New Units for Chocolate Box Wars

 My painting table has definitely been slanted towards CBW armies lately, especially focused on American Civil War (ACW) Union and Confederates. Here are some photos of my recent figure painting.

In CBW a command stand option in the army build is called a “Chief of Staff”.  Here is my Confederate Chief of staff. A Perry Miniatures artillery officer. I painted this myself. 

For the Union I added a dismounted cavalry unit that I can use as my Light Infantry selection or even a Rapid Fire unit given their carbines.

The other stand of Union dismounted cavalry. 

Staying on the Union cavalry theme, here is my “Uhlans” option for the Union Army. These are the 6th Pennsylvania Volunteers- also known as “Rush’s Lancers”. I have always been fascinated by this unit and CBW is the perfect chance to do them up and get them on the table!

I hope you like these units. I now have three complete armies for CBW - Union, Confederate and British N. American Interventionists. I am rounding out some additional units so I can fill all of the available army building options so stay tuned for more photos in the (hopefully) near future. 

Home at Last!

The trek to and from HISTORICON has ended and we must return to the real world!  We had a very good visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield on Sunday.  We did three presentations - I did Buford's fight on the 1st Day; Ralph G. lead a discussion of Sickles' decision making process in occupying the Peach Orchard and Wheat field position; and Byron C. provided insights into the Confederate/Union artillery fight before and during Picketts' Charge on July 3rd.

All in all the trip was excellent and I am looking forward to doing it again in the future!

Here is a photo of the five guys who were my partners in crime (ok, no crime - just fun!) during the trip.  We made the obligatory stop on Little Round Top and visited the 20th Maine monument as I do every time I go to Gettysburg.

HISTORICON 2018

Friends from he Northern Conspiracy and I have been enjoying a trip to HISTORICON for the past few days.  Whe started with a side trip to West Point where I filled them in on a few facts and we enjoyed touring Trophy Point and checking out all of the ordinance that is located there.  It was the first time to the Academy for all of these guys and they really seemed to enjoy themselves.

The next day we all traveled the rest of the way to Lancaster and secured our rooms at the Host Resort.  The Resort is undergoing major renovations.  The rooms we got have already been renovated
and I must say they are very nice.

Games are on the up or down scale.  But as these photos show, there are some really nice ones:

I played in two games over the weekend.  The first was a War of 1812 skirmish game using the rules, "Redcoats and Blue Jackets".  I played the role of a Canadian Militia Officer as our force tried to prevent some Americans from re-supplying General Hull around Detroit.  We won the game in just about the exact historical way the British and Canadians defeated the Americans.  Here are a couple of pics of the game in progress:

The Americans move their wagons along a track through the swamps around Detroit.

The British and Indian Allies block the Americans' path.  My force is the one on the left with the red 'reload' marker.

The Native Americans close asset the wagons while the British and Canadians provide fire support. 

The Native Americans finish off the Americans and the game goes to the Brits!

I have never played the rules before but I really enjoyed them.  It is always easier to play when the author of the rules is the game master!

I also played in a WWII game set in the Western Desert using the rules set 'Fireball Forward!'  The scenario was called "The Witches Cauldron," and was set around the battle of Trobruk as the German armor tries to escape through the British field artillery line after failing to take the port.

Here are some photos:

Again, I had never played the rules before, but I really enjoyed them.  The game master and all of the other players at the table were excellent gamers and very friendly.  I played on the British side commanding a small force of A-10 Cruisers.  I managed to roll my usual very poor dice, but at the end of the game I made the final kill with a two-pounder into the back of a Pzkw III.

I have to say that manners of the gamers was excellent in both of the games that I played in.  I was very pleased about that as it can be a crap shoot during such a large convention and I have had some really bad experiences in the past.

Overall, I have to say that it was an excellent convention.  I am looking forward to our battlefield excursion on the way home as we visit Gettysburg.

Pub Battles - Antietam

I recently had a chance to play a new game (for me) at my friend Gordon's hobby shop - Adler Hobby.  The game is "Pub Battles, Antietam" by Command Post Games.  This is a unique board game system with a canvas map - no grids, no areas to control movement.  You use a couple of movement and range sticks to determine how far you move and shoot.

The play pieces (see photos below) are wooden blocks with stick-on labels with unit type and command designations.  The unit types include infantry, cavalry, artillery, supply and commanders.  The units represent infantry and cavalry divisions.  Artillery reserve "divisions" are also represented as are supply trains.  The artillery provides fire support to attacking units and the supply trains help rally units.

The game has a historical limit of deployment, but players get to chose the actual location of each unit.  Each Corps on the board has a command token which is put into a bag and drawn out one at a time.  When the token is drawn, all of the divisions in the Corps moves and fights.  When a division loses a round of combat, it is turned on its side to represent that it is reduced in strength.  If it loses another round of combat before it has a chance to rally, the division is destroyed and removed from play.

In this game the Union are in the role of attacker and the Confederates are in strong defensive positions.  The Union has a very large numerical superiority but the Confederates have interior lines and can move troops quickly to meet the Union attacks.

Here are some photos that we took during the game:

Defending on my left, I start a strong push on my right.

The first attacks are met with strong resistance.  The units with designations turned up have been defeated for the first time.  If they lose another round of battle before they can rally, they will be destroyed.

The attacks on the right start to make headway.  Also, I made a successful attack on the sunken road in the center of the Confederate line!  It was a huge surprise to me and really put the pressure on the Rebels!
 

The end of the battle.  I have cleared Sharpsburg and there are only a couple of depleted Confederate divisions between my forces and the Rebel lines of communication.  We deemed it a significant Union victory.

