I cannot believe it has been since October of 2008 since I last blogged! My goal was to try and post at least once a week but I guess I failed:) Well, I am going to try and get back into it soon! If I can get to twice a week, I would be glad but no promises!
I am still gaming but really haven't done much with my ACW collection. I believe I stated in the past that I was working on my micro armor. I got a decent start, but have dropped off since. I would like to try and get that going again as I always have ideas running through my head. Don't we all:) It just boils down to plain and simple execution! So far, ideas yes, execution no.
My last game night involved our group playing the board game: A Divided House. The War Between the States played in its entirety. I like the game but have a few issues. Nothing that couldn't be rectified with a few added house rules. It is a fast moving game, though we did not finish. After writing down the locations of all units for both sides, the game was packed up and ready to continue another night. As the Southern player, we were holding our own, but I feel we could have done better if we had understood a few of the rules a little better. I just considered a learning experience.
Hopefully we will finish the game and I can give another report. Until than, nothing is on the horizon, but as I stated before, I hope to get back into more blogging about my gaming adventures!
Until Next Time....
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fall Is Here!
Well here we are at the end of October. Fall is in full swing and with the new season upon us, my gaming has picked up as is my ability to paint etc. I have managed to get 4 units re-mounted and touched up for my ACW collection. They are flocked and all the need now is unit names. I re-mounted several batteries as well. They need names and some flocking. I have one more unit that needs some flocking and to be named. It seemed like forever, but once I see them as a unit, I am amazed at how quickly they all came together. I am down to one box cover for reamed paper full of figs to complete. I would have to admit that the tedious part is touching up and adding paint to the figs. But once that process is completed, the mounting is a snap!
Last weekend 3 of us from our local group went to Rock Con located in Rockford Illinois. The drive is close enough where we can go for the day and back. There appeared to be a sizable amount of gamers at the convention. My friend had put his name in to ref a game, but as luck would have it, it wasn't listed in the program handed out at the convention. It was listed on their web page, but that is of no use once at the con. The game was going to be 25mm Mexican Revolution. Very pretty figs and an interesting period in history.
I did play in 3 games again this year. The first was a WW2 naval game of Americans vs. Japanese. The scenario was based off a real battle fought in the Aleutian Islands. Both sides achieved a victory making the game an obvious draw. The rules were different from what we use in our naval games, but playable and a good time. If I ever used those rules for our group, I would tweak a couple things but overall, a decent set of rules.
The 2nd game I was in was a used the Warmaster rules for the 800-900AD period. The specifics escape me at this time, but it was a victory for our side. The game at first seemed like we were going to rout our opponents. But they made a courageous comeback making it a much narrower victory.
The last game I was in was a 10mm ACW game. The Union were attempting to march on Richmond as the Confederates were making a stand. The game was really a meeting engagement and we used a fast set of rules that were easy to learn. They are named A Terrible Discord. The game is fought on a brigade scale with suppression being a key component. You could kill whole stands by fire, but it was more by attrition. The game used a board game combat results table and it actually worked. Firing from both sides were figured into the results, so if you fired at 1-1 odds, there was a chance the attacker could suffer a negative result. I did enjoy the rules and actually may use a few things for my own set of rules. I had a few disagreements about the rules, but overall, they were a nice set and if I ever decided to game in 10mm ACW, I would seriously consider using them.
Well that is it for now. I am not gaming this week, but when I do game again, I will be sure to update. I am hoping to get a chance to game a lot in the near future and I am looking forward to posting my remarks! I am looking at doing another ACW game in November, but a date has not been set as my regular life takes precedence and I have a few irons in the fire.
Until next time, may the die rolls go your way!
Last weekend 3 of us from our local group went to Rock Con located in Rockford Illinois. The drive is close enough where we can go for the day and back. There appeared to be a sizable amount of gamers at the convention. My friend had put his name in to ref a game, but as luck would have it, it wasn't listed in the program handed out at the convention. It was listed on their web page, but that is of no use once at the con. The game was going to be 25mm Mexican Revolution. Very pretty figs and an interesting period in history.
