28mm ACW Ships

These are the five ACW ships that my uncle built mostly from scratch with a few laser cut and engraved detail items that I provided. They're for our club's upcoming game day which will be an alternate history scenario based on the forces in and about Fort Donaldson. The what if portion is what if the Confederate generals had performed exceptionally instead of how they did historically.

In the top two photos, the all-white boat is a Confederate transport along with a Confederate tin clad. The bottom two photos are of the Union ships: two Cairo class ironclads and a hastily built and rushed to the battle troop transport. These ships will be an added dimension to a very large land battle in and about the Fort and the surrounding earthworks. Should be an EPIC game.

Napoleonic House Rules Play Test

Last weekend we got together to help my friend Robert (left) play test a new set of Napoleonic rules he's been working on. The rules use the same basing system as our current favorite 15mm Napoleonic rules, Volley & Bayonet. This makes trying out Robert's rules very easy. In addition to Robert, Ralph hosted and Charlie also showed up to help out. We did some what-if test combats then played a small two on two game.

All in all Robert's on the right track. His system has some very nice things going for it and there seems to be a workable system here with some small adjustments. Spending the game kibitzing and playing a small game was just the thing for a cold New England weekend.

January 2014 Game Night

Last night our club had it's January game night. We had a great turn out with 23 members and guests attending and all three great games were filled to capacity. I played in Earl's French & Indian war game which used the "Muskets & Tomahawks" rules. I have to admit the more that I play these rules the more I like them. They're quite simple, with just enough detail to represent the period. There's only one sparse page of charts and half way through turn one new players have them down.

As for the game, normally I tend to think of myself as someone with very average (at best) luck. Last night I had what might be one of my best runs of luck at the gaming table. I handed out the command cards for our side completely at random as I couldn't read them due to not having my glasses on. I ended up with the British regulars - the best command on our side. My first volley from them deserved a cry of "Yahtzee!" it was so full of 6s. Our French opponents also had fairly poor luck (sorry guys) to add to the run. I'm heading to a game this Sunday, I'm afraid the scales are due a large balancing and I'm in for a tough day.

Earl's game was beautiful, well run and everyone seemed to have a good time. Even the French players took their misfortune in stride and were great sports about it. I love our club because that's more the rule for us than the exception.

New member prospect Rob ran his first game for the the club with the assistance of his club sponsor, Bruce. Their game was a DBRRR renaissance game.  I was so engaged in the FIW game I was in I was only able to snap a single photo of each of the other games. Apologies to both of the other game masters for that. On this table I believe the dice Gods also slanted the rolls heavily to one team.

The final game of the night was John's eastern front WWII game in 15mm. John painstakingly replicated the terrain of the battlefield from historical photos. When I stopped by this table mid game the news from the battlefield was the Russian T-34 tanks were starting their overrun of the village killing a bunch of Nazi infantry in the process.

28mm Austrian Napoleonic Infantry in Helmets

This is a small unit of 28mm Austrian Napoleonic infantry in helmets. These were a purchase from a private seller on Ebay. I mostly picked up the unit for two reasons: 1) the price was quite reasonable and 2) The unit came with an infantry officer in greatcoat which I desperately needed.

They're based for use with my friend Charlie's house rules, "Napoleon's Rules of War" but could also see use with Volley & Bayonet, Black Powder and Carnage & Glory.

28mm Carthaginian Veteran Spearmen (2)

This is my first completed unit of 2014. Things got so hectic over the holidays that I didn't even have time to do a year in review post. This is another unit of Veteran Libyan Spearmen for my Carthaginian army for Field of Glory and Hannibal at the Gates. This unit has white shields to help differentiate it from the other unit I painted last year. With this one I also chose to sprinkle in some hoplons, still awaiting replacement with captured Roman scutum. These figures will represent a single battle group in Field of Glory or three units in Hannibal at the gates as shown in the bottom photo. I've included a photo of the 2nd rank to show the shields as well as one of a sample of the rear view of some of the stands.

Next up on the painting table are six Carthaginian elephants. Before those hit the blog I have some purchased units to post. I apologize for the shoddy photos. I prefer to use natural light, but here in New England it's below freezing outside and dark when I leave for work and dark again when I return home. The photo booth with its less than optimal lighting is the best I can do.

Mark D's Inaugural Game - Moderns

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to play a game at the new home of  friend Mark (of Mark D's gaming blog) new home to break in his new game room. The game was moderns using a set of rules that he's working based on the free rules "Special Forces" by David North. Mark has done some great work with the rules and has play tested with battles ranging from the Falklands War through current real and fictitious skirmishes in Africa and the Middle East. This battle pitted African Insurgents against a fictitious African country's government with the aid of some French elite troops.

The rules are coming along nicely and Mark has done some nice things working out a very efficient ranged combat system. The game is a squad based game and uses movement trays cut on my laser engraver which makes moving units quite easy. I'm looking forward to future games in Mark's great game room both with these rules and other rules. Now that Mark has this beautiful gaming space I expect he'll be running even more great games.

28mm Cairo Class Ironclad

This is a 28mm Cairo Class Ironclad that my uncle made using some parts created on my laser. It's mostly his hand work modeling this wonderful model. We've taken some liberties in the design to make creating multiple models easier and to give it a nice caricature look. This will be one of five ships in our upcoming game day loosely based on the events around Fort Donaldson in the ACW. I don't often feature other people's work here on my blog, but since I had a hand in creating the bits I thought with Ralph's permission that these photos would be enjoyable for my readers to view.

HATG Play Test (2)

Last  Sunday we got together for another game in our 1st Punic War campaign, but when the troops reached the battlefield the Syracusian general decided discretion was the better part of valor and chose not to fight. All good, we continued and had a nice small Carthaginian civil war using my uncle's Carthaginian army vs. mine in order to further examine hoplite vs. hoplite combat. The game was fun and everything worked out well. I particularly enjoyed the new battle resolution system which allows the game to complete without killing every single stand on the tabletop.