Reconquista Interlude

With the recent, steady stream of Reconquista units rolling off from the painting desk, I pushed a unit for the Punic War project into the production line.  This time, a Libyan spear unit from Renegade Miniatures.  As all Renegade figures I have, these are big 28's and thirteen figures fill up one Impetvs-sized base.  I should note that the officer is not Renegade but an Aventine Roman officer that has been pressed into service.  I figured the best dressed Carthaginians would be either heavily influenced by Roman fashion or simply "acquired" a Roman officer's kit.

Back to my regular Reconquista blitz...

28mm Reconquista - Black Guard

After the diversion of hosting the Port Republic game this past weekend, work resumes on the Reconquista Project.  My compatriot, Jake, has been churning out Impetvs units with abandon.  Some of his latest works can be seen at his blog (see Jinettes).  Scrolling through Jake's list of completed units, I see I have some work to finish in order to remain close in the arms race. 

Today's unit is a Black Guard infantry stand from Gripping Beast.

This was my first order to Gripping Beast and I am delighted with the quality of the figures.  In the Impetvs lists, up to two such units may be fielded in an army.  I think I'll order one more unit's worth of these, striking figures.  Hopefully, their Spanish foes will be intimidated by their presence.

BatRep - ACW Battle of Port Republic

Kevin and Scott showed up near midday Saturday to fight the Battle of Port Republic using Regimental Fire and Fury (RFF).  The Federals under Tyler were tasked with defending a line stretching about one mile from the banks of the South Fork of the Shenandoah to the heights of the Coaling near the Lewis Mansion (Lewiston).  Jackson's goal was to drive the Federals from the Valley.  His problem? How to dislodge Tyler from his formidable position.

The Federals held two key positions: the Coaling and the crossroads near the Lewiston farmstead.  

Federals deployed in the background between Shenandoah and the Coaling
with Winder deployed in foreground along Baugher Lane

Winder's initial line along Baugher Lane interspersed by guns

Taylor's Louisianians ready for combat

Carpenter's guns along Baugher Lane

Federal line

The Coaling and Lewiston

7th Indiana on the Union right

84th and 110th PA in reserve behind Lewiston

Daum's artillery on the heights of the Coaling

Union gun section defending crossroads at Lewiston

2nd and 4th VA ready for action opposite the Coaling

The battle opens with an artillery exchange between the Federals along Lewiston Lane and the Rebel guns along Baugher Lane.  Confederate gun fire yields results almost immediately.  In the long range exchange, Federal infantry suffer a number of casualties and disorders.  Tyler falls dead from the saddle in these opening salvos.

Rather than follow Jackson's historical plan of sending Taylor through the woods to flank the Coaling, Kevin prepares to send Taylor's brigade in a direct frontal assault on Union positions straight up the the River Road.  With three Federal gun sections on the heights, Taylor would be under fire early and often.

Kevin had another plan.  The 2nd and 4th VA would attack out of the thicket towards the Coaling with hopes of preoccupying the Federal guns.  While the 2nd VA  scampers back into the cover of the woods, the 4th VA advances up onto the heights.

4th VA attack Federal guns

Federal guns are largely ineffective and in the first clash, one gun section is damaged.  In an attempt to relieve pressure on the guns, the 66 OH marches up and wheels towards the heights.  Being green, the regiment is disordered performing this maneuver in broken ground.  The two Pennsylvania regiments are brought up on line as well when Taylor's Louisianans are seen advancing in the distance.

Federal reserves committed

With initial success against the guns on the Coaling, Taylor and Winder both advance across the plain.  Confederate artillery continues exceeding expectations while the Federal guns flounder.

Rebels Advance

Suffering few casualties in the advance across the wheat fields, Taylor bears down on Lewiston.  On the Coaling, Federal guns, completely occupied by the attacking Virginians, fail to extract a toll on the pesky 4th VA and the 4th closes.  

Taylor attacks

Taylor's waves of grey

66 OH prepares a defense

In continued dismal performance, all guns atop the coaling limber and skedaddle leaving the heights in control of the 4th VA.  With their left turned and two brigades bearing down on their line, the Federals are backed into a corner.

Federals lose Coaling

Having taken one key position at the Coaling, Rebs concentrate on the second at the crossroads.  Heavy casualties fail to stop the remnants of Wheat's Louisianans from entering the Lewis grounds as waves of their fellow Louisianans crash into Federal positions along the Lewis Lane.

Taylor and Winder close on Lewiston Lane

 The 6th LA hits the 84th PA and pushes them back out of the second key position.

6 LA assaults 84th PA

6 LA assaults 84th PA

In one last desperate attempt, Federals counter strike along the line to stabilize their dire situation.  Having gained no progress in that last ditch effort, the Federal commander orders a withdrawal from the battlefield.

