Wow!

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....

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

What's New

Well obviously it has been quite sometime since my last post. So I thought I would type a few lines to say hi and to let you all know what I have been up to.

First of all, I haven't gamed in awhile now. With the weather getting a little nicer finally, I have been doing yard work/house chores etc. A little bit of life has interrupted my general routine. You will have that:)

What I have been doing is starting to re-mount some figs I purchased awhile back from a friend. They are an ACW collection and I needed to re-mount them to match my rules system. I have also been doing some touch up painting on them. I am also putting them onto metal stands that need to be re flocked and units names need to be added. I am working on the Feds right now.

While doing this, I realized this would be a perfect time to add a different unit to the Feds. This would be Wilders Brigade. This was a unit from the Ohio area that were mounted infantry. They would ride to the fight as Cav, but dismount and fight like regular infantry. This saved me from having to re-mount the cav. I just have to add the unit name. I have the infantry available and just need to be mounted etc. Being primarily a Confederate player, this should be a nasty surprise to the others but I like the idea of the unit. It also had an artillery battery that went with them so it will almost resemble a flying column.

I will not be gaming for a few more weeks so I more than likely won't have another post for awhile. If something does arise, I will be sure to get it blogged!

Hi to all in the gaming world. Been a couple weeks and I figured I had better produce another blog:) 2 weeks ago our group did not game as a few of the members went down to Illinois for the gaming convention. I myself did not go this time around but I had gone once before. From what I understood from my buddies, they all had a good time and a real positive experience.

This past weekend, we did a game with 25mm. The period is from the Mexican Revolution and I wished I had brought my camera but I left it at home. The figs are very nice looking and the game is pretty simple from a rules standpoint. I was amazed at how the figs took up so much room on the table. It really shrunk it up and we use an 8'x6' sized table.

Even though there were two groups fighting, the Rebels and the Mexican government, there were some disputes within the various Generals involved. This made it an obvious game within the game. Each General had a some victory conditions assigned to them which is always a nice way to randomize the game.

As one of the Rebel players, we had to attack a Federal garrison that were behind walls, and had reinforcements approaching onto the field outside of the walls. My command and another Rebel player each had poor command. We constituted the left flank on the attack. Needless to say, we didn't move very often:) However, I did manage to reach the walls and in fact get inside with my cavalry. With them, I killed the mayor of the town:) Victory condition for me. My infantry group never made it. Again, poor command. On the right, another Rebel general managed to defeat the reinforcements. The center group held back some, but did use his artillery fire effectively. He did get to the town with some American mercenaries. The government forces did put up a spirited fight until they decided it was in their best interest to loot the town!

In the end, the Rebel faction won the overall battle, but one of the Government players was the winner based on victory conditions. He did some serious looting. I tied for 2nd along with a couple other players.

I liked the game; a very beer and pretzels type. Rules are easy to learn. The shooting isn't very good but that was expected. From what was told to us, the Mexican army/rebels were very poor shots which played out well in the game.

Next game we have, I plan on bringing my camera. Very nice figs including some women Rebels. Something you don't always see in games. Just a small note, the image I used for this blog is from a previous game from the Mexican/American War.

What Has Been Going On

Hi All! Well I haven't gamed in a few weeks now and I don't plan on gaming until at least the 2nd weekend of April. I can also say that I haven't really worked on any projects lately. Mostly because I have been exhausted from the normal grind of life as well as the above normal activity at work. I have always said that if the hobby begins to resemble a job, it is time to quit the hobby. Breaks are good thing because I do enjoy my hobby!

With that said, I have managed to add to my ACW collection. I recently purchased a large amount of troops from a friend of mine. He is clearing out his collection and I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a good deal. I will have increased my collection by a minimum of 400 figs. This includes some cav/artillery and extra command figures. I will have some re-mounting ahead of me, but this recent transaction has giving me new life to get back into the swing of things. I also need to get down stairs and get my brigades back in order from the last game.

One of the things I have planned is to do another large ACW game. I have also purchased some balsa wood to make my own pontoon bridges. I would like to do a river crossing and have at least 3 bridges completed for the game. I have taken a look at some Civil War pontoon bridges and I am confident that I can make a decent replica for my gaming purposes. I am of the opinion that a die roll will determine who the attacker will be, but I don't want to make it to difficult as I want some fighting to emerge from the scenario. One other scenario I was toying with was the Battle of New Orleans from the War of 1812. Yes I know this is not the ACW period, but our group once did a game like this. using a different time period for the battle. These can be very interesting IMO.

