Regimental Fire and Fury

I just received my copy of Regimental Fire and Fury in the mail in time for Christmas break.  I have been putting together some bases fitted to RFF to try out the rules.  They are fairly simple.  The book is well illustrated and gives examples.  The support page is also helpful.

I really like the fact that I can create labels for units.  I had fun doing various units at Antietam.  I have also been able to adapt several of the scenarios from Undying Courage by Scott Mingus to the RFF format.  It's easy to do; you just have to double the ground scale and number of figures per regiment.  It makes for much smaller battles, but I like the larger units.  They look great on the battlefield.

I am going to keep at it and hopefully have some pictures to share in the next couple of days.

First After School Event

I just got home from my first after school military history in miniature event.  24 eager kids showed up, including four girls.  I had to tables set up.  I was able to get most of it ready in the 45 minutes of my planning period.  The boards I purchased worked out real well and I was incredibly pleased.

The Seven Years War game pretty much ran itself.  Several of the kids have taken my summer class and knew the rules well enough to teach them to the newbies.  I took the ACW game and had 14 rookies.  They caught on pretty quickly and everyone seemed to have a great time.  We were able to clean everything up and be out the door by 7:50 P.M.  All in all, I would say it was a tremendous success for having so many kids and a relatively short time to play.

Here are a few pictures:

The ACW game gets under way

The SYW game

The table set-up worked out very well

The cavalry prepare to lock horns

The Confederate side giving their orders

Event this Friday

This Friday after school I am having my first wargaming event.  It looks like we'll  have a great turnout.  There will be two games, one a SYW game that some of my experienced student will run and then an ACW game that I will oversee. 

I handed out over 25 permission slips today at our weekly meeting, so I could have my hands full.  I'll be sure to take some pictures and post them over the weekend.  It seems that there is a future for our beloved hobby.

ACW fences and upcoming gaming night

A couple of news items for the old blog today, this Thanksgiving Eve.  First, I have been busy making scores of snake rail fence sections.  It has been said you can never have too much fencing for the American Civil War, and I took that to heart.  Most of the sections are 9cm long and 2.5 cm wide.  I also made some corner sections, broken down sections, and other odds and ends.  Once I got the hang of it, I was able to make 20 at a time using only match sticks and white glue.  I'd then spray paint everything black.  Once dry, I'd apply a dark brown, then dry-brush with snakebite leather and then cadet grey for weathering.  Half way through I got the idea to apply some Woodland Scenics ballast to the stands before I spray painted them.  On the others I added foliage once they were flocked.  Here are a couple of photos:

The other news item is that I have started a military history in miniature club at the school I teach at.  At our first meeting I had 32 kids show up.  We have planned an after school event for Friday, December 2 that will go into the evening.  I'll have two games going, one a ACW game and the other SYW.  I have a few kids from my summer class that will be there, so I am hoping they can help the other kids with the mechanics.  I have purchased eight 2'x4' light boards to put over the desks in my room to use as playing space.  I'll put gaming matts over those and see how it works.  This way we can use my room and not have to try to reserve a larger space at the school.  At least 20 kids have expressed an interest in attending, so it should be a full house.  I'll be sure to take some photos and post a report.

End of Crisis at the Crossroads

I wrapped up the recreation of the Quatre Bras game I was playing.  In the end, the allied left was able to drive off the French, inflicting very high casualties on each battalion.  Even the Belgian dragoons came through against their French counterparts.  On the other flank, the Nassau battalions in the woods were able to hold their ground, but two Dutch militia battalions were destroyed when they were caught in the open by French lancers.  The Dutch foot battery was also overrun by lancers.  Despite these losses, it appeared that the Prince of Orange would be able to hold on with the few reserves he had on hand, partiularly the unblooded Dutch hussars.

The decimated French battalions can be seen trying to regroup in the background

The cavalry meles

The French high water mark in the center.

The Nassauers stubbornly hold on to the woods.

All in all it was a fun game.  Several charges turned out to be surprising and a couple of double sixes had an inpact on the overall outcome.  The big Nassau battalions were tough in firefights having so many figures.  The French columns were not successful in punching through them.

To my Camp VIP alums

This morning the president of our local wargaming group, HMGS, called and said that he had a member donate about 50 plastic model tanks and asked if I might have any interest in them.  Many of you have asked about World War II types of battles, so I thought some of you might be interested.  These will be sent to me in the near future and I'll probably keep them at school, so if you are interested, let me know and I'd be happy to pass some of them on to you.  You can let me know of your interest by posting a reply on this site.

Crisis at the Crossroads

Using the book The Battle of Quatre Bras and some magazine articles, I have put together a battle that takes place at about 3:00 during the battle of Quatre Bras.  The scale isn't quite right, but it gives the general idea of the situation faced by the Prince of Orange at that time.  His lonely Dutch/Belgian division was trying to hold the vital crossroads.  The French had gotten off to a late start, but were making up lost time quickly.  Here are some shots from the first three turns.  To summarize, the French columns of Bonaparte's division jumped off and were quite successful in pushing back the Belgian jagers.  Their initial artillery blasts were also very effective (double sixes), but alas, no officers were hit.

Soye's brigade pushes back the Belgian jagers.

Bonapate's other brigade deploys to attack the wood.

French chasseurs a cheval threaten the allied left flank.

Lancers prepare to attack the crossroads.

From behind the French right