Game Stuff This Week

This week has been pretty busy on the hobby front. I got some painted figures delivered in the mail. These are for my expanding Chocolate Box Wars (CBW) collection. I also got to go to my friend Ed’s house on Friday evening for a game night. 

First, the painted figures:  These are some really nice Confederate figures that I got on EBay. I will use these figures including infantry, both regulars and zouaves, a commander figure and an artillery piece and crew. Here are some photos:

Maryland Guard Zouaves. Perry plastics. 

McClellan’s Zouaves S. Carolina. Perry plastics ACW Infantry. 

Louisiana Tiger Zouaves. Perry plastics. 

Artillery battery. Early Perry plastics. These are smaller than more current models. 

Regular infantry. Perry plastics ACW. 

These entire order of regular infantry. 

These are some really well painted figures. I find that sometimes you get lucky on EBay and this is definitely the case this time for me. With the 36 regulars and 18 Zouaves, I have 9 infantry units and the required artillery battery for my CBW force. Combined with the Confederate Cavalry regiment and commanders that I have, the force will be ready for use. Exciting to have my third CBW army ready to play!

I also got to help Ed prepare his Baroque Wars scenario for this week’s club game night. This is a homegrown set of rules for 6mm grid-based game system. The scenario is a re-creation of the Battle of Rocroi 1643 in the later stages of the Thirty Years War. Ed developed the game system and you can find his blog page about the rules at this link: https://edmwargamemeanderings.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_28.html

I didn’t take any photos during the game. I was separated from my phone and I was having too much fun to step away from the table. Take my word for it. The figures, although small by today’s standards, are superbly painted.  Ed has uploaded some photos at his link above but the figures are much better in person. 

Chocolate Box Wars - First Armies

 I have been playing a lot of Chocolate Box Wars (CBW) during 2024.  This is a set of homegrown rules by my friend Ed of Ed M’s Wargames Meanderings blog https://edmwargamemeanderings.blogspot.com/. You can find everything about CBW including rules, playing aids and extensive material on building forces in different areas around the world. This is a great game focused on the mid 19th Century (1840-1880) rifle-dominated battlefield. There were a myriad of wars, small and large, where weapons became more deadly and leaders struggled to determine the best tactics for the new age.

Ed and others in our gaming club are collecting and building European based armies.  Just so we have more options for gaming, I decided to focus on N. America.  My first army is the Union Army of the American Civil War (ACW).  Here are some photos of my Union troops:

Here is my complete Union Army ready for combat.  

My Union army is composed of (left to right) four regular infantry regiments, the Berdan Sharpshooters, a Zouave regiment, Iron Brigade regiment and artillery battery, 2nd Dragoons cavalry regiment, a command stand and an ADC (second in command) stand.

A work in progress shot of my Iron Brigade veteran infantry unit. 

Work in progress of my Union artillery battery. 

Having the Union Army, I now needed an opposing force.  I decided to raise a British force based on the excellent Perry Miniatures British Interventionist Forces. With the Fenian movement threatening an invasion of Canada at the end of the ACW, the British moved several units to reinforce Canadian militia units along the Niagara Peninsula.  The British were also supportive of the Confederacy and so these forces along the northern border could have engaged in combat with Federal forces.  In fact, I am working on a scenario for a future club game night that I call ‘The 2nd Battle of Lundy’s Lane’ with an 1866 version of the War of 1812 battle.  Here are some photos of my British CBW forces:

 

My British Army ready for battle!

My British Army is made up of (from left to right) a Confederate infantry regiment Auxiliary unit, four regular infantry units (including a Gurkha battalion), a Royal Artillery battery, the combined Guards light Coys, the 42nd Royal Highlanders veteran regiment, the 11th Hussars and my commander and ADC.

A work in progress of my British 11th Hussar Regiment.

A work in progress of the combined Guard light companies which is my light regiment. 