I have recently signed up for a RPG via the Internet. It is a bit slow for the moment as I am just getting my character established, but I am very confident that things will pick up for my character. I have played in a number of RPG's and I think I will enjoy this one based on the old west. 1879 is the time frame.

One side note about the picture I have chosen for this article. This man is walking across America. He is walking a mile for each man/women lost in this current conflict. On Friday, I passed him up as I came home from work. I had seen a story about him and quickly hit the net to get some information. He started in Nevada and is headed for Washington D.C. I admire his commitment and determination to finish his mission and I wanted to get his picture and a little of his story out there. This picture is from my local newspaper.

Brett favre

OK I know this is my blog about my gaming experiences etc. As a Green Bay Packers fan I had to blog about the retirement of Brett Favre. I was not too surprised at his announcement. During the season, it looked like he gave it his all in each and every game. It was a great season for him and in my opinion, he went out on top. He guided a team to the NFC championship which by all accounts had no business being there! Yet the team believed and with Brett's play, it was something to behold! This is also a credit to the coaching staff. Brett has no reason to hang his head after the game against the Giants. He may have thrown the INT, but he IMO, Brett was being Brett. The gambler taking his chances to win. This is not to say that I wasn't disappointed, but that is what it meant to be a Brett Favre fan. You have to take the ups with the downs. I saw the still shot floating about the internet like many and saw that he had several options to advance the ball. In his defense, we were not on the field and a decision had to be made and was.

I had the pleasure to watch him in person at Lambeau field on several occasions. The Packers won every one except 2. Those were experiences I can never forget. I had the chance to see a legend play along with the thousands and thousands of other fans. I firmly believe we will never see another QB of his stature. I may sound a bit biased, but if you look at the current QB's, I believe that none of them have ever played with such fervor and respect for the game like Brett did. This doesn't take away their abilities, but there is only one Brett Favre! The man is human which is refreshing. He had his faults like all of us, but he also showed that he can overcome. We can all learn from this. He may have been an NFL star, yet he encountered numerous lifetime problems like any other average person.

The upcoming season will certainly have a different air about it. For 16 seasons, we lived and breathed to watch Favre play. It was a ritual of sorts. But I for one did not shed a tear like so many others. Yes it was an end of an era; Yes Green bay may never be the same; The man retired from a game. He did not die. Life will go on. Brett will be missed because he brought so much to the game.

I for one wish him the best! I for one will still be watching Packers football with Aaron Rogers at the helm. His play in Dallas last season proved to me that he has the ability to continue the Packers legacy. Of course it will not be the same. Not everyone can play 275 games straight!

The last man from the 2nd coming of the glory days has gone. He will not be forgotten. He left an impression on so many people and to some, Brett was the only QB they have ever known for the Packers. I know some people out there are calling for his induction right away into the Hall of Fame, waving the 5yr wait. I believe he would not want such special attention.

The NFL may have lost a great player, but another legend was added to the history of the game!

German Blitzkrieg

Last week we did a WW2 German vs Russia. We again used the Blitzkrieg Commander rules and we used a few more of the options offered in the rules. The Germans had an elite group of tanks and more layered command. The Russians on the other hand, well they were typical Russians in 1941. Militia ratings and poor command and control.

As the German player, we had no air support which would have been nice. A set up die roll was made but failed to make the number to have air support. We were moving so much that in order to use the off board artillery, the FO had to stay stationary. Easily done, but many of the fighting units managed to block his visibility. Which was fine because we were always on the move. I tried the artillery a couple of times only to fail.

The Russians had it a lot harder. They had infantry scattered about to defend a town which was our objective. They also had a a couple of armored columns to move up. One column pretty much sat out the game because the command rolls were hardly ever made. The other column, it managed to move on a regular basis, but was eventually overwhelmed by the German armor. With no support from the stationary column, they had no chance.

The Russian infantry defending the town area, they bugged out once their morale threshold was met. They had set up in the town as well as a nearby cornfield. The infantry in the cornfield were basically overran by German armor. The Russians had an ATG, but opted to set it up on the backside of the cornfield. It would have been better off set up in the front of the cornfield. It would have had a few decent shots that could have hindered the German advance. As it was, it never fired a shot. Some hand to hand fighting was had by my infantry in the town. As the Germans we prevailed due to the numbers and quickly took control of the town.

With the Germans in firm control of the town, the game was called. There was no chance for the Russians to take the town back as they had no more infantry or artillery to use for support.

All in all a good running game. As I have stated before, I do like these rules. Frustrating at times, but fair in every way.

Final Report: Battle of Somewaresville

Last weekend we completed the Battle of Somewarsville. It was a Confederate victory with high casualties on the Union side. It was a 2:1 loss ration in favor of the Confederates.

