Eric and I won a "Pour Encourager Les Autres" (PELA) award at the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) Fall-In! 2013 convention, for our Herero War game "The Trenches of Onganjira". The game took place during the afternoon session on Saturday November 16, 2013.
PELA's are awarded based on the following criteria (according to HMGS - see http://www.hmgs.org/awards.htm):
- Appearance: Impressive & appealing figures, terrain, models, gaming tools and overall table layout.
- Participation: Players are visibly enjoying the game, and all players asked respond enthusiastically.
- Innovation: Unique methods, techniques or craftsmanship, GM showmanship and any other exceptional methods evident to produce a high quality event.
- GM Effort: For a GM going "above-and-beyond" to run many events, and/or large fun games or over a dozen gamers, informative/educational or multimedia efforts such as historical posters, flags, AV etc.
"Onganjira" is one of my favorite Herero scenarios. It's a tight, tense scenario that usually comes down to the wire. Here's the description I wrote for Fall-In:
"The Germans aim to destroy Herero forces based in the Onganjira valley. The Hereros have blocked the valley at its narrowest section with a fortified trench line. As the Germans try to outflank the line, entrenched Hereros open fire and charge out! It's a melee, a gunfight, and everything in-between at the Trenches of Onganjira."
Ideally, "The Trenches of Onganjira" should be played among a group of friends during a long Saturday session. It's a big game: lots of troops, lots of action, lots of decision making. Despite its length, I bring it to the Con's because players love it (as do I). On Saturday, they stayed two hours past the allotted time to see the game to the end. At Historicon 2011, players also stayed hours past the allotted time for the final conclusion.
This past Saturday's hard-fought game ended with the Germans getting just up to, but not into, the trench. It was thus a Herero victory. I'll post photos and an AAR in the next few days.