Don, Scott R, and I joined Scott M. for the christening of his new house to wargaming. Scott set up the Battle of Iuka in his living room and we gathered for a day of good gaming and camaraderie. The battle was played using Scott's figures and Regimental Fire and Fury. A nice recap can be found on Scott's blog at http://macpheesminiaturemen.blogspot.com/.
As in many of our games, it takes a few turns to reacquaint ourselves with the rules. One aspect that we didn't pick up on in this game was leader casualty checks. I wager that at some point during the game, 80 percent of all units engaged rolled a '10' and went "low ammo". With all of the low ammo forcing 10’s we rolled, we should have had a number of leader casualty checks. In the heat of battle, we may have forgotten that a leader w/I 4 inches of a unit hit with a ‘10’ takes a leader casualty check. Given that, our Iuka game may have seen the ground littered with killed and wounded leaders. May not have impacted the outcome but it might have had local impacts.
18mm SYW Project:
Work progresses on two Austrian dragoon squadrons. These two squadrons will muster as squadrons 5 and 6 of Dragoon Regiment #7, Batthyany. Also on the painting table is battalion #2 of the Swiss regiment, Diesbach. The dragoons are Eureka and the Swiss foot are Blue Moon FIW French.
15mm Narvik Project: In the recent Warweb order were two bags of 15mm armor. Both bags were from the recently released Command Decision French armor models. I ordered one bag each of three French Panhards and three Hotchkiss H39s (with the short barrel). My goal for this weekend is to assemble and paint these models and complete the three Panzer II's I've had sitting in a partially finished state. Since the picture I have of the H39 in Norway shows a solid light color, Scott recommended Panzer Dark Yellow for the French paint scheme. A trip to the local discounter, White Elephant, yielded only Afrika Mustard. That color will be close enough for me. Oh, I cleaned out WE's supply of Dullcote as I often do on my resupply runs. The guy behind the counter quipped that I must be the one that messes up his inventory by buying all of his stock on a periodic but infrequent schedule.
Working on these models got me motivated to pull six bags of Peter Pig French alpine troops to prime and place into the painting queue.
Still awaiting a refight of Albuera but below is a picture of the game table with the battlefield setup. The first picture shows the battlefield deployment viewed from the north while the second picture shows the battlefield from the east. Both pictures depict the deployments around 0930am at the time of the French assaults against the Spanish.
Battle of Albuera:
I won auctions for a few items on eBay recently. Most notable, is a collection of 6mm rivers from JR Miniatures. NIB sets containing a good assortment of shapes, including,
- 1-#3402 - River Y
- 1-#3403 - River Ford
- 1-#3405 - River Turn
- 1-#3406 - River Curve
- 1-#3408 - River S Curve
- 2-#3420 - River set
Nice looking pieces that appear quite durable. I would have preferred more straight sections but the collection is a welcome acquisition. The addition of these pieces will allow me more flexibility in scenario layout.
Command Colors Ancients/Napoleonics:
The CCN games continue. Although Scott was unable to attend, Kevin, Dylan, and I will met Friday evening for two battles. We missed Scott's rules' expertise but those are the vagaries of war. Game One was a continuation of Kevin and Dylan's Waterloo game. Kevin's expert use of the French artillery blew big holes in the British defenses exterminating enough British units to take the win. Game Two saw Dylan and I face off in Rolica (Second Position). Despite managing to squeeze the British through the narrow ravines on each flank and threaten the French defensive positions, the firepower of the batteries and lights destroyed enough of the attacking British to take the game. This is an interesting puzzle for the British. How do you advance up three narrow defiles and attack the strong French positions at the top of the ridge in a coordinated fashion? Clearly, I failed in the first attempt. Rolica deserves a second chance.
15mm Napoleonic Project: Albuera
The final two regiments of Spanish foot are ready to be fielded. Now, all participants for La Albuera are mustered and ready for battle. Of course, the allies will be without artillery limbers but so be it.
18mm SYW Project:
Both Austrian cuirassier squadrons noted in the earlier post are finished. Picked up a resupply of Eureka Austrian and Prussian foot from Scott at our game on the 9th.
6mm Ancients (2nd Punic War):
Basing the Baccus 6mm collection continues and I painted 12 Spanish cavalry that I had laying around. One correction from an earlier posting: The base size is actually 24mm x 45mm rather than the 30mm x 45mm I noted. Of course, elephants are mounted singly on a 25mm x 30mm base. On order from Baccus are a small assortment of 2nd Punic War figures from their retooled range. I'm getting a bit excited about getting these forces together for a miniatures version CCA. While not my longest running, orphan project, this Carthaginian collection began in 2002. With a little luck, these 6mm ancients will see the table top in 2011. Not quite 10 years between concept and execution but pretty close.
28mm Napoleonic Project:
Work begins this weekend on the sample battalion of early French from Brigade Games. The facial features and bicornes on these figures really provide much character. Looking forward to seeing these painted. In addition to the 16 Brigade figures on the production line, are two Front Rank French skirmishers that I had neglected to paint in fielding an earlier battalion.
Command Colors Ancients/Napoleonics:
Joined up with the group as Austin packs up the remainder of his Otis Orchards belongings and places most in storage. By the time I arrived, most work was completed (excellent timing on my part) and CCN was on the table. The guys had played Rolica twice before my arrival so I challenged Scott M. to a game. Scott took the French and I, the British. The game was quite lengthy in comparison to the CCA games we've played with much punching-counter punching as both combatants jockeyed for position. The French had good success on their left flank while the British commanded the center. Stopping the French cavalry on the British right, the British made coordinated assaults in the center and left to eventually win the game 5-4.
We had a very good evening of CCN at Kevin's on the 8th. In the first game, Kevin as Napoleon was down 6 flags to none against Scott only to come back and claim victory with a miraculous turn of events. Probably, still smarting from his narrow defeat, Scott (as Napoleon) thrashed me eight banners to three. My game wasn't even close. The third game of the night saw Kevin face off against Dylan. Game three was adjourned before a decision could be reached but at the stopping point, the game was evenly contested.
15mm Napoleonic Project: Albuera
The 5th Cacadores regiment is finished and when I began affixing labels to the bases, I realized that I am lacking two Spanish foot regiments. Rats. I have 10 regiments painted but need 12. I left out de Espana's command. Twenty-four Spanish figures have been primed today and painting will begin once I clear the painting table of the Austrian cuirassiers. The tabletop is covered by a facsimile of the battlefield spread out over an area 6' x 7'.
15mm Second War of Italian Independence Project:
The two battalions of Piedmontese infantry are finished. The 19th Century Miniatures order arrived with a box full of goodies. A cursory exam of the French Chasseurs d'Afrique shows that these will work for the Piedmontese light horse. Two more battalions of the 6th Line are in the painting queue.
18mm 1799 Italian Project:
Finishing touches on two battalions of Austrian infantry regiment, Mittrowski are being applied this weekend. These two battalions bring the total number of battalions completed for this project to 26 allocated as 10 Russian, 10 French, and 6 Austrian.
18mm SYW Project:
Following the 1859 Piedmontese on the painting table are two squadrons of Austrian cuirassiers. These two squadrons will be fielded as Cuirassier Regiment #3 and will bring the existing regiment up to its full complement of six squadrons.
