A Gaming Potpourri

Americans advance in CoC

The gaming table has seen better than average activity over the last three weeks.  In addition to my continued solo work with Two Flags - One Nation, four FtF games have made appearances.  A BatRep for Fox Gap is still in the works from my last solo game.  In work?  I need to begin!   2017 has seen much more gaming activity than past years.  To date, I have exceeded two dozen games.  Most years, I am lucky to participate in a half-dozen; some years fewer than that!  Two more games are on the slate for next weekend.  Seems like either feast or famine at the gaming table.

Since no notes were taken for each of these actions, a brief recounting from memory is provided in chronological order of playing.  This approach allows a summary of each action without dragging the events out over a number of posts. Four birds with one stone, so to speak.  I am attempting to clear out the backlog since more Assyrians are in the parade queue!  

Canvas Eagles:

After the introduction of Scott and Kevin to Canvas Eagles a few weeks before, Jake got his initial outing with CE.  Played two games each of which Jake was the victor.  In Game 1, I recall getting shot down.  Curses!  In Game 2, Jake made his scheduled observation run as I attempted to line up a narrow field of fire onto his Whalfisch.  I had forgotten how difficult it can be to bring fixed guns to bear in a one-on-one engagement.

New Brigade Fire & Fury

My first outing with the recently released New Brigade Fire and Fury rules saw Terry's 12mm Scruby ACW collection out on the table..  The Battle tackled was the Second Battle of Ream's Station in 1864 during the Petersburg Campaign where Hancock faced off against A.P. Hill.

Battle of Ream's Station

The Confederate objective was to throw the Federal defenders out from their breastworks.  Drawing the command of Wilcox, I was assigned the task of leading the Confederate attack.  Note, Wilcox's Division is unsupported in his mission until later in the battle.  A tough task to take-on, for sure!

Federals lining the defenses with abatis discouraging attack

Wilcox advanced slowly towards enemy lines waiting for support to appear before pitching into the Federals.  Once Heth's Division appeared on his right, Wilcox attacked.  Notice the abatis protecting the Federal emplacements.  Nasty ground to cross.  This looks like suicide!

Wilcox prepares for assault

Harassed all the way in by artillery fire, Wilcox closed with the enemy.  Casualties were heavy but most of Wilcox's Division remained intact covering the Confederate left and effectively pinned the Federals in their place.  Heth, then made his attack after neutralizing a Federal battery or two.  Still, when I left, Hancock looked firmly in control of the position.  

Wilcox attacks the abatis

As for the new BFF, it sure seemed to be a direct port from Regimental Fire and Fury with little distinction between the two games. 

Commands & Colors Tricorne: The American Revolution:

Got my first game of the recently released CC: Tricorne.  The Battle of Bunker Hill was chosen and I took command of the Rebels.  When we called the game on account of time, the Rebels led two flags to none although the British had just taken the earthworks on Breed's Hill.  Several interesting twists are present in this latest CC offering adding a bit of nuance to long established tactics.  After the game, I read the rules and noticed we made a few errors.  Not unusual when playing a game for the first time. 

Battle of Bunker Hill

Chain of Command:

The Layout

Capping off this gaming summary is the most recent event from last Friday's Friday Night at the Fights.  That is, an impromptu game of Chain of Command pitting Jake's newly recruited Americans (see Dog Faces Part II) against my Germans.  Looking back at game notes, the last time CoC saw action on the gaming table was more than two years ago.  My, how time flies!  Given that two-year hiatus, we were quite rusty with the rules but the game flowed well once we got underway.  I consider myself quite lucky to game with fellows that not only absorb a new rule set quickly but can remember them after long periods of inactivity.  Something for which I sometimes struggle. 

Americans advance on farm

The objective of this action was to clear enemy forces from the vicinity of a small farm.  After the Patrol Phase, the Germans held the farm while the Americans were in position to assault along more than one avenue of approach.

Americans laying down fire on the farm

As the Americans approached the forward building, fire erupted from the house.  Several Americans went down in the initial hail of lead but quickly counterattacked taking a number of Germans out of action.

Jake's Kickstarter Americans

While two of the three American squads made their advance on the farmstead, the German squad on the left laid down a punishing fire and drove off the third US squad.  Seizing the opportunity, the Germans dashed out of their cover in an attempt to outflank the Americans and distract the US from their main objective.

Germans bust a move

 Having thrown the Germans out of the farm, the Americans advanced.

Americans envelop the farm

But, the Germans, having flanked the American line of advance, began attacking along an unexpected axis.

German flanking fire

Again, due to time constraints, the game was called and victory assessed.  Casualties were very heavy and both sides lost Jump Off Points.  After the final tally, a bloody draw was the outcome.  "Bloody" draw, indeed!  At least two-thirds of the combatants had been rendered out of action and both sides would be hard pressed to claim a victory.

With such heavy casualties and no catastrophic break in morale, we wondered if we had missed something in the rules.  Possibly.  This requires more investigation.  Of course, it would be helpful if the game was trotted out onto the gaming table more than once every two years.  I await a dispatch assessing our play within the rules. 

Whale Hunt! A Reintroduction to Canvas Eagles

Nieuport 11 tails a Roland Walfisch

After having brought up the notion of introducing Canvas Eagles (CE) to the guys and repairing my long-in-storage and damaged aircraft, a game was put onto the schedule.  With three players up for a gaming session and two of them with no experience in CE, I picked Early War aircraft and kept the situation simple.  

The encounter would feature two Nieuport 11's attempting to discourage one L.F.G Roland CII "Whalfisch" from completing its assigned reconnaissance mission.  After a briefing on the Sequence of Play, QRS and Aircraft Maneuver Schedules (Schedules for aircraft shown below), I sent the two new pilots off into the Nieuports and climbed into the Walfisch cockpit to begin Game One.

