Time Flies

I can't believe I haven't posted since July. But I had family in town for most of August and then school started, so now it's November.

I haven't done a lot of gaming, just some solo Regimental Fire and Fury. I enjoy the look and feel of that system.

On the painting end, I picked up some plastic Greeks and Spartans in 28mm. It took awhile to assemble them Nd I kind of lost interest once I started painting them. For my birthday last week I received some nice Perry and Victrix lead Napoleonic figures. The batch includes some British officers and some French officers and artillery. My 28m Napoleonic collection is becoming quite formidable.

If anyone out there is interested in purchasing some figures for Christmas, let me know ASAP so I can get them ordered and painted.

Lord willing, it won't be another few months before I post again.

SYW Campaign, Days One and Two

The epic struggle for Europe is under way.  13 players and three assistants are pushing around hundreds of figures over the surfaces of three 6X4 tables trying to capture as much territory as possible.  Alliances have been made and then broken causing a great deal of consternation in various corners.  In the beginning, Prussia, Bavaria and the Hessian states stood together agains Russia and Austria.  France and Hanover signed a non-aggression treaty and remained neutral.  But Austria attacked France and Hanover joined with Prussia by the end of the day to alter the political landscape.  Below are some pictures from day one.

This is the eastern table, occupied mostly by Russia, but with some Austrian and Hessian holdings in the midst.

This is the central table, with the bulk of the Austrian territory on the left and the bulk of thePrussian to the right.

And finally, the western table, with France to the left and Hanover to the right.

Austrian cavalry routed a French intrusion onto Austrian soil.

Prussia came to the aid of its Hessian ally.  Three Russian brigades square off against one Prussian and one Hessian brigade.

Day two saw France make peace with Austria and begin a full scale assault on Hanover.  On the Eastern front, Austria turned its back on Russia and sided with Prussia.  Russia now stands alone.  But she remains mighty with many fresh brigades still in drawers ready to defend the Motherland.  Russian cuirassiers have destroyed an Austrian cavalry brigade as well as the Hessian cavalry contingent.  But Prussian guns have bettered their Russian counterparts, wrecking two batteries and heavily damagin a third.  As the day drew to a close, battles raged on the two outside tables while the middle table entered into a lull.  This isn't what yours truly had envisioned, but that shouldn't surprise me when working with teens and preteens.

Here, Austria takes advantage of its peace with Prussia to move troops elsewhere.

This is the Hessian stronghold.

Russian cuirassiers (lower right) prepare to seek revenge on the turncoat Austrians before they can do too much mischief.

Hanover's forces are crowded into a small area in an attempt to form a defensive line against the numerically superior French.

Final week of Camp VIP

We are endign Camp VIP with an elaborate experiment.  Every SYW figure I have will be made available for use on a battlegroud that will be comprised of three tables.  Seven different European powers will be represented in this campaign game.  The goal for each country will be to defend its domain while trying to take away land from others.  Each will also have a diplomat that can try to persuade other players to form alliances or agree to treaties.
I will have 14 players along with three assistants.  I am hoping that this will be an epic experience that will give the kids an understanding of the scope of the Seven Years War and the degree that it impacted Europe.  I should know early on if this experiment will work or not.  Posts with pics will follow.

The map above is a rough recreation of Europe of the 1750s.  The dark blue is Prussia, green is Russia, yellow is Austria, sky blue is Bavaria, middle blue is the Hessian states, gray is France and red is Hanover. The little black squares represent towns and the small ovals denote capitals.  The map will be broken down into three 6x4 sections.

   

Our second refight of Chickamauga ended today with a Union victory.  Despite many desperate charges at the end, the men in blue held their line, including the coveted crossroads.  Special honors go to Dodge's inexperienced brigade that held off three times its numbers.  This kept vital rebel reinforcements from reaching the crossroads.  Starkweather's men gave ground to Polk's men, but kept them from getting around the left flank.  This also allowed Scribner's men to move to the center.  This tipped the scales of victory to the Union.  The 2nd Tennessee continued to add to it glorious record by winning two more meles before it was turned back by intense musketry.

Dodge's men continue to hold the hill.  Their casualties were light because the rebs kept charging with cold steel, only to be turned back by some incredible dice rolls by the yankees.



This is towards the very end of the battle.  The Confederate batteries have been driven off and determined Union counter-attacks have pushed the rebs back.  The line has held.



Regimental Fire and Fury round 2

 Today we began round two of our Chickamauga battle the the players switching sides.  I was curious to see if there were to be any significant differences between the two games.  I didn't have to wait long to see that there would be.

The video above shows the two sides gearing up for the day's action.  They were eager to pitch in.

Right off the bat it was obvious that the Confederates were going to be much more aggressive than their counterparts had been previously.  The casualties bore grim testimony to the change in tactics.  The the cost appears to have been worth it as the battle wrapped up today.  The photos below are offered as support of that opinion.

General Dodge's inexperienced troops did well for themselves on this day, holding off two or three times their number.

To the east of the crossroads General Baldwin's brigage stubbornly held on to this field. Baldwin,  However, was killed in the process.                                                                        

The commander of the Confederate right was particularly aggressive.  Brigadier Leonidas Polk was killed early on, but this appeared to only spur his crack soldiers on to avenge him.  The 2nd Tennessee distinguished itself by driving off a battery and then routing a regiment of infantry.

The prized crossroads were attacked furiously and the casualties were high as evidenced by the markers.  The men in blue are holding, but barely.  Scribner's brigade is on the way from the extreme left, but will they arrive in time to drive back the gray wave?  We'll find out tomorrow.

Regimental Fire and Fury game

This week is American Civil War week. For the first time I am using Regimental Fire And Fury instead of Johnny Reb III. It took awhile for the kids to pick up on the differences, but as the game played out they all seemed to be getting the hang of it. We are fighting out a battle that took place at the end of the first day Chickamauga. Five Confederate brigades are trying to break through five Union brigades defending a vital crossroads. After almost three full game turns the Rebs are using superior numbers to roll up the Union right. The attempts to break through in the middle have been meager at best. And the Yankees are attacking the rebel right and is looking promising.

This shows the action on the Union right flank.  Dodge's brigade has been completely destroyed, and Dodge was killed in action.





This shows the crossroads at the end of the game.  It is still in Union hands, so the game was a draw, but the yankees lost many more men than the rebs.

It was a good game.  The kids picked up the rules fairly quickly and the battle seemed very realistic in terms of its outcome.

Tomorrow the teams will switch sides and see if they can do better than their counterparts did in the previous game.

Week one of Camp VIP was a great success. We ended the week with a series of six small scenarios. A win would be worth 3 point, a draw one point, and one point would be deducted if a player had to bring in reinforcements. At the end of the day the French and Indians had piled up 9 points to the British 4, a clear victory for the French. Everybody had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed working withthismgroup. Special thanks are due to my three helpers,John, Matthew, and Brian. Thanks guys!