Thomas Odin Brenden

Thomas Odin Brenden passed away Saturday July 26th after a short illness.   That is the only information I have at this moment.   I will provide an update when more information becomes available, including the Visitation and Funeral.

Odin, as he was known to his friends, was a long time regular with the Centurions, in recent years he mostly played in our Seven Years' War and American Civil War games.  Gaming was one of Odin's happy places.  It didn't matter the game he was happy to play.     Many of us remember playing Rally Round the Flag with Odin in the 1990's, well before the Centurions.

Odin worked Minneapolis Public Schools in the transportation department.  He spent years driving school bus and the occasional party bus on the side, in recent years he was responsible for scheduling and working in the office.

He will be missed. 

 

"Lo, there do I see my father.

Lo, there do I see my mother. 

     and my sisters and my brothers.

Lo, there I see the line of my people

     back to the beginning of time.

Lo, they do call to me

     They bid me to take my place among them

     in the halls of Valhalla.

     Where the Brave my live Forever."

Traditional Viking Funeral Prayer

August 2025 Schedule

August 2nd
Glory is FLeeting
10mm Napoleonics
1812 Russia
Jim Fitzgerald

August 16th
Bring you "War of the Roses" figures down to show off. Additional Game information tbd.

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

July Schedule

July 5th
Regimental Fire & Fury
American Civil War
Western Theater
Jeff Johnson

July 19th
Field of Glory - Punic War
Somewhere in Italy
Jim Fitzgerald

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

Seven Years’ War - Koenig Krieg

 Once a quarter during the Centurions gameday at the Source Comics and Games we play Koenig Krieg, version 1.5.

“Koenig Krieg” was originally published by Barry Gray in the mis 1980’s.   In 1996 Tom Dye edited the rules and republished the rules with Outland Games.    Our group refers to this as version 1.5.  The Centurions have been using this version of “Koenig Krieg” since the early 2000’s and have played hundreds of games.   It is one of the clear cut favorites of our group, along with “Field of Glory” and “Regimental Fire & Fury”.

Our latest game had 10 players, seven cavalry brigades and thirteen infantry brigades along with associated artillery and light infantry.   These numbers are typical of the favorite rule sets but by no means the largest game we have played.  

On the left Odin, Bob, Joe, Steve and Rolf were playing the British and Dutch Allies.  On the right Jack, Marty, and Tony made up 3/5ths of the French Side. 

The French were deployed along a fordable stream with two brigades of cavalry on each flank and six brigades of infantry in the center.  The river on the right hand side of the board is not fordable.  

With three brigades of cavalry on the left flank and three brigades of British and Hanoverian infantry on the right, they were supported by four brigades of DUTCH infantry on the extreme left.

The overall British Plan, personally approved by King George, was for the British cavalry on the left to move forward, engage the French cavalry on that flank, while the center British Infantry moved forward to hold the French Infantry in the center and the Hanoverians held off the French right flank while the Dutch slammed headlong into the flank of the French driving towards the center of the board.

Initially the French planned on fighting a delaying action allowing the British and her allies to come to it.   Lt. General Tony on turn one got his dander up and launched an attack towards the intersection of the British and Hanoverian Infantry.   

The aggressiveness of the French caught the British and Dutch players off guard a bit.  As General Bob noted, without the Dutch allies the British and Hanoverians were out numbered 9 Brigades to 6 Brigades.   

On turn two the British cavalry slammed into the French cavalry on the British left flank.  The superior morale of the British cavalry allowed the British to pull out a narrow win, but even in a win it was costly for the small British heavy cavalry regiments as they took winners casualties.  In the aftermath of the melee, during the exploitation phase the British lost control of one Cavalry regiment and the other two regiments ended up in a bad location.

Turn three saw the French cavalry lose an already routed heavy cavalry regiment as it was hit by a British heavy cavalry regiment, but the remaining three regiments of French cavalry stabilized that flank.   The second French cavalry brigade charged the Dutch and were repulsed taking minimal loses.  The effect on two Dutch brigades was telling as their advance slowed to a crawl.   

The British in the center ended up forming a salient, the Cavalry on the left flank was joy as affective as they hoped and the aggressive movements turned their plans from a holding the French to a full out defensive posture.

The small heavy cavalry regiments were under serious fire as they continued to dwindle in size until the were picked up in turn five as they reached four figures each.

The view from the left flank of the Dutch.   One brigade of French cavalry is all that stood in its way of coming down on the French right flank.

Turn six saw the battle of attrition in the center ramp up as the French lost much its artillery but the infantry was in good shape as it tried to press forward.   The Hanoverians on the right flank attempted to reposition it line pf defense as two brigades of infantry and two cavalry bore down on it.

