Cimarron Springs Blackwater Gulch playtest

Today
 Henry and I did our first 28mm playtest of a new skirmish game called Blackwater Gulch- similar to LOTHS in "structure" BWG is a rather simple game for Old West Skirmish. Without using the extra skills Henry and I ran a simple game to test movement, shooting and melee. Henry had a "Bordello Gang"  While My gang consisted of Union dismounted Cavalry with a couple of hired Mercenaries,
the mission was simple capture this western town from Southern Sympathizers and establish the rule of law. the Bordello Gang were affiliated with a loosely run band of Confederate Marauders displaced by the events of the recent Civil War. Ongoing conflict will include raiding Idian parties
as Union interests spread out of Texas into Arizona - New Mexico Territories.

Pics of the simple battle follow -

I traded for an Out house for Henry so he would have the first official "building" for his town -

Henry has the more appropriate out house - I really should paint my red one a more appropriate color

even if I leave the "snow on its roof.

not pictured is the Indian Agent building I traded for that will cause much concern for the towns folk as Reservation indians from different tribes come to collect their "government rations and supplies"

Cowboys vs Aliens will feature the new Yellow Hawk tribe not pictured

 but looked awesome repainted with the vallejo brown wash.

Course of this skirmish saw excellent shooting of Captain Falkirk and his unit of Union troopers with the help of a couple of hired guides and mercenaries, putting the hurt on the Durand Gang as they tried to loot the town of supplies and mine payroll.

 

Watching lots of old westerns lately has given me lots of ideas for names, etc of future gaming characters for this interesting Wild West Gane. Also not pictured is the rail line spur recently established by the CN & N Fargo Mining Company over disputed Indian lands surely to put the tribes on the warpath

One rule - in order to have special skills a figure must be fully painted and shaded.

Merry Christmas 2012

Napoleon transcendant crossing the Alps after Xmas 1799

Napoleon at the end - May we all get what we want in our stockings (even if we have to buy it ourselves!)

 

Obviously Napoleon did not get the Kingdom he wanted for Xmas!

Happy New Year Every one!

Part 3 Battle of Maylo continued....

In the continuation of the Left flank of the Battle of Maylo - Luke and I reverted to Black Powder at his request. Apparently he did not take a liking to straggler concept in Wellington's rules.
He shifted the Russian Grenadier brigade to the left flank after part of his line brigade was driven off
and broken by excessive casualties. The French have stormed across the river to reinforce the right flank as a Russian Grenadier battalion occupied part of the village. So far the Russian left flank is in the hands of the Russians while the French / Polish infantry show a stiff determiniation to hold the Church and grounds to the the Russian Right.

Pics will follow we got a lot done in 3 quick hours - lots of heavy fire but no melees (having learned the lesson the hard way that to empty BUA's of troops firepower is key!

Hobby Town USA Year end gaming 2012 New Horizons

No actual game pics but new potential gaming Adventures - Checked out X Wings - Kissel Run tournament - looks like a great simple games using easy game mechanics I can see why its gotten so popular - With a small Investment of maybe a $100 to $125.00 dollars you can easily get enough models to compete in
store run  tournaments. however did not realize today until late in the day that (prepurchase) of the miniatures was required.   So Got to watch a couple of Games, might trade off some stuff in the future to get into it at some point. Game Mechanics seem very similar to Wings of War but lacks any three dimensional action that a space battle game should probably have. Which could easily be added
with a set of house rules if it was so desired.

X wing and 2 Tie Fighters

 

Y wing fighter

 

Darth Vader's Tie Fighter

 

Now onto the FOW War Game  Falaise GAP  - interesting set - up about a 4 x 12 table  Lots of restrictive terrain scattered woods and two centralized road networks essentially a curved plus sign in the middle of the table. Americans and British enter from opposite ends of the table while Germans defending a narrow frontage and attempting to escape or utilizee passing troops for additional defense - this did not work well  for the Germans -
Gamemaster and Helpful American player David MacElhannon
Novice FOW American - David C
Experienced British - Patti

Germans - Peter and Chris (Both excellent players in a difficult game design and situation)

While I was a novice in the game the more experience British player Patti proved an excellent shot at taking out German forces with her air power and blocking the Greman retreat access on the first attampt to retreat - A partial jeep convoy carried high HE rounds was caught by a stray rocket intended for Finnish Artillery and exploded taking out the artillery and blocking access down the road. two turns later a set of german Panzer treks approached but were slowed by the road obstuction. German MPs were operating in the center of town in an attempt to slow and draw Germans retreating into the German defensive battle line.

American off board artillery support succeeded in neutralizing several key German battle tanks which ultimately led to a hard won American victory though pinned down by numerous types of German fire - The American veterans were able to elude the Germans and set up a trap that lured German tanks int the forest in an attempt to massacre US forces with heavy German Armor.. Althogh lucky with most of his die rolls for much of the battle. The German commander young stormtrooper officer Peter von Goring was unable to extract his panzers after they bogged down near American infantry forces. Who close assaulted the german tanks capturing or eliminating them in quick succession.

