Regimental Fire and Fury Battle Report Part 1

At long last my summer vacation has arrived. Normally, I would be preparing for my miniatures class, but this year the camp I participated in did some downsizing; my class was cut despite always having good numbers. I looked into an alternative venue, but after considering the extra work that would be involved, I decided to take a break. However, I haven't lost my desire to put my figures to use, so I plan to have several solo games to quench my hankerings.

My first undertaking will see my new ACW cavalry stands put into action. I thought I had added a significant number that would allow me to recreate some really big cavalry engagements. I was wrong. Confederate regiments tended to be 400 or more men. That is ten stands in RFF accounting. Regardless, I still have a lot of guys to push around.

The Battle of Sherpherdsville is fictional. It is set in the northern Shenandoah Valley later in the war. Shepherdsville is an important agricultural center for the rebels and the Union high command has ordered a cavalry raid to try to eliminate it as a source of supply for the starving armies of the South. A division of three brigades plus supporting artillery has been assigned the task. Two large Confederate brigades, also with supporting artillery, are racing to counter this move.

Dice have been rolled to determine when the opposing units will arrive. As fate would have it, both sides will enter the table at the same time and then roll on successive turns to see if reinforcements arrive.  The rebs' entry point is closer to Shepherdsvulle, giving the men in gray an advantage. Hampton rolls well for his movement, and on turn one his lead regiment, the 2nd South Carolina advances to the northern end of the town. From this vantage point, Hampton immediately sees a long blue column of horsemen just a couple of hundred yards away. In the next two turns, the 2nd SC wins two successive charges, driving Whiting's Yankees back while buying time for the rest of Hampton's brigade to extend their line east and west of the town. The initial numbers certainly favor the men in gray.

Hampton's Confederates reach the town first and gain the advantage

Rebel reserves move up to support.

The 1st South Carolina wins two successive charges to put the Yankees back on their heels.

The view from behind Whiting's line

The view from west of the battlefield

As turn three ends, both sides are anticipating reinforcements, but are not sure of what they will be. The question at this point is whether or not Whiting's men can hold on long enough to their position south of the bridge to keep the road open for those reinforcements to arrive.

Warlord Games French Ambulance

I have been working on some odds and ends and thought it was about time to post some images of    some completed items. Today's offering is some shots of the Warlord Games ambulance I picked up to add a little something unique to my collection.

This set comes with some nice features and was easy to put together. I think vehicles add a lot to a wargaming table.

British Guards

I have finished my latest installment of Victrix figures. This batch included a French 8lb  battery, a British 9lb battery, two battalions of the Confederation of the Rhine, and a battalion of British Guards. I always enjoy painting these figures.

Here is a link to a video of my German battalions.

Confederation of the Rhine Battalions

Victrix French as Italians

The last installment of this batch of figures was two battalions of Italians. I painted them as two different regiments for the sake of creating so variety. I like the combinations of reds and greens over the white uniforms.

I have also rebased my command figures on round bases to make them stand out better. I'll post some pictures of them soon.

Victrix offers free shipping every now and then. I took advantage of this latest offering to order four more boxes. I am going to paint up a French line battery, a British foot battery, a battalion of British Foot Guards, and the 5th regiment of the Confederation of the Rhine.

More Victrix Models

My latest project has been to add some infantry and artillery. I am 3/4 finished with my endeavor, having finished two battalions of Spanish infantry, two battalions of French Old Guard Chasseurs and then a battery of four guns of Old Guard 12 pounders. I also added a third gun to my Spanish battery.
Here is how they turned out.

Spanish battery, Irish battalion, Barcelona battalion

Old Guard 12 pound battery

Old Guard Chasseurs

Both battalions

Today I will begin working on two battalions of Italians. I did the hard part last night, which was assembling the 60 figures. I got them primed this morning and will be able to start painting them later today.

Reichsarmee

I was fortunate to pick up a nice collection of Seven Years War figures at a very good price. I wasn't sure what to do with them at first, but in looking at the variety of figures, mostly Austrian with some Prussian mixed in, I thought I might be able to transform them into a nice portion of the Reichsarmee. Now this force was a pretty poor one, based on what I have read, but they fought along side of the French in a couple of battles, so they will lend some weight to my French army. They are also quite a colorful army. It took an afternoon to redo some of the paint jobs, mostly facing colors, and another afternoon to rebase them. I am quite pleased with the result. I even had a small brigade of figures to paint up as a Swiss contingent for the French and an extra Hungarian regiment for my Austrian army.

This is the entire collection

Mostly Saxon brigade of the Reichsarmee

a second Reichsarmee brigade

some heavy cavalry

The small Swiss brigade. It has a battalion of the Royal Plogne.

Not sure when they will see some action, but they are ready when needed.

Colonial Collection For Sale

My number of collections of miniatures has grown to the point that there are several that I am sure I will not get around to gaming with much in the future. One such collection is my colonials. It is incredibly difficult to part with it, but it may be that they could bring a lot of enjoyment to someone else, so here it is.

Colonial Miniature Inventory

Zulus                                                      441

Zulu casualties                                     39

Natal Native                                          40

British Inf. (In Red Coats)                 204

Casualties                                             32

Individually based NCOs                    8

Mounted Officers                                  4

Highlanders in Khaki                          48

Individually based NCOs                     3

Mounted Officer                                    1

Casualties                                               9

British Lancers                                     16

Sudanese Infantry in blue                 60

Casualties                                              6

Egyptian Infantry in white                60

Individually based NCOs                     2

Casualties                                             12

Egyptian Cavalry                                16

British Artillery guns                            3

Four horse limber                                   3

Crews                                                     12

Egyptian/Native Artillery guns          4

Crews                                                     16

Beja Warriors                                       200

Beja Casualties                                    43

Individually based leaders                   3

Ansar Infantry                                     200

Slavers                                                   40

Casualties                                             43

Bazi Bazouks                                       40

Ansar Cavalry                                      46

Ansar Camelry                                     28

Mounted Leaders                                  6

Wagons w/4 horses                               2

Pack mules w/2 mules, 1 guide         6

Roark's Drift painted set

Sudan scenery and buildings

I'd prefer to sell the lot all together for $2,100 plus postage at my cost to anywhere in the US.

But if anyone is interested in parts of the collection, let me know and I can give you a price.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the quality of the painting and basing.