As the game continued, the Confederate left flank had pretty much fought to a standstill. The Union center was demolished! When the game ended, the Union center was being basically held by 2 artillery batteries and a general. On the right, which was where I was commanding, I had managed to rout a couple of Union brigade's and was able to take up a defensive posture. I also had my final division arrive on board which was a relief for me. The Union lads also had a final division appear. They should have appeared sooner, but were mistakenly overlooked. Could they have made a difference? They had arrived in the center but were too late to be effective by games end. However, if they had arrived as scheduled, it could have changed my deployments. I may have not focused so much on my flank by moving more of my units to the center. I knew I had a reserve arriving that would have been more than a match for any Union units they would have faced.

In the end, it was roughly 100+ stands lost on the Union side to less than 50 stands for the Confederates. The artillery losses were 5 for the Confederates and 4 for the Union. Cavalry losses were in favor of the Union forces. Losses were in the form of actual kills and routed units.

Some rules changes are going to be made. I am thinking of making ammo allotments for the artillery. This could prevent some of the arguing over what is a good shot and what isn't. Less shots may be taken knowing that if the die roll doesn't go their way, the player losses that round of ammo. I am also looking at using the artillery arc from Fire and Fury. I am going to make the Corps commanders more important by designating points to them, that could be allotted to Division commanders. This would help more units to move along and be useful if a unit needs to do something important. As it was, I had the Corps commanders basically as figure heads that would replace a Division commander if they were knocked off.

All in all I was happy with the game. It was the largest game I had ever set up and I am looking forward to setting up another with the rules changes. The rules I have are simple and basic and I wish to keep them that way. This will allow me to continue to put on larger games and keep it relatively realistic.

More Re-enactment Pics

The Union and Confederate lines engaged.



To the right of the cannon, you can see Old Abe the eagle from the 8th Wisconsin Regiment on his standard.

Awaiting the order to fire.



Fire!



Got lucky enough to catch the smoke ring.

Re-enactment Pictures

We didn't game last night as we didn't have enough people show. So I thought I would take the time to post a few pictures from the re-enactment I went to the past September.These were taken at the Wade House here in Wisconsin. They have put on a show for quite sometime now and I have managed to make it to most of them.

ACW Pics: Day 1 Battle of Somewarsville

In these pictures, you can see the various stages of the troops moving onto the field. The first two pictures are of Union troops moving on board. The 3rd pic is of two columns of Rebels approaching. The 4th pic is of the Rebs that held off the yanks in the woods from the initial contact. The picture is of one of the Yankee brigades routing. The 5th pic is of more Yankees arriving and the 6th is an overall view.

ACW Game: Day 2

This report is from the 2nd day's fighting. Just one note, I haven't figured out how to set this blog up so the postings would be in order. Sorry for the confusion.

The fight at Somewarsville continued on. The fog and mist had lifted
and this revealed to each and every commander that they were in a
major engagement. Deployments changed along with strategy. Yanks and
Rebs were everywhere and units were forced to enegage with or
without support.

On the left flank, Union and Rebs tried to flank each other only to
check each others moves and fight it out. Rifles fired as the smoke
filled the field and once cleared, revealed that more units were
moving up to engage. Neither one tried to cross the bridge. They
just manuevered around to try and gain an advantage, only to see
that they were equally matched. Artillery seemed to play a large
roll, but the men kept coming.

In the center, a bold move by the Yankees was thwarted. A Union
brigade managed to flank a Reb brigade. The ineffective fire of the
Yanks allowed the boys in gray to hang around. Two CSA brigades went
on line along with a couple of batteries. This forced the Union
brigade to rout out once they realized the were outnumbered. The
Yanks had taken some high ground, only to realize that there were
plenty of Rebs willing to sacrifice themselves to keep the Yanks
from holding the key high ground. This allowed the CSA lads to move
forward and try to create a battle line. To the right of the CSA
lads, the boys in blue kept trying to make their way forward. In an
artillery duel, the CSA lost their battery and caused minimal
casualties amongst the Yanks. However, the Rebs were on the move at
last observation. They knocked out a Union battery before it could
unleash a hailstorm. One CSA barrage managed to rout a Union brigade
that was still in column and trying to move up.

In the center, a charge was initiated by the Yanks. Two infantry
columns met head on and faught it out. Though the Rebs lost more
men, their morale held and forced Billy Yank to retreat! A yell went
up at the victory and a clear advantage was gained by the CSA.

With the battle raging on, the Union boys have taken a good amount
of casuaties and have had a unit rout right off the field of honor.
The battle has see-sawed back and forth. But as it looks right now,
the men from the south are in control and plan to exploit their
advantage.