On the right flank Americn light Armor baited a trp using built up areas and ruins for cover which allowed US heavy artillery support to force the German armor into an ill timed attack. By the end of the day both flanks of German armor had been eliminated or forced to retire and the actual storm troopers were strafed by Patti's British air support but missed getting severely mauled when a lucky set of anti aircraft shots by the german's clipped The Air wing forcing them to withdraw.

Even so - Not til the last turn of close assaults were the Americans making any headway in the battle. The last key to victory was the attempt by the German commander to rescue one of his King Tigers in trying to prevent its capture by the Americans. (the crew had bailed due afetr getting hit by American 105howitzer fire. The German commander barely succeeded but only after taking heavy losses. The next round of combats  could well have sealed the German infantry's fate.

While not the actual battle (sorry forgot my camera) here is a Utube link of Company of Heroes that can serve as an illustration of today's action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d729lXiNnsU

Company Of Heroes 1 Tales of Valor - Falaise Pocket - Mission 1

Also while not "David MacElhannon's actual set up" below is a pic that is basically representative of the overall game set up and intentions that I found on the web. I want to thank dave and everyone else for a most enjoyable game and I look forward to participating in more as time allows.

http://s648.beta.photobucket.com/user/jonas_peter/media/megaslag/Falaise%20pocket/P1020456.jpg.html#/user/jonas_peter/media/megaslag/Falaise%20pocket/P1020452.jpg.html?&_suid=1355716228212039029590394614566

Napoleonic Polish defending the Village of Maloystarvets

Used Wellington's Rules again last night - Luke wanted a study break so we broke in these old set of rules. With a battalion of Polish defending the Village of Maloystarvets barricade. The Russians under Luke advanced with a regiment strength brigade against the Poles in full tilt columns of attack with one battalion going into line. The Poles defended gallantly unloading devastating volleys
into the attacking Russians. As Lukes luck would have it he rolled a 4 twice and a 3 for his roll to advance into close combat. Luckily for him the Polish commander was killed by a stray musket round and this forced a morale check on the Polish infantry who fell back a move abandoning the barricade they had defended so well moments before.

the straggler system in these rules is interesting - short range musket fire is devastating.

 

Pics to follow

 

 

Napoleonics Battle of Maloyaroslavets

Well today was Black Saturday as the Russians moved to stop the French attempt to flee Moscow to the south.  Attrition would tell the tale as Russian Guard Cossacks stopped a French Column by forcing the lead battalion into square - But the Polish Lancers have crossed the freezing River losing a Squadron being swept down river at the Ford. The resulting battle over the Church grounds is a vicious and bloody affair. We doubled artillery strengths and distances because they seemed a little week.

Pictures to follow

 

guard Cossacks force the french lead battalion into emergency quare

 

Skirmishing Dragoos give way before the charging Russian horde

 

Polish skirmishers with French Dragoons defend the church outer wall

 

4 battalions of Russians grind away at the Polish infantry

 

result both sides have commanders catch a musket ball

 

The Guard Lancers after their chilly bath in the river ford

 

View from the Bavarian Artillery position

 

RUssian Grenadier brigade awaits its turn at the French

 

Guard Lancers Poised to Counter Attack near the Church

 

 

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We used Wellington's Rules a rule set from Buck Surdu. Well apparently we are out of space for pics will need to review past posts and see what needs to be eliminated - oh the joy of the computer age!

The Day After Feasting Battle

This Coming Saturday will be either some BP 28mm AWI or Nappies in Spain plus WWONE airplanes / probably BLUE MAX as Henry will be over on the 8th of December for a post Pearl Harbor Day game. Looking forward to ending the year on a high note with a few games - Recommend Siege of Augusta in January 2013 check out their link siegeofaugusta.org  January 18-20, 2013  at DoubleTree by Hilton in beautiful Augusta, Georgia

HMS BOUNTY SINKS AT SEA

Tragedy at Sea: A replica of the HMS Bounty sank during the recent Hurricane Sandy - Apparently the Captain was swept overboard and one person other person has died. Just an Amazing picture of a sinking ship of sail. http://news.msn.com/us/crew-member-rescued-after-abandoning-ship-dies "The Bounty's Facebook page reads like a ship's log of her activities, with many photos of the majestic vessel plying deep blue waters and the crew working in the rigging or keeping watch on the wood-planked deck." Apparently the diesel engines for its pumps failed. So much similar as the fate of Spanish invasion fleet of British Florida during the American Revolution The Bounty unfortunately suffered a similar more modern fate. It is said this ship had even appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Mens Chest movie. Regardless a sad day for all concerned.

Sept 11 2012

 

 

Today I was reminded of the horror and sacrifice of this day. My generations day of infamy. As Americans we owe no one an "apology" on this day of all days. Least of all anyone attacking a
US Embassy for whatever their "reasons?"

Very British Civil War in Scotland (Angus Konstum/Colin Jack)

A repost or rather a pull over from Scottish gaming in March 2011 (includes other games )http://www.edinburghwargames.com/Journal%2056.htm

I really enjoyed these games in Scotland over the 4 months I was there!