In “Koenig Krieg” starting with the turn after the first casualty the game has an army morale roll, the roll of shame.   In our game the British were down two cavalry brigades and the French down one cavalry brigade.  Both sides needed to roll a d6 and have a result of five or less.   Both sides rolled a five.   If either side rolled a six it would require that side to withdrawal from the battlefield.  

The French commander an Irish import named Fitzgerald and British Commander Bob survey the tabletop from the vantage point beyond the river.   

The British commander cried out for the Dutch forces on his left flank, "without them we are lost".   The meat grinder in the center continued as the glacial advance of the Dutch slowly migrated toward the battlefield.   

At the conclusion of turn 10, the British conceded, a hard fought victory for the French.

June 2025 Schedule

June 7th
Koenig Krieg
15mm Seven Years' War
Western Theater
Jeff Johnson

June 21th
Field of Glory - Reinassance
Sengoku Period
Jim Fitzgerald

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

Perry Miniatures - Plastics Restock

The Source Comics and Games has restocked several Perry Miniatures plastics recently. This includes for boxes each of War of the Roses, Dismounted Men-at-Arms, Mounted Men-at-Arms, and Light Cavalry.

May 2025 Schedule

May 17th
Glory is Fleeting
10mm Napoleonics
Joe Knight and Jim Fitzgerald

May 31st
Star Trek - Attack Wing
Dominion War
Terry Ollilia

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

Just a reminder there is no game on the first Saturday of May due to Free Comic Book Day.

War of the Roses - Update

Battle of First St. Albans

On May 22nd, 1455 the forces of the House of Lancaster and York collided at the sleepy town of Saint Albans.   Traditionally the First Battle of Saint Albans marks the beginning of the War of The Roses, the dynastic struggle to control the English Throne between the House of Lancaster and House of York.

Richard, the 3rd Duke of York led 3,000 men towards London and were confronted by 2,000 men loyal to King Henry V at Saint Albans north of London.  The first battle of Saint Albans was a decisive Yorkist Victory even though the Total Casualties were only 160 combined.

The Centurions are planning to add the War of The Roses to our rotation of games begging on Saturday November 1st, 2025, utilizing Field of Glory Ancients 3rd Edition.  There may not be additional forces available to play for our first game.   Detailed information on Force Construction and Allegiance system may be found here.

On August 16th, before the FOG-Ancients game, we will be hosting a show and tell to display the figures painted so far in preparation for future games.

Initial Command

One unit of six stands longbowmen and one unit of four stands billmen and a dismounted Troop Commander.

Note: The Centurions are adding a new class of dismounted billmen or spearmen with an "armor type" of protected as opposed to Armored or Heavily Armored as required by the list.   This should give better representation of the different categories or class of men who filled these roles on the Battlefield during the period.

Basing

• All Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery bases have a 60mm frontage; 
• Infantry 30 mm deep
• Light Infantry - 2 Figures 
• Medium Infantry - 3 Figures
• Heavy Infantry  - 4 Figures 
• Cavalry 50 mm deep
• Light Cavalry - 2 Figures
• Heavy Cavalry - 3 Figures
• Dismounted Troop Commander - 1 dismounted knight figure on 30mm round base.
• Dismounted Field Commander - 2 dismounted figures, including 1 knight and 1 banner of some sort 50mm round base.
• Dismounted Inspired Commander -3 dismounted figures, including 1 knight and 2 retainers on a 60mm round base.
• Mounted Troop Commander - 1 Mounted Knight on 50mm round base.
• Mounted Field Commander - 2 mounted figures, 1 mounted Knight and 1 retainer on 60mm round base
• Mounted Inspired Commander - 3 mounted figures, 1 leader or Knight and 2 retainers on a 60mm round base.  

April 2025 Schedule

April 5th
Wings of Glory (modified)
Air War of Malta - WWII
Terry Ollila

April 19th
Regimental Fire & Fury
Mexican American War
Jim Fitzgerald

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

Battle of Fort Johnson

 

March 2025 Schedule

March 1st
The Men who would be King (modified)
America War of Independence - South Carolina Campaign
Jeff Johnson

March 15th
Field of Glory Renaissance - Samurai
Jim Fitzgerald

March 29th
BattleTech - Alpha Strike
Terry Ollila

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play

Games in rotation - 2025

The following is a list of games in regular rotation for the Centurions in 2025.

• Field of Glory Ancients - 2nd Punic War - Macedonian War
• Field of Glory Renaissance - Samurai 15mm and Thirty Years' War 10mm
• Koenig Krieg - Seven Years War - Eastern Theater with a smidge of the Western Theater.
• The Men who would be Kings - AWI South Carolina Campaign
• Regimental Fire & Fury - Mexican American War and American Civil War
• BattleTech: Alpha Strike - various battles
• Star Trek Attack Wing - Dominion War

Napoleonics is complicated as four games may be played at some point during the year.