Only time will tell along with the die rolling:)

ACW Game

I finally put together a large battle using my ACW collection. We are currently still gaming after 2 nights with a 3rd night coming up to complete the game. I have the majority of my collection on the table and it is impressive.

The scenario I am using is loosely based off the Battle of Shiloh. I wanted to create some confusion in the game along with some unpredictibility. I managed this quite well! I had units set up to enter on various turns using their command rolls. Some came on right away and some didn't. So far it has worked to what I was hoping for.

I have 24 brigades, 2 cav brigades, and 15 batteries for the Union. For the Confederates, I have 17 infantry brigades, 2 cav brigades, and 15 batteries. The troops are arranged into divisions/corps. I did all the rolling for troop quality and command rolls ahead of time to speed up the game. My die rolling wasn't to hot for the command rolls. With my system, you need to roll a command roll in order to move units. This number is based on a d10. I had plenty of rolls for command at 6's and 7's. Needless to say, not too many units moved. You need to roll that number or less. This is something I am planning on changing for future games.

The scenario....I had an independant corps moving out in the early morning hours. Each side was probing looking to find each other after several days of miserable weather caused each army to loose each other. The weather began to break, but a heavy fog still lasted for quite sometime. About 4 a.m. the Cav from the independant corps met and commenced to engage.

The picture is of the 2 cav brigades engaged. They fought a couple of turns before the Confederates lost morale and broke. The Confederate infantry brigade and it's artillery made it into the nearby woods and proceeded to hold off the Union troops as the poured on the table. The defense by the Confederate brigade reminded me of the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh.

The remainder of the night dealt with more moving around trying to gain some advantage. Below is a battle report from the field. This is from the 1st day's fighting:

The forces of the CSA and USA were somewhere out in the countryside
plotting and probing their next moves. 3 Corps for the Yankees, and
2 Corps for the Rebels. Small reports from the locals had given
information that each was near, but weather had kept them apart.
Patrols were sent out on each side with no luck. That was until
early one morning when recon troops consisting of 2 cav brigades, 1
inf. bgd and a battery of artillery discovered each other in the
silent, moonless night. That silence was about to be broken.

At about 4am, Union forces had just crossed a bridge and stumbled
upon an equal sized force of Rebs heading in their direction.
Without any hesitation, the Union Cav mounted a charge that was
robustly accepted by the Rebel boys and both crashed into each
other. The scene was chaos! In the darkness, horses whined and men
screamed in agony as pistols went off with orange flashes and sabres
clanged in the night. The troopers from both sides at first refused
to budge. As suddenly as the clash began, it was over! The boys in
gray appeared to have lost heart and were routed from the melee.

With the melee in full force, a rebel brigade managed to move
themselves into the woods along the roadway attempting to re-enforce
the troopers. With the troopers in full flight, the infantry were
left to fend for themselves. Moving to take up a good fighting
position, the dawn began to break revealing more Federals moving
across the bridge. With the brigade appearing to be surrounded, they
dug in and defended the woods from a Union brigade trying to
dislodge them. The boys clad in butternut and gray held firm and
repulsed the blue brigade, forcing them to fall back out of sight.
A huge roar of joy could be heard, but it was short lived as more
and more Union troops began to appear. Another brigade of blue moved
into the woods with vigor but met with the same fate and was too
repulsed. With the Rebel commander hollaring out orders and praise,
the Johnnies were last seen holding firm, disrupting the Union plans.

Along the front, troops from both sides had recieved their orders
and have began to move to the sound of the guns. However, with the
poor visability, many units are unsure about where they are to move
to. Many units stalled in the congestion of the roads as units ahead
of them stalled. Units have engaged to the south, sparring with each
other trying to determine force strength. Another bridge seperates
them, but both sides are spreading out to bring up more fire power.

The middle for the Rebels has seen their units move up but as of
yet, have not engaged. Union lads are moving towards them, but the
misty, foggy day has limited their vision.

To the north, the leading units on both sides have managed to
engage, with a union brigade being routed back as it approached in
column. The Rebel unit was able to deploy faster and moved to line
and sending off a well directed volley. A Blue brigade has managed
to get into the woods, almost flanking the rebel line, but again,
vision has prevented them from seeing this. The rebel lads, spirits
high, anxiously await the next blue column to approach them not
knowing what may hit them.

Small pockets of muskets can be heard throughout the countryside as
both sides desperately try to engage each other. Orders could be
heard to move forward along with the obvious cursing. The fight has
only just begun! As the day progresses, more chaos is sure to ensue
as the armies of both sides are sure to clash in one final struggle.

Local Observer