May Game Night 2012

Last Friday night was our monthly club game night. To the left you can see my friend Charlie giving me the highly coveted 'Sirius Cup'. This is a small travelling trophy that we'll be using to commemorate the winner of our series of Field of Glory round-robin games. I'm not sure how I deserved the cup with Charlie, Mike and I all ending up 2-1. Maybe they awarded it to me for hosting the games, or maybe there were tie breakers for battle groups destroyed involved. We're all smiling because it's all in good fun. Hopefully after our Punic War campaign we can have another round of games and I can pass the cup off to the next winner.

 There were three great games run at game night. I played in Charlie's American Civil War game. The rules were the Carnage & Glory computer moderated rules. The scenario was the battle of First Winchester 25 May, 1862. Kevin and I were the attacking Union force and opposing us were the two Johns shown to the left. The combat arm of choice in this game was artillery on both sides. The confederate batteries punished Kevin's attacking infantry to great effectiveness. My batteries were able to send a union battery and one infantry regiment to the rear with canister fire before the Union re-deployed on the reverse slope of their hill. At the time the game was called the Union still controlled both of their objective hills and had given our rebs enough casualties to insure a victory. The more I play C&G the more I like it. Charlie ran a great game.

The other two games were John C's Incas vs Spanish and Gordon's WWII air game using the new 15mm pre-painted planes from Axis & Allies shown below.

Carnage & Glory Firing Template

A previous customer of mine asked me to make a version of my wooden firing templates for the computer-moderated wargaming rules Carnage & Glory. This is the result of that request, made according to his requirements. Since I'm already selling Carnage & Glory rulers on my site, I thought customers who purchased those might also like some of these so I've listed them for sale on my Wright Brothers R/C store site. Sorry for the shameless plug, but a fella has to earn his toy soldier money somehow!

As a side note, my streak of posts for twelve continuous days from 1/25/12 through 2/5/12 was definitely a record for the blog. I also set a new record of twenty (20) posts in the month of January which completely shattered the old record of fourteen (14) posts that I had achieved a few times before. It's been a good winter for wargaming this year for sure.

Bemis Heights at Huzzah!

This past Saturday at the Huzzah! convention I ran a Carnage & Glory AWI game for the battle of Bemis Heights. Before I talk about the game, a quick AAR for the convention. I thought the Huzzah! staff did a great job for their first year running a convention. There were ample games, a Flames of War tournament, great variety of vendors and everything seemed well run. As a GM I was treated very well including my special request to be located near an electrical outlet. The hotel was right off the Interstate making it easy to get to even for those unfamiliar with the area and the facilities were well lit and clean. I will probably take advantage of the hotel next year in order to stay for an additional day.

Having run this scenario two other times, this game benefited from the tuning that resulted from lessons learned during the previous two games. In order to help reduce what previously had been the overwhelming power of the historical British artillery, this version of the battle had one of the British batteries left behind in the camp, and one of the remaining three batteries reduced to a single section instead of two. This small change seemed to have good effect on the game, which was a see-saw affair throughout the early and middle game as both armies held the initiative at one point or another.

The Americans had a clever plan which looked like it was going to work well. The arriving American reinforcements entered the field in column of route (aka march column) and double timed it to the British right flank in hopes of overwhelming them there while Morgan and Dearborn's light troops demonstrated against the opposite flank in hopes of pinning as many of the King's troops there as possible. In the middle the initial American forces sparred well against the British Lights and detachments pushing them back but ultimately failing to break them due to the excellent leadership of the Burgoyne and the other British field officers.

Just when the Americans were about to overwhelm the British left flank the British grenadiers arrived and fired several devastating volleys in successive turns, routing one American battalion and putting another in such a state of disarray that when the British grenadiers charged, it was a  complete rout, the Grenadiers pursuing deep into the American's lines. Elsewhere on the pressured flank the Hessians were able to hold the flank with a battered infantry unit while the Americans did manage to capture one section of British howitzers. Unfortunately for the Americans it was a bit to little and a bit too late. Their army morale had broken and units started to leave the field.

The computer ruled this a major British victory and at the end of the battle I agree. The sharp use of the British Grenadiers in reserve turned the battle for the British. To only look at the end result doesn't give a complete picture of how close the battle actually was. Until the decisive volleys and charge from the British grenadiers, the Americans had actually held the army initiative and were winning the battle. There were several British units throughout the battle that teetered on the edge of collapse but were rescued and reformed by judicious use of the British officers. Both sides fought very well and I had a great group of players. Usually I give away a prize to each side for the best sportsman, but because every player was an excellent sport I let each side vote on the best player on each side for the prize. Now that I have this scenario well tuned I think the next time I will run it will be this fall for the Carnage Centuries of Conflict event which will feature 18th century games at its theme this year.

