conventions next year.

Drive on Leningrad being played as part of the CiE series.

 

Also on display was a playtest version of GOSS Over the Rhine, about Operation Market Garden, currently on Pledge. This is a monster as most GOSS games are. The order of battles laid out at company/battalion level are impressive to see when laid out. I snapped a few pictures below of the maps, both sides’ orders of battle, and game preview session.

 

Also on display was the Blue & Gray Deluxe package with all 8 original folio games (not the 5th wheel or subsequent folios). There are new maps, rules for leaders, limbers, and the optional attack effectiveness rule effect is reflected on the back of the counters.

The new map for Chickamagua.  DG added a turn record chart with reinforcements!

 

Here are the combined maps for Hooker & Lee and Fredericksburg to play the Grand Chancellorsville scenario.  Look closely at the bags of Union counters at the top and you will see the backs have strengths in yellow parentheses for combat ineffectiveness, and another with leaders.

 

I finished the day by playing Steve Gallob in the Operation Holland game mentioned earlier. He had already played the sister alternative Bulge game Watch on the Oder earlier in the day and had played the Op Holland once as the Germans. I took the Germans for this game and after a quick 100 minutes or so (4 turns) I had reached within 8 hexes of Antwerp. Ty had mentioned in his presentation that the limit of the German offensive in Belgium as about 75 miles, and I was getting close to that in Op Holland. My astute opponent was already harassing my supply line (Allied units can come in anywhere on the north or south flanks), however, so I had to send units back to hold the supply line open, weakening the spearheads while the defense stiffened east of Antwerp. We were short on time so we pulled the plug. I will revisit this game in a future posting on alternative Bulge scenarios. It was time for a late dinner so my friend and I left, with Sunday in front of us.

 

This is the earlier Watch on the Oder game (L) and our Op Holland game (R). Watch on the Oder is at corps level while Op Holland is at brigade/division level.

 

Day 3

A poster of the Strategy & Tactics Press upcoming magazine schedule

 

Day 3 began with yet another big Texas breakfast of pancakes and bacon. We took our time so we arrived too late for the CiE learn and play

Presentations

Time Topics Presenters
1300 Soviet Vienna Offensive Jon Cecil
1400 Origin of US Marine Corps Vernie Liebl
1500 Overland Campaign Christopher Perello
1600 Ascalon 1099 Patrick Baker
1700 Roman Forts JE Kaufmann
1800 Case Blue 1942 Joseph Miranda

Learn & Play Games

Time Title GM
0900 Campaigns in Europe Keith
0900 Over the Rhine Doug
1300 Battles in the East Doc

Previews

1300 Battles in the Ardennes Doug

You have to credit the DG team in their effort to give players an opportunity to see, touch, and play new products and talk to game designers and writers of their periodicals.

 

My initial focus on day 3 (which would be our last day since we were heading home on Monday) was the forthcoming deluxe Red Dragon Green Crescent game, a an updated and hard mounted version of a Modern War magazine game from 12 years ago. I have this on preorder and Callie said it (and several other games) were in-bound to the U.S. and should ship “soon.” I am hoping that this is a strategic/regional modern war game I can use with my graduate students in a lighter footprint. The game looks amazing, and combat resolution did not appear to be complex.

I think I feel some modern regional combat coming on.

 

Please note that there is a system rules book, with the scenarios separately.

 

My Op Holland compadre Steve Gallob plots his next move. Counter density is good for a game of this scale.

 

Close-up of fighting for Taiwan and the Philippines.

 

While playing BitE Uman Pocket with my buddy Lance (we wanted to take advantage of having Doc available to answer series and game questions), I took time to do some comparisons with Operation Typhoon. Bill Dufton pulled out one of his many copies of the original SPI version (including at least one that is unpunched) so I could do so. Here are the resulting pictures.

Original map ½ inch hex map (left) and new 5/8-inch map (R).  The new map is more subdued and wintrier looking.

 

Russian components from the deluxe version (L) and original (R).

 

German components from the deluxe version (L) and original (R).

 

As you can see the deluxe Typhoon components are bigger across the board, the play aids and counters are in full color. At 86×46 inches, this should be a staple at gaming conventions in the future (at least one “blown up” version of the original game exists and has appeared at the CONSIM monster con in Tempe, Arizona).

I saw new DG game Coral Sea Solitaire being team played.

 

Joe Miranda comes to the big screen with a Case Blue 1942 presentation on Sunday afternoon.

 

I saw games from many designers being played over the weekend, not just DG. I was happy to see Panzerblitz (AH), Iron Tide (Pacific Rim), Memoir 44 (Days of Wonder), Victory at Sea (Compass), The U.S. Civil War and A Distant Plain (GMT), Arracourt (The Gamers), among many.

Heart be still! This game needs no introduction!

 

I did spend some time browsing at the mobile Desert Fox game store that DG brought along. It had both DG games and other publishers’ games2 sold through the Desert Fox Games store. I confirmed my two preorders and picked up some blank map sheets I needed for a project. DG offered bulk discounts at the con, ranging from $10 for the first $100 spent up to a $100 discount for a $500 purchase. Doc and Callie Cummins proved to be welcoming hosts and answered all my questions. As far as suggestions to improve this event are concerned, I think broader advertising would help, beyond the three magazine lines and DG website. DG is trying to carve out a spot on a popular weekend against SDHistCon and Compass Games, which both have longstanding conventions on Veterans’ Day weekend. It will take time to do so.

Doc and Callie in the Desert Fox/Decision Games mobile store.

 

Until next time!

 


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Footnotes

  1. per Doc Cummins, approx 20% of attendees were from outside of Texas
  2. including Revolution, Legion, Excalibre, 3W, and others

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4 thoughts on “Inaugural FoxCon – 2024

      1. So, did you sit in on any of my presentations? If so, how were they?
        Se,per Fidelis, Vernie

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