I did play in 3 games again this year. The first was a WW2 naval game of Americans vs. Japanese. The scenario was based off a real battle fought in the Aleutian Islands. Both sides achieved a victory making the game an obvious draw. The rules were different from what we use in our naval games, but playable and a good time. If I ever used those rules for our group, I would tweak a couple things but overall, a decent set of rules.
The 2nd game I was in was a used the Warmaster rules for the 800-900AD period. The specifics escape me at this time, but it was a victory for our side. The game at first seemed like we were going to rout our opponents. But they made a courageous comeback making it a much narrower victory.
The last game I was in was a 10mm ACW game. The Union were attempting to march on Richmond as the Confederates were making a stand. The game was really a meeting engagement and we used a fast set of rules that were easy to learn. They are named A Terrible Discord. The game is fought on a brigade scale with suppression being a key component. You could kill whole stands by fire, but it was more by attrition. The game used a board game combat results table and it actually worked. Firing from both sides were figured into the results, so if you fired at 1-1 odds, there was a chance the attacker could suffer a negative result. I did enjoy the rules and actually may use a few things for my own set of rules. I had a few disagreements about the rules, but overall, they were a nice set and if I ever decided to game in 10mm ACW, I would seriously consider using them.
Well that is it for now. I am not gaming this week, but when I do game again, I will be sure to update. I am hoping to get a chance to game a lot in the near future and I am looking forward to posting my remarks! I am looking at doing another ACW game in November, but a date has not been set as my regular life takes precedence and I have a few irons in the fire.
Until next time, may the die rolls go your way!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Gaming
Well after a month hiatus, I again am back. In my last post way back in September, I mentioned an ACW game I had set up for our group. We gamed it and I actually enjoyed it, despite being a bit ill.
The game scenario was that the two main armies were each looking to flank one another. Both sides sent their cavalry out to look for an opening. The Union was an all cav group and the Rebs had one brigade of infantry in support. Both sides had artillery and the terrain was a varied mix of woods, fields and hills. It wasn't real cav or artillery friendly, but that was the nature of war.
The game began with the Reb cav moving northward along a road that crossed over a stream. Another force came from the southeast. The Union force came from the north and one group came from the northwest.
The Union group from the northwest actually made contact first. The Rebs coming from the south crested the bridge to see the Union column. The Reb commander in his haste, quickly charged the Union force. After the Union made his morale roll as well as the Rebel, both past and it was a pretty one sided affair. The Union cav unleashed a volley that emptied many Rebel saddles, causing them to depart as fast as they came on.
I must say, I almost figured the game was going to be over in a short time with a Union victory. But that was not to be.
Being that it was pretty much a cav battle, it forced the players to re-think their strategies. Fighting with dismounted cav wasn't as easy as fighting with brigades of infantry. Dismounted cav had shorter ranges to fire.
The battle moved forward. With low die rolls for movement representing the early part of the war when the Union cav weren't as good, they ended up fighting a pretty much defensive fight. The Rebs however had slightly better movement rolls and they methodically pressed the Union cav back. It should be mentioned that one of the smaller Union cav units (4 stands mounted) did represent itself with honors. While holding an area on the edge of town, the Union cav commander observed a Reb artillery battery in the open. With such flare for the dramatics, the commander ordered a charge of the gun. Both units made their morale's and in went the cav with a real good movement die roll. He engaged the battery which again was a one sided fight. The battery was dispatched in a hurry.
The battery had already fired for the turn. The Union cav unit needed a very high die roll to add to his normal movement and got it. What was real surprising, the player who was the cav commander isn't really known to be overly aggressive. It caught us all by surprise. In future games, I plan on making that unit elite for it's actions above and beyond.
When the game ended, the Union force had been driven back as Rebel dismounted cav moved methodically across the board.
Overall the game went better than anticipated for which I am happy. As usual, I plan on tweaking a few of the rules which to a gamer is nothing unusual IMO:) It was a real pleasure to watch how each player handled his units. Like I said earlier, smaller dismounted cav units are a bit of a change from the tradition army brigades. It wasn't real easy to fight this way and for the most part, each cav unit was independent and planning for massed fire wasn't easy. The artillery played a minor role in the game, but wasn't overwhelming.
From what I could tell, a good time was had by all.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Back Again!