• Napoleon's Battles - 15mm
• Glory is Fleeting - 10mm
• General deBrigade - 15mm
• Rank and File - 25mm

World War II 

• Spearhead - 15mm Northwest Europe
• Rate of Fire - 15mm Operation Barbarossa
• Battle Gruppe - 6mm 

These are not the only games the centurions will play in 2025 but are the listing of games that may be played during the year more than once.

Star Trek - Attack Wing - Feb 15th

 This is another cooperative Alliance game.  

Mission Brief

Mission: Convoy Raid

Background:  The  war has not been going well for the Alliance, but there is a chance to change that for the near term.  Star Fleet Intelligence has located a Dominion convoy believed to be transporting ketracel-white.  Ketracel-white is the isogenic enzyme drug that the Dominion uses to control the Jem'Hadar via their addiction to it.  Star Fleet Intelligence has plotted the convoy's most likely route thru Dominion controlled space, and have located an area where the convoy will have to drop out of warp to pass through. This area is subjected to spacial anomalies that prohibit the use of warp drives.  Since the Dominion believes this to be a secure area, they are willing to take the risk of transitting the area under a light escort.  This same spacial anomaly should also limit the response time for any Dominion reinforcements. 

Objective:  Star Fleet Intelligence is of the opinion that in order to have an impact on Jem'Hadar combat effectiveness, at least in the short term, at least 50% of the convoy needs to be destroyed.  Alliance assets assigned to the raid will infiltrate, via individual routes, to the ambush/raid location just ahead of the convoy's arrival.  Captains, if your ship becomes too damaged, disengage and exfiltrate Dominion territory to the best of your ability. Your ship and crew is more important to the war effort than losing it to 'just get one more freighter'.

Player Info

Since this is an Alliance game, available player factions are:

Federation (Federation, Vulcan, Bajoran)

Klingon

Romulan

If you are bringing your own ship, the point limit is 40.  If it goes a point or two over, that is ok. But no more than that.  Also, I suggest making it a named ship and named captain.  This is an Enterprise-E era game, so no earlier version of the Enterprise will be allowed.

Ships I will provide for players to choose from:

Ship (Class) - Captain

Federation:

USS Enterprise-E (Sovereign) - Picard

USS Defiant (Defiant) - Sisko

USS Cerberus (Prometheus) - Sanders

USS Odyssey (Galaxy) - Keogh

USS Hathaway (Constellation) - Riker

USS T'Kumbra (Nebula) - Solok

USS Spector (Akira) - Leyton

USS Bellerophon (Intrepid) - Ross

USS Musashi (Sovereign) - Nechayev

USS Phoenix (Nebula) - Maxwell

USS Sao Paulo (Defiant) - Dax

USS Pasteur (Olympic) - Crusher

USS Saber (Saber) - Patterson

USS Valiant (Defiant) - Watters

USS Tian An Men (Miranda) - Dougherty

USS Hood (Excelsior) - Desoto

USS Venture (Galaxy) - Varley 

USS Akira (Akira) - Strickland

USS Pegasus (Oberth) - Pressman

USS Sutherland (Nebula) - Haden

USS Yeager (Saber) - Moore

Kir'Shara (D'Kyr) - Muroc

V'Shar (D'Kyr) - T'Pau

Klingon:

IKS Rotarran (B'rel) - Martok

IKS K'Tanco (K't'inga) - Kang

IKS T'Acog (K't'inga) - Koloth

IKS B'Moth (K't'inga) - K'Nera

IKS Ning'tao (B'rel) - Kor

IKS Negh'var (Negh'var) - Gowron

IKS Koraga (K'vort) - Worf

IKS Maht-H'a (Vor'cha) - Nu'Daq

IKS Somraw (Raptor) - Somraw Commander

K'mpec's Attack Cruiser (Vor'cha) - K'mpec

IKS Tong (K't'inga) - K'Temoc

IKS Vorn (K'vort) - Kurn

IKS Devwl (Negh'var) - Morag

Romulan:

IRW Khazara (D'deridex) - Toreth 

Tal Shiar Scout (Scout) - Rekar

IRW Valdore (Valdore) - Donatra

Twilight's Wrath (D'deridex) - Lovok

IRW Haakona (D'deridex) - Centurion

-Terry

February 2025 Schedule

Feb 1st
Koenig Krieg
Western Theater
Jim Fitzgeraldn

Feb 15th
Star Trek Attack Wing
Terry Ollila

All Games at the Source Comics and Games
Setup begins at 10:30 AM and play soon after.
No Figures or Experience are Required to Play