Second Carnage and Glory AWI Game

Last night I ran my second Carnage and Glory AWI game at the Northern Conspiracy's monthly game night. The scenario was a slightly revised version of the Bemis Heights scenario I ran last last August. During the first playing of the scenario the British artillery was very effective and I felt it may have made attacking the British position too difficult for the Americans, so I changed the OB to have William's Battery withdrawn off table to the British camp. I also made a small modification to the Hessian Jagers, increasing their number of men slightly to allow them to perform more historically. The other major change was I remembered to bring the large hill I made for the scenario, which I forgot at home last time. Both the hill and the initial battlefield deployment are shown in this photo.

Carnage and Glory (C&G) is a computer-moderated rule set which allows for some very interesting elements in a game. The computer adds a large component of 'fog of war' and also can track fatigue. No longer can you expect your elite units to wade through 4,5 or 6 enemy units without worries. With C&G at some point your troops will get tired and eventually if pushed far enough, they'll falter simply due to exhaustion. The addition of the computer does, however, introduce some additional complexity, and unlike riding a bicycle, if you don't play C&G often, your skills in operating the software atrophy. During both the set-up of the OBs in the software and during the running of the game I made several mistakes, which I hope to learn from so that I don't repeat them when I run this scenario at the Huzzah! convention this coming April.

I start the scenario at approximately 10:00 am as Poore's brigade engages the lead elements of the British 'reconnaissance in force'. During the first two turns the rest of the American forces follow Poore's brigade with the exception of Morgan's command which enters from the west through the clearing on the British right flank in this photo.  The British have an advantage in terrain including two redoubts and in quality, but are severely outnumbered by the American force. The Americans have the responsibility of attacking the British force and destroying it. To do so requires them to apply their strength of numbers to their best advantage.


Here we see the British team of Ralph and Andre who are helping the third British player, newcomer Ross, understand the C&G rule system while also planning out their defense


This is the American team of Byron, Earl, George and Dave (waving his hand out of frame).


The initial turns saw Morgan entering and threatening the Hessian redoubt while Dearborn's troops advanced through the woods towards the Hessian Jagers. In the center the British lights slowly withdrew in front of Poore's brigade. On the American right the American reinforcements chose to advance through the woods instead of following Poore's brigade through the clearing. This delayed their entry by a couple of turns.


After his own off-table flank march which also took several turns, Earl 'The Pearl' arrives just in time to halt the British pursuit of Morgan and Dearborn's battered units. Morgan faltered after receiving heavy artillery fire and a British charge. George withdrew Dearborn's unit voluntarily fearing that the prolonged firefight with the Jagers and the close proximity of a British line regiment with bayonets was putting his riflemen at undue risk of being skewered without the ability to stab back at the British in a melee.


At the same time Poore's brigade was advancing, but in doing so had absorbed several turns of artillery and infantry fire. While his units were still advancing, many were now in disorder and some were only advancing under direct supervision of Poore and Arnold. Still they pressed on. On the right American flank the final American brigade finally emerged from the woods. Slightly tired and disordered from their long march through the disruptive terrain. Although the flanking force threatened the British lights in the center, the British managed to escape to their main battle line during their movement. The exhausted flanking forces made one attempt to charge the British defenders on the hill but lacked the strength to close. Their flanking march through the woods, and repeated British artillery barrages had taken the fight out of them.


The final assault attempted by the Americans pitted a militia unit against the Hessian redoubt and it's infantry and artillery defenders, while a sole New York regiment closed with the German detachments who were also supported by a nearby howitzer firing double canister! The results were not encouraging for the Americans. The New York regiment was repulsed before it could close to melee and ended up routing from the engagement. The militia weathered the storm of fire from the redoubt, but was unable to dislodge the occupants in the resulting melee, partly because of the beating they took from that battery's canister fire.

At the conclusion of the battle the Americans lost a total of 84 men killed and 4 captured while the British lost only 28 infantry and one artilleryman. An interesting additional feature of C&G is it tracks casualty figures and battles end up being resolved with very historical casualty totals. With their forces completely in tact and successfully having defended their position this battle was a total victory for the British.  My thoughts as GM on this scenario is that the simplest application of the American numbers is to rush one of the two redoubts by double-timing your troops in successive waves in a direct assault. As the defenders tire you will succeed on the second or third attack. Attacking across the board allows the British quality and artillery to rule the battlefield. During the first playing of this game the Americans did suffer greatly in their approach, but were able do push the Hessians out of their redoubt after two attacks.