Been awhile since I blogged obviously:) I haven't gamed much at all this summer do to some personal issues and I think I am finally back on track for more gaming. What have I been doing? Well pretty simple: Not much. I have on occasion been re-mounting and touch up painting the figs I purchased earlier this year. I have several of them ready to go, just need to give them unit names and add them appropriately to each army.
I am planning an ACW game for this weekend with my group. It will be an all cavalry game which is a bit from the norm. I was just looking to try something new and this is what I came up with. I plan on reporting this after the game.
In the future, I am looking at doing a small campaign game with my ACW figs. I am looking at basing it on Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. I am thinking of taking a few of the battles and replaying them. My friend has been doing something similar which inspired me. I believe I have blogged about this.
Hopefully things have calmed down enough now to allow me to pursue more gaming this upcoming fall and winter. It will allow me to continue with my blog since I have had it up for a good amount of time now.
Until next time, happy gaming!
I am planning an ACW game for this weekend with my group. It will be an all cavalry game which is a bit from the norm. I was just looking to try something new and this is what I came up with. I plan on reporting this after the game.
In the future, I am looking at doing a small campaign game with my ACW figs. I am looking at basing it on Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. I am thinking of taking a few of the battles and replaying them. My friend has been doing something similar which inspired me. I believe I have blogged about this.
Hopefully things have calmed down enough now to allow me to pursue more gaming this upcoming fall and winter. It will allow me to continue with my blog since I have had it up for a good amount of time now.
Until next time, happy gaming!
Monday, July 21, 2008
WW2 Mini Campaign
A little background. Our group is doing a WW2 mini campaign. Germans/Russians. It is modeled after the first few battles of the 1941 invasion by the Germans. The figs are the 10/12mm. Basicly, it is a serioes of 5 battles. The Germans can afford to only lose 1 in the series otherwise it would be a Russian campaign victory. This is the first battle in the campaign:
After Action ReportOn Turn 1 the Germans got 6 Stuka air strikes they could use anywhere on the board. Taken by surprise, the Russians were not allowed any antiaircraft response. The airstrikes did better than usual this game but then our Germans normally havent rolled too well for aerial attacks in our game experience.This time they destroyed an AT gun, AA gun truck, arty emplacement with 76.2mm gun inside, and killed some personnel caught in tents in a camp outside of the town. They pummeled some entrenchments too but no Russians were inside them.Then the attack went in. The German recon battalion raced their armored cars across one bridge where the gallant Soviet border guards beat off one rush only to get gunned down on a second. Though taking the bridge easily, the Germans did get stretched out very badly on the road due to command roll problems. In the center the German infantry battalion paddled their first wave across on boats and only lost one boatload of infantry to enemy fire. Then they took a small woods and the main central ridgeline on the Russian side of the river. There was quite a fierce firefight on the ridge with some Russian borderguards. I was a bit surprised when they didnt use any smoke to cover the crossing as they had been alloted some. But it worked.Finally on the second bridge, the main German tank effort drove across that without incident. Soon after the Russians began bombarding the bridge with a dug in 76.2 howitzer in an effort to knock down the bridge. Though the Russians got some hits, the bridge remained up.The Germans then engaged a large Russian pillbox with tank fire and an infantry assault, causing the Russians to abandon the pillbox. Finally the Russians armor support showed up, streaming down one road in a piecemeal effort (command rolls not cooperating). There was an armored battle and the Germans formed a firing line compared to the Russians long column on the road. By the time some Russian vehicles scattered then advanced they ran headlong into quite a lot of German tank fire. The Germans killed Russian AFVs at a 6:1 ratio. Russian morale cracked eventually and what was left of the defenders abandoned the town and fled down all three roads off the board. A definite German victory.Overall I thought the Germans played it quite well. They did bring up halftracks right into the front line in an infantry firefight and - as the real Germans did - soon found out these vehicles are quite vulnerable. They lost a couple to infantry.By the end of the battle the Germans had killed Russian infantry at a 5:1 ratio. Lopsided but realistic.The Russians fought bravely and did their best given a tough scenario though their armor tactics weren't imaginative. In their defense, Russians are clumsier with activations and they didnt roll all that great.Probably quite realistic given the 1941 scenario.So at the end of Game 1 the Germans lead 1-0 in a 5 game campaign.