Ending positions

Rebels control Lewiston and crossroads

Again, another RFF game with lopsided results with 1.5 hours of game time played out in just over two hours.  Most of our RFF games have followed a similar pattern of one side dominating the other.  In the final casualty tally, Federals lost 18 stands of infantry, one gun plus two damaged guns.  Jackson's command lost 16 stands of infantry.  Federals suffered from extremely poor die rolls while the attacking Confederates displayed great prowess at rolling many 9's and a few 10's.  As I recall, much of the artillery fire from the Coaling was resolved with a string of 1's.  Such extreme die rolls really plays havoc on a game and player morale.  The key to victory for the Confederates was the taking of the Coaling while suffering very few casualties.  This bold assault prevented the Federal guns from disrupting the Rebel attacks on the plain.  I didn't think this plan should work but it did!

Congratulations to Kevin and better luck next time to Scott.

While not likely able to better Kevin's success against the Coaling, I plan to reset the game and give it a try solitaire.

ACW Battle of Port Republic

It has been awhile since I last hosted a game but that will change on Saturday.  After having visited the battle site of 1862 Battle of Port Republic, I have wanted to recreate it on the gaming table.  My brief tour of the battlefield was recapped in an earlier posting (see: Battle Tour: Port Republic).

As a teaser to Saturday's game, below are a few photos of the game table with the terrain deployed but not the troops.  We'll be using Regimental Fire and Fury to adjudicate the action with Scott commanding the Federals while Kevin commands the rebels.

When I set about researching the map of the battlefield and translating those distances to the table, I was a bit shocked to discover that my 12' x 6' table can only represent a 2 mile by 1 mile rectangle.  Fortunately, most of the relevant parts of the battlefield will be present.

Battlefield looking towards the S.F. Shenandoah

The Federal defensive line was anchored on the right by the Shenandoah and on the left by the Coaling.  With neither flank easily turned, some observed that this field of battle offered the Federals their best defensive position of the entire war. 

Wheat fields looking N-NW 

For the wheat fields, I had to make a trip to the local big-box hardware store to pick up additional door mats.  I had one mat for such purpose but the large areas of the battlefield in ready-to-harvest wheat necessitated three additional mats.  The wheat fields on the table consume over 12 square feet of area. 

Near ground level looking towards Lewiston

The wooded portion of the battlefield with The Coaling in the distance

We will see if Jackson can root the Federals out of their fine defensive positions before Fremont shows up to put an end to their efforts.

28mm Reconquista - More BTD Cavalry

Following closely on the heels of the Muslim lancers are two more cavalry units.  Both of these newly, recruited units are composed of BTD figures.

First up, is one stand of light cavalry, horse archers.  Since I envision horse archers operating in a very loose and dispersed formation, I mounted only three horse to an Impetvs-sized base to give them plenty of room to maneuver.  The result may appear sparse but for horse archers, I think it works.

Leaving the painting desk in tandem with the horse archers is one stand of light cavalry wielding spears.  Horses are the same mix of three sculpts as in the other cavalry units.  For these light horse, I opted to base four figures per stand.

There!  That brings the cavalry arm of the growing army to a total of three horse units.  One more light cavalry stand of four figures made it onto the painting table this evening.  The painting of this unit may be delayed while I switch gears to prepare to host this weekend's game.  Much work needs to be accomplished on the scenario and layout before I can relax.

Oh, BTD USA is having another of their frequent sales on the Feudal range so I'll likely pick up a few more items.

On an unrelated note, I usually disregard the state of my painting area but with camera in hand, I decided to snap a picture for analysis.  

Quite a mess.  Why is it that my usable painting workspace seems to always reduce down to a work area of only about 8 inches by 12 inches?  Time to clean up my work area and attempt to recover lost space.

28mm Reconquista - BTD Lance Cavalry

After having churned out seven foot units in July, my attention switched to fielding a few cavalry recruits.  The first horse unit off the painting desk is a four figure stand of Muslim lancers.  In Impetvs, lancers are classified as medium cavalry and I decided that four figures would denote a medium cavalry unit.  For heavy cavalry, I'll likely place five figures per stand.

The BTD lancers contain figures and horses in a variety of garb and horse furniture.  The mix gives the cavalry a more irregular look that I like.  After having painted several foot units, I wonder if warrior attire would be more "uniform" than the motley mix I fielded?  I suppose different regions and cultures might have had traditional dress but most would likely have tended towards either what was available or fashionable.

For now, no more second questioning on proper costuming.  Besides, I like the look of a unit in mixed attire.

28mm Reconquista - More BTD Spearmen

July turned out to be a month primarily dedicated to the new Reconquista project in 28mm.  Actually, 28mm was the only scale (alright, I know 28mm is a size not a scale) reaching the painting table in July.  From a project beginning, standing start, 65 figures were completed; enough to field seven Impetvs units.  The only other unit to make it across the painting desk in July was one, ten figure stand of 28mm Punic War Spanish.  As August begins, I find myself at work on eleven 28mm Andalus cavalry for three Impetvs stands.

My small, initial order from Gripping Beast arrived on Wednesday in record time; eight days from order placement to arrival from U.K. to Washington state.  Impressive!  The figures are really nice too and will fit in perfectly with the BTD figures.  Firemonkeyboy was spot on when he commented that the two ranges would work well together.  

The final dozen painted figures for July were pressed into service as the third Andalus spear stand.  These figures are all BTD.