 

Acklington, County Durham, 1938 (A Very British Civil War / Triumph & Tragedy) 28mm - Report by Colin Jack

With Angus still up in Orkney, this game report is brought to you by Colin Jack, who's enthusiasm for his ficticious "Very British Civil War" - an alternative history take on the aftermath of Edward VIII's abdication - has led to its development into a fully-fledged "period", with its own particular - and peculiar - style. Here's what he says; This was the game that our SESWC Club put on at Albanich, the small wargame show held in Dumfries in January. As is usual with display games very little of it got played at the show, as the guys were too busy talking to visitors, and expplaining exactly what !1938" was all about. The scenario revolved around a British Union of Facist and Royalist attack on Acklington airfield, just south of Alnwick. Bill's job as the Socialist commander was to use his miners militias to blunt the attack, which would then leave less for Hugh's better-armed Anglican League defenders to do. As the attackers led with their armour the initial clash was one-sided, and over very quickly. The surviving miners - classed as "raw" militiamen - were soon in retreat. The Anglican League then threw their two Vickers Mark II tanks into the fray, and were soon engaged in a full-scale armoured battle with a Royalist Vickers Mark III tank and a Lanchester armoured car.

   

Meanwhile, the 2pdr anti-tank gun defending the airfield airfield knocked out the truck transporting one of the Royal Naval Brigade's units, killing several of the passengers. That blunted the advance towards the airfiled - at least for the moment. Dissatisfied with the speed of the attack, Dave - the BUF commander (that's him with the glasses) sent his infantry buses up the road at full speed, heading towards the gates of the airfield. The buses even managed to run over several enemy infantry on the way. He also detached his own armour - the massive French tank "Black Prince" - to bolster the Royalist tankers.

Once again the players ran out of time - the danger of putting on a large and complex game on a normal club night. As the game ended, the first bus had reached the gates of the airfield, where it had ground to a halt, while it's passengers were pinned inside and unable to de-bus. Things had been looking bad for the Miners and the Anglican League, until the last-minute arrival of reinforcements. Two "Armadillos" arrived to support the fleeing Socialists - the Armadillo being essentially a pillbox mounted on the back of a truck! The troops in the Armadillos managed to pour fire onto the Fascist column, and so thwart the madcap charge by the buses. They were the heroes of the left - apart from the AT gun and the armour, most of the Anglican defenders never fired a shot! A few more turns might have been interesting, but the time had come to pack our shiny toys away, ready for another outing some other day.

Note from Angus: While I don't have a page dedicated to the Very British Civil War (aka "1938", or "The Third British Civil War"), I've asked Colin to pull something together for you, and with luck we'll be able to post it here in the next few weeks. After all, despite my "bah humbug" protestations that this isn't a "proper" wargames period, Colin really has put a lot of work into it, and turned it into something rather special. The rules he uses are Triumph and Tragedy, and the basics of the alternative history, and the factions involved can be found in the "period" guidebook "A Very British Civil War". I'm sure you can get both publications from Caliver Books.



The Red bus in Scotland almost won the game as the BUF forces almost crashed through the defensive terrain at the airfield.

Wings of War 3 games

Today Henry and I did some Wings of War - We had to impovise the stands because Henry misplaced his pegs. But the other stands worked out alright. I flew Germans and Henry took the allies. The Germans shotdown 5 fighters and killed 1 observer. The allies shot down 4 fighters.
So the Germans won 2 combats to 1 - At least that was the Huns propaganda for the days fighting.
Henry will add pics and his perspective. a bit later.

NAPOLEONIC BATTLE in RUSSIA: TARUTINO 18th OCTOBER 1812 our completion

Not much in this post fiddled with the BUA melee values which saw the French tossed out of half the modified village. Looks like this may be the last Black Powder Napoleonics for a while we are shifting back to In the Grand Manner for a while. Or Republic 2 Empire perhaps. Will post a pic of the captured village. Soon!

Thursday Night Blue Max

New Game - Old Rules - New Group

A little introductory game of Blue Max for the new guys - 3 hours and two kills. Germans downed the two Allied pilots. For one kill each. Basically two games in 3 hours. Luke - Anthony and not pictured Stephen.

Luke

Anthony

the allies

First German Kill

Second German kill

Then Couple of Saturdays ago I introduced (Henry) to the fun Blue Max / Canvas Eagles using the Canvas Eagles dice chart damage table with my 1/72 scale planes. I am afraid the germans did not fair as well this time - Escort quickly dispatched Observation plane escaped after observer wounded twice then finally killed. Untenable position withdrew to fight another day.

staggered table entry did not spell good things for the germans

The German escort must have been a Novice as he was dispatched early

despite repeated damage to both allied planes

 the lack of sufficient firepower saw the observer fail to down a single allied plane

Henry has Wings of War planes so Labor day weekend we will try that rule set and use his planes with both sets of rules. Henry has his own version of events from the Allied perspective to be posted soon.