After Action ReportOn Turn 1 the Germans got 6 Stuka air strikes they could use anywhere on the board. Taken by surprise, the Russians were not allowed any antiaircraft response. The airstrikes did better than usual this game but then our Germans normally havent rolled too well for aerial attacks in our game experience.This time they destroyed an AT gun, AA gun truck, arty emplacement with 76.2mm gun inside, and killed some personnel caught in tents in a camp outside of the town. They pummeled some entrenchments too but no Russians were inside them.Then the attack went in. The German recon battalion raced their armored cars across one bridge where the gallant Soviet border guards beat off one rush only to get gunned down on a second. Though taking the bridge easily, the Germans did get stretched out very badly on the road due to command roll problems. In the center the German infantry battalion paddled their first wave across on boats and only lost one boatload of infantry to enemy fire. Then they took a small woods and the main central ridgeline on the Russian side of the river. There was quite a fierce firefight on the ridge with some Russian borderguards. I was a bit surprised when they didnt use any smoke to cover the crossing as they had been alloted some. But it worked.Finally on the second bridge, the main German tank effort drove across that without incident. Soon after the Russians began bombarding the bridge with a dug in 76.2 howitzer in an effort to knock down the bridge. Though the Russians got some hits, the bridge remained up.The Germans then engaged a large Russian pillbox with tank fire and an infantry assault, causing the Russians to abandon the pillbox. Finally the Russians armor support showed up, streaming down one road in a piecemeal effort (command rolls not cooperating). There was an armored battle and the Germans formed a firing line compared to the Russians long column on the road. By the time some Russian vehicles scattered then advanced they ran headlong into quite a lot of German tank fire. The Germans killed Russian AFVs at a 6:1 ratio. Russian morale cracked eventually and what was left of the defenders abandoned the town and fled down all three roads off the board. A definite German victory.Overall I thought the Germans played it quite well. They did bring up halftracks right into the front line in an infantry firefight and - as the real Germans did - soon found out these vehicles are quite vulnerable. They lost a couple to infantry.By the end of the battle the Germans had killed Russian infantry at a 5:1 ratio. Lopsided but realistic.The Russians fought bravely and did their best given a tough scenario though their armor tactics weren't imaginative. In their defense, Russians are clumsier with activations and they didnt roll all that great.Probably quite realistic given the 1941 scenario.So at the end of Game 1 the Germans lead 1-0 in a 5 game campaign.
What's Been Going On!
Well since my last post way back in June, I am pleased to report that I am back to blogging and gaming! First of all, I didn't have to do anything to my hobby work area. I was real fortunate that I had no damage, just some water on my carpet. I have indoor/outdoor so all I had to do was shop vac the water up and turn on the fan to dry things out.
As for gaming, well I managed to game a couple times since my last post. I have been busy with summer activities and work. I will post a battle report written by one of my fellow gamers next. I have managed to get a good portion of my Union fellows I purchased re-mounted and touched up. I still have the Rebs to do, but with summer, I haven't been as active in getting them done. To some extent, I am looking forward to fall and winter. Oh I don't mind summer, but I pretty much had enough at the end of June:)
I had planned on an ACW game this past weekend, but work got in the way so I had to cancel. I figured I would end up working late and true to Murphy's Law, I did.
Well this is it for now. I hope to get another gaming report out soon. Next week is historicon so there will be no gaming for me as a few of the guys are heading out to Pennsylvania.
Till Next Time!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Update
This is another brief update to my gaming activities. In the last week, my city has received about 10" of water and caused some minor damage to my hobby area in my basement. My figs are all fine, but my work area will need to be disassembled and the wall I built torn out to get at the wet insulation. I have every intention of setting up my work area again and am hope full that I will have it up and running so I may continue to re-mount my ACW figs and to continue on with other projects. I thought that maybe I would be more upset, but after seeing the flood damage first hand about my area today, my issue is minor and I am thank full that I did not encounter such massive flooding as my brother had as well as the others in town. Property can be replaced whether it be hobby items or a TVs. People are not replaceable! We had no deaths or significant injuries in my area which is a bonus considering the widespread damage incurred. As soon as I am back up and running, I will make another post. I will continue to post on gaming activities with my friends but I know I will be a bit busy in the very near future.
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