Stat Sheet for Walfisch

Stat Sheet for Nieuport 11

Action heated up as the Nieuports converged on the Walfisch.  At first, the French had difficulty bringing their fixed Lewis guns to bear on the lone German.  As the French closed, the Walfisch's observer was able to draw a bead on one of the Nieuports causing limited damage.  It was not long, though, before the pilot in the white Nieuport figured out how to fly his aircraft and maneuvered himself into a tailing position.     

Once tailed, the unlucky pilot of the Walfisch spent the remainder of the game handing out Tailing Cards to the Nieuport pilot.  The rookie in the white Nieuport, kept his aircraft on the tail of the Whalfisch (see leading photo of Nieuport tailing Whalfisch) and riddled both aircraft and occupants multiple times.  In the end, the Whalfisch was brought down after having suffered a critical hit to the wing.  Quick and bloody.  Game One goes to the French.  

German gets the drop on the French Nieuports

In Game Two, the situation began the same.  That is, the French pilots converged onto the Walfisch.  While the Frenchmen flying the Nieuport in camouflage pattern maintained a conservative flight path, once again the Whalfisch mixed it up with the white Nieuport.

In a series of running maneuvers, counter-maneuvers, and bursts from the machine guns, the German finally got into a tailing position on his White Menace.  How did the German manage this accomplishment?  Well, he took advantage of the Nieuport's difficulty in turning left to escape the Frenchmen's tailing efforts.  Slipping the tail, the German got himself into a tailing position.  After several bursts from the observer's Parabellum gun, the Nieuport went down with a critical engine hit.

The Whalfisch then banked to bring the remaining Nieuport to bear.  The rookie Frenchmen pilot, noticing fuel was low, broke off and headed towards Allied lines.  Game Two goes to the Whalfisch in an another fast and bloody engagement. 

That was fun!  Both games were completed in under two hours total including rules' briefing.  Both games resulted in action quickly and outcomes were decided decisively.  After two turns, plotting and carrying out moves seemed quick and effortless.  Combat resolution was equally easy and with few questions.  The games played smoothly.

What did my two rookie companions think of CE?  Both enjoyed the games greatly.  Games were quick with little conjecture as to who won the encounter.  CE was a hit!  CE is perfect for an evening of light gaming or as dessert following a more intense battle.  As we cleaned up the game, Scott and Kevin both talked about buying a few models in anticipation of building and fielding their own aeroplanes for future games.

Getting the guys to commit to building aircraft after only one playing says a lot for CE.  As a bonus, the components for CE are easily transported to another locale.  The planes can be boxed and map rolled in minutes.  Few other items are needed besides the flight stands, rules, and a few D6.  With the combination of ease of play and aircraft modelling, CE might provide a good stepping stone towards getting our next generation of young wargamers  pulled away from video games and interested in the hobby.  I expect CE will see semi-regular action on the gaming table; at least more frequently than once every dozen years. 

Not surprisingly, encouraged by the afternoon's gaming, I placed an order to bring in a few new aircraft into my aerodrome too.

A Return of Canvas Eagles?

During the last meeting to decide the fate of two empires on the battlefield at Kolin (see Kolin II), standard game kibitzing turned towards discussing other game genres to consider.  One proposal was WWI aerial combat.  After several nods of agreement, I mentioned that many years ago I occasionally played Canvas Eagles using 1/72nd scale models.  When asked if I had any models, I responded that, yes, I did.  

Eric Hotz' Canvas Eagles is a terrific game of WWI air combat.  The game is played on a hex mat using any scale of models and hex sizes.  Movement is pre-plotted and simultaneous.  The game is well supported with aircraft stat cards for most aircraft of the period.  Aircraft statistics are bifurcated between early and late war configurations.   

My collection of planes has been stored somewhat haphazardly in a plastic box for more than a dozen years.  Checking the Paining Log, the last model completed was in 2005 and I know the planes had not seen the game table for several years before that.  That is a long time to be unused and laying in storage.

Between being stored without the greatest of care and frequent shuffling in storage, I was hesitant to pull the box from the shelf to assess damage.  Now, I recalled that a few planes had already been damaged from an unfortunate mishap with the dog before I put them into their storage box.  What would their condition be after all of these years? 

A nice mix of models

While I had a vague notion of the number of aircraft in the box, I could not quite remember exactly what was present and more importantly what condition I would find the aircraft.  Upon opening the box and sorting through the models and debris, the plane count came to fifteen.  Several had broken landing gear but were repairable, a few had decals peeling off, one was damaged requiring significant repair(I may tackle this one later), and one was destroyed beyond repair.  Of the fifteen models found, thirteen could be repaired and put into service.

Models on their flight stands over the Battle Masters' mat

For play aids, a game mat with hexes and flight stands were needed.  I dug up the vinyl hex mat I once used and the homemade, telescoping flight stands.  The vinyl hex map is a game map confiscated long ago from my son's Battle Masters game from the early 1990s.  I do not recall playing the Battle Masters game more than a few times with him but the hex mat has seen much more service.  The mat does not quite look like the trenches of Europe during the conflict of The Great War but it works for my purposes.  Being vinyl, it is easy to store and resistant to spillage.  It is large too.

Models on their flight stands over the Battle Masters' mat

Besides the mat and flight stands, two unmade models were also found.  I may need to put a plane into the painting queue if only to rekindle the past fun of this long forgotten project.

Since none of my game buddies have any experience with Canvas Eagles or WWI aerial combat, I look forward to giving each a chance to earn his wings in the airspace over the Western Front.  Don't be surprised if a game of Canvas Eagles hits the table soon.