SYW Game for Middle Schoolers

It had been over a year since I had hosted a game for the students at my school. It has been hard to get motivated the older I get. But I ran into a former student who volunteered to help out, and so we set up a date. 18 students showed up to participate; four of them were young ladies.  We only had about two hours to play, but I was able to get it mostly set up before they arrived. It took about 20 minutes to get organized, then we launched the game. Remarkably, we were able to get through five turns in about an hour and a half of real time. By the end of turn five, it was pretty clear that the Prussians had gained a significant advantage on both flanks and achieved limited success in the middle. Therefore, they were declared the winners. And just like any wargame I have participated in, that result was hotly contested as the students drifted off into the night.

Getting ready to start

Overview of the table; Prussians on the left, Austrians and Reichsarmee on the right

Teams have been chosen

And we are off!

Two young ladies garrisoned the town and were stubborn in their defense of it.

Despite warnings from the more experienced gamers in the group, the outnumbered Swiss brigade attacks a superior Prussian force!

The Prussians attack

The Austrians move to meet them.

The Austrian cavalry commander, the most experienced player present, faced two novice female players on the extreme flank. The two cavalry forces smashed into each other. The girls rolled an eleven and were able to add plus one. The Austrian commander rolled a three. His units were routed. The Austrian flank was laid bare.

The routed Austrian cavalry. Quite humbling for the experienced Austrian commander. The girls were giddy at their success.

A final shot. The Prussians, despite heavy casualties in closing in, rolled well enough to pass all of their morale checks and then proceeded to win all of their melees. It was rather remarkable.

My former student was a tremendous help. The kids all seemed to have a blast, even though we had so many turn out.  As I write this account, I am exhausted, but in the best possible way. I shared my hobby with eager recipients. Each one inquired when the next battle would be. I am not sure, but I know I will have a lot of takers.

Kids wargaming

Impetus on Youtube

I have posted a couple of videos on YouTube of my Impetus armies.
Impetus Video #1
Impetus Video #2

The armies arrayed for action

Republican Roman Cavalry

This is the last of the Victrix figures I had on hand, some Republican Roman cavalry. It is actually the Greek cavalry set, but I saw that others had, with some light modifications, used it for Romans. I thought they turned out quite well. Now the Carthaginians will have some mounted troops to oppose them.

All three units, based for Impetus

Command 

Figures based for Impetus

The internet is a great tool. Over the weekend I did some research and determined that Impetus was the right rules set for me.  It is simple, and the figures I had on hand were just right to flesh out two complete armies. So I rebased my figures and here is the result:

These are my three Republican legions. I will be adding one more plus one more base of velites to each legion. I have some Samnites and cavalry on order to round out this force. It will be over 500 points, so should be more than enough for any battle I want to recreate.

These are my Carthaginians and their Spanish allies:

I will soon be adding several bases of Iberian cavalry and some Carthaginian citizen infantry. Victrix will be releasing some elephants this month, and then the next addition will be Gauls. My armies will grow accordingly.

Victrix Republican Romans and Carthaginians

My most recent project, apart from doing some commission work, has been delving into one of the Victrix ancient ranges. I chose the Punic Wars and took advantage of one of Victrix's free postage specials on two occasions.  To date, I have 120 Romans and 102 Carthaginians and Spaniards finished. I am working on 40 more armored Spaniards and just purchased 24 Iberian cavalry and another box of armored Republican Romans. Along with the figures, I have invested in the Little Big Man Studios shield transfers. I have had to experiment a bit, but I think I am making them work fairly well.  Here are some shots of the collection so far.

These are the Carthaginians

Libyan Spearmen

1st Roman Unit

2nd Roman Unit

3rd Roman Unit

Spanish unarmored infantry

It looks like Victrix has plans to add Gauls and elephants to their line of figures. While I am waiting, I will pick up some Samnites and Carthaginian citizen infantry. I believe Victrix also has Roman Republican cavalry. I need to look into that.

My Latest Commission

It is always a pleasure to have the opportunity to paint figures for others. The most recent chance came in two parts: some Warlord French infantry and then a box of Perry French cuirassiers. Here is how they turned out.

If you'd like me to paint some figures for you drop me an email at dukewin@ix.netcom.com.  My prices are very reasonable and I am able to turn figures around quickly.

HMGS PSW Fall Convention

I made my way out to Cal State Fullerton for the HMGS PSW Fall convention. It was held in the student union building at CUSF and was a very nice venue indeed. I was there Saturday morning and the turn out was good. I am sure this was helped by the fact that the Orange County Miniature Modeling Show was being held in the same place at the same time.

I didn't play in any games. They were mostly underway when I got there, but I got to chat with some guys and take a few pictures. I am glad I went and it was good to see a healthy group of gamers assembled.

These are pictures of a Napoleonic Black Powder game; Aspern-Essling I believe.  Nicely painted figures, and lots of them.

These are shots of a Gettysburg game in 5mm.  That scale allows recreating huge battles, but it is a bit too small for my tastes. They were having fun, regardless.

The modeling show had some nice displays, but only a couple entrants in the units competition. It made me wish I had brought a couple of my units to set out for viewing. I could have become an award winning painter by default!