First Carnage & Glory AWI Game - 2nd Saratoga

I've owned all three versions of
Carnage & Glory for several years and have always wanted to start running games using the rules. This year at Historicon I watched while my friend Leo played in what appeared to be a very enjoyable game of C&G for an AWI battle. On my return home from Historicon I convinced myself that it was time I finally got to trying out the rules for myself using my AWI figures. I wanted a small to medium sized game in order to be able to learn the rules without being overwhelmed. For the battle I chose the battle of Bemis Heights A.K.A. the 2nd Battle of Saratoga. Since I had just purchased the British Grenadier scenario books, I used the scenario included in the first scenario booklet as a starting point, converting the figure counts back to full 1:1 scale, and inputting them along with my extrapolated unit ratings into the Carnage & Glory order or battle editor. This is an interesting scenario which allows for Benedict Arnold to lead the American attacks from the start of the battle, an ironic 'what-if' which I kept in place.

The only Northern Conspiracy member who's had experience running C&G games is my uncle Ralph Gero. Ralph was very gracious and offered to co-GM the game with me to help get me on my feet. Ralph's help in reviewing my initial OB and in helping run the game was greatly needed and made the game go smoothly. I'm sure without his help the learning curve would have been much steeper.

The scenario starts out with the King's troops advancing on Bemis heights at the moment the advance forces of Poor's brigade engage them. The British Grenadier scenario has Morgan's forces deploy on board in a flanking position, but for my scenario I had Morgan march on the board in order to allow both sides some opportunity for maneuver before the battle lines became fixed. Opening positions are shown in the photo at the top of this page. Of note in addition to the new set of rules I also needed to create two new redoubts for the scenario which are shown.

The opening moves by the British were to withdraw their lights and detachments from their forward positions and re-deploy them on their right flank in anticipation of a flank attack. Poor's Brigade advanced echelon left towards the Hessian redoubt sending the 2nd New Hampshire through the woods on the extreme left.

Learned's brigade, which arrived on turn two, pressed on towards the British formed line to the right and once it was within effective artillery range the British opened up with a scalding series of shots that bounced through Learned's lines with devastating effectiveness. After a couple of turns the entire Brigade was retiring or routing to the rear. This photo was taken on the first turn of the British artillery fire. Over the next few turns, the British pressed forward on their left while the British Lights and Morgan's troops fought a back-and-forth battle at the end of which found Morgan's Virginians pressing forward towards the British rear with the British light infantry pursuing them, although without the fortitude to press home a charge due to exhaustion from prolonged fighting.

With both flanks having fought themselves mostly to a conclusion the battle was just starting in the center, near and around the Hessian redoubt. The 1st Connecticut militia performed in a truly militia-like manner, delivering an ineffective volley in one turn, a devastating volley the following turn, then retiring in disorder the turn after that. Nonetheless their one good volley sent the 24th foot to the rear in rout, and the turn after that the 3rd New York sent the British Forragers routing to the rear as well opening up the redoubt for the final assault.

By this time we were having so much fun that I forgot to keep taking photos. The assault on the redoubt by the 2nd New Hampshire and 3rd New York was almost spoiled by the British grenadiers who charged the 3rd New York as it began to charge the redoubt. Luckily for the New Yorkers, their volley into the Grenadiers on the way in was enough to throw the Grenadiers back allowing the 3rd New York to continue on to the redoubt. Although the Americans drove out the Hessian Grenadiers, the Hessians reformed immediately and were prepared to contest their redoubt when we called the game as a complete British victory. The Americans had some fabulous successes later in the battle, but not enough to outweigh the devastation they received at the hands of the artillery early on.

I'm planning to run this game again in November at our monthly game night. For this upcoming game I'm going to correct some of the small errors I made in the OB on the computer and in the labeling of the troops. I'm also going to remove one battery of British Artillery, but increase the Hessian Jager numbers from 60 to 120. Their small numbers, while historical in fact, didn't allow them to make the contribution they did in the actual battle due to the way the calculations in C&G handle small units. 120 men should give them the impact they need to match their performance at the actual battle.

C&G has a very interesting post-battle summary that tells you the actual losses, captured colors, and most interestingly, which unit received 'honors' at the battle. Not surprising to anyone at the game, honors in this battle went to the RA Reserve Section of British Artillery. Their initial devastating volleys on Learned's brigade followed up by their relentless prolonging to face new threat after new threat earned them the name of the RA Reserve Flying Foot Battery. Commanded by Art Fossa, they were definitely the deciding factor in the game, even if they were pushed to utter exhaustion by the end of the battle. Art is pictured below, left, in the white shirt doing, what else, measuring the range for the RA Reserve Section.

Thanks to all the players, and my co-GM Ralph. Everyone really played along and had fun despite any of the glitched that arose from my first time hosting a C&G game. I can't remember laughing so much as a GM in a long time. Great fun.

More photos are available on the Northern Conspiracy Events Gallery page.