During the game that I played I was the Union commander.  I was able to use the superiority in numbers to overwhelm the Confederates on their left, my right and fight my way into and through Sharpsburg.  I even forced the crossing at Burnside's Bridge!

Overall, this is a really interesting game system.  There are now several battles available including Brandywine (American Revolution), Marengo (Napoleon in Italy), Little Bighorn (American West) and now Antietam.  The games are a bit pricey for a board game as far as I am concerned, but they are simple and fun to play.  Overall, I would encourage you to give them a try if you have a chance to play.

Finally Back On-line - Chosen Men Game Report

Well, it has been a long time away, but I am finally back!  I have had a great summer doing some traveling and having many visitors at the house.  It has been a good time, and now as fall is on the horizon and the trees start to change from green to various tones of yellow and red, I am returning to the hobby table.

Last night I traveled to Manchester and tried out the new (for us) Chosen Men rules from Osprey Publishing with my friend Gordon.  We did a pretty simple scenario using my War of 1812 figures.  Gordon played the British and I handled the Americans.

The British had two infantry squads, a Major Commanding Officer and a single Spy (horse mounted). As the Americans, I had a Major Commander, two infantry squads and a half/squad of Riflemen.

Gordon set up a great looking table.  Because we were both playing our first game of CM we took it very slow and basically read through the rules as we played the game.

Here is a couple of photos of the game as we came together at the end of Turn 1.

Americans on the right and British/Canadians on the left.  The Americans defended the wall very effectively and  we used the 'Feint' strategy to make the British Light Infantry squad to break cover and charge.  They ended up being short of the Americans during the charge and were out in the open to be fired on.  Gordon decided to try and shoot it out with the Americans and even with his great rolling, the wall provided enough cover to leave the Americans in possession of the wall at the end of the game.

I did not take any other photos as we were spending so much time reviewing rules and concentrating on the game itself.

The rules themselves are pretty interesting.  We each had four units and that seemed to be about right for what a new player can handle within an evening game for fun.  We played about three and a half hours of actual game time.  We played through five turns during the game and by the end of the game I think I had a pretty good sense of how to play.

The game mechanics are interesting with an alternating of units moving through its actions then an opponent's unit getting to play and back and forth until all units have moved.  That is one turn.

Infantry fire combat is a bit cumbersome with three die rolls, hits-saves-kills.  It could probably be reduced to two rolls if modifiers were inserted at one or two levels, but if you are doing a beer & pretzels type of fun game have fun rolling your hearts out!

The other thing we learned is that cavalry is particularly effective against exposed infantry.  On two occasions Gordon killed several infantrymen with a single mounted figure (including all of the half squad of riflemen).  Infantry needs to be in the correct formation and needs to be under strong leadership to be effective against cavalry to their front.  We think that the Hold and Fire order is one of the potentially effective ways for infantry to confront cavalry.  Once contact is made by charging cavalry, they will be devastating on an infantry squad.  Of course, Gordon was rolling lights out, so that may have been part of the outcome.  Sometimes you can't fight General Dice!

We also noticed that as casualties increase the morale checks come more and more often. Gordon faced this with his Light Infantry in front of the wall.  He passed several checks but as the unit took additional casualties, he had to take more checks and he finally broke.

I like the rules.  I hope to have a slightly larger game sometime soon.  I hope the second game goes as well as this first attempt.

Huzzah! 2015

Just got home from Huzzah!  I went up for Friday night and the day today. It was a really enjoyable time to get out of town and spend time with friends doing the hobby. Played in a couple of games, one last night and another this morning. There was a definite theme - Paratroopers!!

The game last night was a very large Bolt Action game. I got to play some units of 82nd Airborne troops involved in an attack on a German bridge.  Today I got to play in a "British Wars" skirmish game of Pegasus Bridge. I commanded a couple of Sappers helping Den Brotheridge and MAJ Howard take the key bridge just before the invasion force hit the beaches.

I really enjoyed both games. They were very different, but they had some interesting tactical situations and the rules gave a completely different feel for airborne operations. Overall this was one of the better convention gaming experiences I have had in quite awhile.

Here are some photos:

The Bridge from the Cafe end of the bridge.

Another pre-battle photo from behind the Cafe.

 Here are some photos of the first battle that I participated in on Friday evening.  We were the 82nd Airborne Division attacking a train bridge so reinforcements and materials couldn't reach the Germans fighting against the beaches:

A destroyed Sdkfz-222 Armored Car.  The last thing the crew of this vehicle saw was the 90mm gun of an American Pershing Tank!

Another charge set on a bridge section supported by a Chaffee Light Tank.

My Sappers destroying the first section of the railroad bridge.  I had suffered four out of six in the section as casualties, but the remaining two troops hung in against serious German efforts to kill them (HMG, AT Gun firing HE, Infantry fire, etc.) until they had the charge set-off.

Results of a German artillery strike - Three pins on a HMG and ATG.  A destroyed Stug III.  And a killed Major commander. Thank you to the Forward Observer who was holding his map upside down when he sent his call for fire!  Couldn't have done it without him!

P-47 on a strafing run.  The results were a destroyed '88' and several dead infantrymen.

One last photo:

The guy kneeling in  the center of the photo is one of my sappers from the Pegasus Bridge game checking for demolition charges and fuze wires.  The British successfully prevented the Germans from blowing-up the bridge.

 Both games were excellent.  The whole convention was a great time!

Some Really Beautiful Terrain and WWII Wargame Figures

  Here are some beautiful 28mm vehicles and matching terrain from my friend Ralph.  I think these are among his best work, which is saying a lot as he does amazing work in all time periods and scales of figures.  Enjoy these photos!