These forces are great base forces for my CBW armies. I am adding to them and will publish more photos as I get into 2025. I also have a new front on the N. American area of operation. I am currently basing forces for a Maximillian Adventure of my own - a ‘What if?’ of the Union Army chasing Franco-Mexican Imperial forces along the Rio Grande River.  Who knows, maybe some rouge Texas Confederates will join the Imperial cause in fight the hated ‘Bluebellies’!

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.

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.

Game Night at the Club

The Northern Conspiracy held its monthly game night last night and we had a great time!  I played in John's excellent ACW game using Regimental Fire and Fury (RFF) and his fantastic 60mm figures!  The game was visually stunning and it was a truly entertaining time.

I must admit that Kevin and Bob kicked my butt, even so it was a great time.  Here are a few photos from the evening.

As you can see from the photos - the figures and terrain were just a sight to behold!

Some of the Rebels we tried to subdue.  They were just too good.

More of them Rebels! 

Part of one of our brigades.  Even the Black Hats of the Iron Brigade were not enough to save the Union on this night!

The section of the field from behind Greg's Command.  The object of the game was to capture the road in the middle of the table.  The Confederates got the memo - our side did not!

Some of my brigade - a unit of Zouaves.  They were classified as Crack Troops in the scenario.  They fought more like Crackheads!

One of our artillery batteries.  They did actually wipe out one Confederate regiment, but it was not enough to save the day. And the other three regiments facing them wiped this battery out to a man!

Huge ACW Club Game!!!

Here are some photos of the very large ACW Game that we played on Saturday.  Club members Ralph, Bob and Charlie hosted a great game.  The scenario was set in campaign around Fort Donelson in 1863(?).  We used the Regimental Fire and Fury game system with some slight modifications.  The game included some really great terrain, beautifully painted figures and very creative ironclads and riverboat transports.

So, let's see the photos:

The brave Rebel defenders of Fort Donelson!

Dover under "Aerial Spying!"

A Union Division attempts to turn the Rebel right flank.

The entire table looking north over Dover to Fort Donelson - The Cumberland river is on the right.

The last photo should really give you an idea of how large the game was - 6-7 feet wide by about 18 feet long!  Plenty of troops, but no so many that you couldn't maneuver.  The entire side of the table on the right of the photo above represented the Cumberland River.  There were three custom built ironclads (2 Union, 1 Confederate) and a couple of river boats pressed into service as troop transports (1 on each side) on a very inventive rolling stand mechanism.  This allowed them to "steam up and down the river" firing their guns, landing troops and just generally causing all kinds of havoc and tactical problems for the commanders on land.

There was also a re-supply component to the Confederate play where they had to use a train (visible at the bottom of the overall table photo above) or their river boat to re-supply the heavy artillery in Fort Donelson.  The supplies were dropped off in Dover and then moved by wagons to the fort itself.  We did manage to get two wagons worth of supplies to the fort before the supply line was cut and never did have to slacken our fire from the big guns.

The battle was a pretty even affair until the Union managed to dock their transport river boat right near the fort, disembark a brigade of infantry and two heavy mortars and proceed to bombard our brave defenders of states' rights into oblivion!   The gunboats did some pretty significant damage to the fort and to the Confederates trying to hold open the supply route between Dover and Fort Donelson.

Just overall a beautiful game to look at and a very fun game to play in.  The rule set worked really well and while simple in many ways, it plays very close to what one would read a battle being like in the American Civil War.  I hope to play in another one very soon!

Fire & Fury Game

I played in a Fire & Fury game yesterday at my friend Ralph's house.  We are preparing for a huge all day game in a couple of weeks.  The scenario will be set around the area of Fort Donelson.  We will be playing Fire & Fury Regimental scale using some beautiful 28mm figures painted by Ralph and Charlie.  I have attached a couple of photos below which I took last night with my iPad.  They really do not do justice to the figures - you have to see them in person to appreciate them!

I can't wait to see a 6' by 18' table filled with excellent terrain and hundreds of these beautiful figures!

Here are the pics.

 I will make sure that I get copies of the higher quality photos that will be taken at game day and make sure I post them here.